So much for a quick update. Oh well. But there is a good reason for it. Ish. Maybe. Kinda. Probably. Perhaps. You want the reason? Writer's block combined with a veritable assload of that terrible phantom Real Life. And more than a shade of forgetfulness. The block still hammers at me relentlessly, but a crack has appeared that happens to be large enough for this little nugget to escape, at least temporarily. I figure this oughta hold you all until I get the third chapter all written and done and such. A word of warning, it's fairly dark. But then, so's my mind. But that's a story for another time…Moving on!

Disclaimer: I live about 30-ish miles from Paisley (which, unless my sources are full of Judoon droppings, is where David Tennant is from originally), but that's as close as I'm gonna get to owning Doctor Who. Although I DO own a second hand copy of Lance Parkin's "The Gallifrey Chronicles". Anywho…

Interlude I: Dreams of a Rose

It was the engines that woke her up. Their familiar wheezing pulse that signified that the ship was in flight. Assuming, of course, that one could actually "fly" through time. But either way, they were leaving Satellite 5. None of this actually registered right away, however. What did register was that the Doctor and her were inside the TARDIS, heading somewhere. And Captain Jack – that crazy 51st century Time Agent who went for anything with a pulse – was either being really quiet or wasn't with them at all. "What happened?" she asked as she pulled herself up.

"Don't you remember?" For a fleeting instant, inexplicable joy coursed through her. It was him! Her Doctor, her first Doctor. Before he'd changed. Maybe he hadn't – what was the term he'd used? regenerated – after all! The joy was followed by an eerie pit-of-the-stomach feeling of recognition. 'I've seen this, it already happened,' she thought. "It's like…there was this singin'…" she said uncertainly.

"That's right, I sang a song and the Daleks ran away!" Again, that voiced she loved. That voice she missed. 'Why am I going through this again?' she asked herself. 'I don't want to see this again. It's already happened and I can't change it. What's the point of this?' She sat up a bit more and spoke almost involuntarily. "I was at home…no, I wasn't. I was in the TARDIS and…there was this light. I can't remember anything else!"

Through all of this, she'd only glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Whereas last time she wasn't paying too much attention, this time she noticed that the Doctor was eyeing his hand with something akin to dismay. His expression changed as he turned toward her…almost apologetic for something he had done or was about to do. "Rose Tyler," he grinned. "I was gonna take you to so many places. Barcelona! Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it, fantastic place! They've got dogs with no noses!" He laughed after this last. "Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!"

"Then why can't we go?" she asked. Part of her – the part of her that was going through this for the first time – was genuinely confused. The part of her that had already seen it, on the other hand, was instantly alert. 'I was right. It's not a dream. He's going to be ripped away from me again, he's gonna turn into that new person, that tall…very handsome…dreamy…oh my God, that's it! I'm dreaming!' Even with this realisation, however, she was powerless to prevent what unfolded next.

"Maybe you will. Maybe I will. But not like this!" He was grinning differently now, Rose saw. Somewhat like the usual madness she'd associated with the 900-something-year-old Time Lord, but different to the point of it being noticable. "You're not making any sense," she told him.

His reply was not what the "first time" part of her expected. "I might never make sense again," he came close to issuing a mad-scientist style cackle, she could see. "I might have two heads, or no head. Imagine me with no head! And don't say that's an improvement. But it's a bit dodgy, this process," he added, sobering up a bit now. "You never know what you're gonna end up with." 'No,' she thought. 'Not agai-'

Without any warning the Doctor hunched over and staggered away from the console in agony. The part of Rose that was paying attention noticed a faint light coming from his midsection and slowly spreading all over him. She stepped forward crying his name, stopping as the Doctor all but yelled for her to stay away. "Doctor, tell me what's going on," she said.

A pain-filled smirk greeted her as he looked up. "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no-one's meant to do that." It amazed Rose – the "I've already seen this" Rose - how he could be sarcastic and pseudo-condescending while going through that amount of pain. He grimaced and looked up again, this time wearing a mixed look of fear, pain, and his usual "weight-of-the-universe-on-my-shoulders" look. "Every cell in my body's dying," he started.

"Isn't there something you can do?!" Rose exclaimed. The part of her that had just left the near-empty Satellite 5 was in mental hysterics. How would she get home if he died? The Doctor was talking again. "Yeah, I'm doing it now," he was saying. "See, Time Lords have this little trick. It's sort of a way of cheating death. Except," he grimaced again and looked up once more. "It means I'm gonna change. And you're not gonna see me again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face." The grin was back, but only for a second. "And before I go-"

"Don't say that!" The "dreaming" Rose agreed whole-heartedly. Dream – well, nightmare – or not, she really didn't want to see this again. Hearing the Doctor say it (again) was bad enough without…without…

"Rose," The Doctor interrupted her thoughts. "Before I go, I just wanna tell you: you were fantastic," again the grin showed itself. "Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I!" It was now a fully fledged smile, teeth and all. As she watched in fear and confusion, he straightened.

