Chapter Seven – Of Accusations and Broken Hearts

The Doctor stared at Rose with one hand to his cheek. His mouth gaped like a fish struggling for air. Finally, as she turned her back on him, he muttered, "Blimey. Just like her mother."

Christopher stepped forward, the tails of his coat flapping in the breeze. His eyes flashed with icy indignation. "I would order you to leave, sir, were it not for the fact that you are still the Lady Rose's guardian and the chance that she might think poorly of me for doing so."

"And what have I done—lately, that is—to deserve such harsh treatment?" The Doctor crossed his arms and stared down Christopher.

"It is you who have been harsh, sir, in your absence without so much as a by-your-leave to the lady."

"Oh, that." The Doctor scratched the side of his nose and made a bit of a face. "Right. Well, I suppose I can see that she might've been a bit upset, but surely she's gotten over it? After all, I'm back. No harm done!"

"No harm—!"

Rose put a hand on Christopher's shoulder, stopping him. Softly, she requested, "Give us a minute, yeah?"

He searched her eyes and nodded, but before taking his leave, kissed her—gently, lingeringly, with restrained promise—in full view of the Doctor.

The Doctor's eyes bugged out. "What the hell...? Did he just...? Rose, Caleb just kissed you! What, you have a couple of dances with the bloke and he thinks he has the right to do that sort of thing?"

She glared at him. "His name is Christopher, just in case you feel the need to insult him again. Why is it you can never get my boyfriends' names right?"

"Hold on, did you say boyfriend? Rose, what's going on here? It's like I've fallen into another parallel universe or something! I mean, really—I go out for the day and suddenly you're letting the locals woo you?"

"Not all of 'em, just Christopher," she said. The Doctor looked so funny with his forehead scrunched up like that and his eyes so wide and disbelieving. He looked so familiar, so exactly like she'd remembered that for a dizzy moment it seemed as though they'd never been apart. But they had. For a very long time. She had to keep that in mind, to fight the impulse to throw her arms around him. She had to remember that the man she worshipped had gone off and abandoned her her in this alien village. Rose bit the inside of her cheek to keep her composure. After two deep breaths, she managed to ask, "Why?"

"Why? Why what? Why are you wooing the local blokes? How should I know? You're the one getting cosy with Mr Knee-Pants over there. What was he doing anyway? Tying your shoe? That's quite a big liberty for him to be taking, considering the morals of the time. You ought to be more careful. A lot of these people equate familiarity with commitment. If you end up engaged by accident there won't be much I can do to bail you out."

"He wasn't tying my shoe," she said calmly. "He was asking me to marry him. Actually got on his knees to do it. The planet where chivalry never died, this is. Now tell me why. Why did you leave me here?"

A crease appeared between the Doctor's eyebrows. "Well, you were sleeping. I figured you'd have a hangover, at the least, and your feet would be sore from all that dancing, so I decided to let you have a lie in. Mrs Morris knew I'd gone—didn't she tell you?" He paused. "Did I hear you right a second ago? Was he really asking you to marry him? Blimey, the men around here move fast."

Rose covered her mouth to stifle a sobbing laugh. The light wind stung her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief. "S'only been a day for you, yeah? A few hours? Where'd you go?"

"I had a hunch this morning, but like I said, I didn't want to wake you." His eyes lit up. "Remember that signal the TARDIS picked up just before we crashed? You're not going to believe what I found! I can hardly believe it myself—except that I was there, so I rather have to."

He grinned, pausing only for a quick breath before rushing on.

"I would've been back hours ago, but I had a spot of trouble with the repairs I made. Had to stop over on a little planet all the way on the other side of the galaxy. Food's terrible, but they have a smashing mechanical shop. Got the old girl up and running better than ever! Anyway, I came back just as soon as I got everything hooked back together. Am I too late for supper?" He paused and sniffed the air. "Hold on. I could have sworn it was autumn, here."

