How Long Is Forever?

Spoilers: This is a post Journey's End Reunion fic, so there are spoilers up until there.

Disclaimer: I don't own After the Sunset, sadly.

Chapter 11: Movie Night

Rose had sobbed. The Doctor distinctly remembered her to have sobbed, tears of joy meshed with sadness streaming down her reddened cheeks. Happy and sad that her brother had had, or would have-from her point of view- a wonderful life, never forgetting his sister, always wishing her well, but unable to see her again. She at least had the advantage of knowing what would happen to her brother (of course in other alternative realities he might not be quite so lucky, but the Doctor was content not mentioning that little detail), while he would never find out if his sister had made it.

The Time Lord remembered all this.

It was what came afterwards that he wasn't so sure about. He didn't know who had moved first, because he had definitely been about to hug her to him once more. But then he found her hands on either side of his face, nails almost digging into his scalp as she yanked him down into a bruising hard kiss of relief. Unsure how to respond, the Last of the Time Lords stood there gaping like a fish. Rose didn't take atvantage of his slightly parted mouth, although he was certain that he wouldn't have minded, but she either didn't notice or didn't care to deepen the kiss.

Which led to the Doctor's first panic attack.

What if she wasn't doing this on purpose? What if she hadn't realized that she was kissing him? Although, how you couldn't realize that when you could feel a pair of cold- literally- and out of stupor unresponsive lips against your mouth lacked any logic. Still, maybe she wasn't aware of whom she was kissing. She could be thinking about her husband, even though that thought hurt, while she snogged him.

Was he taking advantage of her, then?

He tried to dismiss that thought, as he wasn't the one doing the snogging. But his incredible mind wouldn't shut up about how he wasn't ending their liplock either. A fact, which, in the moral side of his brain, made him just as responsible as Rose herself. Although, one could argue that, since she didn't know she was snogging him, she couldn't be held responsible. Plus, he was shell-shocked! That got to be mitigating circumstances!

Still, why wasn't he stopping?

'Because you like it,' his moral side said, sounding utterly disgusted.

And it was true. He just needed to focus for a second on the emotional part, and he found distinct proof in the jittery fluttering of his hearts that he absolutely loved kissing her, even if it was nothing like he had imagined. He had imagined their first kiss to be gentle, and loving. So soft, you could barely feel it, but slowly growing in intensity (he was not counting the time his ninth had to kiss her to save her life, or the wild snog Cassandra had given him through Rose's lips, or their comfort brush of lips earlier).

He had imagined their first kiss to be out of love, not relief.

Still, he couldn't help but like it, and so he was very much disappointed when his beloved suddenly pulled away from him, flushed and embarrassed, as she realized what had been happening. Her apologetic look told him that, like he had dreaded, she had mistaken him for his twin. She excused herself, and made a dash for the TARDIS, only to stop upon entering, and run back up to give the Doctor a peck on the lips shyly.

He still stood, gaping, when a chuckle broke him out of his just-snogged stupor.

"This is not funny," he grumbled at the elder man.

The Guardian didn't answer, except for another chuckle.

Growling and cursing under his breath, the Time Lord swanned off back to his wonderful Blue Box. He found the console room to be devoid of any companion, and wondered just how exactly they were to 'talk this through' if they never got down to talking at all! Sighing, he asked his ship where his favorite stupid ape was hiding, and was directed to the wardrobe room, where he found her asleep on a pile of clothing, his ninth's leather jacket hugged tightly around her body, and his granddaughter's teddy bear crushed against her chest.

He couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face.

The Learning of Tony's fate had exhausted her so, she had fallen prey to slumber as soon as she had reached her hide out. This was probably the only reason the TARDIS had told him where to find her, so she wouldn't wake up aching from the uncomfortable position. Another sigh leaving the Doctor's mouth, he picked her up gently, and carried her to her room. Laying her down on her bed, and tugging her lilac sheets around her, he made sure his leather jacket would stay in place. Before taking his seat in her armchair again, however, he shrugged out of his coat to lay it atop of her.

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"You're here," were her first words once she had woken up to find him sitting across from her.

He just nodded.

"Had any nightmares?" he wondered.

She pondered this for a moment.

"Not that I remember," Rose smiled, then. "Seems like your teddy trick is working."

The Doctor returned her smile twice as radiant, pleased with himself at her compliment. He then marked the site in his book he had just been reading, and stood up to walk over to her. Resting one of his large hands against her cheek, he brushed a few strands away from her face with the other. Leaning in, he was glad that she trusted him, not flinching away, and kissed her forehead gently.

"I'm going to make us some dinner. And then, how about a movie. Your pick?" he suggested, his baritone voice dropping another octave without his consent.

