Trembling, the Doctor pressed his hands onto his face. Donna sat next to him, concerned. "It's not my fault," the Doctor mumbled.

"Of course it isn't, spaceman."

"He asked me to take him here. He didn't want to live as the last of his species."

Donna hadn't known that Witha'an was the last of his kind. How had the Doctor known? Hadn't he said that neither he nor the TARDIS knew anything about the species? "Is that the battle his kind died out in?" she asked gently.

The Doctor nodded, his face still hidden. "I lied," he said. "I had never seen the Hynnae before, because they were bred for this war. I could never come and help, never interfere. But the TARDIS knew, she always knows, and she told me. I wasn't going to tell Witha'an…I was going to find him a home, I swear. But he guessed, and I couldn't…I just couldn't lie to him anymore. Not about that."

Donna wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders. "I know. I understand, Doctor. It's okay. You don't have to justify yourself to me."

"He asked me to do him a favor. He wanted to die with the rest of his kind, and I couldn't deny him that."

"Of course not, spaceman. It's not your fault, you did the right thing."

"Did I?"

"Yes." Donna was in no doubt about that. "You always do the right thing, Doctor. Because you're a good man. I wouldn't be travelling with you if you weren't."

"Am I, though? Am I a good man?"

Donna pulled him in closer, a sort of sideways hug. "I don't see how you can even question it, Doctor. Everything you do, everything, is to help people."

He pulled away from her and stood up. He wouldn't meet her eyes. "Donna…you should go to bed."

"Excuse me, spaceman, we're talking here!" Donna rebuked, exasperated. Seriously, every time they were having an in-depth conversation…

"Goodnight, Donna."

"Doctor!"

"I said goodnight!" he shouted. Startled by his outburst, Donna fell silent. She stood up slowly. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his face.

"All right," Donna Noble replied softly, carefully. "I'm sorry, Doctor." She took a few steps towards the hallway she believed led to her bedroom. Then she stopped. "Actually, I'm not sorry. I'm not, you know why? Because you should trust me enough to let me talk to you about you. So you can keep up with this guilt, or self-blame or self-pity or whatever the hell this act is, or you can come and find me if you decide to talk. It's your choice, but you should have some faith in me. We're best friends, Doctor. Friends forever. That means trust has to go both ways." The Doctor didn't say anything, and Donna finished. "I'll be in my room." She strode away.

She couldn't see the Doctor's face, but if she had been able to, she wouldn't have known what to do. He looked lost, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open as if he was in pain. A single tear had leaked out of one eye. He stood frozen, unable to wipe it away, wishing he had to courage to turn around and go after her.

Would she leave, if he didn't? He couldn't be alone again. Not when he had found someone he could just travel and be friends with. But if he did go after her, what would he say? What could he possibly say?

"Donna?" The Doctor's voice was small as it echoed through her door.

"Come in, Doctor."

He opened the door slowly. The ginger temp was sitting on her bed, already in pajamas, her back against one wall; her legs were bent and out in front of her and her hands were on her knees. He walked over to her and sat carefully at the end of her bed, not looking at her. "I'm sorry," he said finally.

"I ain't looking for an apology."

"What, then?"

"Doctor, I just wanted you to talk to me."

"About what? What is there to say?"

"I don't know, I was asking you. Doctor, you're my best friend. I'm just worried about you."

"I'm all right—"

"No. You aren't. You know why? Because you looked at Witha'an and you saw yourself. An intelligent telepathic being who doesn't want to fight and who is the last of his kind. Don't tell me you didn't see the similarities."

"I did," the Doctor confirmed. "And now he's dead. What does that mean for me?"

Donna pursed her lips. "I don't think it means anything for you, Doctor."

"I don't want to die."

"And he did. That's why you're different from him, Doctor. He was alone. You're not. You've got me. You'll always have me. And you met a friend today, and now he's dead, and you're grieving, and that's okay. But don't start thinking you've gotta die now just cos he did, because let me tell you, I ain't gonna let that happen."

The Doctor managed a faint smile. "Donna Noble. What would I do without you?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out. Now, do you want to stay or are you going to go get some sleep?"

"Well, you should sleep. I'll just, um, go mess around with some wires in the console," the Doctor said. The moment was over, and now he was feeling a bit awkward.

Donna laughed. "Seriously, is that what you do at night?"

"Usually that."

"Ever manage to fix anything or get anything done?"

"Nope," the Doctor admitted. "But it's good fun and it passes the time."

"Don't you ever sleep?"

"Nah, I don't need sleep."

"Yeah, you do."

"Well…" he conceded, "not as often as humans. And I slept last night. And I spent half of today unconscious. So I'm fine."

"All right. Good night, spaceman."

"Good night, Donna Noble. Sweet dreams." And with that, he left.

THE END

Thank you so much for reading. It's Christmas Day! (If you're reading this the day I publish it.) Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it! If you don't, happy holidays! I would like to state, for the record, that this was actually the first fanfiction I ever began writing, about ten months ago. I scribbled down the first few pages into a small, TARDIS blue notebook, and then I lost it. I found it again when I began to write other fanfics (namely Saving the Squeaks, an 11/Amy/Rory multi-chapter adventure) and decided to go along with it. I could not have imagined then that it would be viewed almost 800 times. You've made my year so much better, and if you're taking the time to read this author's note, thank you so much. Please let me know what you thought of my story. I really hope I did these beautiful characters justice, though I know I never could.