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Chapter 10

The trio remained silent as they continued to stare at the spot where the Dalek had vanished. None of them wanted to speak, make a sound, or move to break the solemn wave that had washed over them. Madison could only feel sadness for the loss of the Dalek. Though it had been a killing machine . . . it had changed and it was becoming better. For it to think becoming better was horrible . . . to want death because it was revolted by itself . . . How could a creature be like that? It made her wonder just what the other Daleks were like. It made her realise that, though this one had been different, the others may never be reasoned with. No matter what. Just as the Doctor had said. And it saddened her to think about it.

"Ah!" Madison groaned as her stomach twisted in pain. She gripped it, feeling her body starting to want to transform. Her time was up being human for today.

"Maddie, what's wrong? Are you still feeling sick?" Rose asked her, giving Madison a worried gaze.

"Yeah. Still sick," Madison mumbled, closing her hands into fists as she didn't want Rose to see her webbed fingers. The girl had not noticed yet. At least, she hoped Rose didn't. The Doctor, though, most certainly had. There was no denying that he knew something was wrong with her. Especially after holding onto his face just a moment ago. "I'll be . . . back in the TARDIS. See you all in a bit." She made to turn around and go in the direction she remembered the TARDIS was parked, but suddenly she grew dizzy. The room spun around her and she wobbled on her feet.

"Careful," spoke a soft voice in her ear. She blinked as she realised the Doctor was holding her up. He held her under her arms and stared down at her in concern as she leaned heavily against him.

"S-sorry," she mumbled, realising that it wasn't only her body wanting water that was affecting her. Obviously, the connection they had established and her trying to mend the Doctor's broken mind was bothering her worse than she thought. Her mind was throbbing and her stomach twisting. She needed to rest or else she might get sicker.

"Here. Let me help you to the TARDIS," the Doctor said quietly, holding an arm around her waist and allowing her to lean against him. He began having her walk forward, steering her down the corridor.

"Thank you," she said quietly, blushing as she felt embarrassed to be seen as so weak. But she knew it was okay. It was fine to need help once and a while. The Doctor continued to walk her to the TARDIS while she felt Rose holding a hand on her back. Once they made it to the ship, Rose opened the door for them. "I can walk to my room from here," she said to them as they entered the console room.

"I'll need to have a long talk with Van Statten and his staff. A very long talk. But after I'm finished, I want us to have a talk, too," the Doctor said to her, nodding as he let her go. She gulped but merely nodded weakly in return.

"Will you be alright?" Rose asked her in concern.

"Yes. I just need to lie down," she said, waving them away. "I'll be fine. Promise." This seemed to satisfy both Rose and the Doctor as they nodded and left the ship.

As soon as the two of them left, Madison let out a loud groan from the pain she felt. It was like she had been hit by a truck. She could not remember the last time she had felt this way. Not in a very long time. She limped her way down the corridor, her legs going stiff as her joints did not wish to bend properly anymore. She was thankful that the TARDIS brought her room just around the first corner in the hall, already having the door open and everything. She went in quickly, locking the door at first but then, reluctantly, unlocking it again. There was no hiding anymore. The Doctor was going to question her on everything and she would . . . have to tell him. Regardless of the consequences, she knew she had to now. She did not know how to feel about it at the moment, either. Afraid? Terrified was more like it. But there was also heavy tiredness in her. It was something she was just . . . so tired to keep hiding and lying about. Maybe this was a good thing, though. Maybe, once he knew everything . . . she wouldn't have to keep waiting to get her heartbroken later. Might as well just get it over with.

She got undressed, throwing her clothes into a laundry hamper and undoing her braid before going into the bathroom. In the light of the room, while she waited for the water of the bath to fill up, she checked over her legs. She was glad that she had decided against waiting around with them outside of the TARDIS. By the sign of scales all over her legs, patches of them on her arms, and the deep, blue-purple colour of her skin (like that of large bruising), she did not have long before her body would force the transformation. Knowing that her time was limited, she climbed into the tub, sitting down quickly and waiting for the water to cover her legs. The transformation was swift. Her body needed to be in her Mer-form now. Being a human was just too painful. Even air, which was normally fine for her to breathe, burned her lungs. So, she hurriedly pulled herself underwater, taking in deep breaths to fill her lungs full of water. She sighed in relief as the pain slowly melted away.

