Thanks again for all the reviews! I've been trying to update for days, but was having a fight with the documents manager! This was originally going to be the ending, but then there were certain facts and scenes I wanted to include so I wrote two more chapters. Plus, I couldn't let the Doctor and Rose end like this!

"Did I disappoint you, or let you down? Should I be feeling guilty, or let the judges frown? Cause I saw the end before we'd begun, yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won."

I can see everything... all that is... all that was... all that ever could be. And yet he hadn't seen this coming. Or maybe he had, and he'd chosen to block it out. How else could he explain the feeling he'd had when he first set eyes on Tala? Like he'd been incomplete until that moment, searching for the missing piece that he had no idea had existed. How else could he explain the inevitability of the situation as he closed the TARDIS doors behind him? He shut his eyes and felt part of himself crash down inside him. Still, he had two hearts. One broken one wouldn't make much difference. Nothing would anymore.

"How did she take it?"

He looked over to see Holly sitting on the floor, her book cast aside. She'd finished Casanova and moved onto reading a play he'd never even heard of, called Lobby Hero. She pulled her glasses off and put them carefully on the ground. Holly. His friend. All he had left now. He resisted the urge to run to her and be comforted.

"Not well."

Holly nodded as she hugged her knees to herself. "I take it she's not coming then."

He shook his head heavily.

Holly nodded again. "But you can visit right? I mean, Tala still needs her daddy…" From the look on his face she guessed she'd said the wrong thing.

"Rose said she'd rather I didn't," he said slowly. "That it would only confuse Tala. She said she'll explain to her one day, make her see it wasn't my fault."

Holly frowned. "She can't do that, you've got rights."

"Says who?" The Doctor was utterly resigned to his fate. "I don't exist officially on this planet. No court would ever take up the case. Anyway, Rose is probably right. Tala deserves better."

"Don't say that…" Holly began to try and comfort him, but he interrupted her.

"Holly, just please stop trying to make me feel better!" he snapped unintentionally. "I'm a rubbish father! What kind of father would give someone the ultimatum to either live in one place with her daughter or in another without her? I was willing to leave Tala behind-"

"For her own good!"

"- Just so I could have Rose," the Doctor finished. "Fathers don't do that."

There was a long pause.

"So this is it then?" Holly ventured finally.

"Yes. This is it." The Doctor nodded. He let out a long sigh. "Rose is going to come round and collect the last of her stuff tomorrow. Could you…?"

"Sure." Holly nodded. "You sure you don't want to talk to her though? Say goodbye?"

"There's nothing left to say." Holly's heart ached to see the Doctor, her Doctor, so crushed. He was usually so full of life. Even in the last three months, even when he'd been grieving for the loss of Rose the first time, he'd still had a spark, some life force inside of him which had captivated her attention from the moment she'd seen him. Now there was nothing; when she looked into his eyes, the rich colour was fading

"I'm going to my room for a bit, Holly. You'll be okay, won't you?"

"Of course." Holly nodded. "If you need anything…" He didn't reply. Holly tried to feel pleased. She had the Doctor to herself again. But what kind of doctor was he now?

The Doctor lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. It was over. What did he expect? Rose, his beautiful, wonderful, kind Rose, had been forced to choose between him and her daughter. What kind of mother would have abandoned her own child? He'd have thought less of Rose if she had come with him, leaving their tiny child behind.

Still, it was strange to think he'd never see her again. Even when he'd left her last time, he'd known that it was possible to see her again. Now it was final; Rose didn't want to see him again, didn't want him "coming around here, messing my life up all over again". He closed his eyes in pain as he remembered how she'd reacted.

She'd been so happy to see him, like the old Rose again. Her eyes had sparkled and her laughter had sounded from every corner of the flat. He hated doing this to her again. This was how Rose should be, how she deserved to be. Forever happy, forever laughing. He'd caused her too many tears. Maybe she was better off without him.

Her face had fallen as soon as he'd mentioned their options. She'd taken a few seconds to gather her thoughts. Then she'd started shaking her head, insisting there was another way.

"Tala won't be any trouble! She'll be fine! She doesn't need looking after, I don't need looking after! We'll be fine! Please! Please Doctor!"

He wished he could make her understand. He'd failed to protect his family once before; he couldn't bear to fail again. Tala was so much safer here, away from him. Rose was much safer on her own.

So this was it. Done. Over. Finished. Complete. This was the beginning of his new life. How many times had he been through this, he wondered. Leaving someone he loved behind, someone he wanted to look after more than anything in the world. His life had been a continual hello-goodbye process. Nothing was static, nothing was boring; it never stayed still long enough to be boring. But nothing was safe, there was nothing he could hold onto and take stock for a few seconds. When you can feel the earth moving, it's very hard to stay still and concentrate on yourself. He should do that more often.

So a new life without Rose. That was fine. He still had the TARDIS. He still had Holly. Holly, his friend, his confidante. The one who would stick by him through anything. Like Rose… No, not like Rose. He wasn't going to mess things up like he had with Rose. He wasn't going to let go of himself enough to risk hurting them both all over again. He wouldn't leave Holly behind anywhere. Holly was his chance to make things right. He owed her that much.

