AN: Look at that! 200 reviews! Thank you, everyone. I hope you enjoy a little anniversary romance.
Chapter 34: As Boundless as the Sea
Rose's fever lingered for a week, and she was still too weak to stand unassisted for a few days after that. The Doctor spent most of her convalescence in their room with her, fetching her food and water and reading to her while she was awake. The video recorder and autocue were almost untouched, and despite their importance to getting them back home, Martha couldn't begrudge his unwillingness to leave Rose's side.
So she was surprised when, ten days after Rose became ill, he started spending every hour of the day working on the video recorder, barely even taking a break for food.
"You seem obsessed with that device all of a sudden," she remarked casually during Rose's afternoon nap on the second day of this.
The Doctor's eyes flicked up to meet hers over the rim of his glasses before he looked back at what he was doing. "Well, this is what's going to get us home. Or get home back to us."
"Right, I know. But seriously—you're barely even taking a break to eat. I hear you out here in the middle of the night, too, so I know you sneak out of bed while Rose is sleeping to work on it more. Last week you hardly left her side, and this week, you barely spend any time with her."
He raised his eyebrows. "That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?"
Martha crossed her arms over her chest. "I prefer to call it hyperbole—exaggeration to make a point."
The Doctor sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I realised the date a few days ago. Not the calendar date," he said quickly before Martha could say anything, "but the date for Rose and me."
"And that is…"
"Currently? A week before our wedding anniversary."
Martha smiled. "Oh, that's great! Do you have anything planned?" The Doctor looked at her, and she finally got it. "Ah. You'd rather not be stuck here for your anniversary."
"That, and I'd rather my wife were healthy enough to enjoy our anniversary—which isn't going to happen as long as we're stuck here." He raked his hands through his hair, leaving it stuck up in all directions. "But yeah. I'm generally rubbish at planning—" He pointed at her when she chuckled. "No laughing, Martha Jones." She pressed her lips together, and he continued. "I did have a sort of vague idea for our anniversary, though. And it's not something I can do stuck on Earth, since the location itself is non-terrestrial."
"Okay, so you had plans to take her to some alien resort. Which, I have to say, is far more romantic than I would have expected from you." The Doctor mumbled something, and Martha cocked her head. "Sorry, what was that?"
"I said, I was going to take her back to Barcelona, where we spent our first holiday as a couple."
"Far more romantic," Martha said slowly, though she was starting to think she needed to reassess the Doctor's levels of romance. As dismissive as he could be of human customs, it was easy to forgot how much he would do to make Rose smile.
She shook her head and moved on. "But you're forgetting something, Doctor. Even if you finished the video recorder today, we have no way of knowing when Billy Shipton will arrive—and until he does, we're stuck. So do you have someplace more local in mind to take her?"
The Doctor stared at her, and she sighed. "Doctor, it's your first anniversary. You can't pretend it isn't happening just because you can't take her where you want."
He took his glasses off and closed his eyes. "She doesn't have the energy to do anything right now," he said wearily. "We might be able to go out for a nice dinner, but I really wanted…" He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
Martha thought for a moment. It really wasn't fair that they would basically miss out on celebrating their first anniversary because the separation from the TARDIS had taken such a toll on Rose's health.
A glimmer of an idea occurred to her. "Look, I know you've said you can't just tell yourself to come pick us up or something, because of the timelines and all that. But isn't there some kind of… I don't know, medicine or something you could drop off after we get out of here, something that would help Rose handle being away from home?"
The Doctor was shaking his head before she finished her sentence. "It's never a good idea to run into a past or future version of yourself." He tugged on his ear. "It's happened to me a few times, of course, and I've lived through it so far. But the Weeping Angels already made this a weak point, temporally, and meeting my future self would just be asking to create a paradox."
Martha wasn't ready to let go of the idea. "What if you didn't meet?" she pressed. "You could tell yourself to put the anti-tiredness serum just outside our door when you knew you would be out of the flat. Then when this you got back, it would be hanging on the door, waiting."
"And that's the other problem with your idea," the Doctor explained. "I'll have to do more complete tests in the TARDIS to be sure, but I don't think there's a serum or tea or drug I could give Rose to combat this effect. She needs to be near…"
His voice trailed off and a glimmer of hope lit his eyes. "She needs to be near the TARDIS. So if we brought the TARDIS back here and just parked until our TARDIS returns to us, that would give her the energy she needs to get through the rest of our time in 1969."