She smiled as her long hair floated around her head and torso as she lay under the water. After a while, she reached up out of the water and turned the tap off. Then, she remained under the warm water of her bath, curled up as she rested. Her mind wandered to the events that had happened in Van Statten's bunker. The sadness of it all. So many deaths. So many lives wasted. Then the Dalek . . . though horrible for what it had done, it was still sad for a species, the last of its kind, to die. Maybe she was simply being a bleeding heart, though. It had killed and without mercy. It had not even hesitated to kill the Doctor in the beginning. She should have been more aggressive to stop the thing. But . . . again, her damn instincts to heal the broken minded. She had sensed it on the creature almost right away. Its mind had been twisted terribly and she had felt the need to mend it. Damn. She would have to work on not falling for that sort of thing in the future. There might be other life forms out there who meant harm and yet were broken. Her instincts to help might just become the death of her if she were not careful.

"Madison?"

She sat up from the water with a small splash, blinking in alarm at the voice and the knock on her bathroom door. She sat there frozen for a moment, her heart racing as, even though there was a door between them, she felt so exposed and vulnerable. "Doctor?" she called out, needing to make certain it was him.

"Did you jump into a bath already? I thought we were going to talk?" he asked her, sounding disappointed.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she closed her eyes as she debated on just telling him to go away and to talk later. But she knew she was trying to avoid the inevitable. "No, we, uh . . . we are going to talk," she said carefully, still greatly nervous about her decision. She hoped this was the right one. Now she was simply trying to decide on how to approach this. "Just, ah . . . close your eyes as you come in."

". . . You want me to talk to you while you're in the bath?" the Doctor replied, sounding greatly baffled.

Madison sighed. "Look just . . . close your eyes and come in. It'll . . . make sense later."

There was another moment's pause before soon the door of the bathroom was opening and in came the Doctor with his eyes closed. He shut the door behind him, walking as if he could see perfectly as he stood in the middle of the room. "All right. Now what? You gonna make me stand here with my eyes closed while you bathe?"

Madison's heart was pounding in her chest. It thudded in her ears as she stared at the Doctor, standing there with his eyes closed and hands in his pockets. She shivered as she sat there. Her throat was tight as she couldn't bring herself to say anything. If she was scared before in simply telling him that she was Mer . . . then she was beyond terrified in letting him see her like this. She brought up her arms to her chest, shaking as she covered herself the best she could. Her tail curled up, bending up towards her as she only wished to make herself as small as possible. Swallowing thickly, she said, "I . . . I need . . . to show you this. But . . . I'm scared, Doctor. I'm so scared. Even more scared than I was telling you what I am."

The Doctor did not respond. Instead, he stood there for a moment, a heavy frown on his face as he kept his eyes closed. Gradually, he moved closer to her, reaching out a hand to feel the edge of the bathtub. He crouched down, facing her directly as though he were staring into her eyes. "Whatever it is . . . you can trust me," he said, voice quiet as he spoke.

"I do trust you. I'm just . . . afraid of what you'll think of me once you see me in my true form." She sighed, looking down at her tail in shame. She relaxed it, swishing it in the water lightly. "Mother warned me about what people think of our kind. They see us as rather . . . unsightly."

"I'm not most people." The Doctor shifted as remained crouched, frowning thoughtfully. "If you don't want to show me, you don't have to. But I want you to know that I'll accept you for whatever you are. I promise."

Gazing at him, she had hope that he would keep his promise. Though she feared he was merely saying this. Deciding to trust him, she took a deep breath. ". . . Open your eyes, Doctor," she whispered.

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes, staring at her. She kept her gaze firmly on him as she watched every detail of his reaction. She watched as his blue eyes gradually widened, his mouth gaping as he stared down at her tail. He blinked and blinked again as he looked. Then he snapped his mouth shut, swallowing before gazing back into her eyes.

"Mer . . . it's short for-," he began saying.

