"So, for those of us who don't have direct access to your brain," Harry said, once tea had been poured and biscuits had been served. "What's the story of this fob watch thingummy?" He looked at Donna. "Or am I the only one not in the know?"

Donna widened her eyes. "Don't look at me, sunshine. Didn't happen on my watch."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows and looked at Sarah. She smiled and sipped her tea and after a second, the Doctor turned back to Harry. "I am so sorry, Harry," he said, his eyes sober. "I had no idea it would affect Sarah the way it did. You know I never would have done it if I'd even thought..." Harry nodded, and the Doctor continued. "These...creatures...were hunting me. Because I'm a Time Lord. So. I had to stop being one."

"You can do that?" Donna asked.

The Doctor nodded. "First time I ever tried it." His eyes darkened with remembered pain, and he looked at Sarah. She compressed her lips and nodded slightly. He glanced away, sighed, and looked back, taking her hand and squeezing it tenderly. "The Chameleon Arch--the machine that does it--takes my Time Lord self and stores it in a device that looks like a fob watch until I'm ready to change back. And since Sarah's self was all tangled up with mine..." He smiled at Sarah, let go of her hand and reached up to touch her cheek. "...she got locked up with me. A good bit of her, anyway."

"Excuse me, but...can I ask a personal question?" Donna looked at Sarah, who raised her eyebrows in assent. "Are you human?"

Sarah laughed softly. "A hundred percent. Yes."

"It never would have happened if she were a Time Lady," the Doctor said. "She'd have known how to protect herself."

"From...?" Donna's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"From...losing herself."

"Which she did...how?"

"When I stopped being a Time Lord. Weren't you paying attention?"

Donna glared at him. "Yes, I was. That doesn't mean it makes sense."

"Donna," Sarah said. "The Doctor and I discovered, the last time he came for a visit, that we could...oh, you say it." She turned to the Doctor expectantly, and he smiled and made a sound like a complicated peal of wind chimes.

Donna stared at him. "That didn't help."

"Well, there's no proper word for it in English because humans don't do it," Sarah explained. "It's a sort of..." She sighed deeply. "Very hard to put into words. But a sort of psychic bonding between us. And...well, it may not have been the wisest thing we ever did, but as soon as we discovered we could do it, we did do it." She paused a moment, then smiled at the Doctor and squeezed his hand. "And no, I don't regret it," she answered his unspoken question. "It's just....there were a few unanticipated consequences."

"So. You're bonded with him," Donna said nodding toward the Doctor. "But...you're engaged to..." She cut her eyes toward Harry.

"That's one of the unanticipated consequences, actually," Sarah said, giving Harry a warm smile.

Donna blinked at her a few times. "Can we start over from the beginning?"

Harry glanced at the clock on the wall. "Maybe later. But right now..." He gave Sarah a pointed look. "We need to start getting ready."

Sarah gave him a pleading look. "But...we have guests."

"Sarah Jane. You promised."

She compressed her lips. "I know," she said ruefully. "But...well...could they come?"

Harry looked from the Doctor to Donna and then back at Sarah. "Bit late to get them on the list. Besides, they might not even want to come."

"Of course they do. Don't you?" She smiled brightly at the Doctor and Donna and nodded encouragement.

"Erm...come where?" Donna asked.

"New Year's Eve party."

Donna grinned. "Is it New Year's?"

Sarah nodded.

"Sarah. I'm not even sure I can get them in," Harry protested.

"Oh, come on. Special guests of the Commodore. Who'll turn them away?"

Donna's eyes widened and she stared at Harry. "You're a Commodore?" Harry nodded. Donna turned to the Doctor and gave him a punch on the upper arm.

"What was that for?" he asked, frowning and holding his arm. Sarah winced and rubbed her upper arm.

"Why didn't you tell me he was a Commodore?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes," she answered emphatically. She turned back to Sarah. "Is it fancy dress?"

"No, formal," Sarah said, not sounding particularly happy about it. "Regimental balls always are."

"A regimental ball?" Donna sounded like a kid who'd just been offered a pony for Christmas. "Full of sailors? And on New Year's Eve?" She and Sarah both turned to look hopefully at the Doctor.

He sighed. "Nothing good ever comes of me putting on a dinner jacket," he said.

"Donna might not have anything to wear," Harry suggested.

"Harry," Sarah said. "You know the Doctor's wardrobe."

