Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who per se. I mean, my head is a whole nother dimension. But I own the basic idea here, I think, because I've never seen in anywhere else.

A/N: One shot. Alternative ending to Journey's End. Because it totally could have happened like this.

The Real Rose

The Doctor almost felt devastated. A banana. What he needed was a banana. His head lifted hopefully, then sunk again. His blasted clone had finished the last one. Ooh, he was not supposed to go there. Because one thought led to another. And naturally, if he thought about his clone, his thoughts would rationally lead him to the last person he'd seen with his clone. 'Don't-,' he thought a moment too late. 'Rose.' Once the thought began, it never ended. His hearts began a chant with the name that soon elevated to a chorus. And all the while a deep empty pain was aching. It felt like eternity. He wondered if he could stand saying her name out loud. Well, he'd never been one to turn down a challenge. Even if it might kill him. Especially.

"Oh, Rose," he whispered. The effect was anticlimactic considering what he'd been expecting. It was more hollow than anything. The pain within him continued, but without, everything was silent, and he realized that was more painful than anything.

"What am I going to do, T?" He patted the panel in front of him gently. It was only natural that in times of strife he'd turn to the one other being who understood him besides…no, not supposed to go there.

"Doctor?"

He froze. He could have sworn…he could have almost sworn he'd heard- A light bulb sparked in his head, and he pointed a finger accusingly at the panel. "Oh, very clever, you. That's not funny at all. And if you're trying to help, well, T, " his voice decreased in volume, "it only makes it worse."

"Doctor!" The voice was more insistent now.

"Stop it!" His glare fell on an unresponsive computer screen.

"Turn around." The voice was exasperated now. So familiar. So beautiful. So incredibly painful. Too much loss for one life, especially one as long as his. Reluctantly, he turned. He'd always wondered how long he could survive without air. He'd experimented before, but now he thought, he'd really find out. There she stood. So transparent. She looked so real. He closed his ancient eyes and opened them again. The illusion was still there.

"How'd you do that, T?" He asked in a tone between curious and cautious. He studied her face so intently, trying to memorize every line. A smile grew on the hologram's face. Was she a hologram? Her eyes sparkled just as he remembered. He wanted to airlock himself into space for not saying goodbye. But he simply couldn't have faced it again. Too many times he'd lost her. Let the last time be final. He turned away. "Get rid of it, T."

He stared down at the console. His knuckles were paler than usual. He was clenching the edge of the console so tightly that he thought he might bend something. He felt the familiar salty burn in the corner of his eye. He froze again at the sound. Amazing what his baby could do. Simulate her voice, her image, her walk so perfectly, he almost believed. But he had never been a man of faith as much as he had of science. And reason told she could not be there. A perfect hologram was more likely. A billion times more likely. He felt her warm skin on his before her hand fell. And when it did, he believed.

He whipped around and took her arms in his hands. He bent his head down to stare into her eyes. No glitch. She was solid. She was real. He began breathing again. Yes, that was her smell. "Impossible," he murmured. Tears. Real tears were forming in her eyes.

" 'S not."

Realization dawned. "No, no, no, no!" He shook her with each utterance. "What did you do?! How did you-" She bent her head as tears began cascading just as they had that fateful day on the beach. "Rose, what have you done? I can never take you back!"

"Good," she whispered through a smile.

"How did you-" He was completely bewildered. This was scientifically impossible. There she'd been on the beach only seconds before he'd closed the final gap.

She slid her arms through his hands until hers were grasping his. "Did you really, in your 900 years, think that I, me, the real Rose Tyler would ever in a million light years, in three hundred trillion different universes, ever, ever leave you, the real Doctor?!"

Her words were as beautiful as they were confusing. "What are you talking about?" He was so furious with her. So furious. For not making sense. For not staying where he'd given her a chance to be happy for her entire life, even if it was at the expense of his happiness. At the same time, he was reveling in the feel of her hands in his again. He'd never thought he'd feel them again. Ever. He may have been wrong the first time. But this time it had been for real. For all intents and purposes, her universe had no longer existed. Which had been good for her. He could never screw things up for her again.

"Shame on you, Doctor," she squeezed his hands, then gave him a sly smile with a tilt of her head, tongue between her teeth. "You gave up on me." He felt the tear trickling down his nose, and Rose frowned. She pulled her hand from his grasp and wiped the tear. "What, Doctor? Thought you'd be happy to see me."

