It wasn't entirely surprising that the idea came to him in a mall.
The Doctor had been walking through one en route to the Porchei High Command building to witness one of the more famous coronations in galactic history.
One of his previous selves may have routed around the foreboding maze of mass produced consumables, but he'd chosen to plow straight through. Taking in the garish lighting, brightly colored signage, and ready-to-pounce sales personnel, he grinned to himself. This him had an odd liking for shops. And, perhaps not entirely coincidentally, shop girls. Well... one shop girl. He tried not to think about it.
Despite his attempts, he soon found himself affixed to the floor in Cosmetics, staring blankly into space, thinking of little else. An outside observer would have noted that the man just stopped suddenly, all expression completely wiped from his face. He just stood there. The sight was made all the more unnatural given that this body was one that was meant to be in motion. For far longer than was socially acceptable, the Doctor stayed still, resembling a shop mannequin parked in a heavily congested walkway.
The fragrance girls approached him cautiously to ask if he was okay, but he did not hear them. All of his superior auditory senses were, at that moment, entirely engaged. His ears and brain were wholly consumed by a tinny sound piped in through the ceiling mounted speakers.
Saiphan flutes. When used in a tune in most of the universe they were considered the height of cheesy muzak, perfect for numbing the shopping hordes into pliable buyers. But like a ukulele or bagpipe, played by a master in their native location, they could be incredibly charming.
And they'd given him an idea.
His body was rooted to the spot, closed to all external stimuli as he examined this notion. Saiphan flutes. Rose. Could it work? Could he make this work?
After Rose was lost, he'd gone back in her early timeline to see her many times. Even had a minor conversation with her when she was small, and too little to remember him. But each time he came away feeling more lost than when he arrived. This was Rose, yes, but she didn't know him. She didn't, couldn't, smile at him in that way that made the universe melt away. It broke his heart that he couldn't reveal himself to her.
He craved to visit her in a time she knew him. But he couldn't risk being seen by her when she was with big ears. And after his regeneration, they'd been nearly inseparable.
Except one time. One time he had nearly forgotten. Until he heard the Saiphan flutes.
He pushed the thought away at once, but it came floating back, dangling cheekily in front of him.
Did he dare? A close examination of the timeline seemed to indicate it would withstand the change. So long as he left by morning, it was a relatively small change, as timelines went. He risked much more on a regular basis simply by taking companions with him, plucking them out of their safe, normal lives and taking them to some remote world they were never intended to see.
So did he dare? What good would it do him? Reopening old wounds seemed like a pretty silly thing to do. He'd had his goodbye, his closure. More so than he'd ever had before with those he'd lost. How, again, would seeing her like this help anything?
The self-imposed rationalizations ultimately mattered little. After all he'd lost, after the year that never was, he had to see her. In a moment without goodbyes. Where he could taste some of their banter, and make her smile one more time.
Satisfied with this conclusion, he cracked a grin and started to open his eyes. As his brain moved back into the present, voices sprang back into his ears. He heard someone say, "If this doesn't wake him up, I don't know what will. Alright, ladies. On three. 1…2…" He had no time to duck before the shop girls upended several large open bottles of sticky fragrance on his person.
And that was how he found himself here, on Saipha 2, a half hour past dusk, coated head to toe in Porcheian perfume. The last part wasn't exactly to plan, but he understood there were only so many resources at the disposal of shop girls trying to save a life.