A/N: So this is the first chapter of the reworked story, in honor of the 50th! The other chapters are still under construction (I think I'm going to do one chapter per each episode and at the maximum 2 or 3). For those of you who don't know of haven't figured it out, I'm doing a re-write of this story because I didn't write it very well at all the first time through. So ta da! I hope you all enjoyed the 50th as well and if not, I'm sorry. Now, on to the story: I hope you enjoy it and please tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Doctor Who or the BBC or Shakespeare ... however much I may wish it were so.
If Things had Changed
Chapter 1
I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them through time and space, a message to lead myself here. I am distinct. I am an anomaly. A paradox. I am alone.
There's a golden glow, a sphere arching above our heads, reaching up and up and up, can you see it? No? It looks almost like the inside of a turtle's shell, speckled with bronze and plated with hexagons. If you look straight ahead, there's a console bathed in blues and greens, a table covered in gizmos and paraphernalia, pieces of flotsam and jetsam that are deemed worthy. I would say flip any switch you like, but even I don't know what every button and circuit does exactly. There's something wonderful about the mystery, you just have to trust it'll end up alright because if you cling too tightly to fear everything will do what you expect it to: crash and burn, but if you just let go. If you let go and hope that they catch you, they will. That's how it works here.
Now turn around. It's hard to miss the door isn't it? If you want to leave, just step out and you'll find yourself in your home, a second later than when you came in, and you can continue on with your day, or you could stay. You could stay and hear what I'm being forced to tell: my story.
The place to start I guess, is when I remembered.
There was a sense of urgency. A quick flicker of anxiety. Ephemeral, that's how one might describe it.
Blurred movements took place in front of her, something big and yellow and looming groaned and grunted as it strained against its leash. A shrill voice cut through the air. Mum. That's Mum. That's Mum in her horrendous pink tracksuit. And there's Mickey...
And a blue... box? Only faint outlines were visible, shimmering and shifting like a mirage.
Then something broke free and shot towards a figure with yellow hair and the figure was immersed; steeped in a pool of molten gold. The girl, it had to be a girl, was consumed and slowly her mind grew, almost imperceptibly. Her thoughts expanded upwards and outwards like the sky, stretching out past the reality of poor mortal imagination. The girl was lost and changed, but she was stubborn.
Something shook and something slammed shut and then one loud juttering shake sent the girl flying out, out, out. Her mind still grew. It ached. It felt like something was forcing its way out of her head, like a worm wriggling up though the dirt, and it hurt.
The world around her flickered and all that filled her vision were the words Bad Wolf, Bad Wolf, Bad Wolf, over and over again. They wouldn't go away, like sunspots won't leave you alone no matter how many times you blink. The walls were made of metal, grey and cold and strange tubes hung from the ceiling. It wasn't home.
Then a voice cut through the repeating phrase. She wasn't alone.
"Immortal...False... shouldn't...control...life...death...stop...Bad Wolf." Only glimpses of the words made it through to her brain, it's synapses and neurons going into overload. Her head was killing her. Her thoughts were being taken over by gold. All she could sense was gold, she saw gold, she felt gold, she smelt gold, she tasted gold, she heard gold. Up was nowhere as was down and left and right. Nothing was everything and everything was nowhere. She was lost, but she was found. Then in a fleeting moment the pressure was gone, the golden feeling faded and she was free. Free to sleep. Sleep perchance to dream. Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause. Then she couldn't stand any longer. Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. A wolf howled close by, then everything exploded in a world of undistinguishable color, drowned in sorrow and pain and exuberance, singing a sweet farewell.
Rose woke with a start, blinking the spots from her eyes and breathing in as far as her lungs would allow her. It was the fourth or fifth time she had seen this dream, if you could call it a dream. She was watching a damaged disk again and again, skipping over all of the important parts of the content. Bad Wolf and false gods and far too much gold had crowded her mind, refusing to give her pause as she tried to regain her thoughts. Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf. It sounded so familiar, yet the memory was so far away; it was on the tip of her tongue, yet in the crevices of her brain.
It was probably nothing. But then again, after the year she'd been traveling with the Doctor had taught her that nothing was almost always something. It was too early to figure out what this nothing was. Later. Now it was time to sleep. Gold flickered under her lids like flames dancing with a breeze, it was... soothing, it gave Rose a feeling of contentedness, of ease.
Gold. Regeneration had gold. Nano genes were gold. When Margaret looked into the heart of the TARDIS, it was gold. She swore the color was taunting her, always one step in front of her and one step behind her.
