Finding His Reason

Chapter 4 – World War Three

It was rage that gave him power, worry that drove his actions, and pure stubborn-headed pride that made him rise from the floor with the ID tag burning in his hand. He wasn't human, and while the electricity hurt him like it would anyone else, it wouldn't kill him. He watched the aliens' eyes widen as he stepped forward with difficulty and press the sparking ID tag in his hand to the device around the revealed alien's neck. It took him only seconds to catch his breath before he turned and left the room, forcing his anger down and masking it behind his wit and love for adventure.

What had seemed like a perfect plan at the time turned out not so perfect as the aliens were both once more disguised as humans. It wasn't the first time he'd had guns pointed at him or people shouting for his execution, but as always, he outsmarted those chasing him. If ever you're in danger, he thought as he rode up in the steel box, always make those chasing you back you up against the lift. There was an alien standing outside the lift when the doors opened, its form revealed, but he had been given a glimpse of Rose and she was alright.

It didn't take him long to find her again, the screaming drawing him to the room she was hiding in and he grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall before throwing open the door. Some part of him was proud, amused even, to find that Rose wasn't the one who was doing the yelling. He had known she wasn't from the sound of the voice, but the sight of her defiance even as she stood terrified made him proud. She didn't need rescuing, not his Rose; she just needed someone to give her an opening. He watched her run toward him and followed her out of the room before taking the lead and running down the hall.

She was scared. There was no denying that fact, but she was also calm. She watched him, her eyes following the way his leather jacket moved across his shoulders, his muscles rippling beneath his clothing. He wasn't overly sculpted. He didn't have the hardened muscle tone that so many people looked for, but he was beautiful and he was strong. She followed behind him, dashing into the cabinet room and glancing at Harriet Jones before returning her eyes to him.

He was standing up as he always did. No matter the danger they were in, no matter how much those creatures – those aliens – wanted to kill them, The Doctor was standing up to them and defending her. As much as she wanted to stand beside him right then, she knew that he wouldn't let her. This wasn't him talking to the aliens; this was him protecting her as he always did. He felt different when he was protecting her; the energy he gave off was darker and stronger. Closing her eyes as she blinked, she breathed in and realized that he smelled different too.

The hint of summer storms that she always smelled on him was stronger now. There was a touch of something that made her want to step closer and take in a deeper breath of him, but now wasn't the time. He smelled like lightning to her, the crackle of heat that she was certain came from the anger he refused to show. The scent drew her in, made her forget her fear as all her senses became focused on him. She turned her eyes to Harriet Jones, in some manner believing the woman daft for not realizing that The Doctor wasn't human. He may look human, but everything about him that drew her in wasn't and she found herself amused when he told Harriet to hush.

He looked to her as he watched her move about the room, his assurance that they were safe falling flat when he realized that they were also trapped. She gathered the small glasses from the shelf, pouring the alcohol into each before handing one to him and another to Harriet. He waited for her to speak, waited to see the fear return to her eyes, but when she met his gaze all he saw was her trust and belief in him. They could die in this small room, he thought, but still she trusted him. He went to her side, holding her gaze until he was standing next to her and it was there in her eyes. Whether they made it out alive or not, she was trusting him to save the world.

Her lips moved, one corner tipping up before her slow grin spread into a familiar wide smile. He met her smile with one of his own before turning to Harriet and listening to her as she talked. Rose closed her eyes as she turned and walked away from where she had been standing, pushing into the distant tingle at the back of her mind. She had noticed it once before, when she and Harriet had been hiding before The Doctor came. It was the same feeling that had barely been there, but was just strong enough to tell her that she wasn't alone.

"The TARDIS," she whispered to herself and smiled before joining the others as they talked.

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Rose, protect him. You know what to do.

The voice that whispered inside her mind sounded almost like hers, but softer and maybe just a touch older and a bit wiser. There was no way out, no chance to escape the room or even the building before the missile hit, but she refused to stand around and wait for it to come. Drafting Harriet's aid, she moved into the small cupboard in the corner of the room and cleared it out as quickly as she could while being careful not to mess up the order of the papers and items too badly when she set them on the floor outside. They would most likely be destroyed anyway, she knew that, but still she couldn't simply throw them about like so much trash.

