Author's Notes: Once again, I thank my reviewers. FF isn't sending me emails, for alerts, PMs, anything, so I'm finding it hard to keep track of things. Is anyone else having these problems??
Jack glanced at his watch. 8:00. Rose should be here by now, and knowing here, she's either got lost or in serious trouble. Biting his nails and tapping his foot, watching the Doctor whirl girls around who were adamant to become his bride, Jack came to a decision.
He was going to look for her.
Slipping from the room unnoticed, Jack made his way toward where the TARDIS was parked. What he saw caused him to stop dead in his tracks, staring, shocked.
Rose was laying limp on the ground, an envelope in her hand. Laced through here delicate fingers was a black rose.
Perfect. thought Jack angrily.
He crouched down next to her. Her arms were scratched, probably from thorns on the bush next to where she was laid. She had goose pimples all the way up her arms, so Jack promptly took off his cloak and wrapped it around her. He pocketed the letter and the rose, hoping they'd bear some clue as to what did this to Rose, before hoisting her up into his arms bridal style.
Jack snuck back into the castle secretly, and placed Rose in one of the many spare rooms. He sat beside her and put his head in his hands. He stood again, placed a delicate kiss to her head, and left for the hall again, letter in his pocket.
Unbeknownst to him, however, his kiss had triggered something within Rose… something that should not have been triggered…
The Doctor sent a death glare towards Jack. It was bad enough he'd taken him from Rose, and now he was making him wear tights in front of loads of girls, at a ball that was meant to marry him off.
Now, as the Doctor glared, he noticed something flicker across Jack's face. Pain? Worry? He couldn't be sure from this distance, but he was sure it couldn't be good. The look then swiftly changed to surprise as the main doors opened.
The Doctor followed Jack's gaze to the doors and stopped dancing. What he saw entranced him.
A woman will blonde hair hanging loosely around her shoulders entered. She was wearing a black dress and mask, with blood red shoes and gloves. Her dress was rimmed with the same red.
She looked like a goddess.
From the corner of his eye, the Doctor noticed Jack stand up.
"Who are you?" he boomed toward the person. Obviously they weren't invited.
Now the Doctor noticed something evident on Jack's face. Fear and outrage. And in his hand was a black rose. What was going on?
"Jack," the woman said in a strong southern accent. "It's me, you asked me to come."
"No I didn't! I asked Rose to come! Not you… what have you done to her?!" he cried to her.
How could Jack be so blind? This was Rose. The Doctor didn't understand Jack, but he knew this was Rose, and that he'd found his bride.
"Father," he said, pronouncing the word carefully. "I do believe I have found my bride. Rose Tyler, is it not?" he directed toward the woman, a smile playing on his lips.
The woman, seemingly Rose, smiled at the Doctor and took his hand. A black mist lifted from her hand and toward the Doctor, who seemed not to detect it, instead gaining a dreamy look on his face.
Jack growled, and stormed from the room. There was nothing he could do at the moment, except hope that the Doctor would come to his senses… otherwise, there was going to be trouble waking Rose up.
Jack pulled the letter out from his pocket and opened it. In black script were the words;
She will be in a slumber from a kiss to the forehead. Only her lover can awake her, and he will be in my grasp all too soon. There is no saving her or him.
It was so simple what it meant. Jack had kissed Rose on the forehead, triggering the slumber. It was almost like Sleeping Beauty, she needed a kiss from Prince Charming to wake her up. And then you get the Swan Princess coming in – the woman who poses as the love of his life in order to destroy the real love. Only in this case, she wasn't a swan, and the Doctor wasn't going to proclaim an "everlasting love" to the impostor. At least, he hoped he wasn't…
