Their lips met and with it their minds. The barrier the Doctor had used to keep his proposal a surprise had been cast aside and Rose plunged herself deep inside. It was the first time they'd ever initiated the bond through a kiss and it felt incredibly appropriate for this occasion. She felt herself breathe into him everything that was inside of her. In their complete joy they tumbled to the ground in a surprisingly youthful and uncharacteristic playful and giddy way.

She couldn't tell where her happiness ended and his began they were so intertwined. Their feelings were so connected and so much in agreement that she could not distinguish the two. It didn't matter. They were both overjoyed in this event. They were content and belonging in the other. They were filled with excitement and anticipation at the future ahead. Their feelings, while manifested differently, were still one in the same. She let herself feel it all without the need to separate the two because they were meant to be together. Soon, they would be closer and even more joined than they had ever been. She imagined that in the future it would become more and more difficult to distinguish the two of them apart when they were together like this. She was completely alright with that likely inseparability.

She had never felt like this. Their lights mingled in a glorious display. Both of them burned bright and steady, fueled on by their love and passion for each other. It seemed like they might go on forever like this; they certainly showed no signs of diminishing any time soon. She had never seen the orange and pink and yellow and blue of them all mixed together quite like this before and it warmed her to the very core with its heat. It was life, safety, passion, kindness, strength, loyalty and energy; everything of them all wrapped up in one. The colors moved and swirled around them almost as if they were dancing with each other. It was a beautiful visual demonstration of who they were together. She felt a thrill to actually see how tangled they were in one another. She had felt it before but it was amazing to witness it around her.

Their timeline was ahead of them. As was usually the case, she could not tell what events lay ahead of them on it. But she felt it in a way she never had before. It contained so much in it; it was so heavy and full with promise. She could feel it shifting and altering as a result of their recent engagement. Events were changing and moving but it didn't hurt. She knew that time could hurt when it was felt, that the future could be painfully heavy.

But their time didn't hurt. It was growing and that felt good. It wasn't that she thought everything ahead of them would be only happiness; she knew not everything in their future would bring them joy. There would be hard times and struggles. But everything that was coming felt so good because it was together. Whatever those events were that were ahead of them they would be facing them as a team. After being pulled apart and separated from him for months, this knowledge felt exceptionally good. Even though it was all clothed in mystery before them she felt good about what was ahead of them because it at least promised them togetherness.

I love you, she said through the mist of their mingled consciousnesses. It was bliss and the words just flowed from her; she couldn't even remember deciding to say them or even how she had said it. She only knew she had said it and that he had heard it.

She felt a shift of awe and disbelief inside of him at the phrase. It was greater than she would have expected him to react. She thought maybe it was because this phrase was still so new to him and he cherished it so much. That was true but there was something else about it, some other longing satisfied in it that caused amazement.

Rose

Yeah?

What did you say?

I said 'I love you'

Yes, but...

What?

You said it Gallifreyian

I did? How did I do that?

I don't know

Am I speaking it now?

No, it was only that phrase

Rose was stunned for a moment. She hadn't learned any of the Doctor's language and she hadn't even known she was speaking it at the time. The words had come to her so effortlessly that she wouldn't have thought it could actually be in a different language. She didn't know those words and she would have thought she couldn't have known how to say them. But the Doctor knew them and his mind was very mixed in her own at the moment.

She found she didn't care so much how it had happened. She really didn't want or need to explain it. It was marvelous and that's what she wanted to focus on. These words were inside of his mind and somehow hers had found them out and used them to better express her feelings to him. The connection between them was becoming so seamless it was hard to distinguish the two anymore. They were becoming attached in ways they didn't even realize.

Say it again, he requested.

I love you, she said and smiled at the thought that she was speaking to him in his own language. She smiled even more when she felt how important that was to him.

I haven't heard anyone speak that language to me in so long. Thank you

It meant so much to him and she was so glad to be able to give this to him. She said it several more times for him.

He pulled her into an embrace, overwhelmed by emotion from hearing her say she loved him in his own language. His hearts were pressing against hers making the bond feel even stronger as all three hearts pumped together. She held on to him as strong as she could. He really was the best at hugs; he always had been. This particular gesture had always been special to them and always would be. There always would be something extraordinary about being wrapped in each other's arms and finding themselves safe in that place.

She could feel the deepest part of him calling out to her. It was that hidden part inside of him that was behind a closed door. It had always warned her away, telling her she wasn't ready to come in. But now it beckoned her, asking her to come closer. That time it had been waiting on to permit entrance seemed to have arrived and she felt it draw her in. She came closer and closer to it. It was meant for her and no longer wanted to keep her out. She almost felt it welcome her as she reached out a hand to place on that door. It was still shut but, as she pressed herself against it, she knew it would not be for long. The whispers from the other side were louder than ever and gave her small hints of what to expect. It was such a beautiful thing and she couldn't explain what it was like to know this part of him had been saved for her.

