"Ouch!" The Doctor winced.
"Hold still! I can't work with you yelping like that." Donna pulled the thread through the sleeve of his jacket expertly.
"And I can't be quiet with you sticking needles into me!" The Doctor looked down at her. "Are you almost finished?"
"Yeah, yeah, there." She snipped the thread and released his arm. "You know, where I come from, some people actually pay for acupuncture."
"Not on Gallifrey, they don't. Thanks, by the way." He rubbed his arm. "Guess I should have been a bit more careful, hmm?"
Donna rolled her eyes. "I should say so! We would have been killed if you had waited another second longer!"
He winked. "What can I say, I like spontaneity."
"Well, never mind that, I can't have you wandering around in that state." She laughed. "We can't let my niece see you. Every man with so much of a patch on his sleeve she looks up and down. She says she's looking for her raggedy man, whoever he is."
"Raggedy man?" The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS consol.
"Yeah, some imaginary friend she has. She said he fell out of the sky, right in her backyard in a spaceship. Don't ask me WHERE her aunt was during all this."
"She's your niece, is she? I didn't know you had a sibling, Donna. Why don't you ever tell me anything?" He looked petulant.
She shrugged. "You didn't ask. And, um, she passed away a couple years ago. I won't go into the details. Both she and her husband."
The Doctor nodded understandingly. "Ah, I see. I'm—I'm sorry."
Donna smiled and shrugged. "It's all right. We weren't ever really close. Some days I forget they're ever gone. But anyway, about their daughter."
"What's her name?" the Doctor asked suddenly.
"Amelia."
"Amelia." He rolled it around on his tongue. "Lovely name, that. Good name. Amelia. And she has an imaginary friend?"
"Her aunt hates it. Says that she can't go around talking about things that aren't true. I never did get along with her."
"But you don't mind?"
Donna shook her head. "Doesn't hurt anything, does it?"
"Nah, of course not!" the Doctor said. "Sometimes the best things are inside you own head."
"She's a nice little girl, really. A bit lonely though. I try to play with her whenever I come, but it's not the same as actual friends her own age. There's one little boy who comes over a lot, and he's sweet, but he just humors her. I like to tease her that maybe they'll get married." She laughed. "She doesn't like that."
"Well, who knows, perhaps I'll pay her a visit someday. Think she'd like the TARDIS?"
"Oh, she'd love it. You'd never get her to leave. You know, her drawings, they do look an awful lot like…" Donna trailed off. "No, I'm just being stupid. That wouldn't make any sense."
She straightened up and turned to the control panel. "Now then? Where next?"
"Have you ever heard of the planet Midnight?" he asked. "Diamonds. Diamonds everywhere. The entire planet is MADE of diamonds."
Donna nodded, still contemplative.
"Donna? You alright?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking. But, never mind. Diamonds, hmm? And no running this time, you promise?"
"No running. Just you and me, on a gorgeous, gorgeous planet." He reached for his coat. "And who knows, maybe one day I'll get to show your Amelia the stars too. Come on!"