That planet's still got a north

A/N The tenth Doctor and Rose fight evil once again but when disaster strikes, a "daft old face" reappears, much to Rose's and our delight… My first fanfic – includes some of the dialogue from POTW, sorry if it's annoying, I've tried to keep it brief (the dialogue that is, not the story!) Hope you like 

I own nothing. Absolutely zippo. Nada. Well, technically, I own a David Tennant doll, which is treachery really as I love Chris and not him, but the Chris doll is too expensive!

"Doctor!" Rose cried as she charged down the wooden pier. The black rolling sea seethed beneath her, crashing onto the walkway. At the end of the pier, Rose could see two figures grappling with each other, one the familiar shape of the Doctor and the other of the Master. She heard their shouts and she ran faster, bellowing her companion's name.

"Doctor!" She cried again, as she saw the bulkier man throw her friend to the floor. Suddenly there was a huge bang of an explosion and a blazing fire burst into the air with a crash. Rose stopped and jolted, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she looked at the solid walls of fire rumbling in all directions. "Oh my God…" she murmured.

"Doctor…Doctor..DOCTOR!" She called his name, her voice picking up volume as she got no reply to her cries. She started running again, seeing that the explosion had blown the end of the pier off and the fire was raging there. The rest of the pier was separated from this part, so the part she was standing on was safe and not burning. Her heart thumped faster and faster as she ran, her eyes feverishly glancing around her, looking for a sign of life. Then she saw it. A small black shape, standing out from the dancing flames of the fire, was hunched up at the end of the pier.

She rushed up to him and sank to her knees beside his tired body. She pulled his head onto her lap and looked down at him. His normally lean face was burnt and scratched. A deep cut ran down one side of his face and his left cheek was sporting a large purple bruise. Rose's eyes filled with tears as the Doctor's eyelids opened and he gave her a weak cheeky grin.

"Rose.." He sighed. "He's gone. It's over. I pushed him…"

"Sssh!" She whispered, cradling his face in her hands. "You're gonna be fine, Doctor, don't you worry."

"No." He said, sadly shaking his head. "My body is broken. It can do no more service for me. I must move on…. change…"

Rose gasped as she realised what he was explaining and shook her head violently. "No. You can't! I've only just got used to this incarnation of you and now you're changing again? I can't take it! It's like you die every time and a new person who takes your name and belongings is in your place! Doctor, surely you can.."

"Rose." He murmured. "It's gonna be fine. It's still me. You must always remember that. It'll always be me…."

His voice trailed away to a husky whisper before dying all together. Rose sobbed and blinked her eyes furiously as she held his head to her. Suddenly, she felt a large burst of energy and heat against her and squeezed her eyes tight shut. She knew that if the Doctor had had enough energy he would have told her to stand back before he went. That's what he had done last time, when her first Doctor, her own Doctor had changed. But now she didn't care about the heat, she just wanted the change to stop. She wanted the Doctor to be as he had been when she had first met him. His personality hadn't changed that much, but gone was his enthusiastic grin that made everyone without exception smile. Gone were his clear blue piercing eyes that conveyed so many emotions and said so many things. Gone were the overlarge ears and nose that endeared him to her so much. She sobbed harder as she remembered taking his hand in the basement where she had worked. Little did she know when she had taken his hand that she was stepping into a world beyond her dreams, into a world where she would travel with the Doctor at her side. As she buried her head in the top of his, she heard the blowing and grumbling of the regeneration subside. She bit her lip through her tears, knowing that when she opened her eyes she would see a new man, who would claim to be the Doctor, and he would be, but in the same way, he wouldn't be.

"Rose?" A deep voice asked. The voice was gentle and calming. And also very, very familiar. Rose breathed in deeply, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember who the voice reminded her of. Then it struck her that the voice had a strong northern accent.

She looked up, in disbelief, and opened her eyes. And gasped.

Kneeling before her, gazing concerned at her through his glazed eyes was the Doctor. Her first Doctor.

"Doctor!" She cried "It's you!"

