'Oh, there we go!' The Doctor jumped up. 'He finally let you go?'

Amy groaned, reaching to hold her head. 'I— what?'

The Doctor busied himself with taking out his screwdriver, sonicing the tangle of metal and wires in his hand. 'I tracked the two of you here. I managed to get out of the butcher's, I suppose the Eknodines got bored after all that time I spent in the TARDIS. It was only a second though.' He cleared his throat and shoved the mass into his jacket. 'Anyways, what did he say to you?' He turned around, taking in their silence. 'Okay, not very nice things, I'm guessing. Don't mind him, really, if he did. He's just terrible. Disgusting. Yuck.'

'Doctor?' Amy asked, her voice small.

His shoulders slumped and he turned to them. 'Yes, Amy?'

She frowned. 'How did you get in here?'

'Yeah, I locked the door,' Rory added, nodding to the door.

The Doctor straightened. 'Well, locks are nothing to me. Just a bit of jimmy with the sonic.'

'How did you get through the old people?' Amy took a step towards him.

He rolled his eyes. 'Honestly, Amy. I told you: they were all gone. Must've had some sort of convention to get to. It doesn't matter. What reality do you choose?'

Amy glanced behind her at Rory, who blushed pink, before facing the Doctor. 'Well, er, Doctor, you see—'

The Doctor's eyes widened and he lurched forward. 'Rory!'

Rory whipped around in time for a rock to barrel into his gut. He doubled over, pitching forward into a cloud of green mist.

Mrs. Talbot's grin fell as the Doctor ran forward, a chair in hand. He smacked her across the side with it, sending her tumbling down the roof. He stumbled back and joined Amy at Rory's side. 'Oh, dear,' he murmured, watching as his legs started to turn to dust.

'Amy,' Rory whispered.

Amy, tears tracking down her cheeks as she fumbled with his shirt. 'No, Rory, please.' She turned to the Doctor, her eyes shining. 'Doctor, do something!'

He bit his lips. 'Amy…'

Her face crumpled and she gripped his shirt tighter. 'You're not allowed to die. You—'

'Amy,' Rory said. He smiled sadly. 'Will you marry me?' And for one second, he looked at her, and in the next, he was staring off into nothing. The dust spread up his body, until the shirt in Amy's hands scattered in the breeze.

She stared at the space he had been, her body shaking as she cried. 'What's the bloody use of having you around?' she sobbed. 'If you can't do anything to help?'

The Doctor looked at her, at her broken cries. 'I'm sorry, Amy,' he said. 'But— but it's just a dream.' Slowly, he stood up. He went to the window. 'It's just a dream,' he repeated. 'And you can't die in dreams.'

'So what?' Amy asked, swiping at her face. 'Does that mean this is reality?'

He shook his head. 'No, because Rory was sentient. It means—' he grabbed her hand, pulling her to the door— 'that Rory is back in reality.'

Amy was the one who twisted the lock. She was the one to fling the door open. And when the mist enveloped her, it was Rory's face that she saw.

~~~

Rose sat back and watched as they all began to wake up.

Rory was the first.

He sat up with a gasp, his hands immediately going to his torso. 'I- I'm not dead?' he asked. Then he looked around, 'Unless- unless Heaven is the TARDIS?' And his brow furrowed at the sight of her, trying not to smile in the jumpseat. 'And you're God?'

Rose couldn't help it: she laughed. 'Oh, no, Rory,' she giggled, standing and crossing the room to help him up. 'It's just the TARDIS. You were dreaming, is all.' She brushed his shoulders off and pulled him into a hug. 'You were so brave,' she murmured against his shoulder. 'I'm proud of you. And you should be proud of yourself.'

Slowly, his arms wrapped around her. 'Were- were you not affected? By the psychic dream?'

Rose sniffed and stood back. 'Nah. The pollen wasn't very fond of me.'

'I—' He frowned. 'I have a lot of questions.'

Rose laughed and clapped him on the back. 'Let's wait until the Doctor and Amy wake up then we'll explain everything.'

~~~

Amy's eyes opened, slowly. Then they went right to Rory. 'Rory?' she asked, her voice breaking.

He smiled. 'Hi.'

She was up and had her arms around him, almost toppling him in the process. She started saying nonsense, crying into his shoulder. A little stunned, Rory rubbed her back, letting her do so.

Rose looked down at the Doctor, giving them a bit of privacy. He blinked and opened his eyes, looking up at her.

'Hullo,' she murmured and smiled.

'Hullo,' he replied.

She held a hand out and hauled him to his feet, staying still as he laid a hand on her shoulder, steadying himself. 'We're—?'

