Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the quotes used here (in italics within quotes center aligned).

"Once in a lifetime you meet someone who changes everything."

She had feeling that she was going to have another amazing year.

Once they were back in the safety and comfort of the ever familiar TARDIS, with the new, new Doctor still holding her hand just as tightly, she wondered what her new, new life would be like with him.

"You're gonna love this place!" He said animatedly, like a little child eager to show off his latest drawing of a dragon, and finally let go of her to set the coordinates on the TARDIS. "Flying cars, laser sabers, talking robots. This is like being on the sets of Star Wars. Only much more cool."

She wasn't sure how she felt about that, truth be told. Knowing their almost magnetic attraction to trouble, she was willing to bet twenty quids on the fact that they would end up in a saber duel with a robot, and the Doctor might not be so lucky with his arm this time.

"Off we go then!" He said, and then he looked up.

He was beaming at her, his smile rendering his face a brilliant shade of green under the light of the console room, and his eyes shone with something that could be best described as the deepest form of affection, as if he was looking at his favorite thing in the Universe, which he was. She never thought he could smile like that, not after everything he had been through and everything he had lost.

Suddenly, she didn't mind a duel. She didn't mind ten thousand duels if that could make him smile that way. But it wasn't a duel, was it? It was her.

"He looked at me that first day

like he had just found something he'd lost a thousand years ago."

They were back on Earth, Powell Estate, seven days after travelling with the Doctor, during which they had visited the New Earth, and she was "possessed" by a certain bitchy trampoline named Cassandra.

"You watch too many horror movies", he had told her when she had first used that word, and she had hit back with a "Life with you is a horror show, so shut up."

"Oh, but you love it", he had teased, and she had countered that with a "I never said I don't!" And then there she was. In the kitchen with her mum. He had finished his tea and ran away, leaving her to fill her mum in about what they had been up to.

"This is getting too dangerous!" Jackie exclaimed, concern clouding her face, as she heard what she knew was the censored version of the latest adventure that her daughter had been on. "Are you sure you can trust him with your life? You've known this skinny sod for what, seven days?"

"Mum", she was getting tired of this, and it showed in her voice. "I know him." And really, she did. She was the only one in the universe- well, only one alive at least, who knew him as well as she did. Regeneration had changed him, but not the unspoken bond they shared. "I trust him."

There was so much faith poured into those simple words that Jackie knew it would be useless to argue. And honestly, she was finding herself start to believe that too of late.

"Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other,

and seven days are more than enough for others."

"I don't understand why you do that." Rose mused, a frown distorting her face. One day, she was pretty sure, he was going to do this and she was going to throw up. Hopefully all over him and his-their- favorite coat. That would teach him.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, licking his finger and tasting the brownish semi-liquid again, his face giving way to a frown too at the horrible bitter taste. "You know I'm trying to figure out what this thing is!"

"By eating it?" She exclaimed in disbelief. Yeah, he had superior Time Lord physiology and all that, but Superman always has a Kryptonite, doesn't he? "Can't you just use the sonic screwdriver?"

His face fell, like he was being chastised, which he sort of was. "Yes."

"So why don't you?" She asked, her temper rising now. Would it kill him to not try to get himself killed? If he died on her, she was going to kill him again with her own bare hands, that's what he had coming.

He smiled at her from ear to ear. "Because this is more fun!" And with that his fingers were back in the unknown substance.

She muttered something under her breathe, something that sounded suspiciously like "nine hundred years old my arse. Still acts like he's two." But the glint in her eyes betrayed her amusement- there wasn't a single cell in his body that she wanted to change.

"I have always loved everything about you.

Even what I didn't understand."

They didn't plan on running across her aunt, but there they were. Jackie Tyler's sister, now that's a monster straight out of his nightmares.

"I've been travelling with the Doctor", Rose said, in answer to some question that he missed.

And then she glared at him. Play along, play nice. The last of the time lords, the oncoming storm who intimidated the daleks and the cybermen, and here one glare from Rose Tyler was setting him on his best behaviour. "Hi!" He smiled at her aunt, deciding for once to shut up and let her do the talking.

And really, that was all that she wanted. She didn't expect or even want a polite chit-chat over tea or weekend family trips. That wasn't him. That was domestics. And she wouldn't have him any other way than the daft old alien that he was.

But she wanted her family to meet him never-the-less. She wanted to show him off, wanted him to know that she wasn't ashamed of letting the world see her with him, daft and annoying as he was.

