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The Tardis hums warmly beneath my feet as the doors swing open onto the brightest beach I’ve ever seen.
The ocean sparkles silver-blue beneath three suns hanging low in the sky, the sand glittering faintly like crushed gemstones. Elegant white buildings curve along the coastline further up the cliffs, their windows glowing gold in the afternoon light while strange floating lanterns drift lazily overhead.
Amy steps out first and immediately freezes.
‘Oh,’ she breathes.
Rory follows behind her carrying three bags, somehow already sunburnt despite being here for approximately four seconds.
‘This,’ he says faintly, staring at the view, ‘is definitely better than Leadworth.’
The Doctor beams proudly, hands shoved into his tweed jacket pockets.
‘Pleasure Planet Zareth. Finest honeymoon destination in the Nythrian Spiral. Couples wait decades for reservations. Water temperature permanently perfect. No rain. No wars. No carnivorous wildlife.’
Amy narrows her eyes. ‘Why did you say that last one like that?’
‘No reason.’
‘Doctor.’
‘Absolutely none.’
I snort quietly beside him while Rory looks deeply concerned.
Amy points a warning finger at both of us.
‘No adventures while we’re gone.’
The Doctor gasps dramatically. ‘Amy Pond, I am offended.’
‘Last time you said that we got chased by sentient fog.’
‘That was one time.’
‘Three times,’ I correct.
‘Details.’
Amy sighs before turning toward me instead. ‘You keep him alive.’
‘I always do.’
‘And no running.’
The Doctor immediately looks offended again. ‘I don’t run that much.’
All three of us stare at him. ‘…comparatively.’
Amy laughs before looping her arm through Rory’s. For a second the teasing fades and something softer settles across her face as she looks around at the beaches and sunlight and peace.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she says quietly.
Rory kisses the side of her head gently. ‘Yeah. It really is.’
The Doctor watches them for a moment with that familiar fondness hidden carefully beneath the nonsense.
A few minutes later the two of them disappear down the glowing white path toward the resort, fingers intertwined and shoulders brushing together.
The Doctor smiles softly after them. ‘Good for them,’ he murmurs.
I lean against his shoulder. ‘You did good.’
‘I know. Excellent honeymoon planner me.’
‘Very humble too.’
‘One of my best qualities.’
The Tardis suddenly lets out a sharp warning chirp.
The Doctor’s head snaps around instantly. ‘Oh.’
Another chirp follows, harsher this time.
I’m already moving toward the console. ‘That sounds bad.’
‘Yep.’
The holographic display flickers rapidly above the rotor.
Distress signal detected.
Source recognised.
The Doctor stills.
I blink at the screen. ‘Jenny?’
The signal crackles through the console room speakers a second later.
‘—if this thing is actually transmitting properly, I hate literally everything right now—’
Jenny.
Definitely Jenny.
‘—Dad, Mum, little bit stranded, tiny Tardis problem, slightly exploded the dimensional stabiliser—’
The Doctor’s eyes widen. ‘She exploded what?’
‘—before you panic, everyone’s alive—’
‘That sentence never means anything good,’ he mutters.
‘—might need rescuing though.’
The signal cuts abruptly into static.
‘She exploded the dimensional stabiliser.’
I fold my arms. ‘You exploded the kitchen trying to make chips once.’
‘That was science.’
‘That was oil and bad decisions.’
He points at the monitor. ‘Exactly! Genetic inheritance!’
I laugh despite myself while he darts around the console already setting coordinates.
‘Where is she?’
‘Floating trade routes near the Karsith Expanse.’ He pulls a lever sharply. ‘Oh this is bad.’
‘How bad?’
‘Potentially “her Tardis folds into a decorative cube” bad.’
‘That sounds fixable.’
‘Not if she touched the temporal relay.’
I pause.
‘…did she touch the temporal relay?’
He gives me a look. ‘She absolutely touched the temporal relay.’
