"No one can wound like a lover. It's a truism that happens to be true, and those are rare enough. Rose and I had our share of rows, but the worst only happened after we'd truly come to care for each other. Even love each other.
"And now we come to the climax (er, so to speak) of our story. Who is Aiden? Is he telling the truth? Why has Rose recovered her former life? Is it indeed possible for her to cross back into her old universe? What will John do? What will I do? And just who are you lot, and why am I telling you all of this?
"Time to get to the point."
Rose woke sobbing so hard her entire body was shaking. She was completely disoriented, not knowing where she was or when she was or whose arms were holding her and whose voice was murmuring comfort into her ear. All she could do was cling to that comfort as her heart broke all over again.
"Couldn't hold on," she gasped through her sobs. "I wasn't strong enough. Fell so far--and I forgot him! Couldn't even hold onto my memories. Oh, God, I betrayed him! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry . . ."
A gentle hand stroked her hair as the arms tightened around her. Slowly, she realized that she was naked, and so was the person holding her. His voice--it was the Doctor's. Her first Doctor's. She pulled back to look him in the face.
"Doctor?" she whispered. No, that wasn't right. "John."
His fingers wiped away her tears. "It's me, love."
"I remember everything," she murmured, letting her head fall to his chest again. "Everything."
Consciousness faded again. The last thing Rose felt before slipping back into sleep was a sense of relief that she finally knew who she was.
When she woke again, Rose felt, for the first time in weeks, perfectly calm and clear. She looked over at the bedside clock and realized she'd slept probably about twelve hours. (It was hard to pin down exactly when she'd fallen asleep; she hadn't exactly been watching the clock while she and John went three full rounds the night before.)
John emerged from the bathroom shirtless, rubbing a towel over his short hair. When he saw she was awake, he smiled gently. "Good morning," he said.
She found she had a smile for him as well. "Good morning."
He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. "Are you all right?"
"More than all right," she said. "My head is finally making sense again." She tightened her hand on his. "John, I'm so sorry. I should've told you everything long ago."
"You should have," he agreed, but there was no further reproach in his voice. "I wish you hadn't felt you had to struggle with this by yourself." He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her softly, and she knew she was forgiven. She reached out, wrapping her arms around his neck, and they just held each other for a long moment. It was, she thought, the best thing she'd ever felt.
"Thanks for coming after me," she finally said. "Haven't been thinking too clearly lately, and . . . whatever happens, I need to be sure I do the right thing."
John kissed her forehead. "Why don't you take a shower while I order up some breakfast?" he suggested.
"Good plan." Rose swung her legs off the bed as John got up and reached for his discarded shirt. That was when Rose saw the livid fingernail tracks across his back. "Oh, my God." She flushed deeply as John looked at her quizzically. "I'm sorry about . . ." she gestured vaguely.
He glanced over his shoulder, realizing what she was getting at, and grinned. "That'll be a hot one for the locker room at Albion. Speaking of which, sorry about," he gestured at her neck.
She craned her neck and was able to just see a bright red bite mark on her shoulder. She laughed. "Darcie and Shannon will never let me live that one down." Her smile abruptly faded. "If I ever see them again."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," said John. "We can talk about this over breakfast."
She nodded. He was right--there was no sense getting her brain back in a knot after she finally got it straightened out. She grabbed her overnight bag and went to take a shower.
After the shower, a change of clothes and a little makeup, she felt one hundred percent better. And hungry. As she and John ate breakfast, she told him everything, starting with the dreams.
"You went to see my father?" John asked incredulously.
"I was a little desperate to understand the whole 'Bad Wolf' thing," said Rose. "And you were right; he was perfectly lovely. Nearly did run off with him." She looked down. "I was going to tell you everything then, but that was when I remembered what happened to the Doctor."
"What happened?"
"He--he looked like you. Just like you," said Rose.
"I thought you said he had brown eyes," said John.
Rose folded her hands, trying to think of how to explain. "When I met the Doctor, he looked exactly like you. Exactly. It's like with my mum and dad and Mickey--they had doubles in this universe, and I suppose you must be the Doctor's, only human. But . . . he saved my life. Saved my life and sacrificed his. That was when he changed. He can regenerate when he's dying, change his whole body, and that's what he did." She paused. "I think you and I, we might be playing the same story. If you stay with me, you'll . . ." She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes again. "I couldn't bear it."
