A week or more passed and the lot of them had managed to find some semblance of normalcy. Rose now shared a room with the Doctor, and it was proving to be an interesting experience. Sometimes it seemed that he forgot she was there and would let out a little yelp of surprise when she suddenly spoke. If it were anyone else, she might be a bit offended, but with the Doctor it was just amusing. Then there was the flipside of things when she would wake up and find him staring at her as she slept. She woke up one morning and was startled by him staring down at her.

"Doctoorrrrr, what did I say about staring at me when I'm asleep?" she groused, pulling the duvet up over her head.

He chuckled. "Sorry..it's just… I'm still getting used to your being here. I keep thinking I've entered some ridiculously potent dream state that my mind refuses to wake up from."

She lowered the duvet and looked at him. "I'm still getting used to it, too," she admitted, smiling at him. She reached up cupped his cheek. The Doctor smiled, leaning to kiss her gently. She smiled against his kiss, running her fingers through his hair. He shivered ever so slightly. She liked having that effect on him. "So what are we in for today?"

"Are you getting up? It's what still what you would call early, even though there really is no sense of time on the TARDIS. But you humans need your systems of organization to understand things beyond your immediate grasp," he said, looking at her.

"Are you calling me simple? Rude as ever," she chided, nudging him a little. "But to answer your question, yes. I'm up now, and I need a cuppa."

"Well, it's off to the galley then. And there's something I wanted to talk to you all about anyway," he said, standing up and holding out his hand.

She slid out of the bed and put on her dressing gown, then took his hand. They promptly headed for the galley and were met with the rest of the crew already having tea and scones. Rose promptly joined them, taking the cup of tea Donna offered her. Once she was seated, she looked back to the Doctor.

"What was it you wanted to talk to us about, Doctor?" Rose asked, head tilted to one side. The others stopped talking and looked up. With all eyes on him, the Doctor cleared his throat and shifted his weight.

"Oh, um.. Right. SO, I was tinkering with your, er, dimension hopper, trying to work something out." He looked to his sister. "Kema, I was looking over the notes you made me, and I noticed that for hole detection, you used a biosignature recognition combined with a telepathic sensor. Is that how you harnessed your time sense?"

She grinned and nodded. "That's exactly what I did. Could have told you if you asked, ya git. Didn't have to take a week to figure that out."

He smirked and shook his head. "No, the thing is, I was trying to figure out how to convey that sense to the TARDIS. I figured out how to connect one of your devices into the TARDIS hardware, but I couldn't nail down how to enable the telepathic sensor."

Kema looked puzzled and then shrugged a bit. "Aside from my connecting directly into the ship's telepathic circuits, I'm not sure how."

Rose thought for a moment. The ship was sentient, and had the ability to communicate with them, albeit in subtle ways. She always provided them with things they needed, just by reading their thoughts. She seemed to pay mind to all of the little quirks and preferences each of them had. If the ship could learn by observing them, perhaps…

"Could you teach her how?" Rose blurted out. Everyone stopped to look at her. "I mean, you're telepathic, she's telepathic. Couldn't you show her how you see the time holes? Maybe if you did, she could manage it herself." She finished with a shrug, feeling a little foolish. What did she know, anyway? The Doctor and Kema looked at each other and then back to Rose. They both broke out in a grin.

"Rose! You're brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Seriously! I didn't even consider that!" Kema said.

Rose blushed a little and shifted in her seat. "Just common sense, really. She's learned from us before. Why not now? Anyway, so, if you can teach her how, what will that mean?"

"Well, it means that the TARDIS could navigate herself through a hole big enough, and we could travel back to the other universe. With the hybrid technology installed, it would allow safe transport between the two," the Doctor said triumphantly, grinning at Rose.

Rose gasped audibly. "Wait...so I could stay with you, AND go back to see my family?"

"That's exactly what it means, Rose!" the Doctor said excitedly.

"And the same goes for Hikari!" Kema added, smiling at her friend. Rose grinned and turned to Hikari, expecting to see her usual smiles and excitement, but instead was met with stone faced silence.

"Hikari, isn't that great?" Rose said cheerfully. Hikari looked up, her eyes glassy with tears. "Hika, what's wrong?"

"Oh, yeah, it's great. I'm really happy that you'll see your family again, Rose," Hikari said with an obviously forced smile. "But, I don't think I want to go back. Ever."

"What? Not even to visit?" Rose asked, confused. "Is something wrong?" Hikari shrugged, but didn't answer.

Rose looked at Kema, who seemed equally surprised by Hikari's admission. Kema crossed the room and went to stand by her friend, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on? There's something you're not telling us."

Hikari looked at Kema and then at Rose. "The thing is...every time that I said I was going to see my family...I was lying." Her breath hitched as she took in a deep breath before going on. "The truth is..they're gone. My whole family is gone. I'm the only one left" Now tears were streaming down her cheeks in a steady flow. Rose got up out of her seat and moved to hug her friend.

"What happened Hika?" Kema asked, crouching down beside her.

"Well...there was a fire. A huge massive electrical fire that took out ten miles of land area. Every building in its path went up like tinder," Hikari went on. "It happened while I was gone, and I had no way of reversing or stopping it. I...I didn't tell you guys because it was like if I said it out loud, that it was real. I only got to go back one more time, to say goodbye. Now the only home I have is with you guys."

"Oh Hika, that's terrible!" Rose said as she began to tear up.

Kema and Rose both hugged her then, all three of them in tears. When they pulled apart, Rose looked to the Doctor and he nodded his head. She smiled a little and looked back to Hikari. "Hika, you're our family, too. You're welcome to stay with us as long as you like," Rose said gently, squeezing her friend's hand.

Hikari smiled through her tears. "Thanks Rose. I wouldn't want to just invade on the Doctor and Donna like that. You and Kema, you really are his family. But me, I'm just some random person."

"Now I will have none of that! If you're important to Rose and Kema, you're important to me," the Doctor said promptly, flashing her a wide grin. "You're more than welcome to stay. That alright with you Donna?"

"Of course it is, dumbo! That goes without saying!" Donna exclaimed, now smiling herself. "Well looks like we finally got a proper crew. And four girls! This should be a blast. You're outnumbered now, Spaceman!"

With that everyone started to laugh and they carried on with breakfast. The Doctor and Kema talked about adjustments they would have to make to the TARDIS while Rose and the others talked about what sort of planet they might visit next. It was a pleasant, relaxing meal and Rose felt right at home. The fact that she would see her parents and brother again made her so happy she could burst. She was back with the Doctor, and he knew about Bad Wolf. She had a wonderful new friend in Donna, and had her two best mates by her side. Things couldn't get much better. For the first time in a long time, it felt like things were finally falling into place.