Chapter Ten

Rose woke up the next morning, and was immediately confused. She wasn't in her bedroom, or in the room with the rocking chair… Where was she? She could tell she was in the TARDIS, because she could feel the ship's presence nearby. A bedroom, somewhere in the TARDIS… There were pictures all over the wall, and in front of her was… oh, right, her name in Gallifreyan, yes, now she remembered!

She rolled over to see the Doctor, reading the book he had said he was going to read the past night. He didn't notice her at first. She didn't mind that, really. It was nice, watching him read.

A few moments later, the Doctor turned and saw her. "Oh, hey, you're up," he said with a smile. "Good morning, Rose; did you sleep well?"

"Best sleep in days."

"Fantastic!"

"I knew you'd say that." Rose pushed herself up, so she was leaning on one arm. "Hey, did you try to poke around in my head last night?"

"No! Okay, maybe a little."

"I don't mind or anything. It was nice."

"Okay, good. I didn't want to scare you. I didn't even want you to know I was there, really. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You didn't need to; I was fine."

"Yes, but I wanted to." The Doctor smiled, and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Hey, you feel a lot cooler. TARDIS?"

Good morning, Doctor and Rose. Did you sleep well?

"Yes, and could you check Rose's temperature?"

Let's see… Body temperature is 37 degrees.

"Your fever is broken! Fantastic!"

Fantastic indeed, said the TARDIS. Except, you gave her that fever reducer, which hasn't worn off yet. The real test will be in… two hours and thirteen minutes.

"Come on, TARDIS, you're such a buzzkill," said Rose, laughing. "I was so excited to not be sick anymore."

"Oh, come on, being sick wasn't all that bad, was it?" asked the Doctor. "I mean, I was fussing over you the whole time. That must've made it a lot better."

"Don't flatter yourself. Besides, the nightmares, and it was cold, and I felt awful."

The Doctor pulled Rose up to sitting, and cuddled her closer. "Oh, Rose, you poor thing," he said. He wasn't being sarcastic, either.

"You just went from 'It wasn't that bad' to 'Poor Rose.' What's that about?"

"Oh, Rose, you'll understand when you're completely in love with someone."

Rose kissed his cheek. "Then why don't I understand yet?"

The TARDIS, matchmaking ship that she was, decided that now would be a good time to drop an Awww, you guys are so cute!

"Jeez, TARDIS, you're acting like a teenage girl," said Rose, giggling.

"How so?" said the Doctor, while the TARDIS said What do you mean?

"Um, well… you see… Oh, never mind," said Rose, realizing that the TARDIS and the Doctor wouldn't understand the whole "teenage gossip" thing.

"Okay," said the Doctor. "Well, anyway, how do you feel, Rose Tyler?"

"Much better," said Rose. "I'm not perfectly well yet, but I do feel a lot better. Better enough to travel, if you want."

"Rose Tyler, until you're absolutely, positively, one-hundred-and-ten percent better, you aren't to take one step outside of this TARDIS. Doctor's orders."

"So I've got to stay here while you have fun adventures? That's not fair."

"It wouldn't be any sort of fun adventure without you, Rose. No, I'll stay with you until you're ready to go." The Doctor took her hands in his. "I'm never, ever leaving you, remember?"

"Won't that be awfully boring for you?"

"I could never be bored around you, Rose Tyler."

"Well, I'm glad I won't have to be alone."

Hey! You wouldn't be alone! I'd be here!

"TARDIS, I love you, but there's a difference between a psychic spaceship keeping you company and a person… well, a Time Lord… keeping you company."

Yeah, the psychic spaceship doesn't snore.

"For the record, I just spent an entire night with the Doctor and he didn't snore once! Not once!"

He probably snored like five times then. Or five hundred.

"No, he didn't snore at all."

Really?

"Really."

Doctor, did you erase her memories of your snoring or something.

"I DON'T SNORE!"

Just checking…

"Well then, Rose Tyler, we'll know how you're doing in two hours and three minutes, when the fever reducer wears off. If you're all better, then off we go, into time—"

"—and space!" finished Rose, laughing. "Why do I feel like we're going to say that a whole lot in the future? TARDIS, can you tell the future? Do we say that again?"

I don't know, and if I did, I wouldn't tell you.

"Why not?"

Spoilers!

"Spoilers?"

Besides, you shouldn't know your own future. It's not safe. Your timeline could get all screwed up, and you know—

"Yes, I know what happens when timelines get screwed up," muttered Rose. "Thanks for reminding me, TARDIS." She turned around, burying her head in her hands, trying hard not to cry.