"Rose, listen to me," he said. "I believe in aliens, love at first sight, and the Big, Bad Wolf. I don't believe in fate. Never have." He took her hand. "I'm staying with you no matter what. If you leave this universe, I'm going with you."
Rose was overwhelmed. "You--you can't do that for me."
"I can. I will. There's nothing here for me here, nothing that matters--except my father, and he, of all people, would understand. In fact, he'd be completely disgusted with me if I let you go. I want to marry you, Rose." John looked a little startled, as if he hadn't expected to say the last words out loud.
"Um, what?" Rose asked, not unreasonably.
"I want to marry you," he repeated evenly. "Not a very romantic proposal, I know, but there you have it."
Her eyes fell on her open bag as she struggled for something, anything to say. Sitting on top of everything else was the volume of Yeats that Thomas Smith had given her. She leaned down and picked it up. "Your father gave this to me," she said. "He--he said it was a gift for his future daughter-in-law."
"Did he, now?" asked John, raising his eyebrows a bit. She could see a little tension in his eyes.
"He said you'd ask, and that I loved you too much to say no," she went on. She smiled. "He was right."
The tension left John's eyes, and his smile was warm. "Then I'll ask. Proper proposal with a ring and everything, once this is all over."
She took his hand. "We'll face this together, yeah?"
He squeezed her fingers gently. "Together."
The drive to Bergen and then Darlig Ulv Stranden was the polar opposite of the previous day's. The sun was out, the air was fresh, the countryside was absolutely stunning, and most importantly, Rose and John were at ease with each other. She was still afraid of what the day might bring, but she felt far more able to deal with it than she had the previous day.
"Why 'Bad Wolf'?" John asked.
"That was me," said Rose. "See, we were fighting a fleet of Daleks trying to take over the Earth about 200,000 years from now. The Doctor sent me away in the TARDIS because he was sure I'd die if I stayed with him. I didn't exactly take to that."
"Imagine!" said John. He flashed her a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, shoe's on the other foot now," she said wryly. "Mum and Mickey helped me open up the TARDIS so I could communicate with it, and the TARDIS decided to load me up with the power of the Time Vortex so we could save the Doctor. I used the power to scatter the words 'Bad Wolf' through space and time; it was a message to myself. It was how I knew I could get back to him." She looked away. "You saw it, you know. That dream you told me about our last night in England--you saw me as the Bad Wolf. The power, it was killing me, so the Doctor took it out of me by absorbing it himself. That was what killed him."
"But now the words are here," said John.
"Yeah. When the Doctor found a way to get one last message to me, Darlig Ulv Stranden was where we came. I thought that was it; one last message from myself so the Doctor and I could say goodbye," she said. "But it's more. People with absolutely no connection to each other have called me the Bad Wolf here, including you last night, before I'd even told you any of this."
"You seemed to like it."
Rose flushed a little, remembering her response to those words. "Guess I did. You were born in Fellows, too."
"Yfelwulf," said John. "Bad Wolf. Hm. That's uncanny."
"It is. Maybe we were always meant to be together."
"I like that idea." They drove for a little while in comfortable silence before John asked. "Rose--what was your relationship with the Doctor?"
Rose thought for a few moments before answering. It was almost as if the breakthrough she'd had that morning removed a barrier between her mind--what she knew about the Doctor--and her heart and what she felt for him. "It's hard to explain. We lived together, he showed me the universe, space and time, we got in trouble together, got out of trouble together, almost got killed more times than I can count . . . for two years, he was everything to me. Absolutely everything. Not a lover, but far more than a friend. I'm not sure there's a word for what we were. We loved each other, even if we never said it out loud." She shook her head. "And then I forgot him. Just forgot him."
"From what you told me, you didn't exactly have an option in that," John pointed out.
"It just--" Rose sighed. "As much as it hurt to lose him, I know I could've dealt with it. Could've gotten through it, and when I met you, I know we'd still have fallen in love. I didn't get that chance. The universe took it away from me. Never got the chance to stop crying and start smiling at the memories."