The Tardis lurches violently into flight.
The floating market hangs suspended in the middle of open space.
Thousands of connected platforms drift slowly around a massive glowing energy core, linked together by bridges, hovering transports, and streams of moving lights. Ships weave between docking towers while enormous holographic signs flash in dozens of alien languages overhead.
And directly in the middle of Docking Ring Seven sits a very familiar blue box emitting sparks.
The Doctor storms out of the Tardis before the doors have fully opened.
‘Jennifer!’
Jenny spins around instantly from where she’s half inside an open console panel.
She grins brightly. ‘Hi Dad!’
The Doctor stops dead.
Ross stands beside her holding a toolkit.
UNIT Ross.
Ross Jenkins.
My husband visibly bluescreens.
Jenny notices immediately. ‘…oh no,’ she says delightedly.
Ross straightens awkwardly. ‘Sir.’
The Doctor points at him. ‘Why are you here?’
Ross blinks. ‘Uh… because Jenny invited me?’
The Doctor turns slowly toward Jenny like he’s personally betrayed.
‘You invited a UNIT soldier into your Tardis?’
‘You married a shop girl.’
‘That is completely different.’
I snort loudly while Jenny grins triumphantly.
Ross, poor thing, looks like he’s moments from a stress-induced collapse.
‘We met during an alien containment incident in Sheffield,’ Jenny explains cheerfully. ‘He got possessed briefly but he recovered really well.’
Ross nods once. ‘Apparently that’s considered a good first impression in this family.’
I immediately like him.
The Doctor squints suspiciously. ‘You’re dating.’
Jenny casually takes Ross’s hand. ‘Yep.’
The Doctor looks physically wounded. ‘Dating.’
‘Still yep.’
‘Romantically?’
‘That is generally how dating works, Dad.’
He turns toward me desperately. ‘Rose.’
‘Mm?’
‘Our daughter is dating.’
I smile sweetly. ‘She’s two hundred years old, love.’
‘That’s not helping.’
Jenny leans against Ross’s shoulder deliberately. ‘We’ve been together four months.’
The Doctor makes a strangled noise. ‘FOUR MONTHS?!’
Several nearby mechanics glance over.
Ross looks genuinely apologetic.
‘I was going to tell you earlier, sir.’
‘Oh don’t call him sir,’ Jenny says immediately. ‘That makes him worse.’
‘I do not get worse.’
All three of us stare at him.
‘…fair point.’
I walk over toward Jenny while the Doctor continues staring at Ross like he’s trying to calculate seventeen different timelines simultaneously.
‘What happened?’
Jenny grimaces and gestures toward the smoking console inside her Tardis.
‘Tiny accident.’
‘Define tiny.’
‘Well technically the explosion was contained.’
The Doctor throws his hands in the air. ‘There was an explosion!’
Jenny ignores him expertly. ‘Dimensional stabiliser overloaded. We need replacement parts.’
‘Can it fly?’
‘Not unless we want to arrive three weeks before we leave while upside down.’
‘Fair.’
Ross lifts the toolkit slightly. ‘There’s a market two platforms over selling old Tardis-compatible tech.’
The Doctor immediately points at him again. ‘How do you know what Tardis-compatible technology looks like?’
Ross hesitates. ‘…Jenny made revision cards.’
I have to physically turn away to hide my laughter.
The Doctor looks devastated. ‘There are revision cards?!’
Jenny brightens proudly. ‘Colour coded.’
‘Rose!’
‘I think that’s adorable.’
‘You are not helping me parent.’
Jenny slips past him before he can continue spiralling. ‘Come on. You can yell at me while helping fix things.’
‘I am absolutely yelling.’
‘Good. You sound healthier when you’re dramatic.’
She kisses my cheek quickly as she passes. ‘Mum, can you go with Ross for parts? Dad’s about to enter protective father mode.’
‘I am not—’
‘You threatened a Dalek for looking at me once.’
