/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\

"I can't make you appear in her house," the Doctor chattered quickly, running around with wires clenched in both hands. "You'll need to call out to her, telepathically."

"I can't do that! I don't know how to do that," Rose said nervously, her heart beating erratically as she followed a couple steps behind him. "I can't do that - telepathic stuff, I -"

"You've lived with her your whole life. Even though you don't know it, you already have a strong psychic link with her," the Doctor explained hastily, typing code into the TARDIS control panel. "All you need to do is call out to her with your mind. Really, overwhelmingly strong. The only thing in your mind for a little while. She'll hear it. When and if she responds, it'll be easier to communicate with her - just like a conversation in your head. Then you have to tell her this." He shoved a hastily scrawled-on piece of paper with directions labelled on it. "It's how she can reach where we're going to appear."

Rose took a step backwards, a bit overwhelmed. The Doctor paused, clenching the sonic screwdriver in between his teeth as he twirled a knob and pressed more buttons. Looking up, he smiled reassuringly. "You'll be fine. I'll help you."

She smiled back weakly. The TARDIS lurched, then steadied, and the Doctor jumped over the console next to her, grabbing the sonic screwdriver from his mouth and smiling at her. Grabbing her hand with his free one, he led her to the wall and stopped in front of it.

"I'll wire it up here." He looked straight at her, his face becoming serious. "You have to concentrate. Really concentrate. Just call out to her with your mind. She'll be able to hear you."

Rose nodded, closing her eyes and clearing her mind. Summoning all her strength, she called out with her thoughts, feeling a bit foolish. Mum... mum, she thought, trying to put some sort of power behind it, reaching out with her mind.

She felt the Doctor's hand tighten around hers, and peeking an eye open, could see him closing his eyes, concentrating with her. He was helping her. Feeling a surge of confidence, Rose screwed her eyes shut and concentrated.

Mum... can you hear me, Mum? ...Mum!...

She felt the Doctor tense, then relax. "It's established, she can hear you," she could hear him say faintly, but it was in the distance, as if he were many miles away. She could feel a presence near her, and gasped a little. She could sense her mum next to her.

Mum!

Rose? Rose gasped as she heard her mum's voice in her head.

Mum, it's me. Quick, you need to listen. It was getting easier, and she opened her eyes, taking a look at the little scrap of paper the Doctor had shoved at her.

This is what you need to do, okay?

/\/\

"She'll appear there on the wall. Soon. Timestreams are messed up in the universes, it'll have been a few weeks maybe for her, but not that long for you." the Doctor was hopping animatedly around the console, doing something or another. Rose was still in a bit of shock after speaking to her mother telepathically.

"Will... will I be able to do that all the time?" Rose asked hopefully. The Doctor looked up, sympathy crossing his face.

"No," he said gently, "I'm sorry. It's impossible. We use up a bit more of the breach that's left every time we make contact across it. Once we see them one last time -" he paused, ducking his head towards the controls - "that'll be it. The last time. No more energy left."

Rose felt her heart sink again. "Okay," she said softly, leaning back against the railing.

"Al-most-there-" the Doctor grunted in effort, leaning to the other side of the console to slam down on one more bucket.

With a flicker, an image appeared on the wall - a beach, the sky cloudy and waters gray.

"Does she know how to get here-?"

"The instructions you gave her should have led her here. And if I did it right - aha!"

A Jeep was pulling into the beach in the distance. Rose felt her heart stutter at the familiarity of it; it was her dad's old Jeep. The one he used to have. Still held onto that old thing?

She watched as three figures emerged from it, one tall, one dark, and one blonde. Her mum, dad, and Mickey. Rose caught her breath, wishing she could run forward, but they would have to come to her. And sure enough, she saw her mum running across the sand to reach where she was.

"Mum," Rose said, smiling a little, when she came close.

"Rose," Jackie gasped, out of breath. She bent over a little, catching her breath. Straightening up, Jackie stared at the image of Rose like she was a ghost. "Where - where are you?"

"In the TARDIS," Rose said. Jackie looked confused.

"But how are you here-?"

"Um, I think what the Doctor said was that there's just one last little gap in the universes left, it's about to close. It takes a ton of power to get through here. We're - outside a supernova right now."

The Doctor had shown her the beautiful, whirling mass of supernova outside the TARDIS door beforehand.

Rose smiled a little. "Burning up a star just to say goodbye."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Jackie snapped half-heartedly, wiping her eyes that were already glistening with tears. Sniffling, she said, "Why do you look so odd? You're like a ghost."

Rose turned around to someone Jackie couldn't see, and she could faintly hear her saying "She can't see me properly." A whirring sound in the back, and then Rose's image became much more solid. Like she could be standing right there. Jackie reached out a hand.

