Rose leaned over the railing, looking inwonder at the controls that were in front of her. Everything...it looked the exact same as in her TARDIS-well, the Doctor's TARDIS-well, her Doctor's TARDIS.

"Well, what do you think?" The parallel Doctor was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as he watched her. She was back-was actually here, in the TARDIS, running her hands over the controls that were in front of her. It almost felt like old times.

"It's...strange." Rose laughed at her underwhelming word turning to look at him. "It's like-it's all the same. This TARDIS and the other-even you."

The parallel Doctor diverted his eyes to the ground for a moment, then looked back up at her, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Yeah-I guess I'm a bit strange."

She laughed, making her way in a slow circle around the controls of the TARDIS, running her fingers across the railing. "That's not what I meant. I meant...everything about this place. Parallel words-where everything is the same, and yet everything is so different..."

She stopped to look at him once more, a question coming to her mind. "Is there...a Rose Tyler here?"

"Of course-she's standing right there, talking to me." The Doctor gave her a mock look of confusion.

"You know what I mean-does this world have a Rose Tyler. And be honest-you can tell me if she was a cat or a cow or an elephant, or something like that." Rose added, flipping her hand in the air as she made her way back round the controls, to stand a few feet away from the parallel Doctor.

"Yes, there was a Rose Tyler here, and no she wasn't an elephant," he added with a smile, "But she isn't here anymore."

"What happened? Did you get tired of her-did she get on your nerves?" Rose asked, taking another step towards him.

"No-never. If anything she was...the motivation that kept me going." As he spoke about her, he watched the new Rose carefully, allowed his eyes to trail subtly across her face. Her white skin, her blonde hair, brown eyes...

"What do you mean-motivation?" She broke him from his thoughts with her question.

"I did the whole travelling thing-planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy-met all kinds of new races, species...I saw so many wonderful things...but after a while even travelling gets boring." He spoke slowly, looking down to the floor. "Nothing seems magical anymore. I wanted to stop travelling-but then I met Rose..." He looked straight ahead, not really seeing anything but the images that flashed through his mind on fast forward. "She saw the wonder and excitement in everything. She was human like you, and saw the human perspective in nearly everything. I kept travelling because of her..."

Images were plastered onto the walls of his mind-images that he couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried. Her last moments...the things that he wished he would have said...the awful, feeling of drowning. Being pulled under the current-kicking and screaming and thrashing, and going...absolutely...nowhere. She had been there-had been inches away from him, but she was so far gone...

"Hold on Rose-just hold on. Please..." He held onto her as if she might float away from him, clutching her to his chest.

"I'm not going...anywhere...I promise..." Her voice was becoming softer-the breeze was almost stealing it away from his ears.

"I'm so sorry Rose. I should have been here-" His voice was breaking as he rocked her softly-he didn't know why, maybe he thought if he kept up the movement he could rock the death away from her.

"No-it wasn't you. I should have listened...stupid Rose..." She chuckled softly, tapping her fingers across his arm with as much energy as she could muster.

"Don't you say that-don't you ever say that!" He screamed out, moving the blonde hair out of her face. "Everything will be fine-the ambulance will get here, and you'll be fixed in no time." A smile suddenly broke across his face. She would be okay, she would be okay, she would be okay...

Wrong. She would have been okay, if only he had gotten to her sooner...

"Tell me about waterfalls on Kaluri Six, Doctor-you promised we'd go sometime..." She craned her head up weakly to look at him, her eyeslids beginning to droop.

"I know I did-and we will go. Today...just-just as soon as you feel better." His tears dripped down his chin, landing on her forehead.

"The waterfalls...are like liquid crystal, and they-they reflect the colors of the-the sky. Pink, lavender...blue, gr-green..."

Rose watched him as he talked to her-tried her best to stay with him. He meant everything to her-to see him cry because of something she had caused...it was unbearable.

She felt her body drop a few feet, only she was still in the Doctor's arms. Not much longer now...

"I didn't mean to cause you pain-I'm so sorry..." She reached up weakly, touching his dark brown locks of hair. This was her last chance...to touch him. To feel him.

He could hear the sirens in the distance, but as much as he wanted to feel some flicker of hope...he didn't. He knew. He knew the ambulance wasn't going to be able to help her-she was...she was too far gone.

"Rose," he leaned down, cradling her face in his hand. "Are you scared?"

She smiled, and warmth flooded him but for a few seconds. "Scared? Why should I be scared-I've seen what is up there..."

Tears traced liquid lines down his face-that was all he needed to hear, to know that she wouldn't die alone and scared.

"The only thing scary about dying...is me not knowing if you know how much I love you." She whispered up at him.

"I love you...too, Rose Tyler..." His voice was breaking again-he was dangerously close to losing it.