"Mmm," Harry said, defeated. "Well. Let me make a call."

"Come on, Donna. Let's find you something stunning to wear." Sarah and Donna hurried off to the TARDIS wardrobe. The Doctor drank the last of his tea, sighed, then got up and followed them.

* * *

"Zip me?" Sarah pulled her hair to the side to give Harry a clear shot at the zipper in the back of her gown.

He smiled as he obliged, then finished off by giving her a quick kiss on the back of her neck.

"Thanks."

"For the zip or the kiss?"

"Both," she said, turning to face him. She searched his face for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

He closed his eyes and held her. "You okay?" he asked softly. "Him being back hasn't caused any...episodes?"

She pulled back far enough to look in his eyes. "No. Just...happiness." Her smile confirmed her words. "You? How are you feeling about him being here?"

"Well," he said, putting on a mock-stern look. "That hello kiss was a bit over the top."

"Mmm," Sarah agreed thoughtfully. "That was a mistake." Harry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Well, that's how he knew everything that happened."

"From a kiss?"

She smiled. "It rebonded us. He saw everything." She sighed softly. "Not that I could have kept it from him. He would have known. Just...maybe not as fast. I could have broken it to him more gently."

"After everything he put you through. You're worried about breaking it to him gently?"

"He had to do it. They would have..." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to block the image. "...destroyed him. Used him..." She shuddered.

"Don't think about it," Harry said gently, rubbing her shoulders. "It didn't happen."

She nodded. "Right." She looked up at him with a determinedly bright smile. "Let's go welcome in the new year."

* * *

"Aren't you eating?" Donna asked Sarah Jane incredulously. "This food is fantastic."

"I'm having enough trouble breathing in this dress," Sarah said ruefully. "I might pop my zipper if I ate anything."

"You have gained some weight," the Doctor said, looking at her appraisingly.

Donna took aim and punched him solidly in the arm.

"What?" He scowled at her and rubbed his arm. Sarah winced and rubbed her arm surreptitiously.

"Oi! You don't say that to a woman, you big dumbo."

The Doctor looked across the table at Sarah, his eyebrows furrowed, then back at Donna. "Why not?"

"It's okay, Donna." Sarah laughed. "It's true. I have."

"Doesn't mean he needs to say it," Donna grumbled.

"And a good thing, too," Harry said, catching the exchange as he returned to the table with drinks for himself and Sarah. He set hers on the table in front of her, then slid into his seat and pushed a plate of nibbles in her direction. "Eat."

Sarah chuckled. "That doesn't work anymore.".

"Drat," Harry said, helping himself to the hors d'oeuvres.

"I...sort of lost my appetite a few months ago," Sarah said in answer to Donna's puzzled look. "Got a bit too thin."

"No such thing," Donna said emphatically, shaking her head.

"Yes there is," Harry contradicted her. He reached over and placed a hand on Sarah's back. "Not a bad idea to carry a few extra insurance pounds. Just in case you get sick or..." He raised his eyebrows at Sarah. "...lose your appetite."

"Now you sound like a doctor," Donna laughed.

"I am a doctor."

"No." Donna's jaw dropped and she stared at him in awed disbelief. "A Commodore and a doctor?"

"And he looks good in a uniform," Sarah said, grinning at Donna's obvious appreciation.

"And out of one," Donna muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?" Sarah wasn't sure she'd heard that last comment right.

"Erm...I was in the shower when they arrived," Harry explained. "Wasn't exactly...in uniform...when I went to see what the dogs were on about and found our visitors in the living room."

"Oh." It came out a bit squeaky, and Sarah cleared her throat to cover her surprise.

"Must have been nice, having a doctor for a fiance when you got sick," Donna said.

"Hmm?"

"When you lost your appetite. You must have been sick, right?"

Sarah thought back to those months. "Sort of." Her eyes went out of focus for a moment. "He wasn't my fiance then. But yes. It was nice having him around." She and Harry exchanged a look. "Anyway. Once I got my appetite back, food tasted so good and it was so much fun putting the weight back on that I got a bit carried away. Didn't stop when I should have." She gave Harry another look, this one more pointed. "Having him move in didn't help."

"I plied her with chocolates," Harry said with a grin.

"And regular meals. Living alone, you don't do regular meals. At least, I didn't."

"Yeah, everyone gains weight when they get married."

"Oh, thanks, Donna," Harry said dryly. "As if I weren't having enough trouble getting her to set a date already."

