Any lines that are recognized are taken from "The Runaway Bride" or "Journey's End." I do not own anything, all rights go to their rightful owners.

"That girl, who was she?"

The Doctor turned his head towards the voice; his vision being filled seconds later with a mass of red hair he desperately wished was blonde. He shook his head. "An old friend."

"She used to travel with you." Amy stated as she came closer and sat down on the jump seat behind the Doctor. His hearts was slamming in his chest and his eyes were closed as he tried to block out the pain in any way possible. He'd take other friends deaths, other memories over the memory of her. "Who was she to you Doctor?"

"I told you."

"She was more than a friend." Amy touched his arm lightly and he spun around so quickly that she backed up a step before attempting to come closer again. "Was she your wife?"

He shook his head, unable to find words.

"Girlfriend?"

Head shake.

"Lover?"

Oh I wish. Head shake.

"Who then? She wasn't just a friend I could tell by the way you looked at her. You couldn't believe she was there." The girl furrowed her brows together and fiddled with her thumbs before looking up at him. "You loved her, Doctor."

"You never do miss anything, do you?"

"What happened to her?"

"She's gone."

"Gone where?"

"I lost her."

"Well don't lose me."

The conversation was familiar. The same questions had come from another red heads mouth, but this time she was a little bit older and a bit sassier. She was in a wedding dress and his console was still coral themed with brown walls and cream struts that almost made it look organic. She was holding a purple shirt the blonde girl had carelessly left lying around when she was trying to decide what to wear one day and he suddenly couldn't breathe despite his respiratory bypass. Amy Pond didn't exist yet in his world because for a second, just a second, Donna Noble had been asking where Rose Tyler had gone.

"That friend of yours then, what was her name?"

Still ginger, but shorter, sassier and in entirely too much white.

"Her name was Rose."

That was everything the Doctor needed to say and that was all Amy needed to hear. As he said her name, as the vowels rolled off his tongue, there was a flash of pain in his eyes and he finally looked his age. The childish behavior he displayed every day and the boyish face with floppy hair disappeared to reveal an old man, way beyond even his years. This man was so old he refused to age, and his losses were so great he refused to grey. He knew more than all the stars to ever exist and he felt more than the amount of atoms in his body. His voice turned pained and raspy and resulted into something that was half between a whisper and a silent pained scream. Donna. Martha. Mickey. Peri. Ramona. Jack. Susan. Ian. Barbra. Rose.

Rose. Rose. Rose.

"I'm sorry I asked." Amy whispered, not in an offended way like some people do when they're snapped at or get a rude answer, but in a sorrow filled regretful voice. She didn't mean to make the Doctor sad and the one tear he hadn't noticed rolling down his cheek meant more than any word he could ever say. "I'll just go."

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and looked her in the eyes. "Imagine losing Rory, to someone who was just like you, but not at the same time? She was just a little bit different, spoke with a different accent and thought different things, but still mostly the same."

"She was your Rory and you lost her."

"I lost her."

"I'm sorry."

"You remind me of someone, you know. She was ginger too." He said, turning back to the console. His voice was back to its normal tone now and he was flipping levers like nothing had ever happened.

"Who was she?"

The Doctor didn't answer for a long time, he just stared at the pulled down screen in front of him before whispering. "Someone who saved me after Rose." With that he walked out of the room and down the stairs that lead to another hallway that lead to god knows where.

Amy pulled down the screen to see what he was looking at and there was a picture, almost like some not-family photo on the screen.

There was a pretty dark skinny girl and a dark skinned guy standing next to her. He had a beard and both were sporting black jackets as they smiled at whoever was taking the photo. There was a talk dark haired man that had some sort of WWII styled coat handing off his shoulders and to his right stood a short, older, blonde woman with blue eyes in a light blue coat and to his right was a red haired older woman with a light brown jacket. There was a man in a blue suit with spikey hair standing next to a short brown haired lady who had wrinkled around her eyes that folded with her smile. The same man, twins maybe, stood next to there on the other side, his arm wrapped around Rose in a protective gesture. Her grin was manic and unlike the blue suited man, the pinstriped one wasn't looking at the camera and was instead looking at her.

You've got the biggest family on Earth.

Suddenly, Amy knew what loss meant.

I don't actually know what happened with this because it started out as just 11/Rose angst and suddenly Donna showed up and it just turned into something more, but I really like how it went though. I hope you enjoyed, review and let me know :)