A/N. Thank you all for the reviews, favourites and follows! :3 Would you be so kind as to keep them coming? :)

Star: Chapter Three

The Doctor sent Rose an assuring look. No matter what she had had to go through, he was ready to make sure nothing so much as makes her uncomfortable on this day. "Happy birthday, Rose."

She smirked at him, looking uncertain. "You do remember?"

"How could I forget?" the Time Lord returned the smirk. It felt so good to have his blonde companion with him again. Even more so at that moment, when her gaze – soft, warm, trusting… and bursting with feeling no other than undeniable love – was meant only for him. It even scared the Doctor a little. A human falling for a Time Lord was, in fact, not an uncommon occurrence. A Time Lord in love with a human was not unheard of, but a thing deeply opprobrious in the Gallifreyan society. Gallifrey was no more, and Rose, the most human of them all, has taken the opportunity to cross dimensions, having risked everything… just to be with him again.

"The Time Lord himself was the one telling me what day this was," Jack sent Rose a wink, seemingly having chosen to ignore the glare sent his way by the Doctor.

The blonde gave the Captain a small smile, conscious of the four pairs of eyes watching her intently, and turning back towards the Gallifreyan. "Of course. Of course you remember, you always have," Rose whispered at him softly, knowing he was able to hear her perfectly, unlike the others.

"Ahem. I'm bound to remind you that there are three more people on the TARDIS," Donna noted out loud. "And we don't necessarily tolerate the two of you forgetting we exist," she averted her eyes, realising neither the Doctor nor Rose have paid any attention to what she'd said.

Martha shrugged, sending the ginger a disapproving stare. It felt wrong to take a single moment of reunion happiness from the two so soon. From her experience alone, trouble was never far away from the Doctor and whoever travelled with him – it was obvious they would not get away from it as soon as they resumed their travels together. Apparently, the Captain shared her views on the matter. This encouraged her. "We'll manage on our own for now, won't we, Jack?"

The immortal one looked everybody over, a huge grin on his face, understanding the look the someday-to-be-doctor- or was she, already? – Jack wondered – gave him. "Was someone saying something about a party?"

Donna rolled her eyes at the scene before her. "Clearly. It was your idea, Jack."

He sneered. "Obviously. I am always the one with the best ideas… ask anyone!"

"Do something about the party, will you?" the ginger woman sent him an intense look. "Oh, wait! Martha has already begun to work on it," she eyed the girl with appreciation.

The dark-skinned companion stopped looking over and taking out the contents of the shopping bags, her eyes wide with surprise. "Whoa, Doctor! Do you eat all of this daily?"

The Doctor eyed her incredulously. It was as if she had no memories of their menus back when she had been travelling with him. Humans and their ideas… "Why would I?"

Donna smirked at Martha knowingly, choosing to pretend to not have noticed the discomfort clearly visible in the eyes of the one having caused the flurry.

"Is something wrong?" the Time Lord seemed to have fully regained his senses just then, half watching Rose moving away from him and joining the others. "Have I missed something? Was sort of lost in thought-"

"I didn't think you'd be so well-prepared for something like this," Martha said, continuing with removing the groceries out of the bags, before the Doctor motioned for her to stop. No one could take care of what he'd brought as well as the TARDIS. "It's as if you intended to celebrate Rose's birthday on your own."

Who says I didn't? "Well… I might have," he admitted, grinning sheepishly at the one eying him incredulously and trying to suppress the wish to grin back at him. "I always have my ship to keep me company," he added nonchalantly.

The Tyler girl took a deep breath, before returning to again find herself in the Doctor's embrace, just because she could. "Now there's me," Rose muttered.

"Yep. There's us."

The Captain rolled his eyes at them. "I think we should lock you two up in some room," Jack smirked, winking suggestively.

"Not with you on board, Jack Harkness," the Doctor glared at him, shrugging at Rose, who was visibly amused watching the two. Some things never changed…

"Really, though. Find the time and place," the blonde chided both of them playfully, earning looks of respect from both Donna and Martha. "Or are they like this all the time, in which case, I hadn't really missed much?"

"Surely, Rose Tyler, you did not mean to include me in the company of this sickening-" The Time Lord rolled his eyes at the Captain, either not noticing or ignoring her attempts to keep back her laughter.

