Author's Note: When I first came up with the idea for this story, it was my always my intention to address the issue of the missing year and how it affected Jackie. It positively floored me how after everything that she went through, the Doctor and Rose could still just pick up and leave her after only staying a few hours and yet Jackie still helped Rose to return to him on the Gamestation.
I really felt that this had been glossed over and I wanted a story that honored how much Jackie loves Rose to have done all of that for her so I had to think of someone who would bring this issue to light and force them to see what Jackie had went through and that's when I thought of Nana Prentice. That moment will be very revealing but it will also lead to an outcome for Jackie that she has wanted for a long time in a follow up story as well as to bring the Doctor and Rose much more into a 'domestic' verse which is what this series is about after all.
Chapter 3 Going Swimmingly
An hour later finds the Doctor face down on the couch in the library, a mere puddle of bliss among the cushions, while Rose straddles his waist as she works to alleviate the buildup of tension in his muscles.
The thorough push-pull motion of Rose's hands causes him to release yet another moan of pure pleasure. "Oh, Rose…you have the most amazing hands…oh, yes, please…right there…that's the spot."
Their respite comes to a halt when they are interrupted by a tap from Nana's cane on the outside of the library's partially closed door. "Oi, you two! I know all about your 'haunted' ship from Jackie but I better not hear any more moans while I'm here because you two are in high spirits!"
Both Rose and the Doctor still themselves at the misguided rebuke and Rose regretfully mentions, "Your tension's back."
"Yes," groans the Doctor ruefully, "she is." With a mournful sigh, he asks, "Do we have to go back out there?"
Rose musters a half smile and she says, "Only if you don't mind her wandering through the TARDIS on her own."
The Doctor pouts as he peers up at her from behind his crossed arms and grouses in a petulant tone, "Fine, but let's take our time, shall we? I mean, honestly, how much trouble can an ancient one-eyed shuffleufagus get up to?"
The Doctor's answer comes in the form of an explosion that rocks the TARDIS. Rose immediately jumps up and shouts, "What the hell was that?"
The Doctor grabs her hand and they race out the door into the corridor. "I don't know but the smoke is coming from over there!"
"Oh, my God, Doctor! What about my Nana?" screeches Rose in fright.
The very thought of Nana's absence from their lives fills the Doctor with unbridled glee and brings about an unrestrained twitching of his lips that's quickly fighting the losing battle to release a full blown manic grin.
When he starts giggling in unadulterated bliss, Rose tugs him to a stop and questions agog, "Are you laughing at my Nana's expense?"
He blinks once in realization at his unwitting actions and instantly apologizes. "I'm sorry, Rose. I must be becoming hysterical at the thought of Nana coming to harm."
Rose fumes, "That might be more believable, Doctor, if you were able to wipe the smirk off of your face!"
Caught out, the Doctor looks away and considers the planet Clonus where they can obtain a replacement clone of Nana Prentice with a few minor adjustments. It would be nothing for them to enhance her with a genetic alteration or two for improvement. Physically, Nana could be better, stronger, faster and personality wise…nicer.
The Doctor's musings are broken by a sharp knock to the head delivered angrily by his wife. He reels back in shock and then understanding instantly dawns in his mind. "Oh, yes, our bond," he notes aloud while tugging on his ear. "Still not exactly used to that yet, apparently it's working quite well."
One last glower directed at the Doctor and then Rose drags him over to the room with the smoke pouring out of it, however, much fainter than before. She stands frozen in place at the doorway and swallows nervously. "Doctor, I can't look. Could you…?"
He squeezes her hand reassuringly and murmurs, "Of course, love." He enters the room and after a speedy survey, he instantly falls to his knees and screams, "No! No! Why did this happen to happen?"
Rose bolts inside the room upon hearing his cry while shouting, "Doctor! What is it? What's happened to Nana?"
"Nothing's wrong with that old misery," bemoans the Doctor in anguish. "She's not even in here!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Rose asks concernedly, "Then what's wrong and what on Earth is that smell?"
"It's bananas!" declares the Doctor. "That old bat blew up my banana experimentation room!"
"Then where is she?" demands Rose worriedly.
"Who cares?" wails the Doctor. "Just look at this mess! I was this close to refining my banana scented hair products! I was going to have really great smelling hair!" He stares around the room once more before dropping his head in misery. "Oh why did I have to go and leave Ace's old nitro lying around?"
Rose huffs in exasperation before grabbing the Doctor by the back of his collar and hauling him out of the room. "Focus, Doctor! We need to find Nana and make sure that she's okay!"
While he continues to be yanked down the hall by Rose, the Doctor silently calls out one last farewell to his favorite room. Goodbye, old friends! I promise to mourn you properly later.
Halfway down the corridor they hear a splash and with both of them darting a glance at the other simultaneously conclude, "The swimming pool!"
