DISCLAIMER: Yep, I am hereby disclaimed.

RATING: T, just in case.

SUMMARY: The Doctor and Rose visit Cloud 9-B, where questions arise and revelations occur. It turns out that even when you can live without your planet, it can still be hard to live without a home. Fluffy oneshot. 10Rose, no Doomsday.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey again, I'm gonna bore you all with yet another of my insanely long author's notes! (I really must stop this; it's v. bad of me) Anyhoo, I have a couple of apologies to make so bear with me. Or, if you're not bothered, skip straight ahead to the story.

1) In Chapter 2 of 'Some Strange World' I had a little thing about the word 'confrere' and the French meaning of the word 'con.' Since that, I discovered that 'con' in French actually means something worse than 'bloody stupid' (use your imagination to guess what) so sorry if I offended anyone! I had no intention to insult the fictional inhabitants of Tartaricka, the Conservative Party or you guys in any way. (Well, maybe I meant to insult the Conservatives, but we won't go there. :D)

2) I also said that Some Strange World would have a happy ending which, arguably, it didn't. So this is a random piece of (unrelated) 10Rose fluff to try and make up for the error of my ways. (But it can be read as 9Rose, if you really want!)

3) I also have to apologise for the length of this A/N. It's mega long even by my standards! 'Kay, I'm going now, so enjoy the story! Oh yeah, and pleeeeease review! Jen xx

P.S. I'm also sorry for how corny and cliché this story is. It was okay when I wrote it, but then I read it back and realised that it must smell like stilton it's so cheesy… So also sorry for the smell!

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There was a comfortable lull in the air as the Doctor and Rose sat on a bench near the Powell Estate, the air still and fresh. Neither of them had said anything for long seconds that had dragged into even longer minutes, instead just sitting in companionable silence, content to be in each others company. The Doctor watched Rose out of the corner of his eye, slightly worried about her current lack of outspokenness. She had told him that she was fine when he'd pushed the subject, but then she'd gone silent, hence the lack of conversation as they rested on the bench, Rose scuffing her shoes against the ground.

The Doctor cleared his throat, slightly edgy now that this silence had gone on past the five-and-a-half minute point. He had told Rose not so long ago to 'always wait five-and-a-half hours', but not being the most patient of people, he settled for converting the hours into minutes instead. 'Rose,' he said, not sure of where to go from there.

'Yeah?' she replied. She turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised and her eyes slightly red.

He smiled at her softly, his hearts pounding in his chest. He wasn't sure why. 'You ready to leave?' he asked her quietly.

She took a deep breath and thought about his question. She tapped her foot against the metal leg of the bench for a moment before answering, a smile creeping over her face. 'Yep, I'm ready,' she told him.

He grinned. 'Brilliant!'

The Doctor grabbed Rose's arm and jumped up from the bench, pulling her up with him. She smiled at his enthusiasm as he proceeded to drag her back to the TARDIS.

'So, where shall we go next, hmm?' he asked her, excitedly.

'Umm…' Rose was never completely sure what to say when he asked her that question. The Doctor seemed to forget that she didn't know every single planet in every single solar system in every single galaxy like he did. Of course, she did enjoy making up random names just to see if those places really existed. Surprisingly, most of them did.

They were standing outside the TARDIS, the Doctor looking at Rose expectantly.

'You know what I always wondered?' she said.

The Doctor leaned against the door and shook his head wildly. 'Nope, no idea Rose! What have you always wondered?'

'Does…' she started, suddenly apprehensive about asking him. She didn't want to feel like a prize idiot if she turned out to be talking complete rubbish.

'Does… what?' he questioned her. 'Does… your hair need cutting? Does… the dark side of the moon have a Burger King? Does… does do?'

'Does it ever get confusing inside your head?' she asked him, laughing.

He looked serious for a moment. 'No,' he said. 'Never ever ever!'

'You sure?'

'Yep. Now, what were you going to ask me?'

Rose tapped the blue wooden panelling of the TARDIS. 'Does Cloud 9 really exist?' she blurted out.

'Cloud 9!' the Doctor scoffed. 'Cloud 9?'

Rose flushed bright red. 'Well, y'know, I just wondered,' she stuttered out.

The Doctor grinned at her. 'You don't wanna go to Cloud 9, Rose. That's just a party cloud!'

'It does exist then?' she asked, unsure of whether he was just messing her about or not.

He laughed. 'Of course it exists! What did you think? That it was some bizarre dreamland made up by human TV producers?'

Rose shrugged. 'Yeah, kind of.'

He hugged her in amusement, before holding her at arms length to study her face. 'How do you think humans heard about it, anyway?' He had a suggestive look on his face.

