Snow Day

"It's snowing."

"Yeah, it is. What? Didn't think the good old Milky Way was the only galaxy that got a bit of seasonal precipitation, did you?"

"Well, no. It's just been a while. Traveling around time and the universe and all that. When we were young we used to pray for the snow to come so that we could stay home from school and play in it all day."

"Really? You wanted to skip school?"

"Hated it. I took every chance I had to skip."

"Sounds like a waste of time to me." The Doctor froze than turned when he felt something a bit cold hit him square on the back of his coat. "What?"

His query was met with the giggle of a mischievous blonde holding another ball of snow in her hand.

"What was that for?"

Rose frowned. "What do ya think it was for? It was a snowball. As in a snowball fight."

"Never had one."

"Nine hundred years, and you've never thrown a snowball?"

He shrugged as he kept walking. "Don't see the point. Doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Bit like dancing, really. Some things don't have to have a point, they just are."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, as if considering the impact of her words. Then his demeanor returned to that exuberance he always displayed in these adventures as he quickly changed the subject. "Come on, then, we're going to miss the-"

The rest of the sentence as well as his breath as he was knocked square in the back by a snowball from Rose, who was watching him with an impish grin.

Seemingly without thought, the Doctor rapidly formed his own ball of snow and launched it with a deadly accuracy that was only avoided because Rose was prepared.

"Now you've got it," she said, laughing as she tossed another that fell slightly short of its target.

The Doctor launched a return that just barely swiped the back of her coat; Rose's response was a larger ball of snow that narrowly missed his head and hit the TARDIS behind him.

"That's a low blow, Rose Tyler. A very low blow." His growing amusement and enjoyment [rw couldn't be hidden by the stern tone he attempted to use. "You hit my TARDIS!" He turned his back to gently wipe off the snow with the back of his hand before returning the faux glare on Rose. "You hit my TARDIS! Why would you do such a thing?"

"What are you going to do about it, Mr. Lord of Time?" Her teasing tone was accompanied by an inviting grin that he simply couldn't resist.

"Well, first of all, I'm going to get you back."

"I'd like to see you-" she began, hands on her hips in challenge.

Ready for battle with a good-sized snowball in each hands, he left his defense of the TARDIS to run toward her. Rose responded by turning and running away with a shriek of surprise and fake fear that the Time Lord found all too endearing. Because of a lack of motivation not to get caught on Rose's part, the chase ended quickly as she found herself trapped against the side of the TARDIS.

"You got me," Rose said breathlessly.

The Doctor was breathing harder from the run himself. "Guess I did," he replied unnecessarily, and then there was the briefest moment when only their frosted breaths broke the quiet. "You...have a bit of snow-" As they both suddenly realized how close they were, he rather awkwardly reached up to brush an insignificant piece of snow off a strand of her hair as a distraction.

"Thanks." Rose breathed with a light giggle as the Doctor realized his misjudgment--it was far too easy, too natural for his hand to make the slight adjustment from that single strand to the back of her head. His own head moved closer as he instinctively pulled her closer. Rose's eyes were closed in anticipation when he suddenly let her go, stepping backward.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. It just...it isn't a good idea." The Doctor said uncomfortably.

"I know."

"Sorry," he offered again, and Rose decided at that moment, it was her very least favorite word.

"No, I know, it's okay."

"We just can't do this--there isn't a point. Eventually-" The Time Lord was desperate to explain, desperate for her to understand. It was just better this way, for both their sakes.

"Yeah, I got it. Eventually you'll have to drop me for someone younger who can still keep up with you. I'm just temporary company."

The Doctor winced at the bitterness of her tone, the pain of his remorse intensified because he was the cause of it. "No, I wouldn't- Rose. You have to understand--You have to know...that you're more-"

"Come on, we're going to miss your bloody eclipse." She headed off in the direction they had originally been going, her strides both purposeful and angry.

The Doctor jogged to reach her side, taking her arm to hold her back. "Wait, Rose, it can wait." Her took her by the shoulders, meeting her eyes with his own. "It can wait. Besides, we can always jump in the TARDIS and come back to see it again." It was just his way, he always seemed to have to lighten serious situations with his often dry sense of humor.

"What's the point? I mean, it's like you said. Eventually-"

Again, he took her arm, more gently but with more determination. "Some things don't have to have a point. They just are." This time, not even history's most cataclysmic eclipse could end that kiss early.