Beta: natural-blues
Terra Glacies
Rose Tyler had done her homework. The ice planet in question was located in a five-planet system called the Rhewcrown system; the irony being, of course, that the Welsh word for 'ice' was 'rhew' and the system itself had three out of five planets in an eternal ice age, but wasn't named for that— it was named after the Welshman who found it with a telescope, Aeron Rhew. The only populated planet out of the five was one of those in constant winter, named Glacies, and the aliens living there were called the Nethann, who migrated to Glacies three millennia ago when their sun went supernova. Despite being technologically advanced, their community was still governed by a monarchical, matriarchal system.
Rose had been working for Torchwood for three and a half years now. She hadn't made many friends in her team, due to her more than obvious desire to be a whole universe away. Rose refused to open up to anybody but Mickey, which ended up driving people away and starting rumours like taking a bat to a beehive. All her colleagues at Torchwood knew about her was that she was from another universe, and that she'd had an alien friend who travelled in time and space. There was heavy speculation around the Doctor— some say he was Rose's lover; others said Rose's love for him was one-sided; and one person even said that the Doctor had sent Rose to this universe to get away from her, but that particular rumour never resurfaced when Mickey sought out the person who'd started it and punched him in the mouth.
Whilst the rumours flew, Rose had taken it upon herself to build a dimension cannon, to try and launch herself across universes. It was only half-finished, but it'd become her baby, her distraction from being stuck in Pete's World. She was going to get back to the Doctor, no matter how futile the efforts seemed to be. In her time here she'd also done things to make the Doctor proud of her once they reunited— got her A-levels, graduated college and university and got a doctorate in science. The latter was something she was particularly proud of, making her imagine scenarios where she could tease the Doctor about being one too.
Sufficed to say, the last thing Rose Tyler wanted to be doing at the moment was investigating political goings-on on a freezing planet prone to snow and hailstorms. She'd much rather work on her dimension cannon, but Torchwood, being the branch of hate-filled bastards that it was, assigned her and only her to look into the possibility that the Nethanni Queen was being possessed, as she'd been acting rather 'odd' the last couple of months. So, it was with a heart heavy with resentment that Rose dressed herself in heavy winter attire (black and drab, as was Torchwood protocol) and heaved a bag of her own things with her to the transmat site, since she would probably be staying for multiple days (wonderful).
"All ready, Lieutenant Tyler?" grunted one of Torchwood's lackeys— a Scotsman named Aiken or something like that.
"As I'll ever be," Rose said, trying to smile and failing. That was another thing that was hard to do— smiling. When was the last time she'd smiled? Over a year ago, probably.
Aiken gave her an almost knowing look before pressing a button on his console. The flash of gold-white light obscured her vision before the temperature dropped like a rock, shocking her systems and making her lungs go rigid for a brief moment. From the brain-addling side effect of the transmat and the shock of the new environment, Rose's head spun and she started to fall over, but two pairs of slender hands caught her.
An oddly high-pitched, echoing, distorted voice said from beside her, "All you all right, thann-eni?"
"'M fine, ta," Rose choked out, straightening up. The desperate cold made it hard to breathe and hard to speak. "Lieutenant Commander Rose Tyler," she introduced through chattering teeth.
The two women who had caught her were white as an icicle, with cobalt lips and baby blue eyelashes and silver hair down to their knees, and blue dots in the shape of a crescent moon in the centre of their foreheads. The one who had spoken smiled at her, showing teeth white enough to make the howling snow around them look grey. "Welcome to Glacies, thann-eni Tyler. The Queen is anxious to meet you, but it is late. We will wait until the moon rests. You have a cabin set up for you about seventy footfalls from this point. You may use it to rest."
"Thanks," said Rose, as best she could with already numb cheeks.
The woman gave her an icicle-shaped key to her cabin and a map to the palace and pointed her in the right direction, though Rose was pretty certain that, with the torrential snowstorm in progress, there was a good probably she'd get lost. Still, Rose trumped through the snow with her heavy rucksack for less than five minutes before she spotted a fairly large cabin shadowed against the curtain of snow. It was painted crimson, brightly enough to be easily spotted in snowstorms. Eager to take a long, scented bath and then collapse into bed, Rose readjusted her grip on her rucksack and stuck the icicle-thing into the circle-shaped keyhole. The door opened with a click and Rose stepped in.
She shut the door behind her against the howling wind and was immediately met with humid warmth and a wonderful silence. The whole cabin was fashioned a little exotically, with little futon chairs and richly coloured silks draped everywhere. The kitchen and dining room was opened into the living area, adorned with human-looking kitchen appliances, and there was a fluffy-looking couch in front of a roaring fireplace. Rubbing her nose and her ears with her palms to regain feeling in them, Rose stripped off her heavy parka and draped it onto the couch before heaving her rucksack into the room adjacent.