‘It knew what it did.’
Ross quietly mouths help at me. I grin sympathetically. ‘Come on then,’ I tell him. ‘Before he starts giving shovel talks.’
‘Shovel talks?’
‘You’ll see.’
Behind us the Doctor splutters indignantly while Jenny laughs loud enough for half the docking ring to hear.
And honestly?
This might be the best day I’ve had in weeks.
The floating market stretches endlessly beneath glowing strands of suspended lights.
Platforms drift slowly through open space while traders shout across crowded walkways in dozens of different languages, holograms flicker overhead advertising impossible things, and the smell of spice, engine fuel, fried food, and ozone all mixes together into one overwhelming wall of noise.
It’s brilliant.
Ross nearly walks directly into a six-armed merchant within the first thirty seconds.
‘Sorry!’ he blurts instantly.
The merchant chitters something deeply offended before wandering off.
I grin.
‘You’re doing well.’
‘I’ve been threatened three times.’
‘That’s practically friendly around here.’
Ross laughs nervously while adjusting the bag slung over his shoulder.
Without the UNIT uniform he looks younger somehow. Softer. Still alert — definitely trained — but there’s an openness to him I can immediately understand Jenny falling for.
He catches me looking.
‘This is the part where the terrifying mother interrogates me, isn’t it?’
‘Oh absolutely. You've already met us a couple of times, I wouldn't worry too much.'
‘Right. Fair enough.' He says straightening his shoulders. 'A couple?'
I just smile as we move with the crowd across one of the enormous glass bridges connecting the market rings. Space stretches infinitely beneath us, stars glittering below our feet.
‘You really care about her,’ I say eventually.
Ross answers immediately. ‘Yeah.’
There's no hesitation at all, just pure honesty. My smile softens slightly at my daughter having found someone to share her crazy life with.
‘Good answer.’
‘Pretty sure there was only one correct one.’
‘Also true.’
Ahead of us a transport barge glides past carrying enormous glowing crystals while music echoes from somewhere deeper in the market.
Ross glances sideways at me carefully. ‘He hates me.’
I snort. ‘No he doesn’t.’
‘He looked at me like he was considering launching me into the sun.’
‘That’s his version of concern.’
Ross looks alarmed. ‘That’s concern?’
‘Honey, he hasn’t threatened you once. You’re doing brilliantly.’
Ross goes strangely pale. ‘He hasn't?'
I laugh before nudging his shoulder lightly. ‘He likes you.’
‘How can you tell?’
‘He’s still speaking in complete sentences.’
Ross mutters something that sounds like “brilliant” under his breath.
We weave through another crowded platform lined with hanging lanterns and floating stalls. Alien fabrics ripple overhead in rich blues and golds while mechanical birds dart through the air carrying messages between vendors.
‘So,’ I say casually, ‘possessed in Sheffield?’
Ross groans immediately. 'Yes. I was all glowy eyes and levitation. Jenny enjoyed herself far too much from what I remember.'
I grin. ‘That’s basically flirting in our family.’
Ross laughs despite himself. ‘Honestly, I thought she was joking at first. About all of it.’
‘The aliens or the time travel?’
‘The “my dad accidentally caused three historical incidents and once married an immortal wolf goddess” part. I know what we're told at UNIT, which isn't a lot but still unbelievable.'
‘Ah. Fair.’
‘Then a Sontaran tried to kill us in a warehouse.’
‘That usually confirms things.’
Ross shakes his head fondly. ‘She was incredible though.’
Something melts in me at hearing that, like he actually sees her as she is and not just as an extension of her parents. I can’t help thinking how glad I am they found each other. Jenny could use a calm stable influence from Ross, someone to keep her tethered, it had worried me when during our last chat she was alone.
We stop beside a stall filled with strange glowing machinery.
Ross pulls out a small folded list from his pocket.
‘Right. Dimensional relay couplings, phase stabilisers, and—’
A loud crash echoes somewhere nearby.