"I want everyone to meet you.

You're my favorite person of all time."

The view was breath-taking. He had taken her to watch the sunset at one of those deserted planets across the galaxies where nobody lived. He held her hand and beamed at her, and she grinned back, resting her head on his shoulder. The sky was such different shades of red, yellow and pink that she wasn't even sure if there were names for those colors. The land was brown, barren of any water bodies or vegetation, but the way it looked under the lights of the sunset was beyond what her words could describe.

And then there was him, rambling about suns and stars and colors. He was definitely the highlight of the evening.

"I see you in colors that don't exist."

"Rose?" She froze when she heard that familiar voice, that too after so many years. Nonononono. Shell shocked, her body refused to let her turn around.

"Hello!" The Doctor greeted cheerfully, hoping this friend of Rose wasn't another idiot, though he certainly looked the part, with the ripped jeans and that stupid shirt. "I'm the Doctor, and you are?"

"Jimmy Stone", he mumbled, and the Doctor froze too. That Jimmy Stone? The one who broke his Rose's heart and nearly wrecked her life? He wasn't a man for violence, but blimey, did he want to use his fighting hand!

Rose knew that was his instinct, and she took his hand in hers to stop him. He squeezed it tightly, letting her know that he was there, and she wasn't alone. She smiled, so grateful to have him in her life, and finally managed to turn around and face the biggest mistake of her life.

And he went for Plan B. "Nice to meet you, Jim. Rose never mentioned you. You two went to school together?"

Rose quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what he was playing at.

"We were... um, together." Jimmy replied, studying the Doctor in amusement, his gaze soon dropping to where their fingers were intertwined. "Aren't you a little too old for her?"

The Doctor chuckled. If only he knew how old he really was.

Rose was about to set him straight that they weren't together before that alien git could panic and run away, but the Doctor spoke first. "Oh yes. Old, skinny, rude, and extremely, extremely brilliant. Would you like me to recite your primitive little periodic table in 30 seconds? Or is that something you never even heard of? What is it that you do again?"

"I-I,um", Jimmy stammered, not expecting the tables turning on him.

Being rude and not ginger was definitely turning out to be very good indeed. "I travel. All around the world. Places people only dream of. With Rose by my side. It's brilliant, my life. Wouldn't you agree, honey?" He looked at Rose, waiting for her to affirm.

"Yeah", she managed to say despite her shock.

"Anyways, it was great to see you. We'd be on our way now. Come on, love." With that, he gave her hand a tug and they were walking again.

Her confusion was written all over her face. Her feet stopped moving at one point when they were at a safe distance. "What was that about?"

The Doctor simply shrugged, like it was no big deal. "It was either that, or throwing him in the eye of a collapsing star. Nasty, that one. I figured he wasn't worth so much of trouble, don't you agree?"

"You called me love", she wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. "And honey."

"Yes? Would you have preferred the Gallifreyian terms of endearment instead?"

She simply shook her head. He really was impossible.

And then he was suddenly pulling her close to him and looking at her face.

Her heart started beating so fast in her chest, it felt like the core of a terraform sphere that was expanding inside her. Oh, blimey, was he going to tell her how he felt about her? Now? Didn't he know that she knew?

"Are you alright?" He asked instead.

"'m fine", she said, beaming up at him. And how could she not be? When she was with him? Whatever had happened in her past didn't matter anymore. He was her present, her future, everything she could ever dream of, and everything else paled in comparison to him.

"You are too much of everything I dared to imagine."

"So, spill." Shareen said, as soon as they were alone in her room, having finally managed to get rid of a hovering Jackie.

Rose looked up from the pink suitcase that she was packing her change of clothes into. "What?"

"This new bloke, that's what." She replied with a knowing grin.

Rose shook her head, like she had done a thousand times before in dozens of planets for hundreds of people. "He's just a friend. We're just travelling."

"Riiight", Shareen smirked, not buying it at all. "So, has he proposed yet? Does he have a car? Ooo, is he a good shag? Tell me all about it!"

"Shareen!", Rose exclaimed in horror, a rosy blush creeping up her cheeks at the thought of the Doctor's fingers and lips on her skin as she ran her hand through his hair and-

"Are you happy?" Shareen asked, sincerely, snapping her out of her daydreams.

Rose blinked, grounded herself back to reality, and didn't miss a single beat in answering. "Yes."

"It is love?" Asked her friend.