Her own secret place was nearly ready to be opened to him as well. She had known that this place was inside of her but she hadn't thought much about it since she had discovered it. It wasn't a part of herself that she noticed often or that asked for her attention frequently. However, she was now very aware of it as a persistent longing pulled from within it. It required her attention and needed his as well. There was something great building within her and she felt it reaching out to him. She was now eager to know what lay behind it and anxious to share it with him.

As much as she had given him of her heart and mind already she felt there was even more left to give. She was receiving hints of it, soft murmurs of how close the Doctor and her could be. The potential that lay inside of her was great and she was surprised but delighted at the amount of herself that she still had to give him. She had once been embarrassed of the intimacy of this place but not now; she was drawing him close to it. What lay behind her door, the deepest part of her, belonged to him. She knew it was for him, forever. This was intended to be and was now completely right in its timing.

She began to wonder how long they were going to wait to be married. She began to wonder how long they could wait until they were married. Their timeline had a pleasant urgency it had never had before and she was more than willing to oblige it this time.

A new song was playing between them. It had come to her on its own but she could hear it clearly. This was not a combination of who they were and what they sounded like on their own. Parts of them were mixing together but their songs did not. This tune was brand new; it was nothing like hers or his sounded. This song was what they sounded like together. It was their relationship in a melody and while that might seem a strange thing to experience for some, it was completely normal and wonderful for them. They listened to this new song, studying every note of it and memorizing it to themselves.

It was hard to describe what it was like and she was sure that she could never explain it accurately if she ever had to put it to words. Their joined spirits made music and what a beautiful sound it was. It was grand and beautiful. It was powerful yet gentle. It was experience and youth. She felt the wonder and fun and adventure of them both in it. It was the best of each of them together and a theme of what they were when they were together.

At first, it was just a hint. She was so focused on the joining of her and the Doctor and the newness that lay ahead of them that she barely even noticed that first indication that something might not be right. She felt uneasiness start at the farthest corners of her mind but she chose to ignore it. This moment was perfect and she wasn't going to let it be anything less than what they deserved. They had been apart for so long but now there was the promise of their being united completely to one another and she intended on only celebrating in that.

But as much as she wanted that small nagging inside of her to go away it didn't. Not only did fail to leave her, its presence grew more noticeable. It did not respond to any of her dismissing actions but instead came closer and closer to them with every passing minute, encroaching even further on their joined minds. She tried to push it away but she felt it surrounding them.

It was something cold and evil. She was puzzled by its presence. Why should anything so black come to them now when they were happier than ever? And it wasn't just dark, like the saddest and worst parts of her and the Doctor were dark; she was used that presence and the effects it had upon them both. This was complete blackness. It made her afraid in a way that nothing about this joining ever had. It caused her more fear than his darkest secret had and even more than her own terrible secret had. It even made her more troubled than she had been when she had felt the future hovering over her and the Doctor and threatening to separate them. It continued to push on her, freezing her to the core.

Whatever this was, there was no good in it at all and she knew that she had to look at it. She didn't want anything to be wrong with this moment or their decision but this wasn't going away. She turned to look upon it and anxiety filled her. She couldn't make any sense of what was happening. She didn't recognize this at all. The sadness it made her feel made her want to look away and hide from it but before she could lose her nerve and do just that she saw something very important. This thing that was coming around to encircle and entrap them was not something from either one of them. It didn't come from within either one of them and it was not their time trying to communicate with them either. It was, in fact, an entirely separate person. Someone else was there with them.

With a start and a gasp Rose opened her mouth to speak but instead a scream of agony tore from her, the likes of which had never left her lips. Her connection to the Doctor was suddenly and brutally ended. This was not the gentle and slow separating they needed when they were joined so closely but a sudden and complete breaking. She blacked out for some unknown period of time and when she awoke she found herself on the ground; she couldn't remember collapsing.

She clutched her head in her hands and gasped for air, her throat pained from her tortured yell. She opened her eyes to look around but everything was black for a few minutes as her mind spun and tried to adapt to whatever had just happened. There was so much pain, so much trauma; it was even worse than when she had been pulled through to the parallel universe and separated from the Doctor. How could anything ever be worse than that had been? Yet, this was. She felt as if everything inside of her was about to short circuit and leave her dead. Every fiber in her being hurt and she wasn't sure she would survive this. She was convinced this was the end of her until, an eternity later, she felt the pain dull, only slightly, but it was slowly on a descent. Eventually, her breathing and heart rate started to regulate and she started to calm.

