Rose Tyler idly brushed her hair in her flat. Outside, it was pouring rain, and it patttered loudly against the pane.
Today marked that it had been three hundred and twenty two years since her Mum died. Three hundred and twenty six since her Dad died. And finally, three hundred and nineteen years since John died. She had taken her TARDIS away from London, away from the tears and the memories.
It had been three hundred and nine years since she realized that she was a Time Lady. It had happened on a sunny day, when the doctor came out of her Mum's labor room and said she was alright. Rose had pressed her hand to her chest in relief, and felt the strange heartbeats there. She had two hearts. It was Bad Wolf, the Time Vortex that had done this.
She sat down in the captain's chair, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes. She had regenerated when she stopped a single Dalek from turning human hybrids into more Daleks. It had shot her, and here she was. Rose had looked into mirror and saw she had long dark hair that went just past her shoulders, light green eyes, pale skin, and a thinner body. Her tastes had varied. Now she hated chips, and she adored Sweetarts. She hated the color pink, and seemed now to like black. Instead of her old hoodies and jeans, she wore black jeans, a slim form fitting leather jacket and black long sleeved t shirts. To most people in her parallel universe, she was known as the Maiden.
She had had two companions in the last couple of years. Ianto, a man from her Torchwood team, and Jake, who she had met on Earth, during 21st century America. They had each traveled with her around three, four years each before leaving.
Now she was alone.
Rose was thinking about maybe going to Barcelona, the planet not the city, when suddenly the TARDIS started to shake. She shot up and flew over to the controls. It stopped shaking, and seemed to have landed. She opened the door cautiously.
She was in 21st century London, but that wasn't what seemed off. It was the fact that no zeppelins were flying through the sky. She turned and went back into the TARDIS.
"Where did ya take me, old girl?" The TARDIS hummed. Rose's eyes widened.
"You sure?" She murmured. The TARDIS vibrated again. Rose nodded, and stepped out the doors into her home universe.
The Doctor had dropped off Amy and Rory for a little alone time together, promising he'd be back in two weeks.
He sighed and sat down. As soon as they had walked out the doors, he had become bored. He had contemplated dragging them back in, but had forced himself to dematerialize
The Doctor's head shot up. He had felt something in the back of his mind. A telepathic force. It had felt like... like a Time Lord. He jumped up and started to see if he could figure it out, when the TARDIS started to land. Puzzled, he waited for it to finish before opening up the doors. He peered out, and found himself faced with another TARDIS.
Rose glanced around, then looked up in shock as a wheezing filled the air.
No, it can't be... she thought.
But it was.
A man with brown hair and green eyes peered out of the doors. His eyes alighted of her TARDIS, and widened and shock.
"Doctor?' He glanced at her.
"Who are you?" She winced. Though, she knew that she had regenerated, it hurt a little bit that he didn't know her.
"I'm the Maiden. A Time Lady, a goddess on thirty two planets, and wanted on three." He gaped at her.
"A Time Lady!? But how?" She smiled, and shrugged.
"Doctor... I see you're interested in my TARDIS?"
"Yes, yes..." He replied, a vacant look in his eyes.
"Would you like to look inside?" He grinned, a full, happy grin. Oh, how she had missed that smile.
"Yes!" She unlocked the door, and led him inside. He gaped at it for a moment, but the started to frown.
"This is identical to a version I had in some of my previous incarnations." She withheld a wince. Damn, he had noticed.
"Is it? Hmmm..." Suddenly a door appeared in front of him, opened. He started into it, and wasn't until is was too late to stop him. She sent a furious glare at the pillar in front of her and followed him into her bedroom.
The Doctor stared in awe at the pillars of her TARDIS. It was the same as his TARDIS when he was in his tenth incarnation. A door opened in front of him, and he walked into it.
The walls were light gray, and the carpet was cream. Everything was rosewood, but that wasn't what caught his eye. It was the pictures. Pictures of Jackie and Pete Tyler, of him, his tenth and ninth incarnation. And Rose. Rose was in a lot of them.