"Mermaid. Yes," she finished for him, nodding timidly. Again, she curled up into herself as she wanted to hide away at that moment. Her heart continued to pound away and her body was shaking.

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed so loudly it made her jump in the water, making a small splash. He did not seem to notice as he backed away, face beaming now as he gazed upon her as if she were the most wondrous thing in the world. "Oh, this is fantastic! Ha-ha!" He crouched down again, grinning as he got up close to her. "You're a real live mermaid! An actual mermaid, in my TARDIS!" He looked her up and down again, still grinning brilliantly. "You're beautiful. Look at you! Are you a shapeshifting race, or is it more morphic? Are you genetically recoding yourself when you enter water?"

Madison felt her throat close up and her eyes grow warm. Nothing he said was heard after . . . after he said . . . "You . . . you think I'm beautiful?" she whispered.

If the Doctor's grin could grow brighter, it did at that moment. "You're breathtaking."

A sob left her as she couldn't hold it in anymore. She turned her head away from him, covering her face as she cried heavily. All the years of doubting that anyone would ever accept her fully and feeling repulsed by her own body . . . came crashing down at that moment. All the unushered tears of regret left her then. Then, all of it was replaced by joy. She felt overwhelming joy as she found someone. Someone to finally, truly, wholeheartedly . . . welcome her into the world. After calming herself down, she turned to him then, sniffling as she gave him a wavering smile. "Thank you. Oh, thank you, Doctor." She reached forward before she could think to stop herself. Giving him a kiss in her elation, she pulled back, blushing by acting in such a way. She was being rather impulsive lately. "S-sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not." The Doctor gave her a silly grin, seeming to understand her reaction. He scooted himself closer to the tub, sitting down now as he seemed ready to talk more. There was this eagerness to him. Almost giddy. "Tell me everything. I wanna know."

She laughed, realising that this was him wanting to 'study' her as he had mentioned before. "Well, I, ah . . . Yes, I suppose it's a morphic change but I don't know how I do it. When I submerge myself in water or get too wet, I change into my true form. That's about it, honestly."

"And your monthly sickness? Is it some sort of change your body goes through to regain stability with keeping up appearances as a human?"

She blinked, never once thinking of it like that before. "Your guess is as good as mine. Though, you might be right. I've never considered that. Rather, I consider it merely a nuisance."

The Doctor continued to ask so many questions then. So many which she just did not know the answers for. Instead, she told him what she did know. She explained how the monthly cycle worked, the pain of being out of water, the need to sleep in water and how it helped her heal. He began making theories with things she told him, speaking out loud his thoughts as he processed everything in a rapid fashion. She listened to him throughout it all, head resting on her folded arms laying on the side of the tube, simply enjoying the Doctor's company. It made her somewhat sad that again, like the history of her people, she just did not know enough about her species. She wished she did.

"And how your people evolved to become 'human' to blend in with everyone and hide, that's amazing. No wonder you can't find more of your people lying around. That's like finding a needle in a haystack," the Doctor finished in his ramble. He sat back where he was on the floor, leaning against the tall bathtub with one of his legs bent up and his arm resting on it.

"If I did find anyone else, I would know right away. We would sense each other," Madison explained then. "But you're right, even with that I do have to be close by, so I wouldn't know if they were Mer if I just saw them in a crowd of a million."

The Doctor nodded, thinking this over. His giddiness seemed to slowly melt away as he gazed at her in empathy. "It must be hard, knowing that you're most likely so close to finding another one of your kind, but just miss them by a second."

She sighed and nodded sadly. "Yes. It is." There was a pregnant pause before she spoke again. "However, I truly believe that there is none left. So many Mer had offspring with humans that the Mer-kind traits in the children have all but vanished. There might be some things they'll have as a remnant to being Mer, but . . . the possibility of them being able to shift into Mer-form is likely none. My parents were the last fully Mer couple. At least, that I know of."

"You had to watch your people slowly fade away," the Doctor said softly, staring intently at her.

"That was my parents, actually. I grew up never knowing other Mer besides them."

". . . So you grew up alone."

