Chapter 1
I can't believe he's in front of me, right in front of me. I could touch him. Oh god! I should hug him. I'm just grinning like an idiot! Then again so is he.
"I've missed you. So much." He says. I've missed him too. More than he knows. Probably more than he should know. I hope I don't cry. I hope he doesn't cry. Of course he won't cry.
"I've missed you more." I say as I hit him lightly on the shoulder. Or at least I hope it was lightly, did I hit him too hard? Why am I so nervous? I'll just rub it a bit just in case. Oh was that weird. Look at his face. It was weird. Look at his face! He's so cute. I missed that face that mad grin of his.
"How did you? How! Oh, Rose!" He's hugging me again. God I've missed this. He has too, I think. Of course he did I'm brilliant! He's said so himself.
"Basically we've been building this, um, travel machine. This, uh, dimension cannon so I could, uh, so I—" He's grinning like an idiot. He is an idiot.
"What?" That grin is going to kill me.
"So I could come back." That face, I'm grinning just as big. Do we always do this? "Shut up." I say, I'm only kidding. He knows that. Of course he knows. He always knows. I can't wait to go to planets and galaxies and past, presents, and futures. I've waited so long. He probably didn't think I would make it. I knew I would. Of course I would, anything for him. I could hug him forever, and maybe, now, I will.
"You know you're brilliant. You're brilliant. She's brilliant." Oh great now he's "showing me off" to his friends. His friends…who are these people?
"Um, Doctor." I gesture to the strangers in front of me. He looks confused, as usual. For a big alien genius he's a bit thick. Oh look, he's getting it now. There it is.
"OH, right this is… Well, um, I don't actually remember any of their names at the moment. I was just passing through you see." He's rubbing his neck. Love that.
"Right, of course." I nod sarcastically. He frowns all goofy and I giggle. The strangers introduce themselves and thank my Doctor. We're just the same as before. Of course we are.
He's got my hand now. I've forgotten how great this felt, running hand in hand. I've forgotten how much I really missed this, missed him. I thought I knew but now, being here with him, I really feel it you know? It's kind of hitting me all at once and I think I might—oh god. I feel it, on my cheeks. Have I stopped running? I have. He's looking at me like I'm insane. Maybe I am. It's just that I've forgotten how much he meant. How much we meant. I didn't think you could ever love anything this much, but it's more than that. It's more than love somehow. It's more than anything.
"Rose? Are you alright?" Oh I've got him worried now. Smiling should help, so I smile.
"It's just, I've missed you, this, so much. I just—oh it's silly. Let's go! There's things to be doing, people to be saving, planets to be pronouncing wrong!" He's smiling now too, a bit sadly but it'll do. I'm just glad we're running again, hand in hand. Just like before. Just like always. Oh there it is. There's that big stupid box of ours. Ours? Is it ours? Of course it is the Tardis loves me. It looks just the same as it used to. I never like blue much. It's my favorite color now, of course. I can't wait to hear that sound. My favorite noise my favorite everything. I wonder where we'll go! Maybe back to New York (the 15th one)! Or maybe we'll go someplace we've never been. He promised me Barcelona after all, the planet Barcelona. We could go now. We have so much time, all of it to be exact. The Tardis looks just the same on the inside as well. I'm glad he didn't remodel it.
"Where to? We could go anywhere—" He says grinning at me from the console.
"In all of time and space. I know." I smirk. He's still grinning that proud grin.
"The Doctor and Rose in the Tardis, just as it should be." He murmured under a fierce grin.
"So, Rose Tyler, where would you like to go?" I laugh.
"You promised me Barcelona. Get to it before I get dropped in another universe please." He frowns then, a fake one of course. I watch as he whips around the console pulling levers and smashing down on buttons. Sometimes I think he pushes half of them just to show off. Scratch that, I know he does. I love that. It feels like he's putting on a fantastic show just for me. I guess he is. He better watch it, one of these days he'll trip or get dizzy and faint. Oh I can't wait for that day. I guess I'll have to make sure to stick around this time.
"You think you're so impressive." I grin. His face is priceless. It always is.
"I am impressive." He pouts as he yanks down on that last lever. That sound rips through my eardrums and I love it all. We're ripping around through time and space and dimension and all that, holding on for dear life, laughter, and adventure. We're gripping the rails and grinning like crazy. If someone didn't know any better, which they rarely do, they'd take us for complete loons. Maybe we are, I don't mind either way. We hit the ground cackling away and you'd think it would hurt like hell but we love it. We always have. It's like I never left and maybe I didn't, not really. I run to those lovely doors and he hops in front of me arms crossed and face that could melt a puppy. I laugh and he smirks a bit. He opens those doors and my jaw practically falls off my face.