The Doctor followed them inside, her mobile in his hand and closed the door of the cupboard as he sat on the floor. Harriet moved to one side while Rose moved to his other and she smiled even as terror filled her heart. She closed her eyes as she gripped his hand tightly and pressed against him when the building began to shake. If they survived she knew that she could never tell him the truth she held in her heart. Her mother had called her a kid and he had agreed, it had been in that moment that she had known that she could never tell him.

I love you, she whispered in her thoughts as the room was overturned and she was tossed about. His arms wrapped around her as they tumbled and just when she was certain that she would be thrown into the wrap-around shelf behind them, he took the hit instead. She met his gaze when they landed on the ceiling turned floor, her body tucked underneath his and brought her hands to his face, worried that he'd been hurt. He met her gaze with a teasing smile and she released a breath she hadn't known she was holding as she stared at him in relief.

"Tougher than that," he told her softly as he winked and rolled off of her. "It looks like we've stopped moving," he said with a smile and jumped to his feet.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Harriet said as she took his offered hand and moved to stand on shaking legs.

"Kind of like a roller coaster," Rose said with a laugh as The Doctor pushed open the cupboard door and stepped out first into the cabinet room. "The table's still in place," she said with a confused frown.

"It was bolted into the floor last month," Harriet told her as she stepped out of the cupboard behind her. "Mr. Copley kept moving it every time he sat down. Strange to see it above us."

Rose watched as The Doctor moved toward the main door of the cabinet room, his sonic screwdriver in hand. She could have died in this room and she knew then that it wouldn't have mattered to her if she had; she never wanted to be anywhere else. There was some part of her that felt a small spark an almost rush of excitement with The Doctor lifted his leg and kicked the steel door open. He never backed down, not even when the odds seemed impossibly stacked against him. Maybe it was something unique to Time Lords, but she was certain that it was something that was truly and uniquely him. She met his gaze with a smile when he turned his head around to look for her and she was certain that she saw relief in his gaze.

He led her out the steel box, following after Harriet and watching her walk away after a few parting words were spoken. She would be important to Great Brittan, important to the world even and he wondered how long it would be before she was elected into office. There was no Prime Minister anymore, no parliament either. All the officials, or at least most of them were dead and new ones would be needed soon. He looked back at Rose, a smile bending his lips when she slipped her hand into his and he laughed at the sheer folly of all that had happened. How many of his other companions had left him when the true danger of traveling with him had been revealed? Rose…He squeezed her hand as he met her smiling face. Rose stayed with him and even if she was afraid, she continually refused to let him fight alone.

"I'm going to go see my mum," Rose told him as they neared The Estate.

"You were brilliant today," he told her and watched as her grin widened into a full tongue in teeth smile.

"Course I was," she teased him with a laugh. "The Slitheen have got nothing on the Gelf."

He laughed when she winked at him and stepped inside the TARDIS before she moved away. She had been scared today, she admitted to herself, but she wasn't afraid once he was with her. What was it her mother had told her when she was just a kid; she wondered and nodded to herself as she ran up the stairs. Ah yes, the one you're meant to be with, they'll be the one to take your fear away. She opened the door of her flat, looking in and closing it before moving toward the kitchen as her mother came out. She hugged Jackie tightly, glad to see that her mother was alright and unharmed. There wasn't even a bruise on her.

She listened to her talk as she sat in one of the overstuffed arm chairs, feeling at once both energized and terribly exhausted. Lifting her hand with the intention of covering up a burgeoning yawn, Rose found herself trying not to laugh instead as her mother offered to make dinner for The Doctor. She knew the trials of her mother's cooking and if there was anything that could harm The Doctor it was most assuredly that. She teased Jackie, laughing when her mother gave her a jesting threat of a slap and shook her head as the woman stood and moved to the kitchen.