'You wouldn't be guilty about that, would you?' she asked him cheekily.

'As charged!' he said. 'Of course, you lot have got a rather misguided idea about Cloud 9 now. Although, I do admit, it's not what it used to be.' He looked wistful as he gazed off into the distance, staring at some unseen point behind Rose's right shoulder.

'Can we go there?'

He looked at her again, his hands still on her arms. 'Nah, wouldn't recommend it,' he said. 'Like I just told you, it's nothing more than a hyped-up, rowdy party cloud.'

Rose looked indignant. 'What's wrong with parties?' she exclaimed.

'Nothing, nothing,' the Doctor replied, sounding somewhat distracted. His expression lost its playful edge. 'It's just… there's somewhere better that we could go. No parties, mind, but it's not bad.'

'Where?'

'Rose Tyler,' he said, putting on a mysterious voice. 'Have you ever heard of Cloud 9-B?'

'Cloud 9-B?'

'That's what I said!'

'No, I haven't.'

He grinned again and grabbed her hand. 'Well that's where we're going! You're going to love it, come on!'

He pulled open the door to the TARDIS and ushered her inside. He looked at her seriously for a moment. 'That's a promise, Rose.'

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The TARDIS shuddered to a stop at what the Doctor had said was Cloud 9-B. Rose rushed to the door excitedly, but the Doctor stopped her with a hand on her arm. 'Ah, hang on now, Miss Tyler!' he said. 'Can't go rushing off here, y'know.' He paused for a moment and scratched his head with his free hand. 'Well,' he amended. 'I suppose you can go rushing off, but I wouldn't recommend it.' He smiled softly. 'This is a place to be savoured.'

His hand ran down her arm then, making them both shiver. 'Cold in here,' Rose said, slightly embarrassed.

The Doctor had a slightly wistful expression on his face as he looked at her. 'Yeah, it is a bit nippy, isn't it? You might want to take a jacket with us; it can get a bit chilly out there, too.' He nodded towards the door.

'Okay.' Rose stretched out behind her to grab her jacket off the rail, letting go of the Doctor's hand momentarily to pull it on.

He smiled at her as she struggled with the stiff zip. He took a step towards her and took the fabric out of her hands. His breath caught in his throat as he joined the ends of Rose's jacket together and pulled the zip up slowly. When he finished, he rested his hands on her waist and bought his head up to meet her eyes. He thought he saw affection in her gaze, and appreciation. And something else. What was that? He didn't usually see… whatever it was when he looked at her. Must be something new. He made a mental note to try and find out later.

'Thanks,' she said. 'Can never get this jacket done up properly.' She spoke quietly, as though she were unsure about something. The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off her face. He blinked rapidly, but there was still something different in Rose's eyes, some new emotion or revelation. Some new something, at any rate. He wondered if it was the same thing that he felt bubbling up in him whenever he looked at her.

'Doctor?' she said.

'Yes?' His voice came out low and husky. Oh, God. He cleared his throat. 'Yes?' Ah, that was better.

'Can we go?' She nodded towards to door.

He smiled again. 'Of course.'

He took her hand and led her to the door, opening it slowly. 'You'll love this,' he told her.

'Oh wow,' were the first words out of Rose's mouth. 'Wow,' she breathed again as the Doctor led her away from the TARDIS, her hand held gently in his. He watched her with a small smile on his face as she stared in wonder. Her face turned up to his, breaking into a huge grin. 'Oh my God', she said.

'Good, isn't it?' The Doctor couldn't help but feel slightly proud as Rose took in the sights around them, trailing her free hand in the wispy cloud that surrounded them like cotton wool.

'Good? It's… it's absolutely amazing!'

'Knew you'd like it.'

'You have such a big ego,' she told him.

'You love it though.'

Her smile softened and she turned her face away from him. 'Yeah, I do,' she said.

They fell into silence for a while as they came to a halt, just standing and staring at what lay before them. Cloud 9-B was only small, but it was completely unspoiled, never having managed to make it into the guidebooks on the top sights to see in the universe. Fluffy damp cloud matter floated all around, clinging to the Doctor and Rose like soft morning dew. There was a smell like grass after an April shower and the air was fresh and clean. The cloud blew upwards in a slight breeze, running over the Doctor and Rose's clasped hands like the gentle fingers of a lover's caress. The end of the cloud was visible from where they stood, the cool feathery wisps tapering out into nothingness, shining in the weak sunlight like diamonds.

