"I'm seven. Today is my birthday," Sarah smiled.

"Is it really?" the attendant asked, as though she had just revealed the 9th wonder of the universe. "Well then, you need to be treated like a birthday girl. Since it's your birthday, you are officially our special guest. Here's a birthday badge so everybody will be extra nice to you, and here's a birthday certificate. This will get you a free meal and dessert at any place to eat on the whole planet." He handed her the certificate.

"Thank you very much, sir," said Sarah.

"Such a polite little girl." He looked over at the Doctor. "Now if you'll give me your age, sir, and tell me what species you and the birthday girl are, I can process you so you can head on down to the planet and start celebrating."

"She's human, I'm a Time Lord." He waited for the attendant to process the information so they could get started on the water tubes.

"My, that is unusual. I've never seen a Time Lord here before." He punched the information into a handheld device then looked back at the Doctor. "I know the child's age, so can I have your age please, sir?"

"906."

The manfish entered the Doctor's age and handed him a bill.

Sarah watched quietly while the Doctor paid it.

"Here you go," the attendant said as he handed the Doctor a set of papers. "This is all our information on the planet and it's entertainments. Don't worry about getting it wet, it's waterproof. Your ages have been entered in, along with your species. You'll find some sections marked in blue; those are the ones for air breathers. Try not to wander outside of those areas, we certainly don't want you in over your head," he smiled, as though the joke were fresh, and not something he said thousands of times a day. "We've recorded your ages, so there won't be any mix ups at the 'Let's be friends' chute. Enjoy your visit, and have a nice birthday, little girl," he called out as he pointed out the chute for them.

Sarah waited until they were out of hearing range, then looked up at the Doctor in astonishment. "How old did you tell that man you were," she whispered.

"906," he whispered back.

Her eyes grew huge. "Are you really?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yes, I am. Time Lords get to be very old."

"But you don't look very old and you're not wrinkly and you don't have spots on your hands like Mr. Corwin down the street from my house. You don't walk real slow or act really old or anything."

"That's because I'm a Time Lord, and Time Lords..." He struggled with how to explain regeneration to her. "Well, Time Lords get to start over periodically, and I just started over pretty recently."

She eyed him closely. "I think it's because you're magic and age doesn't matter much to you." She thought for a minute. "Can you make me grow up faster?"

He picked her up so that her face was even with his. "Now why," he said, completely seriously, "would you want to do something silly like that? Being little is the best."

She sighed. "Not if you're in a hurry to get married it's not." Realizing the answer would be 'no', she changed the subject. "What do we do now?"

The Doctor hadn't forgotten that she'd set her sights on marrying him when she was five - but he'd been hoping that she had. Clearly she hadn't, and a little part of him felt it was a shame; she should be able to enjoy being a child without constantly trying to grow up too fast. She'd even mentioned to him once that she hadn't had much of a childhood, and that was a shame.

Still, he was just grateful that she was distracted, and they headed for the slide. He sat down at the top, the water flowing around him, and motioned for her to sit on his lap. Without a second thought or question, she did, just as she would later follow him unquestioningly as an adult. "Ready, set, go," he said.

Sarah looked at him and then their clothes. "We're going to get very wet," she laughed as they started sliding downwards at a good clip.

The Doctor laughed too. "What's wrong with that?" he shouted as they picked up speed. He could feel the water pelting him in the face, when suddenly he felt his suit changing. He didn't have much time to think about it, however, because suddenly the spray stopped and they dropped into a pool of water. As he held Sarah Jane so she wouldn't go under, he realized that her little pink outfit was now a pink bathing dress, complete with floatation system. Moreover, his own suit had morphed into a Victorian bathing costume as well, with sleeves down to his elbows and a pair of trunks that went down to his knees. Of course, no amount of built-in floatation would make him buoyant, but the water was only up to his waist.

"What happened to my dress," Sarah Jane laughed. "It turned into a swimsuit."

"I told you we'd have everything we needed when we got here," the Doctor laughed with her. "If you think that's funny, look at my suit!"

Sarah Jane looked at him and started giggling hard. She pointed at his suit.. "Your stripes are sideways!"

It was true; where he had been wearing a pinstripe suit, he was now wearing a navy blue bathing costume, with the stripes running horizontally, like on the old suits. "Well then," he said, "what shall we do next?"

"Can we go back and come down again? That was fun."

"We can if you want, but there are lots of other slides, don't you want to try more?" He held out the map to her. "What looks good to you, birthday girl?"

"This one." she pointed to the slide they just came down. "Again, please?"

"OK, OK," he said, bowing to her enthusiasm. He looked around and found the elevator back up to the top, then guided her back to the top of the slide. He looked apologetically at the attendant.

The attendant gave him a puzzled look. "Are you leaving so soon? Was anything wrong?"

"No, no," the Doctor said. "We'd like to go again." He motioned towards Sarah Jane, who was looking hopefully at the attendant and practically bouncing up and down.

"But you just went," he said. Then he shrugged, punched in their information for a second time and handed the Doctor the bill.

The Doctor panicked for a moment then realized that the morphing of his suit had left his temporal pockets intact, so he pulled out several more pieces of currency and handed them to the attendant, then motioned for Sarah Jane to go on in front of him, since he knew she'd float at the bottom.

She shook her head. "I want to sit on you lap so we can go together. It's more fun that way."

"All right, then," he said, and once again sat at the top of the slide, setting her on his lap and pushing off. Again he felt the spray hitting his face, only this time he could hear her squealing with joy as they plummeted down the slick surface, finally splashing down.

"Again please, oh, again, again. Can we please do this one again?" Sarah looked at him with pleading eyes.