Her eyes slid closed of their own accord, slowly dipping back into her maze of phantoms and fantasy. Her bed was warm and there was no rush today, at least none that she could think of.
CRASH! What the hell was that! She stumbled out of bed, the comforter tangling itself about Rose's legs as she scrambled towards the corridor.
"What's going on?" She shouted as she crashed into the wall, "I swear I'll smack him..." Rose muttered to herself as she ran.
People had started to stare. They always stared. Why they stared, was a question Rose couldn't answer, they just did.
"Come on, let's get him inside." She murmured, biting her lip. He may not be the Doctor, but nobody should be dissected or pickled and put on display. Reluctantly she grabbed his feet and motioned to Mickey to do the same with his torso. Together hoisted him up so that they could shovel him to the stairs and twist him through the flat door.
"But how is he the Doctor? The Doctor doesn't look anything like that, thought I have to say… but still! He just can't be the Doctor can he?" Her mum piped up.
"Mum, I'm not really sure he is, but I just have a feeling, alright? But I don't know. I think it is, the TARDIS seems normal with him- just open the door would you?"
It was a fight of will between Jackie, her keys, and the lock. Rose's arms were starting to ache, when finally the door was jiggled open and the three (four) of them shuffled into the comfort of a familiar place. Rose sighed. Home. A home among worlds of strangers and foreign lands. The small flat was her home base in the giant game of tag that was always underway.
"Right then, one of you two better get him into something more comfortable." Jackie headed straight to the kitchen, ready to drain a cup of tea.
"Mum!"
"What? I'm not changing that skinny thing of yours." Jackie sighed. Mickey snickered and Rose shot a glare at him,
"Don't look at me, babe, I ain't changing him." Rose huffed, "C'mon, it'll only take a few minutes, then you can join us for tea and telly, alright?" She scowled.
Jackie and Mickey shared a quick grin before dashing to the kitchen,
"Have fun sweetheart!" Jackie cooed.
"Unbelievable, that's what those two are!" Rose fumed before turning the lump in front of her feet, "Up we go then." She heaved and let out an exasperated groan. This was going to take a while.
Now he was on the bed, if a bit crooked, it was time to, well; it was time to undress him. Rose gulped. Mum and Mickey really loved to watch her squirm didn't they? She tugged off one jacket sleeve and then the other, almost falling on top of the unconscious body. Pulling with all her might, the coat came out from underneath him. Next came his shirt. Her face was red for a very long time, even after she had tugged the button up shirt on and buttoned it up. She gulped; it was time to undo his jeans. Lovely. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fumbled with the belt buckle until it came loose and unbuttoned the black trousers with shaking hands, and pulled down the zipper. Carefully, she tugged the belt loops down, until the jeans gathered around his knees and wouldn't go any further. Right, shoes. She looked down at her feet before opening her eyes, how was she going to do this? His shoes came off quickly, and the matter of his pants popped back up. Rose sighed and dragged his trousers off. She didn't waste a second, pulling the pajama pants on him as fast as she could. She exhaled; it was over now. A yawn over took her and she headed towards the door.
"Rose… must tell her" Rose didn't pay any attention to him, just waved a hand and continued down the hall. He could tell her later if it was really important. She wandered into her own room, kicked off her battered trainers and snuggled under the covers not bothering to change.
So Harriet Jones was Prime minister now, huh. Fancy that. If the Doctor had been awake right now, Rose swore he would jump up and point at her, a manic grin plastered across his face as he shouted, "Hah! What did I say?" She giggled into the fragrant steam of her Mum's famous tea.
Shit. He'd woken up and then splat! down he went. It was as if his legs were made of jelly, the way the slid out from under him. What the hell was she supposed to do now?! She chewed on her bottom lip, pacing up and down the length of the guest room, uncrossing and recrossing her arms. If he hadn't regenerated none of this would have happened. Rose sat on the edge of his bed before standing up and padding into the living room, twisting her hair in agitation. The longer she waited, the less and less sure she was the Doctor was in there. She bit her nails to herself preoccupied. It wasn't working. She wandered into the compact kitchen and closed the door before pulling out a tin of cookies. The cookie was gone in a matter on seconds, replaced by a second, and then a third. Then Rose made tea. Anything to keep her from worrying. What if he never woke up? What if he died? What if he didn't remember anything if he did wake up? She started chewing on her lip again.
"Rose, darling, are you okay?" Jackie's voice wafted through the door, "Open up sweetheart, I need to start dinner."
