"Sarah!" he yelled, frantically looking around. "Sarah Jane!!!"

The vendor frowned and looked around for her too. "She was just here. I didn't see her leave, and there was no-one around her. She can't be far," the vendor said, looking under her table. Sarah was nowhere to be seen.

The Doctor shoved aside some of the toys on her table without apology and leapt up onto it to get a better view of the surrounding crowd. "Sarah Jane!!!" He could barely breathe with terror at the idea of something happening to her in this state.

Sarah Jane meanwhile, wasn't quite panicked yet, but she was very frightened. She felt as if someone had scooped her up and dumped her into a bag. It was very dark and the Doctor didn't seem to be able to hear her. "Doctor, I'm here, please come and find me," she called out to him, but he didn't answer her. With a lot of effort she finally managed to straighten herself upright.

The Doctor didn't see any sign of Sarah Jane. Panicking now, he looked again under the table, and all the surrounding tables, knowing that with every passing second she could be farther and farther away. He tried to decide what was the most likely direction someone who'd just taken a little girl would go, then he thought about circling the spot to try and find her, then he just found himself randomly running looking for signs of her, all the while a little voice in the back of his head telling him he wasn't even thinking, let alone thinking clearly. He had to find her. NOW.

Sarah felt her way around in the dark and then began to try and climb up on the things that surrounded her. Unfortunately, it seemed to her that as she climbed up, the objects just moved farther down. Then, she fell and once more, she had to struggle to get back up again.

As the minutes ticked by the Doctor began asking everyone within the sound of his voice to look for a little human girl in a pair of blue overalls and a light blue long-sleeved shirt. Everyone he could see was looking around for her, and nobody was finding her. 'How could I be so stupid!' he thought. To take a child into his life ... it was senseless and irresponsible and he deserved to feel the terror he was drowning in, but it was Sarah Jane who was paying the price. Another fear slammed him in the chest. If Sarah Jane was lost, what had he just done to their timeline? It was understandable to cross his timeline to save her, but he should have left it at that. Now there was a very real chance that she could be lost to him for all time. "SARAH JANE!!!!"

After about ten minutes, Sarah Jane was as far up as she could possibly balance herself. She began to pound on the sides of the walls and call out louder. "Doctor, Doctor, I can hear you, where are you? I'm lost and I'm scared."

The Doctor stood in the cacophony of the market, feeling utterly lost. She could be anywhere. By now she could be halfway off the planet, on her way to ... he didn't even want to think of the terrible possibilities. Of all the times he'd been in trouble, and all the times his companions had been in trouble, and even all the times Sarah Jane had been in trouble, he'd never, ever, felt this ... helpless. He leaned back against a pole and shoved is hands into his pockets.

All at once, Sarah saw a ray of light and could see something coming toward her. She realized it was a hand and hoped it was the Doctor's. She quickly grabbed for it as tightly as she could when it came near enough for her to reach. "Doctor," she called out loudly. "Is that you?"

The Doctor almost jumped out of his skin when he felt something grab his hand. When he started to pull it back out again as a reflex and the something didn't let go, he realized immediately what had happened and his whole body shuddered with relief. He reached over with his other hand and took hold of the tiny arm now protruding from his pocket. Holding it tightly he hauled Sarah out of his pocket and set her on the ground, kneeling down in front of her.

Everyone around them stopped looking for Sarah Jane and applauded, but the Doctor didn't hear any of it. Instead, he held her tightly by her shoulders, looking desperately into her eyes. "What were you doing in my pocket? Don't you know how worried I was? You practically scared me to death! Are you all right?"

Sarah nodded. "I'm sorry, it was an accident. I just wanted to see how your pocket works, so I stretched and stretched and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and then I fell in," she said. She was trying to recover from her fear too, her lower lip trembled, and she started crying. "Honestly, I wasn't trying to misbehave."

The Doctor picked her up and hugged her, holding her close. She wasn't the only one crying, both in relief at finding her and still the terror at having lost her in the first place. For now, though, she needed him and he tried to reign it in. He stroked the back of her head. "It's all right," he said. "I know you didn't mean it. I was just worried about you." He wanted to tell her not to cry, but he was pretty sure that her tears weren't just from the fear of the last few minutes, and he knew she needed to start grieving. But she gathered herself as if she were much, much older, and in a few moments the tears had stopped, giving way to sniffles. She was determined not to let it overcome her -- at least, not now. He sighed. "Everything is going to be all right."

Sarah threw her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Then you're not mad at me?"

"No, no, baby," he said. "I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just ..." He took a deep breath. "You were just a little too curious. It's all right." He stroked her hair again. "You just catch your breath. Everything's going to be all right, sweetheart."

Sarah Jane was content to snuggle into the nook of his arm and let him comfort her.

When she had calmed down enough, the Doctor let her pick three other toys besides the doll. Sarah decided on the mechanical bird, and some Thought Bubbles. When she asked for the planet projector, he tried to convince her that it was for a much older child, but she wouldn't be dissuaded. He decided let her try it, and she surprised him by operating it fairly well, but then she quickly got bored with it. Finally, she chose a game that consisted of letting furry little creatures out of a box, and chasing them to see how fast you could catch them and get them back into the box. The Doctor gave the vendor what she wanted for it. "I think it's time to head back to the TARDIS," he said.

Sarah sighed and gave him a sad look. "Is it because I got lost in your pocket?"

It was, of course; he'd had quite enough excitement for one day. But he didn't want her to feel bad about it. "If we don't go back to the TARDIS, you're not going to get to play with your toys," he said.

She thought about playing with her toys and smiled. "Alright then, let's go back. A thought occurred to her and she began to panic. "I lost my you doll!"

He looked around and didn't see it. "I know," he said, and stood up, rummaging in his pocket and pulling out the doll. "There you go."

Sarah Jane hugged the doll and then the Doctor. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," he said, carrying her through the market and back to the TARDIS. Once they were there, he set her down on the floor of the console room and gave her her toys to play with. Idly, he began setting the coordinates for her aunt's house, then changed his mind and cleared the destination completely, dematerializing the TARDIS and parking them firmly in the vortex for a while. For now, he just watched her play. They'd had quite a day; he'd never forget it, he knew that. Sarah Jane, on the other hand... He sighed.

Sarah Jane at the moment was playing with her thought bubbles. She would blow and think at the same time, and whatever she thought about took form. She had just finished blowing a star shaped bubble. As she watched it float around the room, she became aware of him watching her. "Want to try it?" she asked in an effort to please him.

"Certainly," he said, reaching for the wand. "You really like it here, don't you, Sarah Jane," he said. It wasn't really a question, more of a statement of the obvious. He blew gently through the bubble wand and a TARDIS-shaped bubble appeared.

"I love it here," she said simply as she watched the bubble. Then she looked at him sadly. "But I can't stay even if I want to can I?"

Oh, how he wanted her to. As an adult she'd always been so ferociously independent, even if deep inside she seemed to like when he took care of her. Now, she was completely free of any pretense. She just accepted his love and care without question. On the other hand, if she were ever going to grow into that strong, ferociously independent woman he fell in love with, he had to let her go.

And then he thought about the events of the day. He shook his head, rubbing his face as though he'd just woken up. How could he even consider taking a child off with him? Thank goodness she'd only fallen into his pocket! When he thought of what else could have happened to her... "No, I'm afraid you can't."