The Doctor closed the door of the TARDIS behind him as he watched Rose wipe her last tear from her cheek. When she caught the Doctor staring, she gave him a shy chuckle.
"Can you believe it? That woman took over my body and made me act terrible, and here I am shedding a tear over her."
The Doctor smiled, looked down at his shoe. He liked these new shoes, great for running. "That's just who you are, Rose Tyler. It's how you've been since the first time I met you."
She gave him a skeptical look, as if she were inspecting him. He noticed she'd been looking at him like that a lot lately – mostly when she thought he wasn't looking. "You're still him. The man I met back then. New, but the same. Same memories, same thoughts. Same feelings?" she stated the last as a question. Something the Doctor didn't miss. He didn't miss anything.
"Yeah," he said cautiously, unsure if she considered this a good thing or not, "same man."
She smiled, that beautiful smile he'd grown so dependent on. That smile that he fell in love with when he had a different face. He couldn't resist the large, goofy grin painted across his face in response. She took a few quick steps towards the Doctor and wrapped her arms around his middle. He clung to her immediately; he thanked the stars that she was accepting him.
"A better man, thanks to you," he whispered into her hair. She squeezed him slightly before pulling away to look at him. Their eyes lingered on each other's for a few long seconds before he took a deep breath and looked up to her forehead. "Do you mind if I run a scan on your brain just to make sure that Cassandra didn't leave any damage in there?"
"No," she replied, disappointed at the lack of physical contact as he ran over to his controls. He started pressing strange buttons and levers, directing her to stand in front of the scanner. He pulled down some kind of contraption that sat on her head. He instructed her to hold still and that her forehead may tickle some, but no pain would come to her.
"Do you have any memory of what you were doing when Cassandra was in control? She could access some of your brain, mainly what you held on the surface," he asked, still staring at the screen in front of him.
She immediately thought back to the kiss. Of course she could remember. It almost felt like Cassandra had stepped back and let Rose's consciousness pour into that kiss. She felt her face heat up just thinking about it. "Uhm. Yeah, I can remember. What about you?" she asked, trying to distract her mind. She thought about how he obviously could remember if she could, but he was probably asking because his brain was so much stronger than her own. "She made you look ridiculous!"
He chuckled, recalling the way Cassandra reacted to his two hearts beating like a Samba. I should take Rose dancing sometime. I bet she'd like that, he thought. "Oh yeah. I am a bit foxy," he looked at her, winking.
She laughed, her beautiful, carefree laugh that made him light up inside like nothing else. He grinned again. She heard the screen making a few noises as the Doctor read whatever silly circles were displayed on the screen that the TARDIS had yet translated into Rose's head.
He sprung up from his seat and hopped over to Rose, standing in front of her, smiling like a loon. "Your brain is fine! No damage." He started to help her take off whatever contraption he'd put over her head. He held her face in his hands, one on each cheek as he inspected her. As always, the physical contact had caused Rose's heart to race. She was sure he could feel it. "Brilliant," he whispered, finally looking into her eyes.
"So, uhm," he said quickly, removing his hands and running one across the back of his neck. "You remember everything, then?"
Her blush returned to her cheeks, wondering if he's getting at what she thinks he's getting at.
"You mean the kiss?" she asked. She'd always been a bit forward. She knew the Doctor would never come right out with it in fear of making her feel awkward, so she decided to do it. They were a good combination like that.
He looked down at his shoes again and chuckled, thinking about how forward she'd always been. He smirked at her.
"Oh, you smug man!" she said with a smile and a laugh, playfully shoving him. "Did you know I was Cassandra then?"
"I knew something was off, but I wasn't certain at that time. I didn't know for sure until we found those people and you weren't acting like yourself. I just thought you'd given up your resistance for me," he gave her another wink and she laughed, knowing his playful demeanor.
"According to you, mister, you were the one who kissed me first! Back when you were him," she said equally playful. The Doctor had explained to her shortly after they returned to Earth after his battle with Sycorax what exactly happened to both him and her before his regeneration. Bits and pieces were returning to her slowly as time progressed, but she still couldn't remember the kiss that saved her life and ended his. Her Doctor.
"I did that to save you!" he responded, upset that he was losing their little game.
Her smile went from playful to compassionate as she pulled his hand into hers, lacing her fingers perfectly with his. Even though it was a different hand, it still felt the same in her heart.
"Yeah, you did, didn't you?" she asked, watching his expression change from his goofy grin to a soft smile. She watched his eyes move down to her lips.
He looked down at those lips and thought back to when he was the ninth version of himself. Back to when he loved Rose more than anything and he wasn't as afraid to express it. If there was any way to go, the Doctor thought, there's no better way than kissing Rose.
Her voice caught his attention and his eyes shot back to her own. "Did I ever properly thank you?"
He gave her a confused look. Thank him? She was traveling through space and time with him, helping him save the day every day. She was making his life just by being here with him. "Rose," he started, "I wasn't just saving you that day. I was saving myself. If anything had happened to you -," his voice hitched and he felt her squeeze his hand.
She took a step closer to him. A tear rolled down her cheek as she saw the remnants of the man who once was. "My Doctor," she whispered. She let go of his hands and moved her own to wrap around his neck. She pulled his head down to hers and their lips crashed into each other like the closing of the Red Sea. She pushed her body into his as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her into him. She felt his hands holding at her waist and shoulder, clutching on to her. She ran her hands through his hair. That hair - she was really starting to like his new hair.
When the lack of oxygen finally took over her body, she pulled her lips away slowly but didn't move out of his grip. They were both breathing heavy and she thought for a second whether both of his hearts were supposed to be beating that fast. He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. He made a humming sound as he smiled.
"My Rose," he whispered. "The Doctor, Rose, and the TARDIS. As it always will be."