"Oh, bloody hell," he muttered. "Come here." She rushed into his arms, knocking the air out of his lungs. As tight as his arms were around her, she must have felt just as breathless. But it didn't matter because he suddenly realized that though he'd been breathing, it hadn't been the oxygen he needed. " 'Course I'm happy. I'm ecstatic. I'm overwhelmed. I'm bloody twirling in a tutu." He felt her smile into his neck as he breathed in her hair. "Just…how? How?"

"Doesn' matter." She murmured.

He paused. "No, it does."

She paused, then nodded. "Yeah, s'pose it does."

"So?" He asked as he backed away from the hug to stare down at her again. "How'd you get off that beach?"

"I didn'" She responded, then closed her eyes and rested her forehead in the palm of one hand and sighed. "I mean, I did. Just not… 'S not what you mean. 'S different. I'm different."

He was a frustrated. Naturally. A genius not understanding. Yeah. Frustrating. "What do you mean, Rose?"

"I mean, on the beach, that wasn' me, Doctor." She smiled suddenly. "Can't believe you didn' notice. Genius and all."

His eyes had gotten that wide, bewildered look he got when he didn't fully understand but was coming to a sort of understanding. "That's impossible."

" 'S not," she laughed through her words. "But it wasn' me. Never was."

"Do you mean you're a clone of Rose?" He pointed at her and took a step back. "My Rose."

" 'Course not," she crossed her arms. She nodded her head at the door. "She was."

He looked in anxiety through wider eyes at her. "How?"

Rose smiled, looked down and shook her head. "Long story. Le's go somewhere familiar." Without another look, without asking, she turned to the Tardis control panel and jiggled a lever, elevated buttons and pushed the petal. Then she lowered another lever, and the Tardis shook. He could only stare at her in continuing bewilderment.

When the Tardis stopped, Rose looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Come on." She tipped her head one way. "Allons-y, Doctor." Her tongue found its way between her teeth again. She reached back and took his hand, dragging him with her out the door. He paused in the doorway. New Earth. The equivalent of both a smile and a frown managed to find its confusing way on his face. The first place they'd traveled after his regeneration. After she had once again proved her undying trust when she'd placed her hand in his. She looked back at him, her smile faltering, as he looked at her with such intensity it brought fresh tears to her eyes. To keep composure, she turned away and smiled. "Apple grass."

They walked ten feet away from the Tardis and settled down onto the grass. "Yeah," he muttered, distracted. Then repeated, "Apple grass."

She picked some and studied it. "Always wondered wheber it tasted like apples."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. Finally. Familiar territory. He plucked a few blades from her palm and looked closely at it. "Let's find out," he smiled.

Rose's nose crinkled as he joyfully dropped the grass into his mouth. "Never change." She whispered happily.

His smile slowly transformed into a grimace. "No, tastes like plain old grass." He brightened. "Smells great though."

Rose smiled and looked away. The Doctor's grin faded. "So, you're saying," he paused. "You're saying that the Rose I just abandoned…again…was not the same Rose I've been traveling with, the same Rose I…" He faltered.

"No," she answered. "Not again. You left me the first time, Doctor. Technically, this is the first time you and I have met since then."

"Technically?"

Rose rolled her eyes mildly. "Well, there are only two exact copies of us running around somewhere in another universe." She paused to let this sink in finally. "Can't believe you couldn' tell the diff'rence."

"I didn't-"

" 'S alright," she chuckled. "You're not in trouble or anythin'."

He leaned back on two arms and gazed into the distance. "Impossible," he murmured again.

"Think about it, Doctor. Did you really think I, me, the real Rose could ever be so selfish? 'Specially when it came to you? That I'd ever let you leave me? That I'd ever let you go off by yourself?" She choked on her words and gazed down. He looked at her sadly and stroked her beautiful golden hair once.

"Not to mention," he spoke with a lilt, "her accent was a bit off."

She smiled now, her tears contrasting beautifully with the sparkle in her eye. "Yeah, that too."

"Then who was she? You? She?" He rarely stumbled over his words. "I mean…she knew me. She.. Well, forgive me, but she was you."

" 'S complicated."

His gaze lightened, and he poked her nose gently. "And I'm a genius."

She grinned, tongue between her teeth. "Yeah. Guess you are." She sighed. "Well, goes like this. After-" She faltered.

He knew it'd hurt him too, but he decided to help. "When I abandoned you the first time," he supplied.

"Wasn' your fault," she shook her head sadly, as she gazed at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. "You saved me, Doctor." She finally looked up. "So many times."

His eyebrows rose, and the brown flakes in his eyes became soft and tender. "Oh, Rose. Oh, no. You think I saved you?" He chuckled without amusement. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "You saved me, Rose."

