"Doctor, are you ok? Doctor?" Amy Pond pulled on the eleventh doctor's deep brown tweed jacket. The couple had just stepped out of the TARDIS and into modern day London, exact date, unknown. "This place, it looks a little different don't you think doctor?" Amy's voice brought the time traveler back to Earth. "What do you mean? Different?" The doctor looked around, this London was cleaner. There was no trash on the pavement and recyclable boxes were on every corner. The cars were all sliver, and all one brand. Something wasn't right here. Leaving the TARDIS surrounded by a few blooming dogwoods in the back of a small park, the Doctor walked towards the exit, hoping to get a better understanding of this London. The first person The Doctor saw was a boy reading a book by a small pond. "I'm sorry to interrupt your reading, but can you tell me the date." The Doctor asked the child. Amy, who had caught up with the Doctor wondered what he was up too. "You don't know the date? Even I know that, and I'm ten. It's March fifth two thousand and seven. The boy answered, putting his book down and turning to the strangers. Amy could see the wheels turning in the Doctor's head. He was trying to figure out if this date was important. The doctor slowly nodded and patted the boy, thanking him. "Come along Pond," He said turning from the boy. "This isn't Earth's London."
Amy, who had only been the doctor's companion for a shot time didn't have a clue what the eleventh Doctor meant. "Is it Mars's London?" She joked. The two were walking back to the TARDIS, back through the park. Pass another pond, and a couple holding hands lying on a blanket. "No, No one is to land on Mars for years, how would they already have a London if no human is on the planet? All the cars are the same, it's clean and there are no beggars." Amy rolled her eyes. "So then which London are we in?" The two had arrived back at the TARDIS. The doctor, pulling his key out of his jacket pocket, looked around the park. It was hard to see much from where they were hidden among the trees. Just to the left of the TARDIS's parking spot, you could see a giant water fountain. The display was surrounded by benches, all but one empty. The doctor kept his eyes locked on that bench, and Amy followed his line of vision. "That woman looks so alone."
The Doctor whispered sadly. Amy nodded, studying the stranger. The Time Lord had a look on his face Amy had never seen before. He looked like a little boy, who just saw is dog die or a parent whose child went off to war. His eyes were starting to sparkle with tears, another thing that Amy had never seen the doctor do. This woman he was looking at must have been special, he must have known her. "Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked again, wanting answers. Deep down the Doctor was starting to scare her. He didn't joke, didn't wave his sonic screwdriver, and didn't even talk. The man turned to Amy, finally taking his eyes off the woman sitting by the fountain. "We're in a parallel world. I have no clue how we got here. It should have been impossible. I closed the door to it last time." When the doctor spoke, he talked slow, and sad. The Doctor turned back to the lady. The woman's back was to the travelers and the only thing to be seen was her hair. "Do you want to go talk to her or leave or I don't know, Doctor, are you even listening to me?" The Doctor looked back at Amy, "no, no. We should leave. She won't know who I am." But the eleventh Doctor stayed where he was. His shoes glued to the green grass below. Amy nodded and stepped up to the TARDIS's blue doors. "Amy," The doctor's voice called from behind. This time his voice rang with a peppier sound. He sounded almost happy. "Why don't we go say hello?"
Amy knew this woman, whoever she was, was important to the Doctor's past. Or future. Or something along that line. She knew the Doctor wanted to talk to her. The ginger shook her curls. "I have to call Rory, he's might be starting to worry about us." The Doctor nodded, "You go talk to her and I'll stay in the TARDIS. Just come back when you're done." She finished, getting the keys out of the Doctor's open palm. The Doctor smiled a halfhearted smile as Amy walked into the time machine. Amy Pond. She was a great companion; smart and brave, plus she was ginger. But she wasn't Rose. The doctor walked into the clearing, up to the bench. The woman didn't hear him until he got close. She looked up startled. Just her face brought everything back. Rose, it was his Rose. Just as the Doctor remembered her. Her blonde hair was tugged behind her left ear. She did that when they traveled together. The doctor blinked a few times. "Can I help you sir?" Rose asked. Just her voice was too much to take. All the places they went, all the history they rewrote or the future they saved. Rose was the one who changed him. She let him see there was a way to see others in a new light. She had made him better. She didn't know who he was. This man in front of her was a stranger. "Do you mind?" He motioned to the bench. Rose moved to the right, letting him sit. He had no idea what to say, but he wanted to talk to her. to see her smile, hear her voice. "Waiting for someone?" Well that's one way of starting a conversation. "You could say that." Rose answered, studying this stranger in a bowtie. "Oh, will they be here soon. I could leave if you want." He didn't want to leave. Her brown eyes turned sad and she looked into the water. "I'm waiting for someone I know isn't coming. But I wait anyway." Rose was talking about him. "What do you do?" The Doctor asked, afraid to look away from Rose in case she disappeared into air. The blonde looked back at the man sitting beside her. "I watch people go by. I wonder if they ever lost someone they cared about so much. I throw my change into the fountain; making wishes I know won't come true." The doctor gave a sad smile. "Everyone's lost someone." Rose nodded, "you've been heartbroken? I guess all humans have. That's what makes us so unique." She had changed since they first met on the real Earth. Through their adventures she had grown. She spoke strongly and deep from her heart. The doctor now nodded. "I'm lost, and I'm just waiting to be found again." The Doctor now had to look at his feet. This was too much. Why had he talked to her again, resurfacing all these old feelings?