Then shouting.
‘Excuse me! I was only trying to help!’
I stop dead. Oh no. I’d recognise that voice anywhere, and now I’m focusing properly I can feel another presence of the Doctor nearby.
Ross blinks. ‘You know him?’
I’m already smiling.
‘…sort of.’
We round the corner into complete chaos.
Three market guards are attempting to wrestle a familiar blond man into restraints while half a dozen mechanical crates spark violently around him.
My previous Doctor looks deeply offended by the entire situation.
‘Honestly,’ he protests while one guard grabs his arm, ‘if you’d simply listened—’
‘YOU ACTIVATED RESTRICTED TECHNOLOGY.’
‘I touched it! There’s a difference!’
Another crate explodes.
He winces. ‘…that one might be my fault.’
I clap a hand over my mouth to stop myself from giggling.
My past Doctor finally notices me standing there.
He frowns at me confused, that faint feeling of thinking you know someone but not sure how. Next he searches his mind and comes across our bond, dormant and slightly prods it. I give him a small wave and smile which seems to unlock something.
‘…Rose?’ he says carefully.
Ross makes a choking noise beside me.
The guards continue trying to drag Five backwards while he keeps staring at me.
‘Oh,’ I say brightly. ‘You're getting arrested again.’
My past Doctor looks horrified. ‘I have never been arrested.’
I snort before I can help myself.' ‘There was that moon prison.’
‘That hardly counts.’
‘You escaped through an air vent.’
‘Well yes because they arrested me!’
Ross is staring openly now.
‘There are many, many more examples I wish I could give you.’
My past Doctor straightens indignantly while one guard continues holding his arm. ‘I was attempting to prevent a catastrophic overload.’
‘By poking illegal technology?’ I ask.
‘It was already unstable.’
The machine behind him sparks violently again.
He points at it triumphantly. ‘See?’
A security alarm suddenly starts blaring.
Ross mutters, ‘Oh brilliant.’
The guards immediately start shouting over each other.
My past Doctor sighs. ‘This is why I usually travel alone.’
I step forward before things can get worse. ‘He’s with me.’
One of the guards squints suspiciously. ‘You know this criminal?’
He looks scandalised. ‘Criminal?!’
‘Unfortunately yes,’ I answer.
Ross coughs to hide a laugh.
The guard hesitates before finally releasing him.
Five immediately straightens his cricket jumper with offended dignity. ‘Thank you.’
‘You would have gotten yourself out of, I'm sure.'
‘Yes but this is better than spending a night in jail.' He grumbles but sends a small thankful smile my way.
Ross is trying so hard not to laugh now.
The Doctor notices him properly for the first time. ‘Ah.’
His expression changes immediately, sharp, curious. I almost roll my eyes, knowing where his jealous brain is going.
‘Human,’ he says. ‘UNIT training. Slight limp in your left leg. Recent shoulder injury. You’re travelling with Rose.’
Ross blinks rapidly.
‘Right. Okay. That’s unsettling when you do it too.’
‘Too?’ The Doctor asks.
I grin helplessly when Ross sends me a panicked look.
‘Family trait.’ I answer.
He goes to ask more questions I'm sure when I hold my hand up, 'Timelines.'
My past Doctor pouts but nods.
'Now, you need to get out of here.' I say softly and apologetically. 'Can't have you two on the same planet for longer.'
'I suppose not.' He says sadly before pressing a kiss to my forehead and disappearing into the crowd.
A sigh leaves me as I watch him go.
'Was that?' Ross asks hesitantly, breaking me out of my daze.
'Yeah.' I confirm.
'Come on.' I urge, heading to the next stall we need.
We quickly gather the rest of the parts we need, I'm eager to get back to the Doctor.
By the time Ross and I return to Docking Ring Seven, the argument is audible from halfway across the platform.
‘You cannot recalibrate a temporal relay with a spoon!’
