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And then I looked up at the sun and I could see
Oh, the way that gravity turns for you and me;
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They were hand in hand again. Walking silently across the beach, the sand squelching beneath their feet, their shivering bodies looking for comfort. He liked the feel of her hand in his. Always had done, in fact. The way they just seemed to fit together so easily – it was astounding. Soft and gentle, a small caress that could mean the universe. Or, for her, just her mate taking her by the hand and leading her away.
The sea washed up the shore beside them, just a few feet away from where they were walking. The beach was not large, maybe half a mile in diameter. Seagulls cawed mockingly from above them as the Doctor looked up, squinting into the morning sun. He stopped walking and, consequently, Rose drew to a stop beside him.
"What is it?" she asked, looking up and following his trail of sight. She couldn't see anything of interest, unless you counted that cloud that looked vaguely like a deformed elephant. Three legs and no trunk. Poor thing.
"I was just... thinking..." he said at last, looking down to her again, his eyes churning like the waves.
"Yeah?"
"Yup. 'Bout all sorts of things. But mostly about when we first met; d'you remember that?"
Her hand tightened around his, and she smiled gently. "How could I forget? You were just as bossy then as you are now."
"Watch it, you," he grinned cheerfully. "I could change my mind, y'know. Leave you 'ere for the dogs."
"You wouldn't, though. Can't live without me – someone's gotta get you out of all that trouble you get yourself into."
He laughed affectionately, his eyes gazing gently across her face. She was soaked and covered with sand; but she was beautiful - in that subtle, gentle way that had captured him in that basement with the Autons.
"Why?" he asked to no one in particular after a moment or two, frowning out to the horizon of the sea. "Why are you the one who has to get me out of all the trouble? I was fine before you, y'know. Just fine. Coped perfectly with anything, I did. And now all of a sudden, I'm being dragged off to Earth to eat chips and run down a beach. All because I met a stupid little ape a year ago today who caught me on a bad day and ended up saving my life. Fantastic."
Rose tilted her head and looked at him, his profile silhouetted against the backdrop of rocks behind them.
"A year today?" she asked, amazed. It hadn't felt like a year. It had barely even felt like a week, though it had to be longer than that.
The Doctor looked to her and frowned.
"What?" he asked confusedly. Then he realised he must have been speaking out loud. "Oh, no, not a year for us. A year today by Earth standards."
Her eyes widened. "So you mean, this is the day the Slitheen fake that crash into the Thames?"
He blinked at her, before his face pulled into a huge grin.
"You, Rose Tyler, are fantastic. Yes, this is the day, I suppose. The day the world changed. Your world. How's it feel to be at the other end of it?"
"Bit strange, I s'pose, thinkin' about it. There's another you an' me runnin' around, only up in London. Bit weird."
"Yeah," he grinned, glancing down to the floor and shaking his head laughingly. "Yeah, I guess it is."
A beat of silence followed, in which a gentle breeze picked up again and ruffled Rose's hair. The Doctor watched it twirl and smiled – he liked it when it was windswept. It made her look like she had just run away from a hostile alien. Made her look like the way she looked when she was with him, he realised.
Rose brought in a long breath and looked around them.
"So, how long then?"
"What?"
She looked back at him, their gaze locking. "How long have we known each other?"
The Doctor grinned at her, pulling her a little closer to him. The cold air was beginning to play at his features and he was pleased for her warmth.
"About... eight months, three weeks, four days, fifteen hours and... if my timing's right..." he paused for a moment, a frown on his face. Rose watched him interestedly until he looked back to her, his eyes soft. "Thirty seven minutes! And roughly eight months, three weeks, four days, fourteen hours and twelve minutes since we had that jolly old talk on the bridge about my being an alien. That was good."
"You mean where you went on about all that stuff 'bout 'clinging to Earth and not letting go', before telling me to forget about you?"
"You've got a good memory. I'll remember that the next time we play cards," he smiled, pleased that she remembered just as well as he did. Before he could stop himself, the Doctor reached up and tucked some hair delicately behind Rose's ear. He let his fingers curl all the way around, before coming to a stop and cupping her cheek tenderly. She smiled back at him and swallowed, his touch a strange feeling on her bitter cheek.
"And after all this time," he said quietly, his voice soft above the breeze. "You know what?"
"What?" Rose asked obediently, her heart racing and her cheek flushing beneath his touch. Breathing had suddenly become much more of an effort.
The look in his eyes was sincere and temperate, his breathing calm beneath his chest.
"We're still clinging. You an' me both. We could let go at any moment, but we don't. We just... stand here..."
"Clinging," Rose agreed quietly, her eyes searching his.
So that was that. Two people fighting to hold on. And just this once, the Doctor decided, he really, really didn't want to let go.