I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters. I'm not that lucky! If I did, Rose and the original Doctor would still be together.
Anyways, this was originally a one-shot until I realized how long it was going to become. Let me know if you want the rest of it!
"So, where do you want to go?"
The Doctor bounced around the console, beaming happily at the blonde woman leaning against the railing in a yellow cotton sundress with a pair of dark brown sunglasses resting on top of her head. The yellow complemented her blonde hair and light tan nicely.
"Well," she began. "I've always wanted to go to Rome."
He stopped mid-run and gave her a confused look. "Why Rome?"
"Oh, I don't know really," she said thoughtfully. "It just looks so beautiful. Ancient city, brilliant architecture, and such a rich history."
"Humans," the Doctor sighed. "Offer them all of time and space and they want to go to Italy. Biggest tourist trap in the world."
Rose walked over and placed her head softly on his shoulder. She wrapped his arm in hers and gave him the most pleading look she could manage.
"Please?" she asked.
He stared down at her light brown eyes. For the nearly three years he had known her, those eyes had always left him powerless. Powerless and usually running off to do something very stupid. Oh well, he thought, why start resisting now? Without looking away, he pushed a lever down and the TARDIS jumped into action.
"Fine," he groaned.
She squealed and wrapped her arms around him for a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He couldn't help but let a wide grin spread across his face as her sing-song voice echoed in his ear. It was this very excitement that made him happy to have her with him. After nearly a thousand years of having all of time and space at one's fingertips, the novelty of it all sort of disappears. It becomes just another planet and just another species. To Rose, however, it was all brand new and exciting. When he was with her, he could feel it too.
The TARDIS began shifting about recklessly as Rose and the Doctor held tightly to the console. They made eye contact, and he shouted breathlessly, "Allonsy!"
Moments later, the TARDIS landed with a thud and the Doctor leapt to his feet. Rose stood and straightened her dress.
"So we're here?" she asked excitedly.
"Modern-day Rome," he declared. "Tourists and all, but…"
He gasped and then his face broke into a smile.
"What's got you so happy?" Rose asked. "Did you just remember your long lost girlfriend in the Vatican City or something?"
She was laughing, but there was definitely a note of jealousy behind her words. The Doctor seemed to have no shortage of admirers throughout all of space and time. She thought of Madame de Pompadour and scowled.
"What?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Nothing, nevermind," Rose said quickly.
He didn't dwell on her slip, but ran to the door and flung it open.
"Gelato," he exclaimed while staring out at the city. "Italy has the most brilliant gelato!"
She started to laugh. "Well, then, we'd better go and find some!"
He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside as the blue door slammed shut. She stopped, making him stumble as he was still holding her hand and attempting to sprint off.
"What is it?" he asked quickly.
"It's, it's beautiful," she mumbled.
The TARDIS was parked right in front of the Trevi Fountain. She stared, openmouthed, like all of the other tourists around her. She tried to soak it all in. The shining water, the coins at the bottom reflecting the sunlight, and the pristine statues that surrounded it all. The stone gods were seemingly frozen in time in the glistening water. Rose let her eyes drift across the scene and stopped at the two stone angels, standing guard at the top.
"Wow," she breathed.
She felt the Doctor take her hand and turned to find him staring at her.
"Shall we go get some gelato then?" he asked, with all the impatience of a child.
She turned to him with a grin. "Allonsy."
After visiting the nearest gelato shop, the two of them walked hand in hand along the bustling streets. Rose couldn't help but think how nice it was. For once, they weren't fighting off daleks or trapped on an impossible planet in orbit around a black hole. They were just strolling happily through Rome. No aliens in sight. Well, except for the one next to her that was insisting they stop at every gift shop.
Rose groaned. "Doctor, seriously, you're only going to find the same post cards and souvenirs as the last three shops."
He ignored her and walked right into the store on the left.
"Oh, this is nice," he said. "I like a little shop! Don't you?"
She laughed at his goofy grin. For a 900-year-old Time Lord, she had never seen anyone more childlike.
"I liked the first one," she said. "Now let's go! There are so many things to see!"
"Oh, stop being a spoilsport!" he said. "Have a look around! It's fun!"
She sighed but reluctantly started sifting through a basket of jewelry on a nearby table. If she didn't know better, she would think the Doctor was enjoying some time off too. As much as he loved the running, and there was certainly a lot of running, he had to get tired sometime, right? She glanced across the row and saw him with his glasses on examining a toy car. He reached into his pocket and Rose cleared her throat. He looked up innocently and she shook her head. He dropped the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket with a look of petulance on his face. She giggled.
"Right, then," he said. "Are you ready to move on?"
Rose picked up a silver necklace with a small pearl attached at the end. "I'm just going to pay for this first."
The Doctor took the pearl in his hand. "Ah, nice choice. Pearls are lovely. I'll get it then, and you can just wait outside."
"Oh, you don't have to!" she said. "I stopped by that ATM, remember?"