The Doctor telepathically sent a couple of his nastiest curses at the TARDIS, and then gave Rose a hug from behind. "Come here, Rose," he said gently. She turned towards him, and he pulled her in close. "Oh, don't cry," he said. "Don't cry, Rose Tyler. Please don't cry."

Rose looked up to find the Doctor's eyes. They were sweet and gentle and loving, but there was fire, too, angry flame, and Rose was a little scared. She knew the Doctor could be ruthless when pissed off, and she didn't know who was the target of his rage most of the time. This time, though, she was pretty sure she was safe. It didn't make it any less scary.

The Doctor, as always, could sense her feelings - pain, naturally, but then he felt her fear, the fear she had had when he was last mad at her. Chiding himself for his anger at the TARDIS showing as anger at her, he gave her cheeks a gentle caress with the lowest part of each palm, allowing his fingers to rest on her temples.

Rose could tell what the Doctor was doing, and in a few moments, she felt his Time Lord presence in her mind, comforting her. He whispered thoughts into her head, telling her he loved her, and that he wasn't mad at her. She looked into his eyes again. The fire had vanished, leaving nothing but gentle care and love. She couldn't help but smile, just a little, through her tears.

The Doctor, seeing Rose's smile, pulled himself out of her mind, moving his hands away from her head. But he still sensed her pain about what the TARDIS had said. And he didn't blame her. He looked into her eyes, trying to smile but unable to hide her pain, and it killed him.

"Oh, Rose, you're breaking my hearts," he said quietly.

"I'm okay," she whispered back.

"No, you're not, and I don't blame you."

Rose.

"TARDIS, leave her alone," said the Doctor, a hint of the fire returning to his eyes.

Rose, please, listen to me, just for a moment.

"TARDIS, I'm warning you—"

Rose, I'm so sorry. When I mentioned the timelines, I was talking to the Doctor. I forgot you had had… that experience. I didn't mean to hurt you, Rose. I'd never try to hurt you. I shouldn't have said what I said, Rose, and I'm so sorry.

Rose didn't respond. She didn't know what to say.

Please don't cry, my little one.

Rose wiped her eyes. "When are you going to stop calling me that?"

Someday, little one, you'll admit that you like it, and on that day, I'll stop.

Rose laughed. "Okay, TARDIS. It's a deal."

So you aren't mad?

"No, it's okay. I need to... get over it, I guess."

"Rose," said the Doctor. "Rose, look at me."

Rose looked up at the Doctor. He took her hands in his. "Yeah?"

"Rose, you don't need to 'get over' anything. What happened that day hurt you, and that's normal. That's what happens when we lose people. It hurts. And you're never really going to be over it. It's going to stay with you, always. But that's okay. You shouldn't forget what happened. You shouldn't get over it. You just need to make peace with the bit of it that hurts, the part where you blame yourself."

"Oh, and you can talk, Mr. I-Am-Solely-Responsible-For-The-Extinction-Of-The-Time-Lords."

"Okay, fine, maybe I'm a hypocrite, but you know what? You shouldn't become like me, always blaming yourself. Sometimes, stuff just happens. Nobody causes it. It just happens, by accident, or it just happens, totally random. And sometimes, it's awful. But other times, something happens out of the blue, and it's not awful; it's fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I saved you from those living plastic dummies on a whim, Rose Tyler. I didn't have to, but I could tell someone was down there and I thought, 'You know what? I'll give her a chance.' And it was the best decision I ever made."

Excuse me? What about, ahem, acquiring your timeship?

"Okay, well, that was a good decision too."

Crucial, I might say. You two wouldn't have met if not for me.

"Okay, that's true."

"When you're quite done deciding which lovely lady was your best choice," teased Rose, "I'm a bit hungry."

Ah, Rose, the Doctor and I have been together for centuries, but you're something special. And as for your hunger, I believe breakfast in bed is in order.

"Oh, I love breakfast in bed," said Rose. "TARDIS, could you make-"

I know what you want, little one.

"Yay! Oh, this'll be fun, won't it, Doctor?"

"Fine, Rose Tyler, but don't you dare make a mess on my sheets, or my banana pajamas!"

"I'd never! I'll be careful, I promise."

Besides, I can just clean it off.

"Thank God for the TARDIS," said Rose, grinning. "What would we do without her?"

Just then, a tray full of food appeared on the Doctor's and Rose's laps.

The Doctor grinned. "Not much, but you know what we would do?"

"What?"

"Make our own breakfast." And they laughed together, like they had throughout all of their adventures all over time and space.

Hey everyone! This piece is coming slowly to a close, but I want to thank y'alls for all the support. And also, do you guys like my little nods to the future? And to River?

Love always,

Kathryn Willa