Once inside, I didn't even expect the shock of the 'inside bigger than the outside', but I enjoyed the reaction she gave of the box that was her home for a time. I watched as she wondered round, soaking in every detail of the TARDIS and all that it was, all its mundane surrealism, its eccentricity, its alien homeliness. The Doctor was still beaming, but he stayed by cautiously, were something to go wrong. While he may have begun to trust James, glitches may still happen.

Just then, as she wondered her hands over the control panel, she winced, and her hand flew to her head. "Donna? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…just…just a flash."

The Doctor was already moving. "Right! James! If you're listening, do your magic! Do whatever you've gotta do!"

He lay her down on the floor, and sat just above her head. "Now Donna, I'm just going to place my hands either side again. Do you still trust me?"

She nodded heavily, and closed her eyes, squinting.

"Now, you're brain has recognised the control panel; one of the last things you did with me was drive the TARDIS, and that's created a spike that part of your mind that the shield can't supress forever. James? I'm going to have to ask something of you. Mia?"

I was already sitting on the floor, holding my mothers hand. She squeezed it tightly. "Yes?"

"Hold on tight. I'm going to ask him to take the shield down."

I froze, and my eyes stretched wide with shock. "What?! No! You said-"

"Yes, I know, but in order to make sure she is sufficiently safe from that part I need to gather all of it, including every memory from that period of time."

I stared at him blankly, so he gave me a long look. "Think of it like, opening the net, risking all the other fish getting out to get more in."

I thought it over, knowing I had nothing to think over, because he would always know what to do, even if it was extraordinarily idiotic. I nodded. "Good analogy."

"Thanks!" He beamed, and looked back down. "Now James, open that net!"

The next moment was the most frightening of my life. My hand was being crushed, and Mom was squirming like a worm in bleach. Hers opened slightly, to show a bright, golden glow. A high, twinkling wurring sound was all that could be heard, and it was deafening.

Then I noticed that the glow wasn't only in her eyes. It was around her head, flowing into the hands either side of it, soaking it in like water. I could only stare as the beautiful glow flowed in a stream like motion, wondering if that's how the Angels looked in true form.

The noise died down slowly, and Donna began to relax. The glow was dying down in brightness, until it could be seen at all. I checked his face for confirmation, and watched as the orange glow regressed back into brown. He was struggling for breath as though he'd been running.

"Mom?"

She lay still for a moment, the only movement being her chest rising and falling, much more rhythmic than the Doctor, who'd fallen back to catch his breath. She blinked finally, and pushed herself to sitting. "I'm fine," she sighed, and I gave her a quick hug before going to the Doctor.

"You alright?" I said gently, and he glanced at me with a relief in his eyes. He smiled, and I threw my arms around him before I could comprehend what I was doing.

"Thank you," I whispered in his ear.

…

"So, where are you off to now then?" Donna asked. The Doctor shrugged, avoiding my eyes. "I'm not quite sure, to be honest with you. I thought that maybe…you might want to…" He flicked his head to motion to the TARDIS. I looked to my mother with a smile. "Come on, it might be fun?"

Her smile was genuine, gracious, but weak. She shook her head gently. "No, Steve's back at 7, don't want him to think I've run off."

He nodded in understanding, and I looked back at the Doctor. "You still want me to come with?" I asked nervously. He gave me a look of utter shock. "Why not?!"

I shrugged, and went back to my mom. "Are you ok with that?"

She turned slightly so she was facing me fully, and hugged me tightly. "Mia," she said, pulling away and taking my hands in her own. "Its dangerous out there. Extremely dangerous. But I know that Space Man over there has told you that, in every attempt to make you stay and let you go. You're smart, and even he says you're brilliant, so who am I to stop you."

I gave her a long look, and smiled, before stepping back. I found my way over the short distance to the Doctor. "What will you tell Dad?"

"Everything, I suppose. If he's too much of an idiot to believe me, I'll signal to have the TARDIS land in the lounge. I'll tell him you'll…be back for tea," she finished, motioning to the time machine behind. I nodded and grinned. "See you for tea then."

…

Donna watched as her grinning daughter disappeared into the TARDIS, waving as the man in the trench coat waved behind, that knowing, shy smile on his face she recognised from the countless time she'd witnessed him do the impossible. She knew she'd never fully regain her memory, but she knew him, and knew enough to know that she'd be ok. For now, at least. An easy, relaxed smile came to her lips as the creaking signalled the door closing; she wasn't watching, because she knew that deep down inside, part of her wished she'd taken up that offer. Watching her daughter, her flaming hair as bright as her own once was, might bring back too many memories.

The pulsing, straining sound of the blue box dematerializing signalled it's departure, and with it, a pressure she barely noticed lifted from her head, like a quiet migraine in the distance. She checked her memories again to make sure, and smiled at the peace she felt with the pair. Pulling her brown shrug around her close as the wind blew through her hair, she walked away from the area the blue box once occupied.

…

As soon as they entered the TARDIS, he made straight for the control panel, pulled the necessary levers, pushed a few buttons, his hands flying through them with little thought. He knew the TARDIS would take him wherever he was needed, so he didn't set a course. He couldn't think that straight right now.

He turned round after noticing that Mia had remained silent, to find her stood at the doors again, her coat folded over her arms and pulled to her chest. She watched him with careful intrigue, and her turned fully to lean back on the panel. He had that feeling of déjà vu. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, or he was waiting for, but he folded his arms anyway.

Finally she took a breath and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"What you did was reckless," was his instant retort. But he felt no disappointment in any way, shape or form. Was he used to it from her? Or was he used to it from himself? To be so sure that a plan would work of that nature was rarely familiar with him, so was it her?

She didn't move, keeping a cautious distance. "That doesn't answer the question. I already know that."

What did he feel? He was unsure, unsure as to how much she wanted, unsure how many emotions he should give in his answer. If he were to be honest, he probably felt so many emotions she would probably not understand why.

But no, she was intelligent. Brilliant, in fact, and very, very human. Most of the emotions he felt he'd been able to identify through human definitions, through development of understanding how humans worked, through experience. Could a 20 year old girl truly understand the functions of the mind of a 900 year old time lord?

He suddenly heard a voice, his own again, but a sneaky whisper, not quite a discernable voice either. More like a thought, tugging, gentle as a child at his coat, urging for his attention.

What did he want to say?

"Mia, I-"

The room fell sharply to the right before he could catch up, but Mia flew to the ground with it. Even in the deafening rattle of the ship's chaotic surge through god only knew where, he heard the metallic clash between the rail and her head.

"MIA!"

He held on to the chair before he realised what it was, and began pulling his way to the rail as hard as he could, fighting the tugs and pulls and plummets they were undergoing, making his way to her unconscious, unmoving body.