I know that everyone and their-mother's-neighbor's-dog's-cousin has done a story about the Rose Tyler and the Doctor's metacrisis, but I just couldn't resist the urge to take a crack at it myself. This story is set just after the Doctor (original) and Donna Noble leave Rose and the Doctor duplicate on the beach in the parallel world.

It goes without saying that I do not own Dr. Who or any other characters from the movie.

Chapter 1

"Yeah, we ended up in the back of bloody Norway again" Jackie's voice drifted back over the squawking of seagulls.

"All of space and time, and he drops us back here, if you can believe it."

Rose bit her lip and glanced at the Doctor to find him shaking his head and staring after Jackie. Despite herself, Rose smiled.

"Don't worry, she always gets like this when she hasn't had her tea."

He turned his head to look at her and grinned.

"I remember."

Rose tried to hold her smile in place, but failed, and so turned back to staring at the path in front of her. Her Mum's voice was fainter now as her quick strides had taken her much further than Rose and the Doctor's more shambling pace.

"We'll catch a zeppelin once we get to the village, so you can tell Tony that Mummy will be home tomorrow."

It was as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't just stopped the end of reality. As if she hadn't shot herself across parallel worlds and battled monsters, and…found the Doctor again. She snuck another glance at him; the Doctor's metacrisis.

She didn't know what to do about him.

I don't even know what to call him?

He was deliberately shortening his stride to walk with her and seemed determined to let her take the lead in any conversation as well. Which meant that they hadn't really said much more than half a dozen words to each other since the TARDIS left the beach. She just couldn't figure out what to say.

He's the Doctor, but how can he be my Doctor when my Doctor is still out in another universe?

It was maddening. …And why had she had to go and snog him on the beach, in front of her mother, and…the Doctor.

A flash of bright red in the corner of her eye drew her attention, and Rose looked over to her right. A little girl in a red hooded cloak that came down almost to her ankles was skipping along through the sea grass only a hundred or so yards away.

Playing dress up in a fairy tale costume, how sweet. Rose smiled as she glanced around for the girl's parents. They must be around. She's not more than six, after all.

Sea dunes and rocky hills surrounded the small track leading them back to the little village on the Bay, which Rose only vaguely remembered from the last time when she had been concentrating on following the Doctor' call, and then later, grieving over his departure.

The little girl in the red hood seemed completely at home in the place, moving lightly through the grass and rocks up the dune in front of them.

Rose watched her skip past, just a few yards in front of her mother, until she disappeared on the other side of the dune. Jackie was still on the phone and didn't seem to notice. Rose quickened her pace without really thinking about it.

Her parents are probably on the other side.

She crested the dune, with the Doctor at her side, looked down the other side onto the immediate outskirts of the village, and frowned. There were several shabby looking houses and one or two caravans with cars parked beside them not far from the track, but she saw no little girl in a red cloak.

Rose didn't realized that she was stopped in the middle of the road until the Doctor called her name. She looked over at him quickly to find him giving her a concerned appraisal.

"You okay?"

She took another look around without seeing the little girl and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so."

She's a fast little scamp to get inside before I could see her. Rose thought and then realized that the Doctor was still regarding her and another awkward silence was building. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Um… we'd better catch up." Rose nodded to the form of Jackie ahead of them and began walking again. After a moment the Doctor fell in stride and they headed into the village in a silence that practically strained at the seams with unsaid words.