"You should travel with him for a bit," Donna said, nodding toward the Doctor. "Talk about a slimming plan. You do an amazing amount of running."

Sarah smiled at the Doctor. "You do, don't you."

"Oh, that's right. You did travel with him." Sarah nodded. "Did you ever meet the Ood?"

Sarah's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at the Doctor. With a small smile, he sent her a mental image of an Ood and a thumbnail sketch of their nature. "Erm. No. I never met anything quite that ood. Erm...odd."

The conversation turned to their various travels in time and space with the Doctor. Donna regaled them with stories of her recent adventures and Sarah and Harry reciprocated with tales of their run-ins with aliens, androids, robots and dinosaurs. The Doctor sat quietly, listening, occasionally adding a comment, his deep brown eyes sober, constantly studying Sarah Jane.

A fanfare from the band interrupted their conversation as it announced that the dance floor was open. Tables were pushed back and the music changed from a pleasant background to a lively foreground. Harry stood, gave Sarah a formal bow, and reached a hand out to her, his eyes twinkling. "Care to dance, ma'am?"

Sarah smiled, took his hand and stood. "Pardon us," she said to Donna and the Doctor, and they headed off to the dance floor.

Donna watched them go with a heavy, yearning sigh. "They make a perfect couple, don't you think?"

"Hmm," the Doctor murmured.

"Don't suppose they dance on Mars," she continued.

"Donna..."

"I know, I know, I know," she said, then sat in silence, elbows on the table, chin in her hands, foot tapping to the music.

Like the answer to a prayer--or just the obvious desire to be dancing, rather than sitting, that colored every line of Donna's being--an officer in full dress blues stepped up to the table.

"Ma'am?" he said questioningly. "Would you care to dance? That is, if your..." He looked at the Doctor. "...escort doesn't mind sharing you?"

"Oh, yes," Donna said, nearly leaping out of her chair and into his arms. "I'd love to dance." She hesitated long enough to turn and look at the Doctor. "You okay by yourself?"

He gave her a small, crooked smile. "Always. Go have fun."

"OK. See ya!" And she sailed off through the crowd to join the dancing couples.

* * *

"Where's Donna?" Sarah asked when she and Harry returned to the table some time later.

The Doctor indicated the dance floor with a lift of his chin. "Someone asked her to dance. And then someone else. And then someone else."

"Oh, good. I'm glad she's having a good time," Harry said.

"What about you?" Sarah asked the Doctor.

He raised his eyebrows and his lips twisted. "You have to ask?"

She nodded. "You're blocking me."

He took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. "Sorry. I'm not really."

"Not like last time, no. Not a brick wall. More like...marshmallow."

He chuckled deep in his chest and shook his head. "I'm just trying to protect you. Trying to figure out how to make sure that what happened when I left last time never happens again."

"Amen to that," Harry said earnestly.

Sarah nodded thoughtfully. "I have to second that amen. I'd just as soon not go through that again."

The Doctor reached out and touched her hand, and she felt the marshmallow fluff dissipate as the bond between them came back into focus. She gently tested it, found his concern for her, his guilt--never far from the surface--over the unintended consequences of their bonding, his loneliness, the pain of holding back from sharing his consciousness with the one person in the universe who had become a part of him.

"I tried to come back sooner," he said softly. "But the TARDIS wouldn't let me. This is as close as I could come to the last time I was here. Now I understand why. The link between us....it was so strong. It would have been like crossing my own time line."

"But..you didn't come back right after you became a Time Lord again," Harry said. "At least--I assume that's when Sarah got her...her self back. That was months ago for us, obviously even more for you. You found Donna and took her on the grand tour of the universe--that didn't happen in two months."

The Doctor nodded. "I know. That's part of what I'm trying to work out. I think we must have been linked in real time as long as I was human. When that ended, our time lines were free to diverge again."

"You didn't feel anything...unusual...when you reintegrated your Time Lord self with the human you?" Sarah asked.

He looked at her earnestly from under lowered brows. "I had a craving for chocolate."

Sarah and Harry both laughed. "Well, we know where that came from," Harry said.

The Doctor's face relaxed into a smile. "I should have known then." He sobered again. "But I didn't. I felt the bond with you, but much weaker. That didn't surprise me--told you that would happen with time and distance. But you were still there. You never left me."

She sent her heart to him through the link formed by the touch of their hands. Never will, she thought.