"Doctor," I asked feebly. She turned to face me immediately concerned at the tone of my voice. "I think I want to go home for a bit," I continued with a cautious look. Since our last adventure, I can't help but feel homesick.

"Of course, we can go back to Earth for a bit," the Doctor replied with a small smile, but I could see the worry in her eyes. She spun a couple of dials before pulling down a lever, as the TARDIS hummed. Grabbing my coat, the excitement is difficult for me to contain as I walked out of the TARDIS. But as soon as I opened the door, I knew there's been some sort of mistake. Gone was my house and every other house on the street. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we were on another planet at this point.

"Doctor?" I turned to her bewildered as she poked her head out. A couple of cars drove past us, looking vaguely familiar, but again not at all signifying that we landed in the right time zone.

"Looks a bit different to what I remember, have you redecorated?"

"Doctor my house has vanished," I exclaimed, walking up further down the road to ensure that I haven't missed anything. It gets slightly busier, small stores decorating the side of the road. The Doctor held her tongue out and took a sniff of the air.

"Definitely London but it's 1975 no wait, 1973, wow I really missed the mark on this one," the Doctor frowned, shaking her head at me apologetically. "Come on, let's try again," she said heading back to the TARDIS, but a familiar sight made me freeze. A man and wife carrying a small baby boy, as they head into one of the small stores - a restaurant. Absentmindedly, I walked towards them, unable to tear my gaze away, the same thought running through my mind.

It can't be.

"Hey! Wait!" I called out, but they don't pay any attention to me. Of course they wouldn't. Running towards the restaurant, I lingered by the window and watched the scene unfolded inside. The young woman went towards the back, probably to start preparing for the next service. But my eyes are trained on the man whose worried lines etched his face as he flicked through the bills. He glanced at the sound children who were playing with a couple of disregarded paper plates, before sighing. Blinking the tears, my hand reached up on the window.

"Are you craving a biryani?" the Doctor asked next to me, making me jump. Without tearing my gaze away from them, I shook my head with a small smile.

"This is my grandfather's restaurant. That's my dad down there," I pointed towards the eldest child who didn't look any older than five. It was in this moment I could truly appreciate how similar he looked to my younger brother. The Doctor pursed her lips, glancing at me worriedly.

"It's okay, I've watched Back to the Future enough times. I'm not about to erase my existence," I muttered, as I feel her body language relax next to me. Yet, I can't help but feel like I want to help them in some manner. 1973 was a difficult year for them. My grandfather got evicted from their house last year, they would spend the better part of this year sleeping on the floor of the restaurant, until the government stepped in and provided them with a house. Having only recently moved to the country from Kenya, they barely knew a word of English, relying on my father to do most of the translation. They were alone, the first that ventured to the city, but they were soon followed by other extended family. Because of their experience in this period, my grandparents would always invite anyone who moved to the country to come stay with them, even if they didn't have the room.

"I suppose the TARDIS didn't completely go wrong here," the Doctor murmured next to me.

She noticed the small mattress in the corner, where my daadi tried to console my uncle who looked no older than a year old. "Wait here," she said suddenly, her eyes lighting up with a crazy idea. I didn't have a moment to object before she darted into the restaurant. My eyes widened at the scene and I silently scolded myself for letting her interfere like that. Hiding in the shadows, I watched as my daada hesitated to communicate with her, bemused at the fact that she could speak fluent Urdu. I smiled at the scene, my eyes meeting that of my father. He tilted his head to the side, but I placed a finger on my lips to prevent him from giving me away.

My daadi had now joined the scene, her eyes widening at what the Doctor was saying. She covered her mouth, gasping in surprise, before reaching out to squeeze the Doctor's hands. Shaking my head at the scene, I could only imagine what she had said. The Doctor appeared after a while, her hands filled with six containers of my grandmother's famous biryani.

"Your grandmother refused to let me leave without this!" she grinned and I shook my head at her. It sounded very much like my daadi.