"You never got the chance to grieve," said John.
"That's exactly it. He might as well have been dead for all I'd see him anymore. It hurt so much, but I should have been allowed to get through it, you know?"
"I do," said John. "I'd never trade my memories of--of Paula and Emily for anything. Even when I wished I'd died with them. They made me better."
Rose's eyes moistened. After what she'd said the previous day, she'd wondered if he'd ever be vulnerable with her again. "'Swhat the Doctor did for me. He showed me what I could be. I'm the person I am because of him, and now at least I remember why."
"Then I suppose I have something to thank him for," said John.
Rose fell silent as she saw a sign for Darlig Ulv Stranden at the side of the road. John saw it, too, and reached over to squeeze Rose's hand.
"Together, yeah?" he said.
She nodded, swallowing hard. "Together."
In a short while, they were at their destination, and Rose spotted Aiden standing on the beach in his typical light-colored clothing. It passed through Rose's mind that John, with his black trench coat, dark jeans and deep blue jumper, was somehow Aiden's opposite--perhaps in many ways. Something was tingling at the back of her mind. She was glad she'd gotten a full night's sleep (and then some) and breakfast, and that she'd reconciled with John. She had a feeling she'd be needing all her faculties for this.
As she disembarked, Aiden turned to face her from where he'd been standing looking out over the ocean. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten," he said. He froze as he saw John. "Why is he here?"
"I want him here," said Rose. She held out her hand, and John took it as they walked toward Aiden together.
"Come to say goodbye?" Aiden asked, eyeing him warily.
"No," said John simply, giving Aiden his most maddening smile.
"John's coming with me," said Rose.
Aiden's eyes went hard. "Absolutely out of the question."
Rose glanced over at John, the tickling at the back of her mind growing stronger by the second. "Why?"
"You'd just be trading the problems of one universe for another," said Aiden. "You don't belong here, and he doesn't belong there."
"I don't think I understand," said Rose. "My mum and Mickey came from that universe and seem to fit in here fine. John's the Doctor's double--well, his ninth regeneration's double--so why shouldn't he be able to go with me?"
"He can't because he's the Doctor's echo," Aiden explained. To Rose, it sounded more than a bit like bluster. "You can't have two of them in the same universe."
Rose was getting more and more suspicious. "The Doctor said he could meet his other incarnations without creating a paradox. Why would it be so different with John?" Her eyes narrowed. "And how are you planning to take me across, anyway? Even the Doctor couldn't do that."
"Maybe I know a few things he doesn't," said Aiden.
"Or maybe you don't." Rose moved closer to John, and he placed his hands on her shoulders, silently supporting her. "If I was so dangerous to this universe, why would the Doctor want me here? He wanted to keep me safe."
"He was wrong." There was something sinister in Aiden's tone.
"Rarely, in all the time I knew him, and never about anything this big," said Rose. "If I'm going, John's coming with me, and that's all there is to it. We're getting married."
"He's just an echo!" Aiden burst out. "Nothing, really. Hardly even real. Just a way for the universe to make you feel comfortable."
Rose shook her head. "No. That's something I can't believe. I knew the Doctor, and I know this man. If there's anything real, if there's anything in this universe I believe in, it's him!"
"I think we're wasting our time here, Rose," said John.
"I'm beginning to think we are," she agreed.
"You'll be his death. You'll be the death of all the people you care about," Aiden warned. His voice had an edge of desperation to it now. "A few Cybermen and a Dalek are nothing compared to what you'll unleash."
That was when Rose realized something. "Wait--the day the Cybermen first came through, the day of that explosion . . . that was the day I met you!" John's hands tightened on her shoulders. "You got those pictures of the Doctor from my old universe. You're the one who's been crossing over. You're the one creating damage, not me. Derek, Sean, Alyssa, Liz, Jake, all those people who died in that explosion--that wasn't because of me; it's because of you!"
"And you made her believe it was her fault," said John, his voice dangerous.
"I did what I had to," said Aiden. "You know, Rose, I genuinely tried to avoid all of this. If my plans had succeeded, I'd have prevented you from ever getting involved with him." He glared at John.
"What, so you could have her for yourself?" asked John.