They immediately head for the pool area and once inside, they start scanning every inch of the room for any sign of the old woman. Their search comes to an end when they spy her cane floating in the pool. "Oh, no!" cries Rose.
"Don't worry, love," soothes the Doctor. "Everything will be fine, we'll just…" SPLASH! The Doctor doesn't have the chance to finish his sentence as he slowly sinks to the bottom of the pool after Rose's impetuous yet extremely firm shoves sends him on his way to rescue Nana.
While activating his extra respiratory bypass, he briefly wonders if he can still perform a triple somersault underwater as he casually glances towards the surface and spots a very familiar pair of pink fuzzy slippers. Kicking off and gliding smoothly through the water, the Doctor swiftly resurfaces with barely a ripple into the most shadowed area of the pool.
"Poof!" greets Nana warmly. "Glad you could make it!" She smiles widely as she stretches out on Rose's pink raft before sipping her drink and scratching Haven behind his ears. Nana merrily smacks her lips as she declares, "This pear smoothie that Rose made me earlier has a real kick to it, I must get her recipe before I go!"
She leans back contentedly as she watches the Doctor tread water. "So you've been here the whole time?" he asks gruffly. "You couldn't have said anything before Rose pushed me in?"
Nana bats her eyelashes in surprise and innocently inquires, "Oh, were you looking for me?"
The Doctor closes his eyes in defeat and opens them to see her cane bobbing up and down alongside him and poking him in the shoulder. With a sigh of resignation, he picks it up and hands it to her.
"Thanks, Poof," states Nana.
"Nana," he asks wearily, "why do you hate me so much?"
With a hard stare, she spits, "Does it really need saying?" as she uses the tip of her cane to push off against the Doctor's forehead to propel her to the side of the pool. While Rose assists Nana out of the pool, the Doctor allows himself to drift back down underneath the water and contemplates, This might be the perfect time to work on that triple somersault.
Moments later, his meager attempt at meditation is broken by the sound of Rose's voice whispering in his mind. Doctor, are you alright?
Yes, love, I'm just taking a moment to gather my thoughts…and what's left of my sanity, he sends back.
Rose's whisper instantly turns into a forceful shout. Well, pull it together, Doctor, and get back up here! Nana obviously has a problem with you having a place in my life and since you're not going anywhere, we need to settle this right now!
Pushing off from the bottom of the pool, the Doctor rapidly breaks the surface and using swift sure strokes, soon finds himself at the water's edge. Heaving himself out of the water, he questions dryly, "Well? What's the verdict?"
Nana's brow wrinkles in confusion and with hands on hips, Rose explains, "I understand not thinking that the Doctor's not good enough for me, Nana, that's a common trait in any family, but you've taken it to a whole new level! What is it exactly about the Doctor that you dislike so much?"
Nana's frosty gaze morphs into a steely glint as she focuses on Rose. "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to leave you feeling left out."
Rose takes a step back out of both shock and a little bit of fear. She hasn't been on the receiving end of that particular look since the first time that she stayed out all night with Jimmy Stone. "Wh-what do you mean, Nana?" she sputters apprehensively.
The old woman looks almost pityingly at her granddaughter. "You really have no idea why I'm so upset, do you, Rose Tyler?" A nervous swallow from Rose and a shaking of her head in the negative prods Nana to respond bitingly, "I'm upset, no, make that furious with the two of you for abandoning your mother for an entire year!"
She points at the Doctor. "He swanned in and made himself look so impressive that you went and thought yourself important enough to leave us behind without a second thought!"
Rose shakes her head in firm denial. "No! That's not how it was, Nana, I swear!"
Nana tilts her head wonderingly and inquires harshly, "No? Then you explain it to me, Rose. You explain how a woman who raised you on her own and did without so she could provide you with whatever she could deserves to be dismissed without even a goodbye?"
She grips her cane as she leans forward menacingly and even Haven glares at them with a hint of accusation. "Do either of you have any idea how many phone calls from Jackie woke me up in the middle of the night? And they weren't calls about hearing a strange noise and thinking that you finally came back home or from yet another nightmare at what might have happened to you. They were calls asking me to come down to the police station with her because they asked her yet again to come down and look at another body to see if she could identify some poor girl."
Tears begin to trail down Rose's cheeks at the utter horror that her mother must have went through each day that she was missing. She had never really thought about it, she hadn't wanted to. And one incredibly telling glance at the Doctor's shattered countenance revealed that neither had he.
Nana's voice breaks as she recalls, "I can't remember how many times that I held my little girl as she stood there shaking in grief and despair as they pulled back the sheet and then wailed in relief that it wasn't you before she went off to be sick."
The Doctor and Rose's faces display their guilt and shame as Nana clutches her cane for support and drives her point home. "And then it would start all over, night after night, she'd receive that same call." Her eyes are bright with tears and her voice rasps, "But never from you, not one single call from you since the day that you disappeared."