Gazing at him then, she saw the deep sorrow in his expression. The deflated demeanour of him as she knew he was remembering painful memories. "You grew up alone, too, didn't you?" Seeing him swallow thickly and nod slowly, she reached over to touch his arm. Her gaze was sympathetic as she understood how it felt. The overwhelming sense of solitude, of forlornness that never seemed to go away.

The Doctor looked at her, giving her a soft appreciative gaze. "I wasn't always alone, though. I still always had my people in my head. And I did have one friend when I was growing up. . . Then my family . . ." His voice trailed off as he spoke, growing mournful again.

She rubbed her hand in soothing circles on his arm. ". . . What was your family like?" She watched as he looked at her, his jaw tight as his eyes held that same haunted look in them. She nodded, understanding what he was silently saying. "It's okay. I understand you don't want to talk about them. Though . . . if you ever do, just know that I'm here when you're ready."

Pressing his lips tightly together he merely nodded before looking away from her. He stared off at the wall for a while, letting them both merely sit there and contemplate things. Then, he turned to her again. "About what happened . . . There's a lot I want to talk about."

"I know." She nodded lightly, knowing they needed to discuss it.

He frowned a moment before speaking. "You seemed keen on wanting to talk with the Dalek. Why? Don't you have those 'protective instincts' telling you the Dalek was dangerous?"

She shifted on the spot uncomfortably. "Actually, to be perfectly honest, something else instinctual outweighed my 'protective' need." Seeing the Doctor simply raise a brow at her, she sighed. "It's something my people have this 'need' to fix things. It's our highest calling. We have this desire to help people and mend them when it comes to their minds. If a mind is sensed as broken or hurt, we feel the need to mend them. Help them in any way we can. I felt that from the Dalek. Even before Rose's DNA began changing it. I think . . . perhaps being stuck in that burning crater might have broken its mind. Or perhaps . . . that's what the genetic programing at play." She looked away as the Doctor continued to simply stare at her. "I know. I know, it was stupid of me to have ignored the danger and want to help something that was so willing to kill. It's . . . hard to ignore the calling to heal sometimes."

" . . . Is that what you did to me?" he asked quietly. When she gazed at him again, there was uncertainty about him. As though he was nervous to even discuss their shared connection in their minds that had been done.

"I, ah . . . I'm sorry. I just . . . wanted to help you."

There was anger then as he gave her a hard stare. "Don't. Don't take my pain away from me. My pain is my own. By erasing it-."

"No," she said quickly, reaching over and holding his arm as she shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I'm not erasing or changing anything. I merely . . . eased the burden. I take your pain onto me, allowing you some peace of mind, giving you time to mend yourself. Time to find serenity. All the woes you feel, I make it so I feel it instead. It only lasts for a short while. So . . . the pain will be back just . . . not as strong as it was before."

Seeming to understand, the Doctor relaxed. Though he still appeared wary. "Next time . . . no trying to mend me. I don't need 'fixing'. I deserve the right to feel my pain as I want."

"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just hard holding myself back from trying to ease away pain and sorrow. I promise, no more of that." She gave his arm a comforting squeeze, hoping to reassure him.

This seemed to ease him as he smiled lightly and nodded. He then reached over, brushing a strand of hair that had stuck to the side of her face. His fingertips brushed against her temple, just barely touching her. Then, he pressed his fingers a little more onto her head. "I wouldn't mind . . . if you wanted to . . . connect with my mind again. I won't lie . . . I missed the feeling."

She smiled warmly, reaching her hand over to cup his face softly. "I cannot lie, either. I've missed it so much. I'd forgotten how it felt. It was . . . "

"Fantastic?"

She laughed, nodding. "Yes. More than that, I think." The Doctor pulled his hand away from her and so did she. They both gazed at one another with small smiles. "So, what happened after I left?" she asked him curiously.

"Van Statten was, um, taken care of by his staff," he explained. Seeing Madison raise her brows in alarm, he waved a hand in dismissal. "Nothing like that. They're just sending him off with his memories gone, then they're closing down the bunker."

"Ah. Well, that's . . . probably the best thing that could happen, honestly."