"Can I -?"

"I'm still just an image. No touch," Rose was saying regretfully.

"Can't you come through properly?" Jackie said, her voice trembling.

Suddenly, another figure appeared next to her daughter. It was the Doctor. He took Rose's hand. "We can't," he said. "The whole thing would fracture. The two universes would collapse."

"So?" Jackie said, half-jokingly, "Don't you two do that all the time?"

The duo smiled softly. Looking around, the Doctor questioned, "Where did we end up?"

"Norway. A beach in Norway."

"Norway... right," the Doctor said, as if this made a lot of sense.

"This beach. It's called Darlig Ulv Stranden. Or um, I think in English, it's called Bad Wolf Bay." Jackie's face remained blank, while Rose's and the Doctor's eyebrows shot up in shock. They looked at each other and shook their heads in wonder. "What? Is something special about that?"

"No, it's just - no," Rose finished lamely.

They were quiet for a moment. "How much time do we have?" Jackie asked.

"About two minutes..." answered the Doctor.

Jackie laughed quietly. "I can't think of what to say!"

"You still have my dad, then?" Rose said, looking behind here where two figures stood in the distance. "And Mickey?"

"There's four of us now. Me, Pete, Mickey - and the baby."

Rose was astonished. "You're not -"

"Three months gone now. More Tylers on the way," Jackie said proudly, patting her stomach. Worry crossed her face. "I'm not showing too bad, am I -?"

Rose and the Doctor laughed, and Jackie allowed a smile. She did sound pretty ridiculous.

"Are - are you two going to do okay, then?" Jackie said, tearing up again.

"Of course, Mum. We'll be fine. Same old life," Rose said comfortingly.

"But how do I know?" Jackie said in frustration. "Now that I'm not at home, how do I know you're not just gonna dump her on Earth once you get bored with her, or, or how'll I know if she gets hurt or worse or trapped on some other planet? How do I know you'll take care of her?"

Rose looked shocked and embarrassed, but the Doctor just leaned forward a little, intensity in his gaze. "Jackie," he said solemnly, "I promise you - I give you my word - I will never let anything happen to your daughter."

"How do I know? How do I know for sure?"

"Because I love her," the Doctor said unexpectedly. Jackie gaped at them, at the Doctor immediately looked uncomfortable, but kept talking. "I do. I love her. And I will never, ever, let anything happen to her." Rose was watching him with the utmost affection. The Doctor shifted nervously, waiting for Jackie's reaction.

Jackie just stared at this man and her daughter for a moment before letting a huge grin spread across her face. "Well, it's about time!" she said, smirking. They looked astonished. "Oh, don't look so surprised. We all knew you two were ridiculously in love. I can't believe it took you two so long to figure it out for yourselves!"

The Doctor's mouth was hanging open, and Rose was starting to laugh. "Well, that went well," she chuckled.

Jackie paused, brushed her hair out of her face. "Well. At least I know you'll be safe," she said softly, then started crying again. "Rose, will - will I ever be able to see you again?"

Rose had started crying as well. "No," she said. "We can't. I'm sorry." She looked behind her. "We don't have much time left..."

"I love you, sweetheart," Jackie said softly, smiling at her daughter.

"I love you, too, mum," Rose replied, and forced a smile back.

Then they were gone.

/\/\/\/\

The Doctor wrapped Rose in a hug as she started crying, holding her close as she sobbed. He wasn't sure what he could say, so resorted to just holding her close.

"You okay?" he asked softly as her sobs started to lessen. She looked up, moving a bit away from him, and nodded.

"Yeah," she said hoarsely, wiping her face, "I'm - I'm okay." She sniffled, and wiped her nose. Pausing for a second, she went on, "I need to go wash up. I probably look a mess."

"Hey, how about we go somewhere relaxing? Just, I dunno, on a date or something."

She smiled, a real smile that reached her eyes. "A date? Our real first date?" she teased, and he felt himself turn red.

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled, fiddling with something on the console. "I mean, if it sounds stupid, that's okay, I just thought -"

"No, that sounds wonderful," she said, leaning closer to him and beaming at him. "That sounds wonderful. But I need to get washed up first."

He grinned in relief at her. "Okay," he said, and she trotted down the hall. He started plotting the coordinates to a peaceful planet he knew of, when he suddenly looked up to see a tall, ginger woman, dressed in a bright white wedding dress, staring at him in shock.

"What?" he asked in shock.

The woman yelped a little in shock.

"What?"

"Who are you?" demanded the woman in a thick accent.

"But-"

"Where am I?" she yelled.

"What?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?"

"WHAT?!"

/\/\/\/\

So this one might have been a bit boring... but it's gonna pick up as we continue on to The Runaway Bride! :)