Disclaimer: Nope, sorry, I don't own it.

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed, favorite-ed, and subscribed last chapter! At last, a longer chapter :D! I hope you enjoy it ;)!

Chapter 2: Memories

They were in a forest, trying to track an injured weevil. She could see the beginnings of what would be a beautiful sunset. To bad it meant that it would also be dark soon.

"John, we'd better hurry this up. If it gets dark, we'll never find him." She called to her partner, who was only a few meters away, but hidden by the thick foliage. A rock that appeared to be spattered in red droplets caught her eye as waited for him to respond, and she leaned down to investigate.

"I know, I know..." he called back "He can't have gone far- Oh, hello there!" he exclaims nervously "Don't suppose you've seen a big angry-" He stops mid-sentence, with a strangled gasp.

"John?" she snaps to attention, leaping into the foliage between them. She burst through to the other side, just in time to see a man dressed in black from head to toe, withdraw a knife from John's chest.

Everything seems to slow down as John stumbles backward, hands pressed to his chest in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Someone screamed John's name, and she vaguely realized it had been her. John coughed, a thin trail of blood, starting at the corner of his mouth, running down his chin. He turned to her, his eyes sad, as mouthed "Rose, I'm so sorry." and fell to the ground, deathly still.

She screamed his name again. She ran to him, her partner. The closest friend she had since the man she loved abandoned her on that beach, the only person who had kept her sane for the past year.

So scared she was of losing him, that she forgot bout the man in black. Something hard and sharp hit her in the head, and everything went dark…

... Rose gasped, sitting bolt upright. She reached a shaky hand to the back of her head, where she knew a long scar was hidden beneath her hair.

She lowered her hand and took a deep breath, willing the images to the back of her mind.

Rose got out of bed, walked to her desk, and picked up a file. She ran her thumb over the black print *Case File: John Smith*. She set the file back down. 'she needed to take a walk'.

Rose grabbed her night gown from the hanger on her door and left the room, and her memories, behind.

As she left her room and rapped herself in the nightgown, she thought about what happened the day before.

Holding the man she loved, the man who abandoned her two years ago, in her arms. Him whispering the words she had wanted to hear from him for so long. She couldn't believe he was back.

When he had left, it hurt. John had explained why he had done it, but it still hurt that he hadn't let her choose. Yes, she would have never seen her family again. Yes, she would have grown old well he stayed the same. Yes, there was a good chance he would eventually regenerate again. She would still have chosen him…

But this was two sided. If she had stayed with him, he would have to go through watching her grow old and, eventually, die. She did not blame him for not wanting to go through that. If she had been in his place, she was not sure she would have chosen differently…

Scuffling on the carpet in front of her, interrupted her thoughts.

Rose looked up, and saw the very man she was thinking about, walking to the staircase that led down to the ballroom.

He was wearing the striped pajamas she and her Mum had changed him into when they had arrived home. He looked exactly the way he did the Christmas he regenerated, what felt like a lifetime ago.

She watched as he descended the stairs, examining the room with sad eyes. She couldn't help but wonder whether he was remembering the last time he was hear...

Rose had walked up to the stairs, when his head snapped around to a mirror on his left. She could make out his profile from where she was standing. His eyes were bugging out, it was easy to tell he wasn't expecting what he saw. 'Why is he surprised by his own reflection?'

Rose continued down the stairs, watching as he ran his hands over his face, and through his hair.

It wasn't dissimilar to his reaction after regenerating from the big eared, leather clad man, to the man he was now... 'Had he regenerated? No, he couldn't have, he looks the same as he did that day on the beach. But then, why was he acting like this?'

As she walked up behind him, he shifted his shoulders in the same way he had done all those years ago. She almost laughed at the memory, but bit her lip instead, suddenly nervous.

Rose took a deep breath "Doctor?"

He spun around, fists raised in a way that was more comical than threatening, only to stop dead when he saw her, his jaw dropping.

Rose smiled "Hi."

His jaw snapped shut, and Rose could see him swallow heavily "Hello." he said quietly, before his eyes drifted shut and he fell to the floor.

This caught her off guard and she stood there frozen in place. An image of John, hands and chest covered in blood as he fell to the ground floated through her mind. 'No! She lost John, she couldn't lose the Doctor too, not after she just got him back.'

Rose dove forward and pressed her fingers to his pulse point. Sighing with relief when she felt the steady albeit, a little weak, double pulse.

Before she had the chance to wonder how she was going to get him back to his room, he blinked open his eyes and stared up at her.

Rose hesitated for a moment, before running her hand soothingly through his hair "Are- are you all right?"

"Yea..." he said a little distractedly. He was staring at her with a shell-shocked expression.

"My hearts are still recovering from a drug. It's leaving me a little, light headed..." Rose could tell he was searching for the words to explain. She wanted answers, but she would rather get them somewhere they were less likely to be overheard.

"Come on." she said, pulling the Doctor into a sitting position "Let's go to the kitchen, and I'll make some tea, while you explain everything."

He smiled as Rose stood up and helped him to his feet.

Once he was upright and balanced Rose stared up into his eyes. The emotion there was so strong, that she knew he meant every word he had said on the beach.

She couldn't stop herself from reached up, pulling his head down, and kissing him. For a moment he just stood there, and she worried that she had done the wrong thing.

She was about to pull back and apologize, when he reached out to hold her in place, and kissed her back deeply.

When they finally pulled apart, Rose was a little light headed. He had a hand on her face as she stared up at him "I missed you."

He smiled and rubbed his thumb over her cheek "I missed you too."

They just stared at each other for a few more moments, before the Doctor broke the silence. "Rose?"

"Yea." she replied.

He smiled apologetically "I'm about to pass out again."

The kiss was for CrutentusMeretrix, who seemed to think the story needed one as soon as possible ;). Hope I did it some justice, I've never tried to write a kissing scene before XD.