River should have known the day he whispered someone else's name in gallifreyan when he was with her. Yet she ignored it, brushed it off as an accident. For all she knew he could have been telling her he loved her, or she was beautiful, but she disillusioned herself instead. That was easier than the truth.

River should have known the times when he looked at her, but wasn't really seeing her. The times he'd grab her hand and run, smile at her for a second- a true smile- until it evaporated into a forced one. A smile that was filled with disappointment, longing. She always told herself it was just him coming to his senses about what was actually happening around them. That was a lie; it was just better than the truth.

River should have known when he flipped out about reading a certain book, the one with a candy wrapper as a marker. She tried to defend herself, saying it was just laying on the table next to the couch in the library and it looked interesting, but he refused. He refused to even listen to her and just scolded her for touching things that weren't hers. When she tried to put it back in the same place, even on the same page, he refused again. Saying that it was already ruined, another piece of her gone. He never told him who "her" was. She didn't really want to know.

Now River knew. She knew by the way he was looking at this small human girl with a whirl of wonder in his eyes. She was about thirty, but told him that she was around fifty and he gasped in wondered surprise. She laughed at him, and he laughed at her. A true laugh, not the half hearted ones he gave her so often.

It wasn't hard to see the Doctor was totally smitten with this girl, a girl who appeared to be aging much slower than anyone else- if she was even aging at all. A girl whose cheeks were flushed pink and skin glowing yellow, hair the same color. So she wasn't totally surprised when the Doctor had dropped the Pond's off at their house and River back at Storm Cage.

God knows what her husband was doing.

His previous shell shocked enthusiasm was gone as now his face turned serious.

"How did you get back, Rose? What aren't you aging?" He asked, arms folded across his chest.

"I stopped. I just stopped when I reached thirty. It took a few years for us to figure it out, but I just stopped and he… he kept going. Rapidly kept going, Doctor. It's been about 25 years for me and I look like you only left me five years ago. He aged so fast, he should have been almost 60 about now, his body anyways. He looked- he looked 90 Doctor. His brain it was just too much, and instead of burning he just aged. It just used up his energy or something, made his aging rate almost double." Rose choked out a sob now, tears running down from her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead before she continued. "And he just… he said he had to find a way for me to get back to you. He said you needed forever and that I needed you, and that it all made sense. He made me promise after… after he was gone I'd go. I'd go and I'd find you and stay with you if you wanted me to. Do… do you want me to?"

"I'll always want you to Rose," he whispered into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "I will never leave you Rose, I never intended for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry."

"'S alright… do you want to see how he did it? How I landed in the TARDIS? John… John said you'd be interested." She was trying to hold back sobs now, taking deeps breaths in and out in attempts to calm herself.

The Doctor nodded and stood up, outstretching his hand to her for her to lead him as he did. She took it and lead him into her old room, well maybe it was her room again. That is, if he still wanted her after all.

Rose pulled out a device inside of a black duffle bag that appeared to be bigger on the inside and handed it to him. He twirled it around in his hands, marveling at it all.

"It um… it's the TARDIS coral. Grown a bit, mind you, but we couldn't grow it all. Stopped it as soon as we realized. It was really starting to grow then, it's back to it's normal growth pattern. Thousands of years, as it should be. He found a way, John, to send me back by connecting the TARDIS's together since they're sisters. Big sister and little sister, and just a little Bad Wolf to help pull me through. Help me materialize right in the middle of your console room, ha! Imagine that, the thing that was going to burn me helped me live. Bit brilliant. Of course he was though, he was you… oh I'm rambling. That happens sometimes now."

"I felt it you know," he said, still looking at the technology wrapped around the coral. "You feel wrong in a way, not repulsive like Jack, but different than how you were. You're completely frozen in time, down to a single second. You'd live forever, undisturbed, but you can still die. I don't think you're nearly as fragile as a human though, more durable. Probably as durable as me, jumping down from 30 or 40 feet and surviving. Don't really know though, don't really want to experiment with it either. Completely unique like you always were, except more now. I could… I could run tests to see if you'd like."

