The Doctor had been sitting in silence for hours. Expressionless and gloomy within the vast emptiness of the TARDIS. He had just dropped of Martha, and Donna had gone to sleep, she had seemed worried about him. He couldn't blame her, so much had happened, too much... Jenny... He had not known her for long, but she was the closest thing he had had to a family in hundreds of years.

Except for... The Doctor stared at the TARDIS console, all those buttons and levers, the only things that stood between him and her... He considered the thought for a long while. He couldn't think of it doing any damage to the universe... But what about himself? Would it hurt too much? Would it even make any difference? What if something had happened? Should he return her old memories? Or would she be better of without them? Would she still be in danger? Hundreds of thoughts and considerations flew through his mind, but no conclusion. What about Donna? Should he wake her? He was certain that she would understand him...but was this something he had to do alone?

His hearts beat faster, and the console seemed to be calling to him, as if the TARDIS was trying to tell him that this was something he had to do. He felt his body stand up, almost as if he wasn't acting of his own will. He typed in the coordinates, pulled the levers, pressed the buttons and whispered to himself:

"This day...I shall come back... Allon-sy... "

Within a distant forgotten memory, another owner of two broken hearts, stood at a graveyard with flowers in her hands, and tears in her eyes. Everyone knew who she was, the infamous and strange Susan Campbell. She was one of many people who helped rebuild earth's society after the Dalek invasion of earth, she was also one of the leaders of the Earth council, and helped stop the Guldreasi from enslaving the human race. But she left the Earth council, after what happened. She hadn't talked for days, not since her son, Alex Campbell, died. It was during the second Dalek invasion of earth. No one was completely sure what happened. There were lots of stories, but nobody knew for sure. Nobody dared ask. Everyone had just sort of agreed now that Susan Campbell was probably mad, and shouldn't be bothered.

She put the flowers on Alex' grave, and just looked at them for a while, until she suddenly heard a sound. A familiar, dangerous, and wonderful sound. She turned around, there it was, in all it's blue glory, the TARDIS. She stood there, waiting breathlessly, not sure what to expect once the doors opened.

He had regenerated since last, he looked very different, he looked old. He almost looked old enough to actually pass as her grandfather. He wore a dirty old leather jacket and boots. His hair was white, and he had a thick bushy beard. She had never seen him with a beard before, it was strange, and she could tell by looking in his eyes that something was horribly wrong. Perhaps more horrible than what happened last time.

"Grandfather...I...I...". She did not know how to begin, she hadn't spoken for so long, it felt weird. She decided to just come out with what she had to say:

"I do not blame you...for what happened with Alex..."

"Thank you, my child" The Doctor answered, his voice was rusty, older than she had ever heard it before. "But that is not why I am here."

"Grandfather...Doctor I..."

"That is not my name anymore."

"Whatever do you mean? Why are you here? What's happened?"

"War. The timelords of Gallifrey, and the Daleks of Skaro, every single one of them, in war. It has been going on for hundreds of years now, many good people have died, many civilisations have fallen. The timelords wan't all the help they can get, but I do not wan't you to be a part of it."

"What...? What are you going to do...?"

The Doctor took out a device from his pocket, to anyone else it would have looked like an ordinary fob watch, but Susan knew better.

"The chameleon arch" The Doctor answered.

"Where did you...? No, grandfather, not that! Please take me with you instead, there's nothing here for me anymore! David is gone! Alex is gone! All I have are my memories of them, and memories of you! What we did together! You're taking everything I have left!"

"Goodbye Susan, goodbye my dear."

The Doctor opened the watch.

Years after that incident, the TARDIS had once again landed at 22nd century earth. The Doctor took on his trenchcoat and went outside. Much had changed since last. Everything just seemed sort of cleaner, the air, the buildings, the people, it was starting to nok look so post apocalyptic anymore. The Doctor strolled around the streets of London, he was almost happy again. Seeing the human race get back on their feet, rebuilding civilisations, that was one of his favourite hobbies. He went around asking people if they knew where Susan Campbell lived. It seemed like a lot of people knew who she was.

