Hello! Well, as far as I know, this is going to be the last chapter. I WILL write a sequel, if there's enough interest though. I've spent a few days thinking about whom to dedicate this to, and I finally figured it out.

So, this chapter is for Billie Piper, Chris Eccleston, and David Tennant, as well as all of the other actors, writers, and directors, who have made this wonderful creation- which we have discussed, and argued about, (ect!) On forums and sites all over the web.

THANK YOU!

Bold Italics- The Doctor's thoughts

Italics- Rose's thoughts

Now on with the story!

- ---

For the first time, in all his long memory, the Doctor felt trapped by the walls of his own TARDIS. Pacing around the control room like some caged beast, waiting for the soft shuffle of her bare feet across the metal grating.

Even the soothing, earthy glow of the consol lights did nothing to improve his mood. A mood which was becoming increasingly anxious. His white canvas shoes beat a steady rhythm on the floor- twelve steps ahead, two in the turn, and twelve back the way he came. He could taste the bitterness of tears and despair, and it was drowning him.

Soon, she'll be out here soon. And then I will have to face her, my Rose.

His steps faltered as he heard the swish sound of her door opening in the corridor behind him. A wave of raw panic swept through his body. Over the man who had faced the Daleks, and the Slitheen. Who had lost his entire race. And he was terrified of one little human.

Please not today, I don't think I have the courage to watch her go. She'll walk away, and I'll beg her to stay. Stay with me, don't leave me, don't let my own darkness consume me again. Rose, my light, please don't leave!

But his words were only in his mind, a screaming litany that brought more burning tears to his eyes. Welled there like liquid damnation. He heard her footsteps approaching, not the soft padding of flesh on metal, but something more akin to the hobnailed boots of an executioner.

Rose pulled her shoes on, determined to make a clean break of the situation. No more hanging about in her pajamas, she had instead opted for her usual jeans and a sweater. With every loop of the black laces, she tried to steel her resolve.

It didn't work, and soon she felt the weight return to her heart. Thumping painfully against her chest, Rose was sure she was going to be sick with the nervous butterflies smashing around in her stomach.

Alright Rose, you can do this. Just tell him that you want to go home. You don't have to be here, and he'll be happier when you're gone.

Rose could almost hear the angels of her better nature, pleading her not to do this. Not to strip away the only thing in her life that really mattered anymore. Vacantly, she noted that her better angels sounded a lot like Captain Jack.

Straightening her posture, her body tense with nerves, Rose pushed open her door. The hallway had never seemed longer; never so claustrophobically dense, as it did this very moment. All of her courage, focused, into putting one foot ahead of the other.

Her breath rasped in her throat, catching, as she entered the room. Rose could clearly see him, shoulders slumped forward in defeat. Even though she could not see his face, his despair was obvious. But her own tormented thoughts blinded her to the Doctor's pain.

Typical, as usual, he won't look at me. Just turn around, damn you! I'm standing right here, about to change everything- and I can't do it to the back of your head!

Just don't turn around, and then you won't make a fool of yourself. Let her walk away, and be done with it. All she has to do it say the word, and it's over. Just don't turn and see that she's been crying for him again.

Please Doctor, don't make this any harder. Just look at me, so I KNOW that you don't love me. Not like I love you. I need to know it for sure!

I can feel her eyes, staring at me. But I'm waiting. I feel like I've been frozen, staring into the eyes of the Medusa. Except for the Medusa is behind me. And I think she's waiting to.

What are you waiting for!

Please Rose, just end it. Spare me this torment.

The silence seemed to stretch on, into the far side of Eternity. The Doctor could feel his heartbeats in his ears. Rose, only the sound of her sharp breaths that burned her lungs. And for a time, they remained that way- suspended. Neither one willing to take that final step, and officially destroy everything.

"Take me home."

The Doctor's hand snapped to the edge of the control panel, gripping it tightly as her words struck him like a physical slap. Knuckles were white with tension, as he resisted the urge to throw himself at her feet. Plead with her not to leave. Not to leave him with only the crushing despair that shrouded him now.

And the silence reigned supreme once more, as Rose struggled with the almost overwhelming desire to snatch back her words. Take them back from where they hovered between them. The condemning fall of the axe, uttered by her own traitorous lips.

"As you wish." He choked out, words swimming in wretched bile. And still, he did not move to the controls. Because then he would have to face her. And she would see the tears that he couldn't control.

But the TARDIS is no ordinary machine, and as they stood there, the silence was thrice broken by the sounds of movement, and the shifting green glow of the central column waking into life.

Even my own ship thinks she should leave.

He must really want me gone.

Rose, please don't do this.

Doctor, tell me not to go!

I need you.

I'm not even living when you're not with me.

'Doctor, I-"

"Rose, please-"

They both began, to be interrupted by the smooth crunch of a good landing. Outside those doors were the streets of London, they both knew. The early part of a new century, with streets teeming with cars, and bicycles, and the endless rows of little stores and larger department chains.

And she'll be safer without me.

And I'll be lost without him.

Her feet were moving on autopilot, bringing her towards the exit. As she passed, the urge to look at him, once more, was simply too strong for her mortal body to resist. Her movements were slow, and Rose felt like she was swimming through molasses.

His skin was ashen, streaked with tears. She drank in the absolute despair in those red-rimmed eyes, glowing with exquisite anguish. The rumpled shirt, sleeves pushed up to the elbows. How his hands shook with every breath, so fragile.

He looks broken…But he doesn't care! How can I break him if he doesn't care?

Stop looking at me, Rose. Just leave. Walk out those doors, and be gone from my life. Please, before I beg you to stay... Don't see me weak. I don't want you to remember me like this.

And she never gave it another thought. That look was the final nail in her coffin, deciding, without her permission, what she had to do.

The Doctor was so wrapped up in his grief, that he never saw her move.

Running the few steps between them, reaching blindly for the man she loved more then reason. In his arms, clutching at his shirt, Rose never stopped to wonder when it had become so obvious. When her own pain became secondary to taking his away.

"Doctor please, don't make me go!"

"Rose?" He asked, confusion treading with heavy boots across his face. Those faint lines that she had learned as familiar, now more deeply etched. The Doctor lifted his hands to her shoulders, staring at her mutely. A heartbeat passed in tense silence, as he crushed her against his chest. Almost violent with the intensity of his emotion.

"Please, I know you don't want me to stay, but I can't help it! I don't know how to go, and I love you…" She trailed off, twisting the fabric of his shirt between her fingers, desperately trying to pull him closer.

It felt like both his hearts skipped a beat, or stopped altogether for a moment. His hand rising, of its own volition, to rest against her cheek. Thumb brushing away the tears, as his knees went weak.

"I love you to," he managed to choke out, passed the lump in his throat, "More then anything. But, you're still crying for him! Every single night!" The frustration shone through in his voice, as he stared down at her.

She blinked hard, the first vestiges of understanding crossing her face. Lifting her hand, she punctuated every word, into his chest, right over the hearts that beat for her. "I've been crying for you! For you! Because you never, ever, look at me anymore!"

"Because I knew you could never love me, like you loved him."

"But I do." Rose said softly, and the raw emotion in his eyes was too much. Throwing her final reserve to the winds of what may, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips over his.

He never considered not kissing her back.

- ---

Well, I hope you liked it! And my special thanks to all my reviewers )

On ff.n- On A Teaspoon and an Open Mind

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