'Back in reality,' she supplied. 'Actual reality. We destroyed the cold star TARDIS dream when the Dream Lord separated you guys.'

He nodded. 'Brilliant. I'm guessing—'

'Psychic pollen. Karass don Slava. Got heated up in the time rotor.'

He looked down at her. 'And why weren't you affected?'

She smiled and tapped her temple. 'Magic.'

He chuckled and swiped his hands on his shirt. 'Huh. Let's add immune to space allergies to that list of yours.'

'So what happened?' Rory asked, pulling away from Amy and looking towards them.

'Psychic pollen!' the Doctor exclaimed, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pair of tweezers. 'From Karass don Slava. Induces a dreamstate. What we just saw was a mixture of all our dreams. Rose excluded.' He reached into the Time Rotor and started prodding around.

Rose went on to explain, 'I wasn't affected because I've got an immunity to that sorta thing. It's hard to explain. It gave me quite the fright to come down and see the three of you all sprawled across the floor.' A shadow passed over her face and she glanced over at the Doctor, who was bent halfway into the Time Rotor. She swallowed and continued, 'I finally was able to enter Rory's mind and help ya out. So the Rose that you saw in the dream, it wasn't actually me. It was a figment of Amy's imagination.'

Amy wrinkled her nose. 'My imagination?'

Rose nodded. 'That's how the Doctor knew both scenarios were dreams. That Rose was all wrong.'

'Time Lord senses,' he shouted, popping up. Held between the two ends of the tweezers was a glowing blue spikeball, smoking faintly. He strode across the room towards the doors and kicked them open.

'Sorry, dear!' he told the ceiling. In a swift movement, he flung the space pollen out. 'There. It'll freeze and die soon enough. No harm done, eh? Just another adventure.' He wiped his hands and shut the doors.

Rose turned the screen towards her, typing something in. 'Any questions?'

'Er, yeah.' Amy glanced between Rory and the Rose, then finally directed the question at the Doctor. 'Who was the Dream Lord? Whose imagination did he come from?'

Before the Doctor could answer, Rose spoke up, 'I believe there was something rather important that Rory asked you, Amy.' She gave him a nod and a soft smile.

Rory cleared his throat. 'Er, right. Well, Amy…'

The Doctor and Rose turned away as they spoke, looking down at the console and not at each other. Rose pressed a couple buttons, navigating it with ease.

'She's helping me along,' she murmured. Her eyes darted up to the ceiling and she grinned. She ran her hand along the edge of the console before flipping a switch. 'It seems they've made up,' she added casually.

The Doctor glanced over her head at Rory and Amy, who were kissing quite passionately. He wrinkled his nose. 'Ah. I'm guessing they're gonna want us to drop them off at home?'

'I'm ten steps ahead of you,' she said and flipped the dematerialisation switch. 'We can explain everything to them in a minute. For right now—' she pressed her hands against his chest, his twin hearts beating beneath her palms.

He stumbled back, hands going to brace against the console. 'You're not gonna- er, snog me? Are you?'

Rose laughed. 'First of all, what are you? Seven? Second of all, no. I've just got somethin' to tell ya and I need your full attention.'

His expressions simultaneously softened and sharpened. 'All of my attention is always on you, Rose Tyler.'

She raised her eyebrows. 'Cute. But you know who the Dream Lord was. I know.'

He rolled his eyes and started to turn away. 'I am not having this conversation with you right now.'

She grabbed his shirt, keeping him in place. 'No, but I'm having it with you. I- I'm not gonna address everything.' She swallowed. 'But I get it. I really do.' She closed her eyes, pulling him close as she said, for only him to hear, 'I'm stayin'. And not 'cos I'm... I'm running.' Her fingers knotted in his jacket, shaking slightly. 'It's 'cos I want to. Because- because I want you,' she added, softer still.

She tipped her head forward until her forehead pressed against his sternum, until she could hear his hearts thundering in her ears. She had missed the sound, the alternating beats. He had a different chest, leaner with a lower surface temperature. But the hearts inside always remained the same, as did the consciousness in his head.

She felt him tug her against him, his hands pressing between her shoulder blades, there was a tug inside her chest as he tested out the band of time between them. He relaxed underneath her when he felt the tension and finally drew her close. Hugging her in a way that sent her brain humming with déjà vu.

She felt the vibrations of his voice against the crown of her head and she closed her eyes, backtracking on their timeline to see what he said. The words echoed a past sentiment and she felt her eyes burn when she heard him.

How long are you gonna stay with me, Rose Tyler?

And she gave him the same answer she gave on that dying planet: 'Forever.'