AN: Thanks to batistaangel15 for her awesome reviews! She has a neato story that I am absolutely adoring right now, so you should go check it out. :) Thanks for reading!

"Stop.
Stop time.
Stop the world.
Stop everything for the moment he crosses the room

and pulls me into his arms and pins me against the wall

and I'm spinning and standing and not even

breathing but I'm alive so alive so very very alive
and he's kissing me."

—Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

The countdown to midnight began sooner than Rose thought it would. The sun had only been gone completely for a few moments before a voice came over the speakers telling everyone to look up at the sky and start the countdown to midnight, when they would honor the moon and all of her glory. Rose and the Doctor stood off to the side of the crowd, close to the water, and he had his arms wrapped around her. They were both alternating between looking at the sky and looking at each other – each one hoping that the other didn't notice.

Ten…

The countdown had begun, but Rose and the Doctor caught each other staring, and neither one could remove their eyes from the other's. Rose could vaguely hear the countdown.

Nine…

This was it. She was going to do it, and damn the consequences. She had to get this out of her system – even if it were the only time she'd ever kiss him of her own free will.

Eight…

Damn Cassandra for stealing her first kiss with the Doctor. She couldn't even really remember it. All she remembered was a vague memory of his lips feeling soft against hers.

Seven…

His eyes kept alternating between her eyes and her lips. At least, she thought they did. Maybe she was misreading the signals, but she didn't think she was. How could she misread them that badly?

Six…

Rose had no clue what the Doctor was thinking. If she had even an inkling that he planned to kiss her as well, she'd probably say screw the countdown and lunge at him as quickly as she could. Thank goodness for the countdown, though. She needed it to build up her courage.

Five…

The Doctor couldn't keep his eyes off her lips. They were a lovely pink, and slightly parted, and they looked so soft. Could he do this? Would it make things weird? He should probably stop staring at her mouth now.

Four…

Rose was staring straight into his eyes. How did she do that? It was like she could see right into the very pit of him, but she wasn't running scared at the darkness she knew lay within. Her eyes were brown like his, but they were bright and not at all hard like his were. Her eyes melted him, beautiful and warm.

Three…

The countdown was ending… it was now or never. He had to decide. Was he going to do it? Yes. He would regret it if he didn't, and he already had too many regrets to count. He didn't need another added onto that long list. He would definitely kiss her, and he would make it a good one, just in case he would never get to do it again.

Two…

Would she kiss him back? Would she push him away? Would she demand to go home after he kissed her? No, he didn't think she'd do that. Still, she always found ways of surprising him. It didn't matter. He was doing this, and the time was now.

One…

Neither one of them knew who moved first. They met somewhere in the middle and their lips collided in a frenzied attempt to send their message to the other. They couldn't speak the words, but they wanted the other to know. I hope the superstitions on this planet are true… their kisses said. They wanted to be the ones destiny put together forever. Neither one ever wished to be without the other. They loved one another, so much, even if the only way they could tell each other was through this kiss.

Rose felt the electricity moving through her body as she deepened the kiss, and he responded in kind. A kiss that had started out desperate and wild had turned soft and warm. It wasn't what she had expected from him. She vaguely remembered his kiss when Cassandra took over her body, but he was surprised then. It had been too quick for her to really get a grasp on what it was like. His lips were soft – just as she had expected – but they weren't warm. As a Timelord his body was always a bit colder than human body temperature. He was warming up rather quickly, though.

Her hands moved to his hair, and as she pulled slightly, he gave a soft growl – almost too soft for her to hear – and she sighed into his mouth. Eventually, she needed to breathe. As much as she didn't want to, she had to end the kiss. She desperately wished that she had two hearts and superior timelord physiology, because she got the feeling that he could have kept the kiss going for a whole lot longer if he wanted to. She reluctantly broke away – slowly – to catch her breath. She felt his forehead rest on hers as he too breathed heavily.

Her hands were still tangled in his hair, and his hands were still resting on her hips, and she hadn't felt this content in a very long time. She let her eyes flutter open as her breathing slowed substantially, and she was met with his eyes staring back at her; his gaze so intense she almost lost her breath again. The moment was still there. If she just moved her lips forward a little, they could start kissing again, and she had no doubts about whether or not he would reciprocate this time.

