She didn't know how the Doctor could hold her so gently. Now that she knew how strong he was she wondered how he could hold her with the softest touch both physically and mentally. His arms were still wrapped around her, encasing her, holding her protectively and safely against him as he continued to rock her back and forth. His movements were so tender inside of her head as he worked to soothe the burns on her mind. He was truly a Doctor as his touch went about healing her.

She focused back on her mind which was still weak but was feeling much better. She could tell that she was recovering under his careful touch. She felt she had gained enough energy and strength to move again. She settled herself deep down inside of him so she could study him slowly. She wanted to memorize everything about him. She wanted to lose herself inside of knowing him, blurring the lines of where she ended and he began.

She listened to his hearts beat from the inside. She could see the way they beat in tandem together. She could visualize his blood pumping through them delivering life to him. She memorized their rhythm, the ballad they constantly played. She smelled his scent which she could never quite place. It was the dust of planets he had on his shoes and something metallic from the TARDIS and something else she could never place but brought to mind images of a place she'd never seen. There were so many things that made him up. There were so many tiny things that fit together to make up the experience that was him and she wanted to memorize every single one of them.

It sounded silly to say that she saw stars but she literally did when she pressed even harder against his mind in this intense moment. They glowed like the light inside of him. The stars and galaxies that he glided across were written upon his very being. They rushed at her, so many that the number of them went against her understanding. All the places that he had been to were a part of him and in turn they now became a part of her. She'd only seen a tiny fraction of what he had glimpsed but in knitting herself to him they became hers as well.

To love him was to know him this way. It was to see and smell and touch and hear and taste him all at once. It was to glimpse all the tiny things that made him up on the inside. This is what the bonding was for; to know a person completely. The things he'd seen and experienced, the memories that made him up were nearly endless. She felt that she could spend her whole life exploring the inside of this man and never realize all there was to knowing him. But she wanted to spend all of her days trying.

She reached up and dug her hands into his ample head of hair. She knew how much he enjoyed this physical contact. She started out just gently ruffling it with her hands before soon digging her fingers deep down in it. He let out an uncharacteristic groan as he let his head fall to rest against her chest as she raked her hands back and forth across his head scratching his scalp as she did so. She loved to hear the things he was thinking and feel the passions he felt with it. She scratched hard and tugged on his wild locks enjoying his uninhibited internal dialog. She felt his breath heavy against her to match his mental conversation. She loved that she could make him happy. She wished it would always be in her power to do so.

She took her index fingers and ran them down along the front of his ears circling around to the back and repeating the action over and over again. She felt as his breath seemed to stop and she was sure that he was taking advantage of his respiratory bypass at the moment. He had found that he had gained some strange attachment to them ever since his last body when he'd been given such a large pair of them. Rose knew this about him though it was something he had never voiced. Of course, she knew, she was brilliant. And he felt how much she cared for him in the way she ever so gently and slowly rubbed along the edges, tugging on the lobes ever once in a while. He remained frozen and still taking in her physical affections. She was so good at this and he marveled at all he had been missing in his life without having this.

He felt unsure what to do to reciprocate. He had remained still taking it all in but he wanted to show her how he cared for her in return. His mind was nudging him to show the feelings he was having for her. Physical touch was still a new concept for him and he still doubted himself in this area. She was so good at it but he knew that he was not. But her mind caught onto his internal worries. She'd already been there enjoying his happiness and she easily caught onto the shift as insecurity came into his mind. Her thoughts now guided his touch, her emotions would tell him he was right. She reassured him that he knew what he was doing, that he didn't need to overthink it. She reassured him that he did not need to feel embarrassed.

He ran his hands up her shirt along her bare back and she shivered in response. She wrapped her legs around him pulling herself, somehow, even closer against him. Her hands stalled from what they were doing as sparks seemed to ignite on her own skin at his touch, her nerves brought alive under his hands. It was her turn now. He traced along her shoulder blades. He ran his fingers lightly down her back counting every vertebra on the way down. She was right; he did know what to do. Somehow, they were completely in tune. He could feel how much she enjoyed the way his hands felt strong against her back and yet so gentle as they traced along.

It did wild things to her internal chemistry. Her hormones, her heart rate, her breathing, everything it seemed inside of her accelerated at the touch. It was all quite intoxicating and he could see how someone could gain a fondness for this. As his hands continued to move, still holding close against her and all of these things continued to increase in her. There was some colorful mental narration to go along with it.

