Sarah almost fell off of her chair laughing. "It's fish and chips with bread," she said, choking out the words. She put the menu on the table and pressed down on the picture. "I'm having this," she said, still laughing. "I hope they have malt vinegar to go with it."
The Doctor shook his head at the irony of a piscean species offering fish, but then after all, big fish eat littler fish, so why not? Still, it reminded him of the "Dish of the Day" at Milliways. That always creeped him out for some reason that he just couldn't put his finger on. He closed his eyes and picked something off the menu at random, then waited for the food to arrive.
When it did arrive, Sarah Jane was pleased to see not only malt vinegar with it, but some sort of custard dish on the side as well. "Mmmm, this looks scrummy," she said, waiting for the Doctor's food to arrive before she ate anything.
"It does look scrummy," he said, stealing one of her chips.
They decided to share each others' meals and make a feast of it. After Sarah had finished about two thirds of her food, she looked at the Doctor with a wicked grin. "Want to hear a joke that Jeremy Eckhart told everybody in the lunchroom last week?"
"Sure," the Doctor said, "let's hear a joke that Jeremy Eckhart told everybody in the lunchroom last week."
"Have you ever heard of the See Food Diet? I'm on it," she said and took a big bite of her sandwich.
The Doctor tried not to look around too obviously to see if anyone had heard her. "Sarah Jane..." he started. But she looked determined, so he decided to get this over with as quickly and quietly as he could. "No, I haven't."
She opened her mouth as widely as she could, her unswallowed food showing as she watched the Doctor for his reaction.
The Doctor stared at her quizzically. "Sarah, close your mouth, what are you doing?"
She closed her mouth and laughed. "See, food," she said with her mouth still full, and then opened it again. "Get it?"
The Doctor groaned, holding his stomach. He wasn't sure whether he was groaning at the joke, or the fact that a seven-year-old had to explain it to him.
Before the Doctor or Sarah Jane could say anything else, a tray with a small but beautifully decorated cake floated over and landed on the table.
Sarah Jane squealed with delight. "Oh Doctor, it's lovely, where did it come from? I didn't see it on the menu, did you?"
The Doctor smiled. "No, I didn't see a cake on the menu." A few moments later, wait staff started to swirl towards them, each emitting a distinct tone that, when combined with the others, made some of the most beautiful music he had ever heard. Before long half the staff were flipping around, dancing, and all around them was an impromptu floor show that was clearly just for Sarah Jane's benefit. Finally they concluded with a unanimous "Happy Birthday, Miss 7!" and slowly melted back away to their stations as though nothing had happened.
Sarah Jane was thrilled by it all. When it was done she ran over to the Doctor and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you Doctor, you're the best prince ever!"
He hugged her, enjoying her seven-ness, wishing that he was a child again, just so that he could enjoy that with her. "I love you too, sweetheart." He set her down. "Now eat your cake, we've got more slides to enjoy." The Doctor watched her eating her cake, taking a few bites with her. He wondered if the reason he was enjoying her childhood so much wasn't because he really hadn't had much of a childhood himself. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed a handful of cake with his fingers and shoved it in his mouth, staring at her with a dare in his eyes.
Sarah gave him a wicked smile and grabbed a handful of cake in answer to his challenge. She popped the cake into her mouth, not caring that she got quite a bit of it on her face. "When I'm with you I don't have to worry about my deportment," she said, eating contentedly. "But you won't tell anyone if I don't act young lady like sometimes will you?"
"I won't if you won't," he said, grabbing another fistful of cake and shoving it into his own mouth, glad to give her some more time to just be a silly little girl.
He and Sarah happily devoured the cake. In a matter of minutes it was nothing but a few crumbs on the plate and a happy memory.
Sarah Jane licked some frosting from the side of her mouth and looked over at him. "Where are we going next?"
"I believe," he said, consulting the map, "that we were on our way to 'Let's be friends'." He held out his hand. "Shall we?"
She slid off her chair and slipped her hand into his. "What kind of ride is it," she asked skipping as the Doctor walked by her side.
"It looks like another water slide," he said, "but much bigger and twisty turny-er. What do you say? You liked that first one so much, you should love this one."
"Sounds like fun. I want to slide down on my tummy this time," she said, trying to think of unusual ways they could go down the tube.
"All right," he said, "you do that, and I'll be right behind you." They made their way over to the next slide, the Doctor noting idly how few adults were in this part of the park, instead being greatly outnumbered by children climbing the steps back up to the top of the slide. He helped Sarah climb into the top of the tube, and watched her go. Giving her a few seconds head start so he wouldn't smash into her, he decided to follow her lead and dove into the tube head first, marveling at the feeling of flying as he enjoyed the centripetal forces on every curve, every loop. He could hear himself whooping it up as he finally splashed down at the bottom thinking that maybe this time it would be him that wanted another go.
Sarah Jane stood waiting for the Doctor to come down the slide. She was surprised to see a little boy in a swimsuit come whooping down the slide, almost crashing into her. She walked past him quickly and listened to see if she could hear the Doctor coming down the slide. She waited a few moments, then walked away and sat down to wait until the Doctor appeared. She tried hard not to be upset, but she was confused and getting worried. She put her head in her hands, tears falling slowly down her cheeks.
The Doctor got his bearings and saw her sit down and cry. He hurried over to her and sat down beside her, as confused as she was. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"My Prince is gone and I'm lost without him." She looked up at him tears running down her cheeks. "Did you see a very tall thin man in a striped suit and tennis shoes before you came down the slide? He was supposed to come down right after me, but he didn't," she sniffed.
"Sarah Jane, what are you talking about, I'm right here," the Doctor said, turning her face up to look at him. "It's alright, don't cry."
Sarah Jane pulled back. "You're not the Doctor, you're just a little boy."
The Doctor looked down at himself and realized that she was right. He was a little boy. "Oh, my," he said. He looked around. Down here, at the bottom of the slide, there were no adults at all. Instead, he saw pairs of same-aged children and realized what this slide did. The attendant's words about recording their ages on their arrival came back to him. "Sarah Jane, I promise you, I am the Doctor, it's just that this slide turns a grown-up into a child, so they can be friends. That's why it's called 'Let's be friends'. And look, there's a playground and everything," he said, trying to sound as excited as he could.
Sarah Jane stopped sniffling and looked at him closely. He did look a bit like the Doctor and his swimsuit was a smaller version of the one the Doctor had had on when they went on the other slide. "It's really you, promise?"
"I promise," he said. "Here, look." He reached into his pocket, sticking his arm as far down as he could to show her that the pocket was bigger on the inside.
Her eyes lit up as she saw and believed him. She gave him a hug. "You're my size." she laughed. "Well, you're taller and you look a little older than me, but not much. Do you like it?"
"I dunno, I'll have to try it," he said. "Race you to the swings!" he shouted, taking off towards the playground.