Cara sat on her bed, in the TARDIS, fingering her bedspread. She had been so happy to find it in the eccentric collection of odds and ends in the Doctor's ship. It was a quilt made of brown and white floral fabric sewn in starburst patterns, and it was just the right thickness to keep her warm but not too thick to get too hot. As she looked around the room, many such thoughts occurred to her. None of them seemed of much consequence, but she thought them anyway, perhaps as a reprieve from her deeper ruminations.

Cara stood and looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. The mirror's frame was tastefully ornate and inlaid with gold-flecked green stones. The mirror itself was just like any mirror she might have found on Earth. It was glassy, silvery, and reflected her seventh face back at her accurately. She looked at her seventh face and decided that she did not like the troubled expression in her eyes.

The Doctor stepped into view just outside Cara's slightly-open door. He spoke to her without looking in, "Just thought I'd let you know, we're almost to Earth, Dodi's getting ready to disembark…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"Okay," Cara replied too quickly. She stopped and then tried to start again, settling on a sigh.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked, in a voice heavy with premonition.

"Everything's fine," Cara spoke softly, "just…how can…" She stopped, "Everything's fine." She stood and went to the door, opening it. The Doctor's blue eyes caught her golden brown ones for a moment before she looked down at her hands.

"Cara," the Doctor spoke slowly, "when everything is fine, one generally isn't avoiding looking at their friends."

"Are w…" Cara started, then stopped again.

"And usually, you can finish sentences."

Normally, Cara would have giggled, but she just tried to find her way back to the Doctor's face. Still not meeting his gaze, she shook her head, "How can…we…be the same again."

"You look the same to me," the Doctor observed.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know," the Doctor reached for her shoulders to draw her close, but she resisted. He stopped, "What's done is done. It's behind us, as it always was. The only difference is that now you know about it. But it's over."

Cara swallowed, "I watched my planet burn. Over and over and it was my doing and I just watched. Doing nothing. Feeling nothing. Not sorrow, not fear, not regret, not anger, nothing. Just a vast abyss that waited to consume me. And that emptiness, that wasn't a memory or a phantom, that was real and current and it happened to me. Seventh Cara. It's inside me. Even right now."

"It's inside all of us, to some degree," the Doctor said gently.

Cara nodded, "So is this what it is then, life? Chasing through the universe, exploring Everything to escape the Nothing we know is within?"

"No," the Doctor moved his hands to her elbows and clasped her firmly, "It's about learning and seeing and experiencing. It's about making a difference and finding that there's more than nothing inside. So much more. There's so very much to see and learn about, and I'm going to find it! And I would like very much if you'd join me."

Cara finally looked into his face, a dry smile spreading across her face, "Where else am I going to go?"

"Well," the Doctor looked sideways, a sparkle in his eye. He took her hand, "Oh, it is your choice. Come with me."

Curious, Cara let him drag her through the curved TARDIS hallways. They passed several doorways and a small blue rubber ball flung itself bouncing over their shoulders on its way through the ship. Finally, the Doctor stopped at one doorway.

Cara's hearts skipped beats. The door was blue and said "Police Box" above it. She blinked, "Um…"

The Doctor grinned and flung open the door, revealing a silver-and-blue TARDIS control room. It was battle-damaged and inoperative, but most certainly Cara's TARDIS.

The woman's face lit up with delight at seeing her ship, "But…how?"

"It seems my TARDIS wasn't about to leave yours to be stuck in that time lock for the rest of eternity," the Doctor shrugged, "she grabbed ahold and towed your ship out with us. Of course, she may have had a teeny tiny bit of help…"

Cara stood in the doorway of her TARDIS, sensing a slight pull at her mind as the healing ship's telepathic circuits weakly called to her. She stroked the doorjamb and thought soothing things toward it.

"The universe is yours again," the Doctor murmured into her ear, "if you want it."

Biting her lip, Cara's hand slid from the doorjamb, "is that…a good idea?"

"I've checked it out, all the troublesome components were completely destroyed," the Doctor reassured her, "she'll be at full strength again, evil-free, probably by the time we reach Earth." At Cara's silence, the Doctor added, "of course, if you wanted, you could leave right now. All the primary systems are working."

"Right…now?" Cara gasped in wonder.

"Sure," the Doctor nodded, "so long as you promise not to crash through any more time locks."

Cara smiled and stepped one foot over the threshold. She stumbled slightly, overcompensating for the usual shift in gravity when stepping into a TARDIS from a planet. Straightening, she turned back to look at the Doctor. He nodded encouragingly, smiling, a bittersweet understanding in his eyes. He, too, knew the call of the open sky.

Cara smiled at him, a real, genuine smile that touched every part of her face. She leaned forward, into her ship.

And stepped back into the hallway, pulling the door closed.

"I think my ship deserves some R and R," Cara said by means of explanation. She turned to gaze at the Doctor, "I'm getting too old to be training in new companions all the time anyway. You already know the ropes. Well, most of them." She winked.

"Ooh," the Doctor mock glared at her and grinned back, "so you're coming with me?"

"I think I just said I was," Cara replied.

"No, I meant to the control room, I think we've arrived at Earth," the Doctor coughed.

"Oh, well, yes," Cara giggled and slipped her arm through his, "there's no one I'd rather go to the control room with."

"Good," the Doctor replied, pulling her close for a moment before leading her back down the hallway toward the universe.