Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and breathed in deep. She was back. Back in her world. The real world. The one where she was meant to exist, meant to meet the Doctor and see the stars.

She glanced over as said Doctor followed her out, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms.

"How long have I been gone?" Rose asked him.

"About 12 hours," he informed her.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Course I'm sure," he told her with a frown.

"Only, we were supposed to be in 1860 Naples, right?" she asked with a grin. "Missed that by just a bit..."

"Oi!"

She laughed at his offended look, which immediately softened as he chuckled.

"Right, I won't be long," she told him. "I'm just gonna see my mum. Make sure she doesn't start canvassing the neighborhood."

"What're you going to tell her?"

"I dunno," she said thoughtfully. "I think the end of the world and Christmas 1869 would be a bit out of her comfort zone." She grinned when the Doctor snorted. "I'll just tell her I've been with a mate. See you soon. Don't you disappear," she added over her shoulder.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said softly as she walked away.

"I'm back!" she called as she entered the flat. "I know it's been a while. I guess Mickey would have explained ages ago. Just been with a mate." She stopped when she saw Jackie standing in the doorway looked shocked. "Mum? You alright?"

Jackie dropped her mug, reaching her hands out to Rose. "It's you," she said shakily. Rose watched warily as tears formed in Jackie's eyes. "It's really you. Oh my god." She took Rose in her arms and Rose glanced around the flat, seeing the stack of "Where is Rose?" posters on the table.

"Not again," she moaned weakly.

The Doctor chose that moment to burst into the flat. "It's not 12 hours," he said quickly. "It's er... 12 months. You've been gone a whole year." He looked between the women as they turned to stare at him. "Sorry."

oOoOo

Jackie phoned the police and went to get dressed, leaving them with a warning of impending violence if they left again. Rose withdrew to an armchair, where she was currently curled up and gazing out the window as she chewed her nail.

The Doctor paced a little and glanced at her. She was never going to come with him again now. By rights, she should hate him. But if by some chance she didn't, if she could actually manage to forgive him, she was never going to risk leaving again. Inexplicably, this thought made him intensely unhappy. A few days of her presence had helped drown out the screams of ghosts, and it bothered him that he had now let her down so badly that he would lose that.

"Rose, I really am sorry," the he said quietly. "I really did mean to have you back in twelve hours."

"No, I know," she told him. "It was an accident. I just thought I had this covered is all."

The Doctor gaped at her. "How could you possibly have covered this?" She only shrugged non-commitally as someone knocked on the door. A policeman entered, and the Doctor retreated behind Rose while she was interviewed, Jackie raging sporadically.

"Why won't you tell me where you've been?" Jackie yelled, and the Doctor decided it was time for him to intervene.

"Actually, it's my fault," he told them, stepping forward. "I sort of employed Rose as my companion."

"When you say 'companion'," the policemen said, holding up his notebook, "is this a sexual relationship?"

"No!" the Doctor and Rose both said at once.

"Then what is it?" Jackie demanded. "Because you, you waltz in here all charms and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I am a Doctor!"

"Prove it! Stitch this, mate," Jackie spat and slapped him hard.

"Mum!" Rose cried, jumping up as the Doctor recoiled, his face burning. "Stop it! It's not his fault!"

"Then tell me whose fault it is!" Jackie shouted back, unapologetic.

"Why don't you wait outside a minute, Doctor," Rose suggested as mother and daughter exchanged steely glares. He glanced between them, then nodded and retreated to relative safety of "anywhere Jackie Tyler wasn't" to wait for the inevitable.

oOoOo

"Did you think about me at all?" Jackie asked after some of her anger dissipated.

"Of course I did! All the time!" Rose assured her. "But you shouldn't have done this. Didn't Mickey tell you—"

"Oh, Mickey," Jackie scoffed. "One phone call," she continued without pause. "Just to know you were alive."

"I'm sorry," Rose said for the umpteenth time. "I really am."

"Do you know what terrifies me, is that you still can't say," Jackie told her seriously. "What happened to you, Rose? What could be so bad that you can't tell me, sweetheart? Where were you?"

Rose looked at her. She knew full well that very soon, the idea of aliens would come crashing down on planet earth, and Jackie Tyler would have to face some very hard realizations. By the time she left again, her mum would know, at least to some degree, what she was doing out in the universe with the Doctor.

"Alright, here's the thing," Rose said after a deep breath. "The Doctor...he's not just anyone. He's one of the most important people in the whole universe. He travels all over, between planets and galaxies, to different times and places where people need him. And he helps them, all of them. He puts a stop to things that should never happen, and brings about the things that should. Without him, the whole universe would have been toast, a few times now."

Jackie stared at her daughter. "What're you going on about? You make him sound like some sort of alien."

"Yeah. He's an alien from another world, with a ship that can travel to any point in time and space."

"You're barmy," Jackie said, backing up.