Still, it wasn't meant to be, as a whole crowd of people rushed past them with a shout of glee. Everyone with permission to swim was running into the water. Rose let her hands slowly untangle from his hair and move to his chest as she placed one over each of his hearts. His eyes closed again, and he stood up a little straighter so that their foreheads were no longer touching.

"There you are dudes!" a voice said behind them. Rose wasn't really thinking straight at the moment, but she knew it sounded familiar. It was the surfer-dude… what was his name? Pelagius? Honestly, she didn't really care right now. She was pissed at him for interrupting the moment. "It's time for the night swim!" he said as he rushed into the water with a girl following close behind him.

The Doctor and Rose looked after him for a moment before Rose turned back to look at him. He cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly where he stood. "Rose…" he began.

She gave him a small smile. "Yes?" she asked.

"Uh…" he looked around nervously. Oh no, was he regretting it? He seemed to enjoy the kissing, so why would he be regretting it? Did he think she was regretting it? Before she could wonder too much, he said; "Would you like to go swimming now?"

She sighed. "Yeah. That's what we came here to do, after all," she said with a smile.

He smiled back and said; "Great! Let's go!" He stopped to dig something out of this pocket first, and when he pulled his hand back out he had the sharable pack of gum.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You couldn't have told me I had bad breath before I kissed you?" she asked.

He looked confused. "What?" he asked, then realized. "Oh, no. This is specially formulated gum from Kepler-23f in the 43rd century. The people there mostly make their living from underwater farming – well, most of the planet is water. Well, I say water, it's more like…"

"Doctor!" Rose said with a grin.

He smiled. "Right! Just start chewing this once you get underwater, and don't spit it out until you're done swimming. You'll be able to breathe underwater for at least an hour."

She took the little cube of gum and looked at it, then back at the Doctor, then back to the gum. Was he being serious right now? She knew what he was doing with the sudden urge to swim – he was trying to avoid talking about what just happened. She wouldn't push it, for now. She wanted to enjoy herself too. Still, she needed a way to let him know that she had no regrets about kissing him, while not making herself seem too obvious.

She smirked as she removed her sarong and tossed it to the side. "Y'know, I could have put this gum to even better use if you'd have given it to me earlier," she said.

"How's that then?" he replied, distracted by attempting to take his own shirt off.

She chuckled and helped him with his shirt, and when it was off she said; "I could have kissed you much longer with this." She popped the gum in her mouth before walking away with a grin on her face.

Nine centuries was a long time – a very long time – and the Doctor had been around for all of it. He was old, and he was used to seeing some shocking things. He didn't like to make bold statements and certainties unless he was absolutely sure he was right, and he knew he was right about this: Rose Tyler would never stop surprising him. She would always find a way to shock him somehow. He had expected her to make a stand and want to talk right then and there, but here she was, giving him time to think but flirting with him at the same time.

He watched, admiring her as she dove into the water, not even bothering to wait for him. She was being a tease on purpose now. Still, he didn't hate this recent turn of events. He walked slowly towards the water, putting his own piece of gum in his mouth – the same mouth that had just kissed Rose Tyler. He smiled as he walked into the water, and tried looking for her, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help but think back to his kiss with her. He definitely wanted to do that again; whether or not he should was another matter entirely.

"Y'know," a voice said beside him, "most of the time, girls have more fun swimming when their boyfriends join them."

He looked down to see the young college student who had stood behind him in line earlier. "Oh, she's not my…"

"Oh save it," the girl said with a teasing smile. "Maybe you've not had that talk yet, but she's most definitely your girlfriend. The whole beach saw that kiss."

The Doctor must have been blushing. He hadn't meant to be the center of attention – not that he usually cared one way or the other – but that was his first real kiss with Rose. He would rather it had been private and just something between them. He didn't reply.

"Mia," the young man he'd seen earlier said, walking towards them. What was his name? Jamie? "C'mon, don't tease him."

She smirked. "I wasn't being mean. I was just telling him that he should go swim before his girl finds someone else to see the luminescent coral with."

That did it for the Doctor. He didn't care if he looked foolish. He ran straight into the waves and into the water. He came to this place to swim with Rose and get her mind off of losing her mother, and that's exactly what he'd do. He swam underwater for a while, but didn't see Rose anywhere. It wasn't because it was dark out. At night, there was luminescent coral and other sea life that lit up everything underwater with vibrant yellows, and purples, and pinks. It was beautiful!

