The next time Danni woke up, she felt more like herself. Well, she thought as she swung her legs over the side of her bed, more like she remembered she should feel. She looked back down at her strange new hands, ones that weren't how she thought they should be but were also distinctly hers. Did she even know how she should feel? What was happening to her?

Either way, her brain didn't feel so much of a mess as it had done. Whilst she had dreamt of the blonde Time Lord she'd left behind in the Time War, her brain had pieced together what it knew. She had been shot by Rassilon, and then she'd looked into the Eye like Koschei had told her. After that, it was a little confusing. But she remembered Donna and Ten. That she remembered clearly.

Looking around the room showed just how her eyesight had changed. Nothing looked quite right, with every surface that could possibly reflect light streaming off in every direction and making everything seem less solid and put together than it had done before. It was all so… strange.

Theta had chucked her out of the TARDIS, and her life just turned on its head yet again. And it broke her hearts all over again.

Heart. Hearts. Something like that.

Standing up was also a bit disconcerting. She was slightly taller, so the ground was slightly further away than she remembered it. She wasn't wobbly, or unstable, though. It wasn't as hard to stand as she thought it would be.

She felt a little disconnected from the world around her. She was sure that she was supposed to be screaming, or rocking backwards and forwards at the mere thought that, at the very least, her parents had lied to her about being human. At most, though, they'd lied about being her parents…

She took a glance at her bedside table and caught sight of a pair of glasses. She smiled softly to herself and slipped them on. The Doctor must have put them there for her when she woke up. Immediately the world felt a little clearer. Well, to look at anyway. Nothing about her personal world felt clear right now.

She walked over to the door. She had to be grateful that she landed with Donna Ten. She couldn't even imagine how angry it would have made Rose Ten to see her regenerate. And Nine wouldn't have known what to do. Eleven, on the other hand…

She froze, her hand on the doorway. Eleven had tried to kill her. Well, he'd tried to scare her. Had he tried to kill her? Had that been his intention all along? She looked straight ahead, as if she was looking for Ten on the other side. What would he think when he found out what happened to her? Could she even tell him? Should she even tell him?

She still hesitated, an overwhelming feeling of panic stopping her leaving her room. She wasn't sure why, because she knew she was safe where she was. But the idea of stepping out into the hallway was absolutely terrifying. It wasn't something she had felt before, but it felt familiar. The fear felt familiar.

She shook her head, and yanked the door open. She wasn't afraid of the hallway. That didn't make any sense at all. She headed left, knowing that the TARDIS would take her exactly where she needed to be. And, in true fashion, she appeared at the console room moments later.

The Doctor was at the console, jacket chucked over the railings, which was a rare form of Ten she didn't get to see very often. He was staring intently at something on the monitor, like he was trying to work out a puzzle. Seeing him stood so still whilst doing it, though, was a good indication that he was very engrossed in what he was doing.

"What-What are you looking at?" she called over, a slight stutter in her voice betraying just how nervous she felt. He quickly turned to look at her, a giant grin spreading on his face. She couldn't help but smile shyly back.

"Danni-Girl," he cried. "Look at you, up and about!" He walked over. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she replied, with a little shrug. "Thanks for, you know, the glasses."

"I'm not sure if they are the right prescription," he explained. "But they do seem to fit, which I also wasn't sure about." He reached out and adjusted them on her face. "Perhaps a little chunky, then again eyewear isn't really my expertise. I'm a doctor of many things, optometry is not one of them."

"Are you sure?" she asked. He paused, both hands still on her face.

"Maybe," he offered slowly. He was obviously unsure, and it made her giggle a little.

"You should at least try and keep track of how smart you are," she scolded lightly. "There's no one else who can keep up."

They fell silent for a moment, and Danni felt herself fall nervous again. It seemed to be a background noise in her head, making her unsure, a little frightened, of where she was and who she was with. It must have just been part of her regenerating. Did the Doctor always feel like this when he regenerated?

He still was cupping her face like he was studying her. She didn't know whether to pull away, or call him out, but she just let him check her over. Even for someone who had regeneration woven into his life, she was sure it was weird to see how a friend was suddenly so different.

"What-What do you think?" she asked him and his hands dropped from her face, almost as if he'd realised he'd been holding onto her.

"What do you think?" he asked in reply. She gave a little shrug.

"I mean, I'm blonde?" she offered. She hadn't looked at herself, she realised. She'd always had the habit of checking the mirror before heading out to see Ten, checking if she was presentable enough for him. She'd not even glanced in it as she'd headed out of the room. "And I'm tall, now."

"Well…"

She shot him a look. "Oi," she warned him. "You know what I mean."

Again, another small silence fell over them. The elephant in the room hung over them, and she was incredibly nervous to bring it up. She was scared of the answer, but she had to know. "Do you know why, you know…."

He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry," he replied. "I've tried to find out, but there's a lot of history to go through and I don't even know where to start."

She nodded slowly. "No, no, that makes sense. It's… I don't know what this is." She looked down at her feet, where her feet felt a little tight in her shoes. "All of it is new."

He was taken back to her first words – well, that's new – and it brought the big question he wanted to ask her to the forefront to his mind. "Danni, you were asking for the Master…"

She looked sharply up at him. "Did I see Donna?" she interrupted, knowing where he was going with his questioning. She couldn't tell him, he didn't know. End of Time hadn't happened for him yet and in her fear and confusion, she knew she still had to keep the time lines as stable as she could.

Although, she was sure he would have mentioned seeing her regenerate. So maybe she'd messed it all up already.

"I was sure I saw someone ginger…"

"Yeah, she's around somewhere," he replied. He wanted to prod the issue, but if she really had been with the Master and had died from the interaction, then he was sure it was probably a bit too raw for her. So he tucked it away and let her lead. "She's been very excitable, actually."

Danni frowned. "Why?"

Why indeed. He opened his mouth to tell her it was because she had assumed that, now that Danni had regenerated, they were going to ride the TARDIS off into the sunset. She'd explained, in some detail, how he now had no excuse to keep pushing Danni away because she wasn't human and therefore his argument was invalid. He'd tried to explain it was more complicated than that, but heaven forbid someone tried to change her mind.

"Oh, because of the gossip, of course," he said brightly. "I tried to get her to calm down, but you know what she's like." He held his hand out to her. "What do you think?" She beamed back and took it. Threading her fingers through his calmed her nerves slightly.

The Doctor, though, felt his hearts speed up slightly. She looked so different, but he could see his Danni-Girl still underneath those eyes, behind the newness and the strangeness. And Donna was right. He had been using the fact that she was human, and would decay and die, to leave his hearts to a man who existed in the future. It was easy to hide behind excuses.

What was harder was accepting the fact that he didn't want to let go of her hand ever again. That he wanted to pull her close and finally give her what they all knew he wanted to. That first kiss.

"Danni," he started.

"Danni!"

Donna rushed in and, without taking any stock of the situation she'd burst into, pulled Danni into a tight hug and forced her to let go of the Doctor's hand. "Oh, thank god you're okay! I mean, I knew you would be, but…" She pulled back to hold Danni at arm's length. "You're taller. And I love the blonde." She shot the Doctor an exasperated look. "Were you just going to let her walk around covered in blood?" she scolded. She grabbed Danni's hand. "Let's get you some proper clothes."

Danni looked back at the Doctor, eyes wide as she was overwhelmed by the attack. The Doctor just stared back, also a little stunned, as the whirlwind that was Donna dragged Danni away.

"What?"