Run
"... full of blood, anger and revenge."
The sound of the beach and the waves seemed to be so distant as she took in each word the Time Lord said. Rose Tyler was so happy, overjoyed to see him again, but... the reunion she had in mind wasn't playing out as she expected to.
"Remind you of someone? That's me when we first met."
Closing her eyes, it appeared that she was going to die literally by the hand of a living mannequin. And her last words weren't very dignified. Her life seemed to flash before her very eyes, until...
A warm hand overlapped her own against the wall, and she glanced into the eyes of a complete stranger.
A single word left out of his mouth.
"Run…!"
His face was so different.
But the memories and hint of recognition from his person were the same. It didn't matter if he regenerated a hundred, a thousand more times. It didn't matter if he wasn't the same when she first met him.
She just needed him.
She visited so many planets and parallel universes for him. To feel him, to see him... Travel again with him at his side and have so many more adventures. The time for it to come to an end came sooner than she expected, and it devastated her. The moment a window of opportunity opened to see him one more time, she immediately jumped out of it, and here she was. Only a foot away from him, yet... why did it feel like they were miles apart?
Why didn't he smile? Why wasn't he happy? Why wasn't he holding her?
More words left the Doctor's lips.
"And you made me better. Now you can do the same for him."
'Him'?
He wasn't the Time Lord, he wasn't the Doctor. He was only a carbon copy.
Who corrected her every time she was wrong? Who saved her life more than once every time they were in moral peril? Who showed and shared with her literally the entire universe?
Why was he doing this to her?
She felt her eyes growing heavy, and she could hear herself speak, almost quivering.
"But he's not you."
"Before I go, I just want to tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic! And you know what? So was I."
"He needs you. That's very me."
She let him escape from her once... She wasn't going to let him slip away again. But he always kept running away from her grasp, just about when she almost had him.
"Run...!"
And he was always going to keep running.