"Well...Mum told me once about my first word when I was born. It wasn't 'Mama' or 'Papa' or anything like that...it was 'Why?' I guess my life's been like that ever since, really." Martha shrugged her shoulders as her fingers played with the rim of her teacup.
"I've never been happy with easy explanations; I always had to know why things happened and what made them work. I drove my parents crazy with my endless questions...with everything from 'Why is the sky blue?' to 'What kind of machine must Santa's sleigh be for him to get everywhere in one night?"
"Hmmn..." muttered the Doctor as he rested his chin in his hand and stared at the ceiling. "Other than a TARDIS, of course, he'd have to have something like a..."
Martha's eyebrows shot up at the thought of finally having a serious conversation about one of her childhood questions, but she quickly shook her head to break the distraction.
"It wasn't till I met my cousin Adeola that my questions started to turn inward. She had just recently broken her arm on the playground and had it in a cast, and I just couldn't get over it. There we were looking exactly alike, yet I was fine and she was broken. I had to figure out what happened to make her that way...and how I could fix it."
The Doctor could see the sadness in Martha's eyes as she spoke of her deceased cousin, and he swallowed hard. I'm going to have to tell her about her cousin someday...but not yet; dear Rassilon, not yet. Instead, he squeezed her hand gently in support and encouraged her to go on with the story.
"I was obsessed with how the human body worked after that. I studied all the anatomy books my Mum could give me, and by the time I was 15 I could tell people every single bone that made up the human hand." Martha rolled her eyes and laughed. "I think by the end of that year just about everyone knew I could, too. God...I must have been so annoying!"
"I don't know...some people like it when they're constantly asked questions...it keeps them on their toes," the Doctor replied with a grin as he took a sip of his tea and suddenly made a face. "Gah...tea's cold."
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. As he fiddled over it looking for the setting for 'tea warmer,' Martha noticed that her cup was nearly empty, as well as cold. "I'm going to get another cup...I'll be right back."
The Doctor nodded distractedly and Martha got up to go to the counter, as well as gather her thoughts. Calm down, Martha. You told him a month ago you needed time because you loved him and he just wasn't seeing you...and now here he is, letting you know in no uncertain terms that he needs you and loves your questions. Was he paying attention to you after all? You said it yourself that he was on the rebound...maybe he just needed time to sort things out (like I did)? With a deep breath and only slight shaking of her cup, Martha went back to their booth and sat down.
"Ahh..." said the Doctor as he sipped his now hot tea. "Much better...you have to keep those free radicals moving."
"So," he continued after he set his tea down, "how is your family, Martha?"
Martha bit her lip and glanced out the window. "It's weird, really. I had gotten so used to them always dumping their problems on me...but now, they're all acting like a family again. Tish is taking defense courses, she and Leo are getting along, and even Mom and Dad are talking again. They said they're going to try and work it out."
"That's good, right?" The Doctor asked with a raise of an eyebrow, unsure how he should take Martha's pensive look.
"Yeah, it is...it's just..." Martha gestured around her in the coffeehouse, "it's like with that year...when I look around now, I just don't feel like I belong anymore. When I left..."
The Doctor nodded solemnly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he stared at the tabletop.
"I thought part of why I did it was because of my family. I figured they'd need me to release all their stress on, like they used to. That wasn't the case, though. They weren't the ones who needed me." Martha swallowed hard before she continued, "Were they, Doctor?"
Tell her...tell her...tell her...she deserves to know...
"No...they weren't," he answered quietly, still not looking up, but with his fingers now intertwined with hers on the table.
"Doctor?" Martha questioned softly, when the Doctor looked up into her eyes and she forgot how to breathe.
"I need my Doctor, Martha. No one is there to constantly question me...no one is there to remind me why I care, no one is there to remind me what it's like to look at something for the first time, and no one is there to save me when I burn." With the last of his words the Doctor gently cupped Martha's cheek with his hand.
Martha closed her eyes, trying to record this memory in her mind for the future. She opened them again and smiled at the Doctor. "I guess I better get to work, then." She leaned forward over the table as the Doctor gently pulled her close, his eyes flickering to her lips as he leaned closer.
Martha's eyes fluttered closed and when she felt the soft brush of his lips against her bottom lip she couldn't help but gasp. This was so different from the first time in the hospital...much more gentle...reverent, even. As their lips parted, the Doctor rested his forehead against hers and asked with a sigh, "So does this mean you'll be coming home?"