"Wow," she breathed.
Her bedroom was almost luxurious, and her bed was enormous. There was a lamp on the end table that looked like a spiralling icicle, and Rose chuckled at it. Leave it to the Nethann to make at least one thing in the cabin winter-themed. She tossed her rucksack on the bed and headed into the bathroom, letting out another coo. The whole bathroom was painted to look like a sun setting over a snowy horizon. The taps looked like crystallised snowballs and the bathtub, complete with its own showerhead and massage wand, was big enough to fit three people in it. Rose let out another chuckle— the Nethann would never go to this much trouble to make her comfortable if they knew she wasn't just meeting the Queen for diplomatic purposes.
Rose checked her watch. It was nearly an hour to sunset. In a few hours she'd go out and stakeout the palace herself, but for the moment, all she did was turn on the taps for the bathtub, which gushed out clear water and some kind of light blue foam, and sink into it with gratitude.
Four hours passed far too quickly in Rose's opinion. After her bath she'd curled up feeling warm and cosy in a fluffy white robe and read an alien romance novel. It was one of those corny ones Jack had introduced to her years ago that the Doctor would usually poke fun at, so she spent the first ten minutes of it trying not to cry before actually being able to concentrate on the plot. Eventually it was well after dark and it came time for her to redress into her heavy winter outfit and trudge back into the snow.
The snowstorm was dying down into a light one, so Rose was able to see her map with minimal obscurity using her flashlight. According to what the Nethann had drawn, she was about a quarter of a mile away from the palace— if it was daytime and there wasn't any snow, Rose would bet that she'd be able to see the faint outline of it from her cabin. The trees she passed on her way looked like something out of a fairytale— they were frozen solid by a freezing rainstorm that had happened thousands of years ago, crystallised in that form forever. If the temperatures weren't so bitter cold, Rose would actually like this planet.
Suddenly her foot caught on something in the snow, making the map and the flashlight fly out of her hands and she fell face first into the snow bank. Spitting out snow, Rose searched around for the map and the flashlight. She found both two feet away; snatching them up, Rose shined the light at where she'd tripped only to see a little piece of fabric sticking up rigid. Frowning, Rose bent down and tugged at it, only to reveal an entire multicoloured scarf, frozen solid in the frigid temperatures. Her heart flew out of her mouth when she saw something else.
There was a pair of blue-tinted fingers poking out of the snow just next to the scarf.
"Oh my God!" Rose gasped, dropping to her knees and starting to dig furiously, ignoring her own numb fingers.
More and more snow sifted away with her effort, revealing a man in his thirties, eyelashes frosted, lips blue and curly hair sticking to his head. He didn't have any blue markings, making Rose wonder if he was Nethanni or not. Once she dusted off the snow from his shoulders, she took off her right glove and felt the side of his neck with two fingers. There was a faint and thready pulse, making Rose sigh with relief. Yanking on her glove and placing her flashlight between her teeth, Rose gripped his underarms with strong hands and yanked him out of the snow. To her immense surprise, he wasn't wearing winter attire of any kind besides the scarf— no wonder he was nearly frozen to death. Checking the map again, Rose dragged him back to her cabin. The wave of warmth that met her had Rose sighing with relief, both for herself and her new guest. Desperately trying to remember the steps for treating people with hypothermia, Rose quickly dragged him into her bedroom and, shoving her rucksack aside, pushed him onto it. She gave him a hasty examination to check for head wounds, but found herself unable to see around his thick, frozen hair. She'd have to get him warm and dry somehow… the bath! She could run him a bath. Rose remembered that being one of the steps for treating hypothermia. Running into the bathroom, she started a lukewarm bath so the heat wouldn't shock his system, only filling it halfway in case she needed to raise the temperature eventually.
"Sorry about this, mate," Rose mumbled, cheeks heating up as she returned and was forced to tear off his frozen clothing.
Once he was fully unclothed, Rose momentarily covered him up with the duvet and ran into the living room with his clothes to lay them out in front of the fireplace, noting with a raised eyebrow that the scarf she'd initially seen was in reality ridiculously long. Hurrying back into the bedroom, she heaved him up again and tried manoeuvring him into the bathroom as best she could whilst simultaneously trying not to look there. As she lowered him into the bath, though, she couldn't help but notice he had a fit bum.
