Hi there! This story came to me while I was watching "The Idiot's Lantern" for the fifteenth time. I just thought that there should be a scene where the Doctor dances with Rose in his tenth incarnation. The first time he danced as the Tenth Doctor was with that awful Madame de Pompadour. I have erased that very episode (The Girl in the Fireplace) from my computer. Anyway, this is started out as a cute one-shot, but it ended up as a story where the Doctor and Rose talks about things that we never see them talk about.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Doctor Who-universe. I simply play with its characters!

They clinked their glasses together, and drank their juice. The Doctor looked at Rose's face, as if trying to memorize every detail of it. He could still remember how her face had been completely blank. It had terrified him. There was nothing left of Rose in that face. It was empty. Filled with nothingness. He shuddered, and then quickly hid it. This wasn't a day for worrying.

Suddenly, Rose smiled.

"Do you remember where we were the last time this song was playin'?" she asked.

The Doctor listened closely. Then he understood. Of course! It was "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller!

"How could I not? You, me, and Jack in the TARDIS. We had just saved the world from confused nanogenes."

"The Doctor danced." There was something wistful about her tone, almost as if she wished she was back in that moment. That wouldn't do.

"The Doctor dances!" he quickly said, offering her his hand. "Shall we?"

Rose's smile became radiant. She stood up. "I can't see why not."

Together they danced, twirling, laughing and taking the steps in sync with each other.

"I still got it!"

"Remember the last time you said that?"

"Um..." He thought for a whole minute, and then it came to him.

"Yes, I do! On New Earth. Right after you, no, sorry, Cassandra kissed, eh, me."

"Right." Rose blushed. "I never really apologized for tha', on Cassandra's behalf. It was very rude of her/me. Which technically is supposed to be your line, mister "I'm rude and not ginger"!"

She gave him her cheeky smile, with the tongue in the teeth. Then her face fell.

"But anyway, sorry 'bout tha'. I shouldn' have..." She faltered.

"It's fine." he quickly reassured her. "It was absolutely fine. More than fine, brilliant!"

"Yeah?!" she said, eyes shining.

"Yes.", he said as firmly as he could.

"Good. But can I tell you something else?"

Now he was curious. What could it be she wanted to tell him?

"Of course."

"When Cassandra kissed you... I knew she was going to do it, and I didn' really try to stop her. Well, I didn' try to stop her at all, actually. I didn' mind."

"But," she quickly added, "as you said... you didn't seem to be very angry about it. It was fine, yeah?"

"I already told you, it was brilliant!"

Her smile came back, but a lot happier. He smiled back. But then he remembered something.

"If we're going to talk about things that we are wondering about each other, then let me ask you a question, Rose Tyler."

"Sure."

"Have you forgiven me?" His voice had suddenly gone very quiet.

"For what?"

Her tone was light, but he could tell she suspected what he was about to say to her.

"Three words. I think you can guess which ones."

"I think I can. Madame de Pompadour." Her tone hardened considerably.

"Yes. Have you?"

"That depends."

She tried to pull away, to stop dancing, but he held on.

"On what?"

He regretted that he'd brought up the subject, but now it was too late to turn back.

"Do you wish she was here and I wasn't? More importantly, do you regret that you left me to die of old age and kissed her?"

"No! Yes!"

She now sounded much happier.

"Then you're forgiven."

They danced for a minute, and then Rose started to laugh.

"What is it?" asked the Doctor.

"I think that tha' must be the first time you've ever apologized to me! This is a moment in history. The headlines tomorrow: "The Doctor apologizes!"

"Oh, har har." But the tension had already gone from the conversation.

"I have apologized before!"

"Really? When?" She gave him her cheeky smile again.

"Well, I certainly remember that time when... No, sorry, you were right. This is the first time I have apologized to you."

"That's fine. There's a first time for everything, right?" She smiled.

They danced in silence for a couple of minutes, until the Doctor said:

"Why did you tell Tommy to go after his dad?"

"Why? Can't you guess?" Her tone was surprised.

"Not really. I don't know your reasons."

"Well, then. I'm gonna tell ya." She looked him in the eye, her voice full of sincerity, and said:

"Because if there's one thing you've taught me is it this: everyone deserves a second chance. Not just the good ones who made a mistake, but also the bad ones. Especially the bad ones."

"Did I teach you that? I must be really clever!" the Doctor said, hiding his astonishment at this piece of wisdom. But she had got it wrong. He wasn't the one who taught her that, she was the one who taught him.

Then he felt a drop of something on his nose. It was water. He looked up. In a few minutes the entire sky had gone dark. They hadn't noticed. Suddenly the rain was pouring down on them. Most people were running for shelter. The Doctor looked at Rose. He said:

"We'll keep on dancing, yeah?"

"'Course. But you'll have to do something about the music, it's gonna switch songs very soon."

"Easy." He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the stereo, and their song started to repeat itself.

And so they danced. And they kept on dancing. In the middle of a thunderstorm. Until it was time to go, because there was so much they hadn't seen yet, so much they had to explore! But as the song played its final chords, sir Doctor of TARDIS asked Dame Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate the inevitable question.

He smiled down at her, and asked:

"How long are you going to stay with me?"

And she answered, as she always will answer. The correct answer.

She smiled back, and her eyes were filled with certainty and trust and (the Doctor didn't quite dare to believe it) could it possibly be... love?

"Forever."

The Doctor. In the TARDIS. With Rose Tyler. Which was exactly how it should be.

Now, review this story! I try to keep the characters as IC as possible, but tell me if it was an epic fail. I do think it was necessary to add that Rose thought that it was funny that the Doctor apologized to her, because he really never does! Except for the "Sorry. I'm so sorry", which he only says to dead/doomed people. And I also want to keep the characters away from kissing, because it's not like the Doctor and Rose to be kissing. I mean, in "The Satan Pit", the Doctor thought that he wasn't going to see Rose again, and even then he didn't tell Ida how he felt about her. It was a very close call (during which I yelled at the computer screen "Just say it, you git! JUST SAY IT! THREE WORDS!), but he still didn't say it.

By the way, if you (like me) have an intense loathing for MDP(Madame de Pompadour, that...that... Morgoth. Or Sauron. Or Ungoliant. Or Voldemort. Or Davros. Or... you get the point. She is an arrogant, evil cow) please feel free to say so in the reviews. Nothing would make me happier.

Thank You!

/MsBooknerd1