Her eyes were shut tight as she shook her head over and over, tears seeping past her eyelashes, as she pressed her face into his hand lovingly. He gave her a moment to regain composure, then sat back so only their knees were touching. "Tell me what happened, Rose."

She reached forward and took his hand again. Turning it over in her own, she ran a finger down his palm. "My mum." She started. "Mickey. Pete. They all thought I'd given up. Findin' you. But I couldn' ever. So," she looked up from studying his palm. "I started to work with Mickey. The only place in that world wif' the right time and space capabilities." She chuckled, and he smiled softly with her.

After a moment, her face grew somber. "And then-" She paused. "I disappeared."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean you disappeared?"

"We were," she paused, her brow furrowed as if she were searching for the right words. "We were constructin' a sorta' time machine usin' the leftovers of a Sontoran-" She interrupted herself. "Heard 'o your run in with them. G'job savin' the world again."

He chuckled. "How'd you get a Sontoran spacecraft? What'd you use, the SOL drive?"

She grinned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Such a know it all." He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, 's exactly right."

He held his hand up. "Wait, you still haven't explained how you disappeared."

Her grin faded. "We thought we were makin' a breakthrough. I was powerin' it down for the night. There was a bright flash, and suddenly I wasn' there anymore." She paused. "It was weird," she smiled slightly.

"I'd wager." He had begun to rub his thumb along the back of her hand absently. "Well, if you weren't there, where did you go?"

She stared off into the distance, over the sparkling water towards New times infinity York. "Not just where," she clarified in a tone she rarely used. "But when and what and why and how." He gave her time. "I was traveling like we used to," she squeezed his hand, meeting his eyes. "Through time, through space, through reason. I saw everything that was, everything that is, everything that could be." The exact reiteration of the words she'd said before when he'd almost lost her sent a haunting chill down his spine. She smiled neurotically. "I know what you're thinkin' of, but lemme finish." She turned his hand back over in hers, and their fingers laced naturally. "I saw Davros. I knew. I saw every possible outcome. And I knew what had to be done." She gazed into his eyes."Not just to save reality, but to save us. To save this." She squeezed his hand as he gazed at her, bewildered.

He let her continue without interruption. "I discovered what we had to do in order to get our time device working, and I knew how to get back to my universe." She paused. "Well, the one I'd left. But first, I had to find her."

"Rose," he murmurred, and they both knew he was stating an answer, not addressing her.

She nodded. "Another universe. See, there are so many parallel to each other, all almost completely the same-" She grinned brightly at the look in his eyes. "You already know."

"Noooo," he dragged out the syllable dramatically, then stopped at the look on her face. "Well, yeah."

"Whatever," she chuckled. "Point is I 'ad to get to one, an' I did. She was waitin' like she knew what was comin'."

"On the beach." The doomed look in her eyes represented that beach now.

She stared at him a moment. "Y'know, you could never play Jeopardy or anyfin'. No one'd like you."

"I find that hard to believe," he played along, but he was anxious for her to finish, anxious to stop being clueless. "But," he pointed out, "if you were here and she was you, only on a different universe, why would she accept the fate that was supposed to be yours. A Doctor who wasn't-"

"You," she finished, nodding. "Like I said, she was me, but she was different too. Think back. She wasn' me completely. Not to flatter meself too much, but she was bit more selfish. Less compassionate. Too unflinching at human pain." Her gaze became distant again. "Shoulda' seen her on earf'. I mean, don't get me wrong, she was fantasic, but," She paused again. "Too soldier like. Didn' even turn when humans started dyin'. Just wasn' me." When he shifted where they sat, she snapped back. "Right, well, it didn' take too much explainin' to convince her. All she knew was she had a chance to be wif' you. Happy to take any version she could."

"But not you," he muttered softly.

Her eyes grew dark and moist. "No." Her voice was haunted. "Not me."

He shook his head. "Rose, Rose, Rose." He smoothed her hair back with a free hand. "You could have been so happy. An entire lifetime. The domestic type," he smiled wryly.

She didn't. "You gotta' stop missin' the point."

"I never do," he whispered seriously.

"Then you just gotta' accept it."

"Don't want to."

Her eyes filled with tears now, as she gazed almost angrily up at him. "Well, you've got to 'ventually. I never, never could have been happy, not without you. Not wifout my Doctor." She looked down and wiped her eyes with the corner of her sleeve, then looked up again. "Would you?"

His sad eyes studied her. "Would I what?" But he knew.

She looked skywards with a sardonic smile that didn't last. She emphasized every word. "Could you have been happy wif' a Rose that wasn' me?"

He didn't speak.

"All my memories. My mind. But wif' those tiny little details off just a bit. Could you?"