"Sickeningly handsome and absolutely irresistible Captain Jack Harkness. I think you should be flattered, Doc," Jack teased him, fluttering his eyelashes at the women.

The Tyler girl groaned inwardly. "As a matter of fact, you can be quite a flirt when you want to, Doctor," Rose paid no attention to Jack, which surprised no one. "As for you," she gazed at the Gallifreyan, her look hopeful and… desperate – "we need to talk."

To talk? What about? Where would we even begin?

Seeing his uncertainty, Rose sighed. "Shouldn't take long. I promise. But first things first. This Don Juan needs to be taken care of-"

A worried, yet disapproving look sent towards Jack worked like magic. "Please, if you could prevent him from stalking somehow," the blonde re-worded her request. Donna nodded conspiratorially. "Consider it done."

"Talk. Yes, talk… Talk, we need to talk, Rose and I," the Doctor spoke, completely flustered. "See you guys later!" The Gallifreyan gave them all a blinding grin, grabbing Rose by the hand and allowing the TARDIS lead the way.

"Where are we going?"

"Only she knows now," the Doctor smirked at the blonde.

"Okay!" Rose grinned back at him. "But we will talk first."

"Anything you want, Rose Tyler," he pressed her hand. Anything.

The remaining trip through endless corridors was spent in silence, although the occasional looks they shared spoke better than words. Realising she had allowed herself sink in painful memories, Rose shook her head, meeting a worried look. Instead of saying anything, she looked around her. All corridors and doors seemed identical to her – she could not remember having ever so much as crossed the place.

"So… where are we going, exactly?"

"Where are we, you mean? No idea, sorry. Haven't been led by the TARDIS ever since- you know when," the Time Lord smirked at her, happy to see a grin spreading across her face.

"Hopefully it's for a good cause," Rose looked upwards with a smile.

"My ship does enjoy a good conspiracy," he winked at her. As if on cue, the TARDIS shoved them into one of the rooms. A table, two chairs, a bed, a small cupboard, and a bookcase. The blonde but eyed the surroundings incredulously. "Does this- has this room belonged to some companion of yours?"

"No, absolutely not. Have not seen it in my life. That doesn't mean I keep randomly entering my companions' chambers, mind you-"

"Okay…" Rose sounded strangely relieved.

The Doctor shrugged, painting a Gallifreyan symbol on the dusty table top with his finger. "Doesn't look lived-in, does it?"

"Nope," the Londoner agreed with a smirk. "As long as we don't suffocate in the dust, all is well."

The Time Lord smiled at her encouragingly. He could imagine the state of her room – if not for the TARDIS – would not be much different, considering the little time they had spent on the time and space ship. "On with the chat, yes?"

"Yes." All of a sudden, Rose's face fell, every trace of her usual gleefulness out of sight.

"Let me guess, Rose. You had found a new love interest? In which case, I would-" It was obvious the Doctor was teasing her.

She laughed bitterly. "Heaven forbid."

"Why do you look so worried, then? Surely, you do know I'll do everything to protect you-"

"Everything in your power, Doctor. Yes. I believe you and trust you completely. Much more than any sensible being would. But there are things-"

"What things? Rose?"

She sighed heavily, aware it would be harder if the large wooden table wasn't standing between them. "Do you know why exactly has the TARDIS called me back?"

The Doctor stared at her, his mouth slightly open in surprise. "She has?"

Rose averted her eyes. "You didn't know?"

"No, but then again, I might have overdone the blocking of her signals… Sorry?"

She gaped at him, intrigued. For all she knew, his sentient ship was the one thing that mattered to the Doctor the most in the entire multiverse. "Why would you block her?" Why would you even consider it?

"It's complicated."

"Doctor." It was obvious to the Time Lord the girl did not intend to allow him get away with it.

"She had been doing everything to fill my mind with thoughts not related to you."

"Yeah?"

"Let's just say, Rose Tyler… she had not succeeded."

The young woman was stupefied at this revelation. "Was it because you chose to prevent the TARDIS from sending you some pleasant things to think about? Or because you preferred being depressed over seeing the joy in life?" Because it felt like the only right thing. Rose shuddered, knowing she was no better.

"Are you all right?" the Time Lord asked, believing to have seen tears forming in her eyes.

"Yeah," she smiled. "You should be glad I hadn't thought of pushing the TARDIS' mind away, ever. Wouldn't have done it, even if given the chance," the young woman eyed the Doctor understandingly, a sad expression on her face.