He turned to the stranger, the Maiden, and demanded,
"Who are you?" She smiled sadly.
"The first word you said to me was "run". I did. We went to the end of the world, and I got trapped in a room, and almost roasted. I was so afraid. I was only nineteen, after all. I could smell my mother's perfume, and hear Mickey's voice. But you saved me. Then we saw the Gelth. We met Charles Dickens, and we went to 1941, and there were the nanogenes, and we met Captain Jack. I danced with you. Then there was Satellite Five, and I took in the heart of the TARDIS. That was what changed me to this. You regenerated, into a man with spiky brown hair and a couple of freckles. Foxy, you were. That was almost four hundred years ago." She stopped talking. There were tears falling down her cheeks.
Hardly daring to believe it was true, he opened his mouth.
"Rose?"
They rushed at each other, colliding in the center of the room.
"Rose... Rose, Rose, Rose." He murmured, stroking her hair. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't. His Rose was in his arms, and she was a Time Lady.
"Doctor," she sobbed.
Two hours later, the Doctor had Rose in his arms. She had told him everything, from John to her regeneration.
"I can't believe it. I just can't. I'm sorry about this, about what you had to go through.
"It's okay. I'm okay." They sat there for a unmeasurable amount of time, holding each other.
Over the next two weeks, Rose reverted to what she used to be like. She joked and laughed and smiled a lot more.
One morning, the Doctor was reading a book when Rose came in, her hand in the ever present box of Sweetarts.
"Do you ever put those damned candies down?' The Doctor asked irritably. She shrugged.
"Nope," she said, popping the 'P'. The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Fine. We've got to pick up Amy and Rory today." Rose grinned. She was looking forward to meeting them. Rose set the location. The TARDIS started to move. She pranced happily up to him and kissed him.
The Doctor joyfully reciprocated it. She tasted like Sweetarts.
They snogged against the console for about ten minutes.
"What the hell?" They broke apart to see a surprised Amy and Rory in the door way.
"Oops." The Doctor muttered sheepishly. Rose, however, grinned and stuck out her hand.
"Hello. I'm Rose, I'm a Time Lady, I'm precisely four hundred and nine years old, and I'm the Doctor's lover." She whispered the last word.
"Rose," the Doctor said, blushing.
Amy stared at her. She shrugged.
"S'kay. I'm Amy, that's Rory. Nice ta meetcha." Rose observed them. She turned to the Doctor.
"I've heard all about you... and you're right, Doctor. His nose is a wee bit big." Amy laughed.
"Doctor! Have you been telling stories again? Shame on you." She turned to Rose.
"You should here the rumors he's spread! Tell's people that I'm from the planet, 'Gingertopia'!" The Doctor blushed again.
"That was only that one time!" He protested.
Rose laughed.
"Yeah! Used to call me a stupid ape, he did."
"Well, looks like I shouldn't worry about the inlaws getting alone." The Doctor muttered. Amy turned to him
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" The Doctor blanched.
"N-nothing." Amy glared at him, before turning back to Rose.
"Well. It was nice to meet you, Rose."
She and Rory continued on into the TARDIS.
It had been a month since Amy and Rory had arrived back on the TARDIS. It had been the usual, fighting, running, saving, and running again.
"Let's go somewhere relaxing!" The Doctor announced one day. Amy glanced at him warily.
"Hmmm... wonder how many times I've heard that." The Doctor mock glared.
"Annnywaays, before Amy so rudely interrupted me, I think we should go to a dance." Rose perked up.
"Yes! What time period?" The Doctor shrugged.
"How about... 2033, London?" Rose nodded eagerly.
"Come on, Amy! Let's go get ready!" Amy and Rose practically ran for the wardrobe room. The Doctor sighed and headed to watch a movie. Rassilon knows how long they'd be in there for.
Two hours later, Amy stepped into the console room. She was wearing a long periwinkle dress that flared slightly at the waist. Rory gaped at her. But the Doctor didn't even see, because Rose had came in after her.
