Author's notes at the end of this chapter. I didn't want to give too much away.

The quiet of Chiswick was broken by the unmistakable whirring sound of the Tardis materializing in its usual spot, across the street from Donna's mother's home.

The Doctor poked his head out to see who was about, just in time to see the front door open and an absolutely irate Sylvia Noble racing across the street towards him. "Where is she, Doctor? You said she would be safe!" Her voice cracked as she barreled up to him. Her eyes were red from all the tears she had been shedding though it had only been a few hours since Wilf had come home with the news.

"She's fine Sylvia. She's right here with me." He stepped out of the way right as Donna ducked out of the Tardis, her mother's eyes widening with shock that she was very much awake and aware before she grabbed her up in a huge hug.

"Oh my god Donna, we were so worried! When you vanished, none of us knew what to think. Dad told me that you went off with him." She jerked her head towards the Doctor, not even wanting to look at him she was so angry right now. "Then Dad came and told me you'd been taken. For a week!"

Donna found herself smothered by her mother one more time, confused and completely overwhelmed at the concern pouring off both her and her Gramps. Her head was spinning while she was buffeted from all sides with noise and emotions, and far too many thoughts to even be able to see straight.

Her lips were quivering and she looked up at the Doctor with panicked eyes, realizing too late what a mistake she had made coming back so quickly without even a few lessons to learn how to shut off the noise of the world around her.

"Oh my Donna, I knew he would get you back! I knew he would make you better!" Her grandad rudely elbowed Sylvia aside before hugging her tightly, the tears streamed down his cheeks as he murmured. "Come on then, let's get inside before we make too much of a scene."

He then turned around and hustled both his daughter and granddaughter into the house, leaving the Doctor to follow behind.

Pulling the door of the Tardis closed behind him, the Doctor followed behind the trio. His eyes locked on the back of Donna's head, brows furrowed when he had felt her panic nearly overwhelm her. Her family was an open book, now that he let himself listen to them. Their love and concern blasting for any to hear should they so choose. He carefully brushed against her mind, giving her a lifeline to cling to in the chaos while Sylvia immediately led her into the kitchen. Most likely to begin that tongue lashing that she always felt she had to give to Donna.

He couldn't help the soft smile when her mind clung to his amidst the chaos, he whispered softly to her. You take care of this Donna, I've got you. I won't let you get overwhelmed. With that, he began to help her reconstruct the barriers in her mind. Brick by brick, he built an impenetrable wall around her that finally blessedly allowed her to shut out the noise in her head.

"I knew you'd get her back Doctor! What happened? I thought you said you couldn't fix her." Wilf bustled around the living room, bursting with energy till he felt a man half his age. He clapped the Doctor on the arm and laughed. "I knew you could do it Doctor! She was so much better with you."

Focusing his attention on the older man, who had become a guiding force during the last few months, he kept part of his mind connected with Donna's even as he responded. "I was able to save her Wilf, but the cost was high." He collapsed onto the sofa as he sighed out. "Nearly too high. In the end though, I was able to finally fix what had gone wrong."

Wilf nearly fell onto the other end of the sofa as the Doctor began to talk, his hands held to his lips while tears streamed down his cheeks. Oh his poor baby granddaughter, to have been through so much and yet still she had to suffer.

His eyes scanned the Doctor's features, hearing what he wasn't saying and sighing softly as he realized he would be saying goodbye to his granddaughter again far too soon.

Donna leaned against the counter with the warm cup of tea in her hands, waiting tensely for the tongue lashing that she knew was brewing. Hell she didn't need telepathy to know that was coming.

It was always better to let her mother strike the first blow, to see which angle she would attack from before she responded. So she simply lifted her mug to her lips and took a nice long sip.

"Good god, Donna what the hell happened to your wrists?" Sylvia nearly shouted as her daughter's sleeve had fallen to reveal the heavy bruises encircling both wrists in a ring of dark smudges. She reached out and grabbed one hand, barely noticing when Donna hissed at the sudden pain. "Did the Doctor do that to you? That man has been nothing but trouble since you first met him. Nearly killed you he did, and now you show up after a week missing in his company with bruises! What'd you do that for? Where'd you run off to? Shaun has been worried sick and is on his way now to sort this all out."