She closes her eyes with a painful sigh and a sad shake of her head and brokenly asks, "And do you know what the worst part was, after not knowing where you were?" She opens her eyes to stare at them reproachfully. "She blamed herself."
Both Rose and the Doctor's eyes widen in astonishment at Nana's statement. "She would wonder that if you hadn't disappeared then what could she have said or done that could have possibly driven you away that you wouldn't contact her for an entire year.
Nana's eyes flash in resentment and anger. "Your mother has never forgotten me, Rose Tyler, not once! She has always been there for me, when your father died, when she raised you on her own and even during the year that never should have been! She never once forgot about me, Rose, because that's not just what a Prentice woman does, that's what a daughter does!"
Unable to bear Nana's final words, Rose breaks down and reaches out to her grandmother. "Oh, Nana, I'm so sorry, I…"
Refusing to accept her apology, Nana hastily steps back and chides, "No! No, you are not allowed to act the injured party here! You do not ask for my forgiveness, you beg for your mother's."
Nana takes a deep breath to calm herself down. "Now, Rose, you are my granddaughter and you always will be but enough is enough. You are old enough to not only consider but to be aware of people's feelings and since you've met him," she shoots a scathing look at the Doctor, "you haven't been doing that."
"You weren't even home for a few hours the day that you returned before you left chasing after some storm. You couldn't even have tea with your mother after she waited a year for you. Now I haven't said anything before because your mother pleaded with me not to, she was too scared that you'd leave for good this time. Your mother loves you that much, Rose, and it's past time that you paid her back in kind."
Nana's countenance changes drastically and she suddenly looks every year of her age as her slight form sags in exhaustion. "I hope that the two of you are able to figure out some way to make this right. My baby didn't deserve this; she doesn't deserve to keep wondering when the next time is that she'll see her own child." She gazes imploringly at her granddaughter, every day of that year's heartbreak shining from her eyes. "You're better than this, Rose Tyler. Now it's time to prove it and prove that he is too."
Nana shakes her head sadly and walks away as the Doctor reaches out to support a sobbing Rose. He holds Rose tightly to him, despite his wet clothes, and chokes out, "Nana Prentice, I swear that we will put things right with Jackie."
The barest hint of relief shows in the old woman's eyes as she nods and urges, "You see that you do."
The Doctor stares down at the floor in shame as he cradles his wife and quietly asks, "Nana?"
"Yes, Poof?" she replies.
"Is that Haven's nappy?"
Nana glances down in the direction he's indicating and answers, "Yeah, I told you that it keeps coming loose. He made a right mess of the closet and bed in one of the rooms down the hall."
The Doctor freezes and questions miserably, "Which room?"
"I don't know," answers Nana with a furrowed brow. "But it has a large wooden door with some swirly markings on it."
"Our bedroom," states the Doctor flatly while casting a concerned glance towards Rose.
"If you say so," returns Nana dismissively before she makes her usual kissing noises to call Haven to her side. "Come on, Puss. Haven and I will be watching Last of the Summer Wine until you're ready to give us our injections."
After she leaves the room, the Doctor mutters, "Oh well, at least the TARDIS is self-cleaning." The TARDIS promptly flashes her lights and chimes loudly in anger. "What?" trumpets the Doctor.
Barely able to process her own thoughts, Rose is unable to receive the TARDIS' projections in her mind. She sniffs meekly, "What's wrong?"
The Doctor informs her, "Apparently, the TARDIS likes Nana because she's old, full of fire and heart and takes care of her own. Also, after what she just heard, we deserve the mess that was made in our bed so we might as well lie in it."
He rubs his hands wearily over his face and sighs, "And after what Nana just told us, I think that I agree with her."
"Oh, Doctor," breathes Rose through her own shaky sigh, "I never truly imagined what my mum went through. I guess I didn't want to dwell on it for fear that I'd stay behind with her out of guilt."
He grunts in commiseration. "I understand, Rose." When she looks at him as if he's just placating her, he adds, "I do. That's the very reason that I was so insistent about wanting us to leave right away after you came back. It didn't matter to me that you'd just spent an entire year away from your mum from her viewpoint; all that mattered was that you spend every moment away from then on with me. I was so terrified that I was going to lose you to your mum and your life back here."
He rubs a hand through his hair sending it flying out in all directions as well as a few stray drops of water. "Selfish, I know, but there it is."
Heartbroken, Rose asks, "Doctor, what are we going to do?"
He takes hold of her shoulders to steady her and vows, "We're going to make it better, Rose. I swear it. We will make this right." He cradles her face in his hands and wipes away her tears with his thumbs before placing the gentlest of kisses on her lips and turning away to leave the pool area.
"Where are you going?" she inquires in confusion.
He spins around and announces, "First, I'm going to clean up our bedroom, then I'm going to see to their injections. And then…then, I'm going to go and dust off my tux." The Doctor exits the room leaving Rose in a state of bewilderment as she ponders his words.
To Be Concluded…