"I'd have settled for anyone except you," Aiden spat. "I should have just killed you and taken care of the whole mess."
"What do you have against John?" Rose asked, reaching up to cover one of his hands with hers.
"Nothing in particular against him. Nor even against you, Rose." Aiden reached into one of his pockets. "The combination of the two of you, however . . . well, let's just say that will be very inconvenient down the line. Almost as inconvenient as the Doctor is already, and you are the one sure way to draw him out." He drew a large gun from his pocket. "That's why I have to insist you come with me now, Rose. Alone."
John reacted immediately, pushing his way in front of Rose. There was a sudden high-pitched tone as a laser sight hit John's chest.
"Don't make another move," said Aiden. "This isn't just a gun I have here; it's actually a handheld missile launcher. Very popular in the seventy-fifth century. Now that it's locked onto John, if I pull the trigger, the projectile will find and kill him. As I said, Rose, if you don't come with me, you'll be the death of him."
Rose was suddenly very calm. "No," she said.
Aiden blinked. "What?" John gave her a curious sidelong glance as well.
"I said no," said Rose. "I'm not going with you, and you're not killing him."
"And how are you going to stop me?" Aiden asked.
"Haven't a clue," said Rose. "But you picked the wrong place to try this." She didn't know where the words were coming from, but she knew they were true. She held her hands out. "This is Bad Wolf Bay. The TARDIS and I created it. My place, my power. We're here for a reason, and it's not because you chose it."
Aiden hefted the gun. "I will kill him."
Rose shook her head. "No, you won't. This is your limit, Aiden. The Bad Wolf won't let you go any further."
"That would be my cue."
Aiden looked like he was going to say something more, but then he was interrupted by a grinding and whooshing that Rose thought was the most beautiful sound in the universe.
"No," said Aiden, looking frantically around. "That's impossible!"
"Fun word, impossible," said Rose, her smile lighting up the gray beach as she watched the TARDIS materialize a few meters beyond Aiden.
Aiden whipped around, pointing his gun at the entrance to the TARDIS. The doors opened, and out stepped the Doctor, casual as anything, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.
"Wouldn't pull that trigger if I were you," he said to Aiden. "You'll find the results . . . inconvenient, especially if you like keeping all your body parts in the same place." He grinned and waved at Rose. "Hi, Rose. How are you doing?"
"Wonderful," she half-laughed, half-cried. "Fantastic, even. How are you here?"
"I had help from some new friends," he said. "Friends who have, incidentally, been very busy cleaning up after this young man here." He glared at Aiden. "Just how daft are you, anyway? Do you have any clue, the amount of damage you've caused two universes?"
"I've done what I had to for my people," said Aiden. "To save them from slavery."
The Doctor snorted. "Slavery? Just because someone stopped them mucking about with space and time until the entire universe collapsed? You've some odd ideas. Now, sit tight for a minute while I catch up with an old friend. I've got a sonic screwdriver, and I'm not afraid to use it." He tossed one last glare at Aiden and walked toward Rose and John, whipping out his glasses. He peered at John through them. "Blimey, it's uncanny! I really looked like him?"
"Exactly." Rose wiped away a tear and reached out to him just as he reached her, and they shared a bone-cracking hug. "My Doctor. You're really here. I thought it was impossible."
"Fun word, impossible," said the Doctor. "My being here is actually almost entirely your fault. His, too." He indicated John (who was giving him a deeply suspicious look) with a jerk of his head.
"Are you planning on explaining any of this?" John asked.
"In my own inimitable way, yes," said the Doctor.
"Doctor!" cried Rose suddenly. Aiden had taken off at a full sprint down the beach.
The Doctor hardly looked bothered. He simply pressed another button on his sonic screwdriver.
--and the air suddenly filled with the sound of the TARDIS, only coming from every direction, and somehow lighter and more musical than what Rose was used to. Six blue boxes with sleek lines and without the words "Police Box" on them materialized on the beach and over the water.
Rose looked around in awe. "How?"