He couldn't focus on that, though. He was too busy focusing on finding Rose. She couldn't have just disappeared. Of course, she is incredibly jeopardy-friendly. As he was going to swim up to look on the surface for her, he saw a familiar pair of legs beneath the waves. He swam up right beside her and popped up out of the water to splash her in the face.

"Hello!" he said.

She let out a squeal of surprise and then splashed him back. "Rude!" she said, but he could tell she was trying her hardest not to laugh.

"That's me! Rude and not ginger," he teased. "Not that I want to tell you how to spend your night swimming, but gripping a rock for dear life isn't how I'd do it."

She rolled her eyes and wore an indignant expression. "I was just trying to get the hang of swimming in an ocean," she explained. "It's a lot different than a pool, but the water closer to the shore was too crowded."

Oh… he forgot to tell her exactly how to breathe underwater. "Well, that's why I'm here. Let me help you," he said, holding out his hands.

She looked at him and furrowed her brows. He couldn't help but to admire her right now. Her hair was wet and sticking to her head and face, but the yellow color caught the light of the moon and almost glowed. She slowly let go of the rock with one hand, and then another, and he pulled her away from it. Her expression wasn't frightened, but she was holding onto his hands for dear life, and her feet were kicking wildly under the water.

"Don't kick so much," he said. "That's a good way to tire yourself."

She nodded and tried to slow the movement of her feet. "Is this better?" she asked. He nodded and she said; "Okay, what now?"

"Now, you're going to keep hold of my hands and we're going to go under the water. You've still got the gum, so you'll be able to breathe. You'll breathe in through your nose slowly – as slowly as you can at first, to get used to it – and then you'll breathe out through your nose. Do not open your mouth, or the gum might fall out," he explained.

She nodded again. "Okay, let's do this!"

He smiled and pulled her down underneath the water with him. Her hands loosened on his wrists ever so slightly, and he could see her chest moving up and down in very shallow motions, before eventually evening out to a normal breathing pattern. Rose had always been a fast learner. It was something that he liked about her. After ten minutes of him leading them around, she finally got the nerve to let go of his hand, and swam off in front of him.

He followed, and they just played under the water for quite some time. She was absolutely stunning underneath the waves. Once she got the hang of it, she moved like a fish through the water. She was graceful like a dancer, and her hair billowed around her like a mermaids. He wished he could have a portrait of this moment to look at forever, but he knew that no painting – or even a photograph – could do her justice. Nothing could ever match the beauty of his Rose.

Rose and the Doctor had spent almost an hour swimming under the water, like mermaids, moving through the waves like a hot knife moves through butter. If she were being honest, she would have to say that this is probably her favorite place he's ever taken her. It was beautiful, she met some nice people, and she was breathing under water. It was so peaceful under the waves. She could happily live in the water for the rest of time, she thought. It gave her time to think, and she didn't know if she had ever seen a time when the Doctor looked this happy.

Eventually the effects of the gum wore off, though, and she had to come back up for air. She suspected that the Doctor – with his superior Timelord biology – could stay underwater for much longer than she could. Still, when she came up for air, so did he. They stayed away from the shoreline, because that's where most of the people were, and they didn't want to deal with the crowd; even though it was steadily thinning out as people returned to the sand for a quick rest.

She and the Doctor were both smiling happily when they finally got to the surface. "So," he said. "What did you think?"

"That. Was. Amazing," she said. She could feel her cheeks hurting from how much she was smiling. "Thank you!" She attacked him in a hug and he almost went back under the water from the force of it.

She felt his arms circle around her waist and pull her closer. She looked at him, and saw that he was smiling softly. Before she knew it, he had leaned down and captured her lips with his. It wasn't like the kiss on the beach. That had held a bit of desperation mixed with desire, but this… it was warm. It filled her entire body with the best type of fire she had ever felt. Even in the chilly water, she felt like she was smoldering. This was slow, and sensual, and incredibly… amazing.

He broke away all too soon, and backed away from her slightly. He didn't look upset or guarded, as she had expected him to. "Okay," he said with a breath.

