A/N: Well hello there! I've got to say, there are a few surprises on the way, and I am totally excited for it all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and that I haven't missed too many errors. I'll grab hunting kit and go after them when I get the chance. Enjoy the chapter!

Kari let out several groans before she finally decided to open her eyes. She was a little disorientated at first, she remembered the Doctor talking to her, the air around her being cold and getting colder. Now she was in a vaguely familiar room, it was only when she heard the light humming that she realised exactly where she was. "Hmm, back in the TARDIS." She muttered to herself, glad to actually be back there, but a little curious as to what had happened and how she had managed to get there.

Without much thought, she threw the covers away and placed her feet on the floor. Her stomach was rumbling, and it made her wonder how long it had been since she had something to eat. It didn't matter, she needed some food and she was going to go and find it. It didn't matter that the clothes she was wearing were all wrinkled and creased, she had only just woken up and after eating she would have a nice hot bath.

Her feet were just taking her to the kitchen, and she was pretty sure that the ship was helping her, because she seemed to be shifting everything around for her to make it quicker and easier. The growls from her stomach just seemed to be getting louder and louder, and Kari couldn't help but try to shush it as she was walking.

She was relieved when she finally reached the kitchen, but slightly startled when the door opened just as she went to reach for the handle. The Doctor stood there, looking at her with shock on his face. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." He told her, watching her carefully and taking in the state of her hair. It was curly and tangled and clearly she hadn't bothered to brush it yet.

Kari didn't really know how to respond to that, she wasn't entirely impressed with the tone he had used when speaking to her. "I… uh, I was just… I wanted to get something to eat." She said, just as her stomach made one of the loudest grumbled she had heard.

The Doctor continued to stand there in the doorway, blocking Kari's entrance to the kitchen. "Ah, well… It's a bit of a mess in here at the moment, just having a tidy up." He needed to get her away from the kitchen, he had to buy himself some more time. "Here, have a banana." There was something yellow in his hand, and he thrust it at her before quickly ducking back behind the door and closing it.

"Right… thanks…" She managed to mutter as she looked at the piece of fruit that was in her hand. There were several things that were bothering her, the first being the fact that he wouldn't let her into the kitchen, and the second being that a banana was not going to make a dent in her hunger.

She was about to walk away from the Kitchen, head back to her own room and hide in there until she was wanted somewhere else. Kari hoped that she would be taken soon, because she really didn't want to have to run around on some crazy adventure with the Doctor on an empty stomach. One step later and she heard a loud crashing coming from the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks and frowned at the door.

Behind the door came the Doctor's voice, muffled and seemingly a little annoyed. "Ouch, no, that doesn't go there. Who put that table there? Stupid place to put a table." He said, before there was another crash from inside the room.

"Uh, is everything all right in there, Doctor? Do… do you want any help?" Kari asked him, not entirely sure that it was the right thing to do, to offer to help. He was definitely acting pretty off with her, and she was getting the feeling that he didn't really want her there for much longer.

"Nope, everything's fine. Go and eat your banana." He called back through the door, before he obviously kicked something and hurt himself. "Nothing to worry about in here. Come back in a little while."

Kari simply let out a sigh as she clutched hold of her banana and headed away from the kitchen. Her original plan was to go to her room and just stay there, have a bath and wait until she was pulled somewhere else. However, her feet seemed to have other ideas as she found herself shuffling into the console room.

Without much thought, she moved over to the stairs on the other side and sat herself down. After everything that had happened, she thought things would be better with the Doctor, that he wasn't so angry with her anymore. Now she couldn't help but feel that she was completely wrong and that he was going to be holding it against her for a long time to come.

Her mind was blank as she ate her banana, not really enjoying it much and constantly wishing that she was somewhere else. She was broken out of her blank mode when a voice reached her ears. "There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you." The Doctor called, bounding into the room and over to her.

"Oh, yeah, I… uh, I was just eating that banana. Think I'm going to go have a bath and get dressed or something." It was clear to see that she was nervous, and Kari could just feel a pot of emotions bubbling around inside.

However, the Doctor grabbed hold of her hand as she stood up. "Nope, not yet. Come on, I've got something to show you." He didn't wait for her to respond, he just carried on walking, dragging her through the TARDIS and back towards the kitchen.

She wanted to struggle, to not let him drag her around the ship, but she was still hungry and just didn't have the energy. She didn't want to start any more arguments as well, Kari hated it when they bickered and even if it was over the smallest of things, it would hurt her. Sometimes everything would be okay afterwards, they would be able to sort things out quickly and just move on, but she wasn't sure it was going to be as easy this time.

