A/N: This was (unconsciously, I think!) prompted by my friend Bria. She gave me the idea to write out a fic that involves four Doctors, and because of that, this is my Christmas gift to her. Thank you for being the lovely person that you are. ^_^
It's Christmas Eve. He landed back on Earth on a whim. He just felt like it, so he picked out a random date and guess what, of all days, today is Christmas Eve.
He doesn't care for human celebrations, not really, although to be fair, they are kind of cool. And kind of endearing. Tiny little beings celebrating their tiny little holidays on this tiny little planet. They will spread across the stars, humans. There'll be whole planets dedicated to Christmas, and also a way to sleep through an entire year so that your whole life can be made up of only Christmases without any breaks in between. But not yet, not now. This is still early on in Earth's timeline. This is before he met Martha and Donna and Amy and even...
And even Rose.
2004.
The Doctor likes the Earth. That's why he keeps coming back, even when he is alone.
Amy and Rory, they are starting to have a life of their own. He knows this. See, that's the problem with even having companions in the first place. They brighten up your life for a while, right? And then, just like that, snap your fingers and poof, they're off to do... Well, whatever it is that they do when they're on their own. Play cricket? Go on Twitter? Do dating and skating? Yeah, that kind of stuff. Stuff. Good word. He likes it.
There was a time, a very brief time in his life, when he thought that he might end up doing all those things too. He thought that maybe, just maybe, just this once he won't be forgotten or left behind, that maybe he will find a piece of forever, even though that forever was still so very short.
There was a time when he had it all, because he had Rose Tyler.
His hearts plummet at the mere memory of the one woman who turned his whole world around. What is he saying? She didn't just turn it around, she threw it entirely out of orbit, and then, just like that, it was orbiting around her. Blonde hair, brown eyes, kind and brave and cheeky and just... Just Rose.
She liked Christmas, his Rose.
He steps out of the TARDIS, surprised to find that it's snowing. Even more surprised to see that he landed on the Powell Estate. Seeing her old building - he can't stop it, not anymore. Memories flood his mind, fill his hearts with a bitter sense of warmth, regret, loss and love.
He remembers. He remembers the Christmases he spent with Rose Tyler.
~oOo~
NINE
~oOo~
"I am going home for Christmas, Doctor, whether you like it or not!" Rose shouts, glaring at him angrily. He briefly wonders if she will throw that plate she is holding, as in, throw it at him, but she doesn't. She puts the thing down, eventually.
"Oh, are you now? What you fail to understand is that I own a time machine!" he retorts, "A time machine. That can travel through time. Rings a bell, does it? It can be Christmas any day of the week, Rose! Why do we have to go today, what's it matter to you?"
He doesn't mean to raise his voice, but it happens anyway. She gets on his nerves sometimes. And when she does he just wants to pull her in and silence those angry remarks of hers with the snog of his lifetime.
But he doesn't. Rassilon, of course he doesn't. What the hell is he thinking of?
"Mum's rang me, yeah? It's Christmas for her, right now. So we're goin'! You don't have to stay. I know you don't like her. You can just, I dunno, go sulk in a pub or something."
"Sulk? I do not sulk, Rose."
She smirks and shakes her head very briefly; still long enough for him to notice, but then she schools her features quickly and goes right back to her frown. She marches towards her room and he follows her without question.
"What're you doing, then?" he asks, watching as she rummages through the mess she's left on the floor. Clothes, bags, books, a teddy bear...
"Lookin' for the present I got for mum. I told you, I'm going."
"Not unless I take you," he scoffs. Why is it such a big deal? Why does she want to go home so badly? He offered to take her to many fantastic places. Why do they have to go home?
She freezes, looks up from the floor, stands up and takes a step towards him and then another and then one more until she is right in front of him, mere inches away. He sees the anger in her eyes, but his body seems unable to respond to it in the same manner. There are sparks of electricity in the air. He finds himself... Somehow drawn to her.
And that is not good. He is a Time Lord, the very last of them; she is his young, infuriating companion. And through all his battle scars and all the painful memories etched across his hearts, he certainly doesn't need an even bigger scar in the form of losing someone he lo-...