Donna yanked her hand back with a barely controlled sigh, her eyes looking at her mother and seeing her nagging finally for the concern that it was. "How dare you, mum! That man saved my life. That man saved ALL of our lives. AGAIN. And all you can do is blame him?"

She shoved off the counter with a burst of angry energy, pacing like a caged animal as she thought of the upcoming confrontation with Shaun as well. She should've known that her mother would've called Shaun as soon as she recognized the sounds of the Tardis. No, it would've been too much to hope her mother would make sure she was all right first.

"You're my daughter! He shows up with you unconscious, dumps you on us and says he had to wipe all your memories of your time with him or you would die. Burn up like a match." She leaned forward at that. "Then you go missing, and HE claims he doesn't know where you were. You show back up after a week, looking like you do and expect me NOT to worry?" She crossed her arms over her chest as she asked. "What really happened Donna?"

She couldn't help the sudden burst of rage that broke free as she remembered those days in the Master's clutches. How it had been the Doctor who had come despite knowing that he was most likely coming to his death, just to try to right what he had perceived as a wrong.

She yanked her pant legs up and showed Sylvia the glaring bruises on her ankles and calves as well, making sure her mother got a good long look at them before angrily dropping them again. "I was taken, Mum. I was taken against my will and I was tortured for DAYS ON END. DAYS and Days just so that a madman could try to bring his people back." She screamed. "Just so a madman could bring back HIS PEOPLE." She screamed, her hand pointing unerringly towards the Doctor even though a wall separated the two of them.

"The Doctor saved me, Mom. The Doctor came, even though he had been told a prophecy that he was going to die soon. He came after me, KNOWING that he was most likely going to his death, just to save me and try to make things right. He had no control over what had happened to me before." She uttered tiredly. "The metacrisis was something completely new to him, he'd never seen it before and he acted as swiftly as he could to try to save me from dying in front of his eyes."

Sylvia reached up a hand. "Stop it, Stop defending him."

"No Mother. You asked, and you're going to listen. To all of it." She looked up, straight into the eyes of the Doctor as he stood in the doorway. His hard dark gaze resting squarely on her features, as he had instantly felt the burst of rage from her when her mother had accused him.

"Donna, you don't have to do this now. You're not strong enough." His tone stated simply that if he had to, he would take her out of there right at this moment if he felt she was being pushed too hard too fast.

Donna shook her head. "No Doctor. Its time she knows what traveling with you means. It's time she knows just what YOU have lost."

His jaw clenched at her words, eyes dark and stormy as he turned that gaze on her mother. Staring at her mother for a long moment, he finally nodded and turned back towards the living room, nearly running over Wilf who had followed the Doctor to the door.

Sylvia leaned back against the counter, dumbstruck at the look she had seen on the Doctor's face. He had always been tolerant of her, uncomfortable and slightly unsure. She had never seen such fiery purpose in his every line, all that purpose was focused solely on Donna.

Donna sighed as she looked at her mother, shaking her head sadly because she knew things now would never be the same between them again. "He destroyed that madman's plan mum. Because that plan would've been the end of the universe. The end of creation itself." She whispered in a faint echo of Rassilon's words as he had raised his arms to the heavens. "He turned his back on his people and their rebirth, to save us. To save ALL of us. He sent them all back to hell. He sent them all, even his own mother so that we would all survive." A single tear burned down her cheek as she remembered the scream of his sorrow when he had turned his back on his people for the last time.

Sylvia's hands flew to her mouth at that. "His own mother? But how? Why?"

Donna signed. She knew all too well why he had done what he did, but she could not even begin to explain it to her mother. There wasn't enough time in this century at least for that tale. "The war that destroyed his people had changed them, mum. The Master was trying to pull his people back into this universe from before their end, but after they had been so... changed." She picked up her cup of tea with trembling hands, lifting it to her lips so she could continue. "He had to send them back, they truly would've destroyed all creation. I even heard their leader proclaim it. His mother was on that high council, she let him know that she understood what he had to do. All so we could live."

Her eyes then locked on to her mother's shocked face as she continued. "THAT is what happened mother. That is why I have traveled with him in the past. Because he needs someone, someone who gives a damn about him for once."

Her hand reached up to angrily brush the tear away as she waited for her mother's retort, just laughing tiredly when she realized for once her mother had none. "What? For once no response mum? Did I finally shock you?"

