Author's Note:

I don't own Doctor Who or intend to make profit from it.

Because Ten is a person, too, and anyway, can we really leave Rose without a smile?

Spoilers through The Parting of Ways

Goodbyes (bonus part: three)

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The Doctor's pockets felt empty without the sonic screwdriver, his hands empty without Rose's, his heart empty without her smile, but he leaned against the TARDIS, his ankles crossed, as though he were the most content creature on the planet.

The Earth's air wrapped around him. The smell of Fish and Chips, motor exhaust, the scents and sounds and vibrations of life on Earth itself welcomed him back to the place that had, in its own small way, come to be a familiar sort of time.

It was Rose's time, and that meant at least a little bit of himself considered it one of his times, as well.

It wasn't childhood with the other Time Lords, or the TARDIS, but it was a part of him, nonetheless.

"Rose Tyler," he said to himself, wondering how he could be jealous of himself.

Mickey-the-Idiot, Adam-the-Idiot 2.0, even Captain Jack Harkness were nothing in comparison. Oh, they might try, as humans tended to, but they'd all understood that the very fabric of the universe had made Rose's hand to fit perfectly into that of the Doctor. They'd seen the two work together and respectfully stepped back.

Funny, but he couldn't step away from himself.

And being honest, as any species with his genius has to, he understood Rose's perspective.

He had changed, and it wasn't just the way he looked, or having channeled the Vortex. He was different, because regeneration always left you a bit different.

And the same, he thought, closing his eyes to feel the pull of the earth once more. The earth, with its constant spin, round and round at 1,000 miles an hour, chasing around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. The familiar rotation, the beat that put his own internal rhythm right in synch with Rose's.

The Time Lord waited as the sky darkened, until the little human girl came out, her eyes perfectly dry, her make-up perfectly replaced.

"Fish and chips, Doctor?"

She smiled, the sort of smile he'd been afraid had died with his other self, and as far as he could tell, for two unmatched heartbeats, the world stood still.