She could see him running calculations in his head, probably figuring the timey-wimey risk factors. Then his face split in a wide grin and he jumped to his feet. "Thank you, Martha," he called out as he bounded out of the flat. He only had a week to plan the perfect weekend, without the benefit of either the internet for booking the reservations or a time machine to fudge the timing.
He did think of another problem as soon as he'd left the flat. Martha's wages were enough to live on, especially since he'd paid the first and last month's rent and all deposits with the money he'd brought with him. But they didn't have the kind of discretionary budget that would allow for a romantic weekend away.
He ran his hands through his hair. Well… as long as I'm making a note to bring the TARDIS back to this era, I suppose it wouldn't be breaking too many rules if I made our reservations in the future? And paid in cash, up front?
It was harder than he'd thought to find the perfect location, but finally, he was successful. He jotted down the phone number, both for his own sake and for his future self's sake. When he got home that afternoon, he'd call to confirm the reservation, and everything would be taken care of.
oOoOoOoOo
Rose woke up in stages the next morning—first, she felt the weight of a leg slung over hers, then the tickle of a hand running lightly up and down her arm, and finally she became aware of the Doctor nuzzling into her neck.
"Good morning, love," he whispered in her ear. "Sleep well?"
"Mmm… morning," she mumbled sleepily as she rolled over onto her side, wrapping her arm securely around his waist. "How are you today?"
"Perfect, now that you're awake."
Something in his voice caught Rose's attention. She opened her eyes and looked around the room, trying to find what he was so excited about—then she realised it was her.
"I'm awake, but I've only gotten eight hours of sleep."
The Doctor grinned down at her and brushed his knuckles over her cheekbone. "That, Rose Tyler, is because the brilliant Martha Jones helped me find the solution to our problem."
Rose focused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief. "There's another you nearby with the TARDIS, isn't there?"
"A future us, actually," he corrected. "You'd be able to sense me, and probably yourself, except their TARDIS is shielding them. We just need to remember to come back at some point, probably after Martha decides to leave."
"I owe Martha a huge thank you," Rose said. "It feels good to have energy."
"I can only imagine," the Doctor said, and Rose could feel his own gratitude. Her illness had weighed on him heavily, though he'd managed not to blame himself for it.
"Well, if I'm awake and finally feeling like a normal human being, I'm not going to spend the whole day in bed."
Rose bounced to her feet with more energy than she ordinarily showed even when they were at home, and the Doctor laughed at her excitement. "Don't push yourself too hard," he cautioned. "You're still getting over a serious illness."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry; I'm not gonna run a marathon or anything. I'm just happy that I can do basic things like take a shower and get dressed without wanting to lie down and sleep for another hour after." Her stomach growled. "Mmm, maybe you could make some kind of celebratory breakfast?" She flashed a winning smile at the Doctor.
He made a show of grumbling, but he squeezed her hand as he left the room, and Rose could feel the relief pouring off of him.
In the bathroom, Rose tempted fate by turning the shower warmer than she'd been able to handle since their arrival in 1969. The hot water beating down on her energised her, rather than sucking up her reserves, and by the time she was dressed and in the kitchen, she felt almost like her old self. She spotted a bowl and cup in the sink, so she guessed Martha had already gone to work.
A familiar, banana-y aroma filled the room. Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist and looked down at the frying pan. "Banana pancakes?"
"Well, we don't have a waffle iron." He flipped the pancakes with a deft hand.
Bacon was cooking in another pan, and Rose snagged a piece and leaned against the counter to watch the Doctor cook.
"Do you remember the last time you made banana waffles?" she asked.
The Doctor scoffed. "Of course I do. Sixteen months ago, the morning after I found you on Bad Wolf Bay." His smile softened. "The day I proposed," he added.
The kettle whistled just as Rose finished her bacon, and she was in the middle of making their tea when the Doctor's words sank in. Sixteen months… and if it took us four months to contact Mum and we got married only a few days after that…
"Our anniversary is next week!" she said after she counted back.
Excitement fizzed in both directions over the bond. The Doctor grinned at her and flipped the pancakes in the air and caught them with the plate. "Yes it is, Rose Tyler. One year down, a lifetime to go."