"Yeah, well, with the place closing down, we've sort of . . . picked up a stray." Again, he waved a hand as he saw Madison's questioning gaze. "It's that boy Adam. Rose wanted him on board. She says he should come along because he 'wants to see the stars'. I think she just wants him around because he's pretty looking."

Madison sat back in the tub with a heavy frown. "Hmm. Well, I don't approve. Pretty or not, he was practically leaving her behind back there."

"I know. That's what I said. But she wants him on board anyway. It's on her head whether or not he makes it." The Doctor gave a small smirk. "You should have seen his reaction coming into the TARDIS. He nearly fainted."

Madison snickered along with the Doctor. "Well, not everyone can handle the majesty of the TARDIS, I suppose." She leaned back into the water of the tub, feeling the need to get under the water again. The air she was breathing began burning the back of her throat, making her chest uncomfortable. She ignored it, wanting to keep talking with the Doctor. "I guess Rose has the right to date who she wants. But, um . . . I'd keep my eye on him if I were you."

"Already ahead of you." The Doctor was leaning against the side of the tub again, now grinning at her. "I can think of one good way of keeping an eye on him and giving Rose her date. There's the year 200,000. The perfect era of culture, art, politics, good manners; the perfect peaceful era with no conflicts to get in the way."

"Sounds great." She started to cough then, sucking in a rasping breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked, staring at her in concern.

"Yes, I just . . . Air isn't the best thing for me right now." She sunk a little farther into the water with it right up her chin. "I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, but I need to breathe water for a while. It's another unfortunate side effect of the monthly cycle. I have to stay in water for twenty-four hours."

"Ah . . . Well, I'll still wait for you to join us. Rose might start to whine soon, though."

Madison laughed, shaking her head. "Well, we can't have that." She sat up in the water again, smiling as she leaned against the side of the tub to get closer to him. "Go ahead without me. I don't want to ruin Rose's date."

The Doctor gave a pout. "I don't want to go without you. What if you miss out?"

"Doctor, I'll be fine. We can always go again later." Smiling, she reached over and touched his arm gently. "Go have fun. I'll be here and you can tell me all about it later."

"Sure?" Seeing her nod, he smiled lightly. "I'll bring you a souvenir." He stood up to leave the room but then turned around suddenly. "Wait, I can't leave you here alone and bored for twenty-four hours. What do you normally do when you're stuck in a tub? Do you even stay in a bathtub all day? Do you go swimming in the sea or something?"

"I was always too afraid to swim out in the open. The last time I did was decades ago in a deep natural spring in the midwest of the United States. So, yes, normally I stay in my bath at home." She sighed, sinking down into the water sadly. "I'm not going to lie, it was always rather boring . . . and very cramped. I'm just so grateful that the TARDIS gave me a rather large bath."

"Let me bring you something. Hang on."

Madison watched as the Doctor swiftly left the room. Blinking, she was unsure of what he was going to do. Minutes ticked by and she slowly sank into the water, going under to breathe deeply so her lungs would stop burning. Eventually, she lifted herself back up as she heard the Doctor coming back into the room. She blinked in shock when seeing him wheeling in a very flat television. She had never seen a television like it before. It was rather sleek. She kept watching as he pushed it into her bathroom on an av cart of some kind. Once he had it sitting in the centre of the room, he grinned brightly as he brought over a remote to her.

"Here you go. Some tv for you to watch. So you're not so bored," he said as he handed the remote over. "And don't worry the remote's waterproof. So you can watch from under the water all you like."

"Thank you," she said, grateful to him. She smiled brightly. "This is wonderful."

"I'll have to get you more things later . . . when I get the time," he said, hands in his pockets as he frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I can get you a bigger bath while I'm at it . . ."

"No, no. This is more than fine." She gave him an even greater smile. "Just go have fun now."

"Will do." He winked at her, walking away and closing the door behind him.

Madison slowly sank under the water with a smile that just refused to leave her face. She couldn't believe it. The Doctor had actually accepted her as she was. Truly and completely. Though, she wondered if it was more because he was merely fascinated by her and her kind. Well, that was fine. She was just as mesmerised by him, after all. She didn't care if it was mere captivation that allowed him to accept her. She just wanted someone to approve of her Mer-form. To withhold any disgust and just . . . welcome her into the world as she was. To take her as she was and simply want to continue on as if nothing were wrong. And she finally found him, the one person who could accept her fully.