"You touched my heart, you touched my soul, you changed my life and all my goals."

Rose had never thought she could feel worse than when the TARDIS went away that time. The feelings had overtaken her: disbelief, hurt, grief, anger. She'd never thought that anything could feel worse than that. She hadn't expected this. As the Doctor walked out of the door, all those feelings came rushing back, bigger and even more painful than before.

She'd stood in the hallway, trembling, unable to gain control of her nerves. She found herself murmuring.

"Turn around. Turn around," she willed him, praying the door would open again. But it didn't.

It was a joke. She couldn't believe it was happening again. And this time it was her fault, all her fault. She'd chosen this. But what he expected? That she could just cast aside Tala, put her hand in his and let him take her away from her family all over again. Tala was her world, she'd had to be; he'd left her all alone. She couldn't just abandon her daughter like… Like he abandoned me.

Jackie had come into the hallway of the flat.

"I thought I heard the door go," she said, looking around. Rose didn't know if she expected the Doctor to be hiding somewhere. Mind you, that wouldn't be entirely unexpected… he was a strange one.

"Yeah." Rose forced the words out. "Yeah, he's… gone, Mum."

"Gone where?" Trust Jackie not to get the catch in her daughter's voice.

"He's just gone," Rose repeated quietly. "He won't be coming back." She turned round and pushed past her mum, making her way into the living room where Tala was in her cot. At least she was the consolation prize, an amazing consolation prize. Rose picked her up and looked at her daughter. How could he have ever thought she'd leave her behind? Just the thought of it made her hold onto her tighter.

"What? Why?" Jackie followed her daughter back in. "Rose, you're not making much sense."

I never do. Rose collected herself before continuing. She faked a smile. "He's going away without me again. It's complicated, Mum, but we won't see him again." She kissed Tala's head. "I'm just going to give madam a bath."

Jackie had followed her into the bathroom. "But Rose-"

"Mum!" Rose said more sharply than she meant to. "Please. I don't want to talk about it. He's gone, he's not coming back, end of story. I need to bath my daughter."

As he'd left he'd repeated that sentiment again. Have a fantastic life. She'd wanted to scream at him HOW? How could she have a fantastic life without him by her side? Her definition of fantastic had changed since she'd met him all that time ago. Fantastic no longer meant settling for a flat on the Powell Estate. She wanted so much more now, she'd been promised so much more. He'd raised the bar for what fantastic meant. How could anything ever compare to what he'd shown her?

She loved Tala. She did. But she wondered if this was to be her life now. Was she supposed to stay here, look after Tala, watch her grow up to look and behave more like her father everyday? Was she supposed to sit her daughter down when she was seven or eight or nine and tell her all about this wonderful man who had changed her mum's life but who had had to go away because he couldn't be a father? Would she have to watch as her daughter made the same mistakes she had, getting her heart broken time after time? And would she finally have to watch Tala leave home for a new life, without her? Once upon a time, it was all she'd expected to happen. Watching her mum, it was all she knew. Then she'd met him and he'd shown her there were other ways to live her life. She could help people, she could change lives, she could save the world. Her, Rose Tyler, daughter of Jackie and Pete (deceased) from the Powell Estate, she could do something bigger. He'd shown her what was possible and more… he'd shown her that she deserved something more. Now she was sentenced to a lifetime of being the old Rose. And it was all her fault.

The first time he'd left her had been bad enough. But there was still a tiny part of her that had believed he could come back, that he would never really forget her totally. She'd dreamt about the moment she'd see him again, imagined what she would say. This time there was no hope, no wishing. It was over.

Holly felt she ought to say something as she let Rose into the room. It had surprised her that the door had opened, but the TARDIS obviously recognized Rose. Maybe the old machine was even nice to Rose when she was on board; God only knew the cruel tricks it played on Holly sometimes.

"That's a lot of stuff," Holly remarked now, looking round. The room looked like a museum. No, it was far too untidy for that. Museums were orderly and structured and labeled. This room was covered in bits and pieces. It was strangely cool compared to the rest of the TARDIS, like it had been frozen or something. Things were just lying on the floor, as if they'd just been dropped and left. And the bedclothes were still folded back messily as if someone had just got out of bed…There was sharp intake of breath from Rose. Holly turned to look at her.

"It's the same," she said softly and hesitantly, her hand resting lightly on her mouth. "It's… just the same, just like it was when I left that morning…" She picked up a pair of jeans off the floor. "I was going to wear them until I saw how hot it was out there." She took some more steps into the room, looking around. Finally, she turned back round to face Holly again. "He's never touched a thing, has he? He's… he's kept it as it was."

Holly shrugged unhelpfully. Then she noticed the apple core in the bin. It was only just turning brown, like it had been in there a few minutes rather than over a year. "Impossible…" she muttered, taking a closer look.

"What is?" Rose demanded.

