I'm back! I was going to put this up on Monday, but I thought it's nearly Christmas so it's an early present. Thank you to all the people that reviewed. They all make me smile and encourage me to post the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

"Alice," I looked up to see Rose standing there, the door to the chamber finally opened, "Alice, are you all right?"

I stood up, my eyes still on the flying chunks of rock and gas, "You know what?" I turned away from the sight, "I think I am," I took her arm and we moved down the corridor, "It's strange how beautiful destruction can be," I added, and she frowned at me, "There seems to be this...feeling that the ending of the Earth is a sad thing, but actually I think it's better to let nature take its course. Things aren't meant to last forever. Even the Earth,"

"Rather depressing," she reasoned and I smiled, "Let's go and find the Doctor," I nodded, allowing her to lead me into the main room. The aliens all seemed to have survived apart from the Moxx of Balhoon who was now just dust in his chair. I looked over to the Face of Boe whose glass was being cleaned. He bent his head towards me when he saw me and I smiled slightly, waving goodbye as the smoke inside his case obscured the sight of him. The little blue children were busy trying to clean the rest of his case as well.

We both looked as the Doctor stormed into the room, his face dark with anger. I shifted at the sign of it, knowing that whatever it was, it hadn't been good. He looked furious, but solemn and as he walked over to the two remaining tree people, I knew that Jabe hadn't survived through saving everyone. Maybe if I had...but I knew that if I had gone with them then I wouldn't have known what would have happened to Rose. I couldn't regret that choice.

The Doctor eventually came over to us, leaving the grieving tree people behind. His face was still flushed with rage at all that had happened, "Are you...?" I bit my lip and he looked at me. I persevered, "Are you all right, Doctor?"

"Yeah," he started pacing the room, "I'm fine," I looked down at the answer. It had been a stupid idea but one that had been needed to be asked, "I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them," he looked around, "Idea Number One: teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed," he walked towards the ostrich egg, "Idea Number Two: This feed must be hidden nearby," he smashed the egg, revealing a metallic looking device, "Idea Number Three," the Doctor moved back over to us, "If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed," he violently turned a dial on the gadget.

There was an instant hum in the air, and I heard Cassandra's voice even before she had appeared, "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces," I stared as the trampoline appeared right where she had left, "All helpless and bleating and..." she seemed to see us, "Oh,"

"The Last Human," the Doctor sneered looking at Cassandra.

"So," Cassandra actually seemed to be uncomfortable with the situation now. She knew that she had no way of getting out of here, "You passed my little test. Well done," she was stuttering now, actually showing real fear in the light of the circumstances, "That make you eligible to join the...uh...Human Club,"

"People have died!" I moved forward, pulling my arm out of Rose's grip, "You've murdered people, Cassandra!" I was slightly incensed, "They were people, they had lives and families, and you murdered them. Just for money,"

"Well," she suddenly turned vicious, "It depends on your definition of people," I stared at her, "And that's enough of a technicality that will keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then," her tone turned triumphant, "And witness the effect of beauty upon the legal system. Oh, I will dazzle them! Charm the sternest jury. Seduce the stiffest judge. You stand in court and watch me smile..." there was a terrible noise coming from her, "And cry," it was like she was contracting, "And flutter,"

"And creak?" the Doctor pointed out, and it was true. She was creaking in her frame, "You're creaking," he folded his arms, seemingly satisfied with the result that had come with her arrival back on Platform One.

"Oh!" Cassandra now was panicked as she realised that she was indeed creaking, "I'm drying out," I allowed one tiny smile to cross my face at her end. There was no way out for her now, "Oh sweet heavens! Moisturise me," she hadn't realised that her surgeons hadn't arrived with her. There was no way out for her now, "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys? It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature," I watched as Cassandra turned red with her skin drying out. She was shrinking, her skin contracting as the moisture that was in her quickly evaporated. Cassandra was crying out for mercy and I could tell from the Doctor's expression, that he wasn't willing to give it to her.

"Help her," Rose walked up to the Doctor, looking pleadingly at him to do something. Maybe I was too jaded with the world to see that happen. It made me slightly sad. I couldn't find it in myself to regret the inevitability of Cassandra's death. She had killed and she was going to die because of her actions.

"Everything has it's time," the Doctor shared the same mentality as I did in this situation, "And everything dies," I looked out of the large window seeing the remains of the Earth float lazily by. He was right. Nothing should last forever. Not even the planets.

"Help me!" I looked back at Cassandra, as she was panting and pleading for someone to save her, "I'm too young," holes were appearing in her skin, "I'm too young!" and bang, skin flew everywhere as Cassandra was torn literally from limb to limb. I ducked somewhat to avoid the fleshy remains as they flew at us.