Truly, she was no longer alone.

XxXxXxXxXx

Hours ticked by slowly for Madison as she rested in her bath. At first, she took a long nap. But then she woke up and had to stretch out around in the tub. After a while, she turned on the tv and began watching a multitude of different movies. Mostly all of her favourites. Something most people did not know about her, she was a rather big movie fanatic. She loved motion pictures, ever since the first one she saw in 1895 in a tiny little carnival theatre. They were wonderful and only continued to grow as time went by. The marvels that motion pictures could do now were astonishing. Her favourite movie had to be Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was an extraordinary feat of motion picture, bringing cartoons to life as the movie had done. Then there were horror movies she liked. Though nothing of the modern era. She enjoyed more of the classic scares that were brought onto screen.

Madison kept watching the tv, enjoying having something to do as she felt the hours pass. Soon, she grew hungry and realised sadly that she had forgotten to bring snacks into the bathroom with her. She hoped the Doctor would come back soon. She really needed something to eat. Then, another hour passed and she grew worried. Just how long were the Doctor and Rose going to be gone? Was he going to keep going on adventures without her? This thought saddened her greatly as she realised that this might become a normal routine during her monthly cycle. Which wasn't too surprising. She knew she should get used to it all and whatnot. Still . . . she couldn't help but feel sad being left behind. Like she was a burden to them or something. Which, given her being stuck in Mer-form, she mostly was a burden to everyone.

After two more hours passed, she knew something was wrong. She could feel it. Something had gone wrong for the Doctor and Rose. But what could she do? She was stuck in the bath until the twenty-four hours were up. Even if she tried to dry herself completely her tail wouldn't change back to legs. Madison began contemplating what to do, biting the inside of her cheek as she worried and shifted around in the tub. She turned off the telly, trying to use the quiet to think. But then, relief flooded through her as she heard a noise coming outside of her bathroom.

"Doctor? Is that you?" she called out.

"Maddie? Sorry, it's me. The Doctor said you weren't feeling well, but . . . I needed someone to talk to," came the voice of Rose. "Are you decent? Can I come in?"

Madison froze, not knowing what to do. The Doctor was one thing, but showing Rose her true form was completely out of the question. The door wasn't locked so it would be too simple for Rose to barge in on her.

"N-no. Please don't come in," she stuttered weakly, shaking now as her nerves shot up. She scooted down into the water, feeling the instinct to hide but having no place to go.

"Can I talk to you through the door at least?" Rose asked her, sighing in frustration.

"Y-yes." Madison remained unmoving, afraid to make a sound that would make Rose question what she was while in water. Not that Rose would probably put together that she was a mermaid, but . . . it was better to be safe this way.

There came the sound of Rose sitting down outside of the door, obviously with her back to the door given by the shadow outside of the bathroom. "I wish you'd have come with us. It was a mess."

"Oh, dear. What happened?" Madison sat up more, starting to fear what had happened to the two of them. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm just more upset about Adam, is all."

Blinking, it then dawned on Madison that this was nothing more than a 'girl talk' now. Relaxing, she leaned against the side of the tub, arms folded and chin resting. "Oh . . . I'd forgotten he was with you. How did that go? Horrible first date? Did he brag about himself too much or something?"

Rose gave a loud sigh. "No. Ugh, god, I wish it were only that. He tried using us to get rich by stealing information from the future and sending it to his mum."

"Ooh, that's . . . definitely worse." This shocked Madison, though she wasn't too surprised. Something about Adam did seem off to her. "Did you catch him doing it?"

"Sort of. It was more like he connected his brain to the computer and he started giving information to the Jaga . . . Jagra . . . This alien monster thing that was controlling the human race by using this news station to spread lies. Or something like that. Honestly, you had to be there. It was all a big mess in the end. I'm just glad we had Cathica to come in and save us."

