When the water first started rising, Sarah Jane had laughed and splashed, but gradually she started to realize that the Doctor wasn't having a good time. In fact, he was beginning to look more and more concerned. She wondered what was wrong with him. After all, they'd been playing in the water all day, and it had been lots of fun.

He looked like he was starting to get scared, but she knew that wasn't possible. He said his magic let him breathe in the water and, besides, he was her prince, he could and would save her from anything. But then suddenly the water was over his head and she couldn't hear him anymore.

She jumped off his shoulders so she could at least see that he was fine, but the water was so dark, she couldn't see him at all.

She waited a few minutes and nothing happened.

Now she was getting scared. How long could he breathe the water, and what was taking him so long to fix things?

She realized that if the water didn't stop soon it would be go up to the ceiling, and she didn't have any magic that would let her breathe once it was over her head.

Gradually, she understood that she might have to save herself and her prince. She looked all around carefully until she knew what she needed to do, and she did it.

After what seemed to be forever, the water emptied and she saw the Doctor lying on the floor of the room. She rushed to him and started to cry. He felt cold, and he wasn't moving. She hugged him and called out to him, but he didn't respond. She didn't know what to do but to call out louder.

"Doctor, Doctor," said Sarah Jane, shouting and crying over him as she held his head in her lap. "Please wake up. Please be alright, please," she shook him by the shoulders as she cried. "I need you to be alright, please don't leave me."

The Doctor heard her through a haze, then suddenly realized what was happening and jerked upwards, taking a deep breath and coughing inky water all over both of them. "Sarah!" He grabbed her and hugged her to him, remembering at the last moment not to crush her with his enthusiasm and relief. "You're all right!"

"I was always alright, but I was scared for you. I thought... I thought... that you were gone, like, like..." She started sobbing in his arms, her fears and memories finally getting the best of her.

"No, no. It's all right. I'm fine," he said, holding her close, and breathing hard, not sure whether it was to replenish his oxygen supply or simple relief that Sarah Jane hadn't drowned. "I'm just fine. I was worried about you! I thought …" He looked over and the door was still closed. "What happened to the water?"

"I let it out," she said. "When I was afraid for you."

"You let it out?" he asked. "How did you let it out?"

"I can read, remember," she said, pointing to a bright red and white sign near the top of the wall, where only the native aquatic people in a room full of water - or floating little girls - were likely to see it, right next to a lever.

Clear as a bell, it read, "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, PULL TO RELEASE WATER".

The Doctor laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He hugged her, and laughed some more, both from irony and relief. Finally, exhausted, he leaned back on his elbows.

Sarah Jane leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. Her prince was alright and he didn't leave her. "I should have known you would always be there for me. Promise me you'll never ever go away and leave me."

He hugged her again. "I promise you," he said, "I will never leave you. It might take me a little while to come back, but I swear that I will never abandon you. And this time," he said encouragingly, "you were there for me!"

Sarah looked up at him and smiled. "I was, wasn't I? Does that mean I saved you?"

"That you did," he said. "That you did." Somewhere in the back of his head he remembered the tally he and the adult Sarah Jane used to have, competing over who saved whom more often. He wondered if this counted. He hugged her again, then climbed to his feet. "Come on, let's get out of here before we get into any more trouble."

"I agree, let's go," Sarah said, relieved, as she took his hand and stood up, then paused. "Is Suzanna alright?

"Suzanna?" he asked. "Who's Suzanna?"

"My stuffed seahorse. You put her in your pocket so I wouldn't lose her, remember?"

He reached into his pocket, relieved that Suzanna wasn't another person who may have drowned, and pulled out the stuffed animal, which wasn't even wet. "There you go, a new friend for Elisabeth the Owly," he said.

Sarah took her seahorse and hugged her tight. "Won't they love having tea parties together?" Sarah looked up at the Doctor. "Does this mean I can take her back to Aunt Lavinia's with me?"

He took another look at Suzanna. She looked "normal" enough. "Yes, you can. And speaking of which, I think I've had quite enough adventure for one day, what do you say we go back and get some birthday cake?"

"That's a wonderful idea. I think we've gotten wet enough for today too, do you?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously at him.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head at her sense of humor. 'Some things never change,' he thought to himself. "And everything else, thank you," he said, pulling out the sonic and finally opened the door.

Once they were safely in the TARDIS the Doctor set the controls to take them back to South Croyden.

Sarah Jane stood next to the Doctor, watching him. "When I grow up, will you show me how wonderful the whole universe really is, without the boneheads in it?"

He looked back at her. "I'm afraid, my dear Sarah Jane" he said, "that there's no such thing as a bonehead-free universe. Besides, the boneheads make you appreciate the good things."

"There must be just one place without them, couldn't we go there for a while?"