"How are you feeling? Better, I hope, after all that sleep." The Doctor was acting as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just banished her from the kitchen and shoved a banana in her hand. "Berny got home safely, back with his wife and the son he didn't know he had. I took Clara home, told her we'd visit soon, once you were feeling better."

Kari hadn't even realised that it was only her there with the Doctor, or that she didn't even know how long she had been asleep for. "What happened? Everything is kind of fuzzy, I don't really remember everything." She hoped that he would be nice enough to give her an answer.

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her. "You saved them all, Kari, every single one of them. You didn't just power up the ship to release them all, you gave it enough power to heal them all as well." His voice was so soft when he spoke to her, and it made Kari relax a little. "I had to stop you in the end, you were giving it everything you had, everything. I could have lost you."

A shocked expression quickly took over her face. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just want to…"

"I know, Kari, I know. You wanted to help, to save them, and you did. And I couldn't be prouder of you." Kari was taking by even more surprise when the Doctor said that and reached down to kiss her forehead. "Now come on, you're wasting away to nothing and need something more to eat than a banana." He told her, before dragging her along with him once more.

Of course, Kari was still trying to overcome the surprise of what he had just said, and what he had done. She hadn't gone out to make him proud, or to impress him or anything like that, and she honestly thought that he was going to be angry with her. Kari could handle him being angry at her, at least it gave her a reason to want to leave and not feel so guilty about it all. But now she wasn't thinking that way, now she was feeling guilty for wanting to hurry up and leave.

"I'm sorry for sending you away earlier." The Doctor said to her, just as they reached the door to the kitchen. "You weren't meant to be up, and it took me a little by surprise, got me in a bit of a fluster actually." Well, she knew that was true, she had heard him bumbling around in the kitchen.

"Uh, I kind of noticed. I mean, you were shouting at the table." Because apparently the table had gotten in his way. "That gave me a clue that you were a bit annoyed."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course I was a bit annoyed, you almost ruined everything." He told her, before throwing open the door to the kitchen. "I was going to serve you breakfast in bed, but you couldn't even stay in bed long enough for that to happen."

Kari was stunned once more. The kitchen had been transformed, the large table in the room covered with a golden cloth, with a very big bunch of flowers sitting in a vase in the middle. What she also noticed was that amount of food that was spread all over the table. There was everything from croissants and toast, to bacon and eggs. It seemed like he had thought of everything.

While still in her state of shock, the Doctor gently rested his hand on the small of her back and guided her into the room. "What would madam like, tea, coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice perhaps?" He asked, pulling out the chair and letting her sit down.

"Uh… tea, please." She replied, doing her best to pull herself back down to reality. This was not what she had expected, she had not even considered that he would ever do anything like that. The whole idea of him bringing her breakfast in bed was absurd in its own right.

Within moments, there was a steaming cup of tea sitting before her, and the Doctor standing at the side of her. "I'm the Doctor, and I shall be your server today. We have a large selection of foods available for you on this fine day, is there anything that takes your fancy?"

"Well, it all looks good. Did you really do this, Doctor?" Kari asked him, still not entirely able to believe it all. "It just… why would you do it?" She just could not get her head around it, not at all.

"Of course I did, and why not? I am allowed to do things for you, and like I said, it was meant to be breakfast in bed, but you just couldn't wait a few minutes longer, could you?" It still didn't make sense to Kari, why was he even considering bringing her breakfast in bed? "It's my way of say sorry."

Kari was just about to take a sip of her tea when he said that, and she almost dropped the cup. "Sorry? For what?" There were so many things running through her head, what was he saying sorry about? Why had he decided this was a good idea to make it up? Why had he even thought of saying sorry in the first place?

The Doctor quickly filled up Kari's plate with a selection of different foods, already knowing that she would probably eat most of it and then want more. "For everything that happened, the things that I said. It was unfair and cruel, and I should never have said those things." He finally stopped and pulled out a chair to sit next to her. "I realised that I was only thinking about myself, that I never took into consideration your feelings at all. Clara reminded me that you have been there every single time, each and every one, through all that pain, you were always there. I never stopped to think how all of that impacted on you."

She really couldn't believe what she was hearing, it just seemed impossible that he would understand what she always had to go through, to look at it through her eyes. "Yeah, well… it doesn't matter. It's all in the past now." Kari really didn't know what else to say.

