"Now, I want to show you something," the Doctor said as he flipped another one of many various levers on the TARDIS console.

"What is it?" Rose asked in anticipation, smiling.

"You'll see." He grinned at her, checking the coordinates.

The familiar sounds of the TARDIS traveling through the vortex echoed within the control room. Excitedly, the Doctor flit about the room, pressing buttons and doing who-knows-what with the controls, until the sounds eventually faded to a stop, the TARDIS stopped spinning through the vortex, and they were still.

Rose tentatively put a hand on the door, glancing back at the Doctor, who nodded encouragingly. Slowly she pushed it open, revealing the infinite blackness, speckled with tiny stars and other galaxies, finding the TARDIS positioned right above Earth.

"Oh, Doctor, it's- it's beautiful," she breathed, looking around at the stars and the many galaxies, and back down at the peaceful Earth.

"Knew you would like it," the Doctor answered happily as Rose sat down on the edge of the TARDIS floor.

He found himself making his way over to the doors to sit next to her, looking out at the brilliant cosmos together.

"There's just so much out there," Rose remarked, gesturing to the stars again.

"Yep. Millions and millions of stars and planets and other galaxies. So many tens of hundreds of thousands of different places, going on in an infinite abyss of time and space. Well, not infinite. The universe isn't forever. Nothing's forever."

But there's quite a lot of it."

Rose laughed, leaning her head on the Doctor's shoulder, her hand finding her way towards his. "And we could go anywhere?" She said, even after all this time finding it hard to believe. "Then that's… everything."

"Everything that's ever happened-"

"And ever will," Rose finished with the Doctor simultaneously. He smiled approvingly at her.

"You humans. You're all so oblivious. At least, a lot of you are. Not you, of course. You're all doing your own little things in your own little lives on your own little planet, when no one realizes there's so much more out there. At the same time, someone's doing the same thing and wondering the same thoughts across the galaxy," the Doctor said as they looked down at the Earth.

"True, isn't it? You could go on forever just wondering and never knowing," added Rose.

"Well, not forever. Again, nothing's forever. You find out eventually what's going on out there at some point. I was there once, it was grand," the Doctor answered.

"I'm sure you have, Doctor. But for now, I'm okay with this. Just sitting here, looking at the universe with you- it's all okay," Rose said affectionately.

Silently they sat side by side, admiring the stars. The Doctor found himself running his thumb over the back of Rose's hand. Tracing a series of circles, lines, and dots- Gallifreyan, word by word.

"It really is beautiful, the universe," Rose said after a few moments. She was aware of the Doctor's tracing, but not of what exactly he was writing.

"It really is. And you know what else is beautiful?"

Rose giggled. "What?"

A circle, a line across, another small circle. "I…"

The Doctor paused. "The TARDIS," he answered, and the two of them burst into laughter. "Nah, I'm only kidding there. I mean, the TARDIS is beautiful, but what I meant to say was- well, you," he finished.

"Aw, Doctor."

Circle, circle, three dots, circle, half circle, line, circle. "Love…"

"How long do you reckon you'll stay with me?" The Doctor asked randomly, after thinking this over for a few moments.

Rose seemed to contemplate her answer quickly, but answered with certainty.

Circle, circle, two dots, circle, line, circle. "You."

"Forever."