The Doctor stepped towards the empty box, a look of confusion and sorrow on his face. He stepped into the hollow space and turned back to look at heart-rending faces of the Tyler family.
"I don't get it" he protested.
Rose also walked towards the box and began to stroke the doorframe. It was a comfort to know that it was real but also a heartbreak knowing that the space inside held nothing but darkness. This wasn't what she had imagined.
"She was singing, calling to us, telling us that she was ready. So why, why the hell is she empty?" he continued.
Rose moved closer to him and placed her hand on the top of his arm, gently stroking it in an act to try and comfort him.
"Maybe we didn't do things properly, you know so she couldn't completely grow or summit." She said, not quite sure if what she had just said made any sense.
"Rose I think I know how to grow a TARDIS" he snapped at her.
Rose stepped back slightly, taken aback by his insensitive tone of voice. He saw her remove her hand from his arm and move away slightly. He looked down at her face; she was just as upset as he was, although now she looked slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry" he sighed apologetically.
She looked up at him and gave him a faint smile. Jackie moved towards the box and stepped inside next to the Doctor and Rose and studied it carefully.
"So what are you two going to do now?" Pete asked them.
"Don't know" the Doctor replied, staring down at the floor.
Rose thought about how sad he looked, she wished she could make this dream of theirs a reality, but that was the only piece of coral they were given and it didn't work. It was over! The room became silent, everyone except Jackie staring down at the ground.
"Well you can tell you two are made for each other" Jackie exclaimed, causing everyone to snap out of their glum thoughts and try and work out where that statement had come from.
"What?" Rose creased her brow in question.
"You're both idiots"
The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, slightly offended by her comment. They looked at her for a moment staring into the eyes that stared right back at them but gave no indication to what she was on about.
"Please continue Jackie," the Doctor urged, sneeringly
"Well had you cared to actually look inside this thing, you would have noticed this." A slight smirk appeared on her face a she pushed against the wall nearest to her.
The Doctor and Rose raised their eyebrows in surprise as they realised that it wasn't actually a wall at all.
"It's a door!" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly, moving towards it.
"Why does it have another door?" Rose asked even more confused.
The Doctor spun round on his heels to face her, a manic grin on his face.
"Must be a security thing, the door's camouflaged so that we're safe inside and any enemies or passers by think that it's empty."
"But why?"
The Doctor looked at her for a moment not answering her question, he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and wrinkled his brow.
"You know what Rose? I don't know," he told her, before turning back to the door.
Rose looked over to Pete and Tony who both looked totally puzzled and then to Jackie who gently smiled at her. She shook her head slightly before joining the Doctor in front of the door.
"This TARDIS is going to be very different, isn't it Doctor" it wasn't a question, but a statement that she knew was true.
"I think it is, Rose" he nodded.
She grasped at his hand, as he slowly pushed the open. In front of them they saw what looked like a hallway, softly lit by lights that lined the wall. The Doctor took in a deep breath.
"Yes, very different indeed."
"Come on then" the Doctor said leading Rose into the hallway, her hand still firmly grasped in his.
The hallway wasn't very long and with the rest of the Tylers following closely behind, they reached their first room. Rose gasped as she took in the format of the room.
"Oh my God. Doctor, look at this." She exclaimed looking around the room.
"I know" he replied, slightly calmer than Rose.
They had entered the control room, and even though the layout was very similar it was also very different. The control panel was still placed in the centre of the room, its lights were glowing yellow, orange and red. There were two sections to the panel, meaning that it needed two pilots. The Doctor realised that he was going to have to teach Rose how to fly the TARDIS. The floor beneath them was a thick jet back with specks of silver smeared across it. It looked beautiful, like looking down into space. Very appropriate, thought the Doctor. The walls were cream with circular lights placed neatly across them; they lit the room well, but also not too harshly. There were also seats dotted around the room, they were smart looking and placed spaciously throughout the room. They were black and looked like they were cushioned. After silently observing for a while, the Doctor looked over to Rose, who still looked around in amazement; he had to admit it was wonderful. She caught his gaze and smiled at him.
"It's amazing" she grinned at him.
"Wanna see the rest?"
She nodded and then turned to look at the others. They seemed to be focusing more on the Doctor and Rose than the room itself, apart from Tony who seemed to be looking around with his mouth wide open. This was a lot for a child of his age to take in.
"You coming?" she asked.
"Why don't you two go on ahead, we'll take a look around later." Jackie told her, realising that this was something that they need to do on their own.
Rose simply nodded at her, giving her a grateful smile, before allowing herself to be lead away down the corridor.
The first door they approached was to their right; the door was a light brown and went well with the colour of the walls, which were similar to the walls in the control room.
The Doctor opened the door in anticipation; they had no idea what each room was or how many rooms there even were. As a slither of the room behind the door was being shown Rose began to show her excitement as a slight squeal left her mouth. The Doctor stopped and looked down at her; she could do nothing but bury her face into the side of his chest as he chuckled slightly.
