A/N: I had this all in my head while I was writing Clara's POV and wasn't going to write it down, yet here I am. I'm still deciding if I'm going to continue Clara's perspective, but for now here's this chapter.
When he leaves Clara on the streets of Brooklyn, he wonders again if he's doing the right thing. He's not sure how he'll be able to do this - to look at her again, with the Doctor that isn't him, hear her laugh, and then just...leave.
He told her he would come, though. So he flips a few switches and knobs and guides the TARDIS to the one point in time that could be his salvation or his downfall.
She found it, a while back. A small hole in the space-time continuum that allowed for the two universes to meet, just for a little while. She got him a message, telling him where to meet her. There were only a few times that it was open to both of their timelines, all several years apart. So he'd waited, but he hadn't forgot. And now comes the time.
When he steps out into the galaxy, it should be impossible. Here he is, standing in the stars - not drifting, not running out of oxygen, feeling solid ground beneath him. It's the universe's big anomaly, and he is so grateful for it.
"Doctor." He hears her voice before he sees her, and a smile breaks out on his face as he turns.
She looks older - it's been five years in her timeline, after all. She doesn't look surprised at the new face, just stands there smiling at him. He pulls her into a hug, holding her tightly and wishing that he could stay here forever.
"Rose." He almost can't believe it as he's saying her name. "My beautiful, brilliant Rose."
"You didn't quite believe it would work, did you?" She asks, but she's still smiling at him in a way that seems to make the stars stop shining.
He can't quite stand it, being this close to her and knowing that it won't last.
They talk for hours and hours, sitting on the doorstep of the TARDIS. Rose tells him about the many changes in her life. She has a son now, she says and he can't help the pang that resounds in his chest. His name is Jamie, and she shows him a picture - he's inherited his mother's blonde hair and his father's brown eyes, and, she tells him, both of their intelligence. He's only three, but he's already reading and learning about everything he possibly can. The Doctor thinks he's probably the luckiest child in the world, growing up travelling among the stars.
He tells her more about Martha and Donna, and then explains Amy and Rory, and finally Clara.
She listens as he tells her about the weeping angels, and she somehow manages to say exactly the thing he needed to hear. He misses that about her. He misses her.
"So you just dropped Clara off in Brooklyn?" She asks, and he looks down at his hands. He isn't proud of this.
"I've seen a bit into her timeline." He says, finally. "I got a bit mixed up, figured it wouldn't matter when I dropped in even if it I hadn't strictly been there yet, at that point. And I saw...I saw what's going to happen next."
"And you're frightened for her."
"Yes."
"Does she leave?"
And that's the ultimate question, isn't it?
"I don't know."
Of course she does. Will. They all do, eventually.
When their time is closing, he doesn't say goodbye. He hates goodbyes. She knows this, so she leans in and kisses him on the cheek.
"Until next time, Doctor."
"Until next time." He repeats.
This time, the TARDIS's familiar noise isn't a comfort. It's the distant sound of a train, carrying the two of them ever further apart.
