Hello all, sorry for the wait! I still don't own Doctor Who.
We sprint toward one another; I can see nothing but him and his beautiful smile. How I have missed that smile. We are both running so quickly, but it seems to take forever until I am finally in his arms. We nearly knock each other over, but he holds us up, my toes barely touching the ground.
I hear him say "I love you," but I feel like I'm outside of my body watching it happen. I just smile, unable to form words. He leans in to kiss me, but then tenses. Before I can say "what is it?" he has shoved me aside. I see the Dalek, hear the word, and see it hit him.
"NO!" I scream as the Doctor flies back, crumpling on the ground. I run over, kneeling beside him. The Dalek approaches me and I can't even bring myself to run.
"Please don't die, you can't leave me, please... please, no..."
"Rose..."
Rose thrashed in her sleep. They had arrived back home and the Doctor carried her to bed, watching her as she slept. She was still murmuring, pleading. The Doctor shook her gently. "Rose, wake up, it's just a nightmare."
He could imagine what it was about, and fought back tears. He bent down to kiss her forehead and cheeks, whispering her name over and over. When she still didn't wake, he shook her harder, and her eyes snapped open.
"Oh thank god, you're alive," she cried, her eyes wet. She noticed his matching eyes, and frown. "Doctor? What's wrong?"
He chewed on his lip, not wanting to break her fantasy, or his own. "Nothing. I'm fine," he said, smiling unconvincingly. He swiped away her tears. "You had a bad dream, what happened?"
"It was... it was when I found you and you got killed by the Dalek and... and..." she stammered, slowly realizing where she was. "Oh..."
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, not realizing how much he sounded like the original.
Fresh tears formed in her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly with her sleeve. "Sorry..."
He shook his head, kicking off his shoes and crawling into bed to hold her. She leaned into him, head on his chest.
"Rose?" he choked. "I'm going to be here for every nightmare. I'm going to be here."
She looked up at him, cheeks smeared with mascara. "You're going to be here," she repeated. He nodded, brushing the mascara from her cheeks and eyes. She smiled very barely, pressing against him. "I'm so tired..."
"As well you should be, Rose Tyler," he remarked, and they both sat there, thinking about all that had passed.
After a few minutes, Rose perked up, her face bright with an idea. The Doctor smiled at her, his eyes asking what she was thinking. She pulled out her cell phone and showed it to him. "Do- do you think you could fix it?"
His smile fell a little, but he took the phone, peering at it. He had the sudden realization that he no longer had his Sonic Screwdriver. "I'm not sure. But I'll try."
She nodded. "I suppose I'll just have to talk to you, then," she teased, surprising both of them.
He smiled. "Yea, I suppose you will." He shifted, resting a hand on her cheek, pulling her in to kiss her softly. She melted into him, hand resting gently on his chest. The Doctor delighted at being able to kiss Rose-the real Rose, not one who had absorbed the heart of the Tardis or one possessed by Cassandra.
The rest of the world fell away for Rose and the Doctor, that is, until Rose's bedroom door opened without a knock.
"OH! Sorry," Jackie cried, slamming the door shut quickly.
Rose groaned. "What is it, mum?"
"It's nothing..." she murmured.
The Doctor pulled farther away, scooting over. "Jackie, just open the door."
Jackie peered in, then opened the door the rest of the way. She walked over to the bed cautiously, sitting down beside Rose, motherly worry on her face. "You're awake. How are you doing?"
Rose sighed. "I'm fine."
Jackie and the Doctor both frowned. The Doctor looked around nervously, wondering if he should leave. When the room was silent for a long minute, he cleared his throat. "Right, there's... that thing I should do," he remarked, sliding out of bed and shutting the door behind him on the way out.
"I'm still fine," Rose insisted, staring at the door.
"You've been through a lot, Rose," Jackie commented. "And you've slept a whole day almost."
Rose's eyes widened. "Really? I'm still so tired."
"It'll do you good to get up. Maybe show the Doctor around?"
"He's not the Doctor," Rose cut in automatically. Jackie frowned, squeezing Rose's arm.
"Well whoever he is, he's not going to stick around if you keep an attitude like that."
Rose rolled her eyes, deciding she should just get up to avoid this whole conversation. "I'm not fine, okay? I'm not fine. But I will get up," Rose said, cutting off before she finished the sentence with 'so we don't have to talk about this.'
Jackie stared at her for a second, then got up. "Come eat some dinner, then."
Rose watched Jackie walk out, then stretched and climbed out of bed. She walked to her closet to find some clean clothes, her eye falling on a collared blue shirt. She touched it gently-she had bought it because it reminded her of the shirt he wore at the London Olympics. She grabbed it from its hanger, changing her top, then pulling on black tights and a cord skirt.
She padded downstairs, finding the Doctor sitting with her family, chatting up a storm with Tony, who seemed to be very amused by the man with the wild hair and crazy eyes. He looked up when he heard the floor creak, smiling at Rose. She smiled back and sat in the empty chair beside him.
The Doctor was peering at her shirt. "That's not... is it?"
"No, but it reminded me of you..."
"I always liked that shirt. It's not quite any shade of blue. Somewhere between Prussian blue and Yale blue and cobalt and cerulean."
Rose giggled. "I always thought of it as Tardis blue. It's not, exactly, but..."
The Doctor nodded, understanding what she meant. There was a silent moment before Pete said, "Everyone hungry?"
There were murmurs of assent, and the family passed around the dishes, the Doctor regaling them with a tale about Queen Elizabeth I and Yorkshire pudding.