Choking back a giggle, Rose sat on the edge of the tub next to him, holding him upright so he didn't drown. After a few seconds of being in the water, the bluish hue of his skin started to turn into bright pink and he began to shiver violently, which was a good sign. The ice in his hair was already melting into freezing water, but Rose grabbed the showerhead anyway and made lukewarm water trickle over his head. She scraped her nails over his scalp, trying to get rid of any trace of ice. His shivering died down after a bit, colour returning to his lips. Rose took that as another good sign and turned on the taps again, upping the temperature a little. He initially flinched at the temperature change but relaxed a bit when Rose resumed her efforts with the showerhead. There weren't any head wounds, so he wasn't initially injured before nearly freezing to death. As she ran her hands through his hair once more, he made a moaning sound. Frowning, Rose stilled her hand, wondering if he was waking up or if she'd hurt him. He still seemed completely out of it, so Rose did it again, only to have him keen again. She blushed to the ends of her hair when she realised it wasn't in pain.
Trying not to giggle embarrassedly, Rose covered her eyes and simultaneously drained the tub. She dried him with a fluffy towel, closing her eyes again when it came time to dry his lower half, and shimmied him into the robe she'd used earlier. It was a bit short for him, only reaching his knees, but it was better than nothing. She carried him back towards the bed, pulling away the cold duvet and setting him down on the bed, covering him with the warm wool sheets. He mumbled something in unison before burrowing his head into the pillow and letting out a loud snore. Rose let herself laugh this time, like she hadn't in ages, before grabbing her jimjams from her rucksack and changing in the bathroom.
Her stomach growled, making her jump. Remembering that she hadn't made dinner yet, Rose left the stranger to snore away in her bed and began looking around in the pantry for things she could find. There were strong-smelling spices in the cupboards, a weird spotted bread in a breadbox, some unknown vegetables and fruit, all of which Rose sampled and found she liked, and a kind of salty cheese in the icebox, along with a fruity violet drink in a jug and an Earth-brand of eggs and milk. Mentally thanking the Nethann for their unbelievable hospitality, Rose took out the eggs, her favourite mystery fruit and vegetable, the cheese, the milk and the spices, found a weird bowl-shaped frying pan in the bottom drawer and started on making omelettes. Rose snorted to herself as she remembered the days when the Doctor was too afraid to let her near a stove. Living on her own in need of distractions had taught her to cook like a pro, even with alien ingredients.
Rose chopped up and poured the unknown vegetable and some (hopefully) good spices into the beaten eggs before pouring it into the frying pan. The scent of eggs and cheese ended up making her stomach growl more, so she cut up a piece of alien fruit and popped it into her mouth to stave herself for the moment. Humming an Akren lullaby she'd picked up on one of her Torchwood missions, Rose stared out the window and watched the snow whirl around. She'd probably have to excuse herself from lunch with the Queen tomorrow, as her new guest would most likely need her attention. Still humming, Rose cut up two slices of cheese and plopped them into the half-finished omelettes, wondering if the man would be hungry when he woke up.
After flipping both omelettes onto a plate and slicing up some more fruit as a side dish, Rose flipped off the stove and nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around to see the previously asleep man in the doorway, frowning dazedly at her. "You're up!" she exclaimed.
His frown deepened, and he blinked almost as if he were drunk. Then he blurted out, "Are you my wife?"
"Er… w-what?" she stammered, astonished.
"I just woke up in a huge bed and I came out to see a gorgeous woman cooking me breakfast—" she blushed crimson, which he left unnoticed, "—and I'm wearing a robe that smells like you. A lot like you," he felt the need to add. "So I figured maybe I have amnesia and I'd forgotten marrying somebody."
Mouthing the word 'oh' and chuckling, Rose shook her head. "Um, no, I'm not your wife."
"Well, that's too bad," he said almost matter-of-factly, and Rose's face heated up again. "Where the sodden hell am I, then?"
"You're on the planet Glacies," she said, looking for signs of recognition and finding none. "Er, I found you out in the snow."
"Oh! Did you save my life?" he asked almost jovially.
"Suppose so, yeah," Rose shrugged.
"Well then, I suppose thanks are in order," he all but beamed, clasping his hands together. "Thank you, Miss… er…"
"Rose Tyler," Rose said, grinning a bit. It'd been ages since she'd smiled, yet here was this silly stranger, standing in her bathrobe and making her smile.
"Rooose Tylerrr," he said, trying it out on his tongue. Apparently finding the experience pleasing, he bounded forward and outstretched his hand. "Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler, I'm th—"
He suddenly swayed where he stood, and Rose set down the spatula in time to dash over and catch him before he collapsed onto the floor. "Blimey, mate, be careful! Y'just came back from bein' an icicle."
