For all that the past and the present tenses didn't always translate well into the Time Lord language, he understood what she meant, and he smiled in response.

What was it he had said in his Third incarnation? Where there's life, there's hope? Hope. He had to keep that,in order to keep moving.

She tilted her head slightly, and he kissed her again, more properly this time. Slowly, deeply, every ounce of his emotional and weakened state at her mercy. He trusted her, loved her, and, really, this was only a very short fall from where he'd already tumbled. His free hand slipped down to her waist, and he held her close. No binds to tie them, but they weren't apart.