A/N: Hey everyone, been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry, after everything that happened I totally lost all motivation. I'm trying to find it again, but things are tough right now. I know this isn't much, but here is a little something for you all, I hope you like it.
Kari strolled into the console room, her hair still slightly damp with quite a few curls hanging down her back. After leaving Sarah Jane's she carefully got herself out of the gorgeous dress and hung it up in the wardrobe in her bedroom, before jumping in the shower. It felt nice to wash away the stress and pain of everything that had happened since the last time she had been in the TARDIS. Even so, she was never going to forget about what had happened with Sarah Jane Smith.
The Doctor was already there, casually standing around, fiddling with something that he probably shouldn't have been touching. It didn't take him long to spot her standing there watching him. "Ah, there you are, you all right?" He asked her, hoping that she was going to be honest with him and tell her how she was really feeling.
"I'm… okay. It's been a long day and one that I know is going to follow me around for a long time." Kari told him, letting out a long sigh as she plonked herself down in the chair. "I'm just glad it's all over."
There was something that was bothering the Doctor, something that he couldn't stop thinking about. "The Trickster," he started, not entirely sure if it was a good idea to bring it all up or not, "what happened with him? With you and him, I mean."
Of course, Kari had been expecting him to ask that, she had known straight away that he was going to be curious and want to know everything. "It was a long time ago, and it's far in your future. Honestly, Doctor, it's nothing for you to be worrying about." There was no way that she wanted to go into details of what happened. "Anyway, where are we off to next?"
"Oh, I don't know. Anywhere you want." The Doctor knew to leave it, he could feel her nervousness and see how tense she was. He wasn't going to push her into telling him, not if she really didn't want to. "What do you fancy doing?"
There was one thing that Kari really didn't mind doing. "Nothing. I want to do absolutely nothing. I want to just sit here and do nothing." She told him, before letting out a sigh. "But I know you want to move on to the next adventure, so we'll go wherever she takes us." The moment she said that, the engines started grinding.
The Doctor was a little shocked at the way their ship suddenly responded to her, but not entirely surprised. He would never understand the bond that the pair of them had, and he was okay with that. "Whatever you command." He said, lightly kissing the side of her head while they both waited for the engines to stop and for the magical ship to inform them that they had landed.
They actually sat there in silence for a few minutes until that time happened, but even once they knew they had arrived somewhere, neither of them made any attempt to move. Kari was just exhausted from everything that had happened, and her mind was still running over everything that had happened, and all the things that she didn't change but wished she had. That was always one of her biggest problems, thinking over what she had done and wishing she had done more to change things.
She was wishing she had stopped the Trickster before Sarah Jane became engaged. She wished that she had told the woman the truth and saved her from so much pain and heartache. Then there were certain things that she remembered, things that she knew had to happen,such as Clyde slamming into the TARDIS and getting a nice shot of Artron energy. The young man didn't know it, but he would need that somewhere in the future to save the whole universe. That was why she couldn't change as much as she wanted to, because she knew the repercussions that it would have on more than just one planet.
"So, do you want to go and take a look? She where the old girl has taken us this time?" The Doctor asked Kari, breaking her out of her thoughts.
She turned her head and looked at him, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah, sure." Kari ended up replying with very little enthusiasm. Right now she simply wanted to curl up and forget the universe, just a few hours of peace and quiet, that was all Kari wanted. With her life, she knew she was never going to get that.
The Doctor noticed the way she replied, but did his best to keep a smile on his face and not let the worry show through. "Come on then, let's take a look." He said, getting up and yanking her up as well. The Doctor just hoped that their ship had taken them somewhere fantastic and amazing, somewhere that would cheer Kari up.
With his hand on the latch, he gave her a big smile, hoping the she would smile back at him, even just a little. She didn't, she was too busy staring at her feet. All the Doctor could do was let out a small sigh as he finally pulled the door open, it was only then that Kari decided to glance up and see where they were.
Her eyes ended up being transfixed on the sight before her. "The space station…" She managed to say, recognising what she could see straight away. "We came here before…"
"Yes, we did, a long time ago." The Doctor replied, gently taking her hand and leading her out of the blue box. "You couldn't believe what you were seeing."
"We had something to eat, then went upstairs for desert. After that, we went to the top floor." That was also the time when her 'date' was crashed the Doctor and her best friend, River. "I pretty much fell asleep up there." The view from up there had been something spectacular, and the whole day was one that she was never going to forget.
"Well, there's something that I didn't mention to you the last time we were here." The Doctor admitted to her, trying not to smile too much as they headed away from the TARDIS. "This place is always on the move."
Kari looked at him strangely, before turning her attention to the space above her head. There was no way that she was going to be able to recognise anything, even if she had paid more attention to the view that had been above her before. "You are kidding me." She ended up replying, trying to find something, anything, that looked familiar.
The Doctor couldn't help but smile a little at her reaction, it was exactly the reaction that he had been hoping for. "Nope, this place really does move. We're only about a billion light years away from where this place was when you first came here."
A small, short laugh escaped from Kari's lips. "And why are we back here then?" It wasn't that she didn't want to be there, it was just a surprise to go back there again, with the same Doctor she had gone there with originally.