She said, "I don't know. But- nothing felt better."

"I'm always alright." He repeated again when she asked him the same question for the n-th time. Were they caught in some kind of time loop?

She had let it slide, left it at that, let him mourn alone for the past one hour. But she could no longer bear the sight of him looking so heavy with yet another loss. "You don't have to be." She said softly.

He tried to lighten the mood, bouncing around the console room, attempting to grin. "Oh, but I do. Who's gonna look after you if I sit around sulking?"

"Oi!" She said, playing along for the moment. "'m the babysitter here."

He didn't reply, standing still in the room all of a sudden, his expression unreadable. Which was such a rare thing that it scared her. "I'm sorry I left you."

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This... This wasn't about her. "I'm sorry you had to leave her."

To say he was utterly confused was an understatement. Sure, he had been swept off his feet by Reinette, sure he wanted to take her on a trip or two to the stars before he returned her to her rightful place in history, but that was it. He was a Time Lord, and he was all too used to loss. She had led a full life, a remarkable one at that, and had died naturally. That was all. But Rose? He could have lost her that very day because of his recklessness. He shuddered at that thought. How would he have forgiven himself if he did? How could she forgive him? "You're not mad at me?"

Her eyes softened. "Why should I be?"

He opened his mouth to state all the reasons, but she held up a finger to silence him, letting him know that she wasn't finished. "You've always been there for me, for the planet, for everyone. You saved her. Yeah, things got a bit risky here. I can't say you're only human, you'll make mistakes, cause you're not", she tried to laugh, but couldn't, the seriousness of the whole thing not lost on her, "But, Doctor, it's okay, really. Everyone makes mistakes. Back on earth it's leaving the gas on or forgetting you have your kid with you at the mall-"

"Jackie did that to you?" He had to ask.

This time, she did laugh, "Yeah, I was five. But the point is, you're a Time Lord, we travel. With you danger is clockwork droids and eighteenth century France. It's okay, I get it. I'm not mad. This doesn't undo all the wonderful things you've done for me."

The Doctor stared at her in wonder. There he was, dashing off through a mirror on a horse without thinking it through, and here she was, justifying his actions, instead of being angry or upset or simple shaken by the events. She always did know all the right things to say. She was wise beyond her years, and he was so proud of her.

And so ashamed of himself. He didn't deserve her, never did, never will. Even with all of time and space at his disposal, he honestly didn't think anything or anyone was worth her, really.

"I know", she said, causing him to snap out of his reverie and look up at her, "That if you didn't find a way back, you would have taken the slow path. Stayed in France, got to 2005, intercepted time streams or whatever and found a way to save me." Her absolute conviction in him shone through her words and her eyes. How could she have unshakeable faith in him even after everything? "So now then, let's try again. Are you alright?"

He wrapped her up in his arms before she could take a breath. Her scent infiltrated his nose- sweat and vanilla and... Rose. His Rose. Safe. The Doctor and his Rose, in the TARDIS, as it should be. "I am now."

"A person isn't who they are during the last conversation you had with them-

they're who they've been throughout your whole relationship."

It had been another day of misadventure. She had told him how she had grown up wanting to meet a fairy godmother after reading Cinderella too many times, and he had taken her to "just the perfect place"- in his own words- the planet of The Legion of Winged Creatures. Of course he had got the century wrong and the species had been hostile and they had spent a good part of an hour running for their lives. Any other girl would have complained and picked up a gun by now, but not her, not his Rose. She took it all with a smiling face. Though the latest event did shake her visibly. He could see how vulnerable she felt when he walked her to her room to say goodnight. She lazily shrugged off her jacket and trousers and jumped into her bed, not bothering to fully undress, and slid under her cozy duvet. Her eyes never left his, as if silently pleading him to not leave her side.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked softly, feeling the need to do so more to reassure himself than her. "You know, I can stand near the door and make sure no more blood thirsty butterflies can get to you. Good thing that, guarding. Can I?"

He could see the turmoil visualize on her face. "No." She said after a moment.

The hurt flashing through him killed his eloquence. "Oh." Had he misjudged what she wanted? Had he crossed a line?

She scooted over in her bed and patted the empty spot next to her. "Stay here."

Confusion took hold of him, before a look of understanding came across his face. "Oh." He said again, the pain of rejection gone from his voice, and now replaced with a strange mix of uncertainty and excitement. He took off his trainers and simply sat down next to her on her bed.

