A/N: Haha, I wrote most of this during school. It's kind of odd though, because I'm not a huge fan of Eleven/Rose, but I seem to be writing it quite often lately. Anyway, Doctor Who isn't mine…I hope you enjoy!

Many years had passed, for him, since he had watched her grab the lapels of his clone's suit, pulling him in for a kiss that he had wished for for so long. And he still couldn't get her out of his mind. Every once in a while, he'd hear a laugh, see someone stick their tongue between their teeth in a mile, step on a shirt or trinket that he thought had been disposed of long ago, and it would all come back. Of course he still missed her. He had never loved anyone as much as he loved her. He often had to hide behind bow ties and fezzes to disguise the despair that still threatened to overtake him every once in a while.

"Rose would know what to do."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He was traveling alone. The Ponds were living in their own home, no longer with him. Well, good for them. No longer would their lives be threatened because of him.
He was just about to set the coordinates for his next flight when the TARDIS suddenly began shaking, jerking forward as it traveled to the unknown. Running frantically around the console, he began pushing buttons, looking at screens, yelling at the box. But he couldn't figure out what was wrong. The TARDIS jerked terribly, launching him to the floor, and suddenly stilled, landing who knew where.

Looking around cautiously, he stood up, walking to the door and opening it slowly, peeking his head out. He was in London. Frowning, he stepped out, wondering what exactly had brought him here, but he was quickly distracted by the realization of how hungry he was. Maybe it had been the roughness of the trip, but he had to get food.

Technically, he could simply go back into the TARDIS and get something, preferable bananas or fish fingers and custard, but then he noticed a café just down the street.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Marry me, if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this café."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Walking in, the first thing he noticed was the smell of sweets and pastries, as well as tea and coffee. After getting a pastry, he sat down, staring out of the window. It seemed safe. He still had no idea why he was brought here, or why he had stayed. Maybe the TARDIS simply knew how hungry he was. She did do things like this sometimes.
He began listening to what was going on around him, hearing one woman, a few booths behind him, say to her friend, "I swear, this time I really think I heard it."
A few seconds passed in which he guessed the woman's friend was giving her a look. "You're right…I should stop dwelling on it. They're both gone. He would be here if he could…anyway, it's not like…" She went on, as the world suddenly seemed like it was out of sync with him. His hearts jolted as he realized that it was her. His Rose Tyler.

"I know, but I just keep thinking I can hear his voice, and I'm never sure if its him…or the real Doctor. And then I think I can hear the TARDIS, which just makes it harder to ignore."
It was truly and honestly her. His pasty nearly fell out of his hand as a million new time-streams swarmed into his mind. There were so many ways this could turn out. He knew what he wanted to happen. If he could just get the nerve to greet her.

"I just…I miss him, mum." So that's who she was talking to. He wondered vaguely why he hadn't recognized Jackie's voice. But then again, he had only been paying attention to Rose. Still staring out the window, he heard her take a drink. "I miss all the rambling. The converse. Those bloody suits he refused to change out of. The foreign phrases. Bananas. How he'd always walk around with that stupid grin on his face, his hair looking like it had never met a brush. Acting like he knew everything, just to annoy me. That puppy look he'd get when I'd try to buy pears." She sighed, sounding as if she was near tears. He heard Jackie trying to comfort her as he thought about what she had said.

He missed him too. That had been his favorite incarnation, made especially for the woman he loved. And now the other him left her. Or worse. Either way, he was gone. From both dimensions. He would never again walk the earth.
Oh, how he wanted to go talk to her, hug her. Hold her hand as he used to. But he worried she wouldn't accept him. The same fears that had plagued him as he turned to the man she had grown to love returned to his mind. He just couldn't go up to her. It would break them both. Besides, why would she now want to give up everything for him, when he had left her on that beach?

"I just want him back." She still sounded near tears, though she had calmed down a bit. He envisioned silent tears on her face. "I don't care how or why or what he looks like. I just want the Doctor back."
That was enough. For a split second, he wavered, still unsure, but he got a boost of confidence as he thought back over her words, and he stood up quickly, jamming the last bit of his pastry into his mouth. He bounded over to the booth one or two behind his original seat with a huge grin on his face.

"Did someone say 'the Doctor'? Because I seemed to be pulled toward people who need me, and—" He cut himself off as he saw the look on her face, and his hearts jumped again. She was still so beautiful.
This man didn't look like her Doctor. For a second, she wondered whether this was some cruel joke, but then she looked closer, he eyes flickering over him. He just stood there silently, seeming to know that she needed to think. Big hair—definitely like her Doctor. Odd clothing choices—what young man would wear suspenders and a bow tie other than someone who really wasn't as young as he looked? And his eyes—the one thing that never really changed. Sure, the colour changed, but the depth to them…So happy, but showing so much pain, worry, hope. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes told her that he was feeling these instead. Could it truly be him?
But no, the walls, between universes were closed. Still, those eyes…and she had thought she could hear the TARDIS for real this time.

"Doctor?"

"Hello!" That was it. He had said that when he first regenerated in front of her. It truly was him. Jackie was still standing there, silent for once, looking from the Doctor back to Rose. But Rose didn't care, as she made her way out of the booth, flinging her arms around his neck. He hugged her back just as enthusiastically. She pulled back, searching his face with a huge smile on hers. "It's you."

"Hello." And she pulled him to her, kissing him soundly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I normally don't do domestics, Rose…but marry me? Stay with me?"

"Forever."