Chapter Forty Nine : Friends
The Doctor took Rose into his arms, hugging her tighter than he ever had before. He held her close against him, afraid to let her go, terrified that she might not be real.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he lost himself in the joy of having her back in his arms again, of her being warm and smiling and alive. The sudden realisation made him gasp for breath – she was alive. His Rose was alive.
He opened his eyes and drew back a little to look at her. Rose smiled widely, her brown eyes bright and sparkling with happiness. The Doctor's hearts ached with loving her.
"Rose," he whispered and he pulled her close once more. Tentatively his lips pressed against hers, kissing her softly, terrified and joyful all at once.
Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor's shoulders. Her hands slipped to the nape of his neck, her fingernails lightly grazing through his cropped hair. She opened her lips on a soft sigh, allowing the kiss they shared to deepen.
The Doctor held her closer, tighter, needing the reassurance of her to heal the pain and uncertainty he had borne too long without her.
He moved to touch her face, to brush her cheek, to slip long fingers through her hair. Easing her gently back down into the softness of the bed, he moved with her, following the pull of her body, losing himself in loving her.
Rose was soft and pliant in his arms. Every sense he possessed was overwhelmed by her. He wanted to fall and never stop. He wanted to sink into the contentment only she could give him. He wanted…
There was a cough, then another – louder the second time.
Reluctantly the Doctor broke the kiss. Smiling, he slowly drew back from Rose. Hardly able to look away from her, he reached out to take her hand and Rose interlaced her fingers with his.
Pressing her lips tight together in an effort to contain the ridiculousness of her smile, and certain she was blushing, Rose glanced to Korrok and Enissa.
"How do you feel, Rose?" Enissa asked gently. "You've gone through quite an ordeal. We've all been very worried."
Rose thought about it for a second. "Okay, I think. Feels a bit weird, I suppose; me being back in my body." The Doctor's hold on Rose's hand tightened a little. Rose offered him a reassuring smile. "Good weird," she clarified. "In fact, I'm fantastic."
"Yes, you are," the Doctor agreed. "You're absolutely fantastic." He reached out and pushed a lock of Rose's hair behind her ear. His knuckles gently brushed against her cheek as he did so. "How much do you remember?"
Rose frowned a little and let out a puff of breath. "Not sure. It's all a bit… fuzzy. Feels a bit like I just woke up from a weird dream. Only, the more I try to remember what happened, the more it slips away." She glanced to her hand still held so protectively in the Doctor's. Lifting her gaze, she stared into his watchful eyes. "I remember the important stuff." She smiled warmly. "I remember the things we said to each other."
Korrok took a step closer to the bed. "Perhaps it is for the best that you don't remember it all."
"Perhaps it is," Enissa said. "You've been through quite enough. There is no need to dwell on the finer details of such unpleasantness."
Rose bit her lower lip. "I suppose," she said quietly.
The Doctor's thumb brushed her hand and she looked at him, meeting the intensity of his gaze.
"Rose, if there's anything that you want to know about what happened, I'll tell you," he assured her. "You have every right to know and I'm not going to try and hide anything from you. But what matters most is the 'right here, right now'."
Rose nodded her head. "Yeah," she agreed. "It does." She smiled then wrinkled her nose in consideration. "I just have one question."
"Anything," the Doctor said earnestly.
Rose pulled a face. "What's thatsmell?"
The Doctor and Korrok immediately looked to Enissa, and for a moment the room was silent.
Enissa offered Rose an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid, the smell… is you."
Rose pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Me?" she said incredulously. "What are you talking about? I don't smell like…" She stopped and winkled her nose again. "Oh god, you're right, it is me." Horrified, she looked at the Doctor for explanation. "I smell like fish. Why do I smell like fish?"
"I wouldn't say you smell like fish, exactly," the Doctor began with the cautious step of a man walking through a minefield. "I mean, yeah, as fragrances go there are some lingering mackerel-esque base notes but on the whole…"
"Mackerel-esque?" Rose interrupted.
"I meant… piscine," the Doctor quickly amended, although he had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't making things any better. He saw by Rose's expression that his suspicion was right. "It's very subtle."
Suddenly self conscious, Rose pulled her hand from the Doctor's. "No, it's not," she pouted.
The Doctor tried again. "You know, there's a settlement on the planet Ryus where they use fish oil as a form of body lotion. They smell far worse than you do – especially in summer. They smell really bad in summer. No one goes to Ryus in the summer."