Barcelona is a sight to see. It's got rolling hills covered in these flowers of all different shades of all manner of colors. Light browns, gold, oranges, beautiful pastel blues. The grass is the wheat like stuff springing up everywhere and oh, "I love it." I whisper out of my thoughts. He smiles. The trees twist out of the ground in a golden brown expanse of roots and branches reaching up to the sky the color of the flowers and the grass all blended into one. The leaves on the trees are bright fuchsia sprinkled with those light brown ones. I expected nothing less it's perfect.
"Where are the dogs," I grin, "The ones with no noses." He laughs, surprised I remembered. Of course I did.
"In the city, it's called Catalonia. It's beautiful you'll love it. Plus, the shopping's better than London." I giggle and roll my eyes as he takes my hand and walk towards Catalonia. He rattles of the history of the planet and city as usual and I'm at home again.
The city is huge and very impressive. The large white skyscrapers stretch farther than any eye could see. They stand there, modern and retro, with millions of Catalonians roaming the streets. We have a great view from the hill we're standing on. It reminds me of New New New New New New New New New York.
"Is there apple grass?" I ask, unable to wipe the enormous grin off my face. He laughs. "Actually, it's cinnamon." I roll my eyes. "No really, smell." He holds up a blade of the wheat grass up to my nose and I sniff. Sure enough it smells like cinnamon. I sit there and gawk at him in disbelief. What is with all the scratch and sniff grass planets? I love them, though, who wouldn't? We sit there, buried beneath the tall flowers, and immerse ourselves in each other. It turns out we had a lot of catching up to do.
"…And mum thought it would be a great idea to throw him in and he about had a heart attack! Dad—Pete, was hysterical but mum's face oh god. You should have been there!" I finished telling him one of the many stories from back in Pete's World and for most of it he was laughing with me, but I think that last bit got him. His face pulled into a frown, all serious business as usual, and this time he wasn't goofing around.
"Rose, I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have left you there—" I rolled my eyes and lay back and drift into the cloudy sky.
"Doctor it wasn't' something you could contr—" He kept on frowning that big serious frown.
"I should have looked harder, tried harder, it's just I think, maybe, it seems I don't care that much, to have you around I mean, but I do so much. That's it really, I care so much about you and I don't know what I—Its just you're better without me. You're safer and better without me and that's why I didn't come. I couldn't come. I just wanted you to know that there's absolutely no one in all of time and space I would rather—I should have been there. I should have been in those stories." He's being ridiculous, well maybe not. I remember feeling this way when he left. Especially when we, humans, finished the dimension canon. I couldn't believe we finished and that it would work. I was so, obviously, excited, but in the back of my mind I thought about it. He should have been able to; he definitely would have been able to make something like this and much quicker. I always wondered if he was trying. I was sure he was looking for a way to come back to me, but either way I didn't care I was going back; the Doctor and Rose in the Tardis, whether he liked it or not. I guess he wasn't trying after all. At least I know why. He thought by having me around he was hurting me. I understand, I suppose. The Doctor has never, and never will be, more wrong. He saved me; I would be stuck in that Hennrick's department store for the rest of my days if it weren't for him. Doesn't he see that? Doesn't he see how much he's given me? How better off I am now. He has shown and taught me things most people couldn't fathom. He's given me life, or at least a life worth living. He thinks he's putting us in danger, that we, his companions, don't understand what we are getting into. But we do. Of course we do.
"I wouldn't change any of it for the world. I would rather die on some fantastic adventure on another planet 10 light-years away, about 30 billion years in the future, than not be going on any adventures at all, than staying at home or going to some pointless job just because it's a bit safer. I would rather live than die not knowing, not feeling, and not seeing. I would rather be with you than safe. That scares you or worries you I suppose, but it's all worth it. You and what you give to us second-class citizens you hold so highly is worth so much more than the safety of a domestic little life. Not that I wouldn't want one, just in case you were wondering…" His face was still a bit glum but I saw the tiny smile pulling at his lips. I grinned, so did he and we were off to have an adventure in Barcelona, to cause trouble no doubt. This was it. This was living. This was what I longed for all those years. I loved it.