Au Pair, Rose thought with humor. When had she ever had the patience for something like that? She was good with children yes, but for the most part she couldn't handle them for too long at one time. Frowning at her mobile as she answered the call and lifted it to her ear, she felt a sensation of warmth wash through her when his voice came over the line. She teased him and talked with him, but in the end there was no choice to be made and she stood from the chair as she tucked the silent device into her pocket. She wouldn't leave him and she damn sure wouldn't let him leave without her. He was too much a part of her life now. His scent and the sound of his voice, the feel of his presence when he walked into a room, every bit of it was as vital to her now as the air she breathed.

"Please don't go, Sweetheart."

She understood her mother's fears, but there was nothing left for her here. The Doctor was everything to her now. She knew that if she lost her mother and Mickey tomorrow she would be sad, yes; but if she were to lose The Doctor she would be left broken. Forcing the last of her clothes into the red and black duffle bag, she knew that if her mother were to look she would find her closet and dresser empty. This wasn't her home anymore. Home was a blue box. Home was…home was a pair of blue eyes and northern accent.

Rose didn't blame her mother one bit for following her out of the apartment. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but she needed to understand that this was better than anything else she could ever find on Earth. She was safe with The Doctor. No matter the danger they found themselves in he always kept her safe. Tossing her bag to The Doctor and watching as he looked at her in a mix of surprise and defiance, she teased him that he couldn't get rid of her. Her eyes turned to Mickey, her invitation for him to join them shot down by The Doctor, but not before she caught the look Mickey cast at him. She turned to her mother then as the woman seemed to be hell bent on giving The Doctor her own form of the third-degree and turned her around as The Doctor slipped inside the TARDIS.

She did her best to comfort her mother, at one moment feeling as though she were the adult in the relationship and wondering how it was that she had always seemed to be taking care of her mother. There wasn't much more that she could say, her goodbyes having already been made, and pushed open the door of the TARDIS before stepping inside. The Doctor was at the controls on the console, her bag sitting abandoned on the jump seat, and Rose looked around as the familiar comfort of the TARDIS washed over her in warmth and light.

"All ready to go then?" The Doctor asked her as he looked back at her over his shoulder. "You're not wanting to change your mind then, are you?" he asked her when she failed to move and watched as she met his gaze with confusion. "Rose?"

"Hm?" She hummed the question as she moved further up the ramp and felt her steps falter for only a second before his arms were around her. "Guess I'm more tired than I thought," she offered with a half laugh and felt him press his hand against her brow. "I'm fine," she stressed the words with a laugh.

"You're certain?" he asked her with concern and looked down when she dropped her forehead to his chest and laughed.

"I'm fine, Mother Hen." She teased him and moved around him further into the console room. "You should find us a nice little vacation planet. I think we deserve the rest."

"Demanding," he teased her back as he moved to the controls. "And what kind of vacation would you be looking for then?"

"Something with a beach," she answered as she moved her bag to the floor and sat down on the jump seat. "Maybe…no," she shook her head with a roll of her eyes and a grin.

"What?" he asked, prodding for more.

"Well, I don't suppose you know any planets with purple sand do you?" she asked. "Just thought it'd be neat."

He met her gaze quietly, his expression unreadable for only a moment before he gave her his familiar wide smile and listened to her laugh. Turning back to the controls as he began to tell her of the world with purple sands and orange waters, he fell silent when he looked back to find her asleep in the jump seat. Shaking his head as he directed the TARDIS into the plasma storm he had told her about, he knew that he wouldn't be able to show her how truly beautiful the energy was. He could always wake her and he knew that if he did she wouldn't be mad, but she had nearly collapsed once there was no one left who needed her to fake that everything was alright.

"Rose Tyler," he said as he left the console and moved to her side. "Oh, Rose," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her gently against his side and listening to her whimper softly as she curled against him. "You should be sleeping in your bed, not trying to keep me company."