Sylvia looked at her with an unreadable expression on her face as she tried to find the words. Uncertain of all that she was feeling, but knowing that she couldn't face the terror she had felt when he had come to their door that fateful day once again. She couldn't look up at the stars at night wondering what desperately frightening things her daughter was going through. Just the thought that she hadn't been able to stop days of torture was almost more than she could bear. Oh god, what would Jeffrey have done? How would he have handled this?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the front door fly open and a frantic voice shouting. "Donna? DONNA!"

Shaun came barreling into the kitchen and grabbed her up in his arms, squeezing her tight as he gasped with relief. "I was so worried about you! What happened? Are you all right?"

Donna could barely return Shaun's embrace, her heart seemed to be dropping through her shoes. She looked into his soft brown eyes, his worry nearly too painful to see. She could barely contain her own tears as she nodded numbly. "Yeah, I'm okay now. I'm all better now actually thanks to the Doctor." Shaun stepped back at the mention of the Doctor, gasping softly.

"You… You remember?" At her mute nod, he swallowed hard. "But he said it would kill you if you did."

She snorted lightly at that, noticing her mother slipped out of the kitchen into the living room to leave the two of them alone. She did not notice the Doctor speaking quickly to Wilf, before letting himself out of the front Door and disappearing down the street.

"Yeah well, it nearly did."

"Then why'd he do it? If it was so dangerous, why'd he make you remember?" Shaun felt as if he couldn't catch a proper breath, he felt like his world began crashing down around him.

Donna winced at his words, her hands reaching up to rub her face at the waves of exhaustion beating at her. The Doctor was right, she was too weak to handle this. She shouldn't have pushed herself and she was mucking it all up.

God, Shaun deserved so much better. He deserved better than half a woman who was missing some of the most important memories of her life, and now she would finish breaking him apart.

Goddamnit, why does it always have to be me? She couldn't help the quiet wail when she saw the understanding in his eyes, while he waited to hear her say the words.

"He didn't make me remember Shaun, someone else did that. Someone who was completely mad, and who tried to use me to help him destroy everything as we know it." She still could barely make sense of all that had happened in the last 10 days, how her life had gone from being an empty shell to the chaos that it was now. Her chest felt like the Master's steel bands were clamped about it again, her breath coming in short gasps when she murmured. "When the Doctor found me, well…. The damage was already done. He couldn't stop the process before it killed me, so he had to see it through. And well, it's all coming back. Everything I'd done, everywhere I'd been in that year of my life."

His silence was deafening as he just looked at her, the hurt plain to see even though he couldn't help but ask. "Did you ever even love me, Donna? Or was it all a show? Just answer me that."

Her head fell back at his questions, the tears flowing from her eyes as she whispered. "I thought I did, Shaun. I truly wanted to be happy with you. I wanted to be better with you." She looked at him, shoving her hand against her mouth as she whispered. "But I could never be better. I wasn't me, at least not me as I had become. I'm so sorry, Shaun. I would never have tried to lead you on if I had truly known any better."

He could only laugh at that. "Yeah well, just my luck. The perfect woman for me, never even existed."

With trembling fingers, she pulled the ring off her finger. Pressing it back into the palm of his hand and curling his fingers closed about it. "You're a good man, Shaun. A good man who deserves far better than someone like me. I'm so very sorry."

With a self-deprecating laugh, he shoved his hand with the ring back into his pocket. "Yeah, I know you are." Pausing to look at her one more time, he whispered. "Take care of yourself, Donna."

He then tore out of the kitchen, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw the Doctor standing just inside the doorway to the living looking decidedly uncomfortable as he watched him leave. Shaun could barely stay in the same room with the man, he just mumbled his goodbyes to Sylvia and Wilf before grabbing his jacket off the coat hook and tearing out of the house before he lost all control.

Shoving his hands into his coat pockets and crumpling up a little envelope that he barely noticed, he turned and hurried down the street towards his car.

Donna rubbed her hands over her face as her mother walked back into the kitchen, the look on her face already promising thunderclouds. "So it's like that then, is it? Do you really think there's some future for the two of you?"

Donna looked at her with barely contained shock. "Seriously, mum, you're going to do this now? You knew from day one that I couldn't commit to Shaun, but unlike me, YOU knew why. Yet you pushed, and needled and prodded. You kept nagging me over and over again to move on, to get married and have a normal life." The laughter was nearly hysterical as she continued. "Normal life. I could never understand why you used those exact words, and every time you said it, I'd feel like there was something more. Something that I was missing, but I could never figure out what it was."