"Doctor?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just… had to do that again."

She grinned. "I don't mind," she said softly.

He paused for a moment, and looked down. "We should talk about what happened. If I don't do it now, I'll talk myself out of it, and then I'll just keep wondering if it was the right thing to do, and I just…"

"Doctor, breathe," Rose said. "I don't regret it, Doctor. I just want to get that out there now. You can try to push me away, and you can put up walls and barriers and tell yourself that it was a mistake, but I do not regret it."

He looked up at her with furrowed brows. "I don't regret it either, Rose. I was more worried that…"

She hated it when he paused like that. She huffed out a breath. "What were you worried about Doctor?" she asked, moving towards him to put a hand on his arm.

"Rose, this trip was meant to help you be happy again. I don't want you to see that kiss as just a tactic to make you feel better. I… it wasn't about that," he said.

She nodded. "I didn't think it was," she whispered.

"Alright," he said. "But I wasn't done. Rose, you're still not okay. You're still vulnerable, emotionally. I don't regret kissing you. Hell, I've wanted to for… a while. But, I shouldn't have kissed you until you were 100% okay."

"Doctor, I'm never going to be exactly like I was. I'm always going to be just a little bit sad, and that's okay. Sometimes, when things change you, you just have to accept it. As for me being emotionally vulnerable… well – you've known me a long time now. You know, better than most, that if I have a problem with something I'm not just going to let it happen. If I didn't want you to kiss me – or if I didn't want to kiss you back – I wouldn't have done it," she explained.

He gave a small grin. "I would've ended up smacked into my next regeneration," he said.

She laughed. He was right. If she hadn't wanted kissed, a good smack would've been all the message he needed, and she could dish out a slap just as good as her mother. "Doctor, we've been dancing around for a long time. I love you, and I've wanted to kiss you for a long time. But, if you don't want to do it anymore then I won't push you to."

"You what?" he asked. She looked confused and he said; "You said you love me."

Her eyes widened a little. Had she said that out loud? She hadn't meant to, and it just kind of slipped out. Oh well… there's no going back now. She didn't know why he was shocked, though. She thought she was the most obvious person in the world. "Well, yeah," she said. "I thought it was fairly obvious."

"Yeah, well… I have a lot of stuff in my head. Sometimes I can misread things," he said.

She was feeling nervous. Her stomach was doing flips. Was he hedging around the topic, or… what was he doing? She wasn't sure. This was new territory. She decided teasing would be a safe direction to go in; keep it light. "Yeah, I kinda caught on to that a while ago. Anything less subtle than a gun can't get your attention." He smiled and she continued speaking. "So that's okay then; that I love you?"

"Yes," he said, without hesitation, then let out a breathy chuckle. "Yes, it's perfectly okay. It's more than okay. It's… great. Quite right, too." She rolled her eyes playfully. He could be so full of himself sometimes. "And I suppose now's a good a time as any for me to say it. Rose Tyler… I–"

His sentence was cut off when he let out a yell. "Doctor? What's wrong?" she asked. "Doctor!" He brought his arm up above the water, and there was something latched onto it. He grabbed it and threw it off, but his arm was still in bad shape. It was bleeding profusely, staining the water around them. "What was that? What's going on?" she asked, trying her best not to panic.

"We have to go, now. You have to get me back to the TARDIS – to the sickbay – before I pass out. That thing was poisonous," he said. She didn't hesitate. She supported him with one arm and swam with her other as he fought to stay awake. "It's one of the most deadly creatures in this solar system."

Her heartrate picked up speed. His words were slurring now, which definitely wasn't good. How fast was the poison? It must move faster through his system since he has two hearts. Maybe she should keep him talking. "So, do you have anti-venom for it on the TARDIS?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "TARDIS have almost kinds of every anti-venom," he slurred.

Oh this was seven million different kinds of not good. They had finally made it to the shore, and she could see the TARDIS from here. She tried to help the Doctor as best as she could to the TARDIS, but he was stumbling too much. She was halfway there when the Doctor let out a strangled cry and fell to the sand. "No… no you don't. C'mon," she said, trying to haul him up. "Y'know, you're not as light as you look."

He wasn't saying anything. He had passed out already, and she still wasn't close enough to the TARDIS. What would she do now?