"Oh, you know, I just thought that after what you've been through recently, you might like to spend a little time somewhere fantastic." He said to her, gently taking her further away from the TARDIS and towards the elevator in the centre of the glass space station.
All she could do was give him a look that told him she really did not believe a word he had just said. "Oh, is that right, Doctor?" Kari always knew when he was up to something, and she was confident this was one of those times.
The smile was now fixed on his face, and even her suspicious couldn't wipe it off. "Yup, that's right. And before you say it, I'll admit to it. Yes, I am up to something." He knew what was running through her head, the Doctor knew exactly what she was thinking.
Kari stayed silent as they stepped into the empty glass elevator. They were the only ones in there, and the Doctor quickly whipped out his sonic screwdriver. She wanted to ask him where they were going, she was desperate to ask them, but she held her tongue and kept quiet while the screwdriver lit up blue and buzzed away for a few seconds. With a slight jolt, the elevator began to move.
Looking out they could both see all the different species of the universe talking, eating and enjoying themselves. There were so many species there, so many that Kari couldn't name because she had never seen them before, it really was an amazing sight. She would never admit it, but she loved spending time with in places like that, and she would love to do it more often. However, she knew the Doctor would get bored of it and Kari didn't want that to happen.
She had actually been so lost in her own little world that she hadn't realised that the elevator had stopped, and that the Doctor was looking at her. "You all right there?" He asked her, a hint of a frown on his face and a dash of concern in his voice.
"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking." Kari told him, dragging herself back to the world around her. "Actually I was more making a list of questions on me head to ask you later." As soon as she had said she was thinking she knew he would question her on what, which is why she quickly changed her mind. "Anyway, where are we?"
"Well, why don't you go and take a look." The Doctor said to her quietly, just as the doors to the elevator slid open. He really couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when she realised just exactly where they were.
Kari frowned at him a little. Yes, she knew that he was up to something, and she was desperate to ask him what it was, but she also knew that he wouldn't tell her. All she could do was step out of the elevator to see what it was that he wanted to show her. In all honestly, she didn't know what he could show her there that was more amazing than the gazing through the glass ceiling of the top floor.
Oh how wrong she was. "No way…" She managed to breathe. "No, that.. that is so not possible…"
When Kari was younger, there was always something she dreamed of doing. It was a stupid, childish dream, and the one of only a handful that she could actually remember since meeting the Doctor. She had always wanted to see the Earth, from space, when the people down on the planet were celebrating New Years. Right now, she was standing on a space station, made entirely of glass, staring at a planet that had been her home for so long, while the atmosphere around it was lighting up with different colours.
"New Years on planet Earth." The Doctor whispered to her from beside her. "Something you have always dreamed of seeing."
"But… how did you know?" Kari asked him, her eyes still transfixed on the view below her. In all honesty, the answer didn't really matter, she didn't care how he knew, she was just awestruck by what she was seeing.
"I'm the Doctor, I just know things." He told her, her small smile on his face as he gazed at her. "Oh, and you may have actually mentioned it to me once upon a time."
Kari looked at him, a slightly bemused expression on her face. She couldn't remember telling him that, then again, maybe she hadn't told him that yet. "It's amazing." And to her, it really was.
She remembered the time when they were standing on the moon, gazing back down at the Earth, thinking about how beautiful it was. Now she was floating above the Earth in a space station made of glass, while the fireworks lit up the atmosphere of the planet below. It really was a remarkable sight. Kari really had dreamed about it, after seeing it on the television every year, she just never would have expected this.
Suddenly, she turned to the Doctor and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Doctor, thank you for everything." She whispered to him, doing her best to keep the tears at bay. He was always doing such wonderful things for her, and what did she ever do for him in return?
A little while later, they were sitting down and having a little picnic as they watched the fireworks explode beneath them. "You're still not married yet, are you?" The Doctor asked her suddenly, with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"No, not yet. But that's okay, Doctor, because it means I still have so much to look forward to." Kari replied, trying to cheer the Doctor up. She knew that it was a big deal for him, the whole married thing, but she was okay with it. "It will happen someday, and I honestly can't wait, but I will."
It worked, and seemed to put a smile on the Doctor's face. "Yeah, course it will. Anyway, we'll still have lots of adventures either way." He told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "So, anything else you fancy doing?"
"I have absolutely no idea." Kari informed him, still watching the last few fireworks sparkling below her. "What do you fancy doing?" It really didn't matter to her what they did, she was just glad to be there with him.
There were so many things that the Doctor could think of, so many different places that he wanted to show her, but none of them could really beat where they were now. He was more than happy to just stay there for as long as Kari wanted, doing nothing at all. He was just glad that she was happy, and that she wasn't blaming herself for everything that had just happened. The Doctor knew all too well how much she could blame herself when things didn't exactly go too well.
A/N: Again, I am sorry for how long it has been and how short this is. I am doing my best to get back into writing but so much has happened that I just don't want to do it right now. I don't want to disappoint you all, I know how much you guys like this story so I will keep on trying.
Anyway, I hope you are all well and can forgive me for not writing and posting for so long.
Pippa.