Rose sat in bed and pondered her situation. It had been three weeks now since she had returned to this universe. This should have been one of the happiest times of her life, but she was strangely melancholy. It was times like this she thought of him, of what he must be doing.
It hurt less now, but she still wished things had been different. She pulled the journal out of her side table and opened it to the second page. After the first letter she had put it away and gone on with her life. This book made her feel closer to him somehow.
She put pen to paper and began to write.
Dear Doctor,
It's been three weeks now in this universe. I still think of you often, though not every moment. Something happened today that I have been wanting for so long, and I should be happy about it, but for some reason I can't help but feel sad.
You asked me to marry you today. It was just like you too. Nothing special was planned, no fancy dinner or dancing, and I loved it. We went to our favorite chip shop and in the middle of a bite you just spit it out.
Will you marry me?
I naturally said yes, neither of us missing a beat in our meal. Though the smile you gave me did remind me of the countless times you used to smile at me after we got out of a scrape. That wide toothy smile I love so much.
It was after dinner and we were walking back to the flat that I thought of you. What were you doing then? Saving the world again I'm sure, but are you still alone? Is Donna with you? I hope she is, or if she isn't for some reason, I hope you've found someone.
Someone to tell you when to stop, or to hold your hand when you need it. I miss you so much, and I love you. I always will.
DOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSE
The Doctor trudged through his ship, alone. The Cybermen and Daleks had managed to cruelly leave him on his own again. He did lose Rose, and right now he was utterly alone. His Rose was gone, stuck on another Earth in another universe.
DOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSEDOCTOROSE
"Rose Tyler…"
That was all was able to say to her before the link closed and they were separated forever. Tears ran down his face and he wiped them away. He never got to tell her how he really felt, he wasted time trying to be brave.
His chance was gone now, and he was never going to get it back. He was never going to be able to hug her or hold her hand. He was never going to be able to smell her shampoo or watch that little bit of tongue that stuck out when she was being cheeky.
It hurt, more than he ever thought it would. He made his way around the console and sat in the jumpseat, pulling the journal out of his pocket to look at again. The letter was still there, he read it whenever he had the chance, hoping it was wrong.
He closed his eyes and passed his hand over the etched rose again, the feel of it engrained in his memory. A future Rose was trapped in that parallel world, and a small part of him wished he had been sucked into the void with the rest. That way he wouldn't have to hurt so much.
He knew now it wasn't wrong. But it also gave him the hope that he would see her again. She said she had lost him again, but that means he would see her again as well. Even if for just a short time. When he opened the book though, there was another letter transcribed on the second page.
He read it carefully. She had mentioned a clone in the first letter and he was still trying to figure out what could have created a duplicate of him. Someone who was him, but not him, and who was this Donna she kept talking about? How was she half TimeLord?
The new letter told of something that surprised him even more.
He had asked her to marry him.