She stepped close to Sylvia, her voice low as she murmured. "I know why you did it. I know what the Doctor told you, and I know that you really tried to protect me from what had happened. It wasn't enough and you know it wasn't. Poor Shaun just got caught in the middle."

Sylvia leaned close and despite her daughter's protests, pulled her close for a tight hug. "I tried to do the best I could by you, Donna. He told me what I had to do, I wasn't going to let you down. Not again, especially when it meant losing you possibly forever. If that means I'm a terrible mum, then so be it."

Donna jerked at her mother's embrace, before finally just letting go and hugging her back. Her heart had been in the right place, she truly had done all that she could do with the limited experience she had. All the while, blaming the Doctor for what had happened to her daughter even while trying to help her live as normal a life as she could.

A flicker of movement caught her eye and caused her to look up to see the Doctor leaning in the doorway, his eyes locked on hers even as she felt the inquiry in her mind. She was worn out, mentally and physically drained and she was fast approaching collapse. The walls he had helped build in her mind were starting to fray, and she was losing control of her own ability to contain her pain.

The Doctor had of course heard everything, Sylvia and Donna were not exactly quiet when they argued. Wilf had tried to calm the Doctor down, but finally had just given up and come to join the Doctor in the doorway.

"Now now, Donna, Sylvia. What's done is done. What's important is that we have our Donna back. We have ALL of her back now, thanks to the Doctor. I think that he deserves a thank you at least, don't you?"

The last was said with a pointed look at Sylvia, who jumped when she heard her father's voice. Looking up to see both her dad and the Doctor in the doorway, she scowled. "Have you been eavesdropping on us?"

The Doctor rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, for once looking abashed as he mumbled. "You two were never exactly quiet when you argued."

She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at him. "You were the reason for a lot of our fights in recent memory."

His head rose at that. "I what?"

"Well you were, coming round here always bringing chaos and destruction. I worried about her, I still do."

He sighed at that. "I understand how you could think that I was the cause of everything that has happened to you and this planet in recent years. I show up and somehow stand at the center of it all. What you don't know, is that I have been protecting this planet for a lot longer than you can imagine." He went to stand by the window, his eyes resting on the Tardis as he thought about all the things he had seen and done in his long life.

He went on, almost as if he were talking to himself. "Humanity is amazing and resilient and brilliant. No matter what happens to you, you always bounce back. Sometimes not in the best way, but it has never quashed your spirit and desire to move on and to KNOW." He couldn't keep the wonder from his voice. "Just to know that there is a reason for everything that happens, an explanation for all the inexplicable." He shook his head with a sigh. "My people lost that eons ago, if they ever even had it. The oldest species in the universe, almost as old as time itself. Is it any wonder I was drawn to earth? I was drawn to her people over and over again, just to feel that again. Just to know what it felt like to wonder again."

He turned back to look at Wilf and Sylvia, the two of them standing protectively close to Donna though Wilf was smiling like a loon as he listened to him. The Doctor just shook his head, his gaze flicking to Donna before he continued. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect, Donna. Just as I have been doing for nearly a thousand years. Protecting those I care about, and their extended family." Sylvia blinked at the mention of his years, for some reason never having really thought about how old the Doctor really was. "In the end though, this is her choice. I hope that you will respect it. She wants you to, because you both mean the world to her."

Wilf couldn't help but cheer at the last, his voice cracking as he cheered. "Bravo, Doctor! I told you she was better with you."

Sylvia glared at him, but it lacked real heat. "Oh don't you start now, Dad."

"I will not stop, Sylvia. She was better, she IS better. Just like we wanted her to be."

All at once, the tears broke free. It was too much and too fast. Scrubbing angrily at her eyes, she looked up at the Doctor and asked the question that had been burning in her mind since the day he had dropped her off all those months earlier. "Do they still sing songs of her?"

Donna looked questioningly at her mother and the Doctor, uncertain just what was going on but having a feeling it was very important. The smile on his face couldn't have been more brilliant. "Oh yes. They will sing songs of her for all eternity." His eyes then locked on to hers as he murmured. "Donna Noble. The most important woman in the universe."