Rose shot him a dark look.
The Doctor sighed. "I'll shut up, shall I?"
"Might be an idea," Rose muttered.
Enissa moved a step closer to the bed. "I had to apply a variation of almur root oil to your skin while you were… in my care," she explained. "Its scent is sweet to begin with, but I'm afraid that the longer it is on the skin its perfume becomes more pungent."
Rose glanced at her hands and arms and noticed the thin coating of oil that gave her skin a slight sheen. She looked back to Enissa. "What was the oil for?"
"It was to stop your skin from decaying," Enissa explained gently. "If we hadn't used it… well…"
"It's okay." Rose nodded her head, understanding what it was Enissa had done for her. "Looks like I have a lot of apologising to do," she said contritely. "I've behaved so badly toward you and I know you didn't deserve any of it. I've been an idiot. I was jealous and stupid. I'm so sorry, Enissa. I really am."
Enissa shook her head. "There's no need for you to apologise. I'm just glad that you're safe."
"Thanks to you," Rose said.
"Not at all," Enissa corrected. "It's thanks to the Doctor and my father that you're alive. And I'm quite certain they have a wondrous tale to tell of their adventure, but it will have to wait." Her attention fixed squarely on the Doctor. "Rose needs to rest."
"Rest?" Rose wailed. "I don't need to rest! I've been in bed for…" she stopped suddenly and frowned. "Okay, I don't know how long I've been in bed for, but I'm thinking it's been a while."
"It has," Enissa confirmed. "And that's exactly why you have to rest. You're body isn't strong enough yet."
"Isn't strong enough for what?" Rose asked.
"Isn't strong enough for anything that involves you leaving that bed," Enissa replied firmly. "Which is why I insist that you stay exactly where you are."
"But I…" Rose began.
"No."
"Rose has a bed on the TARDIS," the Doctor volunteered. "I could…"
Enissa lifted an eyebrow. "No," she said emphatically.
The Doctor looked at Rose. "Enissa's right," he said in reluctant agreement. "You do need to rest. Your body's been lying around doing nothing for a while. It has to get used to moving again." He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Won't be for long."
Rose's attention shifted to Enissa. "How long?" she asked.
"After a glass or two of herbal tonic you'll be up on your feet in no time," Enissa assured her.
"How long?" Rose repeated.
"Tonight," she said with a smile. "I promise. You'll be well enough to leave my care tonight."
Rose nodded her head in acceptance. "Okay."
Enissa set her father and the Doctor a stern look. "Now, if you two would be so kind as to leave."
The Doctor frowned. "But…"
"Rose needs to take a hot bath," Enissa explained.
"You're not kidding," Rose said.
Enissa fought back a smile. "We can meet tonight at the feast tables. There is much to celebrate."
The Doctor leant forward and softly kissed Rose's lips, then drew back to stare into the depths of her brown eyes. "Tonight," he said, his voice a promise from his hearts.
Rose said nothing, she only grinned.
As the Doctor got up from the bed, Rose reached out and grabbed hold of Korrok's hand.
"Don't I get a hug?" she asked.
Korrok smiled fondly. "Indeed you do," he said. "In fact, I think a hug is long overdue." So saying, he bent down and wrapped Rose up in his arms, squeezing her tightly for a moment before letting her go and moving away from the bed.
Leaving the room, the two men walked through the house and out into the warm evening air. They were silent for a moment. Korrok sniffed loudly, then did it again.
"I… " He stopped and sniffed once more. "I seem to have something in my eye."
The Doctor reached into his pocket, produced a white handkerchief and handed it to Korrok.
Korrok took the handkerchief, dabbed his eye and blew his nose. "Thank you," he said gratefully and offered the now crumpled handkerchief back.
"It's okay," the Doctor said with a slight shake of his head. "You can keep it."
"You're sure?"
"Oh, I'm absolutely certain, yes."
"Thank you," Korrok said again.
They stood for a while side by side, silently watching the sun falling low in the sky.
"It's going to be a beautiful sunset," Korrok said as the colours in the sky slowly shifted into vibrant hues of red, orange and gold.
"One of the best," the Doctor agreed.
~oOo~
Despite his best efforts to be fashionably late, his eagerness to see Rose again led the Doctor to arrive somewhat early at the feast tables. In fact he was one of the first there.