Rose tugged her shawl around her shoulders and watched as the Doctor licked a finger and held it to the breeze. He knelt to examine the flowers poking up from the dark soil, going so far as to taste the dirt with the tip of his tongue. Then he stood, brushing the dirt from his hands. "I don't understand. It looks like spring, now. Wind's from a different direction, the soil has all the wrong elements in it, and there weren't nearly so many blooming flowers this morning."

When Rose didn't reply, he narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down. "You've lost weight. And your hair... it's not just shorter, you've gone natural. Why do I suddenly have the very bad feeling that I deserved that slap you gave me?"

She looked away, focusing on the blue bulk of the TARDIS to keep her grounded. She would not cry in front of him. She wouldn't let him see how much he'd hurt her. She needed to stay angry, but how could she, with the Doctor standing close enough to touch?

With an intense face, he took Rose by the shoulders. "How long?"

Despite her efforts, she felt herself beginning to tear up and tried to pull away. But the Doctor wouldn't let her. "Rose, look at me. I can tell that you're upset, but you have to tell me. How long have I been gone? How long?"

"Half a year," she whispered.

His face crumpled and his hands fell from her shoulders. He pulled at his hair while turning in a jagged circle. "Stupid! Stupid, stupid!"

"The days are shorter here, of course," she went on. "Been more like nine months on their calendar. But I compensated for it in my head, kept track. Didn't want to forget." She lifted her chin. "So all this time..."

"I did not forget about you, Rose." He stood still and caught her gaze. "Tell me you believe that!"

She shrugged a little. "Yeah, all right."

"Rose, it's only been a day for me. One day! I didn't know... I swear it! I would never have left you behind like this if I'd a choice. You believe me, don't you?"

"I don't know what I believe," she cried. "You've no idea what it's like, do you? Last time, at least I had Mickey! But here? You don't know what it's like to be the only human on this whole little planet. To look up at the stars every night, wondering if—if you're out there somewhere, hurt, or dying, or regenerating. To wonder if I did something wrong, if it was my fault, if I got too boring or wasn't smart enough for you to bother coming back for."

"Never, Rose. Never!" He cupped both his hands along her cheeks. His eyes grew dark and wide, almost feverish. "I promised that I wouldn't leave you behind and I meant it. You could never do anything to make me abandon you! You're brilliant, and beautiful, and clever, and utterly fantastic. This was a mistake. An awful mistake. But... maybe I can fix it. Now that I know, I can go back, make sure I land just a few hours after I left. You'll never know I was gone!"

She grabbed his arm as he wheeled toward the TARDIS. "Doctor! Stop it. You can't do that. We're part of the timeline, remember? If you change it... Reapers will come."

"No." He held up a finger. "Not necessarily. This is what I do, remember? And if I'm clever—which I am—then I can double back and change this whole mess without causing an imbalance. You were never supposed to be here, after all. So, really, I'd just be putting it right again, see?"

Rose shook her head. "You can't do that. What's done is done, Doctor. You can't go back and erase my past."

He leaned against the TARDIS, defeated.

After a long while, he sighed. "Six months?"

"Yeah."

"Could've been worse, I suppose. Keep busy?"

She snorted as ladylike as possible. "Mrs Morris looked after me, taught me to sew. And I got to play an extra in their Season. Just hanging around in the background, but at least all those stupid drama classes didn't go to waste."

"Good for you." Another pause. "And... Christopher, was it?"

"We've been dating. Courting, they call it. Just sort of hanging out, getting to know each other better. There's nowhere to really go out on dates, but we attend dinners and dances as a couple. Stuff like that."

"I see." He slid his hands into his pockets and bounced on his feet. "How long's that been going on?"

"Awhile." She shrugged. "He's a good man, y'know. You'd like him."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm sure. Nice bloke. You've really been dating him?"

"There something wrong with that?"