Gathering her in his arms as he stood from the jump seat, he carried Rose back through the hall and offered his thanks when the TARDIS opened the door of her room for him. Releasing one arm slowly and setting her feet down on the floor, he held her tightly to his side as he tossed back the blankets on her bed. Lifting her once more into the cradle of his arms, he laid her gently down in the bed and smiled softly when she sighed. He moved to her feet, taking off her trainers and socks, remembering how she had told him once that she hated sleeping in them.

Sitting beside her on the bed, he pulled down the zipper on her jumper, tipping her up to lean against his chest as he removed her hooded cover. There was a shirt underneath, small though it was, and he was glad for it if only because it made him more comfortable to have it there. There were very few things that he feared, but among them was Rose herself. She could break him in a way that nothing else – not even a Dalek – could. He feared her because of how much he needed her and he wondered if she felt the same.

"Rose Tyler." He spoke her name slowly, reverently as he laid her back on the pillows and kissed her brow.

"Doctor," she moaned softly in her sleep as he covered her with the blankets and stood from her bed.

He looked down on her, watching her sleep for a few moments longer before turning away and leaving her to rest. The soft rustle of leaves caught his attention and he turned back, watching as the sentient flower fluttered its petals as it stretched on its stalk. Reaching out his hand to the flower in a moment of curiosity, he gave a half smile when the flower rubbed against his fingers. He stroked the edge of the bulb, his brow furrowing when he caught the low sound of a soft trilling and realized the plant was making the noise.

"You were with a bonded pair before, weren't you?" he asked the plant and watched as the flower spread open wider, two small vines coming out from the center of it to wrap around his index finger. "Are you tasting me?" he asked as the tiny yellow strings moved up and down over his skin before retracting into the flower once more. "She'll be alright, just needs a bit of sleep is all," he told the flower when it leaned against him with its blossom turned toward the bed.

Sentient plants had no eyes, not in the same sense that people or animals did, but they could see on an almost telepathic level. They could sense how a room looked, if there were any predators about and even what someone looked like. Some sentient plants even had the ability to speak telepathically on a level that was more emotion than it was words, but he had yet to sense anything from this plant. The flower moved again and The Doctor watched as it spread its petals as far as they would go, trembling slightly before a fine gold dust was expelled from the center to rest on his skin.

"Yes, we're your new home," he told the plant as the dust was absorbed into his skin.

The dust was harmless, he knew. Barely more than a scent trace that the plant could identify them with and he wondered if Rose had been dusted on by the flower yet. He reached for the bottle of water sitting on the table next to it and uncapped it before pouring a small amount into the blue tinted soil. He set the bottle down as the flower preened before shaking his head and looking at the flower. So, it was telepathic after all, he thought with an amused snort and looked at the bed when he heard the soft rustle of movement.

"Doctor?" Rose looked at him through her lashes, her eyes barely open.

"Go back to sleep, Rose," he hushed her quietly as he lifted the blankets to cover her shoulders.

She sighed softly as he watched her lashes flutter before she settled down into the pillows and he smiled softly when she returned to sleep. Turning away from her, he walked out of her room and pulled the door closed quietly behind him. There were at least ten worlds in the direction they were going that held purple sands, one that had orange waters, another with red and yet another that had the brightest bluest waters he had ever seen. Liquid sapphires he had heard them called. He'd give her something beautiful to wake up to, something fantastic.

:::::

He looked up from the console as he landed the TARDIS, his eyes turning back to the hall when he heard the sound of her footsteps growing closer. Her socked feet were covered by the cuffs of her pants, her toes sticking out amusingly. His lips pulled up at the edge as he watched her walk closer, her face free of the makeup she usually applied and he found her beautiful in her natural state. Chuckling silently as he watched her run her hand clumsily through her hair, he had long since learned that it took Rose more than a bit to wake fully. She was wearing his jumper again and he shook his head as he glanced up at the TARDIS, her amusement coming through clearly.

I don't know what you're playin' at, Old Girl, he directed his thoughts to the ship.

"It brings her comfort," the TARDIS responded as The Doctor turned his attention back to Rose and held out his hand as she came near.

