Rose Tyler: Shop Girl. But that was long ago. Now who?
What had she become? Racing through time, sailing across the stormy sky night after night, and night before. Nights long past, and nights that had not yet fallen. Rose Tyler: Time Traveler.
But that wasn't the whole story, either. Rose felt the warmth fill her, lift her up. She could see the stars from here. Every star. And her house, and her mother, and the way she always lingered as she walked past Rose's bedroom. The way she was lingering now. How long had it been? How much time flowed between this moment and that? How many golden waves had crashed against the shore of Alghet 9? How many sunsets had Ywope's people seen, since she'd last seen her mother? Rose Tyler: Missing Person.
How much longer did the Doctor have? How curious, the notion of hurrying was. All of time was at her fingertips—no. All of time was in her mind. All she had to do was breathe deeply, and everything slowed. Rose let herself drift higher, felt her body grow warmer as the vortex swirled, growing restless. Rose was growing restless. He needed her. She was coming back for him. Rose Tyler: Rescuer.
She liked that one. Rescuing planets and peoples and various other things that needed rescuing. Everyone needed rescuing at some point, she figured. But she didn't have to figure, didn't have to guess. She could see it. She could see the lifespan of every living thing in all the world. All the Universe. It stretched out before her, both impossibly large and magnificently small at the same time. She extended her had above it, but she did not touch, no. She simply let it radiate, as a fire, feeling the heat of it on her palm. In her head. In her eyes.
Time was a vast beast.
And it was terrible.
And it was beautiful.
Rose loved it, with all her soul.
And the Doctor. How she loved him. Rose Tyler: Lover.
She could feel him. She could see him in her mind. They were growing nearer. Slowly, oh so slowly, and at blinding speed. Blinding speed and it was still too slow. But she knew it would always be too slow. Too slow for the Doctor, too fast for her. Too short a span with the power of Time itself in her mind. She felt it, the Wolf. It prowled inside her, coiled tightly. Time and all its beauty, and all its wisdom, and all its power. Now it was Time. Time for the wolf to be loosed. Time to use the power and stop the evil ones and save the Doctor. Her Doctor. Rose Tyler: Guardian Angel.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She could see them now, so clearly. The words. The simple, brilliant, horrible words that had haunted her so. Coincidence, he'd said. But he'd known better. She could see that now. He didn't believe it to be coincidence. And yet, he didn't know what they meant and it terrified him. But how ironic, for they were nothing to be afraid of. Those were the words he needed now more than he had ever needed anything. Rose Tyler: Bad Wolf.