Reluctantly Rose opened the door a crack, a tear drifting down her cheek. Then they fell faster, as if they were racing, racing to get out of her. She heaved a sob and leaned against the doorframe.
"What's wrong?" Then she was being pulled into a strong embrace, "It's gonna be alright, sweetheart. It's gonna be alright." Jackie rubbed her back in a soothing pattern.
"Thanks Mum, I'll get out of your way now." She pushed past her Mum and ran down the hall, coming to halt in the doorway of his room. Her heart sank. He hadn't moved a centimeter. She kept expecting him to sit up with and grin and a laugh and tell her it was all one big joke, that his face was a mask, and he wasn't actually unconscious. Sure she'd slap him and he'd scowl at her and they'd fight, but it would end up alright in the end. It always did.
She heard someone come up behind her; a glance told her it was Mickey.
"The Doctor wouldn't do this." She told him gazing forlornly at the body, "The old Doctor, the proper Doctor. He'd wake up. He'd save us."
"You really love him, don't you?" Mickey murmured, she closed her eyes and hugged him tightly, sighing glumly.
Rose and Mickey laid the Doctor down next to the console as gently as they could. He might have a lump or two if he woke up soon, but other than that he'd be in perfect condition. She ran her fingers over the familiar rim of speckled material, like coral almost. Suddenly the urge to flip a few switches just to see what would happen came over her, and Rose had to hold herself back. There was telling where they would end up or what would happen to the TARDIS if she started switching and pressing things at will.
"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey interrupted her thoughts.
"Not anymore, no."
"Well, you did it before..."
"I know, but it's sort of been... wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden." She mumbled, her fingers drifting across levers and handles. She shouldn't touch, else everything fall apart, "Try that again and I think the universe rips in half." She caught her left pinking drifting too close to a big glowing button and forced herself to turn away. Maybe she shouldn't have come here.
"Ah, better not then."
"Maybe not." Then a flash of gold appeared behind her lids, just like before, except it felt malignant this time, persistent. It came a second time, and the dream span through her mind. Her knees felt week, but she had to keep standing or else the other two might worry.
"So, what do we? Just sit here?" he complained. Of course Mickey would complain, he was like a little kid that way.
"That's as good as it gets!" She snapped. Rose needed to sit, and she needed to sit now. Her fingers found their way back to the edge of the console, curling so tightly around the rough matter, her knuckles started to turn white. Her vision slid out of focus. She shook her head and glanced around, neither her Mum nor Mickey had seen anything strange.
"Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea." Jackie murmured, stretching a thermos of piping tea out to her.
"Hmm, the solution to everything..." Rose muttered, clenching the edge even tighter.
"Now stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food." She handed the thermos to Mickey and hurried down the ramp.
"Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British." Mickey gave a halfhearted laugh. He wrung his hands together, the smile slipping off of his cheeks, "So... How does this thing work?" he said looking at the console, "It picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe, we've surrendered. What do you do to it?" he asked pressing a few buttons. Rose itched to snatch his hands away, but kept her hands on the rim of the console, trying to appear nonchalant.
"I dunno, it sort of tunes itself." Rose mumbled, fiddling with the buttons and handles herself. Stop it! She told herself Stop it, stop it, stop it! Her fingers didn't pay her any attention, like they knew what they were doing. Then the beeping started.
"Maybe it's a distress signal." Mickey muttered.
"Fat lot of good that's gonna do." She grumbled, this shouldn't have happened. Her fingers just wouldn't stop. Slowly she made her way to the captain's chair and sat down carefully.
"Are you gonna be misery all the time?"
"Yes."
"You should look at it from my point of view, stuck in here with your mum's cooking." he said.
"Where is she?" Right, where was her Mum? She looked around the console room, but she wasn't there, "I'd better go and give her a hand." Rose said getting up, "It might start raining missiles out there."
"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine!" Mickey called after her.
"Why don't you tell her yourself?"
"I'm not that brave." He mumbled.
"Oh, I dunno..." She smiled at him and he placed the tea on the console haphazardly. Then someone grabbed her. Great. If only her fingers would stop trying to move. She shrieked," Get off! Get off!" Then Mickey caught her sight, "The door! Close the door!" Then he was grabbed too, the door just barely closed. It was those aliens from the telly and it didn't look too happy with them. A chant began, a cry of glee, a cheer from the masses.