But then she laughed, and he remembered. "My mum says I should be a poet. That I talk very odd." The Doctor looked back at her and laughed as well. That laugh made the time traveler want to do everything at once. He wanted to kiss Rose, hold her hand, make her laugh, smile. He just wanted to be with her. "I like how you talk. I had a friend that was like you." He couldn't help himself. Rose smiled. "Really?" The Doctor nodded again. It hurt him to think he had been making her cry and smile at the same time. She did the same to him. "She was one of the most wonderful people I had ever met." The Doctor didn't have a plan about where this story was going. "What happened?" Rose asked. Her eyes staring back into his own. "She- she died. It was really hard, I was with her. It was partly my fault." Rose Tyler was officially dead on the "real Earth" because she had been forced here to live out the rest of her life. The doctor reminded himself often. She was alive, but you can't see her. She wasn't dead. 'Oh, I'm sure it wasn't because of you!" Rose said grabbing the doctor's shoulder in friendly way. "I'm sure your friend enjoyed every second she got to spend with you before she died." Rose said, trying to cheer him up. If only she knew. The doctor nodded. "I enjoyed it too." The couple sat there for a second quietly looking at the park.
The doctor knew he had to be going, Amy was alone and planets needed saving. The Doctor hated to leave, knowing he would never see Rose again. But Rose would see him soon and get ten's clone. She would live a long happy life with him, but he never got her. The doctor stood, "I better got going. I'm a little far off from home." Rose stood too, "yeah, me too. I have to get back to the shop." The Doctor smiled. She still worked at the shop. "It was great talking to you Rose." He did it now. One slip of the tongue and he had blew it all. Rose.
The best name in the world. The name was still in his mouth. He hadn't said that name in ages, but he never forgot. Rose's eyes got big. "I never told you my name." the eleventh Doctor fought to tell her more. He had to leave, now. The doctor turned to leave. "How did you know my name?" Rose demanded. The doctor stopped walking. He should have kept going. He could have run to the TARDIS and she would never know. Fly to a different time and forget this encounter. But he had to get one more look at her face. One more, that's all he wanted. He needed to move on, just make Rose another companion. But she was so much more. His hands were shoved in his tweed jacket, his red bowtie was on straight, and his brown hair was combed over just right. He was the eleventh doctor now, he had changed. She wouldn't know who he was. He was just some stranger who called her by name. Humans do that, right? He should have kept walking, but she spoke. Her voice called out.
It sounded sad, like she was crying. She sounded like a child. "Doctor?" He should have kept walking, away from Rose and her question. But he turned around. The Doctor looked at Rose, her eyes glancing over the Doctor. Rose looked the same as when he left her on the beach. He couldn't do that again. Rose was crying. The Doctor always hated to see her cry. He turned back away. Rose couldn't ask any more questions. As much as it killed him, he had to do it. He ran. The doctor always ran when he wanted to avoid something. He could hear her calling after him. He couldn't turn back around. The Doctor ran to the TARDIS, Rose right behind him. He opened the door, and stepped inside the police box. But not before he heard one more "Doctor." it was a weak one, not like the rest. It sounded as if she knew he wouldn't turn around, but she wanted him to hear her. She wanted the last thing for him to know as he left was that she was still here. She was on the other side of the wall. The last time he would hear her voice was of her begging for him. To come back for her, just this one last time. They could have more adventures together. Forever, like she promised. He had to keep going. When he shut the door, it blocked out all of her calls. But he could still hear Rose calling out that last one. He won't forget that one anytime soon.
The doctor started the machine and bent over the controls, taking deep breaths. "You ok Doctor?" Amy asked, coming out of the shadows. The Doctor walked to the doors as the TARDIS started to move. "I honestly don't know any more Amy. I honestly don't know." Amy sat on the steps, watching the Doctor cry. This was harder than when he said goodbye on the beach, this time he had a choice. It took all he had not to reopen the doors and run into Rose's arms. He stood there knowing Rose was on the other side, crying. He knew she was yelling at an empty space in a park in another universe telling him to come back. People walking by might have thought she was crazy, but no one would stop and ask what was wrong. She was just lost, waiting to be found.