oOo

It was closer to a half an hour before Ace appeared in the little kitchen that had quickly become her favorite. During various explorations of the TARDIS she'd discovered no less than five kitchens, each different to the rest. Of course, she hadn't rediscovered all of them since that first bout of reconnaissance, but she suspected the TARDIS knew which one she favored and made sure she found it whenever she decided to go for a bite to eat. "One time I'm going to want the one with all the wine," she muttered, half to herself and half to the TARDIS. "I'm not that far off from legal." She paused. "Whatever legal is in outer space. Oi, Doctor! What's the legal drinking age on a TARDIS?"

He was sitting at the table, a cup of tea already steaming in front of him, a second cup still on the counter with the cream and sugar beside it. "You can have your tea whenever you like," he replied, deliberately obtuse. Ace sighed. "I suppose I'd set it at whatever the legal drinking age was on your home world at the time you left it," he said with a shrug. "No one's ever asked before, at least, no one who wasn't already old enough by their own standards. I imagine you're not quite there yet, but traveling with me does tend to age a person, at least mentally. Why, did you fancy a glass of wine?"

Ace shook her head and busied herself with her tea. "Nah, not today. I just never thought about it before. I guess I'll know when I'm ready."

"I guess you will," the Doctor murmured in response. "If anyone knows their own mind, it's you."

Ace beamed at the rare compliment. "That's me, someone who knows their own mind. Leela was like that, was she?"

"If you ever wish to pursue a career in comedy, you'll have to work on your segues," the Doctor said with a grimace. "Subtle as ever."

"Well? Wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was," the Doctor finally capitulated. "In every sense of the word. In some ways, Leela was the most innocent of all my traveling companions, although far from the youngest."

"Innocent? Even with all that knife throwing?" Ace objected.

The Doctor nodded, unperturbed. "Innocent in the sense that she had a very clear idea of how the universe worked. Her notions of right and wrong were very sharply defined, and she never considered any situation too complex that it couldn't be resolved with a weapon. Which always made me wonder how she got on with Gallifreyan politics..."

"She didn't seem the type to fancy living there. Bunch of stuffed shirts ordering her about, probably telling her how to live her life and that she wasn't good enough for Andred..."

"I can only imagine," the Doctor agreed. Ace had never been on his home world, but she certainly had it pegged. "But that's her life now, and if she wanted to leave it I wouldn't doubt that she could do so without anyone's help."

Ace grinned. She could hardly believe how cooperative the Doctor was being lately, these past few months. Talking to her, really telling her things, personal things, things she never would have dreamed he would share with her even a year ago. No, strike that; even six months ago. When she'd approached him about Sarah Jane, she'd gotten only the barest sketch, a few details penciled in and the rest a great blank nothing. Now, he seemed almost as eager to share his memories as she was to hear them. Her grin faded, then turned to a suspicious frown. "Oi! You're not dying or something, are you?"

The Doctor stared at her. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Ace's shrug wasn't nearly as indifferent as she wanted it to be. "Dunno. You tellin' me everything I ask about, I guess. Thought maybe you felt it was like confession." She peered at him intently. "You don't feel it coming on, do you? Regeneration?"

He shook his head. "No. And I do have a sense of that sort of thing, in case you're wondering." In case you're worried, he amended silently.

"So then why are you telling me so much? Not that I mind, but I was just curious," Ace backpedaled hastily. She didn't want to scare him off for good; who knew how many stories he had to tell.

Her question gave him pause; why was he sharing so much with her? "I suppose it's because you're the first one who ever asked," he replied, sounding as uncertain as she'd ever heard him.

"What, not even Mel? Not even Sarah Jane? The reporter?" Ace was incredulous. "Well, maybe she didn't want to know about the ones you were with before her." She sounded doubtful.

The Doctor hesitated before speaking. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Ace. None of my first three selves ever engaged in, that is to say, none of them ever became as, er, attached to any of their traveling companions as my fourth self did. Not even my later selves, in case you haven't noticed."

She'd noticed, all right. Hard to miss how prone to becoming, er, attached his fourth self had been. "But none of the ones before him? Not even Jo Grant?" Ace sounded disappointed.

"Sorry, my dear, but this is likely to be the last 'once upon a time' you'll get from me," the Doctor confirmed. "My first self didn't start traveling until after Susan was born, and no," he added quickly, noting the eager expression on her face, "I am not going to tell you about Susan's grandmother." Mostly, of course, because he couldn't remember who exactly she was, but he was never going to admit that to anyone, not even Ace. Ace, who was as much like a daughter to him as the unknown woman who had become Susan's mother. He knew that much, at least; it was a daughter of his that was Susan's mother. Whether the knowledge of their identities was deliberately hidden or merely a fatality of regenerative trauma, he had no idea. But he did have a vague sense that the lot of them, all of Susan's other immediate family, were out of bounds, and so he chose to leave them.

"Well, what about your second and third selves, then?" Ace wasn't ready to drop the subject, not completely. She'd come back to that one another time. "Didn't they fall for anyone? Maybe you just got regeneration amnesia; are you sure Jo wasn't one of your girls?"

"Positive." The Doctor's voice was withering. "My second self had undergone forced regeneration not long after letting Susan go off to live her own life, so his interest in 'girls' tended toward the paternal."

"Well, what about number three?" Ace persisted. This wasn't getting her any closer to hearing about Leela, but she was almost as fascinated by the Doctor's purported lack of stories as she was the one she'd set out to hear. She had a suspicion he wasn't being entirely honest with her, but whether she could one day get the truth out of him only time would tell.

"Number three," the Doctor replied firmly, "courted somewhat Victorian standards in his relationships with his companions. But he started becoming interested in Sarah Jane just before regenerating, so I suppose that's why number four–why I–responded to her interest so quickly." He sounded as if he were just figuring this out for himself. "When she kissed me, I didn't even pause to think about why I was reacting so strongly," he mused. "I just–kissed her back."

"Did Leela kiss you first?" Ace steered the discussion back to the subject at hand. Fascinating though this further insight into the Doctor was, she was anxious to hear how that relationship had started.

"Actually, I think we started that particular phase of our relationship together, a mutual first kiss, if you will," the Doctor replied. And what a first kiss it had been...