Author's Note: Doctor/Rose cuteness! Some memories and some insight on my favorite moments in seasons 1 and 2.

Rose opened her eyes, and her mouth felt completely dry. She gave a small cough as she sat up. The room was dark, and it felt as though she was lying on a table of some sort. It took her mind a moment to register where she was and how she had gotten there. The moment she did, she felt the lights illuminate the room. It was the medical hall. She recognized it from the minor injuries that she had sustained with the Doctor before they had been separated. Glancing down at herself, she was surprised to see that she was completely whole, down to the cuts and scrapes she had gotten from the glass in the car.

Carefully, Rose put her feet down on the floor and gingerly put weight on them. Besides the stiffness associated with spending a long time on a table, Rose felt absolutely normal. That is, until she realized that she wore a completely different set of clothing. Her jumper, sweats, and trainers had been replaced by a familiar cotton sundress. She was barefoot as she padded across the floor and out into the hall.

The familiar sound of tinkering led her into the control room. Her throat caught at the sight of the Doctor working on the TARDIS. He wore his blue suit and chucks, as usual, and his trench coat was slung over the back of the jumpseat. She blinked back tears as she stepped into the familiar room.

"Doctor?" She said, her voice surprisingly small.

He looked up, his smile lighting up his face. "Well, if it isn't Miss Rose Tyler," he said, abandoning the console to bound over to her. She inhaled sharply as he embraced her, trying to make all of her senses acknowledge that he was real there.

When he pulled back, she felt empty again, and thus, she seized his hand as he pulled her deeper into the control room. He smiled at her, and led her to the jumpseat with a general air of contentment.

When she had situated herself, he looked intently at her. "First things first, Rose," he started. "How are you feeling?"

She flexed her muscles again. "A little stiff, but pretty normal, actually. How did you do that so quickly? I was almost positive I broke some bones. I could barely move when I got here."

"Well," he explained, "I got a visit from our Captain Jack several months ago. Do you remember the nanites? The ones that save the gas mask child back in World War II?"

She nodded, thinking of the little glowing lights that repaired damaged living tissue. That had been before he had changed his face. It seemed like ages ago to her.

The Doctor continued. "Well, he gave me some, as a nostalgia gift. At first, I didn't know what I was going to do with them, as I very rarely receive an injury serious enough to warrant their services. And then, a couple months later, here you show up, all bloody and looking like you've been in quite the row. They jumped at the chance to be of use, brilliant little things. Now, here you are, good as new. Better than new, actually. I think it's a demonstration of Jack's gratitude, despite the complications."

She caught his wording. "What do you mean, "complications"?" She asked.

He trailed off of his babbling sentence, and looked at her for a long moment before giving a nod. "We'll get there."

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"How- how did you bring me back here?" She had wanted to know since he had come to her in her dream how he had solved the riddle of inter-dimensional projections.

He laughed. "I didn't. You came back yourself."

She gave a nervous laugh of her own. "No, I didn't."

He looked puzzled. "You didn't?" He repeated, more like a statement. He turned to the TARDIS, who hummed a little more noticeably. Rose assumed that, if the TARDIS were human, she would be whistling innocently at that moment.

"Do you care to explain yourself?" The Doctor asked his ship.

In reply, the TARDIS's monitor came on, and began to glow. Rose and the Doctor gathered around it with interest.

As if someone had pressed play, a video suddenly began. Rose saw herself in a very familiar control room. In front of her stood the Doctor, the one with whom she had begun her adventures.

"My head," She said on the video.

"Come here," the Doctor said, opening his arms to her.

"is killing me."

"I think you need a Doctor."

Rose watched the first Doctor, well, the first that she had met anyway, pull her to him and kiss her. The current Doctor glanced sidelong at the real Rose, blushing minutely, before refocusing on the television.

They watched as the old Doctor absorbed the TARDIS energy that Rose had taken into herself, and shot it back into the heart of the TARDIS. Then, the video seemed to fast forward to where the first Doctor became what he was today.

"Rose Tyler. I was gonna take you to so many places. Barcelona. The planet Barcelona, not the city. You'd love it. Fantastic place. They've got dogs with no noses."

As Rose watched, she remembered the first time that this had happened. She had been crushed when he had changed. She never would have thought then, that she would feel as she did now, not after what had felt like an earth shattering deception.

"You can't imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke. And it's still funny," the video Doctor continued, giving a laugh.

"Then why can't we go?" Rose asked him.

"Maybe you will. And maybe I will, but not like this."

She rose. "You're not making sense."

He kept joking. "I may not ever make sense again. I might have two heads. Or no head." The old Doctor laughed.

Rose turned to the current Doctor. "You know, this really wasn't funny at all. And you kept laughing. I remember being so confused."

"I was dying!" The Doctor snapped playfully. "Would you rather me have been somber?"

"That is generally how people act around death."

"Imagine me with no head. And don't say that's an improvement. It's a bit dodgy, this process."

"Why is the TARDIS showing us this?" Rose asked. "We were there, we know what happened." "She has to have a reason," the Doctor replied. "Now shush, I've never actually seen myself regenerate."

"You never know what you're going to end up with." He shot back, illuminating.

"Still, I think you could have cleared some things up for me, instead of making a big joke out of it. It wasn't funny to me."

"Doctor!"

"Stay away!"

"I didn't know what to say. I didn't have enough time to explain it," the current Doctor said, defensively.

"Doctor, tell me what's going on."

"I absorbed all the energy of the time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that."

Suddenly, the video changed. The Doctor splayed a hand on the screen. "Oh, come on! We don't even get to see it?"

"Doctor." Rose said, getting his attention as the scene switched. It was Darlig Ulv Stranden. Only it was sunny. Rose squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't want to see it." She whispered, as she remembered the traumatizing goodbye that they had shared.

"Am I ever gonna see you again?" The on screen Rose crumbled, dissolving into tears.

"You can't," he replied.

The Doctor looked at his companion, taking her hand. "Don't cry, Rose," he said. "I was obviously wrong. Plus, there's got to be a reason why she's showing us this."

Rose gave a loud sob. "I died that day, Doctor, insaide. For twelve months, it was as if I had died. My feeling was gone. I was empty." He pulled her to him, struggling to maintain his own composure, as she continued. "So much loneliness, Doctor. I couldn't take it. I'm not meant to live without you."

He let her cling to him. "And you're not going to have to, now. Not ever again. In fact, I may not ever let you out of my sight again. We promised forever, remember?" He ran a hand through her hair, which he noted had gotten long again since that day on the beach. "Now," he said, feeling her calm down. "Let the TARDIS finish."

She nodded, forcing her attention back to the screen. The TARDIS made a sound that almost resembled a sigh of exasperation as the video continued. There was a new scene. It featured the Doctor, sitting in Rose's room, holding her jacket. Rose looked at him. The Doctor nodded. "It's still here. Exactly as you left it."