"Do forgive me, Rose Tyler," he mumbled, as she helped him over to the couch. He plopped down on it, waited for her to sit down next to him and then snuggled next to her, making her blush for the third time. "To stop from freezing to death, my body slowed down its metabolic functions and my brain is still a bit addled."
"S'all right," Rose assured him. "D'you… remember anything about how you got here?"
"On the planet Glacier or something like that?" he mumbled. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow dramatically, before his whole face lit up. "Oh, yes! My ship was pulled here! Landed about thirty miles west of here, I think. And… oh," he scowled, "I ran into this dreadful blue-and-white woman who wouldn't listen to a thing I said."
Rose smiled sympathetically, patting his hand. "That was probably one of the natives. The Nethann. They're matriarchal, an' they completely ignore alien males. Barely pay attention to their own men, actually."
"How awful," he said, pulling a face. "Yes… yes, she sent me out into the snow, as a matter of fact. Then I woke up, and saw you, and asked you if you were my wife, and—"
"Yeah, mate, I know, I was there," Rose said, laughing as he grinned embarrassedly.
"Why on Earth do you have an icicle on the table?" he asked randomly, with a voice laced with amusement.
"S'actually a key," Rose grinned.
"It's a bit silly, isn't it, making icicle-shaped keys on a planet in constant winter?" he grinned back.
"Completely," Rose said. "Bet they're worse than humans, losin' their keys all the time."
He chuckled at that. "What are you doing here, Rose Tyler?" he asked suddenly.
"'M one of the Ambassadors for Torchwood," Rose said.
"Wait, what's Torchwood?"
Rose gave him an odd look. Clearly, he'd never been to Earth— Torchwood was everywhere in this universe. "The biggest company of alien experts on Earth."
"Ooh, Earth!" he chirped, blue eyes lighting up with something other than firelight. "That's my favourite planet!"
"Really," said Rose, giving him a disbelieving look. "How can it be your favourite planet when you don't know Torchwood? We're everywhere! We even have a float in the New Year's parade," she added with a giggle, remembering her hysteria when she'd first found that out.
"I've never once heard a single mention of a 'Torchwood' and I've been to Earth thousands of times!" he said insistently. "I was even exiled there for a few years. Back then I worked for UNIT."
Rose frowned. "UNIT was disbanded over fifty years ago."
He emulated her frown, apparently thinking deeply. Then his face lit up like a light bulb again, reminding her painfully of her second Doctor. "Ah, I get it! I'm in another universe, aren't I?"
Rose nearly choked on her own breath. "You know about the other universes?"
"Of course I do," he said, giving her an odd glance. "You know about the other universes?"
"Ironically, mate, I'm not from this universe," Rose laughed mirthlessly, before remembering the dinner that was getting cold on the counter. "Oh, I forgot! Are you hungry?"
"Definitely," he beamed, sitting up a little straighter and watching her as she got up to fetch the plates and returned.
"Don't ask what's in this, I have no idea besides Earth milk and eggs," Rose told him, cutting off a piece of her lukewarm omelette and taking a bite.
"I'm quite accustomed to alien cooking, Rose Tyler," he laughed, taking a bite as well, perhaps a bit larger than necessary.
"Me too," Rose grinned, before remembering an escapade she and the Doctor shared and laughing aloud. "I had a friend who I used to travel with, ages ago, and this one time he took me to this planet where all of the food looked like slime." He grimaced and she laughed again. "I know! Only, when I finally worked up the nerve to try it, it ended up tasting like Parmesan chicken. I'm serious!" she added, giggling when he shot her a look of disbelief.
"A giant slimy blob that tasted like chicken," he chuckled, already halfway through his omelette. "This one time, I went to a planet that supposedly had the best jelly babies in the quadrant. Bought five whole bags of them, and it turned out they were all pear flavoured."
He stuck out his tongue in disgust and Rose felt a pang. This man was eerily similar to him, in mannerisms and in dislikes. "Don't like pears, huh?"
"Nasty little fruit," he grimaced. "Shouldn't be called fruit, really. Shapeless, soggy things, they should be called."
Rose managed a chuckle, setting aside her empty plate. "My… friend didn't like pears either. Used to rant about how 'awful pears were, Rose Tyler'."
"Your friend that you travelled with?" he asked, eyes narrowing as he too set aside his plate. She nodded. "Where is he?"
"Remember when I said I wasn't from this universe?" Rose said mirthlessly, staring hard at her clasped hands. "Well, I didn't come here by choice. Was pulled in here. Got separated from my friend."
