"Dead?! How could they be dead!" The Doctor sat beside Rose on the couch in the control room of the Tardis, completely boggled at the thought.
"They died of old age. Well, Mom and Dad did. You.. well, other you, died around the age of 50. Being created was rather improbable in itself, like Doctor Donna. He lived as long as his heart could take it and one day he just slipped away." As Rose spoke the hurt in her eyes was distant, as if she had a long time to recover from all that she explained. "We had a good life, don't think it was all sad. Started off living at Mom and Dad's place, watching over Tony as he grew. One day we moved out to our own little place; basically a headquarters to come back to after the adventures we would have in our own dimension. The Doctor and I were going to get married, mainly just for fun. He also wanted to experience everything out of a normal human life." Rose paused a minute, smiling to herself sadly. The Doctor was looking at the console with a blank expression, listening to the life of Rose Tyler.
"At one point we thought I was pregnant, not the best move on our part I have to say. Two months later I found out it was never going to be possible so that was off the list of normal human experiences. Not too bad of a loss, however. The Doctor began thinking of a way to grow another Tardis. Now I know that it would never have worked, but it kept us busy up until he died. I didn't continue without him, it wouldn't of been worth it." Neither looked at each other as the explanation went on. One recited and the other listened as much as he could, trying to picture it all. "Anyways.. Mom and Dad grew up, getting older and older; Tony was in his late twenties when they passed away. Buried on the Moon. Hah- could you imagine it?" She looked to the side slightly, almost looking at his face but not quite yet.
"Tony was forty when he was taken away for questioning about me. They tortured him and he eventually died on his own terms to escape it all." Fresh tears formed in her eyes, more recent memories the Doctor assumed. "All gone with no one left to stay for." As she started this sentence, her gaze finally lifted to look at the Doctor's face. "I guess I know what it feels like now. Not as much tragedy as you've been through, but a good idea of the loss."
There was silence on the Tardis for a moment in time. Not even the living blue box made a noise for a heartbeat.
"Oh Rose… I'm so sorry." He leaned in and hugged her again, still trying to process all that she had said.
"I know you have questions, Doctor. Go ahead and ask, I won't be offended. It was still a while ago all this happened."
"That's just it, though. How could it have been a while ago? It's only been a month since I've seen you and parallel worlds move at about the same time as the others, give or take a month. You haven't aged at all." He half smiled in a hollow fashion, so many a time he had been asked the same thing and now it was his turn.
"Fancy that, yeah? I'm still looking good." She laughed, another tear rolling down her face. "It's so ironic if you think about it. You said I can spend my whole life with you, but you can't spend your whole life with me. I guess the tables turned in my own world. I don't age, Doctor. And so far I can't die, just like Jack."
The Doctor leaned back, looking at her with frustration and the buzz of thinking. "That's impossible Rose."
"Guess I'm impossible then."
"I'm so sorry."
Rose smiled at him, then looked down and shrugged, fiddling with her nails to avoid eye contact. The Doctor jumped up, his hand running through his hair as he thought about solutions or reasoning behind it all. "Really it's impossible, I ran some tests when I saw you the first time.. I figured it had to do with you taking in the time vortex. I swear I got it all out of you, I did and I know it. If you kept any you would of burned up, but here you are."
"Maybe I did the same thing to myself as I did to Jack."
"Is that a guess or are you telling me you did that?"
Rose shrugged again. not looking up. "It's just what I've figured."
"All this still doesn't answer how you got to this dimension or how you just disappear out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, there's alway a where." He looked up, hands now in his pocket as the many calculations soared through his mind.
"It has to do with the time vortex and that's all I know. The gold glowing stuff that surrounds me and takes me some place new."
"Is there anything else you can tell me that you know? Anything will be useful." He walked back over to her, looking her in the eyes. Some sort of flicker of fear crossed her eyes and she moved over then stood up.
"I need to go, sorry. Really I am, I'll see you soon Doctor." Rose rushed for the door to the Tardis, the Doctor hot on her heels.
"Rose wait you don't need to keep running I can help! Whatever is wrong, please!"
"I'll see you soon." She looked back at him once last time then opened the Tardis doors and stepped into outer space, closing the doors behind her. Rose's eyes shined gold and an essence of the color floating around her. It was only a second later when the Doctor opened the door again that all of her and the glow was gone. He closed the door a minute or two later, then pulled himself over to the monitor. Something was happening to Rose and she wouldn't say. That and she watched everyone she loved die, even him. She watched him die. That must of been terrifying for her, even if that other version was human. All she had ever seen was the Doctor coming back to life through regeneration, but that human in his place didn't match up to what she had always known.
"Something else she said.. Doctor Donna? How could she have known that Doctor Donna wouldn't last? I doubt the other me would of said anything to her.. possibly. Maybe we were more different than I thought. Maybe." He pulled some levers, pushed some buttons, and spun a dial, all the while thinking to himself of the mystery of Rose Tyler. Just for a sliver of a fraction of a second he allowed himself to think the one positive thing: Rose was back.