So they headed, still dripping wet, back to the elevator, and back to the top. Again, the Doctor approached the attendant. "The lady would like to go again," he said.

The attendant rolled all six of his eyes and shook his head as he handed the Doctor another bill. Handing him the receipt when he paid, he waved his fin towards the slide.

The Doctor sat down and Sarah Jane sat on his lap. "Alonsy!" she shouted.

If he was taken aback at her adoption of his catchphrase, he didn't have time to show it as they once again plummeted down the tunnel, this time with her hands above her head as though she were on a giant watery roller coaster, dropping almost straight down and finally into the pool at the bottom once more.

She didn't say a word to him when they reached the bottom. Instead she half pouted half pleaded with her eyes as she gazed hopefully up at his.

He rolled his eyes and trudged toward the elevator, leaving a trail of small puddles behind him, trusting her to follow him. "If this wasn't your birthday..." he muttered.

She said nothing but smiled at him with adoration as she caught up with him and took his hand.

He also said nothing and simply smiled. He'd do this all day and the next and the next, if it made her this happy. Again he approached the attendant, already shoving his hand in his pocket and wondering just how much of the local currency he'd brought with him.

The attendant smiled at him and shook his head. "No, no more money, this is on me." He handed him two waterproof lifetime guest passes. He bent down and patted Sarah Jane's head with his fin. "Have as much fun as you want little one. You're only seven once in your lifetime."

"Oh, thank you so much sir. That's awfully kind of you." She smiled at him and then up at the Doctor. "He's very nice, isn't he?"

"Yes, he's very nice," he said, smiling gratefully. He looked at the smile on her face for a moment; what he wouldn't give to just freeze that in his mind forever. The TARDIS kept records of everything he did, but there was nothing like the original. Finally, he climbed back into the tube and waited for her.

Since the Doctor was already sitting down, Sarah quickly climbed up on his shoulders. From there she could now reach the top of the tube. She didn't wait for him to react, instead with her two small hands she propelled them both downwards. Screaming with delight she clung to his head as they headed to the bottom at an accelerating pace.

The attendant laughed as he watched them. One more trip would have paid for the cost of a lifetime membership anyway and after all, it was the child's birthday.

The Doctor gave up trying to slow them down on the practically frictionless surface and instead held on to Sarah Jane's hands - partly to keep her from flying off his shoulders, and partly so he could part them enough to at least try to see where they were going. Still, when they hit the water at the bottom, it was almost with a thud, and he found himself pushed underwater slightly by the fact that she was on his shoulders. He climbed out from underneath and stood, sputtering. "Well, THAT was fun."

"It was, wasn't it," said Sarah Jane, laughing and giggling at the sight of the Doctor standing there totally drenched.

They went down the main tube six more times before Sarah was ready to try something else. By that time, the Doctor was sure he was permanently waterlogged. He pulled out the list he had gotten from the attendant and looked it over to see if he could find something a bit drier than a water slide. "How about the tube tour," he suggested. "You get to see all the different creatures that live on this planet. Sounds like fun to me."

Sarah agreed and they headed over to the tube, following the directions on the list. As they walked, they left a dripping trail of water behind them, and by the time they got to the tube, they were almost dry. A jet of warm air flowed over them as they walked through the tube. Suddenly they were dressed in the clothes they came in.

"It's magic, just like yours," she said as she looked over and saw he was dressed again in his pin-striped suit.

"That's right," he said, wondering when she'd lose that automatic assumption that things were magic. She was seven now, and smart as a whip. Certainly it couldn't last much longer.

Sarah delighted in all the types of fish and underwater life she saw. She asked so many questions about them that when they reached the end of the tube, the Doctor thought the water slides might not be such a bad idea after all. As they reached the end of the tube, he led her to some benches so they could sit down while he studied the guide and they decided where to go next.

"Hmm," he said. "Not sure what this is all about, but it sounds worth checking out. What do you say to trying 'Let's be friends?'"

"We're already friends, but it does sound nice." Just then her stomach growled. "Oh my, excuse me please," she said as her stomach made another deep growl.

"Well," he said, "You sound hungry, let me just see what's available around here. What do you feel like?"

Sarah Jane motioned to the Doctor to come closer so she could whisper in his ear.

He leaned over to hear her. "Yes?"

"Fish," she said softly, then giggled.

"Sarah Jane!" he scolded, but started to giggle himself. "How would you like it," he started, leaning forward and whispering in her ear, "if some of these people wanted to have human for lunch?"

Her eyes got big. "Do they do that here?"

"Maybe," he said honestly. "Wellll, not at the resort, but maybe some of the guests."

"Is there a restaurant here that cooks people?" Sarah Jane was genuinely concerned now.

He hesitated, then smiled. "No. There aren't any restaurants here that cook humans. But it's not so funny when you're on the menu, is it?"

Sarah's stomach began growling once more. "No it's not," she said shaking her head. "Can we eat someplace that's just for people like us, please?"

He nodded. "Yes, we can," he said, and sat her down at a picnic table. "You wait right here, I'll get a menu." With that he went up to the counter, watching her all the time as she looked around in freshly stoked awe. Then he returned, sat across from her, and handed her a menu. "You just look at all of these pictures and push the button for what you want."

Sarah Jane soon forgot her fears as she looked over the menu, her stomach demanding all of her attention for the moment. She saw something that looked like a sandwich and some chips. She pointed to it. "Do you know if this is a sandwich and if it is, what kind it is?"

The Doctor looked closely at it, then furrowed his brow. He pulled out a pair of spectacles and put them on, then looked again. Then he took them off, put them in his pocket, and sighed, pinching his eyes together. "It's fish."