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Chapter 35 - German Introductions

They reappeared in the same alley in Germany next to the pub they had been to the previous night. The night was clear and cooler than it had been the night before. Rose was thankful he had suggested a jacket.

When the Doctor and Rose came into the pub, the bartender cheered and yelled greetings to them. The same waitress greeted them. She asked the Doctor something in German. He blushed and shook his head. Rose laughed. She guessed that she had asked him if he was back to sing again. She waved at Rose and smiled. She lead them upstairs to the same table they had the night before. The rooftop was nearly empty. Only three tables had people sitting there who were so occupied in their own conversations that they never noticed them walk in.

The Doctor turned to Rose and ask her a question in German. He shook his head and said, "Ugh. I did that last night, too. Sorry. What would you like?"

Rose laughed at him. "A glass of wine. Chips."

He nodded and smiled. "Alright." he turned back to the waitress and ordered. She left to grab their order. The Doctor turned back to look at Rose. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. She smiled at him.

"I never remember you ever speaking to me in another language. I honestly don't remember ever hearing you even speak in another language besides English before you came here."

He looked down and smiled. "I know what you are on about. You have already asked me about this, but I didn't want to answer. You have already figured it out."

The waitress returned with chips, wine and a beer for the Doctor.

"Danke." the Doctor told the waitress. He turned to Rose and raised his glass and said, "To days to come - "

They both drank. Rose noticed the Doctor wasn't drinking his beer at the insane rate he had the night before.

"I've already figured it out?" Rose continued their conversation.

He smiled at her. "Yep. No one has ever asked me that. I was surprised you figured it out."

"So, you were speaking in Gallifreyan when I was with you on the TARDIS. I just heard English because the TARDIS translated it in my head." Rose said.

He nodded. "Yes, or some other language. Very clever. I mean, I didn't speak it all of the time. The translation circuits only worked half of the time. I started having to speak English a long time ago. But, I still spoke Gallifreyan when I got upset or didn't want anyone to really understand what I was saying. That crazy TARDIS that never translated Gallifreyan always translated my complaining and such into my companions' head. It's like nothing was sacred. Not even a man's complaints. I would complain to the TARDIS about it. She would just tell remind me that she would work when she needed to. And I can't argue with that. She always did."

Rose held his hand, "I know you miss her."

He sighed, "Oh, yes I do. Just that constant companion in my head that's been there for so very long. Joining with you has made me realize how much I do miss that."

Rose leaned in closer to him. "I know we talked about it a bit, but when we join, permanently. What other things will it be different?"

He drank his beer, "Well, the connection will be stronger. More clear than it is now. We will feel one another's emotions stronger, unless we are shielding them. Which, I've honestly been doing a lot of lately."

Rose smiled, "Oh, I know that. I've been able to tell."

He chuckled. "We will become extremely defensive for the other one. Worse than if we are protecting ourselves. We talked about that."

Rose nodded.

"Sometimes...actually, most often. Some of the personalities begin to bleed into the other person."

Rose laughed. "Oh, god!"

He laughed at her. "Yeah, I figured I'd save that until last. Scary huh? Acting like me? You might stop carrying a gun!"

She countered, "You might start!"

He laughed and nodded his head. "It's very possible."

She looked surprised. "Is it really?"

"Oh yes! We will be one. Everything between us will be in us." he explained.

He asked for another beer as Rose thought.

When the waitress returned with his beer, he looked back at Rose. "What's on your mind, now? Going to fuss at me for getting another beer?"

She laughed, "No. You are drinking them way slower than you did last night. I'm not going to bark at you about that."

He leaned in and teased her. "My barking wife. Nah, it doesn't suit you."

Rose smiled, "But, you've been drinking all afternoon? How are you not drunk off your ass?"

He shook his head and laughed. "Nah, I'm not going to tell you that now. Let me still be a bit mysterious to you. Don't worry about that."

She giggled at him as she ate some chips. He rubbed her thigh through her dress. She could feel how relaxed and happy he was.

Rose held the Doctor's hand. She looked down at his wedding band. He noticed and smiled. "Yeah, I need to explain these." he said as he tossed a chip in his mouth.

