Felt like writing something quick and a little angsty.
Summary: A somewhat AU version of the moments following their parting on Dårlig Ulv Stranden.
"I love you."
Hot tears fell down his cheeks as her words echoed in his mind. The coral walls of the TARDIS were pressing in on him, yet he had never felt so alone, so small a dot in the endless universe. His chest tightened, making his head pound as blood rushed forcefully through his veins. He collapsed onto the jump seat, tasting salt.
A small, warm hand found his shoulder, the fingers gripping gently. "S'alright Doctor. I'm here." Her voice caressed his ear, softer and more beautiful than he ever remembered it. He turned his head, glimpsing blonde hair and a black leather jacket.
"No, please, no." He gasped, hands covering his face. "Please. I can't." He struggled to breathe, drawing one deep, ragged breath after another. The hand on his shoulder remained, giving a reassuring squeeze. He let out a sob, making a half-hearted attempt to pull away.
"You must, Doctor. You must forget me."
"I can't. I won't." He was up now, striding away from her on legs that threatened to give out. His eyes stung in the cool air, and he wiped them furiously. He heard her following him, heard her wet sneakers sliding on the metal. Gritting his teeth, he spun around to meet her.
Rose stood before him, hair windblown and cheeks pink (he wondered if they tasted like salt). Her eyes brimmed with tears and for a moment he saw in them the image of a bent and broken man in a crumpled pinstripe suit.
"You're so much bigger than me, than all of us." Her lips trembled but her voice was strong, pushing through his resistance, cutting him to the bone. Each word stung like an open wound.
"I know." He breathed, as his chest continued to tighten. His eyes closed, but she was still there, surrounded by the shadows of lives that had entwined with his over the last nine hundred years, barely a blink in his existence. Each one with a wound that throbbed, reopened with the pain of each new loss.
She stood there while he shook, his head buried in his hands, soothing him with her presence. Around them the walls glowed and hummed, the TARDIS finally feeling the strain of what she was doing. Rose flickered, her colour fading.
"No!" The Doctor cried, stumbling forward to collide with her soft, warm body. The lights around them grew brighter, burning his eyes, but he didn't care. He buried his face in Rose's neck, committing each smell, each imperfection, each heartbeat, to memory. The humming grew louder, roaring through the halls, pressing in on his ears until he couldn't hear anything else.
"I love you too." He said into the skin of her neck, skin that was steadily fading, slipping like water through cupped fingers. Blood rushed faster through his head, the exhaustion overwhelming. Still he held on, clutching her apparition like it was the last tangible thing in the universe.
But, having exerted too much already, the TARDIS fell back, and Rose disappeared in a swirl of sea breeze. The lights dimmed and the roaring ceased, leaving dark silence to envelope him. Slowly his knees buckled, and he slid to the floor, his mind painfully numb as the tiredness seeped into his skin. He sank to the floor, curling in on himself, tasting salt.
The TARDIS let him sleep.
"Will I ever see you again?"
"You can't."
Cold air like icy daggers whipped her skin as she fell into her mother's arms, sobs wrenching from her chest. The beach stretched on for miles around her, flat and bare, yet she felt trapped, alone in her small, human body. Her knees buckled and Jackie's fingers slipped, letting her fall.
Rose was vaguely aware of shadows dancing around her as she curled up on the wet sand, collapsing in on herself, tasting salt on her lips.