"No, Kari, it does matter."

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked at him, he was just waiting for her to speak to him. "Just… just because I know who you're going to turn out to be, it doesn't mean that I know you. Yes, you're still the same person after a regeneration, but you are so different as well. You said it yourself, Doctor, new personality, new likes and dislikes." There was something at the front of her mind that she was unsure of saying, she didn't know if telling him would make things better or worse.

The Doctor could see it, something in her eyes telling him that she was thinking something. "What else, Kari? Please, I just want you to talk to me and tell me everything that is bothering you. Talk to me about anything, everything." He was trying to encourage her to be honest with him and to find out how she really felt.

"The last you, the man before this one, he was really sweet." Kari admitted, thinking back to the times when she would wake up and he would have his arms wrapped around her. "Completely bonkers to start with, but most definitely sweet. And before him, the suit and converses, he wasn't as hyperactive, because that is what you are most of the time, hyperactive like a little kid." Now that she had started, she just couldn't seem to stop herself. "He was really protective, I mean, if he could have wrapped me up in bubble wrap and cotton wool, I'm pretty sure he would have. Oh, and then we had Mr big ears in his leather jacket. He was a very jealous man, especially when it came to Jack. But in every case, I knew that he cared, even though we had our differences and the occasional fight."

"Do you think that I don't care?" The Doctor ended up asking her. He knew that she was trying her best, but there was still something she wasn't saying.

Kari knew that she needed to just get on and say it, she was just trying to delay it, to get out of saying it. "Doctor, your likes and dislikes change every time. What if… what if one time you don't…"She couldn't bring herself to say it, she was trying so hard, but she couldn't get the words out.

Lucky for her, the Doctor seemed to know exactly what it was she was trying to say. "What if one time I don't love you anymore?" Kari swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and nodded at him. "Oh, Kari, that is never going to happen." He assured her, taking a tight hold of both her hands. "That is the one thing that will never, ever change. Sure, my face will change, I'll eventually hate bananas, and I won't find your brother's flirtatious attitude so annoying, but I can guarantee that I will always love you."

"You don't know that, Doctor. You don't know. Anything can happen, and with you around, it usually does." There was always that fear in the back of her mind that one day the Doctor would look at her differently, that he wouldn't want her anymore, that he would just abandon her. She had never told him that, she had never told anyone about it, not even her big brother Jack.

"Marry me." The Doctor said suddenly, taking Kari by utter surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me, marry me. You want me to prove it, then I will, I'll prove that I love you and that I always will." There was a passionate fire burning in the Doctor's eyes now, there was no way that she could miss seeing that. "Marry me, Kari."

She really didn't know what to say at first, he had completely thrown her by saying that. "You're already married." Those were the only words that she could force out of her mouth.

He gave her a slight smirk. "I am, but you're not. You've got your engagement ring on, but you haven't gotten married yet."

Kari wondered how she managed to let her life get so complicated. "That's the third time now." There was a confused look on the Doctor's face. "That you've asked me to marry you, that's the third time. Well, from my perspective at least."

"So hurry up and marry me, then I won't have to keep asking you all the time." There was an odd smile on his face now, and he looked kind of goofy. "What do you say?"

"I told you once, I'll tell you again, constantly asking me isn't going to make me marry you any quicker. Yes, I will marry you, but not right now." She watched as the Doctor's face fell, just a little. "Doctor, I am starving, let me at least have something to eat." She was also rather nervous and excited. Everything seemed to just turn around, and all because the pair of them had actually spoken.

When a smile crept onto Kari's face, one also reappeared on the Doctor's face. "Right, well then, you better eat up." He was happy, really happy, because he had spoken to Kari and sorted everything out. The Doctor had also managed to slip in yet another proposal, which she accepted. She would never know it, but it really did mean the world to him for her to say yes, it meant that even now that he had changed his face once more, she still loved him and wanted to be with him.

He still couldn't stop smiling away while Kari ate. The Doctor wasn't eating, even when she kept telling him that she was never going to eat it all, he was just content to sit there while she filled up on everything she wanted. She must have been a lot hungrier than she first thought, as she really was getting through most of the food.

"Did you really cook all this? By yourself?" Kari managed to ask him between mouthfuls of the egg she was shovelling into her mouth.

"Of course I cooked it all. Okay, I had a little help from Sexy, I wasn't entirely sure about that thing that heats the food. What's it called again? Oh, yes, the cooker. It's a lot more complicated than it looks." Kari couldn't help but laugh at his response, which only made the Doctor look at her. "Honestly, how do humans manage with those things, it's so much easier to go out and have someone else cook for you. And the amount of washing up that you have to do after, it's impossible."