Looking around, the Doctor couldn't help but remember the last time he had been there; the night Mattor had died. The night he and Rose had fought – and made up. The night he'd finally stopped pretending. The night he'd told Rose exactly how he felt about her.
It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since that night. So much had changed. He had accepted long ago that the universe rarely dealt him benevolent cards, so perhaps it was understandable that doubts began to pick at him as he sat there contemplating its sudden generosity.
No longer paying any heed to the people that were starting to mill around the tables, he sank into uncertainty until his hearts were sore. Maybe he was wrong to assume that he and Rose would simply pick up where they'd left off. Maybe it was too soon. Rose had after all gone through so much.
She'd almost died.
The memory cut him sharper than any blade, but he faced it all the same. His logical mind reasoned that brushes with death had a tendency to cause people to change how they saw things. Before he could stop himself his thoughts wandered to the idea that it was reasonable to assume that Rose might want to go home for a while. Spend some time with Jackie. And Mickey.
He took a breath and refused to follow that particular line of thought. His jealousy had no place showing its ugly head now – especially after all he and Rose had been through.
He swallowed hard. Time would be all she'd need. Just time. He clenched his hands while trying to convince himself of that.
If she did need time, and it was perfectly understandable that she would, then of course he would give her time, as much as she needed. Although… he hoped she wouldn't need too much. Too much time apart from her would be… unbearable.
He raked a hand through his hair and pulled away from such dour thoughts. He was being ridiculous. He loved Rose and as impossible as he had once thought it to be, she loved him. A broad and silly smile came easily to his mouth.
He gazed up at the moon and the stars and his hearts felt as if they might burst with happiness. She loved him. His Rose, his precious girl, she loved him and he was the luckiest man alive.
"When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong," Korrok announced somewhat magnanimously as he took his seat opposite the Doctor.
The Doctor frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I was wrong and I'm saying so," Korrok explained.
"Oh," the Doctor said and paused a moment. "Wrong about what?"
Korrok squared his shoulders. "I was wrong about you."
The Doctor felt the corners of his mouth tug into an amused smile. "Is this an apology?" he asked.
"No," Korrok said brusquely. "Of course not, it's... that is…" He sighed heavily. "Yes," he admitted. "I suppose it is."
"Apology accepted."
"But you don't even know what I'm apologising for," Korrok pointed out.
The Doctor shrugged. "You were an idiot, I was an idiot. You said sorry, I said sorry…"
"No you didn't."
"We'll pretend I did."
Despite himself Korrok smiled then nodded his head in agreement. Picking up a jug, he poured out a cup of pondweed juice.
"Don't I get a drink?" the Doctor asked.
Korrok frowned a little. "I didn't think you'd want one – not after last time."
The Doctor poured himself a large cup of pondweed juice. "Oh you know, getting drunk, singing campfire songs, exploring caves, escaping carnivorous spiders, risking life and limb on mad adventures." The Doctor lifted his cup to Korrok's. "That's what friends are for."
"Friends?" Korrok repeated. "Is that what we are?"
The Doctor grinned. "Yes," he said decisively and took a swig from his cup. Swallowing hard, he set the cup back down onto the table and tried to ignore the lingering taste of battery acid. "You don't think I'd drink this stuff with anyone else, do you?"
Korrok lifted his cup. "To friends," he said with a broad smile.
"To friends," the Doctor repeated and drained the rest of the pondweed juice from his cup. Placing the cup back down on the table, he looked at Korrok. "I don't know if this is the pondweed juice talking, but if you ever get bored, fancy a change, a bit of adventure… there's always room for one more on the TARDIS."
Korrok gazed up at the stars in silent contemplation, then looked back at the Doctor. "As generous as your offer is, I must decline. My place is here, where my heart is. We must all follow our hearts, Doctor."
The Doctor nodded his head, accepting Korrok's decision. He reached for his empty cup, rolling it absentmindedly in his hands as he looked at the witches who were eating and drinking at the other tables. After a while his attention returned to Korrok.
"Do you think Rose will follow her heart?"
A soft kiss was brushed against his cheek and turning, the Doctor found that Rose was standing beside him, her eyes bright and her smile wide.
"Always," she said.
...
...
*Author's Note* If you'd rather this story finished as a 'Teen' rating, then this is where things end for you. Don't read the next chapter.
If however you want all this UST to be resolved, you'll be pleased to know that there's one more chapter to come, and it will contain smut and a happy ending. :)