The rest was a blur. A Sycorax, that's what they called themselves, spat at her and made her speak for Earth. They laughed and sneered and jeered at her. Then... then the TARDIS started translating again and... there he stood, a blur of brown hair in pinstriped pajamas and a gob the size of Jupiter. He sang something about tea and ginger, she didn't know what. He and Harriet were reacquainted and every one was having a grand old time until the Doctor smartly got the Sycorax leader vexed, by showing off his intelligence. Some things never changed. The Lion King made an appearance and he and the Sycorax leader started to fight.
Rose shut her eyes tightly, her blood pounding in her ears. Her vision fogged and she couldn't see where she was going, being jostled by the streams of Sycorax. She was floating along with them, floating toward the fight. She opened her eyes again, but all she could see was grey. Her pulse flitted in her chest, trying to escape, trying to run away, except the way it was pushing her was towards the clashing of metal on metal. Her instinct was to fight.
A howl sounded in her mind and she took a sharp breath. Wolf. Her dream... it had had a wolf. Her mind shook, skipping all over the place, a flash of gold and a figure standing with its back to her, its limbs outstretched mixed with two words: Bad Wolf.
Her knees wobbled, she had to keep standing otherwise someone would get worried. The gold cleared for a second, long enough for her to toss a sword and call the man "Doctor," but then it seeped through all her pores, drowning her in ethereal color. The baying grew closer and the figure turned to face her. There she was, there was Rose. Her mind paused, gathering up a cloud of energy, creating a storm.
She lurched forward as the wave of information tumbled over her, as the memories were found. She was the Bad Wolf. The wolf cried beside her, and she smiled. The rushing of blood ceased, her heart calmed, and her vision became sunny.
"I win." The Doctor snarled holding the leader of the Sycorax on the ground at sword point.
"Than kill me." An uneasy flicker ghosted the Doctor's eyes,
"I'll spare your life if you take this champions command: leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"
"Yes."
"Swear on the blood of your species!" A frightening, bloodthirsty sincerity carried through his voice as he thrust the sword closer to his captive's neck.
"I swear." The leader forced out, breathe not coming easily to him.
"There we are, then! Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!" He grinned lightly, sticking the sword into the rocky floor of the ship.
"Bravo!" clapped Harriet Jones.
"That says it all. Bravo!" She ran over to the Doctor and helped him into the dressing gown he had dropped.
"Yeah! Not bad for a man in his jim-jams!" The Doctor grinned, sticking his arms into the sleeves, "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here?" the Doctor asked pulling out a small globular orange fruit, "A satsuma. Ah that friend of your mother's, he does like his snacks doesn't he?" He said tossing it in the air. She couldn't help but giggle as they walked into the interior of the ship, "But doesn't that just sum up Christmas? You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's one stupid old Satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?" He turned and threw the poor fruit at a button on the wall. The Sycorax leader disappeared as he ran and fell screaming to meet London on Christmas Day, "No second chances. I'm that sort of a man." The lighthearted smile had vanished and a cold hue danced in his eyes.
They stopped in front of the TARDIS, Harriet, Mickey, the man with the translator, and the Doctor and Rose. Slowly, the Sycorax gathered around them, waiting to see what the Earth's champion would do next, all he did was speak, "By the ancient rights of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when you go back to the stars tell others of this planet... when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential. When you talk of the Earth, than make sure you tell them this: it is defended." Then the Sycorax ship unfolded around them, setting them down on quiet street in London.
"Where are we?" Rose asked looking around.
"We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just around the corner, we did it!" Mickey yelled jumping up and down. Rose had the urge to hug everyone in the group.
"Wait a minute... wait a minute..." The Doctor said and a moment of silence washed over the group. Then the Sycorax ship took off, soaring up out of their atmosphere.
"Go on, my son! Oh yeah!" Mickey cried. Rose ran over and jumped on his back,
"Yeah! Don't come back!" She cried along with him, the adrenaline had started pumping and her heart was racing. It felt good.
"It is defended!" Mickey laughed and Rose couldn't help but join him and their laughter was infectious, making grins appear on everyone's faces. She let the urge take over, and she tackled Mickey into a tight hug and then Alex, who timidly returned the hug. Amongst the hubbub she heard Harriet say,
"My Doctor."
"Prime Minister." Rose grinned even bigger, her spirits flying high, as the two hugged each other.
"Absolutely the same man." Harriet and the Doctor smiled, "Are there many more out there?"
"Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Everyday you are sending out probes, messages, and signals. This planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed... more and more. You'd better get used to it." He shot the Prime Minister a look.
"Rose!" She whipped around,
"Mum!" She cried.