He looked away. His eyes, distracted, fell on the Tardis.

"Answer me, Doctor." Her voice became small. "Please."

He looked back so swiflty, she nearly started. And when he did, she nearly gasped. His gaze burned with intensity. "You don't even have to ask that."

Her eyes started to burn as well. And her voice bit. "But you've got to answer it."

He looked angry now. She'd almost forgotten how passionate he could get. "Rose Tyler. There is only one of you in all of existence, and I wouldn't settle for anything less. No matter how bright her hair, no matter how lovely her eyes, no matter how beautiful her smile. No other hand in any universe ever felt as right as this one." He held up their joined hands.

She was gazing up at him in a daze. "That wasn' so hard now, was it?" Her voice was distant as she gazed at him out of focus.

"Oh, I don't know," he spoke casually. "I've experienced more difficulty."

But Rose thought he was lying.

"Can't believe you didn' say goodbye," she leaned back again.

His brow furrowed. "Wasn't even you."

"Well," she copied his flippant tone, "not the real me."

They allowed one minute full of silence to pass before speaking again. It was quite a bit to take in, especially for the Doctor. For a moment, he wondered if he might be dreaming. Then he decided it didn't matter because it was a good one, so if it wasn't real, he wanted to make it last.

"What now?" He spoke distractedly, as he watched her fingers play over his palm.

Her fingers stopped moving at the words. He looked up to meet her bewildered gaze. "Do you even have to ask?"

The tone she used reminded him so greatly of Jackie that he had to chuckle. "I mean," he spoke deliberately, "in the long run, Rose." His throat tightened, as unbidden thoughts rushed to fill his mind. They'd have to face reality sooner or later. There was no reason not to do so now. They'd avoided it for so long before that by the time they might have spoke on it, it was too late. "What happens when I lose you again, but there's no getting you back?" He'd meant to sound serious and cross, but his voice merely came out weak.

She looked down, and his brow furrowed. Because instead of looking even remotely sad, she was looking mischievous. Like she was hiding something. He waited. Finally she looked up again. There was the look. A grinning glint in her eyes. "Well, I wanted to wait…" She started. "But I don't want you to suffer one more minute." At these words, her tone grew serious. She took a deep breath.

"Rose…"

Suddenly, neither of them were talking. Her eyes began to glow bright gold. Her hand fell out of his limp grasp. "No," he whispered in horror. "Rose, what have you done?"

The power that emanated from her lifted her to her feet, and he fell back and gazed up at her in wonder. "I kept the light." Her voice echoed, as it had so long ago on the game station. "I can never die." She looked down almost curiously at him. He knew he should feel frightened, for him, for her, for somebody, but he could only be amazed. "I live outside of time." She looked past him, and the light seemed to travel throughout her entire body, blazing from her fingertips. "And time lives within me." The light began to fade and when it disappeared completely, she was left looking down at him uncertainly. As if waiting for his response.

He got to his feet and took a step towards her. His fingers found her face and examined it. "Rose," he began again but couldn't finish a coherent thought out loud.

Seemingly disappointed with his reaction, a tear fell softly down her face. "It was the only way to stay with you forever, Doctor." Her tone pleaded with him to understand.

But he wasn't examining her face. He was caressing it. She looked up finally, and the love in his eyes nearly blew her away. A wide smile crossed his features. "I've always said," he began softly. "Bloody amazing, the lot of you. But you most of all. Absorbed the time vortex. Crossed the universes. All for me."

"And I'd do it all again." She murmured.

"I know," he concurred. "I know." His lips, so close to hers, broke into a heartwarming smile. Grabbing her hand, he started back towards the Tardis. "Where to first?"

Rose stopped in her tracks, tugging his hand until he was facing her again. "Wait, Doctor." Her tone of voice put a crease between his brows.

"What is it?"

"We've got the rest of eternity for that. The whole universe 's just waitin' for us. But," she hesitated.

"But…" He prodded.

Her hands met behind his neck, and she smiled up into his bewildered eyes. "But," she dragged out the word. "Right now, I want to do somethin' completely and utterly domestic."

His brow further creased, then cleared a second later. "Oh." Understanding filled his gaze. "Ohhhh. Right."

Rose didn't get another chance to speak before the Doctor swooped down and stole her lips in the proper kiss she'd never gotten before that she'd always deserved. Later, they could steal onto the Tardis and travel to the most fantastic places and times they'd never been before. But at the moment, they were going down yet another untraveled road, one they could return to again and again for forever.

A/N: You got your turn to read, now it's your turn to review! Thanks for reading.