The Doctor pointed up at the shining stars, guiding Rose's eyes to one particular star. "That, my dear, is the sun." He said, his finger hovering directly level with a tiny little dot in the sky.
"It's so small."
"It's dead to the rest of the universe. This is after our first date." He smiled down at her and she smiled back up. She had come to terms with everything she had or was going to see a long time ago. "But look, for you, it's still shining. For the rest of humanity it's gone but for you it's still here, and you can always go back to it. Isn't that amazing?"
She smiled and cuddled up closer against him.
He, seemingly unconsciously, lifted up his left arm and draped it around her, pulling her in.
She was surprised by this action but pleased and said nothing, merely lying her head down on his shoulder.
He looked over at her suddenly. "I wrote a song for you."
She lifted her head up. "What?" Surprise whipped around her head, clouding it.
"Or, I tried…" He looked down as if ashamed. "It didn't quite work out the way that I wanted it to, but…"
She smiled at him. "That's so sweet."
"Rose, when I met you, you were…well, nothing. Let me finish." He said, throwing his hands in the air/
She realized that she had been about to say something, yell at him probably, and shut her mouth, signalling to him to continue, but watch his step.
"You were nothing. I mean, you were a clever girl, particularly for a human, and you were a great help with the plastic, but since then…I have seen you change and grow and morph and my dear Rose, it's as if you were a caterpillar and now you're turning into a butterfly. And no matter how pretty the caterpillar, the butterfly is always even more beautiful. And…and I love you."
She sucked in a deep breath. There were those words. Those words she had wanted to say a million times, words she had only dreamed of hearing from his lips and here she stood. He said them. In real life.
She wanted to say something – anything – but she was utterly speechless so he continued.
"And Rose, all those weird, difficult things that I do that don't have to be done, every time I'm showing off, it's all because of you. I didn't used to show off so much. And sometimes I only win the battles because I think of you and I realize that if I don't win you will be hurt and that idea kills me and I can't let it happen. And you were always beautiful and perfect but this new Rose is just so fantastic and amazing and I just love you so much…I would give my life to protect you Rose. And not because I promised your mother to protect you; but because I love you. I would die for you Rose. I mean it."
She gulped in breaths of air. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was everything she had ever dreamed of. And yet still she couldn't get the words out.
He seemed to take this as a rejection and he turned away, trying to mask his hurt but not quite being able to. "Look Rose. They shine for you. They all shine for you. That's all they've ever shone for."
"Doctor." She said at last and he looked at her. "My Doctor."
And with that, bathed in the yellow light of the stars, she kissed him, and he kissed back. And then she muttered something before kissing him again and again:
"They shine for us."