I stepped out of the TARDIS. My mother was talking to the other Doctor about Tony, my little brother. I looked around.
"Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?" I asked, looking at my Doctor.
He walked toward me, his new companion Donna beside him. "You're back home."
"And the walls of the world are closing again, now that the reality bomb never happened. It's dimensional retro-closure," Donna said. "See, I really get that stuff now."
"Yeah, but, I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now," I said, appalled.
My Doctor walked toward me. "But you've got to. 'Cause we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him," he said, indicating the other Doctor was the cost. "He destroyed the Daleks, he committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own."
The other Doctor spoke up. "You made me," he said, anger in his voice.
My Doctor looked behind me at his double. "Exactly. You were born in battle. Full of blood and anger and revenge," he said harshly. He then turned his attention back to me. "Remind you of someone?"
I turned my head away from him, looking at the ocean.
He answered his own question. "That's me when we first met."
I looked back at my Doctor.
My Doctor spoke again. "And you made me better." His eyes were soft, like he'd never been this open with anyone before. "Now you can do the same for him."
I looked at my Doctor. "But he's not you."
He locked eyes with me. "He needs you. That's very me."
Donna spoke to me. "But it's better than that though. Don't you see what he's trying to give you?" Then to the other Doctor, "Tell her, go on."
I turned around, facing the other Doctor. "I look like him and I think like him. Same memories, same thoughts, same everything. Except I've only got one heart," he said.
"Which means?" I asked.
"I'm part human. Specifically the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you... if you want."
"You'll grow old at the same time as me?"
He smiled at me. "Together."
I shook my head in disbelief as I stepped forward. I put my hand on the other Doctor's chest. Sure enough, I only felt one heart beating.
The TARDIS' engines roared, as if telling my Doctor it was time to go. I turned around to look at him.
He said, "We gotta go. This reality is sealing itself off... forever."
A single tear rolled down my cheek as he turned and walked away.
"But, it's still not right," I said as I walked after him. "'Cause the Doctor's still you."
He looked at me. "And I'm him."
I decided that I had to know. "Alright, both of you, answer me this." Both Doctors came up to me, my Doctor on my right and the other Doctor on my left.
"When I last stood on this beach on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me?" I said, looking at my Doctor. "Go on, say it."
He looked in my eyes. "I said, 'Rose Tyler.'"
"Yeah, and how was that sentence gonna end?"
My Doctor looked like he might cry. "Does it need saying?"
I turned and looked at the other Doctor. "And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"
The other Doctor leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I love you."
And hearing him say those words, even if he wasn't my Doctor, just made me so happy. I grabbed his suit and pulled us together. I had been waiting for that kiss for so long, but it was worth the wait.
The next thing I knew, my Doctor and Donna had gotten into the TARDIS and were leaving. I broke the kiss and looked at the TARDIS in disbelief. I ran towards the blue box, but stopped about ten feet from it. It faded away in front of me. I was frozen.
He was gone. My Doctor was gone forever and I was left here with a copy of him. So what if he only had one life and would age with me? He wasn't my Doctor.
The other Doctor walked up beside me and took my hand. I looked at him and he looked at me. He looked both happy and sad. I tried to smile convincingly, but I knew this would take me a while to get used to.
I didn't even know if I'd ever get used to him.