"She's special to us." The Doctor said as he pointed his sonic at the device in his other hand. He glanced sideways at his older self and watched as his eyes moved back to the other part of the device and the looked on his face fell neutral.
"They are all special, you know that." The older Doctor pushed his fringe to the side and flicked out his own sonic, the tip glowing green, to check the readings.
The younger connected a wire from the TARDIS control panel to the device in his hand and set it down. He rested his hip on the console and folded his arms. "True, but it's more then that."
A sigh escaped the other man's lips, his eyes closed briefly before darting over to the other side of the console room. The Doctor saw so many emotions flickering through his counterparts eyes, before they focused back on the console. His sonic buzzed, the blue light went out, the device beeped and he flipped a switch on the controls.
"Yes." It was said softly. And once again he looked at his older self. "She's...special to us."
"How special?"
"You know I can't tell you that."
"I'm not asking for details about our time line. I'm just, you know, asking about details of our time line."
The older man didn't answer. He just returned his eyes to the other side of the console room and he followed his gaze. He felt the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and his hearts skip a beat each as they always did when he saw Rose. He looked at her for a few seconds before he concentrated on the woman next to her.
Clara Oswald.
She was a little shorter then Rose, with dark brown hair, that fanned around her face, and hazel eyes. She was intelligent, as she had proven multiple times today, and she was beautiful. The thing that bothered him about her, though, was that feeling in the back of his head that she was familiar.
He looked back at his older self and thought that maybe what he saw was the answer. What he had seen in the other Doctor's eyes was what he knew could be found in his own eyes when he looked at Rose. There were so many question he wanted to ask, but knew he couldn't. He let out his own sigh and flipped another switch on the controls. The part of the device that the other Doctor had been working on beeped that it was done and they fitted it together.
They called for Rose and Clara and he noticed that Clara was already reaching for his counterpart's hand before he offered it.
After they had saved the day, the Doctor leaned back against his TARDIS. His younger selves was parked a few feet away. Rose and Clara were standing in front of that one, saying goodbye. His eyes were stuck on Rose. Having another adventure with her hurt. And knowing the pain both she and his younger self were in for made his hearts ached to advise his younger self to just tell her already! But he couldn't risk the time lines. They were already fragile because of this unforeseen meeting between him and the former Doctor. Any messing with them could change things in too many ways. It could erase everything he's done in this regeneration and...
His eyes found Clara as the two women broke their hug.
...it just wasn't worth it.
She walked and leaned against the TARDIS next to him. He nodded goodbye to his former self, watched as he and Rose entered their TARDIS and it dematerialized. Clara opened the door behind her and walked up to the console.
"Where to now?" she asked, trailing a finger along the edge. She tilted her head to look at her, her hair falling halfway across her face. The lights in the control both highlighting her and putting her in shadows. He could only stare at her as his hearts did a familiar skip-double beat. "What's wrong?"
He shook his head and walked down the two steps to the console. He stepped up to the navigation panel and his hands paused before flicking the randomizer. He hadn't used it while Clara was traveling with him.
"Doctor?" she asked.
He looked at her. 'How was it any different?' he thought. He had wanted to tell his younger self to tell Rose, how was his not telling Clara any different than then?
"Tell me?" She stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. His eyes snapped to hers. "Somethings bothering you. Tell me?"
Her eyes were begging him to trust her.
"Rose." he said and wanted to slap his forehead at the way the shutters behind her eyes slammed down.
"Right," she said, removing her hand, stepping away. "The other you seemed...very close to her. I'm-I'm sure you miss her."
"I do. Seeing her was hard, I never told Rose what I felt for her before I lost her. And that is one of the many things I regret." He reached out for her, erasing the steps between them and taking her hand in both of his. "Never again do I want someone I care for to not know what I feel for them." He raised her hand and kissed the back of it, before he cupped the side of her neck. "Clara, you do know how important you are to me?"
"Of Course." Her voice wavered as her eyes flickered from his mouth to his eyes. "I'm the Impossible Girl."
"No, not because of that. Because you're Clara. Just Clara." He cupped the other side of her neck and took the half step between them. He tilted her head up and felt her breath shudder against his lips before he kissed her.
He kept his mouth pressed lightly to hers, letting her deiced to take it any farther. It was a few seconds before her lips started to move against his. Her hands clutched at his waistcoat. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, and his other went to her hair.
She broke away, breathing deeply, nose pressed against his chin.
"My Clara." He kissed her forehead. He waited until she looked back up at him. He pressed his forehead against her, noses nuzzling together and lips almost touching. "I love you, Clara." he whispered. "So much. I've already lost you twice, but you are worth the pain I'll feel when I lose you again."
"Hey," she said. "I'm here right now. Let's concentrated on that. And you never know, I might lose you first."
He nodded and kissed her again. "You're right. And we have so much to see between now and then."
The TARDIS landed and he held out his hand. She took it with a grin and they ran for the door and stepped into the future.