He turned to her to see she was already staring back up and him and slowly she nodded her head. "I'd like to know."

"When? We can wait; a day, week, month, even a year if you really need. Or we can do it now."

"Now's good, before the nerves are gone." She said, eyes cast downwards.

"How long has it been?"

"Six months,"

"Do I need to tell you I'm the same man?"

Rose's lip twitched up slightly and she shook her head. "No, I think I've seen enough different versions of you to know you're still the same."

"Do you like it? How I look?"

She laughed this time, full and hearty with the sound ending with a tongue touched smile directed up at him. "All you can worry about is how you look? Well you're still not ginger, although you were for a while."

"Did I dye my hair?!" He almost looked panicked and touched the locks that were no longer brown and no longer stood up. "Why in the world would I do that?! I had great hair!"

"That you did, Doctor! But no, your hair started to lighten at one point and it just got all red and fiery. Called it Donna hair, you did." She said laughing until she abruptly stopped. Because he didn't did he? Not this Doctor. The human one did, John. She swallowed before continuing. "I mean you didn't per say, but you would have yeah? Or maybe that girl Amy, 'Amy hair'."

"Amy hair," he repeated, before capturing her hand in his. She looked down at their intertwined fingers and smiled. Using his other hands he grabbed a lock of blonde hair and twirled it in his fingers. "Rose Tyler hair is better."

"Your hair isn't so bad either."

"But really," he stepped back from her and twirled around. "Full analysis, I have to know. Do I have your approval?"

"Well still tall, always good. Pretty eyes, greens a nicer colour, nice hair still-"

"Better than the old hair?"

"I wouldn't go that far," she laughed and he pouted. "Still nice though, I like it. And the bow tie, bow ties are cool."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." He smiled at her, but slammed a hand over his mouth as soon as he realized what he had said. "If that's okay if I do, I mean. I've fancied you for a while, since big ears and leather and now you're back- you're back and beautiful and so pink and yellow and wonderful and… And Rose. Yes you're Rose, how could I not? You're basically weaved into me at this point, I'd love you every regeneration. It'll never stop. I'm Rose obsessed, Rose addicted really. You don't have to say it back though, I mean I'm still a bit rude. Not as rude, mind you, but still kind of rude. A bit more alien than before too, I was getting domesticated by a certain blonde and her mother. But I didn't say it back then so you don't have to say it now, especially if you don't mean it. Not that I didn't mean it before! I've been in love with you since "run" and all after that. I mean i'm really glad I came back and asked, only took me a year or two- wait you didn't know that did you? I mean, Rose, ROSE, saying something!"

She was laughing harder than she was even before, tears coming out of her eyes. There was no sound coming from her mouth, only a few gasps for air every now and then before she managed to control herself after a full agonizing minute for the Doctor. He stood there staring at her, worry in his new green eyes until she smiled at him. There was a certain mocking expression hidden beneath the smiled though and he began to wonder if it was bad. If she was laughing so hard because how could she love him anymore? He wasn't the same, different man, different-

"Of course I love you, you daft alien."

He stood there, shell shocked, as she made her way over and gently pressed a kiss on his lips. "I'm Doctor obsessed, Doctor addicted really."

"Mocking me, are we?" He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips again.

"It's fun in any regeneration."

"Of course," he kissed her again, longer this and with a little more tongue. Honestly though, if they continued any longer he may just have her right here. Kind of wanted to have her since she appeared in the control room, shag her right against the control panel. Ooh, but that would be bad wouldn't it? Shagging her in front of his best friend, best friends husband (who were also his mother and father in laws) and his wife. Oh god River.

"Doctor?" Rose snapped him out of his thoughts. "You've been staring into space for a few minutes there, not even listening to my story about bowties."

He ignore that, and grabbed her hand, mind somewhere else. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

"Rose please don't go, not yet, not so soon."

"Where am I going?"

"You're dying."