Attachment always leads to loss. Loss leads to even more pain.
He doesn't think he could bear it, so he will never say the words.
The feeling persistently remains, irrational and wrong as it may be. He takes two steps back until he hits the wall, but she follows him and he is trapped.
"Unless you take me? What's this, then? Are you going to lock me up in this-this box forever just 'cos I want to visit my mum?"
"Maybe," he says without thinking, and for some reason, she falls speechless.
Her eyes darken and briefly flutter down to his lips. He knows that his are doing the same thing, but he won't admit to it. This is not a situation he should ever have found himself in, trapped between Rose Tyler and the wall. Not only literally, but also figuratively speaking. He wondered sometimes if there was still a way back from all this. There wasn't, was there?
He looks into her eyes as her gaze travels back up to meet his; icy blue meeting warm brown, and he is fighting a war against his own conscience, just like he's done so many times before. He wants to reverse the roles, pin her to the wall and-
No. There wasn't a way back. But there also didn't have to be a way forward.
He maneuvers his way out before she can even blink and makes his way towards the middle of the room. He tries to appear casual, but he is also well aware of the thunder hidden within his eyes.
He's still mad. At her, at himself. At her for always wanting to go visit home. Why isn't he sufficient? Is he not good enough for her to stay with him? She will leave him, he bets that she will. They always leave, he always ends up alone.
His throat clenches. He doesn't want her to leave. Not even for a second.
And that's probably why he is mad at himself. He's let this whole thing spiral out of control, he did, and he didn't know how to fix it. He didn't know how to fix it! He, the Doctor! Fantastic mind, Time Lord, superior genes and all!
To hell with his superior genes. How could he even attempt to fix it with her constantly around? He is stuck.
She turns around to face him again, confused and seemingly dazed, but doesn't follow him. She places her hands on her hips and says,
"Why is it such a big deal? I mean, we've gone back to Mum's before, yeah? You don't have to stay, I told you. I'll just be a couple of hours."
"I invited you to travel with me, not waste time back on Earth."
"We've still gone back, though. Go on, spill it, what is it?"
He can hear the concern in her voice, but he is cautious now. He won't look her in the eyes, not with his mind in such an inappropriate turmoil. No, definitely not.
"You have a family," he states without clarifying.
"I've got my mum, yeah. And she deserves getting to spend Christmas with me."
"Why does it have to be today?"
"Why on earth not?" she snaps, "You're just tryin' to delay it, but I warn you, it's not going to work, Doctor."
"Trying to delay it! Trying to delay it!" he scoffs, "Yes, I am! I know you lot, you humans, you social creatures! We're goin' to spend an eternity in there, eating your mother's terrible food and listening to her prattle on about nothing - and that's literally nothing, Rose, your mother has a way with words, doesn't she? Talks a lot, says not a thing. Anyway, yes, I don't want to go because I know you. I don't want to waste a whole evening on domestics back on Earth, now do I?"
"Oi! That's my mum you're talking about! 'sides, I said you don't have to go. Just drop me off and pick me up in a few hours, yeah?" Rose suggests in a calmer tone, but he doesn't agree.
"Wouldn't wanna be rude," he says nonchalantly, still not looking at her.
"You wouldn't wanna be rude? Since when do you care about being rude?" she laughs and the sound of her laughter soothes him. Disarms him. Makes him want to hear it again. It shouldn't, but it still does.
"Alright, so maybe I just know what Christmas does to your pathetic little species! You lot, you get sentimental. You're going to stay there, I know it! You'll just up and leave, and I'll be back on the TARDIS. On my own."
He wasn't planning on saying it, and she certainly didn't expect to hear it. He's never shared his concerns with her before, not like that. Never directly implied that he doesn't want her to leave, not in such a situation.
A smile sprawls across her face, as if she understood the reasoning behind his behavior even before he did. She walks over to him, again, and he fights himself not to flinch away from her touch as she grabs his hand.
"What is it that you always say? That Time Lords were a superior species, yeah?"
He nods.