"Oh her, think she used to be an Earth council leader, such a nice woman."

"Oh her, I bloddy hate that bitch, always screaming."

"People say she went mad after her son died, I heard he was killed by mutated ducks in a park."

"Oh that nice old lady, yeah she's my son's teacher, at Coal Hill School, don't know where she lives though."

Things seemed to brighten up a little now.

"Coal Hill School" the Doctor thought. "Seems like she went back to something familiar".

Soon the Doctor arrived at Coal Hill School, for the third time now or something. He thought it was funny, there was always something about that school that kept him returning, whether it was a Dalek invasion, a new companion, or an old companion...

He went over and talked to two kids on their way to class, a boy and a girl, both with curly black hair and an age about seven or eight.

"Sorry, sorry, hi, don't mind me, I just wanted to ask, is there a Miss. Campbell teaching at this school? Or perhaps maybe a Foreman? Just one of those, is there?"

"Ha, you've come to the right place sir" the boy answered with a grin. "Miss. Campbell's our mum."

The Doctor was silent.

"What?"

"I think she's teaching seventh grade now" the girl said. "Oh she hates seventh grade, come with us, we'll take you to her."

The two kids grabbed the confused Doctor and dragged him through the hallway.

"So uhm, your mum, is she married?"

"No mister, but she's way to old for you" the girl answered.

"Oh no no no no no, that's not what I was implying at all, yuck. Wait, so are you adopted?"

"Yes".

"Mind if I ask, what's your names?"

"I'm Ian".

"I'm Barbara".

The Doctor suddenly stopped. The kids looked confused at him. Tears started filling his eyes, and he burst out laughing.

"Oh you, you absuloutely brilliant woman! Not even the arch could make you let go of your past could it? Well? What are we waiting for? Allon-sy!"

Soon they arrived at the physics lab, where Susan was teaching. The Doctor could hear the students sitting down and getting out their things, and for the first time in over a hundred years, he heard his granddaughter's voice.

"Good morning everyone, welcome to yet another physics lesson. Today's topic as you know is, "The neutron flow, and how to reverse it's polarity".

"Mum mum! There's some guy here looking for you!" Barbara shouted.

The Doctor stepped in, and there she was. Older, but never old. Her hair was grey, and her face was wrinkled, but she still looked like the same little girl he went adventuring with over a hundred years ago.

"Oh hello, and who might you be?"

The Doctor took out his psychic paper, he never once thought that he would ever be using it on her.

"John Smith, I'm a journalist, I'm doing an article about survivor's stories from the Dalek invasion of earth and I wanna write your story."

"Well, oh my. About time too. See kids, I told you your teacher was cool. Well, you can stop by for dinner, how about at 18:00?"

"Sounds great, your adress?"

"221B Baker street. Ian, Barbara shouldn't you be at class?"

"Yes mum" Ian and Barbara said, then left.

"Okay, well, see you tonight" the Doctor said.

The Doctor went back to the TARDIS, wondering what he should do now. Should he just fast forward to the dinner with the TARDIS? Or should he simply carry on? He had seen her, she looked happy, he knew she was all right, he was happy now. Would it hurt if he visited her again?

He stepped into the TARDIS, his thoughts was interrupted by the newly awokened Donna.

"Morning Martian" Donna said, while eating breakfast.

He could tell she hadn't forgotten what happened, but she tried to hide it, tried to smile.

"So where are you taking me today?" she asked.

"Oh well I have all sorts of places in mind. How about Barcelona? Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona, they've got dogs with no noses! We also have the singing towers of Derillium, I can take you to the Orient Express in space, or we can explore the depths of Banikafunta!"

"What's that?"

"An alien playground..."

"Do there exist alien spas?"

"Well yeah there's a lot, but how about..."

"Then let's go there, I think we could both use some vacation."

"All-right then, Allon-sy!"

