Hermione woke the next morning to find out that she was alone. The Doctor had told her before that he only needed a couple hours of sleep every night. Therefore, even though she was a bit disappointed, she was not really surprised when she realized that he was already gone.

Instead, she stretched luxuriously and realized that once she had found herself in the Doctor's arms, she had actually experienced a good night's sleep with no nightmares. That thought reminded her of their plans for the day. She was truly excited about exploring the TARDIS with him, so she jumped eagerly out of bed to get ready. After a quick shower, she threw on a casual outfit that she knew would be good for both exploring and for a run afterwards, as well. Then, after asking the TARDIS as to the location of their alien friend, she headed down the corridor to the console room.

Before she even saw his boots sticking out from underneath the console, Hermione knew that the Doctor was tinkering beneath it because she could hear the buzz of his sonic screwdriver down there. She smiled to herself as she realized that he always had the handy little tool with him and that he used it for everything. In fact, for him, it really seemed to be the scientific equivalent of her wand. He would be just as lost without it as she would without that wooden extension of herself. She smiled again at the thought as she decided just to relax on the jumpseat and see how long it took him to realize that she was there. After all, she was in no hurry…and she found the muffled sounds of what were obviously frustrated swear words, even if they were in another language that she did not understand and which the TARDIS did not translate, to be very entertaining.

...

The Doctor had awakened several hours earlier to find his arms full of Hermione. Somehow, in their sleep, they had shifted position and he found himself on his back with Hermione's head on his chest, one of her arms thrown over his stomach, and her other one tucked up underneath her somewhere. Both of his arms were wrapped around her, though, and he could not help but to smile at how wonderful it felt for her to be there. He continued to lay there in that position for quite some time as he held her tight and enjoyed her presence. However, he finally decided to get up when his thoughts about her started to drift down a completely different path – again!

He was furious with himself, though, because Hermione had come to him the night before for comfort - not to be the subject of his inappropriate thoughts! She obviously trusted him as a friend and he refused to consider that she might actually want more from him than that. Therefore, self-recrimination drove him from his own bed and he decided to distract himself from such maudlin thoughts with some work under the TARDIS's console. Plus, he needed to apply some of the new lubricant that he had bought for that very reason on the previous day.

After several hours, however, hunger finally drove him to pocket the sonic screwdriver. Before he could exit his work area, though, his thoughts, as usual, drifted back to Hermione. He was surprised that the witch was not up, yet, making her presence known in the way that only she could. The thought of her bouncing into the console room with her lively hair floating all around her made him smile. That led to thoughts about how nursing her back to health and comforting her through her grief had caused them to grow so close so quickly – especially since her arrival had finally forced him to connect with someone after his own tragedy.

He was also smart enough to realize that just having her on board had helped him to experience some happiness again. He sighed - if only he could content himself with being her friend and stop himself from wanting more from her. She did not need a battle-scarred warrior, he kept telling himself. She had demons of her own to fight. Therefore, he could not use her to drive away his own. Despite his internal struggle over this, though, he knew that every single time those warm brown eyes looked up at him, another little bit of his shattered soul was patched back together. With that thought, he shook himself out of his reverie and finally pushed out from under the console – only to find himself looking up into that very same pair of eyes – attached to the beautiful smiling face that almost always seemed to be in his thoughts now.

...

"Well, hello!" that smiling face said as its owner reached down to offer the Doctor a hand up. "I was wondering when you were going to resurface!"

"How long have you been there?" the Doctor asked back, just a little gruffly since he did not like to be taken by surprise. However, he found that he just could not help smiling back as he took the offered hand and realized that she had actually been waiting for him.

"Ooo, Mr. Grumpy Pants must not have gotten enough sleep last night," she teased – not at all bothered by his initial grouchiness – not when it was followed by a smile that lit up his handsome face like that! "Maybe, you shouldn't have gotten up so early then," she continued in the same lighthearted vein. "I missed you, by the way" she then added, almost shyly. However, she had turned away by then, as she led him by the hand towards the galley. Therefore, she was completely unaware of how those words affected him.