Rose smiled up at him.

"First of all. Rings are really just a tradition that is used here. Well, no... that's not true. There are a few other places, but ... well... anyway. Here, it started in the deserts of North Africa, when the ancient Egyptian civilization sprang up along the fertile flood plains of the river Nile. The river brought all good fortune and life to the Pharaoh's people. It was from the plants growing on its' banks that the first wedding rings were fashioned in Earth's history. They twisted and braided them into rings for fingers and even larger bracelets for wrists."

"The ring is a circle as the Egyptian symbol for eternity. Well, other cultures use that as well. It has no beginning and no end. Like time. It returns to itself, like we returned to one another. The hole in the center of the ring is not just space, it is important as well as the symbol of the gateway, or door, that leads to things and events both known and unknown."

Rose smiled at him. "Is that even true?"

He smiled at her. "Of course it is. It's not hard to see how the ring and the gift of the ring began to be associated with love. It carried the hope that this most worthy of emotions. It could take on the characteristics of the circle and capture eternity."

"They wore it the way people wear it today, on the third finger of the left hand. They believed that the vein of that finger went directly to the heart. The legend was later taken up by the Greeks when they conquered Egypt with Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. And then, to the Romans, who called that the 'vena amoris'.

Rose looked up at him and smiled. "What does that mean?"

He smiled at her. "It's latin for 'the vein of love'. These two rings I had made from gold that was mined near the Nile River. I wanted to do it proper. And the carvings on both of ours are in Gallifreyan. Both say our names and where we are from, but linked together to show we are married. They also say 'for all eternity. In space and time'."

"I had really meant to show them to you and make sure it was alright before we were married, but..."

Rose leaned in and put her hand on his cheek. "I love it. It's better than anything you could have done. Thank you, husband."

He smiled like a loon. "Husband. You've never called me that before. I like it."

"A bit later, I'll show you how much I love it." she leaned in to kiss him.

He put his hand on her cheek as he kissed her. 'Oh, I'm looking forward to later. I'm glad we grabbed that lip gloss.'

Rose laughed and leaned back to look at him. "You have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I've ever known. I wonder what you would say if you knew I had bought some vanilla soap."

He slapped the table in his excitement. "Oh man! Did you really?"

Rose laughed, "Yes, I sure did. I've not used it yet. You have enough trouble keeping your hands to yourself around me."

He smiled like loon. "Yeah, but you like that I can't keep my hands to myself."

Rose smiled as she drank her wine. "Oh, I really do."

He rubbed his face as he leaned back in his chair. "Ugh! In public! I have to behave. Damn. Vanilla soap! Warn me before you use that. Oh, man. My senses will go into overdrive!"

Rose was giggling at him. "You are so funny."

He spoke as he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to get himself back under control. "Chips and beer for our wedding night! You make me the envy of every husband in the universe."

She turned to him and smiled. "I was just thinking."

He smiled, "About what?"

"The first time I believe I saw you." Rose told him. "Tell me if I'm right."

He looked confused at her. "It was in the basement. Of that shop where you worked."

She put her hand on his. She smiled and shook her head.

"Oh! Are you talking about this face, then?" he asked.

"Yes. The first time I saw you, was with this face. I didn't know it was you." Rose told him.

He sat back in the chair and looked confused at her. "Really? It happened right in front of you."

She looked at him seriously, "You really don't know what I'm talking about?"

He shook his head, "No, sweetheart. I don't."

Rose bit her lip. "Err... maybe..."

He could feel that she wished she hadn't said anything.

He gripped her hand tighter. "No, really. It's alright. You can tell me. When did you first see this face?"

Rose looked at him. "New Years Eve. Just after midnight in 2005."

He sat down his beer and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, that's before..."

She nodded. "Yes. Before you came and blew up my job!"

"Phh...it was a for a good reason. What happened? I don't remember this." he asked as he leaned in closer to her.

"I was walking home from a party I had been to with Mum. You were standing in the alleyway looking at me. You groaned. Probably drunk off your ass then, too." Rose told him.

He was still looking serious at her. "Really?"

"You seriously don't remember this?" Rose asked.

"No, I really don't. Did I speak to you?"