"Still tired?" he asked her in a joking manner, chuckling when she lightly slapped his arm as he wrapped her in a hug. "I've got a surprise for you, Rose Tyler," he told her and looked down when he realized she was growing heavier against him. "But you're gonna have to wake up to see it."

"Oh, fine then," she groused teasingly and smiled when he laughed at her. "You're making the tea, though."

"Of course, I am," he told her with a brilliant smile as they both turned and walked back into the hall. "I've seen what you do to it."

"Oi! I'm not that bad," she fired back as he laughed. "That chocolate tea turns out just fine, thank you," she said with a sniff before giving him a wide smile. "One of these days you'll have a cuppa with me."

"Your chocolate tea isn't exactly my flavor," he told her, rolling his eyes to himself at the inaccuracy of it. She'd forever think of it as 'chocolate' tea because that was how it tasted to her, but it wasn't chocolate at all. "You're not wanting that, are you?" he asked and smiled when she yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"If you don't mind," she said and rubbed her face. "Mm, I'd better go make myself presentable if we're going out," she told him before disappearing into her bedroom.

Rose Tyler, you could wear a burlap sack and you'd be perfectly presentable to me, The Doctor thought as he stared at her closed door. Turning away with a shake of his head, he walked down the hall to the gardens and stepped inside, breathing in the warm fragrant air with a contented sigh. There were times that he would simply lie under the artificial sky and bask in the sun with the plush grass beneath him and the plants and flowers surrounding him. He stood with his eyes closed and his face turned up to the light as he let the warmth and comfort of the gardens wash over him.

Breathing in deeply and releasing the air slowly, he opened his eyes and stepped further into the grass covered hill that stretched far and wide inside his ship. Of all the places he had shown Rose inside the TARDIS, this was the one she had found on her own and the one that had seemed to impress her the most. Walking toward the Beldorian rose tree that stood as cover for Rose's tea plants, he was unprepared to see that the three plants had multiplied into ten. They surrounded the tree in a full circle and while he knew that they were no danger to the tree, he also hadn't been expecting them to replicate as they had.

"Did you know they'd grown like this?" he asked Rose when she stepped into the garden behind him.

"A bit fast for what I'm used to, but yeah," she answered him, "figured they were like strawberry plants. You put one in the ground and soon enough you've got a whole row of them. Came to see what was taking you so long," she told him as she stepped around him with her flower in hand. "And I thought he could use a pit of the sun."

"You're so certain your flower's a he?" The Doctor asked her with an arch of his brow.

"There's more shades of blue, red, and darker purples in his petals, so yeah. Seems more of a masculine flower to me," she told him with a grin. "Somehow, I always seem to wake up with him tucked in my arm, but there's never any mess left behind from the soil."

"It's the pot it's planted in," he told her as he held his hand out for the flower. "You see the tiny lines here and the way the pot feels like it's made of something braided?" he asked her and watched as she ran her fingertips over the outside. "You could say it's a natural container. The pot itself is actually made from the roots of the plant that have grown up over the outside and leaves and petals that it's discarded over time. The 'pot' could take any form the plant wants, even legs if it was so inclined."

"Really?" Rose asked him with a disbelieving tilt of her head, her brow furrowed in curiosity.

"After all you've seen and this," he nodded to the plant, "is hard for you to believe?"

"So, he's like Jade then?" she asked him and watched his eyes darken with sorrow at the memory of the forest-born alien.

"A bit, but not so much," he said and smiled sadly when Rose placed her hand on his arm, covering her fingers with his own. "This flower would be for her people what a cat is to yours," he offered the comparison and looked down at the flower, watching it preen and stretch into Rose's touch when she lifted her hand to it. "Pet it a lot then, do you?" he teased her and laughed when she offered him a teasing narrow of her eyes.

"He seems to enjoy it. Sometimes, I think he sings to me at night, but I must be going mad," she said as she ran the tips of her fingers over the softball-sized bulb, tickling underneath it until the flower opened wide and stretched its blossom as far across as it could.

