Right. I really have no excuse this time. I just had absolutely NO CLUE how to continue this, but it's here now along with my deepest apologies. I'm still not that happy with this chapter (though I am quite fond of the dream he has), so if you guys notice anything that could be fixed, please, for the love of Rassilon, tell me so I can fix it.

-Kate

The pair trudged back to the TARDIS in silence. Amy occasionally glanced up at him, but the Doctor kept looking stubbornly forward, never looking back.

Any number of consolations occurred to Amy, but she knew none of them would help.

They finally reached the familiar, welcoming doors of the TARDIS, and the Doctor went straight for his pilot's seat and sat down, putting his feet up against the console.

Amy watched as he closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. She realised that even though he must need to talk about it to someone, he wouldn't ever admit it, and she would be a fool to even attempt to make him.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder as she past him on her way to her bedroom. The Doctor acknowledged it and patted her hand with his own.

While wandering down the corridors, she noticed a something flung over a railing by one of the doors that certainly hadn't been there this morning. She went to pick it up and found that it was a small denim jacket.

As she picked it up, Amy heard a voice speaking to her.

Bring it to him, child. Make him speak about it, or I fear it will destroy him over time...

It was a female voice, ancient yet beautiful, full of songs and chants in languages Amy didn't even recognize, and she knew it had to be the TARDIS speaking to her. She realized then that the TARDIS put the jacket in her path.

Amy patted a part of the wall affectionately," right then," she said. "Let's see what he says about this."

OOOoooOOOoooOOO

The Doctor slumped in his seat, asleep. He didn't need sleep usually, but he liked to dream sometimes, after a particularly hard day, or when a companion left him, it was good to know there was somewhere to escape to. If he was awake, he knew he would be going over the 'what ifs' of the latest adventure, or remembering the Time War. Yes, he liked to escape into dreams. For sometimes they gave him a glimpse into a life he couldn't have.

Two figures walked along the beach, holding hands. This beach had earned an eerie reputation from the locals, and certainly it held bad memories for the pair, but they came here every year together, to celebrate the one good thing that had come from this lonely strand by the sea.

One of the figures, a tall man in a blue striped suit with brown hair that seemed to defy gravity, leaned over to say something in the other's ear. She laughed, her blonde hair blowing in the sea-breeze.

The two wandered for a while longer, enjoying each other's company. The blonde woman said something to him, and he gave her a lopsided grin that made him seem more like a happy child, leaning down into a kiss.

The Doctor snapped awake, and it took him a moment to realise where he was. He relaxed and slumped against the seat, thinking back to the dream.

He had discovered the psychic connection the night that they had defeated Davros.

After bringing Donna back to her mother's, he had sat, curled up in the pilot's seat of the TARDIS, barely accepting what had happened. In Donna, he had finally found a perfect friend. Nothing more between them and neither one wanting more. Losing her had hit him hard.

After finally escaping the dreaded 'what ifs' and drifting off, he awoke later in the night from, ah, let's say, vivid dreams taking place in the other universe.

In a way, these dreams made him feel guilty, he was no longer a part of their lives, he had no right to be spying on them, whether it was intentional or not.

The Doctor rubbed his eyes and kept his hands over his face, thinking but trying not to.

"Doctor?" Amy's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Doctor, I found this in one of the corridors, does it mean anything at all to you, by any chance?"

He turned around to look at her. Amy looked uncertain, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably. In her hands was a plain, denim jacket.

No, wait, he thought. It was Rose's jacket. The one she'd left on the TARDIS when she was first sucked into the parallel universe. The Doctor swallowed, and hoped Amy didn't notice.

She did.

"It-It does mean something, doesn't it?" Amy spoke quietly, still uncertain but more confident now.

The Doctor stared at the floor." Yes." He answered finally." Sit down, Amy. If you want to know, that is."

She sat down and looked at her friend, concerned. She had never seen him like this before.

The Doctor began,

"I suppose I should start a little behind the beginning, just to give you an impression of what I was like back then. Basically, there was a war. The last Great Time War."

He told her everything. The war, meeting Rose, the shop window dummies, Cassandra, Nancy and her son, finding the Dalek in the museum.

Eventually, he got to the part with the Dalek Emperor, what Rose did, and what it almost cost her.

He told her of their adventures from then on; New Earth, Queen Victoria, the Impossible Planet. When he told her about Canary Wharf, and Bad Wolf Bay, Amy was crying. Hard.

By this time, the Doctor himself was crying, but he tried to keep his composure while telling the story.

He told her about Davros, and Donna, the meta-crisis clone, how he had left them both in the other universe.

Finally, after hours of talking, The Doctor got to how he said goodbye to her right before he regenerated, and how he met Amy shortly afterwards.

Amy wiped her eyes." I'm sorry." She said. At this, the Doctor looked up at her sharply, "For what? It's not your fault, Amy." He looked at his watch," Blimey! Look at that, even for me, talking that long has to be some kind of record."

She laughed, and stood up to go to bed," Thank you, Doctor." She said softly.

He gave her a small smile as she turned to go. "I'll keep the TARDIS in the Vortex for now," He called after her," I think Winston can last one night."

As Amy walked into her room, she looked back out to the console room. Talking had helped, that was obvious, but he was still too sad for her to tolerate.

She patted the door-frame distractedly, murmuring under her breath," Don't worry, girl. We'll get them, just you watch us."

The TARDIS hummed back at her contentedly.