A/N: Ahh, this is why I'm not doing long stories at the moment. Sorry for disappearing…I've been really really busy. Enjoy!

The months since Canary Wharf had been torture. Every morning she would lapse into tears as she realized that she was no longer on the TARDIS, that she would never see him again.
But then she had the dream.
Then they had traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles to Darlig Ulv Stranden—Bad Wolf Bay. Terribly ironic, that the last time she would see him would be so conveniently named; it seemed that, a year ago, she had sent a message forward in time, a sort of warning as to what would transpire on the beach. She only wished it hadn't been necessary. She missed him so much it sometimes hurt. There were days she could do nothing but stay in bed. She now understood why he refused to do "domestics." The transition was horrible, especially after everything they had been through.
She had told him forever, but forever had ended.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They pulled onto the beach, and she told them to stay behind. If he was here, she wanted to see him alone, no matter what implications that may have. It seemed more…them…that way.
She looked around, hoping to see the familiar blue box, the one that had taken her so many places; the one that she had bonded with almost a year previously. Trying her hardest to hold down the hope that was beginning to build inside her, she noticed him. He was simply standing there, completely see-through, unable to come any closer to her, though they both just wanted to run to each other.

She turned, a million things running through her mind. But all she could get herself to say was, "Where are you?"

"Inside the TARDIS. There's one tiny gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection; I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun, just to say goodbye." He was trying his hardest to keep himself composed. He wanted her last impression of him to be positive, not of one who couldn't even finish a sentence. And truly, burning up a sun was the least he could do for her. So badly, he wanted to destroy the universes in order to make sure she could come back to him. He loved her, and it broke his hearts that forever would never come true.
"You look like a ghost."

"Hold on." He pulled out his sonic, wanting so much to be able to simply travel there. But he couldn't. An image would have to take his last goodbye.
Adjusting the settings, he knew his projection had become clearer, as Rose stepped forward.

"Can I to—" she asked, raising a hand.
He shook his head. "I'm still just an image. No touch."

At this, her defenses against tears seemed to start failing. She wanted nothing more than to lean on him as they stood there, feeling his heartbeats against her single one. The scenarios she had created in her mind of giving him one last hug, maybe stealing a kiss, faded. "Can't you come through properly?"
"The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse." It seemed that no matter what they did, they would never be able to see each other again. They truly were star-crossed lovers. Lovers across the stars. Universes away, unable to even give a proper goodbye. They were alone. Sure, she had her mother, father, Mickey. But she had lost all her life had been for two years.
"So?" She couldn't even go on, trying so, so hard not to cry. She could feel the tears brimming up over her eyelids, however, threatening to spill. She would give anything to see him in person one last time.

A few seconds passed, both of them unable to even think about the inevitable goodbye. "Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"
"We're in Norway."
"Norway, right."

"'Bout fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called…" she took a breath. "Darlig Ulv Stranden."
"Dalek?"

"Dar-lig. It's Norwegian for 'bad.'"

He looked at her in confusion.
"It translates as Bad Wolf Bay." She rolled her eyes, trying to smile through all the emotions and thoughts running through her mind.
He grinned, trying to act as though his entire world wasn't crashing down as they spoke. But his eyes conveyed a different message.

She seemed to realize that their time was running out, that he would disappear and she would be all alone, yet again. "How long have you got?"

"'bout two minutes…" He was trying so hard not to show anything. He definitely didn't want her last memories of him to be of tears.

She ran a hand through her hair. "I don't even know what to say." She was grinning, but only to hide the fact that her heart was breaking.
He grinned too now, trying to enjoy his last few minutes with her.
Again, the full force of what was happening hit her, and she calmed down, looking completely and utterly lost.
"You've still got Mr. Mickey, then." He was trying to cheer her up, lighten the mood. Trying to erase the facts from both of their minds.
"Well there's five of us now. Mum, dad, Mickey, and the baby."
He looked completely shocked, the expression on his face becoming tender. Really, the only possibility would be Mickey. And somehow he didn't see something like this happening this soon. But…"You're not…"
She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "No." She laughed, sending a jolt through his hearts as he realized that this was probably one of the last times he would ever hear her laugh, even if there were tears in her eyes. "It's mum." He half sighed, half laughed, partly of relief, partly because of what had just gone through his mind. "She's three months gone, there's more Tylers on the way."

"And what about you?" He was worried about her, about how she would go on after this. He knew she could and would, but he wanted to know she would be happy.
"Yeah, I-I'm back working in the shop."
He nodded, only thinking of how much he wanted to bring her back to the TARDIS, away from the shop, back to traveling throughout time and space. But he had to mask it. "Well, good for you."
She grinned, tears still threatening to spill over. "Shut up. No I'm not. The Torchwood on this planet's open for business. Think I know a thing or two about aliens." Now she was truly in danger of letting her tears fall. Because they both knew that she wasn't just talking about aliens. She knew him so well, could probably tell every emotion and thought that was going through his mind. She knew he was still trying to formulate a way to bring her back, though they both knew it was impossible. And now she would be gone, forced to work for Torchwood. It was ironic, in a way, that the business set up as a result of them, and had torn them apart, was the place she would now work in order to keep her life somewhat resembling the one she had led for the past two years.
He grinned through all the thoughts pressing to the front of his mind, proud that she would continue their work in this new universe. "Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth." He could see that she was no longer able to hold back her tears. She tried to speak, but the weight of all that was happening held her back. She just couldn't. "You're dead. Officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on the list of the dead."