"You're not going mad, not yet," he teased her as he watched the flower respond to Rose easily, the feel of its happiness infusing him. "Sentient flowers can sing, they just usually don't."

"He does that a lot, too," she laughed when two thin yellow vines came out from the center of the blossom and stroked gently over The Doctor's chin, the movement as graceful as ribbons in the breeze.

"Rose Tyler." He looked at her as he drew in a deep breath and shook his head. "Only you."

"What?" She looked up at him with a confused smile and laughed when he did. "I wish I could take him to show Mum or Mickey, but they would both freak out. And don't think I don't know what you did last night."

"What are you wittering on about then?" he asked her as he set the flower down in the grass and began collecting what was needed to make her tea.

"That look Mickey gave you," she told him when he looked back at her over his shoulder. "Let me guess, you invited him before I came outside and he told you no and asked you not to say anything?"

"How did you - ?" he half-asked and stared at her with furrowed brows.

She took in a deep breath and released a heavy, half-amused sigh. "Because I know Mickey," she answered him. "He's never been very brave and as much as he likes to act tough… It's good that he's back there to look after Mum, she needs someone to."

"You knew?" he asked her as he stood with the pieces of the plant in hand and walked with her back to the kitchen. "You knew and you didn't say anything?"

Rose shrugged as she took the tea kettle off the stove and moved around The Doctor to fill it with water from the sink as he cut the beans, leaves, and root from the plant to make it into tea for her. If there was one skill she had learned over her years, it was how to let Mickey save face when she knew that he couldn't handle something. She chuckled to herself before telling The Doctor a story from their childhood, a schoolyard bully who had chosen Mickey as his intended target. Rose had been smaller than them both at the time, but had socked the bully in the jaw when Mickey had been too afraid to even move.

"It's always been that way between Mickey and I," she told him when he made a disapproving noise. "He'd never be able to handle even half of what we have," she said and The Doctor frowned when he saw the haunted look in her eyes that she quickly hid behind a smile. "But you've still got me. Can't get rid of me now."

"S'pose I can't," he told her with a chuckle as she set the kettle on the stove and blinked when the burner turned on for her. "It's the TARDIS," he told her with a smile.

"She always knows," Rose said with a confused shake of her head. "You know I wasn't comfortable with it back on Platform One, but now…it feels strange to not have her there, that tingle in the back of my mind."

"Doesn't bother you anymore?" he asked and watched Rose shake her head as she leaned back against the counter beside him.

"No, she feels…familiar, like a friend. Doctor, back on that planet." Rose paused, frowning as she remembered what the alien woman had told her and looked up to meet his watchful gaze. "The shopkeeper, she said…she said that the TARDIS is happy, but that other ships like her aren't."

His lips turned up as he offered her a sad smile and nodded. "Lots of species over time have had sentient ships, different levels, different abilities, but very few of those species have ever been telepathic. Time Lords, Kemtonaeys, Felektraxians. I'm the only one left now. There are so many other species who have a tiny bit of telepathy, less than humans, barely measurable."

"Humans?" Rose asked him with a shake of her head.

"You lot all think you go through life disconnected, but you don't," he told her with a quiet snort. "That bond you hear talked about, between a mother and her child, friends who've known each other for a long time and can seem to read each others thoughts, stories of soul mates finding each other," he waited for her nod before he continued. "Only telepathic species have that. There was a time in human history, before science or religion, when humans didn't need speech to communicate with each other."

"But why doesn't anyone know about that?" Rose asked him and watched as his expression changed into one that she almost didn't recognize, something darker.

"A group of humans who thought they were better than everyone else rose to power. Called themselves a church, the soldiers and humble servants of a god they'd created." He looked down, his eyes darkening with the memory of a time long since gone. "Anything different from them was wiped out, any record of it destroyed. They tortured and killed, sometimes just for the pleasure of doing so, and all the while claiming that they were in the right."

"No one ever tried to stop them?" Rose asked.

