Journey Amongst the Stars

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirty-Six: Forest of Cheem: The Forest and the City

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

AN: I literally reviewed Jack's costumes in Doctor Who, trying to figure out his style before Torchwood locked him into the World War II era look.

…

Rose loved their busy life in the TARDIS. The sentient time machine took care of most things, but it left Rose's dirty clothing alone most of the time, letting Rose have the simple task of laundry every few days. There was something in the simplicity of it that eased Rose. Maybe it was the memories of spending time at laundry mats with her mum playing little games to pass the time. Something about the smell of the detergent and the way that the clothing felt when she pulled it out of the dryer made Rose happy. Thus, she was in the small laundry room that the Doctor swore hadn't been there before she moved it and was almost done folding when Jack poked his head in.

"There you are!" Jack jumped up next to her and eyed the laundry. "Doesn't the TARDIS do this? The Doctor swears she can do anything."

"I enjoy it," Rose said. She shrugged. "It's relaxing. Resets my brain in a way."

"There are better ways to do that," Jack teased. He wiggled his eyebrows and Rose shook her head in amusement, failing to hold back a smile.

"Not going to happen, Jack."

"Not with me, trust me, I got the message of hands off the blonde when you saved me." Jack leaned against the dryer, watching Rose with intense eyes. "But you could give it a try with the Doctor."

"I was wondering when you'd bring this up." Rose held back a sigh.

"He loves you," Jack told her in a soft hushed voice as if he was afraid of the effect saying the words aloud would have. There was a softness to his voice and a sincerity that Rose wasn't sure she'd ever heard from the former Time Agent before. Not even from his future self. "The way he looks at you when he thinks you can't see. When your back is to him in the library while you paint… he reads from memory and just watches you. The way he looks up through the grating when we work on the TARDIS at you Rose… he's completely in love with you."

"Oh, Jack." Rose smiled softly as she looked at her friend and saw the man he'd be shining through once again. "I know that already. I'm in love with him too, but you know that."

"Jo and I figured that's what had to be discussed in the pyramid," Jack admitted. "But nothing has changed!" Frustration was creeping into Jack's voice. "If you know and he knows, then why all the dancing around each other?" Jack demanded with a truly confused look. "I know you love him, Rose, you're fairly direct in that in everything but saying it out loud. Even he knows it so just…" Jack waved his hands about. "Why?"

"Our timelines are messy Jack," she explained with a soft sigh. "We aren't in the same place in our relationship. Someday we will be, but I need to let him decide that I'm what he wants. It can't be because he's preserving timelines or because he wants to make me happy so I'll stay. I need it to be because he wants to be happy with me. We did have to talk about it a bit in the pyramid and we both admitted it to each other, but he's not ready yet." She looked towards the door and sighed. "Trust me, I don't love that we're in this holding pattern, but I'm not going to push him into something he isn't ready for."

"How can you cope?" Jack's voice a bit whiny. "The sexual tension is threatening to kill me!"

"Trust me, if it weren't for the out of synch timelines, I'd have jumped him by now."

"Wait…" Jack stared at her before he laughed and grinned at her. "Out of synch timelines… Rose. you little minx! You've already slept with him."

Refusing to be embarrassed, Rose raised an eyebrow at Jack and shrugged. "I dated him all through uni, Jack, I think it's pretty much a given that it wasn't a chaste relationship."

Jack gaped at her looking like he was torn between shock, squealing, and demanding details. Before he could get anything more from her, Rose scooped her clean laundry into the basket and headed for the hall. Admitting all that to Jack was dangerous given that he'd now met Jo, but it made her giddy to say such things out loud and not just keep them inside. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and grinned when a strange happy sound escaped Jack, but didn't stop moving. The Doctor was in the hallway and stopped to give a strange look towards the laundry room before looking over at Rose.

"Jack's being a bit weird," Rose offered with a smile and shrug. "So where are we off to today?"

"Hadn't decided," the Doctor admitted. He gave Rose a soft smile, his eyes bright and his cheeks reddening a little. "Thoughts?"

"Well…." Rose pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "There is something that has stuck with me."

"What?"

"Remember Jabe? The tree woman who was a descendent of the tropical rain forest?"

"Bit hard to forget her."

"Our first date," Rose said happily. The Doctor's blush deepened and Rose told herself to ease off. "I was thinking that it could be really interesting to see where she is from."

"The Forest of Cheem." The Doctor nodded and glanced towards the console room. "Good plan. Get ready and tell Jack to get his head on right."

"On it!"

Rose snapped a small salute, making the Doctor roll his eyes and headed back to the laundry room. Jack was texting on his phone and Rose inwardly grimaced. She had officially lost him to the dark side. That was something his future self hadn't warned her about. When she poked her head in, Jack's eyes widened like a deer in headlights, but he quickly recovered and gave her a charming smile.

"Don't," Rose said. "Just don't." Now she was holding back a laugh. "We're planet-bound. Get ready."

Jack nodded, a wave of serious and excitement sweeping over his features. Reassured, Rose headed to her room to put away the laundry or at least get it on the bed. The TARDIS jolted a little as she walked and Rose nearly stumbled. Increasing her pace, she jumped into her room and noted with relief that it was far more stable. The shaking always seemed to be tied to the console room and nowhere else which was just as well given that they had a pool. She really wasn't sure if it was intentional or a side effect of something.

Putting down the basket, Rose went to her wardrobe and opened it to find comfortable jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt along with her crème coloured coat. She quickly swapped out and pulled on her trainers. By the time she got back to the console room, Jack was helping the Doctor fly and trying to flirt with the Doctor.

"Rose! Hold down that button!" the Doctor barked.