"I would hope that it's me." He smiled, his old brightening grin.

"No! It really is you! The … version of you that I first knew!"

His brow creased and he reached up with his hand to his hair. He ran his fingers through his dark close cropped hair before running both his hands down his face. Then he grasped his ears with his hands and he in turn gasped.

"That's definitely me!" He gasped, and then looked back at Rose. She was smiling through the tears running thick and fast down her face.

"You never said that you can regenerate into your past forms!" She beamed.

"But I shouldn't." He said. "This has never happened to me before. Never happened to a Time Lord before! I don't see how it could happen. Unless…" His voice trailed off as he looked from his hands, which he had been studying carefully, to Rose. She blushed from his glance.

"Unless someone touching me was thinking of a person very strongly and they had a lot of …emotion connected to that person. The force of the thought would have a great deal of influence in my new form."

Rose looked at him in the eyes. "All right, I admit it. I was thinking about the Doctor I first knew as you changed." She bit her lip as she continued. "But that doesn't matter does it? Surely it's not that a big deal?"

"Of course it doesn't matter! It's one of the best things that could happen to me! I've saved one of my lives and you'll be happier because I'll look like I used to!" He waved his arms happily. "The only downside is that I've got these huge ears and this daft old face again!"

Rose laughed as she remembered that he had called his face that before. "But it's a nice daft old face." She smiled as she put a hand on his knee. The Doctor quickly glanced at it before looking back at her.

"And now you're back…" She said dubiously, moving on her heels to a more comfortable position. "Perhaps you can tell me what exactly did happen that day." She met his slightly confused glance with a firm and resolute one. "How I got back to you…just before you changed."

The Doctor sighed before patting Rose's hand on his knee. He held it as he stood up, pulling Rose with him. "I thought you might want to know all the little details one day. Come on." He said, as they waked back along the pier. Rose gave a final glance behind her to the drifting, burning part of the pier. The fire had now all but died out. It was over.

The two walked hand in hand back through the empty village and up the track to the forest where they had left the Tardis. As they walked the Doctor explained to Rose what had gone on that fateful day. "And then I heard the grating sound of the Tardis and spun round. The doors burst open and a great white light shone out. It was blinding. Then there was a burst of gold and suddenly you were standing there in front of me, shining with a golden light, your eyes burning. I was terrified. I couldn't understand what you'd done but knew whatever it was, it was dangerous."

"D'you mean to say that whilst you were surrounded by Daleks and were about to be "exterminated" you still found time in your chaotic timetable to feel worried for me?"

"Course. You always need to be looked after. Never know when you might go and do something else really stupid."

"OI!"

The Doctor turned his head to look at her, grinning, before continuing with his narrative. "I asked you what you had done and you said that you had looked into the Tardis. It was then that I knew you had done something really stupid." He continued quickly as he dodged a pointy elbow dig. "Something really stupid, but also really brave. And clever, really, in a mad sense. Then the emperor Dalek started moaning about you being there and a Dalek cried "Exterminate!" It all happened so quickly, so I had no time to push you aside or anything. By the time I had turned to see the white light shine out from its gun you had put up your hand and the light had gone back to its gun. I was amazed!"

"And you should have been. I'm not that useless in a fight."

"Yeah, you're better than Jack. Which is not exactly a compliment as he's rubbish too but.."

"Will you shut it with the mouthy comments and get on with the story!"

The Doctor grinned again. "Then you said that you "Were the Bad Wolf." You waved your hand and the words forming the "Bad Wolf" sign flew away "Scattered across time and space" to quote yourself. You said that these would lead you here. After that I knew something mad was up. I told you to stop, that the power was running through your head and that you were gonna burn."

The Doctor paused for a moment and Rose looked at him questioningly. "And what did I say to that?" She prompted.

The Doctor took a breath before continuing "You looked down at me. I was on the floor still, I collapsed soon after you arrived, the light was so bright. You said that you wanted me safe, and you called me…your Doctor." He looked across nervously at her to see her reaction. Rose hadn't changed her composure, except that she now had a slight pink tinge to her face and her lips were slightly parted. He took another breath.