"Composed?" he asked.
He felt her nod her head into his chest as he pulled her slightly closer to him and chuckled again. They entered the room, Rose kept her face hidden in the Doctor's chest, she didn't really know why, part of her wanted to be that close to him, another part didn't want to look in the room in case she it turned out not to be real.
"Rose look, I promise you won't be disappointed." He nudged her slightly to get her to look.
As she looked up she gasped again, just like she had done with the last room.
"It's beautiful."
She looked up at the Doctor to find his face beaming with what seemed like a mixture of joy and pride. The room, which appeared to be a living room, was neatly set out with a black cushioned sofa, two other cushioned chairs, a soft wooden coffee table, TV, DVD player, radio and CD player. The cream walls and burgundy carpet gave the room a very cosy feel to it. As Rose looked around she noticed something magnificent on the other side of the room.
"Oh that is going to lead to some very romantic evenings." She giggled slightly.
As the Doctor looked in her direction a very smug grin appeared across his face.
"Oh, good girl" the Doctor exclaimed.
"I assume you were talking to the TARDIS there." Rose questioned him, raising her eyebrow.
"Of course" he said, studying the marvellous masterpiece.
Rose smirked as she strolled over to where he was stood. She slowly and softly placed her arms around his waist and moved in close to him.
"So did you secretly ask for a fireplace, Doctor?" she whispered onto the back of his neck, the feel of her breath causing him to close his eyes.
"Well, I might have mentioned it."
She placed a smile shaped kiss on the back of his neck and moved her hands up to rub his shoulders.
"Nice work" she chuckled, snuggling her nose into the back his neck.
"I thank you" he joked in a strange voice, turning around to meet her gaze.
He grabbed her hand and dragged her away to explore the remaining rooms.
As they continued their journey down the corridor, they began to reminisce about old times again. They spoke about the other TARDIS and how different it looked to this one. Eventually they reached another door. It was the same as the previous one; it was Rose who had the honours of opening it this time. As they entered the room they realised it was a bedroom. There was a big double bed in the middle of the room and bedside tables complete with lamps on either side of it. The rest of the room was full with a wardrobe and draws. The room was decorated in white and a soft oak coloured brown.
"These rooms are so beautifully decorated." Rose said.
"I know they're incredible."
An en- suit bathroom extended off of the back of the room. It was similarly decorated to the bedroom, with white facilities and walls and a soft brown carpet. It was spacious enough for the two of them to get ready at the same time, but not too big that it took up unnecessary space.
" I like the fact that the living room, with the fireplace, is next door to the bedroom. That was some smart thinking." He stated a craftily.
"Stop it." she told him, playfully hitting his arm.
She wondered over to the bed and sat on it, seeing how comfortable it was.
"Ooo, very nice" she smiled.
She waved the Doctor over to come and join her.
"Ooo" he smirked as he sat down.
"Nice, innit?"
"Very nice indeed" he assured as he then down.
"Come on!" Rose yelled as she headed for the door.
"We can try out the bed later" she winked at him.
He got up and joined Rose out in the corridor. They could see two more doors and a staircase ahead of them.
The next door they approached was the same as the others, the Doctor and Rose walked in together, that excitement of seeing a new room for the first time didn't seem to get old.
They had entered the kitchen, it was quiet spacious and had a lovely round table in the middle of it. The room was lined with units and attractive facilities that Rose hoped she wouldn't have to use too much. The surfaces looked like black marble and the cupboards were white. Rose rifled through the cupboards to see how much space was in them, she thought that maybe they were also bigger on the inside. She found herself slightly disappointed as she found that they were just ordinary cupboards. The Doctor and Rose left the kitchen and made their way up the gold spiral stair- case. The first room they came across was, what seemed to be, a spare room. It was simply decorated with only a single bed and wardrobe.
"No bathroom in this one" Rose pointed out.
"Only the Lord and Lady get the luxury of an en-suit." He smiled at her.
"Do you think we'll have people travelling with us?" she asked him.
"I'm not bringing your mother along if that's what you're thinking." He insisted, defensively placing his hands deep into his pockets.
Rose chuckled, before beginning to question him again.
"So, then why do we have a spare room?"
The Doctor's eyes softened, they probably would have someone travelling with them at some point, but his theory and the gentle hum from the TARDIS told him a different story. He moved towards her and cupped her head with his hands.
"Time will tell" he told her gently, and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
Rose looked confused, but quickly got over it as they headed towards the next room. The next three rooms were all bedrooms, holding a similar format to the first.
"Looks like we've got mum, dad and Tony with us." She giggled.
"Oh I'll take tiny Tyler, but not the other two"
"Those two being my parents, and your…"
She didn't finish her sentence; it felt a bit rushed calling them his in- laws. Technically by law they weren't, but then again they were. He smiled down at her, a smile that allowed her to relax.