She was wearing a jade green dress that had spaghetti straps. It was long and silky, puffing slightly. It emphasized her green eyes, and complimented her pale skin and dark hair.
"Rose... you look beautiful," he breathed. He reached into his pocket and switched his red bow tie for a green one.
He extended his arm and she took it. Both couples headed for the doors of the TARDIS.
They had been at the dance for two hours. Rose had left to use the bathroom, and Rory and Amy were dancing. He started when he heard a noise.
"Hello, sweetie." Before he knew it, River's lips were pressed against his. His eyes remained opened, and he saw Rose. Her cheeks were flushed with happiness. Her eyes came to rest upon him and River. Her mouth fell open. But it was the look in her eyes that surprised him. She looked unsurprised. Like she had been expecting it.
The Doctor broke his lips from River's and called out, but it was too late. She was gone.
Rose danced happily onto the dance floor, expecting to dance all night. Instead, when she got there,she saw that her Doctor snogging some lady with curly blond hair. Shocked, she stumbled backwards, biting her lip. When she regained her senses, she ran back to the TARDIS, her dark hair streaming out behind her.
She should have known that he would do this. It was like Reinette all over again.
Without a second thought, she found her TARDIS in the storage room where she had been keeping it.
"Hello, old girl," she murmured, stroking it's walls. She rumbled happily underneath her hand.
"Well, it's time to travel again," Rose said, and ran over to her console, pushing buttons and spinning dials. The TARDIS rumbled to life, and Rose left the Doctor, the Maiden once more.
The Doctor bit his lip as he stared at River. What to do, what to do?
"I'll be back," he said to no one in particular and ran to the TARDIS. He knew at once upon entering it, that she was gone. Her TARDIS was gone, with her inside it. Sagging against the wall, he sat down,trying not to scream in frustration. Suddenly, he arose and sprinted back to Amy and Rory. He would have to find her.
Rose landed on Cardiff, 2010. Her TARDIS needed refueling, so she had stopped at the Rift. She was meandering around, browsing shops and chowing on SweeTarts, when she saw someone. A very familiar someone. She was so shocked, she dropped her box of SweeTarts.
"JACK!?" He turned around and saw her.
"Who are you?" With a pang, she remembered she had regenerated.
"Jack, it's me. Rose." He eyed her supspiciously.
"Rose, are you? Well, 'Rose', she was blond. She was also trapped in a parallel world." Rose smiled softly.
"Oh, but Jack. Anything's possible." He continued to eye her.
"Okay, so how did me and Rose meet?" She grinned.
"London Blitz, 1941. We danced next to Big Ben, to Glen Miller's "Midnight Serenade."" Jack gaped at her.
"Rose," he breathed.
"Rose!" With a shout, he threw himself into her arms, his face like a little boy's on Christmas.
"How? When?" She grinned, and tucked her arm under his.
"Weelll, lots of explaining to do. Shall we go somewhere?" Jack nodded eagerly.
"Let's go."
Rose's eyes lit up when she saw Torchwood.
"Wow, how long have you been here?" Jack shrugged.
"Years and years." He waved a dismissive hand.
"The question is, what about you?" Rose's smile dissolved.
"Well... the Doctor left me with his Meta-Crisis. I was happy, for a while. And then... well, he died. And I just kept on living, with no change. It was Bad Wolf. She did this. I'm a Time Lady. Mum and Dad died not long after, and I left, in my TARDIS. That was four hundred years ago. I regenerated when I was shot by a Dalek." Jack's mouth was hanging open.
"What! Four hundred years ago!?" Rose nodded sadly.
"Yeah. Not long ago, about two months, I found myself in this universe. I met the Doctor again. We traveled. And then... we went to a dance, in 2033. I left to use the bathroom. When I came back, he was songging some lady." Her voice broke, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Jack took her into his arms.
"Jack? Whose this?" Rose looked up, and saw to her utter shock, that Ianto was right across the room from them. Was it really him? Was it her Ianto Jones, the man she had traveled with two hundred years ago, the one she had fallen in love with? With a stab of pain, she remembered his smile, their hugs, their kisses. Those long nights when they stayed up talking, those late mornings when their hair was messy, and they had sat sipping smoothies until early afternoons.