"You sure you won't sleep?" She mumbled into her pillow, closing her eyes, finally knowing that she was safe.

He relaxed then, settling into their familiar territory. "Nyah. Such a waste of valuable time. Did you know-"

"-Shh!" she scolded, an arm jerking about randomly to smack him wherever it landed. "No babbling, I'm trying to sleep!"

"Sorry", he mumbled, smiling at the clumsy ungraceful sleeping form of his favourite pink and yellow human. She looked so beautiful, he couldn't help it. "Do you mind if I..." He hooked his fingers in her hair, and caressed it tenderly. "Is that alright?"

Even as the day's exhaustion caught up with her, the prominent feeling in her chest was that of happiness, and a little bit of self-appraisal at having gathered up the courage to get to this point. "Yeah."

"Tell him yes, even if you're dying of fear,

even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do,

you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no."

It was a wonder to her how they had gotten into the habit of him staying in her room till she fell asleep. Never in her life had she felt the presence of someone so comforting- not even Mr. BeanieBoogie, her fluffy pink teddy bear. The Doctor usually left some time after she fell asleep, she guessed, but that particular day, she was pleasantly surprised to wake up and find him lying there on her bed, on his back, with his eyes closed. She tried not to let herself get too happy at the fact that he had stayed.

"You're staring." He suddenly mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.

She felt like a little child caught with her hand down the cookie jar. "Sorry." Her voice came out sheepish.

"No, no, quite right to", he let out a contented chuckle. "I wasn't complaining, just stating the facts."

She grinned, tongue poking her teeth as her finger poked him in the chest. "You mean stating the obvious?"

"Was it obvious to you that it's obvious to me that you're staring?"

She rolled her eyes, deciding it's way too early in the morning to start arguing with him. "Go back to pretend-napping."

He let out a gasp of disapproval. "It's not pretend-napping! I am thinking up ways to make your banana pancakes better. Not that anything is wrong with them. Or with your cooking. Why would I even imply something is wrong with you? What is wrong with me?"

Nothing, absolutely nothing. She loved how he went on tangents all the time, rambling about silly things. "You want the long list or the short one?"

He arched an eyebrow up. "There's a list now, is there?"

She hummed in agreement. "Ummm hmm."

The pout he made could melt her heart any day. "I see why the TARDIS likes you. Anyways, maybe I should..." He trailed off, trying to sit up.

"No!" She panicked, wrapping an arm around him to keep him down. He tensed, and she tensed sensing that, but then he relaxed and tilted his head towards hers, and he stayed. And really, words were so overrated.

"But she might hold him. That was all that mattered now.

To hold him. To hold him. Not to let him go.

Make him stay."

She wasn't a fan of sleeping at her mum's flat, but she had been emotionally blackmailed into doing just that. Her mother had insisted, complaining about how she never got to see her daughter for more than a few hours anymore. She had even offered the Doctor a place on the sofa, but he told her he never slept and declined.

Which meant she was alone in her room, with her mum sleeping next door, snoring. She stared at the ceiling, at the glow in the dark stickers she had stuck there when she was a kid, a wave of nostalgia hitting her at the memories. This was her home, her room, her world. And yet... She missed her room in the TARDIS, how the constant hum of the ship lulled her to sleep, and how he stayed with her till her dreams wrapped her in its cocoon.

Oh God, she missed him so much. It had only been an hour or two since she had last seen him, and she knew he was in the TARDIS, which was still parked in the alley, fixing something or the other that probably didn't even need fixing. A smile crept on her face at that thought. She was pretty sure he was the worst designated driver of all of space and time.

And here she was, at home, and homesick already. All she could think about was him, him, him. Her heart ached to be near him, to see him, to hold his hand and hug him tight, to hear him babble about everything and nothing. Schoolgirl with a crush, definitely.

She rolled her eyes at herself, remembering how she used to sneak out at nights during her school years, party with Keisha at some wild rave, and then sneak back inside her room before her mum woke up. If only she could just- oh wait.

"I could start fires with what I feel for you."

"You're back quickly from your mum's?" He wasn't sure if that was intended to be a statement or a question, but he wasn't sure what she was doing there earlier than usual either. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah", she waved him off, placing the bag with her change of clothes on the TARDIS floor. He can carry that for her. "I just feel better sleeping in here, is all. I think I'll take a nap now. You coming?"