The sky stretched out into eternity, and endless expanse of blue disappearing into a horizon that was blurred by other clouds formed into a giant wall of brilliant white. Rose wondered whether they were in the Earth's atmosphere, or whether this was somewhere else entirely. She suspected the latter; nothing on or around Earth was this unspoilt, this perfect. She was brought back to reality by the Doctor's hand pulling out of hers and then slipping around her waist, his thumb tracing circles on her back through the material of her jacket.

'Rose, look up there,' he said. He was pointing with his free arm to somewhere above them and slightly to the left. She followed his gesture and saw what he was referring to. A large cloud rolled above them, an energy about it that made Rose feel alive, like she wanted to run and jump up and down and live life to the full.

'What's that?' she asked.

'That,' the Doctor said, 'is Cloud 9 itself.'

She nodded, the fun vibe she was getting off the cloud matching up with what the Doctor had told her about it being a party cloud. 'Why is this called Cloud 9-B?' she asked. 'Why doesn't it get a number of its own?'

The Doctor smiled and relaxed into his storytelling mode as his arm tightened on Rose's waist, pulling her closer to him. He wondered briefly if she minded. No, he decided. She doesn't mind. 'Well,' he said, sounding very matter-of-fact. 'When they- and by they I mean the magical they that we refer to when we're not completely sure who they actually is…'

'Right, gotcha,' she said, laughing at him.

'When they were originally developing Cloud 9, this B cloud didn't actually exist. There was some kind of… mishap involving a hosepipe and a pickaxe, and part of the original cloud broke away. They decided that it was too small to develop as an independent cloud, whether for business or for entertainment, and so it was given a sub-title and left alone. Hence there's no party vibe around here. This is what Cloud 9 was like before they turned it into the Ibiza of the skies. Quiet, unspoiled. Nobody ever comes here.'

'Except us,' Rose said.

'Except us,' the Doctor agreed. 'But then, it always did have a special place in my heart.'

'Why's that then?'

'Because it…' he trailed off, unsure whether he could tell her. Not that he didn't trust her, but that he didn't exactly trust himself enough.

'Doctor?' Rose twisted against his arm so she was facing him, gazing up into his face. She reached up to touch his cheek, her cool fingers against his warm flesh making them both shiver once more. 'What were you going to say?'

He looked down at her, studying her face for long moments. She didn't look away even though the intensity of his gaze was making her slightly uncomfortable. His arm fell away from her and he took up her hand in his again. Rose felt the cool air rushing at the area where the Doctor's warm, solid arm had just been and she missed his heat. She shook her head slightly as he led her across to the edge of the cloud, to where the milky strands began to dissipate. When Rose looked down, it seemed as though they were floating on nothingness except for a bubble of air keeping them buoyed up.

The Doctor let go of her hand and stepped behind her, placing his hands on her upper arms. 'Look over there, Rose,' he said quietly. 'Towards the horizon line. Focus on it until it starts to blur.'

She did as he asked, staring out into the distance as the cloud below her swirled around her knees. The clouds that marred the horizon merged together further as Rose let her vision lose focus, and blue and white became one. As she concentrated less on her sight, she became more aware of the sounds around her. The clouds moved slowly around her, creating the illusion of rolling waves lapping at the shore in her mind. She became more aware of the crisp, fresh scent in the air that smelt like daffodils and tasted like raspberries. She began to lose herself in the feel of the Doctor's hands moving slowly up and down her arms, warming her.

'Keep looking at the horizon,' he said quietly, so he didn't startle her. 'Tell me what you feel. Don't think, just tell me.'

'Happy, content,' she said without hesitation.

'What else?' he asked.

'Calm, safe, small.'

'Small?' he questioned softly.

'It's a big sky,' she replied. He could hear the smile in her voice.

'Tell me what else. Keep looking over there, remember.'

'I remember. I feel… lucky, protected, free, innocent, weightless…' she trailed off.

The Doctor took a half step closer to Rose, his chest brushing against her back. He heard her gasp slightly. He breathed out, letting his breath blow her hair forwards to tickle her cheek. 'Very good,' he said. 'Now tell me this: what does this cloud feel like?'

'The cloud?' she asked, slightly confused.

He nodded behind her, his chin bumping lightly on the top of her head. 'The cloud.'

'It feels like… a good place to be.' She wasn't quite sure what he was getting at, what he expected her to say.

'What else? Build on that thought.'

'It's like nothing bad could happen here. It feels like it could be lonely if you were here on your own, but with someone else it's like it could be…' She didn't want to finish the sentence, afraid she would sound silly and the Doctor would laugh.

'It's like it could be what, Rose?' The feel of his breath on her neck was doing crazy things to her, making it so she couldn't think straight.

'Like it could be…' Her breath caught in her chest.

'Tell me,' he breathed.

