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~A/N-As promised, the second chapter of the day.
Rose dutifully maintains a low profile until after the planets are stolen and returned to their proper places, then she abruptly abandons her self imposed exile to begin searching for her Timelord in earnest.
She begins by searching the globe, then moves on to traversing the cosmos when-in spite of using his memories as a compass-it yields no results. More than once Beauty alerts her to the presence of another Tardis in their relative vicinity, but each time they go spiraling after the signal, they arrive too late to determine whether it was even the right Doctor they had been chasing.
One particularly dispiriting evening though, after a near miss with his fourth self and Sarah Jane, she receives a frantic call from Amy who explains that something else had escaped through the crack in her wall. But this isn't the true reason she is absolutely vibrating with emotion. No, the real reason Rose can almost feel the girl bouncing is because the day they both have been waiting for has arrived.
Their Doctor has returned.
In a flash, she pulls Beauty out of the vortex and sets the coordinates for Amy's house, fear and exhilaration fueling her manic ripples of laughter as she races around the console.
It takes only moments before the landing sequence initiates, then Beauty suddenly rocks sideways and throws herself in a new direction.
"What are you doin' girl?" Rose yelps, fighting to stay upright to scan the monitors for trouble as the young ship hurtles through time and space, "What's wrong? I can't see anythin'!"
The klaxon blares, sparks fly and Beauty starts to sound like she is going to fly apart...
Then everything stops.
Rose flings herself down the ramp and throws the doors wide, gasping as she spots the reason Beauty had taken off like she had. Outside a man is floating weightlessly, his fingers barely clutching the light which is wildly flickering atop a battered and very familiar police box.
"Doctor!" she screams before she can stop herself, then rushes to gather up as many coils of cable as she can get her hands on. Hastily she ties several to a strut, then cinches one around her waist and shoulders the others. By chance she sees a fire extinguisher and grabs it before making a running leap into the void separating the two vessels.
The freezing cold of open space shocks her senses once she leaves the safety of the atmospheric shell, but she pushes the pain away, her entire focus intent on reaching the flailing figure in front of her. He, of course, doesn't notice the petite woman racing towards him until she invades his ships bubble and collides with the box.
"Who-Rose?"
"Thought you might need a hand gettin' back inside," she flashes a mad grin at the man whose face belongs to a stranger but whose eyes are anything but, "Or have you suddenly decided to take up Tardis surfing?"
He gawks at her, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before nodding, "Having a bit of trouble calibrating the stabilizers. There was some toxic gas seeping from the engines, thought I'd air her out a bit. Didn't count on her getting the hiccups though."
"When will you ever learn to start using tethers?" she shakes her head as she climbs to the top of the box, lassos one cable around it, then uses another to secure the Timelord to her before he has a chance to protest, "Come on then, we can wait in my Tardis until yours gives us the all clear."
"Good idea," he surmises while getting his feet under him, "Is he waiting over-"
"No. He's not...around anymore. Passed away a long time ago," she quickly explains before aiming the extinguisher behind them and pulling the pin, "Jump!"
Together they soar out of the bubble and use the gadget to propel themselves towards the other ship. Unfortunately they build up a bit too much momentum and crash into the ramp in a giggling heap of arms and legs.
Once they almost have control of their faculties again, the Doctor impulsively cups one of her flushed cheeks and gives her a radiant smile, "Look at you. Come crashing in heart first instead of head first to save me yet again, just like old times. Rose Tyler, ever my savior, you will never cease to amaze me."
"Doctor," she murmurs and throws her arms around him with a cry, "I've found you."
Had it been any other person in the universe, he most likely would have fled for his lives in the face of her reaction. But this wasn't just anyone nor was it any ordinary circumstance. This was a dream come true, especially seeing that his new body had been born missing his brave, beautiful, pink and yellow human. So instead of pushing her away to a safe distance, he gives in to his most secret of urges and pulls her even closer, then buries his face in her hair to hide his own tears as she begins to sob against his chest.
For a long time they sit, and he doesn't dare ease his hold on her until she sniffs and tilts her head back just far enough to give him a watery smile, "Hello."
Unable to stop himself from smiling at the resurgence of their old ritual, he stops trying and lifts one hand up to reverently stroke her face, "Hello."
"I'm home," she breathlessly adds, her own grin widening.
"Yes you are," he agrees, his own breath a bit ragged now, then softly presses his lips to hers.