"No... no. Of course not. You're a woman—he's a man. S'only natural that there'd be... some sort of attraction." He ran a hand through his hair, causing bits of it to stand on end, and then wrinkled his face up. "Dating... Seriously? You never dated anyone before. At least, not while you were with me! I mean, there was Mickey, but he hardly counts. And Adam, but I never got what you saw in him, really. You and Jack... didn't. Did you?"

"Mickey does so count!" she protested, ignoring his question. "He was the only real boyfriend I had after Jimmy Stones. Treated me better than anyone, 'sides you. And I never liked Adam. He was too stupid."

"What, the boy with all the A-levels?"

"S'like I said, stupid. Left me with that Dalek, didn't he?"

"There was that, yes." He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "What about Jack? You didn't say."

Rose smiled with fond memory. "We danced. On an invisible spaceship anchored to Big Ben. During the London Blitz. After he'd saved my life. Can't get much better than that, can you?"

"Jack is an unconscionable flirt—you know that. He'd shag a potted plant if it winked at him."

She giggled, just a little. "Yeah, he would. Never shagged me, though."

"No?" His voice held a causal interest that would've fooled anyone but her.

"What, with the way you staked your claim on me in the control room when he first came on board?" Rose gave a short bark of a disbelieving laugh. "I could've walked into his room naked and he would've refused. He may be randy, but he's loyal, Jack is. He wouldn't do something like that to a friend."

"What d'you mean, staked my claim? Isn't like I branded you or anything."

"Might as well have. Did you practice that face or did it just come naturally?"

"Which face?"

"The one you made whenever a hot bloke came within twenty meters of me. Sort of like when you're facing Cybermen or Daleks—all dark and intense, warning 'em off."

He started to say something, but stopped before the words came out. Rose watched the play of emotions in his eyes and the way they vanished within seconds. He folded his arms and fixed his gaze on a flowering tree across the path. "You've always been free to choose, Rose."

"Have I?"

"I asked Adam on board, didn't I? And Jack? And Mickey? Twice I asked him! I never asked anyone twice, except for you. All those blokes and d'you think I would've travelled around with any of them on my own? Well, maybe Jack," he added after a second's consideration. "After I'd gotten to know him better."

"But I didn't want any of 'em," she stated quietly. "Not Adam, not Jack, and not even poor Mickey. They all saw it. Sometimes I thought that you saw it, too, so I waited. So much more than five-and-a-half hours. Not much use, though, was it? You wouldn't let me be with anyone else... but you wouldn't let me be with you, either."

The Doctor turned to one side and scratched at the dirt with his shoe. He made a couple of odd faces, rubbed the back of his neck, and finally sighed before straightening his posture. "Was he asking you to marry him, just now? Really?"

Rose nodded and smiled faintly. "Called you the ghost in my heart, he did."

"Nah. Not a ghost. Just a Time Lord." He grinned, but a faint grin that quickly vanished. "What did you say—when he asked you?"

"I hadn't answered yet. The TARDIS sort of interrupted."

"Oh, yes? Good timing..." He gave a fond glance toward the TARDIS, then sobered and added, "Or bad, depending on your point of view."

Rose tugged her shawl closed and looked down at the flying strands of silk fringe. She couldn't think what more to say. Certainly, she didn't want to keep on discussing Christopher with the Doctor. But he seemed stuck on the subject.

"Marriage." He sniffed. "That what you want, then? To stay here, get married, have kids, the whole domestic scene? Tired of travelling, are you?"

"Didn't have much of a choice, yeah? S'not like I have my own TARDIS to run away in. Can't do much travelling when there's only horses to take you around. Besides, the country's pretty small and it's the only land on the planet, far as I can tell. I could walk the whole of England in a few days, and then what? S'like the whole country got shrunk and put down in the middle of a bog."

"Listen to you, clever girl! That's exactly what happened."

She glanced at him. "What, you serious?"

"Quite! I told you I went looking for that signal, didn't I? It was way out in the middle of the bog. You'll never guess what it was. Go on, guess."