"Some did, a few, but they were all destroyed in turn. You lot let them carry on." The dour expression on his face vanished seconds later as he forced the darkness back into the vault of his memories and looked up at her, meeting her concerned gaze with excitement. "Enough about that though. I told you there's a surprise waiting."

"We've still got our tea and breakfast," she reminded him with a teasing chuckle and breathed in deeply as her tea brewed. "That smells amazing," she said, the words half moaned as she took the steaming mug he offered her. "You sure you won't have any?" she asked and sipped at the dark liquid.

"No." He shook his head as he reached for the tin holding the leaves for black tea. "You make that often for yourself?" he asked her and watched her look at him over the edge of the porcelain cup she drank from.

"Mostly at night before bed or when I can't sleep. It makes me feel…I don't know exactly." She frowned as she searched for a description to offer him. "Warm isn't quite it, but it's closer than anything else."

"In the mornings?" he asked as he watched her sip the tea, breathing in deeply of its fragrant steam between swallows.

"I don't know," she said and laughed a bit. "It sounds strange, but…it's like putting on a favorite jumper. Just the feel of it is something you love, but can't really describe."

He offered her a smile as he moved passed her, grabbing a banana from the shelf and stepping toward the door of the kitchen. Making an excuse of needing to check on the TARDIS when she called after him, he continued down the hall and into the console room. He couldn't tell her that he was leaving because her scent was becoming too powerful. She wouldn't understand that and she certainly wouldn't understand that it wasn't meant as an insult. It was quite the opposite actually. Her scent was enticing and tantalizing, his senses filled with her with every breath he took. There was a moment when he had been standing next to her as she drank her tea that all he could think about was tasting it on her lips.

Why did she make it impossible for him to concentrate? He'd had plenty of companions before and a good deal of them had been female. He'd not reacted to a single one as he did to Rose. Breathing in too deeply around her had, on more than one occasion, caused a sensory overload that resulted in him having to fight down physical manifestations of his lust for her. He had tasted her skin, kissed her brow and her cheek, but he knew without a doubt that he couldn't kiss her lips. He very much doubted he'd ever be able to stop with just one kiss.

Kneeling down to the floor, he removed one of the metal grates, setting it aside before crawling inside to lie on his back beneath the console. Retrieving his sonic screwdriver from his the pocket of his leather coat, he adjusted the settings before bringing it up to the bundle of wires and relays above his head. Most of the connections were fine, but there were a few that would need replacing soon and he knew that Rose would most likely enjoy another bit of shopping. Closing his eyes as he rubbed his brow, he breathed in deeply and felt every muscle tense as his nerve endings ignited in a cascade of delicious fire. He hadn't heard her come into the console room, but her scent was all around him and he was grateful for the current distraction that allowed him to stay partially hidden from Rose.

"You look tired," Rose said with concern as she watched him work on the TARDIS.

"A bit maybe," he allowed as he reached up to the grating next to him in search of a tool. "Cycle's coming round again; I'll need to sleep in the next day or two. Hand me that will you?" he asked pointing to the angular tool that looked to be both a wrench and a set of pliers.

"Is she alright then, the TARDIS?" Rose asked him as she handed him the tool, his fingers brushing against her hand as he accepted the bit of metal from her.

"Good as can be," he said, his voice muffled around the sonic screwdriver he held between his teeth.

"That should do it," he said as he sat up and set the tool on the grating next to Rose. "I'll need to pick up a few parts for her soon, but she's fine for now. You alright?" he asked when he watched her shiver.

"Mmhmm," Rose hummed as she looked into his blue eyes, distracted for a moment before blinking and moving away to allow him room to stand.

Rose looked away from him as moved around the console, refusing to meet his gaze until she had herself under control. How could she possibly tell him that she had been distracted by him? That when she had breathed in to speak, she had become too distracted by his scent to even think beyond the desire of kissing him? She looked up from the part of the console she was studying when The Doctor asked her if she had brought a swim suit with her, her brows furrowing in question as she remained silent.

"You'd better hurry up and put it on," he told her, grinning with excitement. "The beach, Rose. I've brought us to a beach!"

