The four slowly made their way through the hallways of the base. The humans and the Hath were somewhere behind them, probably still in shock or attempting to figure out what happened. Dead people don't wake up after being dead, because they're dead and can't be alive. Simple logic. The Doctor was too busy rambling on and on to care, Jenny hanging on his every word. Donna and Martha could only smile and watch. They'd seen the Doctor happy, but they'd never seen him like this. It wasn't happiness or ecstasy and it wasn't quite joy, but sort of a mix of the three, and it made them happy to see him like that.

"You're going to love it!" he exclaimed. "We can go to Akhaten, you'll love it there, they've got tons of food and places to shop, oh, and the Waves of Prosperity in the Andromeda Galaxy, went there once, never got around to going back, we can do that too- and there she is!

He laughed and bounded up towards the familiar blue doors of the TARDIS, rummaging around in his pockets until he found the key. Martha and Donna were both grinning widely in anticipation, and while Jenny currently seemed to have an unlimited supply of energy, her cheerful expression seemed to falter at the sight of the small, battered wooden box.

"Go on!"

She blinked and looked over at her father, who had pushed the doors open and was standing to one side, waiting for her to walk in. Hesitantly, she walked forwards and through the entryway...

Wow.

It was...! Well, she didn't really know what to say, what to think. It was huge, for one thing. There was no way that box could have that room just... just crammed inside. But looking back, she could see the three standing in the hallway, beaming, and she could see the walls outside the doors and there was no way that this room could fit in between those walls.

"...Bigger on the inside," she whispered after a moment, spinning around. There were stairs leading up to a console in the center of the room, a hallway going off to somewhere (there was more-?), massive pillars that branched off into y-shapes crawled up towards the ceiling, and all of the walls were indented with roundels. The floor was made of metal grating, and she could see the circuitry underneath.

"Isn't it?" her father laughed.

"It's humming." She could feel the floor vibrating under her boots, and the console seemed almost welcoming. "Is that the engines?"

"Nah," he replied, waving a hand dismissively, throwing an arm over her shoulder as they walked up the small set of stairs. Donna and Martha trailed along behind. "And she's not an it, she's a she."

"But it's a- sorry, she's a ship."

"She's bigger on the inside, Jen," the Doctor grinned. "You're looking at massive technology. She's alive, Jenny, that humming is her way of saying hello."

"Oh!" She looked around again, biting her lip, then gave the console an awkward wave. "Um, hello."

There wasn't a verbal reply, but the humming seemed to grow a bit louder and the lights in the wall brightened.

"She likes you!" he exclaimed. "I'll teach you how to fly her soon enough, but for now, we have a trip back to Earth. You'll like Earth, lovely planet, that's where Donna and Martha are from, you know! And they've got a fascinating history, too! See, in what they classify as the 14th century..."

He sure talks a lot, she thought as she clung to the console for dear life. And I don't know if this ship is actually supposed to be this bumpy, but she can't mind, if she keeps flying like this. Oh, this is going to be fantastic!

Here you have it, then! First installment in Meanwhile in the TARDIS, which, as many of you probably know, is a spin-off of my other story, An Awful Lot of Running to Do. You can read this separately, if you like, but I recommend reading both. Chapters will very greatly in length, some will be about this length and many of them will be a lot longer. Sporadic updates. Hope you enjoy!

~~~Obsidian