AN: Okay, here's the deal. I know exactly when (in terms of time of year) they're going to get together—it's not a date I can bring forward, for reasons that will become apparent. But to ease your suffering, I'm going to have more time pass in/between chapters to get there sooner. See, aren't I nice?


The monsoon seemed to drag on to Rose. A month after the licking incident, the summer was finally within sight.

There had been no more romantic misunderstandings between her and the Doctor since; for which she was relieved. As much as she frequently fantasised about it, she knew perfectly well the Doctor would never break his rules. Near-misses just confused the issue.

"Have you thought about a holiday?"

The Doctor lowered what appeared to be a medical journal to look over at Rose. "Sorry?"

"Well, the summer's coming. It's what normal people do. I'm sure you of all people would appreciate a change of scenery." Rose propped her head up on her elbow, watching him intently. "It's not like we can't afford it now. Well, maybe not to another planet; but we could explore somewhere different on this one."

"Hmm." The Doctor pondered this. "Hadn't really thought about it. I'm still getting used to adapting to the seasons, instead of landing in whichever one I fancy."

Rose chuckled, realising the comment was meant to be light-hearted, though she didn't miss the tinge of sadness as they grew dangerously close to the topic of the TARDIS. "So?"

"Well … why not?" He scrambled off the newly-delivered sofa and picked up his jacket. "Let's take a look."

"What, now?"

"Why wait?"

"The prices will be sky high now is why wait," Rose pointed out. "I say we try and get a last-minute deal; if you don't book months in advance that's the best way to go about it. Can you get time off?"

"I think so. I'll talk to Dr DcLiss tomorrow."


Sun Day—Rose thought the Cogodians weren't very imaginative in naming their national holidays—arrived none too soon. The first day of summer, and the first dry day in two very long months, it caught them off-guard despite Rose's counting down on the calendar.

"Phew!" Rose threw the windows wide open before she'd even managed to open her eyes properly. "You were right when you said it would be tropical weather."

The Doctor grumbled something into his pillow. Once Rose had rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw he had, at some point during the night, discarded his pyjamas, and looked all the cooler for it. Hers were soaked with sweat, but she couldn't very well strip hers off. It was all right for some.

They'd just have to find some cooler bedclothes for the next hundred days. She added them to the list, thinking maybe she should have a look at summer pyjamas as well—see if she could find anything suitable to be seen in by a (sadly) platonic bed-mate of the opposite sex.

Rose ran a cool shower and then returned to the bedroom, where the Doctor was slowly climbing out of bed, his hair even more mussed than usual. "Morning."

"Morning," she replied. "What do you want for breakfast? Ice cubes?"

"Ha ha." He rubbed his eyes, and Rose took the opportunity to admire his little-exposed body whilst he couldn't see her looking.

Sun Day celebrations were rather odd. Traditionally the day was spent on the water. Slogv's centre square, which was depressed into the ground, was flooded and rafts set on it for those who couldn't make it to the sea. As much as Rose loved swimming, she got seasick easily, and the Doctor no longer had access to his magic cure. Rather than joining in, they chose to sit in the shade and watch the children's raft race, eating ice creams and trying not to get sunburned.


"This is ridiculous," Rose said as she opened her third can of Frazz Supa-Lite. In the absence of air conditioning and without the room for ice in their freezer, it was the best thing to cool her down. Even in the evening it was sweltering. "When did they say they were coming again?"

"Between twelve and fourteen o'clock," the Doctor sighed.

It was gone eighteen. A very apologetic phone call from the carpet shop several hours ago had told them that the van was caught in a traffic standstill, thanks to the clean-up from Sun Day's celebrations.

"You know, we don't both have to stay up if you want to go to bed."

Rose shrugged. "I don't mind. I'll keep you company. Besides, I'd be woken up when they came to lay it, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Good point."

Both of them were so hot and tired that they didn't dare even sit on the bed for fear of nodding off. Fortunately, their sofa was comfortable enough to prevent pins and needles, but not so much that the carpet people would have to wake them up.

"I'm looking forward to having a carpet at last," Rose sighed, absently tracing the line of the boarding with a bare toe.

"Me too."

Rose raised her eyebrows at him. With the exception of the bedrooms, the TARDIS hadn't been carpeted at all. But she decided not to bring that up.

"I keep getting splinters in my feet," the Doctor added, and the mystery was solved.