Summary: Rose lives on after Doomsday, after losing the Doctor, and after losing a part of herself. Becoming a new person, it only takes one simple obeject to remind her of who she was and of who he was.

Disclaimer: I Don't own Doctor Who


Familiarity

Dressed in a black suit Rose Tyler sat behind a dark mahogany desk. Her red shirt matched her nail vanish and lip stick, her blonde curls had been pulled off her face so her deep cheekbones could be seen. She was sitting in a large office behind a desk that was littered with paper. Beside her huge glass windows revealed a view over the entire city; Rose swallowed and gazed out the window as she emptily hit buttons on her computer. In front of her sat a beige file, its was marked with various stains, some coffee and some chocolate, but Rose didn't care – it was a file she always clung onto.

In front of her sat a bowl of bananas, it was a gift from a foreign ambassador – they had become rare since the banana famine of 2010, every single banana was wiped out by a fast spreading disease – almost every banana. The ones in the ambassador's private chambers hadn't been harmed – and yesterday he bestowed them upon Rose. Rose ran her fingers along the thick yellow skin and let a faint smile pass over her lips as she remembered the Doctor… the Doctor and his bananas. So many years had passed since she'd last seen him, since that final day on the beach… since their doomsday.

Rose shivered as she remembered the emotions of that day, the raw despair and love that had torn at her soul – she knew she could never love another man like how she had loved the Doctor. She smiled as she being young and carefree, the days she could run around alien planets with the love of her life not caring for the consequences that would follow. These days consequences were all that happened, they were all she dealt with. Consequences of alien wars, she'd slowly worked her way up Torchwood with her knowledge and understanding of aliens – but there was one file she could never let them see… one alien she couldn't share her knowledge on.

She slowly opened the folder which was overflowing with paper and information… useless information. They were searching for the Doctor…so was she – but she knew he could never be found – not again. Before her were photos, ten faded photos of her Doctor with each face he had worn. Her finger ran over the first black and white drawing of an old man with grey hair hanging limply from his head – Rose knew this was her Doctor despite his face, for looks could never lie. She saw his intelligence in his eyes and knew it was him. Her finger moved over to the next page, a crisp white page held the photo of the Doctor, his dark hair hugged his forehead and a bowtie was fixed to his neck, she smiled as she remembered him and the wardrobe – if she'd looked she'd looked she could have found all of his outfits…every item of clothing that had been lucky enough to touch him. The third page was a faded black and white photograph; he now had crisp white hair and a look of intelligence about him. Rose smiled as she thought of his intelligence…of his powerful mind. As she flicked through familiar pages she felt familiar feeling fill her soul… a lustful longing. The forth photograph showed him with wild curly hair and a stripy scarf wrapped around his neck, Rose remembered the scarf… it was the one he had tied around her neck and Christmas… to fight the frost. In the next photo he wore mistletoe on his lapel, he looked younger and smarter – he was defining himself. Rose's fingers moved onto the sixth photo, he now had wild hair again and a colourful jacket… it continued every colour under the sun – just as his smile does…did. Next he wore a white bowler hat and had thick dark eyebrows, she smiled to herself as she moved to the next page – an American tabloid showed a photo of him with longer hair, dressed in a hospital gown. Rose shook her head at him and felt her lip quiver as she came to the ninth photo of the Doctor – this was her Doctor. She ran her fingers over the photo imagining she was touching his soft skin again, she could smell his leather jacket, even his ears defined him. She quickly turned the page as she felt her eyes well up again; the last photo was the Doctor she loved. He held the Olympic torch, his eyes lit up with all the love for the world; she smiled as she remembered his quirky grin and his deep brown eyes – all things she would never see again.

She closed the folder and looked at the bold words on the front 'Classified'. Only authorised personnel were allowed to see this file, and as far as Rose was concerned no one could. She knew that she could answer every question that hung over the file and his legend – but she never would. She could never betray his secret… betray her heart. Rose gently lifted the folder and dropped it into a draw as she thought of the best two years of her life.

'Ms Tyler?' a young voice called from the doorway. Rose continued to stare out the window as in her hand her fingers gently fingered the key to the Tardis that hung around her neck, a key that would fit a lock she could never find again.

'Ms Tyler?' the voice called out louder. Rose broke her thoughts and turned to look at the nervous young boys' face, she dropped the key back around her neck and let it fall into the folds of her clothing disappearing back into the darkness… she knew she had to let her memories do the same, but she wasn't ready – not yet.

'Yes?' she asked softly.

'Erm, Ms Tyler, Sir Newton is on line one for you' he told her. Rose smiled and nodded as she returned to life, to reality that she couldn't accept but had to deal with day in and day out. Only occasionally did she let her thoughts wander to the Doctor, and when they did she finally felt true to herself, she finally felt at home. Rose looked up to the boy and smiled

'Top Banana' she murmured as she turned to the phone. As Rose answered the phone she returned to life… but not to living, for living was with the Doctor; in her mind, in her memories, in her heart and in her dreams. Living was with him.