The Doctor had no idea how long that he had knelt by that tree and been consumed by his grief or how long he had been immersed in his thoughts of Gallifrey and the family and friends that he had lost there. All he knew was that eventually his tears stopped, he was able to pick his head up, and he realized that the TARDIS had stayed with him throughout the entire ordeal. He sent waves of gratitude to his ship and she returned waves of affection back to him.

His very next thoughts, however, were of Hermione. He regretted sending her away, even though he knew that she, of all people, would understand his pain. The regret was even sharper when he realized that he longed to be in her arms, and knew that even if she could not make him forget, then at least she could help him to feel something besides pain again. His longing for her suddenly grew so intense that he actually found himself on his feet and headed towards the door before he realized it.

Before he could go in search of her, however, a cold realization swept over him. He could not allow himself to get attached to the woman. She was a weakness, a chink in his armor. She was also human…one of the shortest lived of all sentient species. How could he have forgotten that, in one way or the other, she would be gone in a blink of an eye? Then he would be alone again. He knew that he could not bear another loss. He was already a devastated shell of the Time Lord that he had been – anything else could conceivably end him.

Therefore, he knew that he had to withdraw from her, before his emotions became too entangled. He could be friends with the fascinating young witch, but nothing more. Anything else would hurt too much when it invariably ended. He simply had to protect himself from that kind of pain. He had to protect her, too. After all, she had also been through so much…and she deserved so much more. Therefore, he would not go to her – no matter how much he wanted or even needed to do so.

Instead he asked the TARDIS about Hermione's whereabouts and he was flashed a picture of her in bed. Was it that late? Had he really spent most of the day in such deep grief that he, the Time Lord, had not noticed the passage of time? He asked the TARDIS what else the young woman had done throughout the day and a set of images, in quick succession, flew through his consciousness. He watched Hermione have lunch, run, swim, shower, have dinner, and read in the library. The TARDIS even slowed down the library scenes so that the Doctor could easily see how often Hermione looked at the door, awaiting his arrival in vain, until she finally gave up to go to bed. With that visual proof that she desired his company as much as he did hers, his new resolve was deeply tested as he realized that he wanted nothing more but to go and crawl into bed with her and sleep in her arms as they had done so for the past couple of nights.

Weakness! he reminded himself fiercely and decided to go to the galley and distract himself with some food instead. After all, it felt like an eternity had passed since he and Hermione had consumed their cheerful and carefree breakfast together. Therefore, he set off across the ship.

As he neared the corridor where their bedrooms were located, however, his willpower waned again. Nevertheless, he just squared his shoulders and kept on going until he reached the galley. There he saw the two plates of food that Hermione had prepared for him throughout the day and had obviously placed under some kind of preservation spell until he was ready to eat. He gratefully sampled from both plates and then tried to waste even more time as he cleaned up – all while he thought about the witch aboard his ship. Try as he might, he just could not remember anyone who treated him with as much thoughtfulness as she did – especially without any expectation of return! With that realization in mind, his carefully constructed resolve completely crumbled, and he found that he just could not help himself as he turned back towards the bedrooms.

As he slipped into her bed, Hermione's wonderful wordless welcome and close comfort affected him so much that he had to fight to compose himself. He cursed his weakness again as he buried himself into her arms and her hair. However, it was not long before the Essence of Hermione did its job and he was thankfully able to fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

…

The next morning, he woke rested and comforted…yet still completely ashamed of himself for giving into what (or whom) he now considered to be his main weakness in life - Hermione. However, he then looked down at the woman still wrapped around him and wondered how he had ever thought that he would be able to stay away from her.

Nothing has changed, he tried to convince himself. She is still human…and temporary, he argued as the mental argument raged. Okay, so maybe I don't have to stay completely away, but I still can't get emotionally attached, he bargained with himself. Eventually, he was distracted from his own thoughts when Hermione sighed in her sleep, rolled over – facing away from him this time, and then pulled his arm back closer around her as she whispered, "Doctor." His hearts clenched at both the action and the sound and he could not bear to admit – even to himself - that it was already far too late for any of his mental arguments to be valid.

It was further proven when he stayed in place for far longer than necessary - just so he would not disturb his bedmate - who happened to have her arm wrapped around his and both of them tucked up underneath her breasts (a location that he was desperately trying to ignore). In fact, he waited until a deeper sleep had forced her to release her grip on him, before he carefully extracted himself from her personal soft warmth and from the comfort of her bed. He then went into the galley to prepare some breakfast, hoping that the small act would repay some of her kindness from the day before.

…

An hour or so later, she wandered into the room in rumpled pajamas and only half-heartedly tamed hair. At first, he simply thought she looked adorable. However, then she smiled at him, and he suddenly realized that he had never seen anything in all of time and space so beautiful and tempting as the young woman before him. In fact, he had to forcibly remind himself of his own internal bargain to prevent himself from closing the distance between them and doing considerably more than just smiling back. Therefore, he quickly put a full plate of food in front of her in order to distract himself from his questionable musings.

"What's all of this?" she asked with another lovely smile as she looked up at him from the seat that she had taken at the table.

"It's to…thank you…for yesterday," he reluctantly admitted. "I'm sor…" he started to say before she interrupted him with a swift shake of her head.

"No! Please don't! A very smart alien, someone of whom I am actually quite fond, once told me that grief was not a weakness. Therefore, your apology is neither wanted nor needed." With those words, he was almost overwhelmed by the sudden emotion that suffused his hearts.

I knew that she would understand! he thought, full of gratitude for her. However, she was obviously not finished surprising him, yet because she winked cheekily at him before she continued.

"However, what I think is needed here is an adventure. Therefore, why don't you shut your gob, eat, and then take us somewhere or somewhen to have a good one?"

She then laughed merrily at the look of amazement that crossed his face while the TARDIS's hum of amusement also surrounded them. A feeling of mutual affection enveloped them all and, for a while, all their feelings of sadness and uncertainty were swept away in the moment of perfect companionship.