"For how long?" His voice was gentle like a summer breeze.
"S'been four years since I last saw him," she whispered, feeling tears prick at her eyes. Refusing to cry, she stood up abruptly, startling him, and gathered up their plates to bring them to the sink. "Anyway, your clothes might be dry now, I think," she added, wincing at how toneless her voice sounded.
He'd been watching her with his head cocked to the side, looking almost curious, but at the mention of his clothes he actually jumped. "Oh, yes! Don't much fancy walking around in nothing but a woman's dressing gown," he added, grinning and plucking at it as he hoisted himself off the couch and picked up his things.
"Well, you pull it off," she grinned, giggling when he flushed. "I have a question though— what is up with the length of that bloody scarf?"
"I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, that this scarf has saved the world on more than one occasion," he insisted, hugging the scarf to his chest as he stomped into the bedroom to dress, leaving the door slightly ajar.
"… couldn't even keep you warm in a blizzard, mind you, an' how you've not strangled yourself yet is beyond me," Rose continued, ignoring him.
"Says the woman currently on a mission in hoop earrings," he shot back from inside the bedroom.
Rose laughed. "I've saved the world in these plenty of times, ta!"
"The world, eh? What—? Ooh, what's this?" He came out, completely dressed save for the scarf draped over his arm, peering curiously at a piece of paper in his hands. He swallowed and looked up, flushing when he met her eyes, looking almost sheepish as he handed it to her. "Erm, I-I think you dropped this."
Rose took it and blanched. It was the photograph taken just after the Doctor had regenerated, on Christmas— he had his arm slung over her shoulders, paper crown set on top of his head of wild hair, and the two of them were smiling at each other with unbridled warmth. "That's my friend. The one I told you about." She managed a half-smile in his direction to show him she wasn't upset (much); he obediently relaxed and bounced over to her side to look at the photo with her. "That was Christmas, 'bout five years ago."
He frowned. "How old are you now?"
"Hm? Twenty-five."
"You don't look like you've aged a day," he gaped.
Rose smiled weakly, ducking her head a bit. "That's, er, 'cos I haven't. Long story," she added blankly, before she narrowed her eyes at him. "How did you get here again?"
"My ship was pulled here," he said. "I got a call from my home planet, but when I tried to land on Gallifrey I was pulled in here." His face lit up. "I could bring you with me! Back to the original universe!"
She paused, staying silent for a good long minute. "I thought you said you were pulled in here by accident," Rose frowned, unwilling to start hoping just yet.
"I was, but that's irrelevant," he all but beamed, starting to wrap his insanely long scarf around his neck. "Dimensional travel is easy if you have a ship as brilliant as mine."
"The walls between universes are sealed," she insisted. "Believe me, mate, I've been looking."
"Like I said: brilliant ship, easy," he grinned. "So, Rose Tyler, will you come with me?"
He held out his hand as though expecting her to shake it. She stared at it numbly, the prospect seeming too good to be true— she happens to be forcibly assigned to this particular planet, stumbling upon this particular individual who had the power to bring her home. Smiling a bit grimly, Rose slipped her hand into his and shook it. "I'll believe it when I see it, mate."
He somehow managed to pull off looking sympathetic and excited at the same time. "Let's go, then!"
"Hold on a mo', now," Rose said, grabbing his arm as he started to waltz towards the door with a happy grin on his face. "There's a blizzard out there."
"Oh," he blinked, craning his neck to glance out the window. "Right. When will it stop?"
"Not 'till dawn," Rose said, before sauntering over to the fireplace to feed the fire. "Make yourself comfortable, then, mate." He obediently bounced back over to the couch and plopped himself on it. "Y'know, you haven't even told me your name."
"Haven't I?" he frowned.
"Nope. You were about to, but you nearly fell on your face." He flushed as Rose added, "An' if I'm gonna be trusting you to bring me to the other universe, I need to at least know that about you."
"Right," he grinned. "I am the Doctor."
He frowned with confusion when she froze, halfway to picking up another log for the fire, staying like that for God knows how long. When she finally straightened up and turned to face him, he was astonished to see tears in her eyes, sparkling in the firelight. "What?"
"Er…" was all he could get out of his mouth.
"You're the Doctor?" she whispered. "As in, the Doctor with the TARDIS?"
He nodded wordlessly, torn between wanting to apologise and wanting to get up and comfort her. Then something clicked into place, and he jumped up. "You're a future companion!" She nodded, one hand covering her mouth as she looked at him. "And… the man in the photo…"
He flushed when something else occurred to him— his expression in that photo. Either he was going to regenerate into one soppy-looking bloke, or he was going to fall in love with Rose Tyler. And unfortunately, even now, he could definitely see that happening. Especially since it was clear that she was in love with him too, and that she'd been fighting to get back to him for years. The thought made something stir in his gut.