Then the light and flames came. Rose forced herself not to look away, even as the brilliant golden light intensified around her guide to the many worlds she'd seen since meeting him. Although she couldn't quite recall the light being quite that bright. Nor could she remember him screaming –

"Doctor!" She cried. "Doctor, what's happening?!" Nothing. No answer save the constant agonised screaming. Rose raised her hand to her eyes as the light grew even brighter, engulfing the Doctor completely. She continued calling out to him, asking him to tell her what was happening, but to no avail.

After what seemed like hours (although it was actually less than a minute or so), the light intensified to the point that Rose could no longer see the Doctor. Come to that, she could barely see the TARDIS through the brightness. The Doctor's pained yells were drowned out by a sudden roaring, and as both the brightness and the noise overtook her Rose became aware of two things: first, where the Doctor had once stood was now a small pile of ashes not entirely unlike the remains of the Daleks she had unknowingly disinegrated on the now-derelict and left-behind Sattelite 5. Second was a burning feeling all over her skin, much like what she had experienced with the Time Vortex but much stronger.

Looking down, she saw that the feeling of burning was totally justified. Seconds before oblivion claimed her she saw that she was being literally turned to dust and swept away –

She sat up suddenly, gasping and seemingly ignoring the concerned Time Lord she'd inadvertantly whacked on the chin. The Doctor, holding his injured face with one hand, repositioned himself so that he was sitting beside Rose as she calmed down and regained her breath. "Alright, point taken," he mumbled lightly. "Note to self: don't try to awaken companions suffering from nightmares – "

He was cut off as Rose leapt at him, patting him all over then sighing with obvious relief once she was convinced he was real and not some figment or hallucination. "Oh thank God, you're not dead, I thought you'd died, there was this dream, I…I was…" She broke off, holding the Doctor – her new Doctor – and crying softly into his chest.

The Doctor put his arms around Rose and held her to him, feeling her shoulders shake in time with her sobs. "Sshh…easy…it was only a dream…I'm not going to leave you, Rose…I'd never do that…" He continued in this vein until she'd stopped and looked up at him, opening her mouth –

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as the cell door opened and a pair of blue-uniformed guards came in. Simultaneously they trained their rifles onto Rose and the Doctor, motioning for them to stand. "Come," one of them intoned in a deep gravelly snarl. "The General wishes to see you."

-----oOoOo-----

Ooooo…"The General". Scary…

I'm gonna leave it here, methinks. I could continue on, but it'd just be pointless dialogue that wouldn't actually move the story anywhere. Besides which, the dialogue in question would be better suited for chapter 4, when Rose and the Doctor meet the mysterious figure shown last chapter.

Also, since I'm such a nice guy (and because my lack of updates is probably not winning me any fans/favours), I give to thee a teaser for the next chapter – "Romance Interrupted, Or What I Did After Saving Existence":

Squall rose to his feet, catching the attention of all those at the table nearby. "For the past few months I've been going through something of a change," he began, purposely ignoring Zell's muttered comment of "no shit" or something along those lines. "And while you've all had a hand in it, none of it would have been possible without the presence of a very special person. She's helped me through the aftermath of Time Compression, and she's stood by me even with all my insecurities. She made me see that I had friends, that they were worth fighting for and that they, in turn, would fight for me. This special person helped me to turn my life around, as well as take it into a whole new direction. Since then I've looked at it – and her – with a different perspective." Here, he paused and turned to Rinoa, one hand reaching for her's and the other going for his jacket pocket.

"Rinoa, you've made happier than I've ever been. You kept me sane in the weeks after the fight with Ultimecia, and brought me closer to the people I grew up with. More than that, though, you put up with me even when I constantly gave you nothing but grief. You believed in me every time I didn't, and I'm a better man because of it." His hand left hers as he pulled the other hand out of his pocket and knelt down, revealing what he'd sought seconds earlier: a velvet blue box containing the most expensive ring the Balamb jewellers had to offer. "Will you marry me?"

Amid shocked gasps, cries of "Holy hell!" and "About time, commander!", and the obligatory fainting, Rinoa put her hands to her mouth in shocked admiration. "I…I don't know what to say…" she stammered. "'Yes' might be a good place to start," contributed Selphie, bouncing on her feet in eager anticipation of the Sorceress' answer.

Before the former revolutionary could say anything, however, the intercom sounded its trademark bell followed by the officious tones of the Headmaster's secretary Xu. "Commander Leonhart, report to the Headmaster's office. Commander Leonhart, to the Headmaster's office."

There you have it. Four paragraphs from the long-overdue third chapter of Pandora Tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be considerably light-hearted and fluffy, though never having done either before it may take a while. But I hope you'll bear with me. 'Till next time, amigos!