"I just..looked at you. Then the emperor Dalek went nuts saying that you couldn't hurt him and that he was immortal blah blah blah. You looked back at him and your eyes started burning again. You said that compared to you, he was tiny and that you could see every atom of his existence "And I divide them" you said. Then the Dalek who had tried to shoot you just sort of … melted away. Then so did the next one and gradually they all did."

"Told you I wasn't useless in a fight."

The Doctor just ignored her. "You said that "The Time war ends." Then the emperor Dalek just melted away and I knew that all the Daleks must have melted too. I couldn't believe it. But my attention was drawn back to you because you had your arms stretched out and the power was just rushing out of you and I could see that it was too much for you. I told you you'd done it and that you had to stop. You resisted me and said that you "Brought life". I told you it was wrong and that you couldn't control life and death. You contradicted me. You said that you could control everything, the sun, the moon, the day, the night. I thought you were a lost cause and that I'd never get through to you. Then you said "But why do they hurt?" I said that the power would kill you and it was my fault."

Even now the Doctor shook as he thought of it. Rose looked at him concerned, knowing that the tale was coming to an end.

He took yet another breath, kicked a fallen log aside as he and Rose entered the forest. "Then you said that you could see everything - all that was, all that is and all that ever could be. I looked back up at you and stood up, knowing that no matter what, I had to save you. And now I knew that you knew what it was like to be like me. I told you that that was what I saw all the time! Then you said that it hurt your head. I reached out for you and asked you to come to me. You said that it was killing you - and I knew what I had to do. I said "I think you need a Doctor.""

The Doctor stopped walking, coming to a sudden stop. The Tardis was just visible through the trees. He turned to face Rose and held her hands, one in each of his. He looked earnestly at her. Rose's breathing quickened and she felt her heart beat race as she looked up at him. She gulped and half whispered "And then what did you do?"

"This." He said simply, before bending his head and meeting her upturned one with his lips. He kissed her, firmly but at the same time gently. He moved away from her and broke the kiss carefully, his eyes not for a moment leaving hers.

They looked at each other and he whispered "And then I did this." He picked her up, one arm under her legs, the other around her waist and back, clutching her to him. Their eyes still didn't stray from the others' as he carried her back to the Tardis. He opened the door and carried her up the ramp before placing her gently on the seat by the console. His hands gradually left her body and he turned to the console. He fiddled with the controls and a beeping noise started. The central column started to glow. Rose saw his head bow down before he turned back to her.

"Then you woke up. The power was transferred and I regenerated." He sighed. "Now you know." He said, looking at her right in the eyes, waiting for her reaction. Rose stood and came to stand in front of him, looking gently up at him. She put a hand out to his arm and parted her lips. The Doctor sighed and shivered. Suddenly he grabbed her shoulders and looked intensely at her.

"Rose, something has happened to me that has never happened between a Time lord and a human before. Something that has probably never happened to two Time Lords before. Well, not as much." He gave a half smile before continuing. Rose swallowed and started to breathe heavily.

"Rose." He spoke gently. "I'm in love with you." He too was breathing heavily and looking at her almost tentatively, waiting for her reply agitatedly.

Rose breathed a sigh of relief and happiness. She smiled as for the second time that day she felt a prickling behind her eyes and felt a single tear drip down her cheek. "And strange though it is, I believe that I'm in love with you."

The Doctor swallowed in turn and breathed heavily once more before his familiar smile started to shine out upon Rose. He laughed and pulled Rose closer to him. Rose too smiled at him and bit her lip.

"Now, you will remember this…and not forget" he whispered in her ear. Rose smiled again and raised her head as the Doctor kissed her again. And this time, she would always remember.

A/N I wrote this last Easter, before series 2 started. I hope you like it – there's a better bit to come, I promise! Reviews very very welcome, even if just to tell me that I can't write!

Masses and masses of love 'n hugs to my dear Becky, 'cuz without her this wouldn't be up and I'd still be freaking out! This chapter is for her!