It was a lovely spring afternoon. Hermione and the Doctor sat at a tiny outdoor Parisian café...with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance...as they enjoyed their cups of house Viennois and waiter-recommended Croque Monsieur. While they carefully sipped the slightly sweetened hot beverages and nibbled the simple...yet savory...sandwich fare for their lunch, they also purposely made conversation in the native language of the country. Hermione was especially eager to do so since it was one of the few places where she did not require the normally invaluable assistance of the TARDIS translator.

For his part, the Doctor was careful to not disturb the peacefulness of the moment as his long leather-clad form leaned,in a deceptively casual manner, back in his chair. He simply took advantage of the obviously hard-earned tranquil condition of the woman in front of him in order to surreptitiously observe her. As he tried to determine her current state of mental and physical well-being after so much distress, he found that there was still a slight redness present around the rim of her eyes. Otherwise, without his superior senses, he did not think he would ever have known that she had spent the last few linear days sequestered away in her room in the TARDIS as she went through another mourning period for the life that she had lost in such a definitive and permanent way this time around.

...

If there was anything that the Doctor could understand...it was definitely loss.

Consequently, upon their emotional return to the TARDIS after Hermione's lifechanging discovery that she was indeed trapped in a completely different universe than the one she had been born in, the Doctor knew that the only comfort he could offer the distraught woman was that of his physical presence. Therefore, he stayed by her bedside and continued to hold on to her thankfully only minorly injured hand long after he had treated it.

However, after some time, when she had repeatedly refused a hypospray of something to help her sleep, the master of Time and Space had reluctantly given in to the woman's request, instead, for both of those things in order to begin to process her grief and start the entire healing process all over again. Even though he would have preferred to stay there and help her through the discovery that had sent her very existence into such a tailspin, he knew that she had to eventually deal with it on her own terms. Therefore, he let her be, but only after she had fallen into a natural sleep by herself.

However, before that, both he and the TARDIS had reassured her that she would only be as alone as she wanted to be and that they would both be there for her whenever she needed them.

After all...without a doubt...the Doctor understood how difficult such a time could be. In fact, he knew down to the depths of his soul that he would never have survived his own experience with it, if it had not been for the faithful TARDIS. Therefore, he vowed to do the same for Hermione.

...

At any rate, after the grieving witch had finally fallen asleep on her own, the Doctor honored her request. In fact, he utilized the presence of the sentient ship as a go-between through the next few days in order to make sure that the woman had never been truly alone during the rest of her self-imposed seclusion. Meanwhile, he tried to be content witkeeping watch over her from a distance.

However, even though he completely understood what she was going through, he had still started to grow increasingly impatient with the waiting. This was especially true since he had grown accustomed to the constant companionship of the one who had became a dear...when the Doctor thought about it, though, he would always pause here...unwilling to admit the truth - even in his own mind...before he settled on a word: friend. The term was insufficient to encompass everything that he felt, but it was the only one that he could allow himself to use.

Consequently, he had been thrilled when Hermione had finally reemerged and shyly requested the particular outing that they were currently enjoying more than the Time Lord would ever have thought could be possible at such a time.

He was more than happy to be proven wrong, though. In fact, he did not know why he was even surprised. After all, Hermione had consistently amazed him with her strength and obvious resilience on many occasions. The current situation...as serious as it was...turned out to be no different from the others, either. After all, the woman had obviously determined that the time for grief was over and that she needed to move forward from there. That was just the straightforward kind of way she did things. The Doctor himself appreciated such a no nonsense type of approach...even though he also knew that it was usually easier said than done. Therefore, he wanted to provide anything that she needed to aid in the process.

Apparently, what she needed most at the moment was Springtime in Paris.

...

"My parents loved France," she explained to him when he asked about such a particular request as they enjoyed their casual Parisian meal together. "They met here when they were both on school holiday from Uni...and they honeymooned here a couple of years later, as well, when they got married after their graduation. We also vacationed here frequently as a family…before I left for Hogwarts, of course…and they made sure that I could speak the language as fluently as I did English. Therefore, even though this is not really our France, it still helps me to remember the good times with them before...well...before everything went pear-shaped in the wizarding world."

Hermione even managed to produce a small smile as she used that descriptive phrase the Doctor seemed to be quite fond of, in general - even though she knew the irony of the situation was that he disliked that kind of fruit very much, in particular. It was a bit of a sad smile on her part, of course, but the Doctor was happy to see that she was able to summon it, anyway. Before he could comment, however, she continued.

"I have to admit that it does bring me some comfort to know that...no matter what else happened afterwards...I was able to make sure that they were safe at least before I left. Even though they don't...can't...remember their daughter and their old life, I know that they're still alive and well...and together. That makes all of the difference to me!" She nodded as she paused to look at their surroundings.

