Chapter six.
It wasn't long before one of the suns had fully set, giving the view a dimmer but still brightly lit atmosphere that cast small shadows on the walls. All the food had been eaten and they were all sitting in variations around the sofa, patting their full bellies and smiling contentedly.
And to think only hours ago she was beginning to lose hope that she would ever leave that awful jail. To think that she couldn't remember what it felt like to be full, when now in complete contrast she couldn't remember how she was ever hungry...almost. It would take time to actually forget.
The Doctor omitted to mention how phenomenal the food was on Gallifrey. Maybe he would miss it too much if he talked about it?
They sat in silence, letting their bodies adjust to their new fullness and lack of stress. It was funny how much peace the Doctor brought them simply by being there.
After a little while, the Doctor stood up and stretched with an audible, popping sound coming from his shoulder blades.
"All right, you lot?" He said in a half yawn.
Rose gave a sleepy nod, trying to fight off thoughts of where she would be going to bed that night versus where she wanted to go to bed that night.
Whatever night was on this planet anyway.
In the prison they had never had a chance to sync up to the time frame here, without windows or clocks it was kind of hard to anyway, but after hearing the Doctor explain how long the days here were she doubted she would have been physically able to regardless.
"I better get moving, people get antsy if I don't appear for too long."
The three humans stood as well. The Doctor eyed them all thoughtfully for a moment before he led the way and waved them to follow him once more.
"I'll show you some spare rooms I have that you can use." He sighed, "But, just… please be careful okay? Most of what's in them is not mine, well, to be honest, all of it isn't mine. This place doesn't exactly have guest rooms; you'd first need guests for that. But I do have rooms for the overnight guards."
"So where will they stay if we take their rooms?" Jack asked.
The Doctor dismissed the concern with another wave. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Trust me, it's fine."
"What about you? Where will you be?" She hated the way her voice sounded so lost and desperate, but she didn't want to leave him, not yet. She could fight off her itching eyes, her slow and heavy steps, and her stupefied brain; if it would make sure he stayed.
He winked at her.
She blinked in surprise but then turned away to hide her blush.
"Like I said, don't worry. I'm mostly staying in this building anyway and seeing as I do live here…"
"Come off it, stayin' 'ere is one thin', but you really live 'ere? I mean, properly live 'ere?" Jackie scoffed, unable to understand why or how someone would live in such an overzealous and over-stimulating place.
"Oi! What's wrong with it then? I know it's a bit…flashy, and I didn't exactly get a say in a lot of the décor, but the part of this place that's mine, actually mine, well that's not so bad is it?"
Jackie shook her head as if to say, mad, completely mad.
The Doctor ignored her.
They exited the Doctor's office/living space and back into the massive grand entrance hall. They walked down, trailing close behind the Doctor's thin frame and trying to keep pace with his fast gait through their own sluggishness.
The dimmer lighting made all the decorative tables cast elongated shadows that crept up the walls, hiding the faces of those in the photos, making them look sinister.
He turned down a corridor and led them into a lift. Rose couldn't tell how far they went, or even if they traveled upwards or down, but within only a moment, they strode out onto a much more basic landing then from which they departed. She wished they could've used this lift when they first arrived, but she was sure that the Doctor had a reason for it.
The deep rich red carpet was bold, no patterns, and the walls were almost completely bare aside from the occasional weapon harness.
It was hard to imagine the Doctor living comfortably in a place that adorned giant medieval-looking axes and thin but long objects that Rose couldn't begin to identify.
They crossed the corridor and came across a series of modest identical black doors, the only difference of which was a brass number in the dead center.
"Here we are then, now how do you want it? Rose do you want to be alone, or Jackie, do you want to be with Rose, or alone, or… what?"
Rose glanced at her mother. She didn't want to hurt her feelings, but after being cramped up with her mother and Jack for the past three days she was more than ready for her own space and a bed.
"Sorry Mum, but do ya mind?"
To her surprise, her mother looked a bit relieved.
"Not at all sweet'eart. I just wan'ed to see if you would ask, but I t'ink we can all do with a proper lie in and then we can try and make sense of all t'is madness."
She turned to address the Doctor who was casually leaning against a door marked with a large number fifteen. He looked completely out of place with his elaborate royal garb, clashing incongruously with the plain black on the door.
"The person whose room this is, they're not just gonna come up h'ere and… I don't know, kick us out or some'it?"
He chuckled. "No, no, no, nothing like that. I told you, leave it to me and I'll take care of it."
He suddenly clapped his hands and rubbed them together, making Rose jump out of her drowsy haze.
"Right! Allll right. Now, stay in your rooms, lock the doors for everyone but me, and I'll either come to collect you later or get someone appointed to do it. Alright?"
"If we can't open the door for anyone but you, then how will we know whoever you appointed is really, as you say, appointed?"
The Doctor gave Jack a pointed look. "Fine, they will have to say these words exactly."
He looked over Jack really seriously, as if he was about to impart some great wisdom upon him, then he whispered loudly, "Trust me and go to bed."
Before anyone could say another word, he flipped out his sonic screwdriver from some pocket Rose couldn't see, opened the three closest doors, turned on his heel, and walked away with a passing, "sleep well."
Rose stared at his retreating form, trying hard not to believe that this was the last time she would see him.
He promised to be back soon. He lives here.
But no matter how crazy it sounded or how probable his return, his loss still hurt too much for her to feel secure in a reunion with him, unless he was actively standing beside her. The loss of that action left her feeling hollow and even more drained than before.
A hand gently squeezed her shoulder, and without turning, she held the hand on top of her shoulder and squeezed back reassuringly.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"But I do Rose, and I always will. It's ma job to worry abou' you."
Rose turned her head half full of thoughts of the bed in her near future. She forced a smile that she knew her mum could see through.
"Really, I'll see you in the morning." She paused, "or whatever passes for morning here."
She gave her mother a quick kiss goodnight on the cheek, waved a quick goodbye to Jack who was for once too tired to make any comment such as, don't I also get a Kiss, and walked through the door the Doctor was just leaning against.
Once inside and alone, she threw off her shoes, and fully dressed, plopped down onto the bed, promising her battered and decrepit body a proper washdown first thing upon awakening.
She still felt bad for her breakdown before. She supposed now, having a moment to think about it more deeply, that she was just in shock. The Doctor had piled so much on them all so fast, it was no wonder she felt doubtful about everything, even his identity. It wasn't so much that she didn't believe he was the Doctor, just if he was going to be very different from the man she loved.
She was scared to death that the man she loved was dead. But she realized, after spending the day with him, he was still her Doctor, through and through.
As he had said, a little younger-looking, older in age though, less anger, bitterness, and sadness.
That was good, he deserved all of this. All the glory that he'd never admit to liking (even if it was just a small part of him) all the company, she wasn't sure about the riches. He genuinely never seemed to care for that stuff and judging by the way he handled his crown, he still didn't.
Her body was exhausted but her mind swam with all the new information she was forced to absorb in such a short amount of time.
The Doctor was back.
He was really back.
He is powerful in so many ways.
She imagined how different all their adventures would have been if he had access to all he had now, then.
It would have been very different she decided. With that mind thing he can do, they could have saved so many people.
How powerful was it anyway? Did the Doctor think about that himself?
He must have. And knowing him, he felt responsible tenfold for each death, and guilty for forcing himself to get rid of something he never even wanted in the first place.
She rolled over and yawned widely. She remembered earlier when the Doctor had kissed her and she smiled into her pillow, forgetting about everything else for a moment and letting that simple memory fill her with warmth, love, happiness, and content.
With that thought in mind, Rose Tyler fell fast asleep at once.