The Doctor smiled and this time Rose was glad that it was a real smile. He didn't look quite as nervous or self-conscious as he had. He actually looked happy. "Alright. Now that our minds have touched in greeting we can get to know each other a little better. We can study them."

"Alright."

"To a certain degree we will be able to control where we go and what we see but our minds can also wander a little as well. If there is anything that you don't want me to see, just imagine a door and hide that part behind it. Alright?"

"Alright," she said closing her eyes again.

Rose, she heard him call out after a moment. But she didn't hear it with her ears; it was coming from inside her head. This was just as much of a surprise as his first touch on her mind had been but she managed to not jerk or flinch.

"Was that…did you…was that inside of my head?" she asked in surprise.

Yes, he answered back in her mind.

It was so strange to actually hear another person's voice inside of your head. It made her realize even more just how close they were. It could have felt extremely embarrassing but surprisingly it didn't. If there was anyone that she was alright with inside her head it was the Doctor.

"Can I do that?" she asked with eagerness.

Give it a try. Just think about what you're going to say. Focus your energy on saying it with your mind instead of your mouth. You're more aware of your mind now and the power it possess; use that.

Rose focused hard on saying 'hi' back to the Doctor. She could feel her mind clearly and the power it possessed. But after a while when he hadn't replied she felt that it wasn't working. "Can you hear that?" she asked out loud.

"Not yet," he replied out loud and she felt it was for her benefit.

It only made her frustrated. She wasn't exactly sure what she could do differently to make this work. She was focusing as much energy on speaking into his mind as she could and nothing was happening. Her mind had so much energy and she could feel it was so powerful but for some reason she could not make it do this.

After a few more minutes of struggling the Doctor stopped her. "Alright," he said and she could feel a gentle push of his mind against hers. "That's enough of that for right now. I can feel that you're getting frustrated."

"Well, yeah I am. I don't know why this isn't working."

"Rose," he said gently "You're doing wonderfully."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'm not just saying that. I'm already surprised at all you've been able to do. But you are a human and humans aren't used to using telepathy so you shouldn't feel bad that this isn't working on the first try."

"I guess so…" she said her voice trailing off.

"My race was made of telepaths. This was something that I never had to learn to do; it was an instinct I was born with. So, you don't need to feel like a failure because you haven't mastered something that came naturally to me."

She hadn't said she felt like a failure. But she had felt she was a failure. That in itself should make her feel better. The Doctor could feel what she was feeling and that was not something to take lightly.

"We'll try it again after a while. Right now let's focus on something else," he said and he started moving his fingers in small circles on the sides of her head. As he did she felt warm energy surge through her head. Her focus once again was on her hyperawareness of both her own mind and his as he stroked back and forth. Warmth, light, and energy seemed to rage all around her and she forgot for a moment why she had thought anything else was even important.

"You can still feel my mind touching yours right?" he asked.

"Mhmn," she said really unable to say much of anything else at the moment.

She heard a smile in his voice when he talked. He obviously noticed. "Too much?" he asked and now she could tell he was just teasing her.

She didn't mind. She was glad he had relaxed. And even though it was becoming hard for her to form a coherent thought as his mind stroked hers she said, "Nope. Not at all. It's…just that you are really good at this too."

"Good," he said with a feeling of pleasure but something else. Insecurity? It was like maybe he felt he wouldn't be good at it, that over time he would have lost his touch. She still wasn't used to feeling what he was feeling. He was always so closed off but now there was no hiding, for either of them.

"Now that-" he started but she stopped him.

"Can you still do the talking inside of my head? Even if I can't reply back in yours?" she asked already missing it. Already she was beginning to understand what he might have been going through. She had only just started to learn about this way to be close to the Doctor and she already craved it. If he, who had been used to this his entire life, had gone so long without this it was no wonder that he ached from its absence.

"Sure, if that's what you want."

"It is."

Alright, he said once again from inside of her head, now that your mind is touching mine, press a little harder on it. Study it. You can see what color it is. You can see what it feels like.

Rose focused on pulling her mind back together from where it had seemed to dash out in a million places and tried to make it do her bidding again. She was trying not to get distracted by the Doctor's presence and instead to focus on it. She had felt that it was warm and seen that it was light but beyond that she had not dug deeper. She thought about willing her mind to focus and study and push on the Doctor's.