She blindly reached over, searching for the Doctor. She had been so consumed by pain but the second it was no longer incapacitating she felt terrible worry for him. All this time he had been silent and she wondered if he was experiencing something as painful as she was. Her sight was slowly coming back to her and though it was marred and blurry she could see his shape lying on the ground next to her. She managed to scoot over slightly, moaning from pain as she did so, bringing her next to his side and she reached out a hand to find his chest.

"Doctor!" she cried, her voice sounding strangled. "Doctor! Are you alright?"

The Doctor was silent beside her and when her vision came back enough she could see him clearly, she could see that his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Doctor!" she cried again. She shook him slightly, thinking he'd passed out, but he didn't stir.

With extreme caution she reached out her injured mind to touch his and see how he was faring. It was the weakest touch she'd ever had out to him but it was enough. Sorrow filled her. The Doctor's mind rested in her hold but his light was gone. It wasn't just dimmed; it had been completely put out. As much as she searched she couldn't even find a flicker of him in it. The light of him was gone, no feelings came from it, there was no sound in him. She started to sob; it felt like death.

It couldn't be. With terror, she realized there was no movement under her hand which was resting directly above his left heart. She moved her other hand to rest on his right one. But there was no beating from it either.

"NO!" she cried out in pain and anger and disbelief. This wasn't happening. The Doctor didn't die; he regenerated. Why wasn't he regenerating? She looked around her quickly to try and figure out what had happened but she didn't see anyone. She needed to find a clue as to what had happened and maybe then she would know how to fix this. But she was as lost as ever.

She didn't know what had happened and her own mind was no help. It remained surprisingly solemn, almost as if it accepted this. It wasn't aching and searching like it had when she'd been separated from him in the parallel universe. It was in shock and this was worse. She beat her head with her hand in frustration a couple of times. It didn't have time to be paralyzed and she was angry that it wasn't helping figure her this out.

"Doctor…please wake up," she called simultaneously with her voice and with her mind, trying to reach him in any way that she could. "I need you. You've never left me. Please…don't go now."

He didn't move or respond in any way and her despair consumed her. She didn't know what else she could do. She laid her head against his and let the sobs shake her with full force.

She had only just started to cry when she began to feel something warm within her. It was bright and growing rapidly. At first, she thought maybe it was her own light coming from the inside of her. But she soon realized this was something new that she'd never experienced before. She was so hot it felt like a fire rising in her, burning her alive from the inside out. It was so great it felt like a powerful inferno that could consume her. She pulled away from the Doctor half expecting that she would actually burst into flames at any moment.

Even though it felt all-consuming and she was certain it was going to overtake her in some way she wasn't afraid of it. It was strange the total absence of fear she had about it. In fact, even though she had no idea what this was, she felt it was a good thing. She almost hurt with the burning of it but she knew that there was something very good about this. The power of it, the destruction of it, made her very pleased for some reason. It felt absolutely imperative that she not fight it or stop it. She didn't know why she felt so strongly that it was right to let it grow but she knew it. And she sat back and let it happen. There was an incredible potential behind that fire that was building and building as the flames spread, starting out in the core of her and moving outward.

Soon, she wasn't just sitting back and letting it happen unhindered. Soon, she was helping it along; she was encouraging it to happen. She urged it to grow in power and force. It burned and hurt and but she needed it. For some reason she knew she needed it. She was guided by some sort of instinct that she didn't know she had. It calmed her and gave her a peace about this and told her what she should do. There was incredible hope in this.

It was only when this thing within her had built up to the surface and started to pour over the edge did she understood what it was all for. She stared down at her hands in shock and awe as yellow and orange shimmery wisps of energy stared to rise from her skin. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as the fire rose from her and left her body in beautiful tendrils. Though she should be surprised, even alarmed, by what was happening to her right now she wasn't. She smiled in amazement, watching as it glided into the air like smoke and danced in the air around her. It wasn't scary; it was beautiful, it was right. Now she knew what it was for and what to do with it. She smiled at the life-giving strands of light moving slowly from the palms of her hands.

She leaned over the Doctor and placed her hands on his hearts. She pressed them firmly against him and the energy surged out of her hands and into him, wrapping tightly around his hearts. She pushed as much of it as she could into him along with all her own light and energy with it. She gave him all her love and desire and every want and need she had for him.

I love you, she whispered to his mind. Darkness came from the outside and pressed in on her. She knew she was nearly spent but she fought it off to finish this. It was only going to be a matter of seconds before she was going to lose consciousness.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she finally collapsed to the ground beside the Doctor.