"Well, for such a superior alien, you are pretty daft, Doctor," she teases.
He frowns, scanning her face intently. She speaks in jest, but what is she trying to say?
"I've had a life back on Earth for nineteen years. And then you waltzed right in, you blew up my job, you took me away on this-this mad adventure. And I liked it," she whispers. His hearts skip a beat. "I'm stayin' with you, honest. You're really quite stuck. I just don't want mum to be alone on Christmas. No one ever should be. Not me, not her, not you."
He gives in and looks into her eyes. He isn't too good at reading people, not those he is close with, not Rose. But in her eyes he finds no regret, no unhappiness, only joy and a hint of something he can't quite name, and he realizes he'd been a fool. She wouldn't leave him, not Rose. She would stay.
His walls melt away for a moment that is long enough to allow him to spread his arms out and hold her. She relaxes into his embrace, hands on his chest, a small smile playing on her face. He knows she is smiling; he doesn't have to look.
He closes his eyes and soaks up the warmth that is pouring into his hearts. Christmas with Rose Tyler. He could do that. He definitely could.
And so, he does.
And they visit Jackie, and he tries to pretend he likes the food but gives up on the notion about thirty seconds in, and he is ranting and complaining and both the Tyler women are laughing at him constantly, and he secretly enjoys it, especially when Rose grabs his hand under the table as they all sit down and watch the telly while drinking some spiked egg nogg. She gives him a small smile and mouths a thank you. She didn't expect him to come around, yet he did, and he was glad for it.
He smiles and squeezes her hand. He doesn't say thank you, it's not enough to convey his feelings at the time.
And as they walk home late at night, both slightly tipsy, Rose more so than him, he shelters her from the rain (nope, no snow this year. Surprise!) with the use of his leather jacket, and that's when the realization hits him again.
No, there is no way back.
And that's... Perfectly alright. Yup. Somehow, that's just alright.
He bursts into laughter at the memory of Rose being all defiant and putting her foot down. Oh, she did that a lot, didn't she? She's never given him an easy time. He always used to try and pretend that he hated it, but obviously, he did not. He loved everything about her.
Loves everything about her. See, he regenerated twice since he met her. Once out of love for her. Once with her on his mind, into this body, this giddy young man with an old soul. He can admit to his feelings for her, of course he can, to himself if nobody else. On a good day.
To Amy and Rory, she was just an old friend. But Donna knew, and Martha knew, and Jack, and Mickey.
And the Doctor knew too.
He walks around the estate, half-hoping, half-scared of seeing her, and memories flood his mind once more. The next time he spent Christmas with Rose, they all stayed for dinner at Jackie's. He had just regenerated and they both had to get used to each other. Well, Rose had to get used to him, more like. But his old body was given more than just one Christmas with Rose.
And that time around, it was only with her.
~oOo~
TEN
~oOo~
"Rose! ROOOOOSE! This-this thing, it-it just doesn't look right! ROSE!"
He stares at the oven, or more specifically, at their roast turkey. For Christmas. And no, it doesn't look right, in fact, it looks quite, err, burnt. But he may be wrong. He is no expert cook. Although, to be fair, he is an expert at pretty much everything, Time Lord, superior brains and all. Yup. But no, this turkey just doesn't look right and he needs Rose to come and take a look.
Or he just needs Rose to come and smile at him and send his hearts on a merry race around the globe. That too.
This year, he managed to talk her into celebrating Christmas twice. Once with him, on the TARDIS, and then with Jackie the next day. She agreed, her only condition being that he makes sure to land them on the 25th of December and not three hundred years into the future, and he told her that it would never ever happen because he knows the TARDIS like the back of his own hand, and Rose just shook her head and laughed as if she didn't believe him.
He'll just have to be very careful. Can't prove her right, now can he?
Either way, yes, they wanted a full-blown Christmas on the TARDIS, and that includes a roast turkey, and preparing a roast turkey, apparently includes a lot of work and waiting and-
Rose bursts into the kitchen, panting, with a long, shiny, purple tinsel wrapped around her neck and her hair in a rather lovely mess. He immediately brightens, forgetting about the turkey, Christmas and global warming back on Earth (he had been giving it some thought lately. He ought to fix it, these poor little humans won't manage for another few hundred years) and admiring the way she looks in her oddly disheveled state. She was dressing the tree and she left him in the kitchen to watch over the turkey even though he wanted to join her, and leaving him like that was just cruel, very, very cruel.
