Chapter 2

Rose and Kari sat, relaxed in chaise lounges next to a pool, their faces covered in mud. The good kind of mud. Not the dirty, sticky, sweaty, "run until your legs give out and you fall face first" type of mud. The spa they were in was peaceful and tranquil with quiet music and fountains tinkling in the corners.

Rose let out a sigh. "Oh, this is lovely! We better not have to run while we're here."

Kari did her best to frown. "Shush! You'll jinx it!"

Rose smirked as she settled into her chair more. "We let the Doctor out of our sight. We may have jinxed it right then."

"Then he can just run without us," Kari said with a vague wave of her hand. "I'm not moving for a while."

"Mmm… I think I'll stick with you." Rose smiled contentedly and took a look around her. "You know, while I can't complain about the running and excitement, it's definitely nice to relax on a nice, quiet planet."

Kari nodded. "Agreed. It took me some getting used to, but I love the running and excitement! It sure as hell beats dieting and exercise."

Rose looked over with a grin. "There was this one planet we went to, yeah? The people there are known all across the galaxy for chocolate, of all things. This chocolate is like nothing on Earth! It tastes the same, a bit, but it's…different. When it's warm, it doesn't melt, but it's still creamy when it's cold. You can eat it right off the plant! They use it like a spice and put it in everything. Amazing!"

"Mmm that sounds delightful!" Kari gave a contented smile of her own. "I don't suppose there's any on the TARDIS?"

"I'm not sure. If not, I'll bet we can get the Doctor to take us back, if he can remember how to get there."

Kari snorted. "Yeah, that'll be the day! We'll end up there on accident while trying to get somewhere else entirely."

"We should be so lucky."

Rose shut her eyes and relaxed back into her chair. Letting her eyes wander lazily over her surroundings, Kari sighed contentedly.

"So, what do you think he's up to, anyway? He seemed pretty secretive about where he was going after he dropped us off."

Rose shrugged. "Oh, how should I know? Thing about time travel is that he could be gone a week and we'd never know it." She paused and continued reflectively. "The first time I left with him, I was gone a year from my family and friends, but only a few days for me. Thank God he's gotten better at that or I'd be afraid of how long we'd be here before he shows up again."

Kari smiled knowingly. "Yeah, as relaxing as this is, it would get old after a while."

"Though, I suppose if he spends the next twenty years trying to navigate his way back…" she said with a grin, "it might only be a few minutes for us by the time he finally gets here. And it's not like he wouldn't come back, no matter how long it takes him."

Kari turned to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "There's no way in all of time and space that he'd allow himself to take that long to get back to you."

Rose chuckled. "I'm just saying, if he did…"

"And I'm just saying he'd be hard pressed to take twenty minutes, let alone twenty years. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't take a minute."

"Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of things that interest him in the universe besides me. I know he'll always come back. That's the important part."

Kari snorted as she chocked back the laugh she was trying to hide. "Yeah, okay, you keep believing that."

Rose glanced at her, raising an eyebrow curiously. "What do you mean?"

Kari turned to look at her. "Rose, there is nothing more important to him than you, except maybe the TARDIS. Maybe."

Rose leaned back to consider that for a moment. "Yeah…" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, hesitant to continue. "Sometimes I wonder. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know he cares, a lot, and he'd never let me down. But he's just so hard to read."

Kari sighed. "I know he is. But it's really easy to see when you're standing on the outside looking in. I see how he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking, not to mention how you look at him."

Rose's eyes widened, almost like a deer caught in the headlights. "What…what do you mean?" she said with a gulp.

"I mean, I've noticed many a sideways glance when you think no one's watching, not to mention how horribly you 'hide' watching him when he's walking away." Kari smirked. "Jack and I have had many an hour of entertainment thanks to you two."

Rose gave a tense laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. "Hehe I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

"Well, anyway, even if I did, it doesn't matter. He's not even human; it's not like anything would ever happen."

Kari rolled her eyes. "So what if he's not human? If the feeling is mutual – and it is, believe me – it shouldn't matter."

Rose shifted uncomfortably. "You don't know that! Besides, the fact that he's not human makes a big difference"

"Why?"

"Well, I mean, I don't even know if he's…like that. I've seen enough people from planets all over the universe to know that just because they look human doesn't mean they…do what humans do."

"You mean 'dance'?"

Rose frowned. It made Kari chuckle.