Rose could feel it now-like the hand of a parent coaxing you through a doorway-a gentle nudge toward something new.

"Please...Doctor...just don't give up on us. We're not all...stupid, awful people. Humans...are worth it...just don't...give up...on us..." Her eyelids fluttered, and he felt her grip on him start to loosen.

"Rose! Rose!" The Doctor screamed, shaking her in his arms. "Rose-just no! Stay with me-a little longer! A little longer!"

He screamed as the paramedics tried to take her from him-he would have sat there holding her for the rest of time, refusing to let go...until she had crumbled to dust in his arms.

"Doctor!" He was thrust from his thoughts by someone yelling. Rose. He looked at her straight in the eye. It was Rose-she was yelling at him. Rose...

"Are you alright-you started talking, then you just stopped. Now you're crying..."She reached out and wiped a tear from his cheek.

"Oh-yeah, yeah. Quite fine..." He laughed lightly, turning away to wipe the tears from his eyes. He thought he was over this by now...

"What's wrong-what were you thinking about?" She touched his shoulder gently, turning him back around to face her.

"Rose...the one that belonged here-she died." He couldn't believe those words actually fell from his lips. He never talked about her-not even back on Gallifrey. Yet here he was, talking about her without a single thought. But she wasn't just another person-not new Rose. He finally had someone he could talk to-he had called, and she had come back to him.

"How did she die?" Rose's voice dropped, then when she realized what she had asked she turned around in a flush of embarassment. "Oh-I'm sorry-it's none of my business..."

"No-it's-it's fine. You can ask me anything. I won't hide anything from you...she was blagged. Stabbed...bled to death, right there in my arms. I could have saved her, had I gotten there sooner..."

He watched Rose face, her eyes...noticed the little changes like she was thinking. Her slightly narrowd eyes, the little crinkles in her forehead. He already knew what she was thinking, knew that she didn't want to ask, so he would ask for you.

"You want to know where I was...why I didn't get there in time, don't you?"

"Look you don't have to tell me anything-" She was about to drop the whole conversation, but he was right. She wanted to know where he had been-why the other Rose had to die.

He nodded-he knew it. He grinned and threw her a sideways glance. "Rose and I...we quarrelled all the time. Nothing too importnat-but little spats about the dumbest of things. We'd gotten into a spat that day-said she wanted me to take her home. I brought her back-so she decided to leave the TARDIS and go walking around at night by herself, I guess to blow it off. I didn't think anything of it-Rose walked around at night before, alone. When she got out of the TARDIS I slammed the doors shut behind her, knowing that she'd come running back. Blimey, I was so stupid...I didn't find her until two hours later..."

"I'm...I'm so sorry."

The parallel Doctor shook his head, trying to convince even himself that he was okay. "Thing is-all those places I took her, with aliens and all that danger that I kept her safe from, but I couldn't keep her safe from Earth, her own backyard."

Rose was quiet for a minute, leaning up against the railings of the TARDIS controls. "Yeah...me and the Doctor-my Doctor-we have our own little quarrels.

"Is that why you were out there, walking in the alley all alone?" The parallel Doctor tilted his head to look at her, leaning against the wall.

Rose rolled her eyes-reminded of their arguement earlier in the TARDIS. "He's just...he can be so arrogant! it's always, "Rose, stay here", or "Rose, don't follow me." Then today-he actually told me that he picked me to travel with him because I was the closest one when the TARDIS landed-bullocks!"

"No..." The parallel Doctor's eyes widened.

She whirled around to face him. "Exactly what I thought! He always holds is so high above my head that I am a lowly little human and he is this big, mightly Time Lord-and there is no way my tiny little human brain can know what he is going through!"

"Bullocks!" The parallel Doctor laughed as he mimicked Rose. She nodded enthusiastically, pointing to him. "And he even said if he could he'd leave me and go back to Gallifrey-I mean that is awful. Why would you say that?" Her mouth was twisted in a grimace.

The parallel Doctor took a hop to where she was and opened his mouth to speak, when there was a loud banging on the doors of the TARDIS.

"I don't remember ordering any takeout dinner..." The parallel Docter teased with a grin as he looked over at Rose and rolled his eyes. She laughed-they both knew who it was before the TARDIS doors were even opened.

Rose walked behind the parallel Doctor as he pushed out the doors to the TARDIS. She peered over the parallel Doctor's shoulder as he leaned in the door, a with a smirk crackling across his face as she stared at the knocker.

"Oh hello there handsome!" The parallel Doctor called out cheerfully. Rose giggled and waved.

The Doctor stood there, dumbstruck by the sight that was in front of him. A Red TARDIS. Rose waving. Add himself...who stood there wearing blue denims?

He was about to say somtehing, when the parallel Doctor chimed in.

"Let me guess-you're the Doctor?"