"Doctor? What's goin' on? I'm tryin' to dress the tree, y'know."
"Right, yes, the-the turkey, it's a little, weeell, odd. Take a look," he suggests, moving aside and allowing her to peek inside the oven. She gasps as she does so and opens it up immediately, pulling out a very, very burnt turkey.
Oops.
"How's that even possible?!" she exclaims in utter despair. They may have already tried to roast two turkeys prior to this, but they still have nothing to show for it. It's just, you know, bad luck. Nothing else! Absolutely not lack of cooking skills or anything of the sort. Obviously not.
"I'm not sure, it just sort of, weeell, became that way? I, uh, I really don't know. It must be an evil turkey, Rose! We shouldn't have touched it, I told you. It's not safe!"
He rubs the back of his head as his eyes drift up to the ceiling. He hopes that she won't ask, but he knows her too well, so he is not surprised when, just two seconds later, she says:
"I've only been gone for like what, ten minutes? Doctor, admit it. You've been tinkering with it!" she accuses, looking straight at him with her lips slightly parted and oh, is he distracted, because he wants to kiss her, he wants to kiss Rose, and he'd prefer to do it right now.
Wait, no. He doesn't want to kiss her.
Alright, he does, but he knows that he shouldn't. It's the same old conversation, day after day! Doctor, Rose, no kissing! Nope! No kissing whatsoever. Not in a million years.
"Doctor?" She pulls him back to reality as a loose strand of her lovely, blonde hair finds its way into her eye. He almost reaches out to brush it away - almost - but she beats him to it and the thought escapes him.
"Yes?" he asks, dazed from looking at her, longing for her and struggling to hide it.
"I said, you've been tinkering with the oven! Right? Go on, admit it!"
Uh oh. He tugs on his ear nervously and ponders his options. Superior Time Lord brain, takes him what, two seconds! Very handy, that brain of his.
"What! No! Why would I?!"
"You tell me," she demands, looking very, very cross indeed.
"I..." he begins defensively, but then sighs and gives in. "Alright, alright, fine. I tinkered with it! It was very slow, extremely, slower than a seven hundred year old snail. Yes, those exist, they do! So yes, it was too slow. And I wanted to go with you. To, err, to dress the tree. Not sit here with the turkey. That's very boring, Rose!"
Her expression softens at his admission and she says, "Then why didn't you just say so? You daft thing."
She steps closer to him and he finds himself drowning in her eyes, his body itching to feel her skin against his, all the while knowing that it should never happen. Oh, he's been fighting this war for a long while now. And he can't give in. He wants to, but he can't do it.
Too much to lose, too little to offer. Rose is human, he is a Time Lord, and it's just-
Oh. She lays her hand on his cheek, cupping his face in a delicate gesture, stroking it very softly for two and a half seconds before she lets go, leaving him with an acute sense of emptiness.
He doesn't want her to let go.
He shocks them both by swiftly grabbing her wrist, keeping it close to his face, almost touching it. Her eyes are filled with questions; his are filled with the answers that she's looking for, all the answers that he can never give.
So close to giving in, but he can't. He mustn't. Rose is... Rose is the first breath of fresh air in the morning, the last glance at starlight in the night, the feeling of excitement and a shadow of regret. She is everything his hearts yearn for and everything they must never have.
Doesn't mean he doesn't want to kiss her, though.
She bites down on her lip as she looks at him and that, that is his cue to go. He lets go as if her skin was made of burning iron and turns away, going right back to tugging on his ear awkwardly.
"Right! So, turkey, ruined. How about we just focus on the tree, eh? I like Christmas trees! Did you know that there is a whole planet dedicated to breeding them? I bet you didn't know that, did you?" he rattles on about nothing, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She looks as if she is trying to regain her composure. Eventually, her attempts evidently become successful because when she speaks, it's in her usual voice, even if tinted with bitterness.