"What did you do?" I asked, reluctantly turning away from the scene. We started to head back to the TARDIS, I couldn't help but feel extremely strange at the sight I witnessed. My daada is my favorite person in the world. We often spent Sunday afternoons talking about life, religion and everything in between.

"I just spoke to them for a bit, your grandfather thought I was there to evict them," the Doctor rambled as we reached the TARDIS doors. "I corrected him of course, and I told them that I would put in a good word with the Prime Minister, they should have a better place soon," she continued. I stopped at the door, stunned at her actions.

"Yo-you di-did what?" I stammered, unable to find my voice. The Doctor peered at me as she picked up the phone.

"1973 hmm, ah yes, Heath. Always asks too many questions, but he does owe me favour," she said dialing a number. In the most bizarre moment of my life, I watched at the Doctor requested to speak to the Prime Minister of the time, informing him of a family that were currently homeless with young children. She also reminded him of the debt he owed her for a certain Ood invasion that had occurred last year.

"Brilliant, well Ed always a pleasure," the Doctor grinned, winking at me. "No, you know the rules," the Doctor added frowning. She sighed, placing a hand on her hips as she listened to the worries of the Prime Minister. "Yes, I understand, but I can't advise you on what to do! It's against the rules and you know it," she scolded, but I was barely listening to her conversation by that point. Slowly, I sunk down on the stairs, the weight of what just occurred hitting me. My daada always marveled at how they got a large flat, bigger than anything he could have ever imagine. He always praised the government, even in modern day, claiming that no matter what controversial policy changes they enacted, when he needed them, they were there.

"You okay?" The Doctor asked, crouching down next to me.

"Thank you," I whispered, wiping the tears that had fallen. "Seriously, thank you," I smiled as her face cleared and she mirrored my expression. Tapping my shoulder, she got up and headed towards the central console.

"Okay, second time lucky right?"

The TARDIS hummed to life, and I walked up to the deck where the Doctor was staring at the screen, fiddling with all sorts of knobs and buttons. My hand reached out to the centre as I looked up at the ship, silently thanking it for taking me to see the one place I needed to go.

Taking all the biryanis, the Doctor and I walked out of the TARDIS, this time having landed exactly where we intended to in the first place. A familiar warm feeling spread through me when we knocked on the front door. We head inside my family home, my mother ushering the both of us inside, annoyed at me for not calling ahead. But as the Doctor walked towards my kitchen giving a couple of meows to the cat, I made my way to the back room. Sitting inside in his usual spot, my daada looked up and smiled as I entered. Not hesitating for a moment, I reached out and gave him a hug, one that I longed to give from the moment I spotted him at his restaurant. He had carried the family through one of their toughest times, bringing them out shining. Something that I couldn't truly understand until I saw it right in front of me.

"What's that smell? What's going on?" He asked, his eyes widening and instantly I smiled. The sound of my daadi attempting to figure out why the Doctor looked so familiar made my smile grow wider. The Doctor kept trying to convince her she had one of those faces, but my daadi was soon distracted by what we brought, critiquing the food but then begrudging agreeing that it almost looked as good as hers.

Holding out my hand for him, I helped him up and we walked towards the kitchen. It was always loud in my house, but thankfully the Doctor had some experience of Asian families from traveling with Yaz. I tried not to keep a straight face as my daadi who in her retirement decided to become a matchmaker, offered up different single male doctors she knew that would be perfect for the Doctor. We exchanged a glance and I knew she was struggling to keep it together as well, launching into an explanation as to how she had already been married a fair few times. The Doctor frowned and then added she had yet to try it as a woman, to which my daadi stared, speechless for the first time in a long time.

I placed a gentle kiss on my daada's forehead, sitting him down on an empty chair. He frowned at the Doctor, but didn't comment. Instead he marveled at the food in front of us, eyes watering as the smell took him back to a distant memory. Squeezing his hand, I smiled at his questioning look, giving him the most honest answer I could.

"I thought I'd bring home some biryani for us to eat."