The Doctor stared at her, couldn't help staring when there she stood, his pink and yellow girl. Except she wasn't just her anymore, she was the Bad Wolf too, a piece of the time vortex swirling inside what looked like human skin, created to save him, to protect him. He tried not to fidget, not to fix his now grey hair, or duck his head to sort of hide his eyebrows, but the way she was staring at him, seeing everything even the things he wished he could hide, made it impossible for him to do much of anything. He was so afraid of how she would react for so many reasons; he remembered how Clara had reacted, not that long ago, and he remembered too how Rose herself had reacted when she'd first seen him regenerate. She'd been so unsure, looked so – heartbroken and disappointed and he'd been sure that she very nearly chose to leave him. Of course she hadn't – but hadn't he been handsome then? Young and attractive and full of laughter and energy. He was older now, in age and appearance, and he was terrified that she wouldn't like it.
Finally she came closer, and despite his fear, she laughed, a big, wide, familiar smile on her face as she reached out to cup his cheek.
"Finally stopped hiding behind the face of a babe I see." she said softly, adoringly, just as she'd always spoken to him. As if she'd sensed each and every one of his insecurities, and he was beginning to wonder if just maybe she had. She kissed his other cheek and then leaned back, same smile on her face as she took his hand before leading him back to the Tardis. "Come on, then. Not much use standing around here, are we?" he shook his head, returning her smile and following her onto the Tardis.
"Where should we go?" he asked her, and there was the Scottish twang that he was still so unused to, and yet it made her grin wider.
"Scottish again, are we?" her grin grew impossibly wider. "I like it." then she moved to stand beside him at the console, hand covering his again and guiding it forward.
"Let's just see where she takes us."
The Doctor nodded, and finally he laughed, hands moving deftly over the switches from centuries of practice. This was how it should be, the Doctor and Rose in the Tardis, travelling the universe, and this is how it would always be.