After a long day at an alien spa, the Doctor finally decided, to go back to Susan, even if it meant sacrificing another night of sleep. He went down to the control room, took on his trenchcoat, brought a paper and pencil so that he could pretend to write stuff down at their 'interview'. But just as he was about to head out, he was interrupted by Donna.

"Where are you going?"

"Just out, don't wait up."

"Doctor wait, you've been acting weird all day. All distant and silent. I'm not so stupid that I can't see you're not well, is it Jenny?"

"No, it has nothing to do with Jenny."

"Then what are you doing? Tell me where you are going."

"It's nothing, go back to bed."

"Oh no, not before you tell me what's going on. Doctor, I'm worried about you."

"... Come with me. I'll show you."

"Oh good evening, come on in. Oh hello, are you Mr. Smith's wife?"

"No no no no, why does everyone always think we're married" Donna answered.

"She's my uhm, intern, she insisted on coming with me, I hope it's not a problem."

"Oh I wouldn't think so, I always cook too much. Come on in now."

They all sat themselves down at the table, eating while the Doctor asked Susan questions.

"So, could you tell us about some experiences? How was it? Growing up during an alien invasion?"

"Oh I was just a young girl when the Daleks invaded, it was awful. They wasn't like us you know, not even close. They looked kind of funny with their plunger weapon, but the things they said, the things they did, they saw us like animals, and treated us worse than animals. I don't have a lot of memories of my parents, they were killed by the Daleks when I was very young, thank God I had my husband David, rest his soul..."

"Oi! Watch it with that fork you little shi...sorry please go on, it's very moving, really." Donna meant what she said, though she was still eager to get some answers, but it didn't seem like they were coming just now.

"Ian that's no way to treat a nice lady, remember what we talked about, forks are for eating only. Now, where was I? Well, I suppose you would wan't to know about the second invasion, everyone does these days, because of Alex." Slight tears filled her eyes.

"You don't have to tell if your not comfortable" The Doctor said. "Tell us about your time in the Earth council in stead, you must have been quite the star."

"Oh yes, politicians were the rock stars of that time."

Everyone chuckled.

Once they had said goodbye, and the two friends was on their way back to the TARDIS, Donna started asking.

"Okay spaceman, you owe me some answers now. Who was she? Why did you try to sneak out? Why did you try to keep it a secret?"

The Doctor started strolling around on his converses, doing one of his trademark loud talks.

"That ship that we travel in. The TARDIS, it wasn't always called that. People used to call them 'time capsules' before, so boring. Until she made up the new name, from the ship's initials. Time. And. Relative. Dimension. In. Space. Such a simple act really, simple name. But oh how meaningful that act was. The word TARDIS is actually the most used name in the universe, did you know that? Pretty impressive for a lonely blue box from an extinct civilisation."

Donna wanted to sassily tell him to get to the case, but she could tell this was too important.

"That old woman down there, she used to travel with me, but she wasn't just any ordinary companion, oh no, she's not even of this world. She may not remember it, but that woman is my granddaughter."

Donna was silent. She stared at him, more confused than ever.

"What...? But...how...? I...I don't understand. She's a human! And...and you also said that all timelords died, that you don't have any family left!"

The Doctor took out the chameleon arch from his pocket.

"This fob watch, it's ancient timelord technology. Before the time war ended, I used it to turn Susan into a human, giving her new memories, and a new personality, storing the old ones inside the watch, everything she ever was, is stored inside here, and can only come out when opened."

"Well...the time war is over now can't you just return it to her?"

"No I can't. Do you remember when she mentioned her son Alex, the one who died? That was my fault, I caused that, and I left her to grieve alone. I can't face that. But she is happy now, she deserves that."

"So that's why you went here, after Jenny, you needed to see your family again. So that's why you wanted to do it alone... I'm sorry..."

"I don't understand, is mum an alien?"