"Oh! Talking of trouble…" The Doctor muttered, a grin spreading as she sprinted towards Jackie the two of them colliding in the middle as they grasped each other. It had been a long two days.
"Oh, my God! You did it, Rose! Oh!" Mickey joined the pile.
"You did it too! It was the tea!" The two grinned, holding on to each other tightly, "Fixed his head!"
"That was all I needed, cup of tea." The Doctor called, as mother and daughter shuffled towards the rest of the group.
"I said so!" Jackie cried.
"And look at him!" Rose said smiling happily. As far as Christmas days had gone, she had to rate this as one of the best.
"Is it him though? Is it really the Doctor?" Rose watched as Jackie evaluated the other members of their party, "Oh, my God! It's the bleeding Prime Minister!"
"Come here, you." The Doctor smiled, holding his arms out wide. Jackie threw herself into his arms, followed shortly by her daughter and her honorary son, Mickey, "Aww... Are you better?" Jackie asked releasing the Doctor from her grip.
"I am, yeah!" Rose grinned a tongue in teeth smile and the Doctor grinned back. It was good to be back to normal.
"How 'bout I make a Christmas dinner tonight, yeah? Actually celebrate the holiday properly?" Jackie asked, her eyes wide with excitement, "I could roast that Turkey and there'll be pies of course, and you three have to help!" They laughed.
"Alright Mum, just as long as you're not the one to get the Turkey out of the oven, otherwise it'll get singed." Rose stuck her tongue out.
"Rose Marion Tyler! That is a big fat fib an you know it."
"Oh yeah, then tell me, what happened to the last Turkey you tried to cook."
"Well... oh." Jackie looked sheepish, "I guess I shouldn't be in charge of the bird." The four of them laughed, "But enough of that, you left me!" She jabbed a finger at Rose,
"I'm sorry!"
"I had all the food!" Rose shook her head with a sigh,
"Well it's not my fault the TARDIS moved."
A sound ricocheted off the surrounding buildings as they stood chatting. They jumped and searched for the source of the sound: a virescent beam blasted off the top of a building nearby. Then four more beams shot up, conjoining with the first, spiraling up into the atmosphere. A bang sounded and the distant ship detonated, pieces flying off in every direction.
"What is that?" Rose asked, "What's happening?"
"That was murder." The Doctor whispered, his tone dangerously soft.
"That was defense." She replied, her voice tired, "It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago."
"But they were leaving."
"You said yourself, Doctor. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry Doctor; you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today, Mr Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case, we have to defend ourselves." She spoke, her eyes regretful.
"Britain's Golden Age." He spat.
"It comes with a price."
"I gave them the wrong warning. I should have told them to run, as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming: the human race."
"Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf."
"Then I should have stopped you." The Doctor said coldly.
"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?" Rose watched the tennis match of words, not sure whose side to be on. Harriet had the right thought process, but she knew the Doctor so well. Harriet had good reasoning, but the Doctor was thinking of the bigger picture. To put it mildly: she was in a rut.
"Don't challenge me Harriet Jones. 'Cos I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your government with a single word."
"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met. But I don't think you're quite capable of that." She said calmly.
"No, you're right. Not a single word. Just six."
"I don't think so."
"Six words." His voice dripped with vehemence.
"Stop it!" Harriet shot, almost as if she were scolding the Doctor. Rose wanted to make it stop. This was the wrong image. They were supposed to be friends.
"Six." He stared at her before leaning towards Alex and whispered in his ear. Then he deliberately sauntered past Harriet and lead Mickey, Jackie and her away from the scene.
"What did he say?" Harriet asked urgently.
"Oh, uh... nothing, really."
"What did he say?!" She cried.
"I... nothing! I don't know!"
"Doctor!" she shouted after them. Rose looked back at Harriet and murmured, "Doctor, what did you say about her?" All that met her ears was an uneasy silence.
Rose, Mickey, and Jackie ran around the apartment, laughing and joking as they hung tinsel from the backs of chairs and over the telly and placed Christmas crackers amongst the platters of food on the table. A sprig of mistletoe was hung in the sitting room door and a small tree had been found and decorated as best they could.
"Christmas dinner!" Jackie yelled from the kitchen, taking the turkey out of the oven, the other two scrambled to get seats at the table. A quick glance around the room told Rose that the Doctor wasn't there yet. I hope he gets here soon.
Jackie would hand Rose a plate and Rose would scoop some mashed potatoes and stuffing onto it before handing it to Mickey, who would carve a slice of turkey. The three of them chose what else to put on their plates, how much gravy on their turkey and mash, etc.; bowls of steaming nosh and grub were passed around the table.
