A/N: Tai Greywing, you continue to impress me! I like the way you think:D You get more answers in this chapter, and even more in the next, so just keep reading! Thanks for all the amazing reviews!

Chapter 3

So Close Yet So Far

Rose looked at her in shock. "You… did what?"

"I talked to the Doctor…" Diane seemed just as disbelieving of it as Rose did.

"But how… you were just going to read my mind or something,"

"Well… I could feel something reaching out from you, like the essence of something calling out for me. I was so confused, so I decided to enter your mind and see what it was that was causing this feeling." Rose gaped in awe at her, a feeling of elation burning up inside of her.

"When I entered your mind I could see him, the Doctor. He spoke of the TARDIS, how you had an unexplainable connection with it since you looked into the time vortex and that it was somehow connecting you with him. It was allowing him to talk to me through you telepathically." Diane shook her head in disbelief.

"But you were so afraid, when you read my mind why didn't you tell me any of this then?" Rose interrogated, irritated at not having been told this sooner.

"How would you feel if you went to read someone's mind and ended up having a conversation with someone?" Diane retorted hurtfully. Rose suppressed the urge to mention that she would have no idea what that would feel like seeing as she wasn't psychic.

"So what made you come back?"

"He's a Time Lord… how could I refuse a request from a time lord? I thought they were all gone…" she drifted off, looking distant.

"But what else did he tell you?" Rose urged her on.

"He said he needs me to help you build something, so that he can talk to you himself. He said, he promises he'll find you, he's going to get you back no matter what." Rose couldn't help but smile. At last she was making progress, and he was real! Deep down she had known all along he was real and he was going to come back to her!

"Well then… lets get building!" Rose replied cheerfully, her spark of enthusiasm returned to her eyes.

xoxoxoxoxo

It was much later on when Jackie returned to a most unusual sight- her daughter and Doctor Woods where sat around the living room surrounded by a collection of what looked like machinery parts.

"what the hell is going on here?" Rose and Diane looked up in surprise.

"Mum!" Rose leapt up and grabbed Jackie into a huge hug, beaming happily. "He's real! The Doctor, it was all real!"

"what?" Jackie was so confused- although it was good to see Rose happy and like her normal self again, what was with the sudden change of mood? "What makes you think that then?" Rose smiled and looked towards Diane. "And why's she here?" So Rose sat Jackie down and with the help of Diane she explained everything that had happened.

"So it was all true?" Jackie said once they had finished, mouth agape. "How is that possible?" Rose shrugged.

"The important thing is doing what the Doctor says, so we've got to get all these parts." Rose handed her a rough list. "I think we've got most of it, just everyday simple things really. Amazing how you can put all this random stuff together to make something so advanced." Rose said in awe, thinking back to the time when the Doctor had invented a video recorder in 1953 with just what he could find lying around an old television store.

So that was what the next few days consisted of- Rose and Diane working together to build what the Doctor had instructed. Rose actually found that she got on very well with Diane, and felt she had made a strong friend in her. That evening Diane had left to go and collect the final part they needed, leaving Rose adding the few finishing touches. Jackie sat back on the sofa watching her, cup of tea in hand, contemplating the last weeks events. She looked at Roses face- she was so intensely focused on what she was doing, as if the whole building could collapse around her and she wouldn't notice.

"Do you love him?" She asked, abruptly breaking the silence.

"What?" Rose replied, not turning away from her work.

"The Doctor? Do you love him?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Cause you seem so broken without him." she said simply. "And because I'm your mum of course."

"Well… I dunno…" Rose answered, still not looking at her.

"Oh stop avoiding the question!" Jackie teased, "Do you or not?"

"I said I don't know!" Rose replied, finally turning to stare defiantly at her mum. "I care about him. A lot. I mean of course I do, I was travelling with him for months, and we've been through so much together." Jackie smiled at her warmly. Rose honestly hadn't ever thought about it, but she wasn't going to be given the chance. Diane burst in through the door, and ran over to Rose clutching onto the last part as if it were made of gold.

Rose felt a rush of adrenaline as they completed the small machine, fixing everything together before standing back to admire their work. Rose beamed with indescribable joy.

"Right, now what exactly is it that we do with it?" She asked Diane.