She ran a hand through her hair and plopped next to him on the couch. "What regeneration are you in now?" she asked, still looking wary.
"This is my third regeneration, which means my fourth body," he said. "How did you find out about regeneration?"
Rose glared at him, making him recoil a little. "You didn't tell me— that's for sure. You regenerated into him—" she pointed at the smiling Doctor in the picture. "— without givin' me a heads-up. Nearly scared me to death."
He at least had the audacity to look guilty, before that gave way to tentativeness. "You stayed?"
She gave him another glare. "Of course I did. You're still the Doctor, whatever face you're wearin'." His megawatt grin coaxed a smile out of her. "I should've known you were the Doctor. Only you would wear that ridiculous scarf."
He scowled at her. "It is not ridiculous!"
"Keep tellin' yourself that," Rose winked, and even he had to smile when she laughed genuinely for the first time.
"I will," he sniffed, before clapping his hands. "So, what shall we do until dawn?"
Rose bit her lip in contemplation. "Dunno. We could just talk."
"What shall we discuss?" he said happily.
"Who're you travellin' with right now?" Rose asked, frowning when he looked a bit put out.
"I just said goodbye to my friend Sarah," said the Doctor.
"Sarah Jane, you mean?" Rose said, face hardening.
He nodded, brightening a bit. "Do you know her?" Without answering him, Rose gave him a glare and a swat over the head. "Ow! What on Earth was that for?" She merely crossed her arms and turned her nose up. Sensing she was about to refuse to talk to him for the rest of the night (and he had no idea why) he quickly stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a bag of half-frozen jelly babies. "Here, have a jelly baby."
Her frowned deepened, not in irritation but in confusion as she stared at the bag. The Doctor was relieved to see her anger giving way to amusement as she stuck her hand in the bag and chuckled with a shake of her head, "Yeah, 'cos it's perfectly normal to muck about the universe with a bag o' jelly babies in your pocket."
"I like jelly babies," he shrugged, taking a handful and stuffing them into his mouth ungracefully.
"D'you still like bananas?" Rose asked curiously, grinning when his eyes lit up.
"I do," he hummed with delight. "Bananas are good."
"Yeah, I know," she laughed. "What about—?"
They talked for hours, eventually emptying the bag of jelly babies (Rose burst out laughing when he noticed this and no, he did not pout, despite her claims). Throughout the night they drifted closer, until they were doing something that was dangerously classified as snuggling, and eventually Rose fell asleep on top of him and he was slightly surprised to find he enjoyed it.
Now, he let himself trace his fingers through her hair, staring down at her with a mix between something probably soppy-looking and scrutiny. His near-death mixed with the humidity from the fire and the lovely vanilla scent coming from her was making him pleasantly drowsy, but he didn't sleep, instead entertaining himself with trailing patterns with his fingers over her head and face and seeing which spots made her sigh in her sleep. It was fruitless to try and memorise tiny things like that, because when he dropped her off in the original universe he'd have to forget ever meeting her to maintain timelines. The Doctor hated it more than he should that he couldn't ask her to travel with him, because she was such a charming, fun woman, and he had the unfortunate feeling that he was already attracted to her.
Especially since the feeling of dread grew more and more the closer they got to dawn.
The moment the storm died down completely and the crowing of some alien songbird sounded from outside the cabin, the Doctor (very reluctantly) woke her with a gentle nudge and a murmur in her ear. She wriggled against him and groaned. "S'it time 'lready?"
He chuckled. "Not a morning person, I take it?"
"Y'get used to it," Rose sighed, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, her hair a tousled mess. They simply stared at each other, the Doctor grinning and Rose looking half-asleep, before she giggled and said, "Let's get up, yeah?"
"Oh, right, yes," he bumbled, flushing and jumping up hastily.
She stepped into the loo to freshen up and he paced the living room, actually contemplating hiding her rucksack somewhere so they'd have to search for it, just so it'd buy him a few more minutes with her. Then he told himself he was being an idiot and smiled swiftly when she emerged from the bathroom, face washed and looking far more awake than she had ten minutes ago. Hauling her unpacked rucksack off the ground, Rose took his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world to do and stepped out with him into the freezing air.
Glacies was gorgeous, with a sky full of fluffy pink clouds, a land of rolling white hills and trees looking like intricate crystals. Despite the view Rose shuddered immediately, making him frown. "Y'know, I'd love this place if it wasn't so bloody freezing."