"This." Holly picked the apple core up, not really thinking what she was doing. "It's…"

"It's the apple I had for breakfast." That last morning on the TARDIS had all come rushing back to Rose the second she'd set foot in the room. They'd run out of bread and cornflakes on board. She was going to go shopping to restock while they were here. All she'd found to eat was an apple. She looked at the core being held daintily by Holly between her thumb and forefinger. "But shouldn't that have decomposed by now?"

Holly nodded. "Yes… unless…" She dropped the apple core amongst the debris on the floor and headed back out to the control room. Rose hurried after her, bewildered as the other girl began tapping at a screen.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning. "Should you be touching that? I mean, won't the whole universe implode or something if you touch the TARDIS?"

"He fed you that line too then." Holly rolled her eyes. "He does like to think he's god, doesn't he?" She punched a few numbers in. "It's all pretty simple really, just a case of knowing what you're doing. Anyway, this is just a sensor for what's going on on-board. Nothing to do with flying the thing, I haven't quite figured that out yet. Ah, here we are!" She had brought up a map of the TARDIS on the screen. She lightly touched the room corresponding to Rose's room. Instantly, facts and figures appeared on the screen. Rose tried to read them over Holly's shoulder but there was too much for her to get her head around. Holly, however, was flying through the page, scrolling quickly.

"Status!" she exclaimed finally, as she found what she was looking for. She tapped the word and more information came up. "Right, let's see." She pulled her glasses out of her pocket and put them on. "Room 4123b… did you know that's what it was called?" She continued without waiting for an answer. "Currently unoccupied. In use. Seal broken 14th May 2008 Earth time… oh, that's the Galifreyan date… Sealed 10th May 2007…"

"The day I left," Rose said.

Holly nodded. "Type of seal, hyper-glacial."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure, just hold on one second." Holly pressed a few more buttons. "Here we are… Hyper-glacial… deep-freeze. Preserves until seal is broken. God, it takes up phenomenal amounts of energy to do this. Not recommended for long term preservation. Prolonged usage can result in…"

"Result in what?" Rose tried to push Holly out of the way, but the taller girl stood her ground. "Result in what, Holly?"

"Power outage," Holly said distantly. "The TARDIS could lose all its energy and… well, die."

They met each others' eyes.

"You mean… he risked the TARDIS and… himself… to keep my room the same?" Rose was in disbelief.

"Looks like it." Holly reset the screen. She looked at her watch. "I suppose we better start packing then. I mean, that's if you want my help…"

Rose didn't reply immediately, trying to filter the facts through her mind. Finally she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah great, I could do with some help."

"And as you move on, remember me, remember us and all we used to be."

Rose sealed up the last box and placed it by the door of the TARDIS. She was wearing her oldest clothes; she'd expected to find her old room dusty. That's if it was even still her room. Part of her had expected to find all her things already stored away in some long forgotten area of the TARDIS, and that Holly would be installed in room 4123b… she wondered what had happened to 4123a… maybe that was another part of the Doctor she'd never understand.

"Is that everything then?" Holly asked, as she dumped her last box on the floor next to the others. She looked at the mountain of stuff. "How are you getting all this back to your place?" And where was Rose going to keep it when she got it there?

"Howard… my mum's boyfriend… he's got a van," Rose explained. "He's coming soon." She hoped. She didn't want to linger here unnecessarily now the chore was done. She turned to the other girl.

"Right well. I better be off then," she said as cheerily as she could manage.

"Rose, is this really the only way?" Holly spoke impulsively, surprising herself. She hadn't known she was going to say that. But it was the thing to say.

Rose nodded, biting her lip firmly. "Yeah. It's… it's the right thing to do. There's no way I can leave Tala and… this is his life. I wouldn't expect him to give it up." She blinked away tears. "It's fine, honestly."

"He's upset though."

"He'll get over it. He always has before." Rose forced a smile. "He's got you, anyway, hasn't he? You two will have such a fantastic time, he'll forget who I even am."

"He won't, he…" Holly started, but was interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry. I thought you'd gone." The Doctor had entered the room and he lingered on the other side uneasily.

"I'm just on my way." Rose took a deep breath. She heard an engine outside. "That'll be Howard now. I'll just hand these boxes out to him."

Holly looked over at him as Rose disappeared outside. "You could at least offer to help her with the boxes," she pointed out.

"She doesn't need my help."

Rose returned finally. She pasted an over-bright smile on her face. "Well, that's me off then. Where are you two off to next?"

When the Doctor didn't answer, Holly felt she had to. "Not sure. Haven't decided yet."

"Well, have fun." Rose nodded. She smiled at Holly. "Take care." To both their surprise, she hugged her. "Take care of him, yeah?" Rose whispered into her ear.

Holly nodded. "Of course."

"And if you ever need anything…" Rose let the thought dangle. Holly nodded.

As Rose turned to leave he finally spoke.

"Rose."

She turned round. "Yes?"

"We'll always have Barcelona, won't we? I won't forget that."

Rose came the nearest to breaking down she'd been all day. She smiled shakily. "I won't forget it either. Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye Rose."

"Goodbye my lover. Goodbye my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me."

Lyrics from "Goodbye my lover" by James Blunt... this song always makes me cry.