[[So I wrote this for a chapter of my bigger fic, but I thought I'd post it separately for anyone who just wanted to enjoy a little Eleven/Rose one shot. Not an original idea - I've seen lots of fics with Eleven and Rose meeting during her dimension cannon jumps. I just couldn't resist doing my own version with some Glenn Miller because I love parallels. Review, favourite, , etc...but mostly enjoy! (: This is the version of the song I was listening to when writing this, btw, if you want to pull it up while you read. watch?v=J9LJUCPZojM ]]
She'd encountered him, the actual him, once during her trial and error period before she got to the right place. They'd finally been able to focus it in on the right parallel world, but were having less luck pinpointing the right time. It'd been in an American nightclub in the 1940's and she'd been vastly underdressed. The cannon wasn't set to take her back for fifteen minutes still and she'd resigned herself to being a wallflower watching the ladies twirl in their big skirts. Then she'd seen him. He'd been staring for at least five minutes before she'd returned his gaze. He too was a bit strangely dressed and had taken to observing rather than engaging. His mouth was slightly agape and he didn't avert his eyes when she met them. It had taken less than a proper second for her to realize it was him. His face was different and though he'd taken the appearance of a younger man, he looked so ancient. He'd looked so much older, in fact, that she'd assumed he was hundreds of years ahead and their time together had come and passed naturally. She met him on the dance floor, ignoring the glares of the locals. The band had gone soft as though following some hidden cue and the tune of "At Last" became familiar to her ears.
"May I have this dance?"
She replied by placing her hand in his and letting him wrap his other around her waist.
"You're old." She'd resorted to stating the obvious to avoid the more prominent questions twisting in her gut.
"Yes. Rose Tyler, the master of deduction. I'm quite old." He was sarcastic but there was the evidence of a smile on the corners of his lips.
"You know what I mean. Your face has changed again. Bit of a chin on this one." Her own smile crept up on her.
His hand left her hip to grab at the aforementioned flaw and the smirk left his mouth to form a frown. "What's wrong with my chin?"
"Nothing," she answered with a chuckle. "Still handsome as ever."
At last, my love has come along. My lonely days are over and life is like a song.
He pulled her closer, his arm finding its place back in the crook of her back. "Glenn Miller," he remarked casually.
"Glenn Miller is here?" Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead in delight.
"No, no, it's December 1942. He's off trying to join the war effort in Montgomery. But this is his song. Number nine on the charts right now. Quite impressive. Funny that I should find you here with this melody as the background of our liaison." Their minds travelled in unison back to the TARDIS, after visiting London 1941 and rescuing Jack from blowing himself up, "In the Mood" blaring over the speakers and as he spun her around the control room.
"Yeah, funny. Are you here alone?" She hadn't seen him look towards anyone but her since she stepped into the club but she wasn't proud enough to think that meant he hadn't replaced her.
"Yes. Just me and the TARDIS for now."
She wanted to ask him why. She wanted to ask just how old he was. She wanted to ask so many questions. Some answers were obvious: she now knew that she'd find him and they'd save the multiverse considering he lived long enough to change again. She knew that they weren't together at this point in his life if he was here on his own. "How long's it been since you've seen me?" She knew she was crossing a line that she oughtn't but his eyes were just so despondent, his touch so hungry for her…
"Don't ask me that, Rose."
I found a dream that I can speak to; a dream that I can call my own.
She rested her head on his shoulder, closing any remaining space between them and they swayed together as one. She felt a drop of moisture fall onto her hair. She lifted her eyes to see the trail of a tear down his cheek. "Doctor…"
"Oh, it's no matter. Before the song ends, though, I just want to tell you one thing. One thing I meant to tell you so long ago. Something I should have said to you every day I had you. No, don't interrupt, it's rude. I love you, Rose Tyler. I know you knew it all along, but now it's been said out loud for all the cosmos to hear. You don't need to say it back, you don't owe me that. You've always been more gracious with your words than I have. Now, let's just dance and enjoy ourselves."
She swallowed hard and nodded in reply. Her head fell back to its previous position and their bodies undulated in harmony for the remainder of the song. As the last line was sung, he cupped her chin and brought her lips to his. It was not desperate, as she had expected, nor passionately like he'd done before. It was the kind of gentle kiss you give someone you've loved all your life. She was growing confident that she was destined to spend out the rest of her days with the Doctor telling her he loved her a bit too sparsely while heated, stolen kisses grew into soft, familiar ones and her chest grew warm with contentment.
And here we are in Heaven for you are mine at last.
She nearly didn't hear her watch beep as the audience broke out into applause. 5:00.
"Your time is almost up." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah, five minutes."
"I suppose we ought to make it a fantastic five minutes then."
A goofy grin took over his face, not tight-lipped like her first Doctor's and not toothy like her second's, but childish in nature. She'd almost call it innocent if she didn't recognize the loneliness it hid. He immediately dipped her as an upbeat song began and they both forgot that they only had approximately 280 more seconds together. She laughed heartily as they twirled in circles around the other couples, attracting even more stares as they went along.
The song ended and another high-pitched chime came from her wrist.
"Thirty seconds."
He tried to smile again but this one wasn't as convincing.
"Don't worry, I'll be seeing you real soon. In a way." Her tone had been sincere and playful. Her spirits had been lifted. All her doubts surrounding seeing the Doctor again, her Doctor, had been washed away in this magical quarter of an hour. She was looking forward to living all the new memories this older Doctor had of the pair of them. Perhaps she'd even get to meet this regeneration in its novice years.
"Yes, soon. I'm so very glad I got to spend this evening with you." She'd ignored the heaviness in his voice, mistaking it as a consequence of his age.
"Yeah, it was nice, wasn't it." The two grinned in silence at one another for a moment, studying each other's faces one last time.
"Goodbye, Rose Tyler." He'd said her name so many times in their short time together, like a reformed alcoholic having his first sip of wine in ages, savouring its forgotten taste on his tongue.
"Goodbye, Doctor. Oh! I nearly forgot! I'm digging the bowtie."
She faintly heard him mutter "Bowties are cool," in a dejected tone as the scenery around her faded and she woke up in the frigid Torchwood warehouse again.