She laughed at his excitement, his emotions infecting her as she smiled. She didn't say anything as she turned and jogged back into the hall, heading for her room. Closing herself inside her chambers, she looked at the bed and let her excitement fall away. She hadn't worn a swim suit in years. She didn't even own one and the reason behind it reminded her of why. Jimmy had made her feel ugly, made her completely disgusted with her own body and it was only now, with The Doctor, that she was finally feeling comfortable in her own skin again. He called to her with excitement, telling her to hurry up, and she wondered if she would be able to tell him she wasn't feeling up to a swim.

Warmth passed over her, a feeling of safety and love settling inside her like a ghost as she closed her eyes. It was the best she could do, the TARDIS thought as she looked down upon Rose. She couldn't embrace her or talk to her, but she could give her comfort. If a swimsuit was what Rose needed, then a swimsuit she would have. Rose opened her eyes slowly, her hand lifting to rub against her brow as something drew her attention to the bed. There, lying on the blanket was a two piece swimsuit in the same color blue as The Doctor's eyes. There were even designs drawn on it in the same color as the darker flecks of midnight-blue scattered on the edges of his irises.

"Thank you," Rose said as she turned her eyes to the ceiling.

She moved quickly, discarding her clothing before removing her under garments and replacing them with the bikini. Rose thought the designs looked like some of the ones she had seen scattered around the ship and on the book The Doctor had been reading. Were the designs Gallifreyan, she wondered. She forgot about them almost as quickly as they had fascinated her, The Doctor's voice calling out to her once again, and she dressed quickly. Slipping back into her trainers, she ran back through the ship, meeting him in the console room and chuckling at the sight of his excitement.

"You're going to love this, Rose Tyler," he told her with a wide smile as he took her hand and led her outside the TARDIS.

"Purple sand," Rose said with wonder as she stopped and looked at the beach beneath her feet. "Purple sand and…is that water…"

"Technically the water is red, but with the color of the sand beneath it, it looks black," he told her with a smile. "You wanted purple sands, Rose and I've brought you to a planet with purple sands as far as the eye can see. Water's perfectly safe to swim in. You can even drink it if you like."

"Drink it?" she asked with a confused laugh. "You're not supposed to drink salt water."

"That's the beauty of it, Rose! It's not salt water," he laughed as he pulled her along, running along the empty beach to where the sand met the sea. "Under the water are miles and miles of sugar cane. They harvest sugar from the sea!"

"Wait, are you sayin'?" Rose trailed off as she looked at the churning sea, following behind him as they ran. "It's sugar water?"

"Yup," he told her with a wide smile and a nod. "Sugar water! Fantastic!"

"Oi! Hold on!" she shouted at him with a laugh, pulling her hand from his. "I'm not running into the water like this and what about you, Doctor? That leather coat won't do well in sugar water. Neither will those boots of yours. Or did you not bring your trunks?"

"Oh, I brought them," he told her with a laugh and watched her as she removed her jumper and trainers at the same time. "Rose, where did you get that?" he asked her as she removed her top to reveal the bikini underneath.

"A gift of the TARDIS," she told him with a laugh. "Don't you like it?" she asked and he could see the nervousness she was trying to hide.

"It's nice," he told her with a nod, turning away before he stared to long at the Gallifreyan words written on the cups of the bikini.

On the left, the geometric words surrounding her in circles and lines, was written A Time Lord's Lady. On the right, the names next to each other in the main circle, written as would be for a married couple, were her name and his. He turned back, his eyes widening when he found her to be dressed only in the bikini. Every nerve ending ignited, his muscles tightening as his hearts raced and hormones rose in response. He watched her as she walked toward the water, her body bared to his eyes as he stared in wonder and arousal. His tongue peaked out as he licked his dry lips, his eyes falling to her rounded bottom as he read the words written in Gallifreyan. The Doctor and his Rose.

"Meddling old fool," he cursed the TARDIS, his eyes snapping up to meet Rose's when she looked back at him over her shoulder.

"You comin' then?"