After an uneventful breakfast, the Doctor, Rose, and Jackie made the trek to the zeppelin boarding area where Pete was waiting for them.

"Jax!" Pete nearly shouted in relief when he spotted her, "Thank goodness, I thought I might have lost you. Don't ever do that again!"

Jackie held back tears, unable to say anything, and rushed to Pete. The Doctor and Rose stood awkwardly, trying to avert their gaze as Jackie and Pete kissed. Finally, they broke apart and Pete turned to Rose, "I'm so glad you're ok. I was so worried about you and Tony missed you terribly."

After a quick hug and kiss on Rose's cheek, Pete stood before the Doctor just studying him as if trying to assess whether he was the same man. The Doctor stood still, waiting, a grin began to spread across Pete's face before he finally exclaimed, "Doctor, it's good to see you again! Been a long time!"

The Doctor returned the smile and shook Pete's hand, "It's nice to see you too, Pete. It seems you will be seeing more of me now. Hope that's ok."

"Of course! Please, you are family now. After all the times you've saved my family and the universes, I'm honored to have you in my home," Pete replied. "Anything you need, you just let me know."

The Doctor just smiled and shook his head. All the times he has saved the world and he is hardly ever thanked. Not that he needs to be, but he's not used to others being so generous and it makes him uneasy that he has to depend on others for once.


The zeppelin was smaller than the Doctor thought it would be. The walls felt like they were crashing in on him and he stopped dead in the middle of the aisle unable to take another step forward.

Rose looked back and noticed that the Doctor was stock still, a look of fear on his face, his eyes fixed straight ahead but not seeing. As she took a few steps toward him, she noticed that he was shaking slightly. Concerned, she placed a hand on his arm.

"Are you ok?" she said softly. Getting no response, she shook him lightly and took his hand into hers. "I'm here. I can help you. Please tell me what's wrong?"

The feel of her hand in his and her soothing voice broke the Doctor out of his reverie. He looked down and tried to smile at Rose who looked unconvinced. "I-uhh-" he cleared his throat and ran his free hand through his hair nervously making it stick out even more, "the zeppelin-it's uhh-it's-"

"It's ok. Never mind. Come on let's find our seats," she suggested sensing his embarrassment.

The Doctor was reminded of how well Rose could always read him and never pushed him. His single heart beat frantically in his chest and his hands shook. He felt hot, sweaty, and slightly breathless. It had been a long time since he had traveled by non-TARDIS air and he was caught off guard by his own response. Even still, he was not sure whether it was because unlike the TARDIS, the zeppelin was not bigger on the inside; or if the small space filled with strangers reminded him too much of the bus on the planet Midnight when he had almost been thrown out into an exotonic sun, unable to defend himself from the ruthless passengers.

Focusing on Rose's hand in his, the Doctor calmed down and allowed Rose to lead them to their seats. Rose held his hand and soothingly rubbed the back of his hand until the zeppelin was in the air and the Doctor no longer trembled beside her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry if I scared you. I don't know what came over me. The zeppelin just seemed so small all of a sudden," he explained embarrassed, unable to meet her eyes but feeling that he owed her at least a small explanation.

Her free hand reached up and cupped his face, turning it towards her so that he was looking at her. "S'ok. Really. It took me awhile to get used to zeppelin travel when I first got here. But you have me. I'm here. Just tell me what's goin' on, yeah?"

She squeezed his hand lightly and smiled reassuringly at him. He felt his heart flutter and a surge of appreciation washed over him. He knew at that moment that all he would ever need was Rose Tyler by his side.


Rose kept a close eye on the Doctor for the whole five hour flight and felt relieved when he finally relaxed enough to doze off, leaning his head on her shoulder.

Seeing his reaction to the zeppelin had scared Rose; she had never seen him so scared or vulnerable. While she was not sure what had brought about the panic, she knew him well enough to know not to push him when he did not explain. She could tell that he was embarrassed by his reaction and was not ready to tell her why he had reacted that way. Rose knew that when he was ready, he would tell her and until then, she would just be there for him and help him as best as she could.

His reaction had Rose worried about what he may have seen during their years apart and she wondered how much he had changed during that time. She also worried about how many other surprises lay ahead for them and couldn't help but wonder if she would ever be able to trust this man as much as she had her Doctor.

The doubts she had about the man currently next to her left her sad and confused. It was hard to just accept that he was the Doctor, her Doctor, but looking at him it was hard not to.

In all the shock of everything that had happened, Rose had not had much time to really process it all. Now that it was wearing off, she was starting to feel guilty for having allowed her Doctor to leave her in another universe with essentially his clone.

Trying to decipher whether the man next to her was the Doctor or not left her feeling confused and distraught. She had watched him change every cell in his body and transform into a completely new man and she continued to love him so why was this any different? Was he really her Doctor? And would she come to love and trust him the same way?

Sighing, she rubbed her temples trying to drive away the headache that had formed. She stole a glance at the sleeping man next to her who had moved so that his head rested against the back of the seat and the corners of his mouth upturned slightly into a small smile. Rose couldn't help but smile too seeing him so relaxed and content. Closing her eyes, Rose drifted off to sleep.