This one was longer than the original entry, but I can't guarantee a specific word count for every chapter. Probably somewhere around 1,000, but it'll vary.
Any reviews are welcome – some way I could write better, something I'm doing to make the characters act out of character, ideas, anything. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction, although writing is my hobby, so all critiques are appreciated.
I also edited the first chapter a bit, considering it was originally a one shot, so reread it if you want. It's nothing really important though.
Disclaimer: I do not own this show or the characters (duh).
Rose stood inside the doorway of the TARDIS and drunk in the view. It had been so long since she'd been here last… Although there was an undeniable sense of amazement to the strange planets and foreign realms they frequented, the TARDIS was a wonder in itself.
A blue police box on the outside, a large alien spaceship with the ability to travel through time and space on the inside. In the center sat the familiar control station, and above it a staircase led to a central chamber which opened to dozens of rooms. Everything looked almost exactly the same as she'd left it – if not a bit messier.
Still, something was off. The alien technology hummed around her, and for the first time she realized just how lonely it could be here. The pulsing light of the control panel was the only sign of life – the twisting arches and cold metal that comprised the rest of the interior appeared nearly as timeless and alien as the machine itself.
"Doctor?" she began hesitantly, turning towards him. His hand was still tightly clasped in her own, and she realized that he'd been watching her warily since she'd boarded the ship. A questioning hum prompted her to continue, and she looked up to meet his gaze. "How long were you searching?". Something in his eyes shifted, a weariness settling into them that hadn't been present before.
"Well you said it yourself Rose – you've been waiting for me for over a year. I apologize again for the long wait, couldn't be avoided." he said with a twinge of regret, smiling brightly at her. Rose frowned and shook her head.
"Yes, it's been over a year for me… But I asked about you. How long were you searching?" she repeated, knowing that the clarification shouldn't be needed. Everything looked the same, so familiar, but the look in his eyes... He studied her carefully before allowing the smile to falter.
"Three years Rose. It's been three years – well, three years four months – since I saw you last.". He saw the recognition in her eyes, the sadness there reflecting his own. A year was a long time to wait for someone, but three years of searching the universe alone had been crippling. There had been no one to distract him from his thoughts or guilt, from the feeling of every thing moving and living and being running through his head. He'd made friends during his search, even taken a few on some trips, but none had stayed. None were his Rose.
She squeezed his hand and he unconsciously shifted towards her, eating up the already small distance between them. Rose paused, waiting for his next movement, but a small noise from the center of the TARDIS jarred them both out of their thoughts. He shook himself off and returned to the present – he had found her, and she still wanted to come with him. Things were going to be different now. A bright smile lit his face and he nodded dismissively at whatever comment she was about to make concerning his lonely search, squeezing her hand in response before releasing it and moving over to the controls.
Rose smiled as she saw some of the ghosts disappear from his eyes, and couldn't deny how happy she was to be here with him and have these little things back – holding hands, hugging, the gentle touch of his lips on her skin, however briefly. She paused, glancing around again and looking out the open door into her dark bedroom – the clock read 4:00 am – before following him.
He already wielded a small mallet in one hand, as if intending to threaten the machine into operation, and the other was preoccupied with several rows of buttons and knobs. She watched with amusement as he fiddled with the machine, knowing that no one but him would ever really understand exactly how it worked. She'd barely learned the basics in her time with him, and even then he often had to tease her into selecting the correct button a few rows over from where she'd thought it had been. Smiling from both the memories and the befuddled look on his face, she leaned against the nearby railing and waited for him to fill her in on the issue.
After several minutes of tinkering (and some hammering, yelling, and questioning the integrity of the machine), he finally turned to her with a small smirk.
"Well, it looks like the adventures will have to wait for this old thing" he paused and glared at the controls comically, "to decide it's done recalibrating.".
"Same old Doctor, always in a love hate relationship with his favorite spaceship." Rose laughed, glad to receive the same reaction from him. "That works out then – now you have time to come tell everyone that you're here! They'll be so glad to see you. And I'll need to pack a bag of course… Maybe some extra food too…" she trailed off, making a mental list and frowning in thought.
The Doctor walked over to lean against the railing next to her, and when she'd finished her calculations she looked up to see him watching her with a smile. A yawn escaped her, a reminder that her sleep had been disrupted, and the amused smile grew.
"What?" she asked suspiciously, wondering what all of the smiling was about.
"Nothing." he assured her, his tone warm and teasing. "Although it does look as if I woke you up. I was aiming for the earliest possible time I had access to – the fact that you might have been asleep slipped my mind. Maybe you should go back to bed until the morning, and then we can tell the others?".
"Doctor, you appeared in my room in the middle of the night and I'm finally seeing you for the first time in over a year. How exactly do you expect me to go back to sleep after that?". Another yawn betrayed her – she hadn't been sleeping well since the day everything had changed, and she had only gotten to sleep a few hours ago. She didn't mention her silent fear that this was all a dream, that she would wake up in a few hours and find herself alone again. He studied her face for a moment before speaking.
"Well quite easily I should think, given that I'm going to sleep too. And as a good hostess, you are entirely banned from allocating me to an uncomfortable couch.". With that, he moved away from the railing and out the door of the TARDIS. When she followed, she found him already lying on the far side of her bed, eyes closed.
She laughed and climbed into the bed, sure to keep some distance between them but thankful that she could sleep without the fear that reality come crashing down and prove all of this a lie. He turned his body towards her towards her, opening his eyes.
"I'll never leave you Rose. Not again. Sleep… I promise you that I'll still be here when you wake up.". His voice was quiet in the darkness, and he was close enough now that she could feel the warmth of his body. She nodded and shifted towards him slightly, allowing their hands to touch, before closing her eyes. Next to her she heard a soft sigh, the sound of someone who has been alone for far too long and has finally found his way home, and he tangled his hand in hers loosely. Then she slipped away into a dreamless sleep.
