Thank you for reading and reviewing: Mishy-mo, Stormfirestar, Luna Lovegood5, ShrinkingVioletGirl, Smego Baggins, Hooty-McBoon, Literary Litany, LilacFree, and Ten Rules!

Sorry if the fic seems uninspired…it was a weird idea…

Disclaimer: Don't own a bloody thing. There, ya happy now!

Author's Note for Ten Rules: I'm a lowly American who hasn't gotten a chance to see David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor in action so sorry if I offended you by my obvious bias. I am "over it" as you so quaintly put it, and I thank you for your honesty. Please continue to read and review, I love comments of all kinds.

Cheers,

Pipkat

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Five Stages

Pipkat

They hadn't stopped for days.

Or weeks.

On Rigel 55 it would have been years.

Time was a tricky thing to keep track of in a T.A.R.D.I.S. Didn't matter though, not really. He was rearing to go, honestly, but sitting on a beach in the middle of what this lovely little planet with two suns call day, he was worried. About Rose. Ever since his regeneration she'd been off. Bad off. Things had been fine. They'd started not to just run across the galaxy, but dash, as if they were racing Time herself. Then he began counting off the five stages of grief in his head. He knew them so well. Too well, he could just imagine her saying…but she wouldn't. She was stretched out next to him, burning in the glare of the harsh rays before suns-set. She was sleeping like the dead…so he continued the loudest of a dozen rants in his head. There were so many…Denial, been there, done that, Anger, yes, although she wasn't nearly as angry as he wanted he to be, Bargaining, well not so much in words as in looks, she didn't want him to leave her, promised with her eyes, you know, that it would be okay. And it was. Oops, maybe that was his denial. Depression, not really, she was exactly the "sit-and-mope-type." Thank hair brushes. No, really you should. What else would comb your hair? It's weird having hair, that you can comb, and…where was he? Oh, yes; Acceptance. Maybe this was their last stage. Maybe this was it. Or maybe he was being a quixotic fool. Which wasn't unusual…Then something truly marvelous occurred. Rose doing an impeccable imitation of Sleeping Beauty woke up. Kiss free.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go home now?"

"We can go anywhere you want, Miss Tyler. I miss your mum's food. I'm hungry."

"Well, we can see her if you want, but I meant the T.A.R.D.I.S. But chips…chips sound good…"

"Perfect. I know of this little place a thousand years and a T.A.R.D.I.S hop away that…"

Yeah, they were going to be okay. (Five stages his sonic screwdriver. He'd heard better sense from a talking cat. Hey, it happens.) Because as the moon rose over the crests of a picturesque little purple sea, he wouldn't want to be anyone else.

Then again, David Tennant had been looking good lately…

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Please read and review for an anxious writer! Cyber Jamba Juice is yours for the taking…!