The Doctor and Donna turned around. Ian and Barbara had been following them. The Doctor walked over to them, sat down on his knees, put his hands on their shoulders and said:

"Yes, your mum's an alien. But she's a good alien, nothing like those Daleks or Guldreasis. She looks young, but she is hundreds of years old, just like me, I'm her grandfather, and your great grandfather. We travelled together, in this blue box, through space and time, doing things you couldn't possibly imagine. But she doesn't remember any of it, and you can never tell her. I'm sorry. Just remember, that you have the coolest mum, in all of time and space, and you should take really good care of her."

Everyone stood in awe while the Doctor slowly entered the TARDIS, followed by Donna, who just now started to see just how old this young man was, and just how much pain he had endured.

"Well" Donna said. "I guess I'll go to bed again."

"Wait, Donna. I'm sorry too."

"Please don't be."

"I shouldn't have tried to hide it. You don't have to pretend what happened didn't happened, I need you Donna, I hope you realize that."

"Well, I guess you can make up for it with another alien spa."

The Doctor smiled.

"Same time tomorrow?"

"Always, for all eternity."

Ian and Barbara never forgot the Doctor. They never truly understood what he was, but they thought they understood who he was. They never told their mother. They rarely talked about him themselves. But often at night, when they were about to go to sleep, they would look out the window, hoping to see that mysterious blue box appear again. And once they were thirteen, it did.

They ran excitedly out the door, like they were little kids again. They saw the TARDIS doors open, and the Doctor came out, he looked exactly the same, but his eyes looked older, sadder.

"You came back" Ian said.

"Look at you two, how you've grown" The Doctor said, smiling. "Where is your mother?"

"Inside" Barbara answered. "But she's not well. We think she's dying... Are you...are you gonna make her better...?"

"We'll see" The Doctor answered, and went quietly and determined inside.

There she was, Susan. Once again, older but never old. She was sleeping, she looked very sick. He took a deep breath, took out his fob watch, and opened it.

"I'm...I'm back...grandfather...is that you...?"

"Yes, it's me Susan."

"My, your using up your regenerations like crazy. How many are you up on?"

"Ten. But this life is ending soon. But I'm keeping it in. I don't know why...I...I just wan't to see everyone with these eyes one last time, those I've travelled with, starting with you."

"What about that red haired woman you travelled with? Donna was it? What happened to her?"

"She...she got the time vortex in her head, I had to erase her memory. If she ever remembers what we did, what she accomplished, or even just me, she'll burn."

"That poor woman, to have to give up that, I know how that feels."

"Susan I'm sorry..."

"Oh don't think for one second that I blame you grandfather. Tell me, are you still not the Doctor or was that just a fase?"

The Doctor chuckled. Susan held his hand, like she was comforting him. In that moment she looked like the older one. The tables had turned, now she was the one taking care of him, but perhaps it had always been that way.

"I'm scared" The Doctor said. "I've accomplished so much during this life, but I could do so much more. I'll soon be on my last life and I...I don't wanna go..."

"You'll get through it grandfather, you always do. But promise me one thing, don't do it alone. No matter how much you think it hurts others, and...no matter how it does sometimes, they'll have the time of their life. Just like me.

She squeezed his hand.

"So just, go forward, in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine."

The Doctor chuckled over the sound of those familiar words.

"You can come with me, you're a timelady again, you can just regenerate."

"No thank you, I'll keep it in. I've lived a full and happy life, I don't need anymore. I'm going soon grandfather...I can feel it... Will you tell my kids, that I'm proud of them?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. Goodbye grandfather, goodbye my dear."

And thus, Susan Foreman died.

"Is she gone?" Ian asked.

"Yes" the Doctor answered. "She told me she was proud of you, both of you".

They looked sad, but not very shocked. Yet none of them could hide a tiny smile over their mother's message.

"Can you take us with you?" Barbara asked.

"I'm sorry I can't, not right now, I have something I need to do on my own."

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors by a click of his fingers, a delightful sight for the two curious and excited, yet dissapointed youngsters. The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS, stood in the doors for a while, taking a last look at this time period with his tenth pair of eyes.

"But I can promise both of you, that one day, I shall come back, yes I shall come back."