Second Time Around
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and RTD. I own nothing, sadly, except the tears I've cried over the finale.
Bad Wolf Bay.
It isn't like last time, Rose muses as she steps out onto the beach. The ocean still looks dark and impossibly cold, the sand still shifting with each step she takes and a cool wind blowing from the north to make the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Yet somehow the pit is still there, the sinking feeling in her stomach that won't go away as she turns back to the TARDIS.
She's supposed to stay here, he's telling her, now that time has been fixed. It's where she belongs. But everything about her is shouting, screaming, and fighting. She spent so long trying to find him, racing across universes and through time dimensions just to find the man she loves again and now they're back at square one, back where she was two years ago. Last time there was no hope in sight, only some distant glimmer but this time? This time it's final, she can see it in his eyes.
The second Doctor has to stay here, her Doctor says. Rose needs to fix him, to make the new Doctor like her own Doctor. But he can't go yet. She needs to know. "The last time we were here, on the worst day of my life, you started to say something. What was it?"
"I said, Rose Tyler," Her Doctor repeats in a soft voice.
"What was going to follow that?" She holds her breath, waiting, hoping for the answer she wants to hear. She needs to hear it. Instead, his shoulders sag slightly before he replies.
"Does it really need to be said?" Disappointment fills her. How could she have been wrong about this? But the second Doctor, the new Doctor, steps closer. He bends, lips close to her ear.
"Rose Tyler, I love you." She meets his gaze- oh those brown eyes, deep and filled with so many wonders just like her Doctor. Finally, after what feels like ages, she does something she's wanted to do for a long time; Rose Tyler finally has her moment, wrapping her arms around the new Doctor and kissing him, holding him close. When it ends, she's smiling but her face turns. Her Doctor is striding away, back to the TARDIS, hands in his pockets. She knows now that he's leaving for good and there's no turning back from this. She'll never see him again. That he's letting go of her at last.
"Doctor!" She can hear the engines firing up, listening for the last time as the TARDIS gets ready for flight. It's just like last time, the pit in her stomach. Yet a hand finds hers, a familiar warmth and a perfect fit. The new Doctor stands at her side, her anchor as she watches the TARDIS disappear forever. They don't stand there for long as Jackie begins to berate the old Doctor for stranding them in the middle of nowhere, Norway. Rose can't leave the spot right away, not yet.
"Rose," All it takes is her name and her face turns to his again. He's the same man, yet different in many other ways. She takes a deep breath, squeezing his hand.
Like the first time they met, the Doctor takes her hand in his and together they move towards a new future, one where they have one another to carry on through.
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author's notes: So this, as you can see, is in response to the finale. God, I bawled my way through it. I've been really iffy about dabbling in this genre, since I'm still fairly new to the fandom, but this just had to get out onto paper. My heart broke for the Doctor, leaving Rose and his copy at Bad Wolf Bay, especially since he's left Rose with someone to keep her company and to love while he's left with just a memory. I'm mostly glad that he's had some closure with Rose finally, since my heart's been broken over this since the finale of season two. The words aren't exactly correct for what they say in the actual scenes but you guys get the general picture I was trying to create (leastways I hope that's true). Who knows if I'll dabble more here. :D