'Home,' she finished in a whisper, wondering if the Doctor would be able to hear her.

He heard her whisper like a thought caught on the wind and he smiled down at the top of her head. 'Yes,' he whispered back in the same tone that Rose had used, tinged with pride. 'Yes, that's it exactly.'

'Really?'

'Yes.'

'That's why you like it here?' she said, still staring out into the sky.

'Yes.'

'It reminds you of your home.'

'Yes,' he said without thinking. Ah. He hadn't expected her to say that, hadn't expected her to make that link between the cloud feeling like it could be a home and it reminding him of his home. At least, he hadn't expected her to get there so quickly. He always managed to under-estimate her.

'It's gorgeous,' she said, cutting through his thoughts.

He smiled softly. 'It's a nice cloud.'

'I meant your planet, your home,' she said. She gestured at the drifting clouds against the backdrop of the clear blue sky, still keeping her gaze firmly focussed on the horizon line. 'To think that it might've looked even remotely like this; it's incredible.'

'It was incredible,' he said. 'It was lovely.'

'Tell me about it?' she asked carefully, unsure of whether he would be willing to share about something that obviously still hurt him so much.

'What do you want to know?'

Everything, she wanted to say, but she didn't want to make him close up by pushing to far, too fast. 'What did it look like?' she said instead.

Rose felt the Doctor relax behind her, obviously relieved she hadn't asked anything to deep and personal too soon. He slipped an arm down to wrap around her waist, his hand resting lightly on her stomach. His other hand gripped her arm a little bit tighter as though he were holding onto her for support and trying to keep her from the edge of the cloud at the same time. His head dropped to rest his cheek against Rose's hair, and he breathed in her fresh scent as he thought about what to say first. He smiled when she leaned back into him, her hands coming to rest on top of his on her stomach, holding him to her. He loved this moment.

'It looked like a planet,' he said, a smile in his voice. 'From a distance, it looked quite a lot like Earth does from space. Just a bit less green and a bit more yellow. And a bit less white and a bit more blue. In fact, it looked like Earth will probably look in a couple of hundred years, when global warming has taken its toll.'

'What about on the surface?' Rose asked.

'Some of it was barren, some of it was lush, some of it was made up of cities and settlements, and some of it was made up of transportation networks.'

'Sounds like Earth.'

'It was, I suppose. There's a set criteria that needs to be met if a planet is going to support intelligent life, Rose. 99.9 percent of all planets with intelligent life meet that criteria, Gallifrey and Earth included. There aren't many that stray from the formula.'

'What made it different then?' she asked, hoping the Doctor wouldn't be insulted that she felt the need to ask, to clarify. 'The people… your people?'

'Yes,' he said. 'And…' he trailed off and looked across at the sight in front of them. The chill from the cloud began to sting his cheeks, the moisture in the air luckily disguising anything that could otherwise be seen as a tear.

'And what?' Rose prompted quietly.

He didn't answer her- couldn't answer her. He didn't want her to see him cry, to know that he was weak when usually he acted so strong. He didn't want her to know that he cried when usually he covered it with a smile, that sometimes all he wanted to do was hold her and kiss her when he usually covered it with a friendly hug or by walking away.

'It was different because it was your home,' she said, like she understood. 'It was a part of you like Earth is a part of me, and you love it despite its flaws.'

He didn't know whether to be glad that she had worked it out for herself, or devastated that she knew how much his planet had meant to him. He wondered why it mattered that she knew; it's not like she would ever tease him or ridicule him for having emotion, for admitting that he felt things the way that she did. He nodded against her hair.

'Do you miss it?' she asked tentatively.

'Yes.'

'It must hurt a lot to think about it.'

'Yes.' He nodded again even though she wasn't facing him. His grip on her waist tightened and his other hand slid down her arm until he was gripping her elbow, firmly holding her against him, stealing her warmth and her comfort to stop himself from falling. His head fell to her shoulder, turning inwards so his nose nuzzled against her neck, his breath warming her against the chill of Cloud 9-B.

'But every breath I take is proof that I can live without it, Rose,' he said. 'Perhaps that's why it hurts so much; that I can lose my family, my planet, my home and I can live through it. And I'm fine. I can live through whole days without even thinking about it, without so much as a thought or a memory. But perhaps that's why I don't think about it very often; because it hurts so much when I do.'

'Doctor, I'm sorry,' Rose said, her voice straining against the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. 'I never would've asked if I knew it would hurt you.'