Without a second thought, she shrieked,
"IANTO!"
And through herself across the room into his arms, crushing her lips to his.
Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her nose to his chin.
"Ianto, Ianto, Ianto. Oh, I missed you. How? How did you get here?"
Rose removed herself from his arms for a second.
"Er... Do I know you?" She stared at him for a moment, looking slightly hurt. Then her expression cleared.
"Oh! I regenerated, Ianto. It's me, Rose. Remember?" Ianto stared at her, confused.
"No... I don't know anyone named Rose."
Rose looked crushed.
"What? You don't remember me? But... What about Thoress? We went to the gardens, and there were pink and yellow flowers, and you gave one to me? What about Korai? Remember, the waterfalls and the pink oceans? Y-you told me you loved me?" Tears were starting to fall down her cheeks.
"What about Velenor, the pleasure planet, and the whole Judoon thing and-"
Jack stood up and interrupted her.
"Rose... this is another universe. You might've known Ianto in your world, but not in this one." Rose stepped back.
"Oh. Oh, yes of course." She said softly. She wiped angrily at her tears.
"Yes, I'm sorry. A mistake, one I won't make again." She held her head high, and turned to Jack.
"I'll be going now. Goodbye." She turned and walked away from the them.
Jack watched her go. He knew that it would be a while till she opened up again. This incarnation of Rose was harder, less trusting. She seemed to have a sadder look, and she looked so bitter.
He sighed and turned to Ianto.
"Who was that?" Jack shook his head, and fought back tears. His poor Rose, who had suffered so much and yet came out with nothing.
"That was Rose. Rose Tyler."
Rose ran out of the Torchwood, her feet echoing against the concrete. Oh, she missed her Ianto. The Ianto who had made her coffee mixed with tea, insisting it was delicious. And it was. The Ianto who had held her hand in the night when she had nightmares, the Ianto that she had, against her better judgment, had fallen in love with.
She got to the TARDIS and wrenched the doors open. She darted into her bedroom, to her dresser. A picture was perched there, framed with a tarnished gold frame. It featured her previous self with her arms wrapped around Ianto. His chin was resting on the top of her head, and his arms were around his waist.
Oh, my Ianto. I miss you.
It was this that decided her decision. She was leaving this universe. She was going back to her universe, back to find her Ianto.
The Doctor felt like hitting himself. The TARDIS seemed to agree, since she was shocking him whenever he touched metal.
He paced up and down the console room, utterly puzzles. How to get to her? How? He sighed and piloted the TARDIS to Cardiff. She needed to refuel, and perhaps he could talk to Jack. They landed, and the Doctor stepped outside, only to be met by a truly Jackie Tyler-esque slap.
'Ow!" He shrieked, and saw Jack standing there, looking very Oncoming Storm like.
"What was that for?" He asked angrily, rubbing his pinkened face. Jack didn't seem to hear him.
"How could you do this? To our Rose? She's special, she is, and you can't just go around snogging people! She doesn't have anyone, alright? Everyone has left her, you, your Meta Crisis, her Ianto, her mum, and then you again! Stop bloody hurting her, or else I'll make you!" He looked ready to slap him again.
"She was here?" The Doctor asked, perking up.
"When?"
"Just a few minutes ago. She started yelling, and I realized it was her, so we went to Torchwood, and we were talking when Ianto comes in. She shrieked and kissed him, and then realized it was not her Parallel Ianto, and she left in tears." The Doctor looked puzzled and a bit jealous.
"Ianto? Oh..."
Jack nodded.
"Yep. Seems that they traveled together. Fell in love, like her and you. I don't know what happened to him. In this universe, he's with me." The Doctor nodded along, looking slightly pained.
"Okay. Well, if she comes back, tell her I'm looking for her. Tell her I didn't want to. Tell her I'm sorry."