Her hand flew to her mouth at that, the flicker of sensation from him was nearly overwhelming as she felt a brief surge of that song, the song that he always heard no matter where or when he travelled. It had been a burden to him before, now it was a blessing.

She nodded curtly at that answer, before turning to her daughter and asking with a soft sigh. "I guess you'll be leaving pretty quickly then?" She had just gotten Donna back, and though they didn't always get on very well, she was already sad that she was leaving so quickly.

Donna glanced at the Doctor, and at his shrug she nodded. "Soon enough mum. I've just come back for some things before heading back off really. There's a lot we have to do. A lot I have to do to figure out what all happened with me and how it has changed me." She didn't even go into her newfound ability, and one sharp glance at the Doctor warned him not to say a word about that. Her mother was traumatized enough as it was.

Sylvia could only numbly nod as Donna hugged both her and Wilf tight. "I will be back to visit, Mum. I will call as well. The Doctor fixed my phone before so I could do that, he'll do it again."

Wilf especially just hugged her tight. "You go on then. Go out to the stars!"

With a soft smile, Donna dashed up the stairs and began to pack a few bags. Her eyes lighting on the picture of her and Shaun that she kept on her dresser. Sitting down for a moment and feeling completely overwhelmed, Donna just hugged the picture tight to her chest for a moment before she stood back up and laid it back face down on the dresser.

With her eyes clenched tightly closed, she leaned against the dresser for a moment then the room began to spin about her. Her knees buckled at the wave of exhaustion that suddenly crashed down over her, the walls in her mind cracked just a little bit more.

Strong hands grabbed her before she hit the floor, pulling her back to the bed and sitting her down. The Doctor knelt before her, his eyes worried while his cool fingers felt her forehead to see if her fever had returned. Finding the skin cool to his touch, he shook his head. "You pushed yourself too hard too soon. We should've waited a few days more before coming back." She blinked, remembering vaguely how he had built those walls up and tried to shore them up a bit more but she was just too tired to achieve much. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, the luminous tip mesmerizing her even as she slapped it away.

"Stop bleeping me! How many times do I have to tell you I hate when you do that?" She was definitely in a testy mood while she finished her packing.

He wisely didn't say anything while he tucked his sonic back into his inner coat pocket, shaking his head when he saw just how quickly she had managed to pack a mini mountain of luggage. Just like when she had first come with him.

He grabbed two bags and followed her down the stairs, mostly to keep an eye on her just in case she got hit with another wave of vertigo.

Suddenly the house felt too small for him, he was itching to be off again. Off to someplace far from earth and all the trauma that it had caused for both him and Donna. Maybe it was time to take her to Cotter Polluni's World like he had mentioned all those months ago when the Sontarans had invaded the earth. She had always wanted to go to a nice beach, preferably one that didn't end up being a death trap.

Stepping out of the house and hurrying across the street to the Tardis, he slipped inside and set the controls for their quick departure before he returned for the last of Donna's things.

She was hugging her mother and Wilf one last time, all three were crying because the time was now at hand.

"You ready Donna?" He asked, his hand squeezing her shoulder for reassurance when he felt how she was trembling beneath it.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"You promise to keep in touch Doctor. And you promise to take care of her!" He nodded at Sylvia's admonitions, giving her a tight hug despite her protests before turning to Wilf.

"Thank you, Wilf. Thank you for everything." He then grabbed the older man in a big hug and murmured. "I would've been proud to have you for my dad."

Wilf jerked at those words, the tears springing to his eyes as he looked up at this strange alien who had saved his granddaughter's life more times than he cared to imagine. "You just watch out for her, you hear? You watch out for both of you."

"I will."

With that, they both turned and walked across the street before disappearing into the Doctor's crazy blue police box.

Sylvia hugged her dad close, feeling like she was saying goodbye for the final time as the whirring of the Tardis' engines echoed down the street and the ship disappeared like if it had never been.

Donna leaned against the closed doors of the Tardis watching the Doctor bound up the steps to the console and make a few last minute adjustments before throwing the lever and sending the ship lurching on its way to wherever they were going next.

She just let out a long breath when her legs finally gave out, her mental shields finally crumbling completely away as the exhaustion nearly drove her under.

"Hey, don't be doing that Donna! Not on the hard floor." The Doctor came running back down the steps, jumping over her bags to skid to a halt beside her just as she landed with an unceremonious thump on the floor.

