The Rose and the River
(A/N: Ok, so it's not an entirely revolutionary concept. What would happen if River Song and Rose Tyler got a chance to meet? Well, this is my spin on it. Read and review if you like. )
Enjoy
River danced through the TARDIS, sweeping up the dress the Doctor had left her. She was used to the Doctor acting strange, more than familiar with him talking to himself. She remembered seeing two of him once... "The mind races..." she'd recalled thinking. Mmmmm, what could be better than two Doctors? She licked her lips, letting her imagination.
It wouldn't be the first time TARDIS collided with itself. Maybe there were multiple River's and multiple Doctor's in the same location? That would certainly explain things. Again, her imagination took the reins as her feet moved towards her room on their own accord. She moved to the hallway that contained her bedroom, opening up and gasping slightly when she realized she was in the wrong place. This room was shockingly pink. It was a little messy, as if whoever lived here had just run off on some adventure with the Doctor and didn't pick up. River began to back away, confused as to why the TARDIS would relocate her room. A shocked voice caught her attention right as she was about to exit.
"What are you doin' in my room?" a blonde woman spoke coming out of what River Song assumed was the bathroom.
"Your room? I'm sorry, what the hell are you doing on the TARDIS at all? Who are you?" River asked defensively, cursing herself for being without a weapon.
The blonde approached slowly, her eyebrows raising in recognition of who had walked into her presence. Her eyes flicked to the dress in River's hands and then back up to her face. "Professor Song? Professor River Song?" Multiple TARDIS' had collided; past, present, and future. River gaped, realizing this must be a future companion of the Doctor. River nodded her head slowly, studying the girl. She had long golden, blonde hair and a beautiful figure. She nearly laughed. The Doctor always did love a blonde. "I'm Rose... Rose Tyler. I don't know how much you know about me."
"Rose...Tyler? Of course I know about you," River said confused once again. Through her confusion, there was a slight tug on her heart-strings. Rose was a woman from the Doctor's past. The Doctor had told her of their relationship; what she'd meant, and would subsequently always mean, to him. But the Rose that traveled with the Doctor, she would never have met River. The Doctor wouldn't even have met River yet that far in his past. This blonde woman should know nothing of her. "I'm sorry, but how do you know me?" River began rattling off a clever lie about being a few hundred years into the Doctor's future, so as to not clue Rose in on her future in the alternate dimension, but Rose stopped her.
Rose held her hand up, "River, I know about the parallel universe," she paused, unsure of how much she should say. "I'm from his future River. I find my way back to him. Bad Wolf...it did something to me. My DNA...closest we can tell, it resembles yours. He thinks it was the Time Vortex. Nobody's meant to do that." She looks as though she's trying to change the topic.
Understanding dawned on the Doctor's wife. It worse than she feared. She didn't have to explain to the girl that she would be losing the Doctor. Rose was having to refrain from telling River how the Doctor loses her. "How long have I been gone?" she says, keeping her voice level. Rose looks surprised, snapping her mouth shut. "One way or another. We all leave him. The Doctor is aware of this. Every single time he asks someone aboard his ship, he knows the inevitable. The only way I'd leave that man, is if I died. So...how long have I been gone?"
Rose gives a sad smile. "It's...recent...for him," she chooses her words carefully. "I'm here for him when he needs me, but he needs his space. You and him, you have somethin' special. I'm just...here for him."
"You and him have something special too. The way he talks about you-"
"Had," Rose corrects. "We had something special. Don't get me wrong. This is what we both want, but things are different this time around. I'm not the same Rose. I'm over a hundred now and and I know what it's like to lose everyone close to you. To watch your family and friends age and die. I've lost a husband. I don't know if we'll ever be anything 'special' ever again. Too much has changed."
"You wouldn't have found him, if you hadn't been meant to," River says, tucking away her sadness to help Rose. "Rose – you were always his beacon in the darkness. If anyone can help him towards the light right now...it's you."
Rose saw what she was trying to do. The TARDIS whirred comfortingly in the background. Clever girl knew exactly what to do. The ship assured River that after she was gone, the Doctor would be able to move on...and giving Rose the knowledge that he hadn't been empty the whole time she'd been away. He'd known joy.
"He told me all 'bout you and your parents. Your bravery. I'm truly sad I never had the chance to meet you," Rose said.
"Well, Rose Tyler. You just did," River responded backing out the door slowly. Before leaving, she swung around. "Everybody dies, and nobody knows it like the Doctor. I always hoped I'd be the exception, but if it had to be anyone else...I'm very glad it was you."
The Doctor had told her of this moment. When the several versions of the TARDIS had converged in itself and brought multiple moments together at once. As soon as she'd seen River, holding that beautiful green dress that Rose had admired in the picture the Doctor had kept, she knew that she was about to go to Derilium. This would be it. Her Doctor had seen River for the last time only a few weeks ago. They'd taken a picture, the singing towers in the distance. The Doctor had looked at it sadly, before tucking it away in a box beneath one of the metal grates. Rose, though, Rose had committed her image to memory. The Doctor's wife.
Seeing her, talking to her...it was all surreal. As soon as River was out the door, she felt the TARDIS right itself. The past Doctor must have fixed the conversion. Soon, there was a steady knock at her door. Rose didn't have to say a word and it began to creak open. It was her Doctor of course. Eyes wet and chest heaving, Rose knew that once again...his hearts were broken. Without a word, she lifted her arms and he came to her immediately. She guided him to her bed, cradling him as he sobbed.
"I'm sorry," he choked. "I didn't want to come to you about her again – "
"Nonsense," she silenced him, straightening his bowtie with a smirk. "She is...was...an incredible woman Doctor. I know you hate endings, but just think, wasn't the story itself brilliant? And I know for a fact, even if she knew...she wouldn't have traded a second of it, not for the world."
Rose gave him a beautiful beaming smile. The Doctor froze for a moment, seeing how wise his old companion had become. She was something new...Rose Tyler. They wouldn't have what they once had...no. But he knew for a fact that they wouldn't have come together again if they hadn't been meant to. Rose Tyler and the Doctor...the stuff of legend. They would forge something new together. She had lost a husband and he had lost a wife. Together they would heal.