AN: Finally back from a bit of a hiatus and I hope to start writing once more. Despite the long-anticipated reunion that we should see on screen in the near future, this is my addition to the number of reunion!fics out there. It should work out as a story of several chapters, though I'm not yet sure how many.

This is an addition to my Bad Wolf Chronicles. A proper list of other pieces in this series can be found on my profile.

This one is for totally.doctor.who for the many awesome reviews. Thanks!

Sorry for the long note and I hope you all like the story. - AutumnxAngel

Disclaimer: Yeah, I wish I owned it. Unfortunately, I don't.

It had been six months since her life had shattered. Six months since fate had stranded her here, in this universe, away from her Doctor.

Rose Tyler drove down the long, empty roads of Norway, tears streaming down her face unheeded.

Six months was a long time. Between their separation and his departure from the bay, she had been so hopeful, praying to a god she didn't believe in that he would find a way back to her. Since she'd been to the bay, her hope had gone. He wasn't going to come back for her. He had said so.

He wouldn't risk the universe.

She had not cried since his departure, but now sobs tore through her chest, ripping from her soul out through her lungs. She had all the windows in the car down as far as they went in defiance of the freezing wind that whipped over her face and through her hair. Her tears were met by the frigid early-morning air and swept from her face.

Six months was a long time. She had thrown herself into life. She was determined to go on. He had told her to live a fantastic life and she would. For him, if for nothing else.

Besides, truth be told, it didn't hurt so much when she was busy. She had gone into Torchwood, taken on any extra responsibilities she could find, done anything to keep herself from having time to think. If she thought, it would be only of him.

She drove the car onto the beach, much as her father had last time she was there. The sky overhead was gray and a little bit angry. The water was choppier than it had been last time, crashing into the shore with a determined intensity. The sound washed through her mind, numbing her to the constant ache of loss.

Six months was a long time. Under the waves of grief wracking her body, she didn't know how she had survived it. She wasn't sure how she would continue to survive after this trip.

She pushed the door closed behind her, slamming it slightly harder than necessary.

Swiping her arm over her face, she dried the latest tears and actually focused on her surroundings for the first time. Her gaze skipped over much of the land, interested in only one place: the one where she had seen him last.

Her eyes came to rest on an unexpected sight.

There was a girl sitting exactly where his feet had stood. She was sitting cross legged, one hand drawing figures in the wet sand beside her, her blond, shoulder length hair dancing in the wind.

Rose frowned, anger joining her sorrow. This was her place. Hers and his. This was sacred and someone else had intruded. She walked forward, not sure what she would say, just wanting the girl gone.

As she approached, the girl looked up, a sort of innocent surprise flickering over her features. She blinked before making eye contact, and Rose realized she wasn't truly some little girl. Her eyes were far too knowing and far too powerful to be those of a human girl; the light that shone behind them was far too familiar for some stranger.

The girl, or whatever she was, smiled up at Rose and thumped her palm on the ground in invitation. Not even considering what she was doing, Rose obeyed, uncaring of the fact that the sand would stick, or that its wetness would seep straight through her clothes. She settled herself cross-legged, half-facing the girl, half-facing the water.

"Who are you?" Her voice was shakier than she liked, belying her now-calm face. She was looking at the ocean, but the girl understood that the question was aimed at her.

"You really don't know?" The young voice sounded slightly surprised. "I assumed you would know me by my eyes. They usually give me away." Her gaze was intent on Rose, who looked back; though she was no longer sure she wanted to know the answer to her question.

Their eyes met and held for a long moment. Rose studied the familiar light behind the girl's eyes, her mind grasping for what made it so familiar. When her grief-hazed mind finally gave her an answer, her breath hitched and she inhaled sharply, immediately attempting to deny it. The recognition brought back far too many hopes and memories she had spent so much effort to suppress.

The girl nodded. "I thought so. You did, after all, help to create me." Her head was tipped to the side, her expression lost somewhere between innocence and intensity.

"Bad Wolf." Rose breathed the words. "But you can't be real." Her voice was raised slightly in denial. "You fell out of existence when I let go…." Memories of the incident on Satellite Five resurfaced, playing out behind her eyes, bits of darkness smeared across the gray of the beach.

