A/N: Just something to tide me over til I feel like writing chapter 5 of "A wedding". Just a little, hopefully original idea that has been running around in my head for a while...enjoy
Disclaimer: I dont own Doctor Who...damn
Rose was a selfish person, especially when it came to the Doctor. The Doctor was hers, they were most happy on their own, together, travelling through time and space, holding hands and laughing. No one to intrude. So when the Doctor fell in love with Reinette, held her hand and laughed with her, Rose became instantly jealous.
But then she saw him...the desperate look on his face, the frantic desire to save the woman he loves, and all she wanted to do was help, to get a smile from him, no matter the pain it caused her. So she looked around for something to get the Doctor through the glass...and saw a horse.
"Arthur", she whispered as she took hold of its reins and brought it over to the Doctor. "This might help", she said to him and he turned around.
"What"
"Smash through the window with this, it could work, couldn't it?"
"Yes it could...I guess" the Doctor said as he stroked Arthur's nose. "But...you'd just...let me go? I thought you'd..."
"What, Doctor?"
"Whinge... or at least be a tiny bit stubborn", the Doctor answered trying desperately to make light of the situation.
"What's the use in that?"
"Never thought I'd hear that coming outta your mouth" still trying to get Rose to crack a smile, which she did.
"Thing is, Doctor...you love her", the Doctor avoided her eyes, looking at the ground "And when you love someone you wanna do what's best for them. So I'm doing this for you. You wanna save her, so go"
The Doctor met her eyes, which were struggling against tears, and was about to talk when Rose said,
"Don't have much time...you better go"
After watching Rose for a moment he turned to Arthur and put his foot in the stirrup, only to take it out again and turn back to Rose, his hands on her shoulders.
"Go into the TARDIS, you'll get a hologram from me saying all sorts of things and the TARDIS will take you back to Earth. Then live a life. Find a man that is at least partially worthy of you, settle down, get married in a big white wedding, have kids, grow old with your husband. And live in the knowledge, Rose Tyler, that you are a beautiful, funny, valiant, brave, compassionate and amazingly selfless girl".
The normality of the things coming out of the Doctor's mouth was foreign to her. She had become used to an abnormal life, and even if there was no white wedding, no children, she was still growing old with the man she loved. So the implication that she could live any other life than she was now, or love any man as deeply as she did the Doctor, made the tears very hard to fight back. And yet she found herself nodding through her heartache and she watched the Doctor turn away, before grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him back.
"Um... advice...when you get there, don't use the powder, coz its poisonous...don't let the doctors anywhere near you, coz they're idiots, call the king 'Frenchy' at least once, coz it'd be priceless...in winter rug up warm, coz pneumonia is easy to get, and um..." Rose couldn't fight of the tears any longer and they came streaming down her face, "And um..." she struggled desperately to keep talking "eat...eat a lot of...a lot of...fruit...coz otherwise" the Doctor held her hands and she squeezed them tightly, hot tears running down her face onto their entwined hands. "Coz otherwise...you'll get scurvy"
Through her tears Rose could see the Doctor's worried face as he nodded, said, "Oh, c'mere" and pulled her into a hug.
Shoulders shaking she cried into the Doctor's shoulder as he held her tightly to him, a hand on her head, and the other on her back, rubbing it soothingly. They stayed like this until they heard more voices from the other side of the mirror and Rose pulled away, wiping her eyes.
"You better go", she said quietly.
"We have a minute", the Doctor said and pulled her back into his arms for one more hug.
Eventually the Doctor pulled away and slowly mounted the horse. Once on, he looked down at the tear-stricken Rose.
"Maybe I should...stay" he said, considering dismounting the horse, but Rose would not let him. Shaking her head violently, she pushed him back on the saddle.
The Doctor nodded, and holding up a hand in goodbye, backed up.
Rose held up her hand too, and whispered goodbye as the Doctor galloped towards the mirror and broke through.
Rose was a selfish person, especially when it came to the Doctor, and as much as she wanted him to be happy, she also wanted him back, in her arms. And so selfish Rose waited in that spaceship for five and a half hours, waiting, hoping, praying, wishing and knowing that the Doctor would come back when selfless Rose just wanted him to be happy. And when he did come back, selfish Rose grinned as he hugged her; as selfless Rose wondered how Reinette felt. And selfish Rose was disappointed when the Doctor ran to get Reinette when selfless Rose knew it was right. And selfish Rose asked why he had chosen her, when selfless Rose saw the pain in his eyes as he walked into the TARDIS, and asked if he was alright.
But as selfish as Rose was when it came to the Doctor, when he was hurt, or grieving, or scared, all she wanted to do was see a smile on his face. And so that night, when Mickey had finally gone to bed and the Doctor had succumb to the grief and agony bottled up inside, Rose sat on her bed, her arms around him in the only moment of weakness she had ever seen from him, and let him cry into her shoulder as she rubbed his back soothingly and held her other hand to his head as his shoulders shook. And finally, and two or three in the morning, as the Doctor and Rose lay side to side on her bed, hands entwined, a smile finally crept onto his face.
A/N: So there we go...fluffy as candy cane, or um, other fluffy items, like clouds, or teddy bears. oh and I know scurvy still exists now, it just seemed appropriate. Anyways...reviews would be muchly appreciated.