Rose walked in the bitterly cold Norwegian night air down to the beach. She was rugged up in wrap cardigan and her warmest trackpants. For now the tears had run dry. She seemed to have forgotten how to sleep in the last three days. Everyday she would sit in her hotel room, refusing food and watching "An affair to Remember" over and over again. For two hours she could immerse herself in the incredibly clichéd life of Deborah Kerr and cry when she saw Cary Grant waiting at the top of the Empire State Building. But as much as she tried to block it out with "winter must be so cold for those with no warm memories", she could not get out of her head each word that he had said as he stood just out of reach on that beach, telling her goodbye, running out of time. And so Rose found herself sitting on the white sand, watching the small waves crash onto the shores of Bad Wolf Bay, tears running freely down her cheek, wishing she was Deborah Kerr. And then as if all the tears were her energy, she began suddenly tired and she lay down on the cold sand, and slowly closed her eyes.
And then she was on a beach, standing up and walking. But it was not the same sand that she had just laid down on. It was warm on her bare feet and the waves were not small but 100 feet high and did not crash down but simply stood there as if suspended in time.
And then someone took her hand.
And she looked around to see who it was, surprised. There stood a thin man in a suit, a swirled tie and a trenchcoat, oddly but nicely contrasted with red and white converse sneakers. He grinned.
"How…but…why…I thought I'd lost you", said Rose, sobbing and she pulled him into a hug, tears falling onto his trenchcoat as she held tightly to him. "Oh Doctor".
Finally she let him go and looked up at him to see tears running down his own face.
"You know, I've never seen you cry before", Rose whispered as she reached up to wipe the tears from his with her thumb.
She took his hand and, reeling at his touch, walked with him down the beach in silence.
Except…
Something felt different, wrong, not complete.
He was there, her Doctor was there and she could hold his hand and hug him, but something was not right.
His hand did not feel as warm and inviting as she had once known. His smile and his hug, although the same as she remembered, felt hollow and when she had brought her hand up to his cheek to wipe away those tears, his face felt burning hot. Rose knew that this was a contorted, bastardised version of her Doctor, but she could not complain, because he was there, with the same expressions and mad grins and little quirks. So she ignored it and, sneaking a peek at the Doctor, she smiled to convince her self and kept walking with him.
They reached a side of the beach where there were hundreds of rocks all bunched together. Rose could see some writing on one of them and walked up to the rock to inspect it, she turned around to see the Doctor smiling.
"I wrote that...for you", he said. "Last time we were here. You were asleep in the TARDIS and I snuck out and wrote it.
Sure enough, when Rose looked at the bottom of the writing it was signed, 'Love the Doctor, 2005'. she went closer to read the inscription carved into the rock.
BAD WOLF
Just kidding!
I love you always my Rose.
Love the Doctor
2005
Rose could feel the tears threatening to overcome her again, but for all the wrong reasons. She turned to the Doctor, wiping her eyes hastily and said reluctantly,
"Thankyou...but...it's not real...is it...all of this?" and she gestured to the beach around her.
Slowly, the Doctor shook his head.
"And it's just a dream, isn't it?"
He nodded.
"And I'm about to wake up, aren't I?"
"Yes"
Rose nodded and, letting the tears fall freely now, walked up to the Doctor and kissed him lightly on the forehead. And then she prepared to wake up, to jerk back into that life without the Doctor. Suddenly, the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and said,
"Everything will be fine, Rose...I promise you..." and he let go as she looked at the Doctor through her tears and woke up.
There she was again, on the Norwegian beach, with white sand and crashing waves. But it was not cold. Rose felt a strange warmth next to her and, sensing someone's presence, turned to loo who it was, fully expecting it to be Mickey, wondering where she was.
But it was not Mickey...lying next to her, smiling madly...was her man in his pinstriped suit, trenchcoat and oddly but nicely contrasting converse sneakers.
He took her hand...and it felt real...right...complete.
Rose simply smiled a smile to match his, got up with him and walked with him to the TARDIS.
In the hotel room Jackie heard an oddly familiar sound, smiled to herself and turned over to go to sleep, knowing she was safe and happy.
Rose and the Doctor stood in the middle of the room, the Doctor holding her hands in his and he whispered through the sound that Rose had mised so dearly,
"I love you always, my Rose"
Fin