"What will the natives do when they find you gone?" he asked.
Rose shrugged. "Dunno. Probably think I left or something and call Torchwood. Mum'll know where I've gone though, and Mickey."
She fell silent at the mention of the family she was leaving behind, and he hung his head a bit guiltily, knowing she was leaving them to get back to some future him. It also desperately pleased him, which in turn ashamed him, and he ended up concluding that Rose Tyler was making him feeling a maelstrom of stupid emotions. They held hands the whole trek to the TARDIS, which took about ten minutes. As they stepped inside, he was certain he was going to get a good mental lashing for leaving her out all night in the snow, only to be astonished when the TARDIS all but ignored him and greeted Rose with an ecstatic flickering of her lights.
Rose beamed at the ceiling. "Ooh, I missed you!"
He gaped. "You're friends with the TARDIS?"
"'Course I am, she's brilliant," she replied, giving him a raised eyebrow.
The Doctor tried not to grin like an idiot— leave it to Rose Tyler to be the only companion to bond with his ship. The TARDIS would probably greet her that enthusiastically once they were linear. He sobered immediately, still unwilling to let her go but forcing himself not to dwell on it. With practised ease, the Doctor flicked open a drawer in the corner of the console room and pulled out a white bag of jelly babies, slipping it into his pocket before bouncing over to the console. Rose pretended like it was perfectly natural for someone to have an entire drawer filled with bags of jelly babies as she hauled her bag over her shoulder.
"Ready?" he asked, sending her a false beam.
She nodded, feeling excited and a bit nervous as she watched the Doctor dance his way around the console. After four years, she was going home.
The Tenth Doctor watched from the distance as Donna bounced excitedly at a vending cart selling alien trinkets— Moraxan crystals made from solidified spider silk, to be exact. After they'd nearly gotten roasted in Pompeii Donna had demanded to be taken shopping, still having not quite forgiven him for nearly leaving behind Lucius Caecilius' family in the eruption. He felt a stab of guilt, as he usually did when thinking about his rash decision. He'd been so insistent in preserving the timelines that he didn't stop to think about saving even one person. It was just lucky he had Donna to stop him. He was turning back into the broken, merciless thing he'd been before Rose.
The Doctor hung his head a little, letting the grief show on his face for a moment. It hurt to think of her. The TARDIS had taken them to Gerron, a planet widely known for its brilliant trade centres, where he'd taken Rose to pick up the bazoolium for her mother the same day he'd lost her. He'd tried to leave the moment he realised where they were, but something had caught Donna's eye before he could suggest another place and she'd dragged him into the throng.
Said Donna was showing signs of leaving, so he straightened himself up and smiled, pretending he hadn't just been close to tears. "This is so wizard!" she beamed, holding out one of the spider crystals on a thin gold chain. "Mum is gonna be so jealous, and she won't even know it's alien! Ha!"
He opened his mouth to reply and/or propose leaving again, but the sound of the TARDIS engines close by shut him up. He looked around wildly to where his TARDIS was parked, but she wasn't dematerialising. The Doctor frowned confusedly, until he felt the faint hum of another Time Lord mind in the back of his— specifically, a past version of his Time Lord mind.
"Doctor, wasn't that the TARDIS?" Donna frowned.
"There's another me here," he explained, reaching out towards the presence and using it like a compass. "A past me."
"Isn't that bad?" she asked, jogging to keep up with his hasty pace.
"Oh, not usually," the Doctor said airily. "I've run into myself a good few times. Sometimes multiple version of me. There's usually a lot of shouting."
"I can see that happening," Donna muttered, before crashing into his back when he stopped abruptly. "Ouch! What the hell are you—?"
She stopped talking when she got a good look at his expression, a kind of paralytic astonishment mixed with despair and hope. Donna followed his gaze towards a slightly different-looking TARDIS parked in the field below, where a curly-haired man in a twenty foot-long scarf had his back to them, facing towards the opened TARDIS doors where a blonde woman was emerging with a smile on her face and a rucksack on her arm.
"Doctor," Donna said quietly, placing a hand on his arm. He didn't even seem to notice. "Who is that?"
It took him a full minute of shaking and pale silence to answer. With a loud swallow, he hissed, "Rose."
The Doctor bounced out of the TARDIS, turning around to hold out his hand and wiggle his fingers invitingly. Rose giggled and accepted it, stepping out into the bright sunlight and recognising the field immediately. "Oh, this is Gerron!" she said excitedly, giving his hand a squeeze.
