He felt nothing but relief as he held her trembling body in his arms, stroking her blonde hair softly, whispering gently in her ear, just so glad she was still with him, still alive. But as soon as the beating of his hearts had slowed to their normal pace, he felt realisation hit him like a boulder. Being hit by that boulder hurt. It crushed his soul and broke his hearts, but, because there should always be an upside to these types of things, he also found that it appeared to have knocked some of something that was quite possibly sense in to him. As he held her trembling body in his arms and felt the wild beating of his hearts calm to gentle thuds in his chest, he realised the only way to prevent anything like this from happening again was to let her go, not in to another dangerous adventure but to her home, her world, her time. He never wanted to let her go again, not after this, but unless he wanted her to be truly lost forever, he would have to take her back.

The boulder tumbled onwards, leaving him shattered in its wake. He had never liked it when he had sense.

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"So then Doctor, where are we off to next?"

She grinned at him expectantly, hundred watt smile lighting up her face and causing his hearts to flutter madly in his chest. He couldn't look at her after that; giving a loud cough, he turned away from her to busy himself with the controls of the TARDIS.

"21st Century London" he muttered quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that!" she said, playfully punching him on the arm, "You're gonna have to slow down, even the TARDIS can't translate your high speed mutterings sometimes!"

He turned slowly round to face her, gazing longingly in to her dark brown eyes, lost for a moment in their depths.

You have to keep her safe, she must go back. She's far too precious for you to lose, especially now you know, now you realise…

"21st Century London" he said, more slowly this time, voice lowered to a gentle whisper, soft and rich as velvet. If it was even possible, her grin became even wider.

She looks so beautiful. Imagine how hard it will be without her. You can't leave her behind, what will you do with yourself when she's not here beside you?

I have to leave her behind, I don't have a choice!

"You know Doctor, sometimes I think you're psychic! Mum's gonna be so pleased to see me. Thank you so much!"

She planted an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush slightly.

This isn't right; you have to make her understand.

"Rose, you might want to pack a bag or two before we arrive."

"You're not suggesting that we stay with my mum while we're there are you? Cos I'm not sure you're really ready to spend time with Jackie Tyler in close quarters just yet. Or perhaps you've got some other plan up your sleeve. Go on Doctor, share!"

He just looked at her for a minute, drinking in every last detail of her face; her lips that were as soft as rose petals (he had remembered that detail from when she, or rather Cassandra, had kissed him, and he thought of it every night before he went to sleep, it guaranteed him good dreams), her beautiful brown eyes that held him captivated every time she looked at him, and her wonderful, wonderful smile.

He took all of that in, then took a deep breath. It was best just to get it over with quickly, much like ripping of a plaster really.

"It's not easy to say this Rose, but-"

"Oh no, don't worry Doctor, I get it."

"You do?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course I do! But I want nothing but the best you understand. Nice hotel, decent room, then may be it could work." She winked mischievously at him, leaving him feeling dreadfully confused. He scratched his head perplexedly.

"What could work? I'm sorry Rose; I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah you do. Seduction. It's simple really."

She ran a finger lightly down one of his arms, sending shivers down his spine. He coughed nervously.

"Hang on a minute, you think I'm going to seduce you?"

"Oh come on Doctor, we both know it's what we want."

"Do we?" His tie felt awfully tight all of a sudden. He tugged at it sharply, desperate to let some more air in to his seemingly failing lungs. For a moment there was silence between them. Then she took a step closer to him and…

"You should see the look on your face, it's priceless! There's no need to worry Doctor," she said, teasingly stroking the cheek where her lipstick still lingered, "the only thing that will be seducing me tonight is a great big tub of chocolate ice cream. Sound good?"

"Sounds great" he said, voice distant, still thinking about the touch of her soft hand on his face and wondering if he really was doing the right thing.

"Is everything alright Doctor?"

"Yes of course it- well no, it's not actually." He turned away from her again, knowing he would give anything not to have to say it, to tell her he was letting her go.

"What's wrong?"

He felt a hand tenderly grasp his shoulder, guiding his body gently around so that they faced each other once more.

Her brown eyes gazed questioningly in to his, searching desperately for the reason for her Doctor's pain. He couldn't stand it, not for one moment longer.

"I'm taking you home Rose."

"Yeah I know you are."

"No you don't understand. I'm taking you back home again. For good."

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A/N: So I'm having another crack at Doctor Who fiction! This story found me last night, and I imagine wit will be at least another couple of chapters long. I hope I have the characterisation right here, I'm still not entirely used to writing these characters just yet. If you could take the time to leave me a review to let me know how I'm doing then please do because it will be very much appreciated!

Thanks for reading, I'll update as soon as I can

Until next time...

SmileyHalo