Chapter 3
Rose stood in the corner watching herself argue with the Doctor, it was a really strange experience she thought, watching an older you, it was much stranger than running around the universe in a time machine, with the last of the Time Lords. She shook her head confused, weren't there rules about this she thought before turning her mind back to the argument. Yep there certainly were and she had really pissed the Doctor off by breaking them or at least her older self had she thought in confusion, feeling a headache growing in the back of her head. She sank down on the floor and pulled her knees up, her head really hurt she thought to herself as she continued to watch the fight, not sure who to cheer for, herself or the Doctor.
"I had no choice" Rose said angrily "I couldn't let our…" she stopped and took a deep breath "Theta please…" she said trying to be calm
"Don't Theta me, and when did I tell you to call me Theta, when did I even tell you about that name" he said angrily "You are so bloody stupid, do you have any idea what you have done …" he continued angrily, his mind going cold at the possible repercussions of the two Roses being in the same time dimension, he shook his head and spun away from Rose, this older more assured version of his own sweet Rose.
"Please…" he heard her whisper "I had to" she said quietly, "I had to warn you" the tone of her voice, the desperation in it pulled at him and he turned back to look at this other Rose.
He watched her intently noticing the pain in her eyes; the sheer desperation and he nodded to himself then in that mecurial way of his he grinned turning to his own Rose
"You sure grew into a looker" he said to her, noticing the sparks coming from his young Rose
"What do you mean by that?" he heard both Rose's saying, almost as if in stereo causing his grin to get bigger
……………………………
They had left the control room and had gone into what could be described as a living room in the Tardis, it was a large white room filled with comfy chairs and a sofa, games and books. The Doctor and the young Rose were sitting together on one overstuffed leather Sofa, whilst the older Rose sat on a comfy chair, her feet curled under her as if she had done this many times before, perhaps she had thought Rose in confusion.
"Well then old Rose?" the Doctor said waiting for an explanation, grinning at the way the older Rose bristled at the term
"I am not old, I am only 32" she said smartly, "not like some who are way past bloody old" she said grinning, then stopping and shaking her head as if remembering this wasn't her Doctor, not yet anyway. She looked down for a moment, to hide the pain andthen looked at Rose as if trying to remember herself as she was.
"I thought long and hard about doing this, I understand the dangers, but I had to, I had to warn you both" she said quietly reaching into her pocket and pulling out a photo staring at it before handing it over
"Your daughter Sky" she said carefully, watching both the doctor and her younger self. She watched the shock cross their faces, then the disbelief and finally the joy, she smiled slightly at the look that they exchanged between themselves, remembering the newness of it all, as it had once been for her.
"she is born in a years time, and will die next week, in this time, before she is even born, if you don't help me" she said sadly "I can't let that happen" she whispered to herself "But I cant let the world end next week either" she said quietly causing both the doctor and Rose to look up sharply
She took the photo back and looked at it hard talking more to the picture and herself than to them, no longer noticing the Doctor and Rose
"We travelled back to next week to show Sky the millennium wheel, before it collapses" she never noticed the look of shock on Rose's face, or the nod of remembrance from the doctor. "But there was some kind of time anomaly and she met the two of you trying to stop the cryotrons from wiping out the earth, only the new Doctor and I don't remember the incidence at all, or we wouldn't have travelled to that time and place" she paused and looked up "She dies saving you both" she said, all of a mothers pain in her eyes at having to live her child's death again "and the world" she added quietly a mothers pride fighting the pain in her voice
"I can't let that happen" she said, her voice strong and yet at the same time unbelievably sad, "I can't lose her too" she whispered a silent tear streaking down her face
Rose watched her older self, at the desperation and pain and she shivered, the Doctor felt it and pulled her close to him, his eyes finding hers and trying to reassure her. She looked back at herself and smiled sadly
"What can we do?" she asked herself, hoping that at any moment she would wake up and find this was some strange dream
The older Rose looked up "Stop the Cryotrons now, not next week" she whispered "I would have tried to stop the events myself by going back and changing when we come back, but the result as you know could be worse, far worse. And it seems that if events here in this time do get that far then the world dies without Sky's death. I can't change it, but you can make sure it never happens" she said with force, her eyes on the Doctor, willing him to understand everything she couldn't say, she looked down at her watch and smiled sadly
"I have to go, I can't tell you any more, I can't risk it" she said, standing and stretching before turning to the door and looking at them both
"Enjoy it" she whispered sadly, Rose was sure she heard her whisper "It doesn't last long enough" as she walked out of the room and the Tardis.
Rose and the Doctor sat silently for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts and worlds
"What did she mean by 'new Doctor?" Rose asked suddenly, her eyes locking onto the Doctors, watching the rare glimpse of emotions flashing across his face, wishing she hadn't asked.
He smiled sadly, having heard what the older Rose had whispered and knowing what Regeneration often did to his memories
"I must have regenerated" he said, his eyes lost in thought and the pain his Rose was going to suffer in the future, his eyes grew determined, but perhaps he could stop some of it