Rose swallowed hard at this. There it was, another reminder of her husband. That had been John's bedroom voice. Judging by the frown upon the Doctor's face, he hadn't meant to sound so… desireable, but still… It was becoming painfully clear just how similar the Doctor and her husband really were. Rose's mind was immediately set to wonder what else was the same. Would the Doctor's kisses be as loving as John's? Or so passionate it made her knees grow weak, when he wanted her writhing in his arms? Would he ebrace her so tight that she could feel every curve of his body even through their pajamas, when they shared a bed? And how would he make love to her? Would he be…

She blinked, not believing that she'd just let her mind drift into the gutter, when the Doctor was being such a wonderful friend- even if he had used that voice!

"Rose?" he inquired.

She hadn't answered yet.

"Uhm… yeah, that sounds nice," she stammered rapidly.

"Okay," he let out as he raised his eyebrow at her antics. "Then go pick your chick-fl… ah, movie when you're ready, and wait for me. I'll come over with dinner… Uh…you remember where the cinema room is, right?"

She nodded.

"Alright! Good. Take some blankets with you to snuggle into."

He gifted her with another one of his infamous grins, before running of to the kitching, skipping in his steps, and whistling as he did so. A set of giggles that bubbled up in his brown-haired companion at the sight of him, followed the Time Lord through the hallways- courtesy of the TARDIS. But the Doctor couldn't be bothered. He was too happy she was back, and had agreed to snuggle under the blankets with him while watching a movie- cough insufferable chick-flic cough.

And the best part was, the TARDIS had their food already cooked and portioned on the dishes when he reached the kitchen. The old girl had taken the liberty to do all of Rose's favourites, and some traditional meals from Gallifrey out of the ingredients she cultivated in one of her gardens. He'd have to show Rose those, one day soon, he decided. She would love them, all those flowers, and trees, and those millions of butterflies fluttering around. Oh, and they'd have to go at night once, too, to see the- for lack of a better word in the human laguage- fireflies.

Still whistling, the Last of the Time Lords, took hold of the small carriage, and pushed it down the hallways to the cinema room. Rose had already made herself comfortable on the couch. When she heard him enter, she held up the DVD she had chosen- After the Sunset- but dropped it onto the floor, shocked as she saw the amounts of food he was bringing. She had obviously expected sandwhiches or something.

"You can't have cooked all that in so little time," she insisted, but looked at his face for confirmation anyway.

"No, the TARDIS did. She seems to think you're too thin," the Doctor chuckled, and a low grumble of the ship followed, which Rose interpreted as cursing at his ungratefullness.

"I'm very grateful. Thank you, old girl," she said aloud, and was rewarded with another soft caress along her the 'lines' of her consciousness as she let her eyes roam over the food. She spotted a half-opened red fruit, she guessed, with a mint green interior, and pointed at it. "What is that?"

The Doctor followed her finger point.

"Oh, that's a typical fruit from my home. The TARDS grows the trees on a plantation on board, and wanted to do something nice for me. Infact, if you look closely enough, you'll find several other dishes you don't know from Earth. They're all good to eat for humans, though. As for that fruit… They're very sweet, you should try them. You'd love them, but they're dessert."

He grinned at her once more, and Rose just nodded, deciding that it couldn't hurt. Placing the small carriage infront of them, they sat down on the couch, and let the TARDIS take care of the rest. Grabbing for the tapas in the relative darkness of the cinema room, Rose couldn't distinguish which was Earth food and which not, until she had already put them into her mouth. She had to admit that while they were of very foreign taste, they were all very delicious in their own ways.

While she was still contemplating this, the Doctor, being able to see quite clearly in the dark due to his enhanced senses, resolved to offering her a bit of one of his planet's dishes. She couldn't see much, was barely able to make out that it seemed to be some sort of pie, as he held it infront of her lips. Trusting him, she took a mouthful and marveled at how it could taste so sweet and spicy at the same time. There was obviously some sort of meat involved, but the spices were completely foreign to her. When she wanted to take another bite to sample the food, she found that his fingers were just disappearing into his own mouth along with the pie, and could only shake her head with laughter.

He grinned at her, taking one of her hands in one of his, and snaking his other arm around her shoulder- pulling her into him until her head rested on his chest. She breathed in his scent, and found the first real difference to her husband. John had smelled very similar to the Doctor, but more… human. He had smelt of sweat and mortality. She couldn't give a better description. The Doctor on the other hand, barely ever sweat, and had a slightly more…dusty scent, like something really old. Like Time. Not unpleasant, just different.

Rose decided she liked it, and took another deep breath.

"When the movie is over," he suddenly announced in that voice again, and it made her shiver in anticipation. "I'd like to show you something."

Needless to say, Rose could hardly wait!

End of chapter 11!

A/N: Aw, aren't they sweet? What will happen next?

Although, are there any scenarios in particular you'd like seeing in this fanfic? If so, just tell me, and I'll think it over.

As for Susan's fate, I' sorry that I can't accomodate your wishes, because I really don't know anything about her beyond what I've mentioned in the last chapter. I'm sorry. If I can find some information, I'll try to slip it in, but I'm not making any promises on that.