Part Two

II

Remember...

The last must remember. He must remember. If he cannot remember, it will be gone, and the ashes will just be ashes, not the embers of the past. If he cannot remember, they'll all be dead.

He remembers, and it's killing him.

II

The sky was burning, a firestorm like she'd never imagined. This was a fire that didn't die. This was a fire of time. And she screamed at the roar of it, screamed while the Doctor stood perfectly still by her side, eyes burning too.

How could anyone live with the memory of this?

His hand was still burning in hers and she realised whatever was wrong with him, it had to be tied to this.

"Let it go, Doctor. You're burning up here. Let it go."

"It burned."

"Yeah. But you don't have to."

He was still staring ahead and she could only really think of one way to get his attention. It had worked on Mickey during the football, at least. A Time Lord was still a bloke, right?

She kissed him. His lips burned her, but she didn't pull away, only pulled him closer to her. He didn't resist, his hands coming to rest on her back, his heartbeats in her skin drowning out the roar of the flames. He was kissing her and all she could do was cling on.

"Rose?" he whispered after a moment, his breath cool against her lips. The fire in the sky was gone, she realised, and wherever he'd taken her, imagined or otherwise, it was gone now.

"I'm here."

"I think I'm sick," he said and collapsed against her. She had to use all her strength not to fall over herself with the weight of him.

"You really do know how to flatter a girl," she said to the air and could almost swear the air hummed in agreement.

II

It's become a pattern in the night.

He dreams about changes. His changes. He dreams about plucking the fire out of the sky, making the past the future, a loop of time in eternity. No one needs to die. No one needs to burn. It can all be as he wants it to be.

Just this once, everyone can live.

But dreams end and the grief tastes of ashes still when morning comes.

II

After a while, it had almost felt natural to let herself rest in the bed next to him. She was tired enough after dragging him there, and the floor, shiny as it though might be, was not particulary soft. And close, she would be all the more ready to save him again if needed.

All logical reasons and nothing to do with the desire to feel his skin next to hers, and so she crawled in next to him, watching his sleeping face. He was still warm, but not the fierce burn of earlier. She hoped he wasn't dreaming. She knew what he dreamed of now.

Fire burning, Gallifrey burning. Past burning.

She found his hand and watched her fingers lace themselves in his, hoping somehow he could feel the gesture, wherever he was.

"Rose?"

She lifted her gaze to see his open eyes, faint blue in faint light. No fire and she thought the temptation to show her relief by kissing him breathless.

"You feeling all right, Doctor?"

"Yeah... I'm still looking like daft old me, aren't I?"

"Who else would you look like, you dork?"

"Ah. Just checking," he muttered, searching her face. She could tell he remembered what had happened from the faint air of embarrassment and the quick glance at her lips. "Did I hurt you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Does matter," he insisted, lifting a hand to her cheek. "I'm sorry."

She nodded slowly and he smiled, the grin he could hide all the darkness in the world behind.

"Let's find our host and complain about the room service. Simply dreadful!" he declared, bolting up and on his feet. She could only follow and take his offered hand, her anchor in a mad lift ride of a lifetime. Of course, the anchor was as mad as everything else, possibly more so when he grinned. And still she clinged on.

Maybe she'd gone a little bit insane to be in this life with him.

"You think Baldr did this, then?" she asked as they passed through the halls and downwards. There was no signs of the 'helpers', which was probably just as well.

"Not that many suspects running around here," he remarked, giving the walls a hard look. "This is the spot."

"How do you...?" she started, but as the Doctor brought the sonic screwdriver up, she trailed off. The glass slid open and revealed the outside. "Show-off."

"Best show in the galaxy. Rose Tyler recommended, if I'm not mistaken."

"One star only. I'm not rising it to two until you learn to land the TARDIS smoother."

He grinned again as he pulled her out, but coming to a dead stop after only a few feet. This wasn't the forest they had walked through before. This was... Ashes and darkness. This was her dream.

"This wasn't here before," she said, watching the wind lift dust from the barren ground.

"Yeah, it was. We just didn't see it beyond the trees that were still growing. This world's dead."

"And I need you to make it live again," Baldr said, stepping out of the glass. He was still beautiful, but now she could see the scar of burns across his face and arm.

"And if I can't?" the Doctor asked, folding his arms.

"You are a Time Lord," Baldr countered, voice a burn. "You have a time ship. I sent the light into your minds to know you. I saw sympathy in hers. In yours, Doctor, I saw a mirror. You know my loss."

"Maybe. Maybe that's why I can't save yours."

"You deny yourself your planet, you deny yourself your people, you deny yourself her..." Baldr shook his head and Rose felt the Doctor's gaze burn on her, telling her what she'd rather always known. "You will not deny me."

"Yeah, I will, actually. What will you do about it?"

