Rose was drowning in her thoughts again. The man, who still called himself the Doctor, plopped down next to her. He wasn't really the Doctor, but at the same time, he really was.
"You know," he spoke up after a few moments of sitting there in silence. "There is still one part of me that has been there, you know really there."
Rose looked at him, tears lining the edges of her eyes. "What do you mean? Your memories? Your face? The personality? All you remember is just a copy. You are just a copy." Her cheeks felt wet.
He gave a somber grin. Then he held up his hand. "You see this hand?" Rose nodded slowly.
"It was this hand that took yours for the first time when you met me. It was this hand that danced with you during the Blitz. Slaveen, Daleks, Christmas tree!...It was this hand that traveled with you all through that time." He took Rose's hand with his.
"It was this hand that was cut off sword fighting with the Sycorax King! Remember that day! Though it's not the fighting hand that won that fight, it is still the same hand that's been through our adventures we spent. This hand was the hand you held when you made me better."
He took his free hand and wiped her tears with the cuff of his suit.
"Rose Tyler," the Doctor said. "It's with this hand that will take you on even more adventures, the same old hand. You are holding the hand that will be with you always. You make me better and this hand right here has seen it happen. If you feel you can't accept me for who I am, will you at least accept this hand?"
The Doctor looked at the young blonde in front of him. She had grown up so much, but she was still his Rose. He hoped that he was still hers. In his mind, he could still reach the pain caused by their separation. He knew that pain would never go away. But he knew that it was this pain that made his love for Rose even more powerful.
It was amazing to him that humans could still feel as much as they did with one heart.
Rose looked at the man in front of her. His hair was as messy as ever, although he kept on insisting that he had styled it that way. His hand felt the same. She clutched his hand, still feeling the same joy and pang. His eyes seemed to pour out his mind and they continued to stare into hers. He was now clenching his jaw, waiting for her response.
Rose smiled. "I accept your hand," she said. She smoothed down his collar, and then straightened his tie.
His eyes continued to stare. They still looked out in the way she knew so well. The same emotions and mind which peered out from them and observed the world with those dark irises.
"But what about the rest of you?" she continued, staring right into him. "I don't really wish to carry a hand in some bubbly jar around for years …" She took a breath and said the next bit in a rush. "So I might as well just accept the rest of you as well."
They both laughed, the sounds ringing through the air together.