Something had been bothering her, not terribly important but nagging at the back of her head. She had barely had time to think of it, she had been so relieved to find that her Doctor was still her Doctor, even though he had a new face (that face… something about that face). She had been even more relieved to find that even though he was new he still wanted her… wanted her to travel with him, that is. And she, more than ever, wanted to stay by his side as long as he would have her.
Once she had packed her things, was ready to go once more, and had settled into the TARDIS by this new Doctor's side, it struck her.
"Your face!"
"Yeah, I know it's new, you don't have to keep pointing it out…"
"No, I've seen it before!"
"You have?"
"Yeah, it was New Year's, the New Year's before I met you, well, the old you, you know, the last you, you know..."
The Doctor hesitated, not sure if he should hear what Rose would say next, but she was unaware, as she struggled to pull the memory out of the depths of her mind.
"It couldn't have been you, just someone who looked like you I guess, or… No! It was you! You asked me what year it was! I thought you were drunk!" Rose laughed, then, more seriously, she remembered, "you seemed to be in pain…"
The Doctor crinkled his eyebrows thoughtfully.
"You told me I was gonna have a great year! You know what?"
"What?"
"You were right."
Rose smiled, the tip of her tongue caught between her teeth teasingly. The Doctor grinned back.
"Here's to another then!" the Doctor said.
"And many more!" added Rose.
"Right…" the Doctor trailed off. And with that, he pulled a lever, the TARDIS lurching to life for their next great adventure…