"It's my responsibility."

Before he spoke, the Doctor pulled out the TARDIS key and pointed it to the sky.

"I think the Shadow Proclamation has more to deal with than us right now," he said. And part of him wanted her there, for the security. For the last three years, she was all he had. Well, for really many years before that, actually. His oldest companion, always waiting.

He took a breath, and laid back against the ground again. "It's part of a prophecy."