Chapter Twenty-One

The world exploded in a brilliant golden light. I shielded my eyes and tried to squint to see Sirius. The light was erupting from his stomach. It was painful and beautiful at the same time. The pulchritude of Sirius's death was like nothing I'd ever seen. I was astonished. My hand dropped from my eyes and I stared at the light in a state of state of wonder and bliss.

"No!" I Ten's voice scream behind me. "Rose, close your eyes!"

I turned back to stare at him in confusion. "What?" Why wouldn't he want me to look at something so, so enlightening. All I wanted to do was stare at it for… ever.

"It supposed to lure you in! If you don't close your eyes now you'll be blind for the rest of your life!" He shouted.

But I didn't care. Who cared about the rest of my life? This moment, right here, this is what mattered. The alluring light is what mattered. I could live the rest of my life as an aemba as long as I was able to watch the grandeur of the light.

"Eleven," Ten shouted, "Keep Amy, Tyler and Jennette away from the light." He stood up.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Was he going to take away the light? No! He couldn't! It wasn't his to take away! This was my choice. This is what I wanted. This is what I needed.

He started walking toward me. "Rose, this is for your own good."

"No!" I screamed angrily, "Get away from me, you… you freak!"
Ten's face was stony, but I could see the hurt underneath. Good. He deserved it. He didn't know what I needed. And for me, that was the light. "Rose, you need to look at me. Turn away from the light."

"No. Leave me alone." The light was mine! He had no place to take it away from me.

"Rose, just know I'm only doing this because I have to."

"Just go away! The light is-" he grabbed my chin and turned it toward him. Fear was alight in his eyes. His nail dug into my skin. "Stop it!" I yelled, but my voice was raspy from the earlier screaming.

"Rose I'm sorry."

And then he tackled me. Within seconds my body was on the ground. I thrashed around angrily but the dress didn't help. But the light was driving me. I needed to look at. My life depended on it. I didn't know why but… but it just did. I had to stare into the magnificent blaze.

I kicked and screamed. Arms were everywhere along with Ten softly calling my name.

Finally I got out of his grasp. His malicious, terrible, evil hold. I was free. I started walking toward the light. The amazing gleam. The terrific dazzle. The fantastic radiance. The glorious-

"Rose stop!" I ignored the voice. He was not stopping me now. Suddenly I heard the patter of feet behind me. The fool was going to try to stop me again. Maybe I would hurt him… No. That would just distract me from the light. There was no point in that. I needed to stay focused.

"Rose!" His voice was drowned out by the beauty of the light. Nothing else mattered. And that's when he jumped in front of my line of sight.
"Get out of the way!"

"Rose." He started to lean in, his eyes a sparkle of hope with a dash of fear. The reflected the light. They were beautiful.

No. He wasn't beautiful. The light was. The light was everything. The light was the whole world. The light was mine. Not him! Never this ignorant, foolish alien. I needed to get out. I needed to leave. I needed the light.

And then his lips were on mine. They ate me up. They absorbed me. They became me. They were soft and calm and the whole universe. Kissing him made time stop. The light… the light was nothing compared to this. I closed my eyes and melted into the kiss.

Together we were everything. Galaxies fluttered beneath my eyelids. It was a magical feeling. Nothing like kissing Mickey. Oh god Mickey…

But Mickey didn't matter. Nothing mattered right now. Nothing but the Doctor. Right now he was mine. All mine.

I felt the light subsided. The inside of my eyelids turned dark. The heat stopped. The room was cold once more.

But it didn't matter. Because I was kissing him. I was kissing the Doctor.