A/N: I don't own Doctor Who. This follows my other story, My Own Me.
David stood at the front of the church, his single heart seemingly trying to beat its way out of his chest. He was waiting- within as hours time he would be someone's husband. If you would have asked him way back on that beach- almost a year ago now- he would have told you it would have been Rose who was about to walk down that aisle.
But as he and his Time Lord counterpart knew all too well, time changes and touches all things. Time had made him into the man who was standing her now. And time had brought him Elizabeth. It was she that would walk down that aisle and she who had burned herself forever into his heart.
He swallowed hard, and looked out into the crowd of people. It was mostly friends from Torchwood, but the entire Tyler family occupied the front row. He met Rose's eye and she smile a warm smile at him. He tried hard to smile back, but he was too nervous.
Not about taking this step, it wasn't that. He had known that he had wanted to marry her long before he proposed, but that still didn't calm his nerves. He worried he couldn't be everything that she needed, that she deserved more than him, but she hadn't ever given him any indication that she felt that way.
She had never once made him feel like he wasn't good enough, and that was something that he would never stop being thankful for. When he had become human, when he had realized that he was only a human, with one heart, and one fragile body he had felt so much less than the other version of him.
And then he had been left here with Rose, and he thought that maybe that was all okay. But then she wanted to wait, and she wasn't sure how she felt about him. It had, of course, worked out for the very best, but he still had his insecurities.
He thought of Rose, which made him think of Elizabeth again. His Elizabeth, who had understood why he wanted to get Rose back to the TARDIS, and stood by his side to try to make it happen. They had spent evening and weekends, and just about every spare second working on that gift for Rose.
First there were the many weeks of calculations, and then they actually began to build. And it hadn't been easy, and there was a lot of stress, and he knew there were times when Elizabeth would have loved for it to just be the two of them.
Yet, she stayed, through it all. Even when the numbers didn't work, and he had all but given up hope. She had run number after number, and it had been her that had finally come up with the solution. If Rose had anyone to thank, he didn't think that it was him.
He loved Elizabeth like he didn't know he was capable of loving, and it wasn't just because she was the smartest human he thought he had ever met. Thought that didn't hurt.
He heard the music start, and then it was time. She appeared, in a white dress and looking like a picture of an angel, and he was so glad to be human. It might have been one life, but it was one life with her. And that made all the difference.
DW
The Doctor closed his eyes, and listened to the familiar comforting hum of his TARDIS. It was the only thing he had left to draw comfort from these days. Donna was at home, safe, but lost to him. He missed her terribly, especially in the moments like these. Moments when the quiet became close to unbearably.
He stood by his decision to leave Rose with his duplicate. Even if it had ripped out his beating hearts, and they had fallen to the sand on that cold, cold, beach. It was fitting that he left them with her, they had always been hers, after all.
He hoped they were happy, that they found what he knew that he couldn't offer Rose. He hoped they had a lifetime of love and laughter, and love. Even if it was killing him, he hoped.
The hum in the TARDIS changed pitch, and he dragged his eyelids up. He knew that the painful line of thinking was only going to hurt, but what else did he have apart from those memories. He had his memories, and the TARDIS, that was it.
He was in the library now, he spent much of his time her in front of the fire, because he refused to go to his bedroom. He needed sleep, badly. For all his bragging about superior biology he was pushing his limits at the moment.
But he couldn't control his dreams. Even if by some mercy he didn't dream nightmares- if somehow they were dreams of precious moments with someone he loved- then he instead woke to the nightmare.
So, despite the ever growing need, he was fighting. That was him though. Always fighting.
DW
Rose sat and watched David take his first dance with his new wife Elizabeth. She was far past the point in her life where she could be bothered to be jealous for someone she had no claim on. The only thing that she could think about looking at them now was that she hoped that he was happy.
She hoped that she hadn't hurt him by not thinking of him as the Doctor. She had tried, she really had, and if they hadn't been abducted then maybe something would be different…but she doubted it. She knew that there were probably people here who thought poorly of her- the ones who knew the truth- but she had finally been able to make her family see.
She loved David, but it just wasn't the same. It would be like asking someone to look at the image of the person that had stolen their heart every day, but to know that the man underneath wasn't him. Still, it was better this way.
Elizabeth was super nice, and she was a genius as well. She would be more than enough to challenge David in his life, and she seemed to love him completely. Even if Rose was thankful that she was helping him with their little project, she really did like Elizabeth.
The girl was funny and easy going, and despite being so smart she had managed to learn how to say things without talking down to people. She seemed to be a good influence for the part Time Lord.
Their song ended, and he gave her a long kiss. Rose might not have been jealous but it did make her think of her Doctor, and how she missed him. David had kept her up to date on his work, on what he called the Dimensional Teleport.
The technical part of it was above her head, but she trusted him, and if he said it would work she would believe him.
Elizabeth was suddenly before her, pretty cheeks flushed with pink, and holding out her hand.
"Come on, Rose," she said, laughing lightly.
Rose smiled and took her hand. She had been thinking a lot about how she was going to miss Elizabeth and David. She had often wondered if they could come too, or if it would only work for one. Also she didn't know if they would want to come, they too had made a life here.
Rose danced and laughed, with several people and in groups, At another slow song, she felt David step up behind him.
She smelled him first, and it brought a tear to her eye. He smelled like her Doctor, only different as well. It seemed as though everything about him stirred up some memory though, and that wasn't fair to anyone.
"May I have this dance?" he asked- the picture of a gentleman.
She looked up into his warm eyes, and nodded. He took her hand into his and they swayed to the music.
"Are you all right?" he asked her, gently.
She nodded, her head against his chest. Soon, she would be home. For now, this was pretty good.
