Chapter Eighteen
Finally, around five in the morning, everyone decided to retire for the night. Martha and Donna bid Rose and the Doctor good night and left to go to their room. Rose undressed and put on the nightgown that was provided for her by the resort. The Doctor remained in his suit since he wasn't planning to sleep. He lay down in the bed and put his hands behind his head as he listened to Rose getting ready for bed.
He smiled thinking of the Bad Wolf's words. It had always amazed him just how hard and fast he had fallen for Rose. He had never really wanted to get involved with his companions in the past knowing that their stay in the TARDIS would be temporary. But with Rose, he wasn't able to help himself from falling in love with her. He had never figured out just why he had been so eager to give his hearts to her, but now he knew the reason. The fact that Rose had been chosen to be with him filled him with an indescribable joy. She was his and his alone and for however long Rose Tyler had to be alive, he would treasure each and every moment with her.
He looked over and smiled lovingly as Rose came from the bedroom dressed in the fire engine red silk nightdress with black lace trimming. He sighed contentedly thinking how beautiful she looked. He came over to him, put her hand on his chest and leaned over for a kiss.
"You're not getting undressed?" she asked him.
"Nah, I'm not going to sleep. I don't need it right now." The Doctor said.
Rose frowned.
"You sure, after that walk?"
The Doctor shook his head.
"I've recovered from that. I'm just going to lie here and keep you company while you sleep."
Rose smiled and she gave him another kiss. Leaning back up, she fingered his blue jacket.
"I never saw you wear this before." She murmured as she stared at it.
"I didn't get it until after you left. I couldn't wear the brown suit for the longest time. It reminded me too much of you. I kinda like this suit now though." He said.
"I do too. Actually, I like you in both suits." She said.
She looked down at the floor beside the bed and picked up the burgundy trainers.
"These are nice too." She said. "Prettier than your plain white ones."
"Thanks, I thought they went well with the blue suit."
"They do." Rose said, putting them back down on the floor.
She sat down beside him and fingered his tie as the Doctor sighed softly.
"All that stuff I heard tonight. I missed out on so much." Rose murmured. "It makes me sorry I grabbed a hold of that lever."
"Don't say that, Rose. You did the right thing. You saved the Earth." The Doctor said taking her hand off his tie and holding it. "If it wasn't for you, there might have been a lot more death and destruction than there was. I'm proud of you for doing that."
Rose nodded.
"I know, I just…"
She sighed.
"I missed you so much. I missed out on so much. So many adventures you guys had without me."
"Well, now you're back and you and I can have all new adventures with Donna and Martha." The Doctor replied.
Rose nodded. The Doctor kissed the back of her hand and gave it a squeeze. He smiled when he saw Rose yawn.
"Come and get into bed. You need your rest." He said gently. "I'll be right here watching over you and Rassilon help anyone who tries to abduct you from this bed."
Rose giggled. She gave the Doctor one more kiss before getting up and walking around to the other side of the bed. The Doctor watched her adoringly as she pulled back the covers and got in beside him. She snuggled up beside him and the Doctor put his arm around her as she laid her head down next to his. For a few moments, they stared quietly into each other's eyes drinking in the warmth and love that was reflected in each pair of orbs. Then, Rose put her hand against the Doctor's chest as she lay her head closer to his face.
"I love you, Doctor." She murmured.
"I love you too, my Rose. I'll see you when you wake up."
Rose yawned and nodded. The Doctor watched with a small smile on his face as Rose closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
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It was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon when Rose finally woke up. She opened her eyes and saw the Doctor was lying on his back beside her reading a newspaper.
"Well, there you are, sleepyhead." He said smiling at her. "I thought you were gonna sleep all day."
"Nah, I'm fine now. This place is so restful. I'm so glad you decided to come back here. I always sleep well when I'm here."
The Doctor nodded.
"It's not called a pleasure planet for nothing." He said.
She stared at the newspaper.
"Is that the local newspaper?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Complimentary copy. I was just perusing it while I was waiting for you to wake."
Rose leaned her head over and put it against the Doctor's shoulder as she looked at it. She read an article quietly and frowned.
"Where's…Hattori?" she asked the Doctor.
"A couple of planets away from here." He said.
"And this…Urajii went on a rampage there?" she said looking at him.
The Doctor looked over at the article she was reading and quickly scanned through it.
"Apparently so." He said when he finished reading.
"You know what Urajii are?"
She rolled her eyes when the Doctor looked at her.
"Yeah, of course you do, stupid question, sorry." Rose muttered as the Doctor chuckled.
"Urajii are these big bugs…kinda like…"
He rubbed his chin.
"Kinda like a cross between wasps and beetles. Beetle bodies with wasp wings and stingers."
"Ugh! I'm glad we've never run across them."
"Well, I have, actually. Not a very pleasant species." He said.
"Why were they on a rampage? Do you know?"
"Well, this is just a guess really, but judging from what I know of them, I think they were collecting food for their larva. See, they look like beetles, but their behavior is more along the lines of bees or wasps. They live in huge hives and occasionally they go on raids to gather food for their larva. They have these special pits that they throw their victims in and then they keep them alive with this special fungus because the larva prefer live victims. The larva need fresh blood, you see."
Rose made a face.
"Hattori is another resort planet although not as huge and fancy as Cocoleus Droxeminus. They've only been around for about a hundred years or so and was started as a kind of alternative to here, although they haven't been quite as successful with the tourist trade. Anyway, they don't have as many defenses as Cocoleus Droxeminus, which I suspect, is why the Urajii went there. You don't have to worry, Rose. Like I said, this planet can detect them coming and shoot them down long before they reach the surface.
"Well, that's a relief." Rose murmured.
