Author's Note: When ideas come to me, they flourish so I write them. AU in which Eleven comes to check on Rose one last time before regenerating, disguised as a shopkeeper. Actually based on an au meme I found on tumblr. Uh I hope you enjoy this, I don't own Who and have a good day.
He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to regenerate again. After all, maybe he had lived the duration of his life. No one was meant to live forever, and the toll of age was settling in to his bones.
So, when the Doctor could feel the end nearing, he found a way to say his goodbyes in a way that no one would suspect. After all of them were done, after he saw the people who were forever imprinted in to his memories, he realized that there was one last goodbye he would have to make.
He couldn't die without saying good bye to Rose.
He'd transported to the alternate universe on a Thursday. At least, he though it was a Thursday. He traveled around aimlessly, unfamiliar to everyone in that universe. He was safe from someone recognizing him here.
He'd been wandering through a small knick knack store when he heard the front bell to it ring. Glancing up from the shelves he was admiring, a familiar face entered the store.
Rose.
He debated whether or not to actually talk to her. Though he planned on at least seeing her again, he hadn't decided whether or not to speak to her. Would she be able to tell who he was if he did? He didn't ache for her like he had before, when he had been her Doctor, but one never really forgets the people who have influenced them, and he spent a whole life on her.
She was one of two people that he really felt that way about.
He let out a sigh.
"Can I help you miss?" The voice rang from across the shop, coming from a well-dressed man in a black suit with his hands held together behind his back as he approached the blonde. She was currently the only customer in the store, and was gazing idly around at all the wares. Unsure of what to get, the man assumed. It caught the young woman's attention, and she spun around slowly to face the shopkeeper.
The turn revealed something that he hadn't expected. Not the face, of course. She was as beautiful as the day he'd met her. She'd gotten a hair cut, probably recently giving the lack of length in her blonde hair. She looked wide awake and fresh, read to face the day and anything that would come at her. A yellow shirt, a-
His eyes fell to the bump beginning to protrude from her stomach.
She was pregnant, far enough along for others to be able to tell. It wasn't his, not really, despite its genetics, but that caused the Doctor's breath to catch for a moment.
Good for her.
"Yeah, I need a present. I hope you can help me, Mr. Smith." She paused before saying his name, stopping to take a glance at his name tag. Mr. Smith. That brought a light smile to the blonde's face, as her husband's last name was Smith. Or, at least, the name he went by when a human name was required. Her last name was Smith.
"Boyfriend? Husband?" Me. Kind of. He kept that line to himself, glancing down at her with greenish blue eyes. She was happy here, she was living her life and she was safe and she was happy.
From the start, that was all he had wanted for her. Even more than having her around, it was to have her safe and happy.
"Husband, it's our one year." She gave a love-struck little smile to him, and he returned the smile as he walked casually around the store.
She was safe and she was happy and she was married and she was pregnant. She was living a normal life. As normal as a life for Rose Tyler could be, hunting aliens with Torchwood or whatever she was doing at this point in her life.
Would she be on maternity leave? Saving the world with a baby wouldn't be the easiest thing, but Rose wasn't known for doing the easiest thing.
'Suppose you want dishes or something." The man pointed out shelves upon shelves of dishes, the main thing that the store had in stock,
"No. He's ah... Unique." She let out a small chuckle and shook her head, a smile still lighting up her face. When she bit her lip, the man before her continued.
"How about something that goes ding?" He suggested this time, his expression lighting up as he dashed his way to the other side of the store and tapped the top of bell on the front desk twice. With a grin, he placed it on the palm of his hand and raised it towards her.
"That be perfect." She let out a laugh as she reached forward and tapped the dinger on the bell as well. There was a quick moment of quiet before she continued, her gaze thoughtful. "You remind me of him."
"Just a coincidence, I'm sure," the Doctor stated, his smile reducing to a half-smile as she said that. "Now, how does this look Ms...?"
"Rose. Rose Smith," she stated, exhaling as she stated her last name. She glanced up at the man before her with her thumbs resting in the pockets of her jeans. "That looks great."
Oh, Rose.
He would be able to leave peacefully knowing that all was well.