"Have we been here before?" he asked, smirking when he noticed the gaping pinstriped idiot at the top of the hill.
"Yeah, this is the last place you took me before I got trapped in the parallel universe," Rose said, remembering the bazoolium. Her mum still had it in Pete's World, hanging in the window of the Tyler mansion. Turning to face him properly, she let go of his hand and set her rucksack on the grass to throw her arms around his neck in a hug, which he reciprocated so enthusiastically that he lifted her off her feet for a moment. "Thank you, my Doctor," she whispered in his ear.
"You're welcome," he mumbled, breathing her in, cherishing the waning time he had with her and letting his sadness at having to say goodbye show on his face. Pulling back slightly, he schooled his features into a jovial smile and stuck his hand in his pocket. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." Rose obeyed, cupping her palms in front of her. He placed something small in her hand before curling her fingers over it. His hand left hers and he whispered, "Don't forget me."
When she opened her eyes, the TARDIS door was clicking shut. Rose bit her lip, steeling herself not to cry as the sounds of the TARDIS engines started up and the ship began to disappear. Even though she'd soon be reunited with him, she'd miss this Doctor, with his ludicrous scarf and offerings of jelly babies here and there. Glancing down at her closed hands, Rose slowly uncurled her fingers to reveal the Doctor's last gift.
"Jelly baby," she said aloud, succumbing into giggles as she stared at the orange candy.
As Rose started to turn away and lean down to get her rucksack, the sounds of the TARDIS rematerialising in front of her made her turn back in shock, and she watched the same TARDIS that she'd just walked out of reappear again. The door flew open and an excited-looking Doctor popped his head out, beaming at her. "I forgot something!"
She laughed again, shaking her head in bemusement. "What?"
With a far-too coordinated leap for someone as uncoordinated as this Doctor, he swept her up in his arms and captured her slightly parted lips with his own. She gasped in shock, giving him ample opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth and press it against her own. Shock ebbing away, Rose closed her hand around the jelly baby so she wouldn't drop it and tossed her arms around his neck again, fisting her free hand into his curly hair, kissing him back with fervour and feeling him smile underneath her mouth. He pulled away after a moment (far too brief, in Rose's opinion) and with a mumble of, "Until I fall in love with you again, Rose Tyler," he let go of her and disappeared back into the TARDIS.
Breathing heavily and blushing scarlet — the Doctor just snogged her — she watched a second time as the slightly different TARDIS vanished with her beautiful grinding sound, until she was completely alone in the rustling field. Even though there was nobody there, Rose covered her burning face with one hand — the Doctor just snogged her — and slipped the jelly baby carefully into her pocket. Trying hard not to smile like an idiot, Rose turned around again to grab her things and search the market for her present Doctor.
She didn't have to look very far, for he was already standing at the top of the hill where the market was situated, a whirlwind of emotions on his face. Her heart nearly jumped out of her mouth. They simply stood there staring at each other for God knows how long, until she saw him mouth her name.
A smile erupted on her mouth and she called out, "Doctor!"
"Rose!" he shouted, face lighting up like a lantern.
They both ran at each other at the exact same time, the Doctor stumbling ungracefully down the hill and nearly falling on his face when his foot caught on a rock. The two crashed together in a mass of clumsy, tangled limbs and force enough to knock the breath out of them, Rose's arms linking around his neck and his own arms crushing her to him so forcefully it was hard to tell where one ended and where the other began. There was a redheaded woman beaming at them from where the Doctor had been standing, but Rose paid her no attention, especially since the Doctor was pulling back and crushing his mouth against hers. It'd been less than a minute for Rose and centuries for him since he'd kissed her, but it was equally desperate for both of them, finally coming together after finding each other too many times to count.
Donna watched the whole while as the Doctor went from flushing scarlet as his younger self disappeared — only to reappear and snog Rose in front of them — to screaming her name in delight, throwing himself gracelessly from the hill, crashing into her and then pulling back to mimic his earlier self's snog. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she clutched her hands to her chest, her heart going out to her stupid spaceman. She'd been watching him drift through life, mourning over Rose, but now Donna would have the chance to see him truly happy, actually living instead of surviving. Beaming like an idiot and sniffling, Donna turned her back on them to give them privacy (despite the thirty or so aliens gaping at them like idiots or grinning stupidly) and headed back to the TARDIS by herself.
They'd join her when they were done.
A/N: Fourth installment in the Forever and More series :3 This was so much fun to write; isn't Four just adorable? Little fun fact: the name 'Terra Glacies' means 'Land of Ice' in Latin. In the next story in the series, yes, we will move on to Five :3