He lifted his head and spun her round to face him, keeping her locked up tight in his arms. He shook his head at her as she mentally kicked herself for being stupid. 'There's nothing to be sorry for, Rose. I bought you here on purpose, remember? I don't want you to be afraid to talk to me, to ask me questions. I especially don't want you feeling responsible for something that's not even remotely your fault, something that happened years before you were born.' He held her closer still and dropped his voice to a whisper. 'Don't be frightened of me,' he pleaded. 'Don't hide from me. Don't feel like you ever have to hide from me.'

Rose shook her head against the Doctor's chest, feeling both his hearts beating wildly against his ribcage. 'I don't,' she told him honestly. She pressed her hands over his thumping hearts and lightly traced her fingers in patterns on his chest. He let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a moan and Rose looked up, worried that he was in pain. He looked down at her, something strange dancing in his eyes. When he spoke, it sounded as though his voice wasn't his own.

'Do you have any idea of what you do to me?' he asked her, sounding more like he was talking to himself. He held her head to his chest so that she was completely engulfed in him, her body morphed to fit his. It felt wonderful. The Doctor continued speaking. 'Rose I can live without my planet, but… But Rose, if I lost you, I don't think… I don't think that I could bring myself to carry on breathing. I couldn't let myself live any longer.'

'Doctor, don't say that!' She tried to pull away from him, to see his face, but he held her still, trapping her to him. 'You don't mean that,' she told him.

'Yes, I do.' This was said without humour, without emotion, matter of fact. 'I couldn't live without you.'

'You did before you met me!' She regretted it the instant she said it, feeling the Doctor tense up around her so it felt as though she were surrounded by steel. Tears fell down her cheeks, falling through the cloud and on to whatever lay below. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sound like I don't care, because I do! Doctor, I do, I care about you so much. You have no idea how much-'

He cut her off by pulling her head up to meet his and pressing his lips against hers. He held her there, not moving, scared that she would pull away if he pushed it.

'Doctor,' she gasped against his mouth as his kiss filtered warmth through her like hot coffee. She tried to speak around him. 'You… told me that… humans die, but you…' He cut her off by nipping gently at her bottom lip and she swallowed around a moan. 'You said that you… you have to carry on alone.'

He pulled away from her, his lips hovering millimetres away from hers. 'I know what I said, Rose. And I thought I meant it, but then… oh, but then!'

'But then?'

'What's the point in telling the truth when you carry on lying to yourself?'

She shook her head, knowing (hoping) he didn't expect her to answer. She knew what he was trying to say, though. At least she thought that she did.

'Rose, you're the closest thing I have to a home now. I don't think I could stand to lose either of you again.'

'You're not going to,' she told him, sliding her hands round under his coat to wrap around his back. 'You're stuck with me.'

He nodded. 'Good,' he said definitely.

A breeze blew, whipping Rose's hair up into the Doctor's face. He bought his hands up to smooth it down, tucking it behind her ears. He cupped her face. 'You're freezing,' he said.

She shook her head. 'Nah, I'm fine.'

He mimicked her gesture, shaking his head back at her. 'You're freezing,' he said again.

'But you're warm,' she mumbled as she pressed herself into him, leeching his heat.

The Doctor laughed softly. 'The TARDIS is warmer.'

'Yeah, I guess it probably is.' Rose went to pull away but the Doctor stopped her.

'Rose,' he started hesitantly.

'Yes?' she said.

'If… if, um… If I were to, um, kiss you again sometime, do you think… do you think that that might be okay? Maybe. Please.'

She smiled up at him and nodded. 'Yeah, I think that would probably be okay.'

'Probably?'

'Well, y'know, if Johnny Depp were to show up at the TARDIS door… y'never know what might happen! A girl has to prepare for these things.'

The Doctor laughed at her. 'Okay, so if Johnny Depp isn't around and… I want to kiss you, would you let me?'

She smiled. 'Of course I would. You didn't need to ask, y'know?'

He nodded. 'I know. Just… checking.'

'Ah well, thanks for that. It's good of you to… check.'

They grinned at each other again, disentangling themselves and drifting back towards the TARDIS.

'Doctor?' Rose said.

'Yes?' He took her hand and kissed it before letting his fingers entwine with hers.

'I don't wanna sound all corny and that, but…'

'But?' he prompted.

'Maybe… Maybe you don't have to come here to be reminded of home anymore, yeah? I mean… I'm always gonna be here for you.'

'I know,' he said. They reached the TARDIS and the Doctor opened the door, gesturing for Rose to go in ahead of him. 'And Rose, not to be corny…'

'Yeah?'

'Maybe we could still come here. I think it would remind me how happy I am that I have a home to go back to.'

The door shut behind them, leaving Cloud 9-B behind. For now.

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A/N: How corny was that? Lol, sorry, couldn't resist! I'll try harder next time, I promise…