Rose laughed when he pulled her into his arms and spun them around the kitchen in an impromptu dance. When they neared the counter, she twirled out of his arms, grabbed the tea, and sat down at the table.
"We should do something," she said when the Doctor brought the food over and sat down next to her.
"Well, I had plans to take you back to Barcelona, but…" He tugged on his ear. "That'll have to wait until we get the TARDIS back. But! There's no reason we can't go away for the weekend."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Nothing fancy—a cottage on the Isle of Wight, just the two of us." He cleared his throat. "I might have booked everything already, actually. So I could surprise you."
The Doctor's neck had turned a dull shade of red, and Rose took a sip of tea to hide her smile. "That sounds lovely," she said, and he beamed at her. "It seems like I need to go shopping this afternoon," she told him as she poured syrup onto her pancakes.
"I could come with you," he offered immediately.
Rose shook her head. "You stay here and work on the video recorder. The closer you are to being ready to go when Billy Shipton gets here, the faster we can get home." He opened his mouth to argue, and she raised an eyebrow. "Doctor. I'm going shopping for a gift for you."
"Oh. Oh!" He sat up straight. "Well, that's all right then."
"I thought you might think so. Now, we should probably eat since we don't have the TARDIS to keep our food warm for us."
oOoOoOoOo
Each night that week, Rose was able to sleep just a little bit less as the proximity to the TARDIS slowly restored her strength. Grateful as she was to feel like herself again, it did leave her restless, wishing she could do something to contribute to their stay in 1969 or prepare for their return home.
She was flipping through the packet from Sally Sparrow two days later when an idea occurred to her. "Doctor," she said, and he looked up from the mess of electronics surrounding him. "You should probably rehearse this." She waved the transcript at him.
"Rehearse? I'll have it on the autocue, if I can ever get the blasted thing built." He scowled at the sonic screwdriver.
"Right, I know. But that's just the lines. You need to practice the timing, figure out how long to pause between sentences so Sally and Larry can say their bits."
He leaned back in the armchair. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted. "I'll need a rehearsal partner if I'm going to do this."
Rose grinned at him. "I happen to know someone who's looking for something to do."
The Doctor smiled back and joined her on the couch so they could both read off the transcript. "Well, let's get started, then."
oOoOoOoOo
"Roooooose…" Cold air hit Rose's skin, and, still half asleep, she tried to grab at the duvet. "Roooooooose…" the voice repeated.
The Doctor's excitement was what finally pulled Rose awake. She opened her eyes and glared at him. Her morning grumpiness had returned, once the novelty of being awake wore off. Plus, she'd been up late packing their suitcase—it hadn't been easy to hide the Doctor's present without him noticing it.
"Some of us were sleeping," she pointed out.
"Oh, but we've got so much to do today!" He bounced to his feet, already fully dressed.
There was something off in the room, and after looking around for a moment, Rose realised what it was. The window was still dark. She blinked and focused on the time, then looked at the Doctor in surprise.
"It's only five am," she said.
"Yep! And you need to get up, because our train leaves in two hours."
The last of her grouchiness disappeared in the face of his enthusiasm, and Rose smiled and pushed herself upright. "Well then, you make breakfast while I take a shower, and we can go."
He leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers. "Are you sure you don't need any help in the shower?" he suggested, his lips just a breath away from hers.
Rose combed her fingers through his hair and tilted her head back to kiss him. The Doctor trailed a hand up and down her spine, encouraging her to arch into him as his lips moved persuasively against hers. It had been so long since he'd touched her with any kind of intent, and she was tempted to just pull him back down onto the bed.
Why couldn't she do that? There was a reason…
"Train," she mumbled when she'd caught hold of the thought.
"Hmmm?" He dropped kisses along her jawline.
When he started nibbling at her collarbone, Rose nearly forgot why she was trying to stop him, but then she caught sight of the packed suitcase waiting by the door."You said we have a train to catch in two hours."
He sighed and pressed his forehead to hers while they both gathered what was left of their control. "Tonight, Rose Tyler," he promised as he stood up.
"Looking forward to it, Doctor."
oOoOoOoOo
That evening, they sat on the beach and watched the sun sink below the horizon. The pinks and blues splashed across the sky reminded the Doctor of Makuyu, and when Rose took his hand and played with his wedding ring, he knew she was remembering the same thing.
