The More the Glory
or: The Obligatory Doomsday Reaction Fic

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Forty years later, the Doctor came back.

He convinced her, somehow, that it really was him, that the channel was stable, that he could always visit now. She approved of the altered console room, which glowed a cool natural blue. Together they foiled the Rani's mad schemes, rejoicing at a tenuous hint of other scattered Time Lords, and after the crisis they caught up on parallel history. He introduced the current companions, and she introduced her grandchildren.

"You were afraid to tell me," he said quietly, as they stood on the boardwalk before the Torchwood Complex at Bad Wolf Bay. "You should never be afraid."

"I moved on." Her eyes brimmed with guilt and pain. "I waited, and I... then I stopped. I made a life..."

"Several, it looks like." His new face softened, sweet and serene, at her outraged laughter. "But I always knew you were smart, Rose Tyler Smith. You created the best future possible. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Would you have said that before?"

"No. You're well shut of that rubbish, eh?" He rubbed his neck sheepishly, and she couldn't help grinning. "I've learnt something about my traveling, or remembered it. You only get one life. Even in my case, where I get thirteen..."

"You don't change into something you're not," she said softly. "We're not who we were, back then. But we're still us. After all this time, you and me... it's still us."

"Always knew you were smart. But that's not what I meant."

Light poured out of the window behind them. There was a burst of laughter, and gleeful shrieks from the children.

"Tommy doing his magic again," said Rose, her smile at once possessive and proud. "They so love his magic."

The Doctor draped an arm over her shoulder. "You get the life you live," he said. "All you have to do is live it. No matter what comes, no matter what doesn't -- no regrets, no fears -- and no matter what happens, it comes together. You live it, and there's something that brings you to happiness."

They looked out over the water, twinkling under the running lights of a hundred zeppelins. The city gleamed; the horizon glowed. Even the sunset was rosy. With perhaps, thought the Doctor wickedly, a touch of Granny Smith.

"We've made a good world here," said Rose, running her hand over the rail. "It's got problems, but there are bits where it's not got problems, and that makes it all worth it." She looked up at him. "You'll be back, yeah? Any time you need a rest?"

"Any time you need a Doctor. Maybe both."

The music started, and there was another burst of cheering. He brushed a tear from her cheek. Then, with a shared smile of perfect understanding, they linked arms and walked into the light.

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Note: Sorry for the emo psychobabble. It's just that egad!