"A distress beacon?"

His face lit up when he grinned. "That's my Rose. Brilliant as ever! A distress beacon, over a thousand years old."

"And still going? Didn't anyone ever find it?"

"Sure—we did, didn't we? And someone else did, too, a very long time ago. But that's a long story."

"Never stopped you before."

"All right, then." He rubbed his hands together. "Where to start? The TARDIS locked onto the beacon without too much difficulty, though I did have to boost the receptors a bit. I patched the signal to the screwdriver and used that to track it down. Found it three and a half kilometres from here, out in the bog. Nasty place, that is. Got mud all over my coat, dunno if it'll ever come clean."

As he began to tell his story, Rose moved with him to the bench.

"The signal came from a ship, a very old colony ship. It didn't have a lot of people on board —just a few adults and quite a lot of embryos in cold storage. The ship must've crashed here centuries ago," he said, shaking his head. "Everyone died, of course. But the funny thing is, the embryos were missing from their storage tanks."

"Someone took 'em? But these people don't have the technology for that sort of thing. They have babies the old fashioned way."

The Doctor nodded. "It wasn't them. Actually, it was them—the embryos were the villagers' ancestors. I did a DNA scan on Mrs Morris to be sure. She's a direct descendant."

"But who... I mean, how'd they get born?"

"Good question! I asked myself the same thing. When I started investigating the ship, some people arrived. They didn't want me messing around with their sacred relics, apparently."

"What sort of people?"

"Oh, you've probably seen them, actually. Silver skin, large glowing eyes."

Rose gasped. She had seen someone like that, just once, during the Season. "The overseers?"

"That's right. They felt so bad about the ship crashing on their planet that they took it upon themselves to raise all the babies. The funny thing is, one of the pilots had a couple of books with her: Pride and Prejudice and another all about the history of Regency England. The overseers thought it was a description of the world the colonists came from, so they made a replica of 19th century England and set it down in the bog. They didn't get the measurements right, of course, so the land is half the size of the real England. But they named all the cities properly. Your village? It's called Croydon. But you probably figured that out by now."

"And the people recreate everything from the Book," Rose said, nodding. "S'what the Season is. I figured that much out already. Every year they re-enact the Book... as part of their history. That's the one part I didn't understand—why they did it."

"And they live their lives as close as possible to people from that time period. Amazing, yeah?"

"S'wrong."

"No," he said firmly. "They don't know any better. Their lives are good and full, they're not missing out on anything."

"But shouldn't we tell 'em? Let 'em decide for themselves how to live their lives? Let 'em evolve naturally?"

The Doctor sighed. "I'd rather not. It's complicated, but what good would it do them to know that everything they believe in is just fiction? Sure, most religions are no more real, but this is different. It would throw their civilisation into chaos. They'd start evolving, just as you said. They'd develop technologies, better tools, better weapons. They'd expand to the borders of the land, and then what? They'd grow discontented. They'd start fighting for what little land there is, using those new technologies to kill. I won't do it. And neither will you."

Rose shook her head slowly. "I suppose not. But..."

The Doctor stood and extended his hand, wiggling his fingers. "The real question is: who are you going to sit next to at supper?"

Even though nothing had truly been resolved, Rose felt as though a little part of her that had died was slowly reviving. She slid her hand into the Doctor's and gave him a cheeky grin. "I've two sides, haven't I?"

(To Be Continued...)

Author's Note: I've made a slight revision to this chapter—near the end the Doctor tells Rose the name of the village she's been living in. I mention it only because it relates to the title of the story. Originally I called it "Six Months in Croydon" because I thought Croydon was the town that the Doctor accidentally dropped Sarah Jane off at. When a few kind readers pointed out my mistake, I fixed the reference to Aberdeen and Croydon, but since I didn't want to change the title, I had to insert a reason for it to remain the same. Thus, instead of Rose's Croydon being figurative, it's now literal.