"When did you realise you were falling for me?" she asked. "I know you can't pinpoint when you fell in love with me, and you said on Glaurus that us being together was inevitable from "Run," but there must have been a moment when you realised you were thinking about me as more than just a companion or a friend."
The Doctor dug his toes into the sand and pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth as he thought. "Probably when the Dalek called you the woman I love," he said finally. "I wouldn't normally give any credence to the words of a Dalek, but they kept repeating in my head, long after we were back in the TARDIS." He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back on his hands. "And then I remembered how difficult it had been to give Mickey the order to fire on Downing Street, and I knew I'd been falling for you for a while."
Rose rested her head on his shoulder. "I remember that," she said. "The way you looked at me when you said you could save the world, but lose me… like you really didn't know if you could do it."
"I didn't," the Doctor admitted quietly. "You'd brought light back into my life after so much darkness, and I didn't know if I could let that go."
He cleared his throat. "And then less than a week later, that Dalek called me out on feelings I wasn't even aware I had yet. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I realised it was right." He looked over at Rose and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "What about you? When did I stop being just your grumpy alien chauffeur?"
Rose nudged him with her elbow. "Hey now, I never saw you like that."
The Doctor'd laughter was self-deprecating. "Maybe not, but I'm sure my charming personality didn't sweep you off your feet right away."
She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. "You might not have swept me off my feet, but looking back, I had a crush on you almost from the start." She shot him a sidelong glance. "You have no idea how much it meant to me to be treated like I mattered."
He nodded, remembering what she'd told him after the Brilliant. Given her past, his honest admiration and respect would have been very appealing.
"But the real point of no return was when you took me to 1987. I knew I was attracted to you before then," she said quietly, "but that day was a revelation. Seeing the Reapers take you hurt more than watching my dad die. And it wasn't guilt, either—it was this ache, because I couldn't imagine my life without you."
"Rose." The Doctor's throat closed up, and without words, he leaned over and kissed her gently.
He rested his forehead against hers when he pulled out of the kiss, and Rose could feel all of the emotions threatening to overwhelm him: his fear when she'd been sick, his frustration that he couldn't take care of her like he would have if they'd been at home, and over it all, a love so deep it couldn't be put into words.
Rose placed her hands over his hearts. "I'm sorry," she murmured. He tried to cut her off, but she shook her head. "No, I haven't said this yet, and I need to. You and Martha both tried to tell me to take care of myself, and I ignored you because I was annoyed that I had limitations. I put my health at risk, and I know that upset you."
The Doctor swallowed hard. "Your stubbornness is one of the things I love about you," he said, and she could tell he was choosing his words carefully. "I understand why you didn't want to believe you needed to rest. But I won't lie, Rose—you really worried me when you made yourself ill. Without the TARDIS, you would've had to rely on primitive human medicine if you'd taken a turn for the worse. Please, if something like this happens again…"
His words trailed off, and Rose nodded. "I'll try to take better care of myself," she promised. "For myself, and for you."
"Thank you," he breathed. "I don't know what I'd do without you, love."
Rose opened her mouth to tell him he'd never have to find out, but the words got stuck in her throat. Anxious to dispel the sombre mood that threatened their celebration, she jumped up and pulled the Doctor to his feet.
"Come on." She tugged him towards their cottage. "I packed my new green dress, and I want to go out for dinner and dancing."
oOoOoOoOo
Rose woke up the next morning to the distracting sensation of the Doctor tracing patterns over her bare skin. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as soon as he could tell she was awake.
"Happy anniversary, Rose."
She shifted her weight off of him onto her elbow, despite his protests. "Happy anniversary," she returned. "I want to give you your present now."
The Doctor's eyes lit up and he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Where is it?" he asked eagerly.
Rose laughed as she reached into the bedside table where she'd stashed the wrapped package while unpacking the suitcase. "Here," she told him, biting her lip as she handed it to him.
The Doctor tore the paper off, then looked at the box with just a hint of puzzlement in his eyes. "A camera?"
She understood the question. They had far superior cameras on the TARDIS: cameras capable of printing as soon as the picture was taken, cameras that captured the scent of a moment, cameras that let you edit directly on the device. So why had she given him a vintage film camera from 1969?