A door opened on each of the TARDISes, and men and women emerged, hemming Aiden in. A blonde woman with a strangely familiar face said, "Krev Aiden of the H'Tallgah, you are charged with twenty-eight violations of the Laws of Time. You will be transported back to your planet and your time, there to stand trial." She pointed a small rod not unlike the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at Aiden, and suddenly, what must have been his human disguise fell away, revealing a reptilian creature.
"Time Lords," said Rose. "They're Time Lords. I thought you were the only one."
"I am the last of the Gallifreyan Time Lords, yes," said the Doctor. "These are some of the first human Time Lords. I'm rather proud of them, as you should be."
"Human Time Lords?" Rose repeated.
"Come on," said the Doctor. He gestured for them to follow him toward where Aiden was being apprehended.
As they reached the Doctor's TARDIS, a woman who reminded Rose strongly of Jane stepped out. "Safe yet?" she asked.
"Perfectly," said the Doctor. "Rose, meet Martha Jones, who is simply splendid. Martha, meet Rose Tyler."
Martha held out a hand to Rose. "Pleased to meet you. The Doctor's told me a lot about you."
"He has?" Rose grinned, shaking Martha's hand. "That's a nice change from when I was with him. You travel with him now, yeah? Try to keep him out of trouble?"
"I'm not convinced an entire army could do that," said Martha dryly. "Though I've tried to improve his eating habits."
Rose laughed. "Is he still sticking anything and everything in his mouth?"
"More than a bit orally obsessed, isn't he?" said Martha with a laugh of her own.
"I knew it was a mistake to introduce the two of you," said the Doctor with a grimace.
Rose traded another grin with Martha. "Martha, meet Doctor John Smith."
"Charmed," said Martha. "I'm a medical student, or at least I was before I took up with him."
"Lovely. I hope you're smarter than mine," said John.
"If I may interrupt," said the Doctor, stopping in front of Aiden, who was being led away by a few of the Time Lords, "it's time for explanations. Violet, dear, don't pack him away just yet."
"Yes, Doctor," said the blonde woman respectfully.
"Come to gloat?" Aiden hissed, quite literally.
"Among other things. Care to explain just why you didn't want this lovely couple to get together?" asked the Doctor, indicating Rose and John.
"To save my people!" said the reptilian creature. "We would have all of space and time at our fingertips--"
"Perhaps I'd better cut in to save us a bit of boring ethnocentrism," said the Doctor. "Aiden's people mastered the art of travel between dimensions. Well, 'mastered' is a bit of an overstatement; they reduced a good portion of this universe to Swiss cheese with their experiments. Took out an entire galaxy at one point. That's when the Time Lords stepped in and put a stop to that."
"They reduced us to slavery!" Aiden interrupted.
"They've spent the last century educating your people on how to do inter-dimensional travel without creating new black holes," said the Doctor, rolling his eyes. "Yours is a minority view."
"I still don't understand what this has to do with Rose and me," said John before Aiden could get out another sound.
Aiden refused to acknowledge him. "The Time Lords treat us like children."
"That's because you are, and you haven't the faintest idea of what you're doing. Take this whole fiasco, for instance," said the Doctor. "You thought that you could prevent the Time Lords from ever existing if you went back far enough. But you missed your target and created a hole in time, which my TARDIS fell through. Remember that, Rose? First time we came to this universe?" Rose nodded. "So you continued to muck around, creating more weak spots as you tried to track down Rose and John." He held up a finger to the question John was about to ask. "All in good time. We're getting there.
"Of course, you did have the help of Torchwood in Rose's old universe to help with creating inter-dimensional bedlam. Next thing you know, the Daleks and Cybermen are punching through the Void, which led to Rose and myself sending them back into the Void, which led directly to Rose ending up in this universe, where she met John and fell in love." The Doctor waved a hand around at the human Time Lords and their TARDISes. "And you wouldn't have expected the progeny of my counterpart and the woman who once held all of time inside her to be ordinary, now, would you?"
Rose and John got it at the same moment.
"Are you pregnant?" John asked, turning to Rose.
"No! I mean, I don't think so," said Rose. "Never went off birth control."
"It's all right if you are," he assured her. "We can move the wedding up a few months."
"Shouldn't you actually propose first?" Rose asked pointedly.
