As she stood on the beach with the two Doctors and Donna, Rose recalled the last time she stood there before, when she thought that she and the Doctor would never meet again. "Rose Tyler—", the Doctor had begun, but their connection was severed, and he was gone before the words could be spoken.
Here again, Rose yearned to know what the Doctor had meant to say. "When I last stood on this beach, on the worst day of my life, what is the last thing you said to me?" Rose asked the real Doctor. She was persistent, and urged him for an answer. "Go on, say it!"
The Doctor peered down at her, sadly. "I said 'Rose Tyler'".
Unsatisfied, Rose pressed on. "Yeah and how was that sentence going to end?"
The Doctor frowned. "Does it need saying?"
It did. In desperation, Rose turned to the clone Doctor. "And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?" To her surprise, the clone Doctor leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"I love you," he muttered, speaking the words Rose had longed to hear for so long.
These were the words that the real Doctor—her Doctor refused to utter—but here they were coming from his mouth, the mouth that looked so entirely similar. She knew that this clone would never be her Doctor, but at the same time, he was so nearly the same. In a rush of emotion, Rose pulled him in close and they kissed.
Before this day, Rose had only ever dreamed of kissing the Doctor. She had kissed him only once before, but it was his previous regeneration and not this version that she had grown to love so much. For a moment, Rose had even forgotten that the real Doctor still stood before them, and that it wasn't her Doctor she held in this embrace. It was at this recollection that Rose pulled away from the kiss, and sought the face of her Doctor—only, it was too late. While Rose had kissed his human copy, the real Doctor and Donna had made their way back to the TARDIS.
She darted from the clone's arms and toward the TARDIS, which was now beginning to fade. In total disbelief, she watched as it flickered in and out of site, and then, that blue box that had once taken her to the end of the world and back…was gone.
She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.
Rose stood there, staring at the spot the TARDIS had once stood. As she did so, the clone Doctor came up behind her and squeezed her hand. It was this silent gesture that seemed to say so much. I love you, and I will never leave you.
In this moment, Rose realized that her Doctor had not gone, but was standing right beside her. This was the Doctor with whom she'd live a normal life, and this was the Doctor with whom she'd grow old. With only one heart, he was everything that the real Doctor was, minus the technicalities that had made their union impossible.
Rose looked up at the Doctor, and he stared back at her, knowingly. It was just she and him, and though Rose had hoped to meet the real Doctor again someday, she was content with the life he had given her. It was the life Rose had always dreamed of, and it was to be spent with the man she loved best.
Hand and in hand, the two strolled away down the beach. Rose smiled. This was her Doctor, and she wouldn't have it any other way.