He studied her for a moment, watching out for any signs of danger or illness or distress, but when he found none, he grinned like a maniac, taking her hand in his. How could something so simple, so human mean like the world to him? "Allonsy!"

"I came here tonight because

when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody,

you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

They had just ran for their lives, being chased by preying mantis that thought they would make a great prey, and ended up in the TARDIS, when Rose suddenly held out a small key in her hand. Talk about non-sequitur. Seeing the blank expression on his face, she explained. "This is a key. To my flat." She punctuated the sentence with steady breaths to make sure she didn't lose her nerve and back out.

Panic took hold of every single cell in his body, and he wondered if he might just regenerate from the fear of what was happening. "What? Wha- are you leaving? Did I do something wrong? Was it the dung-beetle tea? It was that, wasn't it? I should have know the preying mantis would-"

"Doctor?", she cut him off, amused at his reasoning. Of all the things she could have left him for, he thought that would be the one? "I told you I'm not leaving." She told him firmly.

He relaxed, but he was still confused. "Oh. So what do I need a key for?"

She shrugged. "You know, in case you want to drop by when I'm there, I reckon."

His eyebrows narrowed together in further confusion, and he wondered if she had inhaled some alien compound that was making her make no sense. "But I can just ring the bell?"

"You don't have to." She said softly. "Nobody does that at home, you daft alien."

"Home?" Now she had lost him. "You mean your home? I thought you thought of the TARDIS as your home too?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "It's a ship, not a home!" The TARDIS hummed in protest, and she rolled her eyes again at her too. Like Time Lord, like his time machine. "I'm talking of a home for you too, you know? A London alley-way doesn't count as one, no matter what he tells you." She said, touching the wall lightly. "I'm talking of a proper space to stay. A planet. A home. I know you're never gonna do domestics, I don't want you to either, and I know nothing can replace..." She didn't, couldn't complete her sentence, instead forcing herself to stay chirpy, for his sake, "but if you and the old girl need to take a nap when you're knackered-"

He gasped. "I'm never knackered!"

She ignored him and continued. "-Then that's the place to be. That's home. What's mine is yours."

He stared at her. He stared at her and the words of his previous incarnation rang through his head again and again. I'm so glad I met you. Here was this nineteen year old teen who was offering him... home. Tears began to prick his eyes, and his face burst into a genuine smile. "Well, in that case, Rose Tyler, can I-"

"-No." She cut him off before he could even finish, knowing full well what he was going to say. "I told you before! You can't use my shampoo. Get your own!"

He pouted. "But you just said-" He paused mid sentence, realizing he still hadn't taken the key, and when he did, he didn't let go of her hand. He never wanted to.

"The way to love someone is to lightly run your finger over that person's soul

until you find a crack,

and then gently pour your love into that crack."

"Soooo..." The Doctor paused, staring at Rose with his mouth half open expectantly, his eyes transfixed on the stray strand of hair falling on her cheekbones. Had he ever told her that she was brilliant?

"So?" Rose mimicked, rolling her eyes. Standing in the street outside Shareen's flat, she waited impatiently for the doctor to get his point across, so that she could just crawl into the sofa in her jim-jams and watch an X-files marathon with her best friend. Well, her human best friend.

"You're really gonna stay here then?" He asked, his mind already drifting off to all the planets in all the different eras that they could have been visiting instead. Blimey, domestics, stupid, that's what it was. "Till your mum comes back from her date?"

Rose shrugged. "I s'pose so. I mean, I need to be there for her, in case things go wrong."

"Well, knowing Jackie..." He ran a hand through his hair and trailed off, not willing to complete the sentence, knowing full well that Rose knew what he meant.

"Oi!" She protested, shooting him with a glare. But she had to allow herself a chuckle, she knew he was right. Her mum was never good with dates.

He decided to change the topic. "Valentine's day wasted on earth watching telly with your friend. Come on, Rose! We can-"

"-No." She said firmly, not letting him complete that sentence. She had lately got used to knowing what he was going to say. "We're not taking a ride in the TARDIS, you'll land us in the wrong date again. I'm staying right here."

He pouted, not willing to risk that himself. "At least we can do something interesting while we're here. Come on, Rose!" His voice bordered on whining, a tone that usually melted her heart. Usually, not this time, he wouldn't. "Just because we don't have dates, doesn't mean we need to sulk. Let's take a tour of the town, have some chips, maybe banana pancakes for me, shall we?"

A smile lit up her face, her tongue caressing her teeth, as she suddenly felt giddy inside. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"It was probably nothing, but it felt like the world."