‘It’s not a spoon, Dad.’
‘It is literally a spoon!’
‘It’s multifunctional!’
I grin as we step back into view of the two Tardises.
Jenny is half inside an open console panel again while the Doctor waves his sonic around like he’s personally offended by engineering itself. Sparks fly somewhere beneath the console and the Tardis lets out a deeply unimpressed groan.
Ross winces slightly beside me. ‘Should we come back later?’
‘No, this is bonding.’
‘This is bonding?’
‘You should’ve seen them during the moon engine incident.’
The Doctor looks up as we approach. ‘Finally!’ He points dramatically at Jenny. ‘She tried to reroute temporal energy through the secondary vortex manipulator!’
Jenny straightens immediately. ‘Because the stabiliser was cracked!’
‘You can’t bypass a Tardis relay system with improvisation!’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘You once held our engines together with string.’
‘That was different.’
‘You used string.’
‘Very good string.’
Ross coughs suspiciously into his hand to hide a laugh.
The Doctor notices the bag of parts immediately and brightens. ‘Oh brilliant. Did you get the phase couplings?’
Ross hands them over carefully. ‘And the relay connectors.’
‘Excellent human!’
Ross blinks. ‘…thank you?’
Jenny beams proudly while the Doctor immediately disappears into the console room muttering calculations under his breath.
I watch him go fondly before turning toward Jenny. ‘How bad is it really?’
She exhales slowly.
That answers the question immediately.
‘Jen.’
‘It’ll be okay,’ she says quickly, though there’s a crack beneath the confidence now. ‘I just pushed her too hard. We clipped a solar storm near the Arcadian Drift and then the stabiliser overloaded and—’
At that Jens Tardis gives another unhappy groan and she visibly wilts. My heart squeezes at the devastation on her face.
‘Oh, honey.’ I step closer instinctively.
She presses her lips together tightly before looking away toward her Tardis. ‘She’s hurting.’
And there it is. For the first time since this all started, she’s really realised what she’s done. I can see the guilt building in her eyes, just like her father — always the last one to notice he’s hurting too.
Jenny runs a hand through her hair. ‘I should’ve stopped sooner. I knew she was struggling and I kept going anyway because I thought I could fix it before it became a problem.’
‘That sounds familiar.’
She huffs out a weak laugh. ‘Inherited flaw?’
‘Massively.’
Inside the console room something explodes loudly.
The Doctor’s voice follows immediately after. ‘THAT WASN’T ME.’
Ross sighs. ‘That definitely sounded like him.’
‘Go give him a hand, will you?’ I say, nodding toward the console room. ‘Make sure he doesn’t explode anything else.’
'Sure.' He stutters out.
‘Also inherited,’ Jenny mutters when Ross goes.
I smile softly before reaching for her hand. ‘Come here.’
She lets me pull her away from the noise and chaos toward the quieter edge of the docking platform where strings of glowing lanterns drift gently overhead. Space stretches endlessly around us, stars reflecting against the glass beneath our feet.
For a moment neither of us speaks, we sit there quietly with Jenny leaning against my shoulder with a tired sigh.
‘You know,’ I say quietly, ‘your dad nearly destroyed our Tardis three separate times during the first century we travelled together.’
Jenny snorts softly. ‘Only three?’
‘That I know about.’
‘Better.’
I brush my fingers through her hair automatically and feel her relax slightly.
‘She trusts you,’ I murmur.
Jenny looks down. ‘I know.’
‘And you love her.’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Then you’ll fix it together.’
Her eyes glisten faintly in the soft market lights. ‘You always make it sound simple.’
I smile sadly. ‘That’s because none of us survive this life if we think too hard about how terrifying it actually is.’
That earns a real laugh from her. ‘Fair point.’
We stand there quietly for another moment while ships drift slowly beyond the market platforms.
‘So,’ I say casually, ‘Ross.’
Jenny immediately brightens. ‘Ross.’