Smiles were being passed around and everyone was laughing when he came in. Rose grinned as he surveyed the image in front of him; he shot a cheery grin back. Rose tackled him in a tight hug, neither grin smothered. As they stood, her arms around his necks, his around her waist, Jackie coughed, her gaze floating a little bit above their heads. Right. The mistletoe. Rose thought. She bit her lip, looking up at the Doctor's face. He seemed just as surprised as she. Rose screwed her eyes shut and landed a quick kiss on his mouth before he could even put the question into words. They released each other quickly, and Rose smoothed out her clothes, while the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets. They didn't look at each other. Rose glanced at her mother and saw a smug smile situated on her cheeks and she rolled her eyes.
"Come on." She said nodding her head towards the table, "Sups on." She dragged him towards the table and everyone dug into their food. In no time at all the crackers were out. The Doctor had a red paper crown (his prize) on and was holding out the end of a cracker to Rose. She pulled it laughing; he looked inside quickly,
"Oh, that's yours..." She took the cracker from his hands with a smile. She pulled out the crown and unfurled it,
"Oh! It's pink! Mum, it should be yours!" She joshed, flashing a tongue in tooth grin.
"Pink! Lovely!" Jackie cried, grinning.
They grabbed their coats and ran down the stairs. It was snowing! Mickey threw a snowball at Rose as she watched the frail crystals fall. She laughed as she stumbled backwards and the Doctor watched them laugh and grin. It seemed the Christmas Spirit had made it after all. He looked up himself and there, dotting and dashing the sky, were streaks of light pretending to be comets.
"Wow, that's beautiful." Rose said dreamily, as the lights danced with the dark sky, "What are they, meteors?"
"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow," He commented, going into "professor mode"; "it's ash."
"Okay, not so beautiful." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself.
"This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now, everyone saw it. Everything's new."
"And what about you?" she asked, watching the ash fall around her feet, "What are you going to do next?" He wanted to laugh. It was a silly question, what else would he do, no, what else could he do but go on adventures with her?
"Well… back to the TARDIS... same old life." He peeked at her, burying his hands deeper into his pockets.
"What? On... on your own?" Rose asked tentatively.
"Why, don't you wanna come?"
"Well yeah."
"Do you, though?"
"Yeah!" she insisted, stealing a brief look up at him.
"Oh, I just thought… 'Cos I changed…"
"Yeah, I... I thought 'cos you changed... you might not want me anymore…"
"Oh, I'd love you to come!" Rose felt her heart flutter at the sincerity in his voice.
"Okay!" They laughed, smiling at each other. A moment of amiable silence passed between them as they turned their thoughts back to the sky above.
"You're never gonna stay, are you?" Mickey asked looking at the snow, a pale frown on his face.
"There's just so much out there. So much to see... I've got to." She felt a pang of guilt; it was like she was leaving a little brother behind.
"Yeah." He agreed, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards in a sad understanding.
"Well, I reckon you're mad. The pair of you. It's like you go looking for trouble." Jackie shivered.
"Trouble's just the bits in-between!" The Doctor explained, "It's all waiting out there Jackie. It's brand new to me. All those planets... creatures and horizons... I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes... And it is gonna be... fantastic." He smiled looking at Rose and using his old favorite word. He reached out his right hand to Rose, who looked at it and then in his eyes,
"That hand of yours still gives me the creeps." She laughed, not quite sure whether or not she should take it, as he waggled his fingers at her. In the end she slipped her fingers into his and it was like two puzzle pieces being put together. They looked up at the murky sky, debris still dancing across the canvas, "So where are we going to go first?" She asked grasping his hand in both of hers.
"Um… that way." He decided, pointing to the right side of the sky, "No, hold on... that way." He dragged his finger a millimeter across the endless backdrop, landing in the space between two bright stars.
"That way?" She asked pointing towards the patch of darkness herself.
"Hmm?" The Doctor hummed, waiting for her approval. She nodded,
"Yeah, that way." She turned to face him, gazing up at him. They looked up at the sky together one last time, before heading back inside.
My story started with a remembrance and it ends in a forgetting, just as all stories do. The end of my story, however, is a long ways off; there are still so many places to go and people to see that it can't end yet. But we forget that the ends to our stories are always waiting and often come when you least expect them. Would you like me to continue? No, I don't think I will it's too late. Time to sleep. Time to dream. I'll tell you more the next time you come to visit. See you then, but until then, goodnight.