"Well, you've got to choose your passengers carefully." He told her, pulling her along to the next door.
As they were about to walk through another wooden frame, they heard the sound of Tony's voice calling out to them.
"Doctor, Rose." He called.
The Doctor crouched down and held his arms out to the small boy, who gladly jumped into them, hugging the Doctor.
"This place is amazing" Jackie said, trying to catch up.
"Isn't it just" Rose agreed.
"Did you want to reveal what's behind the next door, Tony?" the Doctor asked him.
He enthusiastically nodded his head, and climbed down to open the door.
"Books" he shouted as he ran into the room.
The others quickly followed and found that the room was a library. It wasn't packed and old looking like Rose had expected. But it was spacious, neat and modern looking. There were a couple of tables and some sofas dotted around, the feel of the room was calm and relaxed, a good place to come and unwind. After a root around at the books the TARDIS had provided, they continued their tour. There were only a few rooms left; they found two bathrooms a gym and a small green area with a pond. The Doctor and Rose stayed in the green room for a while, just looking into the pond, trying to take everything in. Jackie and Tony sat down on a near by bench, discussing just how cool Tony thought the TARDIS was.
"I've got something for you" the Doctor said, turning to meet Rose's eyes.
He pulled out two keys from his pockets, they were neatly tied to pieces of royal blue string and the key itself was a bright baby blue.
"Even the key's beautiful. But where did you get it? I thought we'd have to fix the lock ourselves?" she quizzed.
The Doctor shook his head.
"No, that's too dangerous. Anybody could get a copy if we did that, these are unique, only one lock that fits these keys an there's only a certain amount of keys that will fit the lock."
"How many are there?"
"Five. They're in a small hidden cupboard on the way in, the TARDIS gave me these ones." he replied.
She stood still as she let the Doctor placed the string around her neck, and watched as he put the other around his own.
"We can only take these off to shower and sleep, we can't keep them lying around." He told her.
"Fair enough."
They tucked their keys safely underneath their clothes and looked at one another.
"So, what do you think?" the Doctor asked, breaking the silence.
"I love it! You?"
"Love it!" he replied.
He took her hand and led her to another bench across the other side of the pond. They sat down in silence, observing their beautiful surroundings. They saw Jackie and Tony on the other side, Tony looked tired now, and he was due for his nap soon. Jackie gently cradled him as she looked over in their direction and smiled at them.
"Do you remember that night when we went to see the 2012 Olympics and I got trapped in that picture?" the Doctor asked Rose, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah"
"You said we'd always be alright, us two, that we'd never be split up." He continued, a look of sadness in his eyes.
"Yeah, guess I was wrong."
"Well do you still feel that way?"
"I don't understand," she told him, puzzled.
"Do you think we'll be ok? I mean yes we were torn apart but look where we are now. Or do you feel that you and the Doctor are still apart and I'm…"
He looked away from Rose and fixed his gaze on the ground.
"Doctor we've been through this. You're not second best you're still you."
She moved closer to him and placed her hand on the back of his neck, and stroked it soothingly.
"I don't know what the future will hold for us, but I think we'll be together until the day comes that… that death parts us." She told him in an easing.
The Doctor smiled a soft smile up at her.
"So you're sure you want this?" he asked.
"I want this for us."
"Me too."
He leaned in and kissed her softly at first, but soon the kiss became more passionate and affectionate. They both seemed to forget that Jackie and a now disgusted Tony were sat opposite them. And just as Rose opened her mouth to let him in she felt the disapproving presence of her mother lingering behind her. She broke away and looked into the Doctor's disappointed eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
Rose tilted her head back, indicating to the Doctor to look behind her.
"Ah. Hi Jackie, we were just err… talking." He stuttered slightly nervously.
"Mmm I can see that." she said, her arms folded around her chest.
"Where's dad anyway." Rose asked, feeling guilty that she hadn't noticed earlier.
"He had to make a call to Torchwood. I'm going to put Tony down for a nap, you two coming or staying in here?"
"We'll stay, won't be long." The Doctor replied, grinning up at her.
She walked away with a small smile on her face, it didn't matter how much she disapproved of them being all lovey dovey in front of her, she had to admit they were sweet together.
The Doctor and Rose remained seated and joked about Jackie and her reaction to their relationship.
"I wanted to talk to you about what I found out earlier" the Doctor stated in a more serious tone.
"Can't we just forget about it Doctor? You know what happened and I just don't want to let it get in the way." She urged, trying to get him to move on.
" We won't, but I just need to know that it won't happen again. I've just got you back, I don't want to lose you again."
"It won't happen again, I promise."
He believed her and decided that it was time to let it go.
"Can I have another kiss?" he asked her.
She pulled him in and they shared another passionate kiss, and that's where they stayed for the next half hour.