A.N. Okay, so I am fully aware that it is canon that Rose is locked away in a parallel universe working for Torchwood and having her happy ending with Doctor II. However, since I will forever ship Rose and the original doctor, the story goes as follows. During the Battle of Canary Wharf, the Doctor couldn't let Rose sacrifice herself, so he took her place and he instead was locked away into the parallel universe. There, he regenerated and fought his way back through the cracks in time to get back to Rose.
This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so it's pretty short and not all that good, but I hope you guys like it nevertheless. Please review!
He's been following her since Tottenham Court Road.
She glances back several times, but keeps on walking. Finally, she stops in front of a shop window.
She takes a deep breath. "I hope you have a good reason for following me," she murmurs, eyes still fixated on his reflection in the window.
He does not reply at first, at loss for words to say. There are so many, yet so little time. After a few moments, she gathers her courage and slowly turns around.
She looks amazing, her honey blonde hair longer than when he last saw her. Her eyelashes glistening with little droplets of rain, she lifts her gaze and looks at him.
The man standing in front of her bears the face of a stranger. He is unlike anything she's ever seen before. He is young and rather handsome, his brown hair flopping over dark green eyes. He is wearing a tweed jacket over an oddly patterned shirt with suspenders and a bow tie.
He's wearing a bow tie, she thinks to herself, trying to hide a smile. She has only ever known one man who could ever dream of wearing something as ridiculous. As she remembers, she suddenly feels as if someone has stabbed open a slowly healing wound. Forget, she tells herself as the memories that she has tried so hard to forget come flooding back.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
It is then that she realizes that her eyes are filled with tears. Embarrassed, she suddenly remembers why she has stopped in the first place. She looks into his eyes and sees that they are filled with concern, which she finds strange for a stranger.
"Yes. Of course I am. Now, why have you been following me?" she asks in a defiant tone, trying to regain her usual confidence.
"I have my reasons, Rose Tyler," he answers with a slightly mischievous expression on his face.
She freezes. How could he ever know that? Ever since she had moved back to London, she had started going by a different name. She had tried to leave the past behind, tried to make a fresh start: a new life. The only person who could ever know...the only person who could even remember...
"Doctor?" she whispers, her eyebrows knitting together. There's hope on her face, and fear, and love and nostalgia, and so many other emotions. He picks up every single one.
"Hello," he says, his mouth stretching into a smile.
"But...you can't be," she says, her lips trembling.
"New face," he says reassuringly, leaning towards her, "same old me."
And because he wants to, because he has spent the last two hundred years unable to stop thinking about her, he kisses her. Her lips taste wonderful, with a hint of salt from her tears - just as they were the time he last kissed her.
After a few moments, she unwillingly pulls away.
"How?" she asks, her eyes filled with wonder.
"It's all a rather long and complicated story, one littered with cracks in time, Daleks - all that kind of business, you know. I'll tell you someday. But not today," he says, smiling.
"So you're staying?" she asks, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"No, I'm not staying. You know better than anyone I could never stay."
"Then why did you come back?" she demands, suddenly angry.
"I have cried myself to sleep over you. I have spent the last five years trying to forget, to move on, and now you just turn up and expect to just say 'hello' and then leave?"
"Well, the truth is...I came back just to ask you a question."
"And that is?"
He pauses, his face bearing an unreadable expression before breaking into a grin.
"Come with me?"
It is then that she smiles, truly smiles - the smile of his Rose.