"It'll be easy to remember the hard parts of this trip," she told him quietly. "But we still have a few weeks left, and I think they're gonna be good. I wanted us to be able to look back at the happy moments from when we were here."
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open slightly.
"I thought we could start today, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery and taking pictures of each other?"
The Doctor set the camera down on his bedside table, then reached for Rose and pulled her into his lap. You are the most amazing, incredible, brilliant woman, he told her as he sucked her bottom lip between his own.
Rose pulled back and shifted to straddle him. You like it then? She ran her hand through his hair and smiled down at him hopefully.
The Doctor rested his hands on her hips as he leaned forward to kiss her again. I love it, he assured her. It's a fantastic idea, and I can't wait to get some fun pictures of you today.
Humour sparked along the bond, and then she scooted back a few inches and acted like she was about to get up. Well then, we should probably get out of bed…
The Doctor growled, then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snugly against him. Later.
oOoOoOoOo
Several hours later, Rose stood with the Doctor at the upper entrance to Shanklin Chine, looking down into the gorge cut in the soft, sandstone cliff. "It's beautiful," she breathed, admiring the waterfall cascading down the rock face in front of them.
"Time for the first picture," the Doctor said. "Here, lean against the railing."
Rose tested the strength of the wooden railing, and confident it could support her weight, she spread her arms out on either side of her and reclined back, smiling at the Doctor, who was looking through the camera viewfinder.
"Perfect," he muttered, and clicked the shutter three times in quick succession.
"There's someone on the trail behind you," Rose told him, and he jumped out of the way, smiling at the older couple who walked by.
"Ready to go?"
Rose took the hand he offered. "Absolutely."
They descended into the gorge hand-in-hand, stopping frequently to admire the natural beauty and take more pictures of each other. The Doctor was initially reluctant to hand the camera to Rose, but he acceded to her request when she pointed out that maybe he wasn't the only one who'd want to have good memories to look back on.
They bumped into the same older couple several times, passing them when they stopped, and being passed in turn. Finally, at the base of the second waterfall when the Doctor had taken the camera back and was trying to find the best angle for a photo, the other woman smiled at Rose.
"Are you here on your honeymoon?" she asked while her husband joined the Doctor.
"Celebrating our anniversary," Rose told her, rubbing her thumb over her wedding ring.
"Oh, so are we. Twenty years."
Rose laughed lightly. "Just one, so far." She held out her hand. "I'm Rose Tyler, and my husband is the Doctor."
"Joan Whitfield," the woman returned, shaking her hand. "You know, Nigel is a photographer, if you'd like to get a picture with both of you in it."
Rose had just been wishing for exactly that, but she still hesitated. "We wouldn't want to impose."
Joan waved off her protest. "Nonsense. You're here to celebrate your relationship—it would be a shame if you didn't get at least one picture with the two of you together."
The Doctor joined them, empty-handed and eyes sparkling. "Nigel just offered to take our picture," he told Rose, holding his hand out for her.
"You see?" Joan and Rose laughed.
The Doctor led Rose out onto the grassy bank and wrapped his arms around her waist. She rested her hands over his and leaned back against his chest while the small but pretty waterfall burbled merrily as it cascaded over the rocks above.
They didn't see Nigel and Joan again after thanking them and parting ways. The older couple turned around and headed back up to the top of the chine, while the Doctor and Rose continued on the trail.
The Fisherman's Cottage pub beckoned to the Doctor's empty stomach, but a sign on the trail promised a lookout just around the corner.
"Let's see the view first," Rose suggested. "Then we can eat."
He cast a longing look at the pub, but followed her around the bend. When he saw the way the late afternoon sunlight danced across the water, he forgot about wanting to eat. The sea was calm, and the light shone through the waves, turning them shades of translucent blue and green as the water rippled.
"It's so beautiful," Rose said. "So… endless."
The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to whisper in her ear.
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite."
He felt Rose's breath stutter in her chest, then she turned around and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her right hand went automatically for his hair as she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him.
I love you. I love you so much it hurts.
His own hearts were aching as he moved his lips tenderly against hers. How long are you going to stay with me?
Forever. She gasped when he pulled back to press light kisses to her nose, her eyelids, her cheeks. Forever, Doctor. I'm never gonna leave you.
The Doctor moved back to her lips and kissed her with breathtaking passion. I love you, Rose Tyler. For as long as our forever lasts.