"I think that I'll always feel close to them in France," she continued to muse aloud...more to herself than anything...even though she knew the Doctor was still listening, "despite the fact that I wasn't actually able to relocate them to their favorite country. After all, it was simply too close to the real danger in the UK that they would have been in because of me. Australia just made so much more sense at the time – especially since they had always wanted to go there, anyway. Nevertheless, this place is still at the forefront on my mind when it comes to our best family memories...and I hope that my parents are able to make it back to their France and enjoy it again one day."

The Doctor nodded as he considered what she had said, even while he also continued to regard her closely as she leaned back into her seat and briefly closed her eyes against the emotion of the moment. Fortunately, despite everything, she seemed to be coping as well as she could possibly do so. The Doctor was able to realize then that the knowledge of her parents' safety helped to bring her enough peace to come to terms with her own situation, as well. He understood that rationale, too. In fact, if he had suspected that any of the other Time Lords had survived the destruction of Gallifrey...even if it had been the troublesome Master...then his own outlook might have been a little different back then, as well.

As it was, however, the knowledge that he had been completely and absolutely alone had made him desperate…and, consequently, willing to forgo his usual regeneration opportunity. He would have done so, too, if the TARDIS had not stepped in and made that decision for him by whisking him away into the Vortex at the crucial moment. After all, she was an omni-temporal being…which meant she could exist in all times at once...if she chose to do so. Therefore, she must have known something he did not in order to cause her to act in such a way against his wishes. Even so, the Doctor had to admit that there were times in his grief when he had greatly resented her interference and wished that she had let nature take its course with him – especially since he could never get her to explain why she had done so.

At least that was how he had felt until Hermione had so unexpectedly dropped into his life…not so very long after his own tragedy...and made him realize that he did, indeed, still have a life worth living. In fact, he still had several more regenerations left...if he chose to use them. If only Hermione could be there with him through it all, he already knew there would be no doubt as to which choice he would now make for each and every one of those lifetimes. She had become just that special to him and he wanted nothing more than to share all of Time and Space with her forever!

He tried to shake the familiar feeling of despair away, though, at the thought of such an unattainable forever. After all, the knowledge weighed heavily on him that even though she could spend her life with him…and he desperately hoped that she would now decide to do so…it would still be impossible for him to do the same and spend his life with her. Because even when everything else was said and done, Hermione was still only human. That was something that just could not be changed.

Despite that particularly persistent and unpleasant fact which was always in his background thoughts...and the knowledge that he had decided to keep at least some physical and emotional distance from the woman because of it...the Doctor found that he was powerless to not take the Hermione's now completely healed hand as they enjoyed their quiet stroll back to the warmth and comfort of the TARDIS who had eagerly opened her doors wide for them upon their arrival. As a result, when Hermione paused in their walk in order to intertwine her fingers more securely with his, he was especially grateful that the recent turn of events…while so tragic for her…had seemingly restored the previously comfortable balance between them that had existed before he had so poorly handled the physical and emotional longing that he still felt for her. In the light of her greater pain, Hermione had obviously forgiven him for that smaller unintentional hurt. For that, he was infinitely grateful...even though he knew that he did not really deserve the reprieve.

He felt that he had to pay her back in some way for that kindness...and do something more substantial for her than just being there in her time of need. That idea was reinforced when a warm feeling of tenderness washed over him again upon their arrival back to the TARDIS. After they stepped through the welcoming threshold, he watched Hermione interact so naturally with his ship as she affectionately patted a coral strut and smiled in a sweet...albeit subdued...way in response to their mutual friend's enthusiastic greeting hum. At the sight of his girls together, his double heartbeat increased with the strength of his emotion...something he would have probably vehemently denied even the possibility of in his younger years...before he had met her. Nevertheless, he suddenly knew what he had to do.

He made the decision then that it was finally the right moment to tell her the truth about his own situation, as well. That way he could finally repay her trust with his own. The more he considered it, the more important it became to him for her to know why he understood exactly how she felt. He desperately wanted her to know that she was not alone in her pain...and that he was so grateful to no longer be isolated in his own, as well.

Once she understood, then...perhaps...especially since neither one of them no longer belonged anywhere else...then maybe they could belong...in some small way... together. It would not make things right, of course, and he knew better than anyone that it would not last forever. Regardless, he also knew that if she agreed to stay with them...with him...for as long as she could...even if it would only be possible to do so as his friend...it would make all the difference to his world, anyway!

...

"Tea in the library?" He therefore asked as soon as Hermione looked back up at him and met his eyes with ones that practically blazed with her own inner determination to move forward. He took heart(s) from that look and when she nodded in the affirmative, the Doctor felt both oddly relieved and extremely nervous at the same time. After all, he was finally going to reveal what he had purposely tried to keep hidden from her during their time together.

He just hoped, with the entirety of both his hearts and the soul she had helped to piece back together, that Hermione would understand why he felt he had to do what he did.

He also fervently desired that she, at least, would be able to forgive him for the destruction of a world - especially since he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself!