A/N The Beeb owns it, I own the plot and very little else.
It was barely a year after the events of that summer that Joan Redfern saw the man known as the Doctor again.
She had been idly wandering through the market of the village where she had spent a pleasant morning visiting with an old school friend. The day was bright and she felt like she hadn't a care in the world.
It was as she haggled with a stall holder over the price of a particularly pretty hair comb that she spied him running through the crowds of the market place closely followed by a young woman with long blond hair.
Her haggling forgotten for the moment, she absently reached into her bag, handed the stall holder some money and picking up her skirts she followed him using the crowds and the various market stores to keep out of sight.
It wasn't long before she saw them steal into an alleyway off of the main street. She paused and considered for a moment if she actually wanted to do this, to see him as he was now. It was a momentary pause but curiosity getting the better of her she made her way to the entrance of the alley. Her heart was pounding and her head was spinning slightly, she put her hand to her breast and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Steeling herself and using the wall to conceal her body she slowly edged her head round to corner of the building to peer down the alleyway.
The first thing she saw was a strange blue box, the next thing she saw was the Doctor and his companion leaning against the box obviously trying to catch their breath. There was a momentary silence as the blond woman leaned up off of the box and took a few steps away from the Doctor. She saw the Doctor's gaze follow her and a small smile form on his face as he watched her.
There was a moment of absolute stillness, just a moment, before she saw the Doctor launch himself at the young woman. There was a small yelp of surprise then laughter as he gathered her in his arms and swept her off of her feet, her skirts twirling as he spun her round and round. Their laughter echoed off of the walls of the alley and Joan's heart ached just a little at the picture of joy they presented.
It was then that she heard him speak for the first time, his voice increasing the ache in her breast.
"Rose, that was brilliant, inspired, fantastic, how'd you come up with it?"
Rose, that name, why was that name so familiar to her. It was a moment before it came to her, his journal, the Journal of Impossible Things and the dreams of a young girl with hardly any clothing. She remembered the blush on his as he had stammered over the description of those particular dreams to her.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, she watched as he placed Rose back on her feet and pulled back from her slightly so he could face her. His hands coming to rest on her shoulders and hers slipping down his body until they stopped just above his hips. The familiarity of their touch shocking her sensibilities slightly.
The watched as the answer to the Doctors query came, "Well, learn from the best don't I" his face seem to visibly light up at that comment and then briefly fall at the next "Yeah, Mickey was always good at that sort of thing". There was a momentary pause and an entire conversation seemingly passed between the two in an instant and Rose smiled at him.
She then watched as something quite amazing happened, it was as if the sun had come out after a storm on a rainy day, shining in all it's glory for all to see and it all happened in the expression of his face and in the light of his eyes. All this for a smile from her, it was a rather odd sort of smile, all teeth and her tongue caught between them. If it had been from one of the boys she nursed, she would have called it cheeky. On her, however, it was something altogether different.
The thought occurred, he had never smiled like that for her.
She had seen enough, she pushed away from the wall and wandered back towards the crowds of the market place, the ache in her chest that she had thought long gone back with a vengeance.
She should never had followed them.