Rose was surprised that when she pushed on it, it did become clearer. His mind, his essence, who he was, appeared as a light. It was the color of burnt orange, the color of the sky of his planet (somehow she now knew that) with some darker blue parts on the edges. It was warm, so warm that it was burning but the darker parts were freezing cold. She was puzzled by the contrast of it. He was a combination of contrasts, his mind a mix of fire and ice.

Now that she could see better what he looked like she pushed deeper in order to identify the feelings that were connected with his light. On his end he was silent and still allowing her deeper. She was so surprised at this turn of events. He had always been so closed off even around her. She didn't even know what to think about his willingness now for her to see so much of him.

When she got further in she felt emotions that were not her own. They were strong and powerful but she knew they did not come from within. It was so strange to know you were feeling someone else's emotions within yourself. She didn't mind but it was overwhelming for a few moments and took her a few minutes before she could make sense of the wave of feelings that were bombarding her.

The first thing that she could feel was that he felt safe, like a protector. It felt like anything and everything you would ever entrust would be safe in his hands. She felt like if she wrapped herself up in this feeling she would never have to worry about anything ever again; no matter what may come he would take care of it. She was not surprised that she liked the feeling of someone else taking care of things, taking care of her specifically; for far too long before she had met the Doctor she had been left to shoulder nearly every responsibility in every relationship she had, whether it should have been hers or not.

But she was surprised at how much she enjoyed the feeling that he was her protector. She was no damsel in distress. She was strong and capable on her own but she also knew she wasn't invincible. Even though she could take care of herself sometimes she wanted someone else to save her. That made her glad to know that he would always fight for her whenever the need arose.

Passion was also there, to all degrees and barely just contained at times. He was a man of extremes. When he loved something he loved it with all his heart. When he hated something he hated it in every fiber of his being. He either did something with everything that was in him or not at all. It was not something that was intentional; it was just who he was. He didn't do it on purpose because it was both a blessing and a curse. He might have the highest of highs but he could also have the lowest of lows.

He felt everything strongly and it now made sense to her why he sometimes denied his feelings. She could now, for herself, feel how difficult it was for him not to get emotionally devastated by things. If something went wrong he would feel the pain and despair deeply. So, when he said he was "always alright" it certainly wasn't the truth but it meant that he just couldn't face those emotions yet. Was it the best way of handling things? Probably not, but she could now understand it.

He also felt strong; so strong and powerful. This wasn't just a physical strength; it was strength in all parts of him. She never realized what he could be capable of. It was the kind of power to fear in a person because it could cause unimaginable destruction if he chose to go down the wrong path. Even with his mind his could cause death, inside of her like this he could end her life. But it was also the kind of power that gave hope. This was the same power that, turned in the right direction, had the power to bring life; it could save entire planets and species. And it was not something she feared because, though it had the potential to go down a dark path, she could feel that it was far from ever heading that way.

While these emotions had come right to her with just a little probing there was something else of his that was there but did not come willing. It was like she could hear whispers of it but then there was a door in front of it. It was an ancient looking door, strong and aged but with no knob or any way inside of it. It was so strange that it was there, it was contrary to everything else she had seen so far. She hovered close by it but then pulled back as she got the feeling that this place was forbidden. The Doctor was silent; he offered no explanation on his part. But she still sensed that this was where the Doctor held the deepest parts of him. This is where he hid his name, where he hid his very soul.

She backtracked, feeling that she had done enough searching for now, not wanting to go deeper than was acceptable. As she eased off she realized how tired she was in her mind. It was tired in the way your body feels tired after a long workout. It was a good kind of tired though. She actually knew the Doctor. She knew what he looked like from the inside, what made him tick. She had always wanted to know the Doctor better and now she knew him in a way that she had never known anyone.

Sensing her retreat backward and her stillness he asked Are you alright?

"Yeah."

Are you sure?

"Yeah. I'm just tired. Are you alright?" She wondered how he was feeling with all of this. Though he had at one time been used to this kind of communication, opening up to her was a completely new experience for him. She hoped he didn't regret it.

Yes…Can I look closer at your mind?

"Yes," she said letting her mind go still. She was content to stay so and let the Doctor move around her mind this time. She felt as the Doctor began to probe deep but gentle down into her mind.