He straightened his bow tie. It was his favorite one; a deep blue and covered in little stars. Though the constellations were horribly inaccurate, the Doctor still loved it. It had been one last Christmas present from his Amelia Pond. Even River had not dared to make a comment on it, though he could still sense her overall disapproval of his wardrobe.

"Time for me to go, Sweetie," River told him, her voice lacking its usual teasing tone. He wanted to tell her not to go, to stay there, with him. She did not know what was awaiting her, and he knew he could never tell her. He stared down at the console.

"River," he said, pausing briefly. "Take this with you." In his outstretched hand was his sonic screwdriver. She stared down in disbelief.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing River," he smiled at her. For good measure, he gestured to his bow tie. "How can anything be wrong? I'm wearing a bow tie, which is incredibly cool."

She seemed to accept this answer and smiled back at him. She walked up to him with purpose and backed him against the console. She kissed him full on the lips and much to her satisfaction, the Time Lord's face was bright red.

When The Doctor's head cleared, Professor River Song had left the TARDIS for a final time.

He had been mentally preparing himself for this moment since the Library. For a brief moment he was swept up in memories of a taller, lankier him and the brilliant Donna Noble. He could practically hear her yelling at him, "Oi Spaceman!"

The faces of former companions now were streaming through his mind. Guilt poured into his stomach when he realized that he had not thought of many of them in ages. Sarah Jane Smith, Amy and Rory, Martha Jones, and finally, Rose Tyler's brilliant blonde head was in his mind's eye.

A pang of loneliness shot through both of his hearts. If his time line was correct, it had been around three hundred years since he had seen his pink and yellow human for a final time. The Doctor was sure that the TARDIS coral that he had given Rose and his duplicate had grown into a magnificent ship just like his own. He hoped with everything he had that Rose and her Doctor had spent their lives traveling the stars. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, just as it should be.

Rose Tyler raced around a corner, her converse skidding as she narrowly avoided a head-on collision with a brick wall. Behind her, a Judoon was chasing her, ordering her to stop. Rose simply threw her head back in laughter and continued to speed ahead.

Her TARDIS lay a short distance away. Even though the Chameleon Circuit on this ship was fully functional, Rose kept her TARDIS as a blue police call box. An homage to the original ship and Doctor.

She reached the doors with the rhinoceros looking creature right on her heels. Rose slammed the doors shut and smiled proudly as she looked around her ship. The bright orange light that illuminated the ship seemed even more comforting than it usually did, though she still missed the corals of the original Doctor's TARDIS. It had been seventy years for her since she had been reunited with the Doctor. Seventy years of loving John Smith.

The picture she had of the Doctor's duplicate was still in its place on the console, his warm smile contrasting the metal which it sat on. "Allson-y!" Rose said, throwing a lever and plugging in coordinates. Suddenly, a sound that Rose recognized at the TARDIS' cloister bell rang out in a sickening tone. "Oi, what's going on old girl?" A sudden jolt shook the ship, causing Rose to fall flat on the cold floor. She checked her hands for any injuries and was relieved to see that there were only the grate marks of the floor impressed on her hands.

A projection of her duplicate Doctor, John Smith suddenly appeared in front of her. His glasses were perched on the tip of his nose and he was wearing his favorite blue suit.

"This is Program Epsilon One. If you're seeing this Rose, it means that I'm dead and you are very much alive. This program is designed to kick in one year after my date of death. You'll get explanations soon enough. I programmed the TARDIS to take you back to your original universe seeing as all of your family is wellll...anyway, our TARDIS should be able to lock onto other me's ship."

Rose's mouth was agape, never had the idea of returning to her old universe even come up in a discussion between them. She hadn't even realized that it was possible.

"Rose, one more thing. Other me, he's probably...changed by now. He'll be different not only in appearance but also personality. He may be travelling with other people as well. But if I know me like I think I do, which isn't a pleasant thing mind you, he's still got a soft spot for you, Rose Tyler. One more thing before you go through the Vortex, Rose, we had the best of times, the best. You and I got to live out the adventure I thought I could never have, and I'd do it all again, dying and all, in a heartbeat." The transmission cut off and Rose sat on the ground, staring at where the projection of her Doctor had been.

Hi, I really hope you liked that chapter. The Doctor and Rose will be reunited in the coming chapters.

Please review!

~Em