He followed right behind her, but his thoughts were aflame with what she had just said. She had missed him! She had missed him! Even though she had lost everything, he was the one about whom she had been thinking this morning. He soon realized with some surprise that the feeling was mutual. He had missed her, too – which is why he had spent almost the entire morning under the console thinking about her.

He just could not bring himself to tell her, though.

...

After a breakfast filled with easy and companionable conversation between the two of them (with occasional input from the TARDIS), it was time to explore! The TARDIS practically buzzed with excitement at their plan. After all, she was very eager to show off the rooms and spaces that she had kept safe for so long – until her Thief was ready for them again! The sentient ship also hoped that, perhaps through their explorations, both he and his Witch would be able to find some distraction from their pain.

The TARDIS's plan worked, too – for a while, at least. The two of them wandered around happily, hand in hand, for hours – sometimes finding rooms that the Doctor did not remember and even some that he never knew about in the first place! They spent time in the observatory, laboratory, music room, and art studio. They even found a ballroom where Hermione teased the Doctor mercilessly, but ultimately in vain, to show her some of his moves.

At the sight of the sparkle in her eyes and the mischievous grin on her lips, however, those words…and that request…took on a completely different meaning for him. If only she knew had badly he wanted to take her up on that offer! Through a Herculean amount of effort, however, he barely managed to resist the urge to take her into his arms and dance with her. Instead, he tried to content himself with holding the tempting witch's hand as they continued to follow that particular corridor out to one more room.

Something was different about the next door, however, and the Doctor paused with one hand on the latch without opening it. Hermione looked at him curiously but did not say anything since he seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally, he spoke. "Is this what I think it is, Old Girl?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

His ship hummed her affirmation and Hermione watched as a wave of emotion flowed across the alien's face. For a moment, she even thought that he would refuse to go in. However, in the end, he squared his shoulders and pushed open the door, anyway.

Hermione did not know what to expect after such a mysterious reaction, but it certainly was not the beautiful meadow that suddenly appeared before their eyes! She made a few appreciative comments at the sight. However, the Doctor was strangely silent as they entered the room and wandered down a few very natural looking paths that were surrounded by gorgeous flowers and lush plants. Hermione did not recognize most of them, so she assumed that they were not from Earth. The Doctor barely glanced at them, however.

In fact, he kept his gaze focused straight ahead at what she assumed was their destination. Also, his grip on her hand grew almost painfully tight as they drew closer to the large beautiful silver-leafed tree which, as far as Hermione could tell, was located in the very center of the Meadow room itself. When they finally reached it, the Doctor stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at it. When he still did not speak, she decided to break the silence.

"It's beautiful. What is it?" she asked gently.

"It is called an Arborus Argentum and it is native to my home planet," he replied softly. He then let go of her hand and slowly approached the tree. He tentatively reached out with one hand to stroke its thick straight trunk. Then he unexpectedly let out a strangled sob as he leaned his forehead against it. Hermione immediately reached out for him, but he stopped her with an outstretched arm.

"No!" He would not look at her, but he spoke firmly. Hermione froze, but after just a moment he continued, in a more broken tone this time. "I'm sorry…please…"

Somehow, though, she knew exactly what he was trying to say. "It's okay, Doctor," she replied as calmly as she could. She realized that as much as she wanted to hold him and comfort him right now…as he had done countless times for her since her arrival…he needed to be on his own in order to face whatever was eating away at his soul.

"I understand," she told him. "I will give you all the time and space you need. Just let the TARDIS know if you need me for anything, and I will be here!" With those supportive words, she walked back towards the door. However, after just a few steps, she spared a backwards glance at her friend…and almost wished that she had not done so. Her heart broke for him as she saw one of the strongest people she had ever known fall slowly to his knees in front of the tree – as his eyes swam with unshed tears that had just started to spill over.