Rose was serious now. "Yes. You did. You asked me the date. And then you told me that it was going to be a great year for me."

"Huh." the Doctor said as he ran his hand through his hair again. He shook his head. "Nah, that wasn't me." he picked up his beer and drank the rest of it. He waved the empty glass at the waitress who yelled something and ran downstairs to get him another.

"It was you. I saw you. Clearly." Rose said.

He shook his head. "No, that wasn't me. That was him. Did he say anything else?"

Rose shook her head. "No. I don't believe so."

The waitress sat down the beer and patted the Doctor on the back as he said, "Danke" to her.

He looked back at Rose. "Now, why are you feeling that way? Don't feel bad about bringing that up. That's interesting." he said as he ate some of the chips.

Rose leaned over to him and rubbed his thigh. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have brought it up. I can tell it upset you."

He shook his head and smiled. "No, sweetheart. It didn't. Don't worry about me."

"But, I do." she smiled at him. "That's my job."

He smiled back at her as he leaned in and kissed her. "You do a fantastic job at that, too."

He sat back and sipped his beer. "No. That was clearly him, and not me. Trying to get one more glance at you. He must have came back to that date knowing that was before you would have met me and gotten trapped over in this dimension."

Rose gritted her teeth. "I wish I had of known. I'd kicked him."

The Doctor laughed, "Oh, trust me. If he did that, he's punishing himself far more than anyone else ever could. He's beating himself up. And good for him. He deserves it."

She smiled as she put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. She whispered. "I want to join permanently. How do you feel about it?"

She could feel his excitement. He seemed like he was about to explode out of his skin. He smiled like a loon at her. "Really? Do you really?"

She smiled and nodded at him. "More than anything."

He cupped her face and kissed her. Their snog was interrupted by someone who walked up to the table. She cleared her throat.

The Doctor and Rose stopped kissing and looked over at her. She asked something in German. Rose heard her say, "Rose Tyler."

The Doctor looked at Rose, and then smiled and looked at the German lady. He shook his head and explained something. He stood and shook her hand and appeared to be introducing himself to her and a man who had walked over.

'They recognized you. They probably can speak English, so just let me handle this. Don't say anything. Just smile. We'll be alright. Here, stand up and shake these people's hands.' he told Rose in her head.

The Doctor introduced her as Lily Crowe and himself as Albert. Rose didn't catch anything else, but was grateful he never let go of her hand. He invited the curious couple to sit at the table with them. They sat down.

'Is this alright?' Rose asked him.

'Yeah. Everything is alright. Don't worry. You are safe.'

He lay his hand on her upper thigh and rubbed it. It helped her calm down. The woman spoke to Rose.

The Doctor spoke in Rose's head. 'She says she likes your hair with the ginger bits mixed into the brown. Say Danke.'

Rose smiled, "Danke."

He laughed at her, or maybe it was the situation. He continued to rub her thigh. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. He could feel her worry.

'It's alright. I'm here. Everything is alright.' he reassured her.

The Doctor smiled and told the couple sitting with them something that caused them to smile and cheer. The man jumped up and shook the Doctor's hand again.

'I told him we were married tonight. They think we are strange for coming to this tiny pub on our wedding night.' he explained.

Rose smiled, but quickly became surprised with the man that was sitting at their table jumped up and stood in his chair. He yelled to get the entire pub's attention. The bartender even ran up the stairs.

'The hell?' Rose asked.

'I'm not entirely certain. But, you are alright.' he reassured her.

Once everyone was assembled, the man pointed at Rose and the Doctor and spoke in German to them. The pub cheered and clapped.

'Smile. He just told everyone we just were married. They are all cheering for us.' he told her.

Rose laughed. 'This is mad.'

'That's our crazy life. Madness, my dear!'

The man lead all them in three cheers. "Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!"

The bartender yelled something in German.

The Doctor blushed and laughed. He nodded and stood up. He spoke to the crowd in German, looking at Rose. He pulled Rose's hand to encourage her to stand up and then wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her. He could taste the wine on her tongue. The pub erupted in cheers and applause.

'This is madness.' Rose told him.

'Love is merely a madness.' he assured her.

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