"You should never be sad on days like this, Rose," his voice was almost pleading. If there was one thing the Doctor could never misread, it was her raw feelings and emotions.

"You know it's not always possible, Doctor."

"I know," he said. "This damn table keeps me from getting to touch you," the Time Lord rolled his eyes at her playfully, intentionally changing the subject.

"You can always push it away," she shrugged, certain there was a reason they'd been driven towards this particular chamber. "But I'd like to return to the main point first, please."

"Which is?"

"Everything. The good things… and the bad things. Pete's World. Torchwood. You. Me. Bad Wolf." Rose nearly choked at the last two words, not having realised she'd begun to cry.

This was enough for the Doctor to find himself by her side the next moment, furniture be damned. Every last trace of Gallifreyan moral code and rules he had been forcing on himself has been wiped away by the sorrowful look in those hazel eyes. "Do you want me to do anything?"

She breathed in. "Just… talk to me?"

He did not feel like talking, but it was clear some of his adventures with Martha or Donna would cheer her up, and that was what Rose needed more than recalling the sad episodes of her past in that other universe.

"Let's see… I could tell you of some of the notable figures I've met… Dickens, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie… quite the lot, I'll have you know!

Rose gave him a searching look.

"Well… you know what Charles is like, of course," the Gallifreyan added, grinning.

"And you are so not full of yourself about having met them, Doctor," she smirked, glad to learn hardly anything had changed between them. "Don't you dare to boast about having met Queen Victoria. Or that French courtesan. As a matter of fact, I'd been there too," Rose rolled her eyes at him.

"Never," he teased. "You can't say werewolves weren't fun?"

She gaped at him, incredulous.

"Not a little bit?"

"It's not that. I simply- can't say I like hearing it from you."

"I'm sorry!"

"No. It's all right. Just avoid anything related to-"

Bad Wolf. The two words were haunting her still, always there to hit her memory.

The Doctor knew he'd have to return to the subject someday, but it could wait. "Of course," he found her hand. With the table out of the way, the simple gesture was a welcome and much-needed relief of tension.

"You're really back this time," he whispered, in need of reassurance. "Properly back. And you're not going anywhere. Yes?"

"Yes."

"Good! Allons-y?"

Rose pushed away the wish to glare at him, pressing his hand. "You keep using that one."

"Yes!" He giggled excitedly, not having registered a momentary shadow on her face. "It's very useful, actually!"

She grinned at him. "So, where are we going?"

"To… Wait, I have no idea." The alien's eyes lit up the next instant, as he pointed to the door neither of them had noticed before. "See this door? Let's go and see where it leads, shall we?"

This was what Rose had missed so badly – the Doctor's incessant desire to explore the unknown. Unknown planets, unknown traditions… or, in this case, an unknown part of his own TARDIS.

The human smirked. "Are you sure there won't be any monsters waiting for us?"

"Fairly sure. She could not do this to us, not when she'd apparently brought you back to me… of course, one can never be entirely certain-"

The blonde rolled her eyes at him. "Will you open the door, or should I?"

"Please, go on," he encouraged her.

"Ah. Was this a part of the plan?" Rose could not help but burst out laughing at the sight in front of her. While she had only been in the Doctor's room a few times, for reasons usually including helping him find something in the mess he could sometimes make, particularly after having faced some of the most incredible species and having caused disarray in trying to find an item or two that were not, in fact, present in his endless pockets.

The Time Lord looked completely thunderstruck. "No. No. No! Not a plan, no. It hasn't even crossed my mind. Trust me, Rose!"

She peered at him. "I do. Always. Do you think we should return to them?"

"Do you want to?"

"No," Rose said, feeling almost guilty about it. Every trace of guilt was gone as soon as she met the Doctor's sparkling eyes.

"Neither do I," he admitted.

"Sounds unfair towards our friends," the Tyler girl noted, not really concerned. "You better make sure they get their party, yeah?"

"Absolutely," he muttered something in Gallifreyan to the ship, and grinned at Rose. "All settled. Safe and quick."

"We can always have a celebration of our own," he winked at her. "With cake, candles and music."

"Dancing?"

"Obviously! But first things first," he smirked at his companion, locking the door with his sonic screwdriver. "Where were we?"