Rose told her all of this so rapidly it was hard keeping up. But she felt she understood the gist of it. Bad alien, saving the day, that sort of thing. Rather a normal day for them, really. "So, what happened to Adam? I bet the Doctor let him have it."

"Yeah, he did." Rose laughed, snickering away. "He sent him back to his mum's. With the brain implant thing still in his mind. Now he can never have anyone snap their fingers or else they'll see his brain!"

"Oh, that's terrible. But honestly a fitting punishment."

"Can you imagine his mum's face if she ever snapped her fingers around him?" Both of them started laughing, snickering and giggling at the thought. Then Rose grew quiet, sounding sad as she spoke next. "I just . . . ugh, I have the worst taste. Every time I think a bloke I'm interested in is going to work out, they do something stupid like this. Says a lot about me I suppose." Another long pause. "Do . . . do you think something's wrong with me?"

"No. Don't think like that." Madison sat up, giving the door a stern gaze, even though she knew Rose couldn't see her. "Adam was just not right for you. Or even right in the head. He tricked you. It's not your fault you didn't know."

Rose sighed again. "I know. I just . . . wish I wouldn't run into the mental ones."

"Don't beat yourself up. You just have bad luck is all. I'm sure eventually you'll have a wonderful man who's perfect for you."

"Says the girl who already has the perfect man."

Madison frowned, shaking her head. "I don't have anyone. What do you even mean?"

"Oh, come off it. You've got to have noticed by now the way the Doctor stares at you. Those old blue eyes of his, all big and soft whenever he looks at you. It's . . . really sweet, actually. And you flirt with him so much, I'm surprised you're not already trying to snog him or something."

Sitting there in silence for a moment, Madison moved away from the side of the tub, sitting back as her face heated up. "I don't . . . I am not trying to flirt. It just . . . happens, all right? And besides . . . the Doctor only thinks of me as a friend."

"No, he really doesn't." Rose was quiet now, her voice soft. "You should have seen him . . . when we all thought you were dead . . . I'd never seen someone so upset like that before. He was heartbroken. Anyone could see that."

Madison remained still as she thought over Rose's words. Was it true? Did the Doctor consider her more than a friend? She didn't want to believe it . . . It was hard thinking of someone else falling for her after . . . after losing David. But . . . maybe it was true. In fact, she knew it was true. Though a part of her still wanted to believe that maybe it was merely who the Doctor was, or maybe a part of his culture, she felt that this notion was wrong. There was something there. She felt it in herself. She felt this deep connection that she had only ever experienced once in her life . . . and honestly, she missed it. She wanted to experience it again. She wanted to be there with the Doctor as more than a simple friendship. But . . . should she allow herself to? Even though it had been over a hundred years, it still felt too soon to move on from David. He had been her first love, a partner she had hoped to be the only one for life. She had been so broken after losing David, that she had almost given in to her broken heart. The same after losing her parents. And, on top of that, there was the Doctor's own grief that he was dealing with. Losing all his family and friends. What if he had been married? Had a loving wife and children? Who would want to move on from that? She knew she might never wish to. She didn't want to push him into something he didn't want. If even her heart sang for her to be with him in some form or another.

"I don't think that it will be possible for us to be anything more than friends," Madison finally sighed, sinking down into the water as she thought over everything in forlorn remorse.

"Why not?" Rose asked, sounding bewildered.

"Because . . . there's so much the Doctor is grieving from after the Time War. I don't think he's ready to move on. And . . . there's a lot that I'm still grieving over as well."

There was a pause before Rose spoke again. "What are you grieving about?" she asked quietly.

Swallowing thickly, Madison decided to change the subject there and then. "So what was the year 200,000 like? Tell me all the details."

Rose seemed to hesitate. Madison knew that the girl realised she was avoiding the subject. But then the shadow behind the door shifted and Rose began telling her about the less dangerous part of the adventure. Going into all the details of the food, the people, the culture, and the technology. Both even shared a few laughs about Adam fainting, and of the drink that tasted like beef. The subject of grief and the Doctor being completely forgotten by the two of them.

Sorry the chapter was short. Next time, it will be a bit longer, I promise. If you enjoyed, please leave a review. I love seeing what everyone has to say.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!