"D'you know what? Let's do that. We'll have some turkey tomorrow at Mum's. And when we're done with the tree..." she trails off and walks out of the kitchen, then peeks back in to make sure he's following her, "Chips. On you. You ruined the turkey, Doctor. Three times."
He grins widely and is met by her brilliant smile, that smile that always makes his world spin, and he briefly thinks that he didn't just ruin the turkey, he ruined a perfectly good chance to kiss her and tell her and be with her and-
She disappears down the corridor; he rushes after her.
He ruined one chance, but there might be more of them. If he'd ever... If he'd ever find the courage.
No matter what, Rose is the one person he will never allow himself to lose.
His shoulders slump with a sigh. Not long after that Christmas, he lost her back at Torchwood and many days of acute suffering and one regeneration later, he has never been the same again.
He lost his home. He lost the woman he loved. He lost his friends, one after one, all gone.
Surely he can afford to give himself a small treat. A Christmas present, if you will.
He jumps back into the TARDIS and moves the ship, staying on the same timeline, in the same city. He parks it just around the corner from Henrik's.
This is where he first met Rose.
Run, the words echo in his head as his hearts clench. She might be here, his Rose, and just this once, he is going to take that chance.
He walks past all of them - happy people, loud people, noisy, giddy humans, undoubtedly excited about their new stocking or pie or whatever it is that their lot finds interest in, he isn't sure; he squeezes past them and walks inside the store. It's buzzing with the sound of conversation, footsteps and happiness, and the Doctor has never felt so alone, not until his eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar shade of blonde.
Rose.
It is her, he knows that even before she turns around to face him, and when she does, he completely stops breathing. She is carrying a huge pile of clothes that almost covers her face, and on instinct, he runs towards her to assist her.
"Hello! I'm the-" he cuts off, "The... Err... Helper person! Here to help. Can I? I like helping, you see, helping is very, well, helpful."
She looks at him with a smirk. "Helper person, eh? Is that some new trick to steal our clothes? 'cos if it is, it's not workin'," she says as she walks past him, headed for some clothes rack in the opposite section of the store.
"No! No. I just miss you," he blurts out hurriedly as he watches her leave. She freezes in her steps, looks at him with a frown, and that's when he realizes what he's just said.
"You what? Mate, sod off or I'm calling the security."
"I meant to say that I miss helping you! You and all other workers of this gorgeous company, that's right. Sooo... Can I?"
She scoffs and smiles mischievously, piercing his hearts with that last final arrow. His Rose. Right there, his Rose, and she doesn't even know him.
And he can't change the past. Can't just steal her into the TARDIS now. It doesn't work that way.
He wishes that it did. Oh, does he wish he could change the past.
"Tell you what, go do us a favor, will you?"
"'Course! Favor, I like doing favors. Don't mind if I do. If you, if you need it, that is. But even if you don't, I can. I-"
"Alright, then. Go and tell Gemma from the jewelry section that I'm gonna be late for our lunch. I gotta finish this."
Her smile never wavers, and although he senses that she may be trying to get rid of him, he chooses to comply. The least he can do for her is help her out - ease her day, if only by a bit.
Reluctantly, he watches her disappear into the crowd. He then gets lost in the store for thirty minutes, spends another twenty listening to a retail worker called Martin whose girlfriend just rejected his proposal, and another fifteen trying to help a little girl called Sophie find her mum and dad. When all that is done, he finally locates Gemma, and after a short chat, it's clear that she and Rose were definitely not meant to have lunch that day, not to mention that it was now way past lunchtime. Right. Human customs, he never paid them much mind.
"Oh, don't worry. She does that. She's a fine bird, our Rose, and blokes bug her sometimes. You know how it is."
"Certainly. Yes, blokes and birds, of course." He tries in vain to hide his disappointment as he looks around this section of the store. His eyes flicker from one piece of jewelry to another, up until they stop at a simple silver necklace. Delicate chain, oval shaped locket with a butterfly carved on the top of it. It was quite lovely, something Rose really would have liked.
