Prompt 7: Emptiness

Rose Tyler sat in front of the open TARDIS doors, legs dangling over the side and a soft breeze blowing across her face. The stars were beautiful, and she almost felt as though she could fall into them. As she stared into the never ending sky, she felt a single tear start to make its way down her cheek. She tried to wipe it away, but it was soon followed by another, and another. Pretty soon she just gave up and let them make wet trails wherever they wished. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she suddenly heard a voice right behind her.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Rose turned to see the Doctor standing behind her, a worried look crossing his face. She started wiping her eyes with her sleeve and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"I'm fine, Doctor. Nothing's the matter." She smiled up at him, but she knew it didn't quite reach her eyes. The Doctor knit his eyebrows in concern and slowly lowered himself until he was sitting next to Rose. She scooted over a bit so he could dangle his legs over the edge as well.

"I think I can tell when something's wrong, Rose. You're quite the open book most days." Rose gave a lopsided smile at that.

"Yeah. Suppose I am." She reached over and laced the Doctor's fingers with hers as she placed her head on his shoulder. "I was just thinkin' is all." The Doctor leaned his head to where it rested on hers.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked, slowly rubbing small circles on her hand with his thumb. Rose relaxed a little when she focused on the touch.

"It's just... well... You didn't know me before. Ya know? You've never seen the Rose Tyler I was before you came and changed everything." She lifted her eyes the best she could to try and see his face. She failed, but imagined it was probably blank as he waited for her to continue. Her next words were softer as she spoke. "I don't think you would have really liked me back then." The Doctor lifted his head from Rose and turned around to face her.

"Rose Tyler. How could you ever think I wouldn't like you?" He studied her while she simply rolled her eyes and continued.

"I was just different, Doctor. Things didn't seem as important to me then, ya know? I had Micky there with me and everything, and my mum, but there was just something else missing. A void that never seemed to be filled." Rose looked up to study the Doctor's face. He kept his expression neutral, so she decided to continue. "It's like, there was this emptiness deep within me that was just screaming for me to fill it. That's what I was thinking about when you walked up." She nodded her head towards the open doorway, a smile spreading on her lips as she looked back out at the sky. "It's like now that void's been filled up with these stars and galaxies and..." Rose trailed off, a soft blush spreading across her cheeks. The Doctor tilted his head slightly, waiting for her to continue.

"And what?" He asked when she didn't. Rose softly bit her bottom lip as her blush deepened.

"And... and you." She couldn't help but smile as she looked up to meet the Doctor's eyes. He smiled back at her, but before he could speak, she started again. "Before you came, there was nothing that really meant much of anything to me, but then you took me to the stars. You showed me this beautiful universe that I don't think I'll ever be able to get enough of. You saved me, Doctor, and I don't know how I'll ever thank you for it."

The Doctor wrapped his arm around Rose's shoulders and pulled her to him, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Oh, my beautiful Rose." he sighed. "If only you knew how much you've already returned the favor."