"Consider it an early birthday present," he smiled, "or late. When's your birthday again?"
"March."
"Late it is!" he said, joining in the short queue.
She walked outside the shop to sit on a park bench. It was mid-June now, according to the sign across the street, and that meant she had just turned twenty-one. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had left home and everything she knew to fly away with the Doctor in his magical blue box. It had really only been two and a half short years. Not that linear time meant anything in the TARDIS.
A lot had happened in that time; the biggest of which she was still trying to process. Around six months back (again, linear time) was when the void had opened at the Battle of Canary Wharf. Both her mother and Mickey had gone to the parallel world, but Rose had stayed. Pete's World, as the Doctor called it, was sealed off moments after the void closed. She never had the chance to say goodbye, but that was the choice she made. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her life without him.
Before she could dwell on the memory, the Doctor was at her side. He reached inside a bright blue bag to pull out the necklace. She smiled as he fastened it around her neck.
"Perfect," he beamed.
"Thank you," she said.
She was smiling right back at him, but her eyes did little to hide what had been on her mind moments before. The Doctor noticed and took her hand.
"Right then," he said. "How about we go look at the coliseum?"
She nodded and let him lead her down the winding sidewalk. She was admittedly only halfway listening to his litany of reasons why they should have gone to ancient Rome instead. She couldn't get rid of the nagging thoughts that kept reminding her of that fateful day. Then, as they ascended the steps to the arena, it hit her.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked, his voice suddenly filled with concern. "Rose, tell me what's happened."
"It's my mother's birthday," she said.
She slowly lifted her eyes from the ground to meet the Doctor's.
"It's my mother's birthday, and I missed it."
She could feel a tear fighting to escape the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away hurriedly. The Doctor returned her stare, a pained expression on his face.
"Come here," he said.
He pulled her to him and held her tightly. He wished he could say something to comfort her, but there was nothing to be done and she knew it. Parallel universes were the one thing the TARDIS was powerless against.
She stiffened and pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm fine now."
He looked at her and smiled sadly. "No, you're not."
He placed his arm around her shoulders and led her to a bench along the wall. They sat and stared out at the vast arena in silence. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him.
He took her hand again and laced his fingers through hers. She turned to him.
"Do you regret it?" he asked.
He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer, but it was a question that had haunted him for months. He waited with baited breath as she seemed to consider him.
"No," she finally said. "I don't."
He sighed. It was both what he wanted to hear and what he didn't. Although, he supposed, it was for the best since there was no way of fixing it.
"But you miss her," he stated.
She laughed, although not in amusement, and said, "God, yes. I never thought I would want to hear her yelling at me so badly!"
This elicited a chuckle from the Doctor. "A famous Jackie Tyler slap wouldn't be that bad," he said.
He was rubbing his cheek as if he could still feel the sting from the last one.
"Oi, don't forget you've still got one Tyler in this universe!" Rose warned with some of the familiar spark in her eyes he liked to see. It had been missing too often lately.
"Never," he promised.
She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Seriously, Doctor, I don't regret it. I don't regret choosing you. I would make the same decision every time."
He face broke into a grin. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly a cacophony of panicked screams reached their ears before he could say a word.
Instead, he sprung from the bench and ran to the exit with Rose following close behind.
"What is it?" she asked, catching her breath.
"I don't know," he said. Then he smiled. "Are you up for a little Roman adventure, Rose Tyler?"
She grabbed his hand and grinned, "You know what they say: when in Rome!"
They sprinted down the steps and into the street. Both stopped as soon as they reached the sidewalk and looked around. The panic seemed to be coming from the direction of the Trevi Fountain so they took off in a run.
They skidded around the corner and found themselves faced with a group of tourists huddled together about 15 meters away from the fountain. They were being held back by the police, more of which were just arriving on scooters.
"I've always wanted a scooter," the Doctor mused.
"Shh," Rose hit his arm. "Listen."
She pointed at the police officer who was now addressing the crowd. They slowly joined the group.
"We ask that everyone please vacate the area," she said loudly. "The situation is under control, and there is nothing to be concerned about. However, you must leave quickly. Thank you for your cooperation."
The group began to slowly disperse as the woman walked back to the other officers. Rose quickly turned to the man next to her.
"What happened?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"Look for yourself," he said. He pointed at the center of the fountain before hurrying off.
She and the Doctor looked to where the man had pointed, but she didn't see anything. There were only the statues. She looked again at the whole structure and then paused at the top. There had been two angels up there. She was sure of it. So why was there only one now?
"Doctor," she said slowly. However, upon seeing his utterly panicked face, she followed his gaze.
Right there, in the middle of the other statues, stood the angel. It was no longer looking down upon the scene as a guardian. Its arms were outstretched, as if trying to grasp something, and its mouth was opened in a silent scream.
"Rose," the Doctor said.
His eyes hadn't moved from the moment he saw it.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Don't blink."