And that deadened look was back in his eyes. Once again he had lost the person most important to him. It seemed he was never going to be able to be happy. It would always be ripped away, no matter what.

She looked down, tears almost spilling onto her cheeks. Here was the proof that she would never return to the Doctor, would never be able to see him again after this. Her whole life as she knew it had ended, and she had to return to domestics. It couldn't be possible. It hurt far too much. And they would both be alone.
"But here you are, living alive, day after day. The one adventure I can never have." And now he was in truly danger of succumbing to his emotions. This incarnation had always had stronger emotions than others, but he had become fairly talented at holding them back, putting on a smile, and continuing. But he couldn't do that this time.

"Am I ever going to see you again?" Tears began rolling down her face. She knew the answer, truly. She just had to hear him say it. Because otherwise, she would never give up. Never stop searching. Though she doubted she would anyway.

"You can't." And that was all he could say as he tried again to compose himself.
"What are you going to do?" And there she was, defender of the earth, not worried most about her self, though she was crushed that they would never see each other again, but preoccupied with the fact that he was alone yet again. The last of the Time Lords, all alone, protecting the galaxy. And she couldn't be with him.

"Ahh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life, last of the Time Lords." He was trying to be brave, to assure her that he was going to be fine. And this was exactly the answer she had been dreading.
"On your own?"
He nodded. Never would he be able to see another companion ripped away from him like this. No, he would travel alone forever, keep everyone safe, but not allow anyone else's life to be ruined like this on account of him.

"I…" She was cut off by fresh tears. But she had to say it. It was her last chance. "I love you."
He swallowed. So much, he wanted to tell her that he felt the same way. He wanted to break the walls between the universes, hug her, kiss her. Tell her everything would be alright. But he couldn't. And even admitting it would make it so much harder. But he couldn't not let her know. He loved Rose Tyler, and there was nothing in the universe that could keep that away. "Quite right too." It was so hard to ignore the pain growing in his throat, the pain that warned of tears. "And I suppose…If it's my last chance to say it… Rose Tyler—"
And he faded away.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning she woke up with tears staining her face. She had been dreaming of the day previously. She doubted the dreams would go away any time soon. Before the beach, dreams of his face when she was falling into the Void had haunted her.
But this dream was different. It had reminded her of something that had happened so long ago. So long ago. Something that was so important, but had been forgotten since Canary Wharf.
She stayed in bed for ten more minutes, composing herself and allowing herself some semblance of a peaceful morning before she got up. Before her family looked at her with pity, and made her want to lock herself up and fall asleep again. She knew they would mean well, but she didn't want that again, everyone always checking to make sure she was okay, when everyone knew fully well that she was breaking apart inside.

Eventually, she got up, crossing her room to her closet, where the clothes from Canary Wharf still hung. She hadn't washed them; she had no inclination to ever wear them again. Digging in the pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper, knowing the time had finally come to open it. They would never find each other again, and it was only in these circumstances that the Doctor had told her to open it. She had known the day would come. She just didn't know that it would come this soon.

Slowly exiting the closet, she examined the envelope, sitting down on her bed and staring at it. Truly, this would be the final proof to herself that she would never see him again, that it was time to give up hope. It had always been there in the back of her mind, the letter that she would open when they were ultimately torn apart. But somehow she had always ignored it. Even now, when it was the exact time he wanted her to open it, she wasn't even sure if she really wanted to. But he had told her to, and she had no reason not to trust him.

Taking a deep breath, she opened it slowly, making sure not to rip it. It was folded very intricately; he had obviously taken quite a bit of time to make this last message special. The writing was cursive, scrawled quickly but carefully across the page.

Rose,
I suppose if you've opened this, it means that you have come to a time after Darlig Ulv Stranden. Maybe it is recent; maybe it's been years, and you have only just remembered or rediscovered the letter given to you by a drunken man on New Years so many years ago. The one who promised that the next year would be great. And hopefully it was. I hope I gave you the best year of your life. I hope you never forget New Earth, World War Two…so many adventures. And so many we can't have.
I never did take you to Barcelona. There were so many places I wished to take you, so many places I knew that even if you spent your entire life with me we would never visit them all. I wanted to show you the universe. Every time, every place in history. And I will forever regret that we didn't have more time.
We never got to say goodbye, on that beach. There are so many things I wish I could have said to you before I faded. Now I have even more stories I wish I could tell you. You would laugh at some of them, slap me for others. You'd love it.
But I'm dying. There wouldn't be enough time. I would change before seeing you, and there would be no way for my regeneration to jog your memory enough for this letter to be passed on to you.
And now I must finish writing so that I can give this to you; so I can finish what I was going to tell you on that beach.
Rose Tyler, I love you more than anything else in the universe.
You were fantastic.
The Doctor

Tears stained the paper as she finished reading the letter.
And she lay back on her bed.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!