"What you lookin' at, mate? Oh, that," Gemma says, following his gaze, "Rose's in love with that silly old thing, but it costs like half her monthly check. Poor girl, wish they'd give 'er a discount or summat."
He looks at it and nods absentmindedly, not in the least surprised with how well he knew and remembered Rose. Her memory was etched across his hearts, never to fade from them, even if the life she now led did not involve him.
But oh, it did. Rose's future was also his future. The Doctor, the metacrisis, the man who had it all...
There was still a weak link between him and the metacrisis that lasted throughout the universes. Not much, but something.
Burning with both regret and happiness, the Doctor zones out and thinks about how his other self might have spent this year's Christmas with Rose...
~oOo~
THE HALF-HUMAN DOCTOR
~oOo~
The Doctor is standing on the balcony, looking at the stars in silence. They were a bit different in this universe, the stars and planets and galaxies. Some were long gone, some shone brighter than they did back in their old home universe, some had a different shape, different history...
Small changes, but still some. Same as himself. Some changes, not many, but more and more with each passing day as he adapts to this new life, the slow path of a half-human. The mornings spent at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, the kisses that always start their day, sometimes, err, sometimes more than just kisses. Quite often, actually. It's a lucky thing that he kept his magnificent Time Lord brain when he went through the metacrisis, because for all the times he's been late to work, most humans would have probably gotten laid off. He, on the other hand, just got promoted three weeks ago, his third promotion since this version of him was created.
He looks at the stars and thinks of the other Doctor, the Time Lord, who gave up his everything just to give them this. A life, a future, the stars. The TARDIS that he had grown from the coral piece served them well. But now, now they have to stay back here for a while. Just for a short while. Not too long.
He thinks of that man and he feels thankful - thankful for his sacrifice, thankful for this, thankful for Rose. He can feel him in the back of his mind sometimes. The man changed his body, changed his face, but deep down, they were still the same person. They always would be.
It's Christmas and they are at Pete's and Jackie's, and as much as Doctor John Noble enjoys the company of his in-laws, a strange feeling of nostalgia creeps into his mind and it keeps him here, on this balcony, to reminisce.
He thinks of the past. The day they first landed in Pete's World. The kiss, the confession. The days of settling in that followed. The first time Rose said I love you, with tears in her eyes, when he wondered if it wouldn't be better if he left because she'd been so distant ever since Bad Wolf Bay.
It's just... It's just, my heart, it breaks for him, y'know? I worry about him, Doctor.
He has Donna, Rose. And that's just how it is, we-no, he-he ends up alone. Always. He will live on. As will we.
That was the first time he said we in that context, and that was when she first said I love you, the first time since he was born. And it all went rather fast from there. Their kisses grew heated and their nights grew much longer and he gave in and got himself a driver's license and when he did, he took her to some obscure restaurant at the outskirts of London because that's what humans do and he cupped her cheek as he said,
Rose Tyler, I've always wanted forever. Give me that? Forever?
And when he opened the blue box and revealed a silver ring adorned by little sapphires she gasped, jumped out of her chair and into his lap and snogged him senseless until he barely remembered what it even was that he had just asked her.
And then she pulled away, both hands on his cheeks, and said,
What d'you think, you daft alien? Of course I will. Forever.
And three months later, they were married.
That was two years ago. The TARDIS was now fully functional and he slowly settled into this odd way of life. It wasn't always easy, but in the end, he's got the one thing he needed, he has his Rose and that's, that's more than-
"Doctor? What're you doing here? Blimey, it's freezing!" Rose exclaims as she pulls him out of his silent reverie. Moments later he feels her arms wrap around him, embracing him as she rests her head against his back. He makes a happy sound at the back of his throat and turns to look at her properly.
She never fails to take his breath away. She never fails to make his one, lonely human heart skip a beat.
She is everything he has ever wanted, and however odd this human life may have been, he wouldn't have missed it for the world.
"Oh, you know, just thinking," he says as he kisses her forehead, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"About what?"
"Him. The Doctor."
"You are the Doctor."