"Something tells me he does. And nothing changes the way you two look at each other. It's like you have a big neon sign above your heads. 'We're in love with each other and are in denial!'" To emphasize her point, Kari 'blinked' her hands over her head.

Rose looked around nervously, almost as if she was afraid he'd walk in just then. "Stop it!" she said with a tense laugh.

Kari laughed and smiled, despite the sudden wave of discomfort she had just gotten that she couldn't explain. "Fine, Rose, I'll drop it. For now." She turned and pointed a finger at her friend. "But don't, for a moment, think this is the end of it."

Rose leaned back in her chair, smiling and rolling her eyes. "Oh, great, something for me to look forward to."

The Doctor was practically vibrating with excitement when he picked Rose and Kari up from the resort. It didn't take long to find out why. When he opened the door for them, they came face to face with many of Kari's closest friends. She openly gaped and looked between them and the Doctor, trying to figure out how long it had taken him to do this and just how those conversations had gone. The only person there that didn't surprise her was Jack. Satisfied with her reaction, the Doctor led them all to the kitchen for cake and presents.

Once everyone had their fill of cake, the Doctor dismissed them to get ready for a 'night on the town.' He'd left the statement intentionally vague, although he had a few ideas. A few more sprang to mind when he caught the mischievous grins on Kari's friends' faces.

"This is pretty amazing what you've done for her." Jack said as he hung back, looking around at the decorations.

The Doctor leaned against the counter and smiled, relaxed, as he admired his handiwork. "You humans and your celebrations." He said as he batted a balloon at Jack, smiling as it almost hit its mark. "Still, I guess if you've only got a hundred years or so…"

Jack smiled and shook his head as he hit the balloon back. "This was Rose's idea, wasn't it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Little bit of both. Kari's been a bit homesick lately. Not enough to actually want to do anything about it, mind you, just enough to make it obvious."

Jack nodded as he watched the Doctor gather plates and pile them in the sink. "I'm sure having all her friends here will help."

"I'm sure it will, as long as I can keep sane. Seriously, is it normal for grown women to giggle like little girls when they get around people they've known for a long time?"

"Oh, this is nothing! Just wait until they get some alcohol in them."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and finished putting the cake away. "I figured I'd take them to Aoila. There ought to be enough there to keep them busy for a few days at least."

"Oh, I'm sure!" Jack leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out in front of him, hands behind his head. "So, what's been going on around here?" he asked with a slight quirk of his eyebrow.

"Well, I've spent the last week gathering friends on Earth, which was quite the chore," the Doctor replied, smiling. "Though the look on her face made it worth it. Rose and Kari spent the last few hours on Unna getting pampered."

"And how're things with you and Rose?"

"Great!" the Doctor exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Good! So you've talked to her?"

"I talk to her every day."

Jack closed his eyes and sighed. "Doc, you know what I'm talking about."

"And you already know the answer to the question, so why ask?"

Jack leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Because I care? Because you left Kari and Rose together, with no distractions, for a couple of hours?"

"So? They were perfectly safe. There's no trouble on that planet for them to get into, even if they tried."

Jack squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "God, you're clueless."

The Doctor raised a brow.

"Doctor, girls talk when left to their own devices."

"So? They can talk. They talk all the time. Why wouldn't I want them to talk?"

"Because there's a very good chance they talked about you, and I don't mean in some general way."

Slipping his hands in his pockets and leaning against the counter, the Doctor shrugged. "I'm sure if there's anything I need to know, I'll hear about it soon enough."

Jack stood up and leaned against the wall. "Look, I'm not going to lecture you about this, but I don't think it's fair to Rose to keep dragging this out."

"She's not exactly here under false pretenses, Jack." The Doctor leveled a look on the other man. "If you think I would do anything to hurt her – or not do anything to keep her happy – then you really don't know me very well."

Jack scrubbed his hands down his face in frustration. "Doc, I know you would never hurt or do anything to make her unhappy. I do. It's just that…" He sighed. "Doctor, we've already talked about this and you said you'd talk to her. I was just hoping it'd be sooner rather than later."

The Doctor cleared his throat and turned away. "I hope you're up to escorting a group of drunken humans around Aoila," he said, changing the conversation abruptly. "I've got a feeling by the end of the night, I'm going to need all the help I can get."

Jack nodded in resignation. "Guess it's a good thing that's one of my specialties. I'm gonna go get ready." Not waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and left the kitchen.