"Where to next?" As soon as the pair had re-entered the TARDIS, the Doctor had begun to race around the console, flipping switches, hitting buttons, and twisting gears, sending the machine into the vortex. "We could go to Space Florida, if you're feeling like some sun and sand. Or we could do some time traveling - backwards, forwards, whichever you please!

"Actually, Doctor, I was thinking that...maybe I could go home now...just for a while."

"Sure, whatever you want," he replied, face blank as stone. She looked scared enough to have asked him, and there was no way he would let her see how much he was hurting inside. Besides, he couldn't blame her; she had almost died, after all. And on another planet, no less.

In a few moments the TARDIS had landed with a bump, and the Doctor and Bridgette stepped outside. The Doctor tried to keep his distance; he hated saying good-bye.

"So," Bridgette asked, "how long have I been gone?" She looked up into the sky at the dark clouds that were still rolling in. Perhaps she could feel the Doctor pulling away and was trying to break the ice.

"Oh, not long; a few minutes maybe." He had to do something; he couldn't just let her walk away. He needed her. "You know, it is a time machine. We could travel for years and you'd never miss a thing."

"Doctor," Bridgette sighed, "I'd get older, and I've got so much ahead of me. I'll be graduating from high school next spring, and then college in the fall; I can't miss that. I need to live my life."

"I understand. Have a fantastic life, Bridgette." He smiled wistfully and, with that, he turned back to the TARDIS.

"Doctor, wait!" He turned back to her.

"If you ever need someone to, you know, travel with, occasionally, someone to share-everything-with once in a while, look me up, alright? I'll be here, or somewhere. But you've got a bloody brilliant blue box, so I bet you'll be able to find me. Okay?"

This time, his smile was genuine. "Sounds fantastic!"

Suddenly, they were hugging. Two friends who had saved the world together, the Doctor thought, and he was glad that it wouldn't be the first and last time.

They broke apart at last, and the Doctor again turned back to his ship, but a question popped back into his head and he whirled around; now it was his turn to catch his companion's attention: "Bridgette!"

She had begun to walk back to her house, but turned at the sound of her name: "Yeah?"

"There's still something I don't understand. When I first met you, you said that you 'used to' have problems with anxiety."

"The simple answer is medication. Therapy didn't help, but the meds did, and now I've got a whole new life. It was amazing, being able to do things without having to worry about everything. Lately, I've been thinking about cutting back, maybe seeing if I could handle my fear on my own. But when the daleks...well, I started to think that maybe I was getting worse, rather then better like I thought."

The Doctor shook his head in amazement; he had never met someone so young who was so strong.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

The Doctor nodded, waved, and went back into the TARDIS.

The sky rumbled, the storm almost overhead. "See you later, Doctor!" Bridgette yelled, and she waved back until the great blue box had disappeared from sight.

And at that moment, the heavens opened, and Bridgette ran back into the house.

I FINISHED IT! I'm so pleased! When I print it out, it will be about 16.5 pages!

I'm so proud of myself!

Anyways, I will be (hopefully) be going back and editing this at some point, or at least re-structuring the chapter breaks. Any suggestions? Comments? PLEASE, I'M DESPERATE FOR FEEDBACK! Any ideas for future stories? I'm thinking about maybe doing something with Eleven. Thoughts?

And yeah, the stuff about the anxiety disorder is true, so if you ever want to talk to me about it or have other questions, I'd be happy to help! Cheers and all that jazz for everyone who read this, favorited, followed, etc. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Tomorrow is November 23, right? :)

~Bridgette (Scholar of Imagination)