He looks at her; she knows what he means, of course she does. She nods and eyes him with concern.
"Is he alright?"
"Always. He's always alright." The Doctor doesn't add that most of the time, it's because he hasn't got any choice. He has to be alright and so, he is. Or at least that's what he says.
Undoubtedly, the Time Lord Doctor misses Rose every day. He knows that better than anybody else. After all, they are the same man.
Silence falls for a moment; Rose settles into his embrace and looks at the stars while he observes her lovingly.
"Where're we gonna go next?" she asks with a small smile, tilting her head towards the sky. "When we, y'know. When we can."
He smiles brilliantly, his hand sliding towards her slightly enlarged abdomen, covering her hand as it rests there. No one but the two of them knows just yet, but it will really start to show soon. It'll be a surprise.
It's not safe for the baby to be subjected to time travel, so they are staying home until their son or their daughter is born. They're preparing the room and he is making all sorts of toys while she tries to learn how to knit and fails miserably, but doesn't give up because she wants to make a TARDIS blue baby blanket.
"All of time and space, Rose Tyler," he says, leaning in for a kiss. "All of time and space and our very own forever. Does it matter where we start?"
She kisses him; their kisses are always long, always loving, always as if they were their first and their last.
"No. No, it doesn't."
The Doctor smiles to himself, a feeling of reassurance filling up his hearts. If he could, he would have been the one to take care of Rose, but the universes split them apart. The very least he could do was to leave this other Doctor with her; to give them the future he always wanted but never could have.
And today, on this Christmas Eve, he decides to give himself one final present.
An hour spent on selling his things for money later, he stands in front of the door to Rose's apartment on the Powell Estate. She's not yet in, but he can hear the sound of the telly and he assumes that Jackie must be there.
Meeting Jackie Tyler again has never sounded more tempting, but he won't. No, he is just the delivery man, the phantom of a future Rose was still yet to live through.
He plants a brief kiss on the beautifully wrapped gift that he pulls out of his pocket and then tosses it inside the apartment through the cat flap.
He stares at the door, feeling hollow and happy at the same time, as his hand reaches out for the doorbell.
He could wait there for Rose. Chat Jackie up, have her on his side, tell Rose some made up story and talk to her for a little longer.
But would it help? No, tonight, he really is just the delivery man. Raggedy delivery man, lonely and filled with longing.
Rose Tyler, I will see you again. One more time, before I go for good, I will see you again.
That promise made to himself brings an ease to his hearts. He strides away from the door, back into the TARDIS, and decides to visit Amy and Rory, because no one should be alone on Christmas. Not him, not Rose, not anyone.
She never leaves his mind. Not for a second.
And she never, ever leaves his hearts. Not for one moment.
~oOo~
Rose finds the strange little package when she gets home. She tears the gift wrap curiously, finding a little card resting atop the blue box. Before reading it, she opens the container and finds that necklace she's been staring at for the last few months, a gorgeous locket on a delicate, silver chain. Her fingers caress the piece of jewelry as she admires it, and as she flips it over to inspect it, she notices a few words engraved onto it, a dedication of sorts. It reads:
For all the days still yet to come.
Heart racing, curiosity eating at her, she looks at the card in hopes of finding an answer, but all she finds are two short sentences written in a funny, curly sort of handwriting.
For Rose,
From a friend.
She spends weeks trying to figure out who it was that sent it. Weeks, months even, but she never finds her mysterious friend, and then her life is made completely different when she meets the Doctor, a Time Lord, and runs away with him. She stops searching and merely treasures the locket as a sign that somewhere out there, she's got a precious friend.
It's not until after she loses her Doctor that she realizes where the locket must have come from, and she thinks of the strange man back at Henrik's that she as good as got rid of when she sent him to Gemma.
Since that day, she never takes the locket off. Not ever. In memory of all the days already gone and all the days still yet to come.
A/N: Pretty long, I know, I'm sorry! As said at the top, this was prompted by the lovely Bria and I'm really thankful for it. I enjoyed writing this a whole lot! Please let me know if you liked it, and Happy Holidays to you all ^_^