"In other words," said the Doctor over them, wrapping up his speech, "in your haste to create a monstrous paradox that would probably have destroyed two universes, you actually created what you were trying to un-create, and that, my boy, is exactly what happens when amateurs get into time travel."
Aiden slumped. "I've failed," he said.
"You've done a good deal more than fail," said the Doctor. "All right, Violet, he can go now."
Violet nodded to the Time Lords who had Aiden in their grip, and they took him into a TARDIS. She gave the Doctor a hopeful look, and at his nod, she approached Rose and John.
"It's truly an honor to meet you both," she said shyly. It occurred to Rose that this young woman could have been her sister, they looked so alike.
"Violet here is your granddaughter, a thousand or so generations down the line," said the Doctor. "Sharp as a tack. Probably the smartest person here, next to me."
Rose heard Martha give a soft snort that she ordinarily would have echoed. At the moment, she was too distracted by her own descendant. "I--um, hello, Violet; I have absolutely no idea what to say to you." She smiled. "This is . . . sort of brilliant, actually."
"It is," Violet agreed.
The Doctor set a hand on her shoulder. "Time for you lot to go. There's still a lot of work to be done." Violet gave Rose and John one last respectful nod before moving off to her own TARDIS. Rose, John, the Doctor and Martha watched as the time machines dematerialized, leaving them alone once more.
"They're really . . ?" Rose asked.
"They really are. Oh, it takes tens of thousands of years--which is actually a very short amount of time by universal standards--and they have a long way to go still, but they'll get there. Your descendants, Rose. Brilliant! Another example of the universe taking a speck of sand and creating a pearl. You come here, which you weren't really supposed to, though the consequences were far less severe than Aiden would have had you believe, and the universe says to itself, 'Hello! Got a bit of trouble here. Why don't I use it to create some people who'll make sure this stuff is dealt with? Great idea!' And there you are." The Doctor indicated John. "Bit of matchmaking with my former self's counterpart, and Bob's your uncle."
"I'm still not sure I understand," said John. "Why didn't he just kill one of us? It would've been simpler."
"Oh, he has this whole hero/martyr complex going on. Not to mention he was more than a little afraid of Rose's friends at Torchwood," said the Doctor. "His whole problem was that he was well-versed in the history of the Time Lords, which is how he found out about the two of you and the Bad Wolf, but he rather overestimated how dangerous Torchwood is in this century based on its reputation down the line, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It's a sight more competent than its counterpart, anyway."
"Was he the reason I got my memories back?" Rose asked.
"In part, yes," said the Doctor. "You'd have held onto them unconsciously no matter what, but you may never have suspected they were more than dreams. He sparked your true recollections off the day you met by dropping the name of the Bad Wolf and applying some light psychic pressure."
"But a psychic told me I wasn't being manipulated that way," she said.
"That's because he was a lot subtler than a human psychic could easily have picked up on. Just a bit of pressure every time he contacted you, and it was enough to throw your brain for a loop, which had the double effect of making you especially vulnerable to his suggestions. Not been sleeping well lately?"
Rose shook her head. "Not well at all, except when John and I--" She stopped herself, guessing the Doctor really didn't want to know about her sex life.
He seemed to guess anyway, rubbing at the back of his neck in a slightly embarrassed manner. "Ah, yes, that. Which also, erm, helped you recall and spread a bit of it to John here. The new breaches he was creating did the rest."
"But you've got to seal them now, right?" Rose looked at the Doctor. "Will I forget again?"
"I don't think so, now that you and John have found each other," said the Doctor. "I could make sure, however."
Rose nodded. "Do it. Whatever it is. I don't ever want to forget you again."
"Close your eyes, then. Close off anything you don't want me to see," said the Doctor, and he set his fingers against her temples.
She held back nothing. She let him see her whole life since they'd been torn apart at Canary Wharf. He seemed to understand her need to share with him and walked with her through her memories before doing something that felt like closing off a valve in her mind.
"There," he said, releasing her. "You now have two full sets of memories. Both are real, incidentally."
Rose smiled wistfully. "I could lose all the years without my dad, I could lose the Powell Estates and working at Henrik's, I'd gladly lose Jimmy Stones--but not those two years with you. Not for anything."