Rose didn't argue. She rushed forward and pressed the button in question. More orders came and she and Jack did as the Doctor said. Some of the controls were becoming more familiar to Rose and a few times, she moved before the Doctor instructed her to. The shaking eased and the Doctor beamed as they landed almost smoothly.

"There were go. Billions of years into the future! Earth's been roasted, but life goes on."

Jack's features tightened for a moment at the mention of Earth being roasted. She supposed that even if he'd been raised on another planet, it was still the homeworld and the idea of it being gone was strange. But he recovered quickly and reached for the scanner.

"Atmosphere is perfect," he announced. "Bit chilly today." He glanced at Rose's coat. "Which the TARDIS must have known."

"Course she did," the Doctor said proudly.

"You may want a jacket yourself," Rose suggested. He had one a simple dark blue Henley that she had to admit looked really good on him.

"Back in a sec!"

Jack ran from the console room with a boyish grin on his face. He already looked younger than when they'd picked him up. The Doctor watched him for a moment. The suspicion was gone, but Rose could tell that he still wasn't completely comfortable with Jack. But it was still progress and she'd take it. When Jack returned, he had a brown bomber jacket on and looked very pleased with himself. It was a vaguely familiar jacket and Rose hoped that she'd never seen it on Athena or Melody.

"All yours," the Doctor said. He was smiling at Rose and gestured grandly towards the door.

She didn't need any further encouragement. With an answering smile, Rose went to the door and paused. Another new planet, in a time long after her natural lifespan. That familiar excited itch traveled up her spine and Rose savored it. Opening the door, Rose started to smile as the thick smell of earth and flora hit her nose. Soft sunlight flickered around her as she stepped out into a thick jungle. Behind her, Rose heard the Doctor chuckle at her slow exit, but she ignored him. A new world, billions of years in the future and she was here. That was worthy of awe.

Looking around, Rose grinned at the sight of the massive trees that towers over her. They were a bit different from what she was used to with large roots that protruded from the ground in spots and wide branches that were far larger than anything she'd seen before. Ivy and vines crisscrossed around their trunks and the wind that rustled the leaves didn't move the solid branches or trunks at all.

On the ground were thick patches of vegetation that had accents of bright colors that contrasted with the sharp natural green. A fern was mostly green but had unusual red patterns on its leaves. Bright violet flowers growing at the base of one of the trees looked similar to orchards, but the style was a little different. She pulled out her phone and took a quick photo of the alien flowers to send to her mum. Then for good measure, she took a few reference shots for a painting. Craning her neck back, she looked straight up, marveling at the way the branches and leaves framed a small opening that let sunlight pour through the thick canopy and revealed a patch of blue sky beyond.

"It's beautiful here," Rose said. She looked back at the Doctor and Jack who were peering around with small smiles of their own.

"So, they're living trees that live in a forest?" Jack asked.

"They are living trees," the Doctor agreed. "Sentient and sapient descendants of trees similar to these. They inhaled carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen." The Doctor smiled and touched a nearby tree with a soft, almost reverent smile. "But that's not to say that there are still younger species of trees that aren't sentient, at least not yet. They surround themselves with them. The Cheem is one of the most biological diverse planets in the galaxy at this point."

"Naturally?" Rose asked. "Or not?"

"Not, actually." The Doctor removed his hand and turned back to his companions. "Almost a million years ago, this was a colony planet settled by the Forest. It was all but dead at that point, a carbon dioxide atmosphere and nothing naturally living on it any longer. They oversaw the terraforming, using their own bodies to start the process of creating oxygen, planted older trees to help them." He gestured at the ground. "Jabe's people rely on what they draw out of air, they don't really use their roots anymore and don't mention them, Jack," the Doctor added firmly. "After there was an oxygen atmosphere, they made the planet a haven for dying species. Lots from Earth for example."

"Impressive," Jack said. "So the whole planet is a preserve?"

"No, there are cities." The Doctor glanced around. "We're a bit off from a city. Let's try to get a bit closer."

Jack looked like he was considering teasing the Doctor about driving, but his curiosity overruled him. Rose eyed one of the trees and lifted her eyes high into the towering branches. It was a bit odd to think that a being like Jabe coexisted with something so like her ancestors. Then again, she reminded herself, she coexisted with apes who were cousin species to her. Letting the Doctor round her and Jack up in the TARDIS, Rose went straight to the screen and waited eagerly as the Doctor adjusted the controls.

"Just a quick special jump," the Doctor assured them. Rose and Jack exchanged a smile. "Hold on."

The TARDIS shuddered once, but that was it. Beaming the Doctor swung back to the door and threw it open, gesturing for them to follow. They gathered around the center console and the Doctor hit a few buttons. The TARDIS shuddered for a moment, but only a moment. Jack pushed the screen, letting the Doctor catch it and turn it on.

"There we go! City!"

Nodding to the Doctor, Rose returned to the doors and opened them. Rose had expected a city unlike the ones she was used to. She'd had just enough time to imagine wooden buildings wrapped around the massive trees, but it was nothing like that. They were in a square built from polished stone and large buildings that appeared almost entirely made of glass surrounded them. The sun gleamed off of the smooth sharp planes of the architecture as Rose's mind caught on that they were like greenhouses. Trees grew through perfectly round holes in the stone floor of the square with small grooves that must be for carrying water. In the center, a few feet from them, was a large fountain with a statue of what looked like a wolf. Rose swallowed, but inhaled slowly and kept looking around.

It didn't take her long to realize something, something important. She didn't see any of the tree people. The city was empty. Stepping out, she turned around and searched the doorways of the glass buildings and the skywalks that stretched out between the buildings. There was no sign of anyone.

"Doctor, I think there's trouble," Rose said.

The Doctor stepped out beside her. "Why?"

"Where is everyone?" Jack asked, joining them in front of the TARDIS.

"Ah."