Once again, Kari was laughing. "Doctor, you've done an amazing job, thank you." She leaned over and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. "But if you hate cooking that much, then I'm okay with us eating out. Or, we can go one better, and you can let me cook for you."

Everything seemed to be getting better and better for the Doctor. He loved her cooking, everything she cook was always amazing. "You can cook anytime you want. This is your kitchen more than it is mine, if you want to cook, then you go ahead and cook." If she wanted to cook then there was no way that the Doctor was going to even think of stopping her.

Kari couldn't help but smile some more at that. "Brilliant, it's been a while since I've cook a proper meal, and making it for you would make it even better." There was excitement for that now bubbling inside her as long with everything else. She still couldn't get over how things had changed from when she arrived up until that point.

The pair of them say in the kitchen for a little while longer, the Doctor brewing them both a nice cup of tea. "Pick a date and a place." He announced, clapping his hands together before rubbing them in eagerness.

A frown formed upon her face. "Why? What for?" She wasn't sure she was up to another adventure just yet, she was rather happy just hanging around in the TARDIS with him for the moment. Kari wouldn't admit it to the Doctor, but she still wasn't feeling completely back to her normal self.

"Well, if you're happy to just get married in a random place than…"

Kari felt both of her hearts skip a beat or two. "Right… right now?" It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was that she wasn't sure she was ready. "Do you know how long a wedding takes to place? I mean, I need bridesmaids, someone to give me away, and you need a best man. Then we have to find someone to actually perform the ceremony. I haven't even gotten a dress."

"Easy, we can go and pick Clara up, she can help you. Remember, we have a time machine, everything can be ready to pick up in a matter of minutes." The Doctor was so confident, so sure of it all.

But Kari knew she had to go and burst his happy bubble. "I want Jack." She wondered how he was going to react to her saying that, and to what she was about to tell him as well. "He is the only other person that is close to family that I had. He's like my brother, and you know that. I don't have a father to give me away, not anymore. He has to be there, Doctor, Jack needs to give me away."

His reaction wasn't quite what she expected. "Great, now I have to find another best man." He told her, not at all bothered by the fact she wanted Jack there. The Doctor knew how much he meant to her, and he would never deny her anything when it came to Big Brother Jack. "Anyone you can recommend?"

There was a name that popped into her head, two actually. "Mickey Smith, he's a pretty decent man. Plus, I could get his wife Martha to be a bridesmaid." Kari wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mention those two, since they were from his past life, but they were still apart of hers, and they always would be.

"You have a solution to everything, don't you?" He wasn't angry, nor was he upset, he was glad that she was able to think so quickly. "I think we can do that. Mickey the idiot and the brilliant Martha Jones."

"Martha Smith, Doctor, she found herself an amazing man. The pair of them, defending the Earth and fighting aliens." Even if he would never admit it, Kari knew the Doctor was proud of them, he was proud of all his past companions. He had proved that when he went back and visited them all, or at least tried to, and the end of one of his lives. Some people were a lot harder to track down than others, those who liked to wander the planet and do good wherever they could.

All he did was nod at her in response. "Okay, so we need Jack, Martha, Mickey, Clara, anyone else?"

Yes, there was someone else, someone that Kari wanted there more than anything else. She needed her best friend with her, but she didn't think that was going to be possible. "There's… there's one other person, but I… I don't think…"

It was as if the Doctor could read her mind, as he gently tugged her out of the chair and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "River. She is your best friend in the entire universe, how could you get married without her there with you?

"She'd kill me. Actually, I think she does, but that's a spoiler and besides the point." She knew she was starting to ramble a little, but she really didn't care. "River has always been there for me, just like Jack has, the most special day of my life, and she has to be a part of it." If she got married without inviting River, there would be murder, there was no denying it, River would hold it over her for as long as she possibly could. But Kari wanted her there, if there was a way to have her there, then she would make sure she was there.

"Like I said, time machine. We can go back and get her, anything for you." Kari really couldn't believe how sweet the Doctor was being, it just seemed so surreal. But it was happening, she was actually going to marry the Doctor.

Out of nowhere, she just burst into tears. "Sorry. I'm sorry." She mumbled, the Doctor holding her even closer now. "I just, I can't believe all of this is happening, and to me of all people. I don't know why the universe decided that I was good enough for you, because I'm not. You can do so much better than me, I don't deserve you."