She looked up at him and grimaced. "Now don't be saying I told you so, Doctor. You do that and I will not be held responsible for my actions." She waggled a shaking finger at him, before letting her head fall back and rest against the warm wooden doors behind her.

He took one look at her and slid down to the floor beside her, his shoulder pressed tight against her as he whispered. "I'm sorry for how today went. I had honestly hoped that you would have more time to prepare to deal with…" He hesitated, hearts constricting as he remembered her scream in his mind. The scream that had made him decide to do something to try to at least make things better for Shaun. "More time to prepare to deal with Shaun."

She huffed softly at that, stormy blue green eyes rising to meet his as she muttered. "Well, in the end it's my fault. I should never have said yes when he asked me to marry him, deep down I knew it was a mistake though I couldn't understand why." She let her breath out in a mad rush. "God I feel so guilty now. I hurt him so bad, when he did nothing to deserve it."

The Doctor turned his head to look at her, his knees cocked in the exact same position that hers were in while he pondered how best to tell her what he had done. "I know you feel responsible for what happened to him. That if you had never travelled with me maybe he wouldn't have been so hurt, because you would've been able to be with him." Her lashes swept down to cover the guilt in her eyes, but he continued on. "In the end though it is not your fault. You did not lead him on, you were honest with him as much as you could be at the time." He paused at that. "If anyone is to blame, it's me."

He jumped at the hard smack he felt on his arm. "OI! What'd you go and do that for?"

She was glaring daggers at him as she snarked. "Don't take away my pity party, Spaceman! Don't you dare!"

He jaw dropped at her words before he burst out laughing, unable to control himself when a look of chagrin spread over her face. "Seriously? You're angry because I feel partly to blame, earthgirl?" He teased her, relaxing slightly when she shook her head and just chuckled morosely.

"I know you feel bad about what happened Donna, and I know you wished that you could do something to make it better for him. I took care of that for you."

"You what? What did you do, timeboy?"

The smile was boyish as he said. "You know I left the house for a little while when you were speaking to Shaun."

"I thought you didn't want to hear that." She mumbled.

"Hardly that at all." He said with a grimace. "But well, you see I never carry any money so I borrowed a few quid off your granddad." At her arched brow, he quickly hurried on when he saw the storm clouds growing in her eyes. "I popped down to the store and bought him a little present. Slipped it in his jacket pocket, so he won't know where he got it from or from whom."

Her mind was working furiously, wondering what in the world the Doctor could've gotten Shaun to make what she had done any better. "What did you get him?"

"I remembered your grandpa saying how he was just working a minimum wage job, that he was just getting by and kept hoping for someone to come along and end the recession so that he could get back on his feet." Donna nodded mutely, her mind racing as the Doctor continued. "So I bought him a lottery ticket for tonight's draw. The cashier said it was a triple rollover as well."

"A Lottery Ticket? What kind of cheap consolation prize is that?" She spluttered, outraged that he would be so callous.

He arched a truly offended brow at that comment. "Hardly cheap, Donna. I'm the Time Lord remember?"And with that, it all clicked into place. He had used his own knowledge to make sure that in the end, Shaun would be just allright and at least he would have what he needed to make a better life for himself. A much, much better life in the end.

She collapsed against him with a laugh, shaking her head in bewilderment as she murmured. "You did that just to make me feel better?" Resting her head against his shoulder with a soft sigh, all the strength seeming to drain from her muscles, she muttered. "You crazy crazy martian. Thank you for that."

A soft chuckle rumbled deep in his chest as he responded. "I'm not a Martian." Leaning his head against hers, he murmured softly. "You're welcome, Donna."

The two of them sat against the Tardis doors for a long time more, just reveling in the feeling of being together once more and setting out to see what the universe had in store.

Author's Note: I always hated how the Doctor gave Donna a presumed winning lottery ticket for her wedding gift. It always felt like a cheap consolation prize even though we are left to assume, that of course now since Donna wouldn't have to worry about money maybe she would be able to buy happiness even though the most important part of her was missing.

It just felt like one more screw you to Donna, who had done nothing but help and support the Doctor through some truly difficult times. In the end, I wanted to use the ticket here as a sort of consolation prize for Shaun so that at least he would get his wish of HIS recession ending.

This wraps up all the loose ends holding them back, now is time to finally go have some fun! Thanks for sticking through this so far!