Rose woke slowly, feeling warm and safe. She fought consciousness at first, snuggling into the fabric that pillowed her cheek. She smiled as the same double heartsbeat that serenaded her dreams continued it's steady song. It was only when her pillow shifted and strong arms tightened around her shoulders that she remembered where she was…and what she had lost. Her eyes shot open, but she could not bring herself to look up into the face of a new Doctor. What she had told him was true, she would love him even through the change, but oh, she wasn't ready to let go of her Doctor just yet. Here, wrapped in his embrace, she could pretend it was still him, the one who she had first come to know and grown to love. She tried to will away the tears, not wanting to upset this new Doctor, but they came anyway. Her breath hitched and she buried her face more firmly into his chest.
"Rose," he whispered as he stroked a hand lightly through her hair. Funny, his new voice sounded just like his old one. Would that, at least, stay the same? "Rose, love it's ok. Don't cry. Look at me."
He reached down to cup her chin, but she let out a sob and shook her head. His hands felt the same too. They were large and calloused, yet gentle as they brushed against her cheek. She wondered if it would be easier or harder if her new Doctor resembled the one she fell in love with.
"Rose, what's wrong?" there was his voice again, and Rose decided it would be so much harder to hear this familiar voice spoken from a stranger's mouth. "Are you in pain? I didn't burn you did I?"
Finally, it was the clear anxiety in his voice that made her brave tilting her head up to meet his eyes. She gasped, "Doctor! But…you're still you!"
He chuckled, "Oh was that what had you so upset? Yep! Still this daft old face! There was always a chance I could manage it without regenerating. Hope you're not too disappointed."
Rose's face transformed into a huge grin. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she let out a joyous laugh. "Oh thank god!" she cried, though now her tears were from happiness.
The Doctor hugged her back fiercely. "Oh Rose, my Rose," he murmured into her hair.
She pulled herself back until she could see his face. She cupped each cheek with her hands, "My doctor," she whispered, then brought her lips to his.
There was nothing short or gentle about this kiss. It was hard and passionate and Rose quickly lost herself in the Doctor. Her Doctor. She smiled into his lips before diving back into the best snog of her life.
Some time later the Doctor eased back to rest his forehead on hers. They were both breathing roughly and grinning like idiots. Rose couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh. "Blimey," she said, painting one last kiss on the Doctor's swollen lips.
"Alright?" the Doctor asked as he ran his thumb to wipe away the last traces of her earlier tears.
"Bit better than," she sighed happily. Then her face grew serious and she brought her hands up from where they had rested over his two hearts to trace the beloved features of his face. "Doctor, I was so afraid I'd lost you."
"Nope. Still me," he said softly, "but Rose, even if I had regenerated, you still wouldn't have lost me. Different packaging, same man. And that man will always, always love you. So much so that I imagine when I do finally regenerate, it will be into one of your pretty boys," he chuckled but the comment set Rose on edge.
"I'd rather you stay you," she whispered and tucked her head under his chin so he wouldn't see the fresh tears that shone in her eyes.
"I'll regenerate someday, Rose. And if we are both very lucky, it will be a long time from now and you'll still be with me. I promise I'll do everything in my power to make that someday far off. But when it happens," here he cupped her chin to bring her face up to meet his. It took no small amount of courage for her to meet his eyes and show him all she was feeling. But he was finally opening up to her, and she couldn't loose her courage now. When she met his eyes, he continued, "Rose, when it happens, I have to know you'll be ok."
Rose forced herself to pause before she responded, thinking about his regeneration as a future, though not an immediate event. If what he said was true, and she doubted he would lie to her, then even when he changed his face, he'd still be him, her Doctor. And in the long future that stretched out before them, surely she would change too. From what the Doctor had said and how he'd acted in the past several hours, he'd still love her, still have her hand in his as they wandered from adventure to adventure. Well, if he could be brave enough to commit himself to a human who would slow, and whither, and probably get a bit fuddy with time if Grandma Prentice was anything to go by, then she could commit herself fully to a mad alien who may change his face and whole personality. She smiled.
"What?" the Doctor asked, noticing her change in expression.
"S'just that, even after all this time, you're still teaching me new things," she pecked him on the lips, clearly surprising him.
"Oh? And what is it that I am teaching you?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"Oh lots," her grin grew wider and she rose up on her knees so that she could leave a kiss on his forehead, "Like people change," she kissed his right cheek, "but that's ok," she kissed his left cheek, "when you love them as much as I love you," she kissed him on the lips, though this one lingered.
The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. After a few blissful moments she pulled back, "So yes Doctor, someday, when you regenerate, I'll be ok. Because I'll still have you. And we'll get through it together."
"Oh my brilliant girl," the Doctor said reverently. He pulled her back for a searing kiss and neither of them talked for a long time.
Rose couldn't tell if it had been minutes, hours, or days when she finally pulled back from the Doctor's lips into the his strong chest. In some respects, she never wanted to stop snogging him, but with her feeling so blissfully happy and the sunlight was warm on her body she could just as easily drift back off to sleep.
The Doctor chuckled and she felt the rumble in his chest, "Oi! I think the human has gotten quite enough sleep already. And besides, we have a TARDIS to get to. Can't waste a day of our Winter Tour snoozing here!"
The mention of the Winter Tour reminded Rose where they were and that more than a dramatic change in her relationship with the Doctor happened yesterday. She shot upright, "Wait a second! It's…warm? But you're not all," she waved her hands at him, "glowy!"
"Astounding observational skills you've got there," the Doctor teased, "Course it's warm! It's daytime, and you're properly dressed in warm, dry clothes now. It can get quite hot on this planet near midday, actually. Best be gone by then. Wouldn't want to ruin our trend for chilly destinations. For all I know you'll get a little sunburn and we'll have to start all over with this tour thing."
"Oh and you hate it so much," Rose bit her tongue as she smiled back at him, "So s' must me a big planet we're on then, to have such long days and nights and such dramatic temperature changes."
"Correct!" the Doctor said proudly, "and a relatively slow rate of rotation around it's axis."
"So how long do we have to wait to finally see that sunset we missed? I mean, after all this trouble to see it, we're gunna stick around for it, yeah?" Rose asked.
"Errrr…about fourteen hours," the Doctor replied. At the dismay in Rose's face he laughed and started to stand, bringing Rose with him. "But, it shouldn't be much more than a three hour trek back to the TARDIS, and then, well, sunset can be whenever you want."
"That's more like it!" Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him along as she started to walk.
"Rose, love, the TARDIS is that way," the Doctor laughed and pointed somewhere off to their right. Rose couldn't help the happy flutter in her stomach at the endearment.
"Right then, let's go right," she giggled and tugged his hand in the new direction, "Come on Time Lord, I'm starvin' and we have a sunset to watch."
The Doctor laughed and sped up to match her determined pace. They would be home soon.