Bad question, Rose had the time to think as she felt the light close in. Bad, bad question.

II

He goes a little insane for a while, laughing at nothing, grinning at nothing. It keeps him from losing his mind completely. Give a little to keep the whole, as dark as it might be. Bleed a little and the heart might not burst with the pain of it all.

Maybe there is sanity in that.

Maybe there is life in that.

II

"I'm seriously thinking of taking back that star," Rose muttered and yanked slightly at the shackles binding her hands. "Getting tied up is losing its charm."

"Speak for yourself," the Doctor replied, shifting slightly beside her. He was in the same predicament as her, only on him it looked strangely attractive. At least they weren't tied to a wall, just locked in a room while Baldr was trying to track down and tinker with the TARDIS.

She had a good sense of how that would go.

"Great. I'm tied up with a kinky alien while another alien tries to steal a time machine."

"The TARDIS can look after itself," the Doctor replied calmly.

"So all I have to worry about is myself. Good to know."

"He's not a killer. He'll let us go eventually."

"So why are we not helping him, if he's such a nice fellow?"

"If this burned in the Time War, I can't... It can't be undone."

"No matter how much you want it?"

"Even a Time Lord can't have everything he wants."

"Doesn't mean he can have nothing he wants, either," she said softly and he looked up sharply.

"Is that what you want, Rose? The last Time Lord as your alien boyfriend?" he asked, sarcasm in his voice and she wanted to smack him.

"What if it is?"

"You'll grow old and I'll... Change. Where's the future in that?"

"900 years old and you're still an idot. Where's the future in anything? You're the one who's been taking me to the end of worlds and burned planets!" she shouted at him and he blinked at her, as if surprised at the force. "Everything comes to dust, remember? Maybe I at least want to go as a happy dust, as..."

"Rose Tyler, just shut it," he said softly and kissed her.

No fire this time, just the gentle pressure of his lips on hers. He allowed her time to pull back, and when she didn't, he deepened it, still slow and careful. No rush, just exploration, as if he had all the time in the world. She couldn't feel her breath or hear her heart, as if everything was still.

"Is this how Time Lords kiss?" she whispered, feeling his lips make a trail down her neck.

"Yes. That all right?"

"Fantastic," she muttered. He had somehow managed to free both of them and his hands were committing torture by touches, tracing every inch of her skin, removing her clothes as he went. Perhaps 900 years of living had certain advantages. He'd certainly picked up a skill or two.

"I thought Baldr took your sonic screwdriver," she muttered, pushing her hands up inside his sweater. Palms against his chest, she could feel two heartbeats, like thunder echoing thunder.

"After last time we got tied up, I hid a sonic key unlocker in my socks."

"Ah."

"Useful things, socks," he went on conversationally, letting her pull the jacket off. "I used to have a collection. I used to have a collection of scarves, too."

"Fascinating," she replied, lifting his arms and pulling his jumper off too. Skin exposed, she started her own exploration by lips, feeling the heartbeats thunder still.

"And jellybeans," he muttered, voice just slightly strained as she went lower and lower. "Lots of different colours... And licks... I mean tastes. I mean... I... Oh."

"Oh," she agreed, letting him guide her down on the discarded clothes, the weight of him over her like a shield against the world. Still trying to protect her, her Doctor. One day, she would have to return the favour.

"You sure you want this, Rose Tyler?" he whispered, braiding his fingers into her hair, his fingertips warm against her scalp. And she knew somehow, as clearly as she could see his thoughts, that he had denied himself her because it was better than her denying him.

"Just shut it and kiss me."

Amazingly, he did shut up. But he didn't let go, didn't pull back as he sunk into her, didn't look away, his gaze remaining locked in hers until she was thunder and lightning and bright, bright light flying...

II

He is trying to live in the after. At first, he can only bear the silence and the pain, but time is healing him, pulling at him. There is almost in the ashes something like a will to live. It grows, somehow it grows in just rocks and dust.

There must be something in the after, he thinks. There must be something in the ashes of survival.

There is him.

II

"So that's how a Time Lord does it, then."

"Yep. That all right?"

"Oh, shut up."

She could feel his smile without even looking, his head resting on her chest and her hand on his head, tracing patterns. The leather jacket was warm against her back, his skin warm against her front. It was, she decided, quite all right indeed.

Faintly, a rumble grew.

"Baldr back already?"

"Nope. That'd be the TARDIS, come as summoned."

"Should've known," she muttered, not bothering to look up to check if he was right. If he'd seen her starkers, it somehow didn't matter that the TARDIS would too. "And where are we going?"

"First, I'm getting my sonic screwdriver back. Then we're going to find out why this planet burned," he replied, and the fire was in his voice as he looked up at her and pressed a burning kiss to her lips. "And whether or not I can fix it."