"I think… it's to project some sort of hologram…" She concluded, after staring at the item for some time. "It's exactly as the Doctor said it should be,"

"So what now, do we just wait?" Diane shrugged. As if on cue the machine sparked into life, whirring slightly. Jackie jumped off the sofa and moved over to the two girls, who also backed away hesitantly.

"What's it doing that for?" Jackie flustered. Rose held up a hand to silence her, staring intently at the machine. An image was forming in front of them, slowly but surely. Jackie gasped in awe, Diane stared fascinated and Rose's eyes widened as a life size image of the Doctor appeared before them. It crackled with interference, the image slightly fuzzy and blue tinged.

"Doctor?" Rose spoke, barely audible, unsure of whether the image would respond or not.

"Rose?" His voice crackled as the sound was tuned to perfection. She smiled like she'd never smiled before. "Rose!" His face reflected her own- an expression of pure joy at seeing her face again. Rose instinctively moved towards the image, wanting nothing more than to lose herself in his arms. But she stopped short, that's all it was- just an image. Both their smiles faded, he knew exactly what was going through her mind. "I'm so sorry Rose."

"But what for? What's going on?" she asked, her eyes never leaving his.

"The TARDIS flew into a trap, set up by an alien race called the Croulahrrs. They put you here, and… and I don't know how yet…" he trailed off, furious at himself for not knowing.

"But… wait a minute, who are the Croulahrrs? And why did they put me here?" She questioned, desperate for answers.

"They wanted me. So they wanted to get rid of you so they could have me." his voice was calm, but his eyes showed his fury, "And you're not where you think are, otherwise I would have come for you long ago."

"What do you mean? I'm at home, with my mum-"

"No, you're not." He cut her off, sighing deeply. "You see they were cleverer than that. They knew there was a chance I would escape them, and of course I did," he boasted, gaining a smile from Rose, "So they put you in the only place I cannot reach." He paused, looking at her sorrowfully.

"And where's that?" Rose prompted him nervously, terrified of what the answer might be.

"Do you remember, when the time vortex just dropped out of the TARDIS and we landed in that strange world that was almost exactly the same as Earth, but with the blimps and all that?" she nodded urgently, "They put you- and god only knows how," he waved his arms to express his disbelief, "in a parallel world, identical to Earth in many ways, apart from the fact that I was never there."

"But you said that… travel between parallel worlds…"

"Is impossible." he sighed heavily, unable to look her in the eyes any longer. Rose took a deep breath, eyes filling with tears.

"Doctor, I don't blame you for any of this okay?" She told him firmly. He still didn't look at her. "Doctor I know you'll find a way, you always do! I mean it may have been by accident but we have done it before," she attempted to reassure him, in an attempt to reassure herself at the same time. He finally looked her in the eyes, and she could see the pain behind them. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't have the slightest clue where to start.

He turned briefly to Diane, "Thank you for helping us," she nodded, "please look after her,"

"Oi, since when did I need looking after?" Rose said grinning cheekily.

"Since I'm not there. Besides she's a stronger ally than any humans you'll find out there."

"What do you mean, any humans?" Rose looked at him bewildered.

"She hasn't told you?" He looked at her puzzled. Diane shrugged, smiling. "She's not human Rose." Rose looked at her in surprise. " She's a Jayrian from the planet Saith. Thought you would have noticed something was up when she read your mind. Since when could humans do that?" He muttered.

"Anyway," he turned back to Rose, "I don't want to waste any of the power in this thing, and I'm definitely not going to get anywhere if I just stand here chatting. Pleasant as it is," It was his brave way of saying I wish I could just stay and talk to you but I have to go. Rose looked at him pleadingly.

"What you have to go already?" Just seeing his face again had been reassuring.

"I'm sorry Rose." He said again, but she shook her head.

"It's not your fault." She reached out a hand slowly towards him, and he reached out his own in response. The image crackled and flickered as Rose's fingers passed through his, taunting her. This time she couldn't hold back the tears, and they came flooding down her face. She hadn't wanted him to see her like this, she had to be strong and not make him feel even more guilty about what had happened.

"I will solve this. I promise I will get you back Rose. I promise." He vowed to her, tears brimming his own eyes. "I'll see you soon." He said softly, a small smile spreading across his face.

She nodded, watching as the picture slowly flickered away into nothing.

A/N: Sorry if it's all a bit farfetched, I did my best! XD Next chapter you get to know a bit more about what is really happening :D So please keep reading and review!