"I--" He stopped, swallowed, composed himself. "I do love you, Rose Tyler. Don't ever doubt that."
She smiled at him. "Never did. But it's good to hear it." She glanced over at the TARDIS. "Can John and I go in? I've missed her, too."
"Certainly!" The Doctor led them proudly back to his timeship and opened the doors with a flourish.
Rose led John in. He looked around, amazed. "It's bigger on the inside," he said.
"Like us," she said. "It's alive, you know."
John nodded. "I believe you." He looked around as if experiencing a sense of déjà vu. Rose thought perhaps he was.
She reached out and ran a hand over the console. Look at what we did, old girl, she thought. Isn't it fantastic?
Somehow, she knew the TARDIS agreed with her.
The Doctor came to her side. "And you always used to tease me about my TARDIS-stroking."
Something suddenly occurred to Rose, and she looked up intently at the Doctor. "What about John?" she asked, sotto voce. "Is it true, that he and I are replaying our old story? Will he--will I . . ?"
The Doctor shook his head, understanding what she was asking. "Rose, you saved my life with what you did. The lovely face you're looking at right now will have a different route into this world."
"I'm sorry?" Rose asked, blinking.
He leaned in closer, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Did you know that in his youth, Doctor Thomas Smith looked exactly like my eighth incarnation?"
Rose boggled. "You mean--"
"I mean, you'll someday have a son with beautiful brown eyes and adorable freckles, tends to go on a bit, doesn't know how to stay out of trouble, but a good lad overall. Just watch what he sticks in his mouth." The Doctor's beautiful brown eyes twinkled.
"That's bloody weird," said Rose, laughing nonetheless.
The Doctor laughed, too. "It truly is." He sobered a bit. "If you have a daughter, would you name her Susan?"
"That's an old Smith family name," said John, who'd been looking around the TARDIS before coming back to Rose. "I always liked it."
"Imagine," said the Doctor. He looked at Rose, giving her a bittersweet smile. "I'd ask you to come along again, but judging by what we just saw outside, I think you've made your choice."
Rose looked at John and back at the Doctor. Tears pricked her eyes. "Yeah, I have. The one adventure you said you can't have."
"It's an adventure worth having," said the Doctor. "I'm just vain enough to be glad you chose a version of myself to have it with."
Rose nodded, sniffling a little. "I'm glad you've got someone, too. Don't ever be alone, okay?"
"Well, I've been trying to run Martha off, but with remarkably little success so far," said the Doctor, winking.
"He doesn't realize that I simply love slime in my hair," Martha deadpanned.
"Hey, that was just the once," the Doctor protested. "All right, twice. But it never quite reached your hair on Abraxas IV."
Rose gave in to an impulse and walked over to wrap her arms around Martha's shoulders. The other woman returned the embrace.
"He's worth it, you know," Rose murmured.
"He is," Martha agreed softly.
"You two take care of each other." Rose pulled back. When she looked back at the Doctor and John, they were standing still, eyes locked, some sort of silent communication going on between them.
After a moment, the Doctor broke their eye contact and looked over at Rose. "I might see you again, you know, but I can't promise anything. The new Time Lords make things easier, but I have my own responsibilities."
"I know," said Rose. "Just say goodbye to me now, and if we see each other again, we can say hello again."
The Doctor reached out a hand, and she took it as she had long ago. "Goodbye, my Rose."
She came to him, and they embraced. "Goodbye, my Doctor," she whispered, tears spilling down her face. "My Brown-eyed Man."
Neither of them wanted to let go, but eventually, they forced themselves to. Rose backed away from him, slipping her hand into John's, and he gently supported her as they left the TARDIS. Outside, she turned into his embrace.
"Watch," she said, and they held each other as the TARDIS dematerialized, leaving them alone on the storm-swept beach.
"You'll miss him," said John.
"I do already." She leaned against the man she loved, very aware of what she'd given up--but also aware of what she'd chosen for herself. Once, she hadn't been able to comprehend how Sarah Jane could have turned down the Doctor's offer to travel with him again. Now, she understood the need to make her own life.
And it will be fantastic, she promised herself, promised the Doctor.
"John?"
"Yes?"
"Take me home."
They left Bad Wolf Bay together.