There was no shame in admitting that she was upset with the way things went with her alternate universe parents. There was no need to admit it out loud though. As daft and clueless as he was at picking up social cues, the Doctor could tell when Rose was upset, just by looking at her- the spark missing from her eyes, her lips lacking that soothing smile, and her shoulder drooping like it was trying to drag her down to the ground. When Rose Tyler was upset, the most oblivious bloke in the universe just knew.

And he knew simple ice-cream and chips wasn't going to do the job, not this time. She needed to see the woman who was committed to driving him insane, needed to know she was alright and she loved her. So he had taken her home, and she had yanked him up with her to her flat, grateful that he didn't protest and beg her to let him leave after tea like he usually did. She needed him there with her too, she needed to know that he was alright and he was with her. She needed his hand in hers to know that everything was going to be just fine.

"Gather me when I fall apart."

"Y'know, when I'm old and withering, I can't run like this." Rose stated, panting in the console room of the TARDIS. They had just escaped with their lives again, and she still couldn't stop laughing.

"Rubbish!" He wagged his index finger at her playfully. "You are an excellent runner, Rose Tyler. I'll have you know you can win the one-meter marathon at Videroudium planet."

"Human here, hello?" She said, smiling. "Bet you ten quids I'd get arthritis when I'm old. You've seen mum."

He vaguely recalled Jackie complaining about her legs, and shrugged. "I'll sonic it away."

"Hold on." Realization dawned on her then. "Is that what you've been doing to mum? Is this the cure that she keeps hush-hush?"

He yanked at his right ear, looking down at the ground, like it was not a wonderful thing that he was doing for her mother but a very evil stint instead. "Wellll..."

So they were finally getting along? "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess it slipped my mind?" He offered her a lopsided grip.

"At what age do Time Lords get dementia, again?" She teased.

"I'll have you know that Time Lords don't get dementia." He frowned in mock offense, "Well, some do when they look at the time vortex, although it's not called dementia, it's a- but the point is, I won't. Not now, not in sixty years. You'll see."

"Ten quids?"

"Twenty."

"You're on."

"What was that thing that could make two people promise one another

to spend every day of the rest of their lives together?

Ah, I found it. It was a thing called love.

A small simple word."

Damsel in distress wasn't one of the things that she particularly wanted to be, and he had assured her that they were more like Bonnie and Clyde. Yet, here they were. She had wandered off. Again. Against his hundred requests not to. And she had ended up captive. Again. In the home of... whatever.

"I never thought you like blindfolds." She heard a familiar voice whisper in her ears, and even with her eyes closed, she could just see the smug grin that she knew was on his face.

"You think about my kinks over breakfast then?" She shot back, wriggling her wrists in the handcuffs to get his attention to them instead of the ankles that he was focused on untying.

He clicked his tongue, a sound that was supposed to be annoying and not at all seductive like it sounded. She heard his sonic whirl, and soon she was free. She took off the blindfold and saw him grinning at her, arms open. She grinned back, hugging him tightly.

"Alright then", he mumbled into her hair, his lips ghosting her ear. "Beam us up, Scotty!"

She was kind of worried that the laughter erupting out of her lungs might have alerted whatever alien was around. But hey, they could always run!

"Why should she be unhappy? She had a right to happiness.

He would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms.

He would save her."

She saw the guilt written all over his face. "I couldn't help those Oods."

She ruffled his hair, and for once he didn't protest about how she was messing up his hair style to hide how he secretly loved this. "You will next time, I promise."

"So many deaths, Rose. There's always deaths around me." He almost shuddered as he whispered the words, and she could tell that he was thinking about the Time Wars again.

"You say there isn't a higher authority, it stops with you? Well, guess what, Doctor? There is one. Fate. There's nothing you and I can do about it. But we do save whom we can, isn't that enough for most days? You're brilliant, you know that right?" And she went for the age old clichéd line. "Even the moon has stains on its face."

"Welllll", he offered her a guilty grin. "Yeah, no, that was me. A run in with the Judoons a long time back. They always take things to the moon. Judoon buffoon, upon the moon. They were going to execute everyone for harbouring a fugitive. Good thing I stopped them in time."

"See, right there?" She said, poking him lightly in the shoulder. "You are brilliant."

"Even at your worst, you are incredible."

A/N: I hope you liked this :D Reviews make me a very happy pink and yellow human. :D :)