Rose felt the TARDIS shake and rattle as she clung to the railing. It seemed to be rougher this time around. With one final thund, she landed. She peeked out the doors before turning back to her console. With a deep breath, she entered in:
9:00 PM, September 9th, 2012, London, Britain, Earth
With a shudder, the TARDIS lifted off.
She landed, and Rose took a deep breath. She opened the door and stepped outside. She glanced around. The street was deserted. She walked down the sidewalk, turning left on Hawthorne like she had so many times before. She saw the buliding, and started to run, knocking on the door. She heard a movement inside, and then the door opened.
Ianto Jones had been eating a late dinner when a knock came upon the door. Puzzled, he went to answer it. Standing there was a pretty dark haired woman, her face beaming with hope.
"Hello," he said politely. "Do I know you?" She smiled.
"Ianto." She breathed. He froze. Only one person said his name like that, like it was a caress, a promise of love.
"Rose?" He asked, hardly daring to believe it was true.
"It's me." They stared at each other for a moment, but then she was in his arms, and he was stroking her hair.
"Rose. Rose, Rose Rose. My Rose." He murmured. "I missed you." She nodded into his chest.
"I regenerated. I got shot by a Dalek, and -" he paused her.
"Come in, you have a lot to tell me." She nodded and followed him into the achingly familar house. There was still the book of herbs on the coffee table, still the same picture she had on her dresser on the mantle.
"Start from the beginning." And she did.
Two hours later, Ianto and and Rose had a cup of coffee and tea mixed together (decaf, as it was late) and Ianto was holding Rose almost in his lap. They were leaning into each other; they're eyes drooping in exhaustion.
"I never thought thinking of you, not even once however two hundred odd years you weren't here."
Ianto smiled into her hair.
"Not even with the Doctor?" She shook her head.
"No. I mean, I was happy, but even he couldn't actually replace you." She yawned.
"Okay, Rose, let's go up to bed." Grinning, Ianto swept Rose up in to his arms.
"Oi!" She cried, her hair falling over her arms. Ianto carried her up the stairs to what he still thought of as his and Rose's bedroom. He dropped her on the bed, and the whole mattress shook.
"Hey, I still got to get my pajamas on!" She protested, but he ignored her. Springing up, she opened her drawer of clothes she kept at his house and pulled on an oversized Tshirt and flannel bottoms. She curled up in bed next Ianto. His arms wrapped around her, and he nuzzled her hair. Utterly content, she snuggled closer to him and fell asleep.
The Doctor had crossed into the parallel world. He had set the TARDIS to search all of time and space for Ianto Jones. He impatiently asked the TARDIS how long.
One Hour And Nine Minutes Remaining
She told him. He sighed and paced back and forth, eager to find Rose.
Finally, around two hours later, he had set the location:
9:00 am, September 10th, 2012, London, Britain
The TARDIS shook, and landed. The Doctor bounded eagerly out of the doors, his bowtie hanging crookedly. He knocked on the door. No one answered. He tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. Opening it cautiously, he crept up the stairs, peering in doors. He got to the last one, and opened it up. He froze. Curled up lovingly on the bed was Rose and who he assumed was Ianto. Gulping he back away, strangely trying hard not to cry.
Rose woke up the next morning, her head resting against Ianto's chest. She smiled and burrowed deeper into him.
"So I take it you don't want to get up yet?" Rose giggled.
"Nah, not really." He smiled into her hair.
"Well... I'd like to point out that your SweeTarts are downstairs." Like a bullet she shot down the stairs. Laughing, Ianto followed her. He found her in the living room, eating SweeTarts, a glazed look in her eyes.
"You love those things way too much." Rose frowned at him.
"What do you mean? I could never love SweeTarts enough." Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Besides, you know I love you more." Ianto couldn't help it, his heart jumped when she said that.
He was in love with Rose Tyler; he would do anything for her. And she knew it.
A/N
Hello! This is going to be an actual fiction, just so you know. I probably won't update it often, but hopefully at least once a week? Anyways, please tell me what you think of this strange Ianto/Rose pairing. Please check out my other fics! Review!
**PussyWillowCat**