They fell into silence as she read another article. Both of them read the paper together enjoying the fact that they were near one another. The silence was broken, however, when they heard a knock on the door.
"Doctor, Rose, you guys up yet?" they heard Donna say.
The Doctor sat the paper down and headed towards the door. He opened the door.
"Yup, we're both awake," he said. "Come in."
Donna and Martha entered. They paused when they saw Rose.
"I guess you just woke up then?" Martha said to her.
Rose frowned and then looked down at her nightdress.
"Oh, yeah, I did." She said, blushing. "Sorry, I'll get dressed."
She got up and headed towards the bathroom. As she shut the door, Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor.
"We were just wondering what was on the agenda today, or if there even was an agenda." Donna asked.
"Well, depends on what you want to do. This planet has just about everything you can think of." The Doctor replied.
"How about we go eat lunch at the Purple Pearl, Doctor?" Rose said through the door.
The Doctor smiled.
"Now there's an idea." He said. "You hungry?"
Donna and Martha looked at each other and shrugged.
"I could go for a bite of something." Donna said.
"Yeah, that sounds alright." Martha added.
"The Purple Pearl is great, guys." Rose said through the door. "It's got some of the best food in the galaxy. The Doctor and I always eat there when we visit."
The Doctor nodded.
"Five star rating. Very exclusive. Kinda hard to get in, but it's not a problem for us. I just flash my psychic paper at the hostess and boom, she shows us to a table."
Donna and Martha glanced at each other.
"What do you show her?" Martha asked.
"It depends, but usually I pretend I'm an ambassador to some distant planet or something. Works every time." He said shrugging. "So, you interested."
They glanced over as Rose came out, fully dressed.
"Come on, guys, it's great. You'll love it." She said walking over to the Doctor's side.
Donna and Martha looked at each other.
"Okay." Martha said as Donna nodded.
The Doctor and Rose beamed.
"Follow us then and we'll take you to it." He said as Rose squealed in delight.
Donna opened the door and all of them walked out.
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"See, I told ya I could get us in." the Doctor said as the hostess walked away.
Martha and Donna glanced around the room. It was a huge, crowded, noisy room. The walls were painted an off white color and the ceiling curved up above them into a dome. The lights were dimmed giving it an intimate feel. The wall beside them was a huge aquarium and bizarre fish of various colors and sizes swam around in it. Donna and Martha both stared at it in wonder. At the bottom of the tank sat an enormous purple pearl.
"I guess that's where the place gets its name?" Martha asked the Doctor as she pointed to it.
"Yup, it comes from a Brallus. A huge species of clam that's found on several planets in the galaxy. The pearls they make are normally that huge, but most are white or gold. Purple ones are extremely rare and very valuable." He said.
"I love it." Donna said. "Too bad you'd probably need a crane to nick it."
They looked over as a woman came to their table.
"Hello, I'm Leeta and I'll be your waitress for today." She said passing out menus to them and pulling a small disc out of her pocket. "Can I start you off with something?"
Martha and Donna opened the menus and looked through it as Rose smiled at the waitress.
"I'd like a glass of Rullet and an order of Eros balls." She said as Leeta entered that into the disc.
She looked at the Doctor.
"I'd like the same to drink." The Doctor said smiling at her.
"Appetizer, sir?"
"No, I'll split Rose's Eros balls with her." He said to her.
The waitress nodded and glanced at Donna.
"And what would you like?" she asked her.
Donna stared at the menu with wide-eyed confusion.
"The Doctor to translate, that's what I'd like," Donna muttered to herself.
The Doctor sighed as Rose giggled.
"How about you two just get what Rose is getting at the moment and that'll give me time to explain the menu choices to you." He said to her and Martha.
The two women glanced at each other.
"Okay, we'll have what she's having." Donna said pointing at Rose as Martha nodded in agreement.
The Waitress nodded as she entered it on the disc.
"I'll be back shortly." She said putting the disc back in her pocket.
Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor as she walked away.
"Okay, what the hell are Rullet and Eros balls?" Donna asked him.
"Rullet is this alcoholic drink made from this fruit that kinda tastes like oranges. God, it's good." Rose said. "And Eros is…"
She looked at the aquarium and pointed to a green and gold fish swimming near the top.
"That." She said as Donna and Martha looked at it. "It's Eros meat that's been rolled into a little ball and fried up in this breading. It is so good. Trust me, you guys will love it."
Donna and Martha looked at each other.
"Doesn't sound too bad." Martha said.
"No, the Rullet stuff sounds really good, actually. It's alcoholic, you say?"
"Yes, but, I'm telling you right now, you aren't getting more than two glasses. I'm not having you walk around all day pissed out of your mind." The Doctor said.
"I didn't say that!" Donna shrieked at him as the others laughed. " I wasn't thinking of getting drunk, I was just clarifying that it was alcoholic, geez!"
The Doctor winked at Rose as he took his menu and quickly explained what was in the different dinners.
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"That was delicious." Martha said as they walked back to the resort. "The Rullet and the Eros balls were good and I loved the Inara meat and the Sopa peas."
"Yeah, me too and the Wyan meat sandwich was good too."
"Told ya guys you would like it." Rose said looking back at them. "One of my favorite places to eat."
"You oughta put together your own restaurant guide then." Martha said to her.
"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea." She said as the Doctor chuckled. " The Tyler Universal Gourmet Guide. I like the sound of that."
"You'd have to acknowledge me in the forward." The Doctor said. "I'm the one who showed you all those restaurants in the first place."
"Oh, alright, if I must." She said rolling her eyes.
She giggled when the Doctor poked her in the side.
They walked on in silence. As they neared the resort, they all froze as a familiar figure came around the side of the building towards them.
"Triton." The Doctor said stepping in front of the others.