"No." The girl reached out and took her hand, making Rose jump slightly at the feel of her warm and very-real skin. "It is a very long story, one that I may share someday, but for today we do not have time." She tugged on the hand she held, bringing Rose's focus back to her words. "I only have an hour more, and I can only return about once for every one of your lunar cycles. I've been waiting for you to come back to this place for the last two months. There is so much to speak of before I must go."

"But…" Rose shook her head and pulled her hand from the Bad Wolf's. "I don't understand. How are you here? The Doctor said he was closing the gaps. He said there couldn't be any more travel between universes."

"He did. And for all he knew, that was the absolute truth." The Bad Wolf raised her hands in a placating motion. "Things change though. I hold enough of the Vortex within me to be able to transcend certain rules." She smiled. "And, after the way he felt after you got separated, the least I could do was search for a way back through. It took me some time, but I think I have the key. It will take a lot of work, and most likely it will be at least a year for you, but I believe I can get you back to your universe."

The Bad Wolf sat there, looking entirely like an innocent young girl, though Rose knew she was capable of so much more, and promised a way back to the Doctor, back to home.

Rose swallowed hard, trying desperately not to let her hopes rise. "Are you serious?" She asked, feeling that desperate emotion rise in her chest despite her efforts. "You can get me back to the Doctor?"

The Bad Wolf nodded.

Rose covered her face with her hands, feeling the tears well in her eyes and begin to stream down her face. Only this time they were not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy for the impossible.

The Bad Wolf stood and Rose did the same.

For almost an hour, the Bad Wolf had described her plans to Rose. According to her, the universes were constantly in motion. Universes like the two Rose was familiar with could be so similar because certain events passed from one into the other. This seemed to be the key.

The Bad Wolf was going to use a shared event to pull Rose back to her own universe.

"How long did you say this'd take?" Rose could feel the old sense of adventure running through her veins like a drug. It made her realize just how shallow many of her feelings for Torchwood had been.

The Bad Wolf sighed and touched her shoulder in sympathy. "It is going to take some time." Rose's excitement dimmed slightly, and the Bad Wolf noticed. "I am sorry, but it cannot be helped. I have not yet worked out all the details in our universe, and I will require you to do some things here as well." Rose nodded.

"Return here each month that you can. I cannot leave this beach because I am using residual traces from the Doctor's connection, but I will be here on this day exactly every month that it is possible. If you are able to, come in the morning, for my movement is not precise enough for me to be here any specific hour and I would like to maximize the time we have to speak." Her gaze was intent on Rose as she attempted to stress the importance of their speaking as much as possible.

"Okay." Rose nodded. She was still slightly delirious from the rush that came with doing the impossible. "Will I be able to see the Doctor?"

The Bad Wolf shook her head. "He cannot come through without creating a fracture." She blushed slightly, something that shocked Rose, who had not believed her capable of such a human reaction. "I actually have not told him that I am doing this. I do not want him to get involved. This cannot be accomplished quickly, and I fear that he may try to rush things." She looked as though she expected Rose to be angry, but the young woman only sighed.

"Yeah. I know 'im." She laughed slightly, remembering vividly the Doctor's ability to get in trouble. "How 'bout we make it a surprise then?"

The Bad Wolf grinned and offered her hand, which Rose took. "It is a deal." Her attention seemed to be caught by something and she stepped away. "I have to go. Remember: one month."

Her form wavered, and Rose squinted against the bright silhouette that replaced the girl. The sound of Time echoed briefly across the bay before being swept away by the wind, and the Bad Wolf was gone. There was not so much as a footprint where she had stood.

Rose looked around her for a moment before starting back for her vehicle, reflecting on just how much more she had gained from this trip than she had ever anticipated. Mentally, she examined the hole in her being that had been made in the Doctor's absence, finding it still tender, but bearable now that it had some hope to begin healing it.

One month, she thought, and wished that it was not such a terribly long time.

AN: Well? Is it worth going on? I'd love to hear what people thought. (And yes, that is a not-so-subtle hint that I'm a sucker for reviews. ;) )