Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.

Written for timepetalsprompts on tumblr and their weekly drabble prompt: sunglasses, although this is not a drabble. Oops.

Many thanks to skyler10 for her generous permission to use the nickname 'Tardy' and tenroseforeverandever for beta help.

Story picture was created by the amazing Rose Nebula and used with permission. :)


The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, anxious for a moment of peace. Bill was off on a date, and he couldn't put up with Nardole's nattering for another moment. When the man had stepped out of his office at St Luke's University, the Time Lord seized his chance and ran into the TARDIS.

"Take me anywhere. I just need…" He trailed off. He really didn't know what he needed, just that he wanted to get away.

His ship hummed in his mind and with a pull of a lever, the TARDIS dematerialized. Upon landing, he stepped outside. The weather was warm and the scent of flowers was heavy in the air. The sounds of people greeted him but they were muffled and off in the distance. He could definitely relax here.

The Doctor breathed in the soothing floral fragrance of spring, and stood there for several moments, enjoying his favorite smell in the universe. Even after a millennium, the memories it stirred were precious.

Just as he was about to investigate his surroundings further, he felt a tug on his trousers, just around his right knee. Glancing down, the readout on his sonic sunglasses read 'female, 5.' The heart rate and temperature readings identified her as human.

"Tardy said you'd like these," a little voice said to him. He felt flower stems pressed into his palm and took them from the tiny hand that offered them.

The Doctor gasped as her skin brushed against his and he felt a tingling in his mind. The telepathic brush was unmistakable, as were the similarities it held to a man he had been lifetimes ago.

He knew instantly where he had to be, or at least what universe he was in. With the return of the Time Lords, the walls were no longer closed the way they once had been. Still, he had never dared venture here. Either Rose was happy, or she wasn't. Either way, he was sure he was responsible and he liked to believe the former rather than possibly get the latter confirmed.

But this little girl, with her brilliant mind that felt oh so familiar, now answered his worries of a thousand years. He had done right by his beloved Rose and she was living a life he never could've given her.

"Did she now?" He asked her, his voice thick.

"Yep," she said, popping the p. "They're my daddy's favorite."

"Mine too," he told her. "Thank you." He held them to his left heart and as he did, realized they were thornless roses. Just like her.

Before he could say anything else, a voice called out from a distance. A voice he hadn't heard in over a thousand years but would recognize anywhere.

"Alli!"

"Coming, Mummy!" The little girl shouted back. She threw her tiny arms around his waist and then she was gone. "Bye bye!"

He heard footsteps retreating away from him and then Rose's voice again.

"Take your brother's hand, love. Mine are full with all these bananas for your daddy!"

The Doctor smiled to himself as the voices faded away. He heard the TARDIS door creak open and knew this is why she had brought him here. The flowers clutched firmly in his hands, he entered the console room.

He set them down as he began the maneuvers to depart. Once they were back in the vortex and on the way to London, he made a request. "Make these last," he said to his TARDIS.

They deserved a place of honor on his desk as well. A reminder of another woman he had loved.