I grin knowingly. ‘You really like him.’
‘Mum.’
‘What? You do.’
She bites back a smile unsuccessfully. ‘I know I’ve travelled with amazing people my whole life,’ she says softly, ‘but with him it’s just… easy.’
Something warm settles painfully in my chest because I remember that feeling.
I remember meeting a strange man in a leather jacket and somehow finding home.
Jenny glances toward the Tardis where Ross is now helping the Doctor hand over tools while being aggressively supervised.
‘He doesn’t look at me like I’m difficult to keep up with,’ she admits quietly. ‘Or too much. He just… keeps pace.’
Oh sweetheart.
I squeeze her hand tightly. ‘Then keep him.’
Her smile turns softer then. More vulnerable.
‘Dad’s trying,’ she says after a moment.
I glance back toward the chaos inside the console room just in time to see the Doctor slap Ross’s hand away from a cable.
‘No touching glowy things.’
‘I was helping!’
‘You were about to reverse polarity!’
‘I don’t know what that means!’
Jenny laughs. ‘See? Trying.’
I laugh too. ‘That’s practically approval.’
The Doctor suddenly storms out of the Tardis holding a smoking component.
‘Jenny!’
‘What?’
‘Why is this melted?’
She pauses.
‘…define melted.’
‘JENNIFER.’
Ross immediately looks terrified again. I pat his arm sympathetically as I walk past. ‘You’re doing great.’
‘I genuinely can’t tell if that’s true anymore.’
Inside the Tardis the repair process quickly descends into absolute chaos.
The Doctor and Jenny argue over wiring configurations while Ross passes tools and tries not to die. I mostly supervise from the jump seat with tea the Tardis kindly provides me while occasionally stopping either of them from causing further explosions.
Eventually, somehow, impossibly, the central rotor begins glowing steadily again.
The engines hum.
Healthy.
Alive.
Jenny’s entire face lights up instantly.
‘Oh thank God.’
She throws her arms around the console as the Tardis responds with a pleased wheezing sound.
The Doctor watches her quietly for a moment, his face going soft and fond.
Then he clears his throat loudly. ‘Well. Obviously we fixed it because we’re brilliant.’
Jenny grins. ‘Mostly me.’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘Fifty-fifty.’
‘Twenty-eighty.’
‘Rude.’
Ross smiles helplessly at all of us while the Doctor turns toward him suddenly.
Oh no.
I recognise that expression.
So does Jenny apparently.
‘Dad,’ she warns.
The Doctor points at Ross seriously. ‘You.’
Ross straightens immediately. ‘Sir.’
‘Still hate that.’
‘Sorry.’
The Doctor folds his arms. ‘If you hurt her, I will throw you into a supernova.’
Ross goes completely pale.
‘DAD,’ Jenny says horrified.
I sigh. ‘There it is.’
‘Noted,’ Ross squeaks.
The Doctor studies him another second before continuing: ‘But…’ He shifts awkwardly. ‘You stayed.’
Ross blinks.
‘The easy option would’ve been leaving once things became dangerous or strange or complicated,’ the Doctor mutters. ‘You stayed anyway.’
Jenny looks startled.
Ross answers quietly. ‘Of course I stayed.’
Something in the Doctor softens then.
‘Right,’ he says briskly, immediately ruining the moment. ‘Good. Excellent. Tea?’
Ross stares at him. ‘…what?’
‘Tea. Important family tradition.’
I burst out laughing while Jenny groans dramatically. ‘Oh my God, that’s his approval speech.’
‘It is not.’
‘You offered tea!’
‘Tea is neutral!’
‘Dad, you gave Shakespeare tea.’
The Doctor points accusingly at her. ‘And look how that turned out.’
Ross is laughing now too, finally relaxing properly for the first time all day.
And watching all three of them together — my impossible family, loud and strange and loving — warmth blooms through my chest so suddenly it almost aches.
Not perfect.
Never normal.
But ours.