"Doctor?"
"Yes?"
Donna had been thinking about how she could discuss this with the Doctor for a very long time now. Two days ago, she met a little girl who she thought might be Rose. But how could she tell him? She didn't want to worry him, not when he seemed so happy right now. He hadn't seen anyone die in a long time and due to this temporary standstill things had been particularly … standard. And, even if Donna was right in her suspicions, what could anyone do? It's not as though the Doctor would be getting Rose back, she was just a child! But her curiosity was triumphing over whatever other sense she had, and she wanted to know more.
"Donna? Were you going to finish that query?"
"Oh, sorry. What are we doing for supper?"
She just needed to find out how to ask him …
They dined in the TARDIS that night. Bread and soup; one major drawback of time travel was that they hadn't made much money, even with Donna's new job. Satiated and relaxed, she thought this would be the time to broach the subject. She took a deep breath.
"Doctor – you know your friend, Rose?"
He suddenly became very still. "Yes," he murmured in a monotone.
"When was she born?"
"Why?"
"I was just wondering … you know, the ages of your other companions. I know I'm no spring chicken …" What? What kind of cover was that? Donna thought to herself.
"Well, Martha is about twenty, twenty-one. Rose – she was nineteen when we first met."
Silence.
"When was that?"
"Two thousand and five."
She noticed that he answered quickly.
"You still miss her, don't you?"
"Why the sudden interest?"
"Oh, no reason." She couldn't tell him. Not yet. But if her calculations were correct, there was every possible chance that Donna had found her. Just ten years too early …
She walked along the hard, grey pavement towards the substandard flats where the Powell residents had been relocated. Gathering her coat around her and holding her bag tightly, she braced herself. Flat 4A. That was where the Tylers were living now.
Donna had come here on a whim. Her insatiable nosiness was too much to bear. She ascended the roughly carpeted stairs to the fourth floor, where she found the apartment she was looking for. She took a deep breath and knocked three times on the cold wooden door.
Jackie, Rose's mother, opened the door.
"Hello?"
"Hi!" Donna exclaimed with a cheery, professional grin. "Donna Noble! I'm a representative from the SLTHA. I'm just here to find out how you're getting on in the new accommodation. Can I come in, please?"
Jackie Tyler gave her the once over, suspiciously. "Alright, but you can't stay too long. I've got to go to a customer's house."
Donna stared at her, aghast.
"Not that kind of customer, you plum! I'm a hairdresser."