"Oh, Kari. It's me that doesn't deserve you, especially after the way I treated you. I said some horrible things to you, and you should have just left. But you didn't, you never do and you never will. You always stick by me, not matter what happens and how much of an idiot I am, you will always be there." Anyone else would have left him, and the Doctor knew that. There were not many people that would put up with his behaviour, but she did, time and time again. Kari could see the good in everyone, just like she had the Warper. She had always known that something wasn't right, and she gave it a chance. Even though she had walked out once, he knew deep down that she would never do it again.

"Of course I will always be there, especially at those times when you're an idiot. I know you, Doctor, you're not heartless like you try to make people think. I know that you have two very big hearts." Kari had seen him act like he didn't care before, when deep down he did. That was just who he was sometimes, and it really didn't matter how much of an idiot he was, she would always forgive him.

The Doctor ended up kissing the top of her head before letting his arms relax around her a little so that he wasn't squishing her. "I told you, I don't deserve you. Now, you need to go and have a bath and get dressed. I should have picked a few people up by the time you're done and then you can go dress shopping and whatever else it is that you need to do." Kari nodded her head at him before he gently turned her around and gave her a little nudge to get her moving.

She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pounding that had begun a few moments ago in her head as she took a step away from the Doctor. Kari didn't want to jump, not yet, she couldn't. But it seemed as if the universe had other plans for her, and they involved her being whisked away from the Doctor while she was planning her own wedding.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I guess the wedding is going to have to wait until I get back." Kari told him, tears already rolling down her soft cheeks.

He quickly spun around to look at her, and along with the tears, he noticed the light golden glow that was starting to surround her. The smile that had been on his face disappeared in an instant, and worry took its place. "Hey, it's okay, it's not your fault." The Doctor told her quickly, knowing that she was upset and most likely ready to have a bit of a break down. "I'm going to be right here, waiting for you. And when you get back then we'll do it. You and me, we'll go and get married. Think about it this way, it gives you a chance to pick a time and a place." He was trying his best to make it less painful for her, but even he was hurting from it.

"I don't want to go, Doctor. I want to stay here, please, I don't want to go." Kari was getting more upset by the second, and the pain in her head was getting worse. "Please, I love you, I don't want to leave yet." Before the Doctor had a chance to reply, she was whisked away from him, a single tear slipping down his cheek as she vanished from his sight.

"There's the car, but where's mum?" Kari heard a slightly familiar voice say. Her head was still spinning, and she really wished that it would stop.

A female voice quickly spoke. "No sign of any aliens either." There was a soft snort from Kari, that information really wasn't correct at all, there was an alien very close by.

"I did not just see that." A third voice chimed, while she began to gather herself a little more. "Careful!"

Finally, Kari managed to open her eyes, and she was surprised at where she was. "Oh, my God." The young girl said, looking through the window of a restaurant.

"Oh, no, they're not gonna…" He stopped and pulled a slightly disgusted face. "Oh, people are eating."

Suddenly, a sound caught Kari's attention, a sound that she heard so often, and knew tremendously well. "It's okay, Sexy, I'm here, I'll help sort this out." She muttered under her breath, before looking back at the trio that were now crossing the road.

"Nobody over 22 should be doing that in public actually."

Kari knew that it was time to make her presence known, and she was going to have a little fun while doing it. She ran across the road, making sure that she wasn't going to get hit by a car first, before stopping in front of the trio. "Luke Smith, Rani Chandra, Clyde Langer! How dare you spy on my Sarah Jane!" She cried at them, taking them all by shock. "The three of you have a hell of a lot explaining to do." There was a firm and fierce look on her face as she spoke, and from the looks in the children's faces, she knew she had spooked them.

A/N: Yeah, I know, I'm pretty mean. First the Doctor is being an idiot, then he's making it up to her, and THEN he is asking her to marry him! And Poor Kari still hasn't gotten her happy ever after, guess it wasn't third time lucky after all.

Now, I know some of you will have already worked out what is going on next, but shush, spoilers. If you are just bursting to talk about it, PM me, don't give it away in the reviews until after it has all been revealed. If you could, I'd really appreciate that.

I would like to thank you all, each and every one of you, who takes the time to read and review, you guys are amazing and I love you all so much. To everyone who has enjoyed every moment of this story, I'm so happy that you do and I hope I keep your interest in the future as well.

Keep on being fantastic, all of you!

Pippa.