"But I'm not," she said. "Cause I've seen it. I've seen the end of the world and I spent Christmas in Cardiff in 1869. All cause of him. And I'm going back out there. So you need to find some way to wrap your head around it, and soon. I'm sorry, Mum, really I am, but this is my life now."

She waited for Jackie to reply, to say something. "I'm going to find the Doctor," she said quietly when nothing proved forthcoming. "I'll be back."

She found him on the roof leaning against a low wall with his arms crossed. She hopped up to sit next to him.

"How's the face?" she asked, nudging his shoulder.

"Could be worse," he admitted. He glanced at her then shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Nine hundred years in time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

"First time for everything," she teased, laughing. He shook his head again, but Rose saw his lips twitch.

"So what'd you tell her?"

Rose sighed. "Let's just say I took her a bit out of her comfort zone."

"You didn't!"

"What else was I supposed to do? He was still looking at her with a shocked expression. "Doctor, it'll be fine. Sooner or later."

"Rose, just knowing about me puts people in danger!" the Doctor cried. "This is your mother!"

"Yeah, and right now, she just thinks I'm loony!" she snapped back. "But you know what, that's alright. Cause a few days ago, I was a shop girl from the Estate with about the same long term prospects as a slab of clay, but now I'm travelling the universe and actually doing something useful with my life. Sooner or later, she's going to understand that." She stopped, breathing heavily. He was studying her with a guarded expression. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. "Besides," she said after a moment. "I can't have her calling the police every time I leave. Couldn't have her slapping you every time I came to visit either," she added.

"Yeah, don't want to experience that again," he agreed, his face pensive. "So...you're still coming with me?"

"Course I am. Think I'd miss out on the whole of time and space?"

He studied her a moment longer, then broke out into a grin. "Fantastic!"

"We still have to work on your driving skills, Doctor," Rose teased him as she hopped off the ledge. "At least I know I didn't miss anything interesting."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because if there had been, you'd have been here already," she said, turning to him with a grin.

He grinned back, but then they both started as heard a horn blare. They ducked as a spaceship sailed low over their heads, soaring over the city before careening into Big Ben and crashing into the Thames.

"See what I mean?" Rose said. The Doctor laughed as he grabbed her hand, intent on taking off toward the crash. "Hold on," she said, pulling him back. "Slow down, tiger. There's bound to be all sorts of authorities down there looking at this, yeah? Whole city's going to be gridlocked. We'll get stuck before we get anywhere near it."

The Doctor shuffled uncertainly, eager to investigate but seeing the truth in her words. "Can't use the TARDIS. Already a giant spaceship here, don't want to put another one right on top of it."

"Even if it does look like a blue box," she teased. "C'mon then. We'll just have to do whatever everyone else does."

"What's that?"

"We're gonna watch it on TV," she told him, leading the way back down to her mother's flat.

"This some of your lot?" Jackie demanded as they entered the flat.

The Doctor shot Rose an annoyed look. "Never involve the mothers," he muttered darkly. "No, Jackie, this is not some of my lot. I don't know who they are, where they're from, or what they're doing here, apart from crashing, so don't ask me."

"Fat lot of good you are," Jackie snapped. "What's the use of some planet hopping-"

"Mum!"

oOoOo

They watched the news reports intently all afternoon. The country was in a panic over the spaceship and the body found inside, a situation made worse as it was revealed that the Prime Minister was missing. The Doctor grew more and more agitated as people piled into the flat under the guise of watching the reports, but really as an excuse to throw a party. Finally, he gave up and slipped out of the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rose demanded as she followed him out onto the balcony.

"Nowhere," he said, starting guiltily at the sound of her voice. "It's just a bit human in there for me," he admitted with a shrug. "History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

"Riiight," Rose said, drawing out the word. "So you're not going to Albion Hospital to investigate an extraterrestrial body that was drug up from the Thames then?"

"Oh...well, when you put it like that..."

"It's okay, Doctor," she told him gently. "It's what you do. Fancy some company?"

He hesitated, unsure for a moment, then shook his head. "Rose, if you really are coming with me, then you should spend some time with you mum now. She's already a bit…touchy, and you'll miss her before long. I'll be back before you know it."

Rose chewed her lip and thought furiously. She wanted to go with him, but knew it would be easier for him to sneak on his own, and her mum would probably call the police immediately if she vanished now.

"Promise you won't disappear?" she asked as he turned to go. He stopped and turned back to her, feeling around his jacket pockets.

"Tell you what—TARDIS key," he said, handing it to her. "About time you had one. See you later!" he said with a grin as he turned away again.

She watched him go, and then looked down at the key in her hand. She turned back into the flat and searched her room for a cheap necklace chain and threaded the key onto it. She slipped it around her neck with shaking hands, sighing in relief as it settled into place. Finally, she felt well and truly home.