Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its related characters. If I did, Doomsday would have never happened.
Get it? Got it? Good! Now, I present to you my latest work-in-progress, The Happily Ever After! Enjoy!
It was a cold day, even for Norway, as Rose Tyler sat on the sands of Dårlig Ulv Stranden, better known to her as Bad Wolf Bay. She had thought she'd never have to see the dismal place again after the last time she was here. It had been the worst day of her life, and so far, her second visit wasn't turning out to be much of an improvement. She was stranded yet again in the parallel world, all of her hard work and effort gone to waste. The barriers between the universes had collapsed once again, and worst of all, she had lost the man that she had fought so hard to return to. Her Doctor was gone, leaving behind a duplicate of himself to make up or his absence. It was almost infuriating for her to dwell on.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder, jerking her back to the cold, harsh reality of the situation. "Rose, we've phoned Pete," a familiar voice spoke. "He's sending a zeppelin for us in the town nearby."
She turned her head to face the Doctor – the other Doctor. She pushed his hand away brusquely, her natural born stubbornness kicking in. "Great." She replied unenthusiastically, her voice devoid of emotion. She stood to her feet and trudged past him towards her mother, who was waiting on the other end of the shore. "So, what's the plan then?"
"Your father's booked us reservations at a hotel a couple miles from here. The blimp will pick us up from there tomorrow morning." Jackie explained. "A cabbie is on his way now to drive us into town."
Rose nodded her head in response, trying to muster a feigned smile. "Right, then. Thank you, Mum." She managed to say with an unconvincing attempt at cheerfulness.
Jackie read her daughter like an open book and held out her arms to her, knowing full well that she was still upset by the day's events. Rose obliged more than willingly, desperate for the comfort, and fell into her mother's embrace, a couple tears escaping her eyes and trickling into her tracksuit. "Shhh… There, there. It'll be okay." Jackie assured her. "Trust me, sweetheart."
"He's gone, Mum!" Rose cried into her mother's shoulder, not knowing nor caring that the Metacrisis could hear her. "He's left us here again, and he's never coming back!"
Jackie patted her daughter's back soothingly. "Well, not exactly…" She trailed off, eyeing the Doctor's double inquisitively. She was still having trouble grasping the confusing genetic concept.
The younger Tyler woman rolled her eyes. "But it's not him." She scoffed. "If he had really cared about me, he would've taken me with him. Instead, he gives me a bloody clone!"
There was a long moment of silence between the three of them, and the tension in the air was almost tangible by the time the Metacrisis spoke up. "Rose I know it's difficult to comprehend, but I really am him. Just minus one heart." He told her. "I look the same, I act the same, and I think the same as him. As for the memories, I can recount every adventure we've ever had, and I'd be happy to prove it to you, if you'd like."
"I don't want proof!" She insisted. "I want to be back with the man I fell in love with!"
He gave her a small smile in reply. "He fell in love with you too, Rose." He said quietly. "He was just too afraid to say it."
"Well, he shoulda!" Rose mumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. "Would've made it a hell of a lot easier on me."
"But he never told you because he knew he was going to lose you one day," He continued. "And I know that because I'm him. I was him. But now that I can age along with you now, it means that we'll never have to say goodbye. And in that case, I have nothing to fear!" He rationalized. "I'm in love with you, Rose Tyler, and if I have to wait forever for you to love me back, then I'll wait. Just as long as I never have to lose you again. It hurt too much the first time."
For a moment, she wasn't quite sure how to respond. A part of her was still struggling with the idea of accepting this Doctor as her own, but another part of her, which was slowly beginning to gain dominance, longed to run into his arms and forget about events of the past.
Even Jackie could tell that Rose was beginning to let her guard down. Her daughter had never been able to resist the Doctor's charms. She was just as devoted to him as he was to her, and in their time traveling together, the two had been practically inseparable. It was nearly impossible for one to be seen without the other close by. She knew that Rose wouldn't be able to stay angry at him forever. Clone or not, he was still her best friend. Perhaps, something more.
As her mother had predicted, Rose's resolve was beginning to crumble. She took a few hesitant steps closer to the man who looked identical to her closest companion. He was still the same man, just transferred into a human body. "So you're still you, then?" She asked timidly, quoting herself from earlier that day, as she continued slowly towards him.
He smiled warmly in her direction as he realized that he was getting through to her. "I'm still me." He assured her, his single heart beating wildly in his chest as she came to stand in front of him. She was every bit as beautiful as he had remembered her.
All at once, Rose was bombarded with a flood of memories that she had previously buried. It had been too painful to recall her experiences with the Doctor while they were separated across the Void. But in that brief expanse of time, she seemed to relive every moment she had ever shared with the Doctor at an impossible speed, from the time she met him in Henrik's, broad and leather-clad, to the battle of Canary Wharf. She treasured each and every moment, and she wouldn't trade their time together for the world.
And suddenly, she was kissing him. She had no clear idea of how it happened or who had initiated it, but in that moment, all she knew was happiness and love for the man standing before her. Finally, she realized what truly mattered. She didn't care whether he was Time Lord, human, or a little bit of both. As long as her Doctor was here beside her, she knew that nothing could possibly tear them apart. She was ready to spend the rest of her life with him.
It could have been minutes or hours before the sound of a car horn interrupted their tearful, unspoken apology. They pulled apart just enough to turn their faces towards the source of the offending noise. Their car had arrived on the gravelly road that followed the expanse of sand, and Jackie, impatient as ever, had insisted on slamming the horn to capture their attention. "C'mon, you two! You can snog at the hotel all you want, but I'd rather be lying in a real bed as soon as possible!"
The Doctor began to laugh at her vehemence. He couldn't even bring himself to complain about her irritability today. In a strange, abstract way, he had almost missed her snappiness. Perhaps it was just the familiarity that comforted him. Rose turned to him with a smile of her own. Oh, how she had missed that laugh!
With a conclusive nod, they began to walk across the beach, which suddenly didn't seem so melancholy anymore. With their entwined hands swinging between them, neither of them could continue associating Bad Wolf Bay with bad memories.
It was now the birthplace of a new beginning.
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More chapters on the way soon!