The Doctor didn't look satisfied or unhappy, but just merely walked away from us through the doors and out of sight. Rose drifted over to look out the window and I moved to sit in front of the Face of Boe, who was now looking cleaner than I had seen him before, "She needed to die," he told me, "There wouldn't have been anything that anyone else could do in regards to Cassandra. The Courts would have probably not been able to sentence her,"

"I'm not upset about her death," I told him, "I know the reasons for it and I know that there was nothing I could do but to watch her die. I'm not proud of it, and I'm not even particularly condoning it. I know what I feel, and I don't feel sorry. But there has to be a point where it stops being right to allow someone to die like that, and starts being inhumane. I've just seen a planet get torn to shreds and I'm feeling...lost," I traced a pattern on the floor, "It feels...odd, like I'm not particularly grounded,"

"As long as you understand that everything has a consequence to it then you should be able to make your way forward," I nodded, standing up, "It is time for me to depart, we shall meet each other again soon enough, we can see how things have changed," I frowned at his comment but before I had time to ask him what it was about, he teleported away.

"That..." I sighed, "Is annoying. "Until next time, I suppose,"" I moved towards Rose, slipping my hand into hers, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking..." she trailed off before looking at the Doctor who walked up behind us, "The end of the earth," I could see that she was close to tears at this point, "It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves to see it go," she looked at me, "Only you..." I turned away from her, looking out onto empty space, "All those years, all that history, and only one person was looking. It's just..." she couldn't carry on.

The Doctor held out his hand, "Come with me," he told us, and we let him lead us away from the sight of the massive Sun.

The journey in the TARDIS was tense, none of us said anything. I leant against the railing, twisting and turned my hands in each other, staring into the space. There was really nothing to be said. There was so much in this world of the Doctor's that I didn't understand. I could see a fraction of that bigger picture that I had always wanted to be a part of. It scared and frightened me, but somehow I didn't want to let go of that glimpse. There was so much more than what I had ever tried to understand or see. There were monsters and demons waiting under the bed but somehow...there was that rush of excitement whenever there was danger. I knew I couldn't go back, not now.

The TARDIS ground to a halt and Rose looked up from where she was standing, "Where are we?" she asked, slightly hoarsely. The end of the world had changed her, she had realised her own mortality, and she had to adjust around that huge fact. I smiled softly at her, she wouldn't leave either. It was a shock to her, but a good one in which she had emerged to become a better person.

The Doctor merely held out his hand, in a parody of earlier and Rose inclined her head slightly, walking out the door, "Are you going to follow her?" he inquired of me, and I looked up, "See what's out there?" I pushed myself away from the railings, walking towards the door. I hesitated, drumming my fingers on the latch of the door, "If I promise that it's not anywhere dangerous would you trust me?" I turned to look at him before opening the latch and walking out into a busy high street. Home. Or was it anymore, "You think it's going to last forever," the Doctor stood beside me, "People and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's gone," he looked above us, "Even the sky,"

"Mortality," I murmured and I felt his gaze on me, "It's just..." I broke my sentence, struggling to find the words to properly say what I meant, "It was just...burning, and there was nothing anyone could do for it," Rose shifted beside me, "How can you stand seeing something like that and remaining...calm when you come back here and everything was how it was?"

"Because my planet's gone," he answered me, and we both look at him, "It's dead. It burned, like the Earth; it's just rocks and dust now. Before it's time," there was a relentlessness in his words, like he had to force them to cooperate. So this was what Jabe was talking about all those minutes ago. It seemed like it was days to me, but it couldn't have been more than half an hour. Time had passed so slowly, there was so much that had been done since then.

"What happened to it?" Rose asked,

"There was a war," the Doctor replied honestly, "And we lost," And with those words, everything seemed to click into place. The loneliness in his eyes, the need for someone to be there around, why there was the silence in the TARDIS, he was alone, there was no one left for him,

"With who?" I inquired softly. Not wanting to push him but also wanting to know the answer to this very important question. There seemed so much to know about the Doctor and we only knew a very small part of it. So small I wasn't sure whether he was a stranger or a friend. He didn't answer my question, "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord," he finally pushed on, "The last of the Time Lords. They're all gone, I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else left,"

"We're here," Rose said and he looked at us.

"You've seen what its like," he told us, "You know how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" I think he already knew the answer to that question, but the Doctor seemed to need clarification on that point, like he was almost too afraid to ask but at the same time, had to ask for his peace of mind.

"I don't know," Rose said, looking around, before sniffing slightly, "I want..." she seemed distracted by the question, and I sniffed slightly before smiling at the smell, "Can you smell chips?" she asked us and I smiled properly for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Yes," I answered, "Yes, I can," I looked at the Doctor, "I want chips," he nodded, "So we've decided. Before you put us back in that impossible box of yours, we're going to have some chips," I eyed his coat, "And you can pay,"

He shrugged, patting his coat, "No money," he informed us.

Rose laughed, smiling that familiar smile, "What sort of date are you?" she asked him, before nodding down the road, "Come on, tightwad. Chips are on us then," we started walking down the road, "We've only got five billion years till the shops close," we all laughed as the ordinary people milled around us and I looked at the sky, silently delighting in its wonder of simply being there. I look at the Doctor and he looked at me, and in that moment I knew he knew what I was thinking. And he was silently telling me something.

That it was all going to be all right.

It is scientifically proven that there is a link between reviews and new chapters (Hint Hint)