Rose thought maybe she should have been embarrassed about the thoughts that entered her mind and flowed into his but she didn't. She would have been of what she was saying to him in her mind if she didn't feel his own desire coming back at her and find it matched her own. She would never get tired of that sensation and she never ever wanted to lose it. She pressed on it with her own nudging him on.

But something strange happened. She felt something she had never felt before. In all their times together she had never felt this but it came to her now quite clearly. It was something to do with time. She was starting to be able to feel time. What she was feeling was similar to what she had felt when she had glimpsed the future tonight. She could now distinctly feel time inside of their heads. There was an element of time that was connecting them. She could feel it; she could almost see it when she focused on it. She could feel that he felt it too, his movements stalling as they both now focused on it. Whatever it was he was not surprised by it.

She focused more on it. It felt like her, it felt like him. They were written into it and it into them. Something told her that this was their timeline. It was the timing that led and guided them. It was their story. It started when they had come to know each other and wove closer and closer together until this moment. Beyond that she could not see. She tried to study it but it was as he had said; most of it was blurred and unclear to her. It was not a book she could read to tell her everything that would happen to them. She knew what a terrible thing that could be for the people who change time to suit them. At the moment she wasn't sure she would even want to see it. She was too frightened that she would see the two separate strands of them break apart and go in opposite directions. Or even worse, one of them end completely.

They were not meant to see it all clearly. It was only a guide to tell them the things they needed to know when they needed to know them. And right now she could hear the alarm bells that seemed to go off signaling that they were entering dangerous territory. This timing didn't feel right. It gave her a sick feeling. She knew they were going too fast; their distress was making them lose focus. They were moving much faster mentally and physically than they ever had. It wasn't like them. They could both feel the twisting on their time line that told them they were not doing things right. For some reason she felt it was absolutely imperative to slow down. She felt something very important depended on it. She tried not to think too much about why that might be.

So she didn't take any offense when he moved his hands away. But she did ask him to hold her tight. He held her firmly against him, his hands burning against her skin even through her shirt. She only wanted to feel him and know he was there. That's really what she had been seeking all along.

He broke his head away from hers but he kept his connection with her as his lips touched her shoulder. He ran his lips along her shoulders lightly brushing along, touching all the freckles there.

She leaned in close, her face touching his, her lips a mere breath away from touching his. But she lingered there not taking it yet.

Why don't you? he asked, speaking with words for the first time in a long time.

It's not ready...the time it, doesn't look right.

You...you can actually see it? he asked in surprise.

Yeah. Don't you?

Sure, he said with a small laugh. I see time all of the time. But I didn't realize you could.

I guess I'm starting to. I can see our timeline. Kind of. Not the full of it but bits and parts. And it doesn't look right yet.

I'm sorry, he began to explain, the bond-

Besides…I like to feel it she said with a smile interrupting his apology.

Feel what?

The anticipation

You anticipate it? he asked with a smile.

Of course...but I wasn't talking about my anticipation...I'm talking about yours. I like to feel it.

Rose...you never stop surprising me. It isn't frivolous to you. You understand. Understand how it works-how I work. You understand the time-how it works. How it passes, what it means.

You like that, huh?

I never thought I'd be so lucky to find someone who would understand...how I would fall in love. Let alone someone who would care enough to put up with me.

I am not putting up with anything she said fervently her hands just barely brushing his hair affectionately.

After my people were gone...I thought I would always be alone. I thought there was no way anyone could ever understand me. I actually couldn't imagine what it would be like for anyone to want this with me.

She felt a wave of his old grief. It surprised even him when it came out. He had not been expecting it. It had long been put to bed since he had met her but it was still inside of him, still a part of his memories, still a part of the man he was. Though it was gone now it had once been a part of his everyday life. The reminder of it was now turned into a fear. A fear that one day he would have to return to that reality.

He had been so lonely. Many people could say that no one understood them, but he was the only man in the universe who could literally say that there was not one person who could understand him. He was the only Time Lord; no one else could understand some of the things he faced. He really had believed that no one would ever want him. But he knew that Rose did want him and she did understand.

He had mourned at the idea that he could never have this again. He had always thought that even if he found someone to care for him they would not love the way he needed it. Even when he met her he thought she might not want this. She could see that he had wanted to for a long time before he had told her about his 'loneliness of the mind.' She could see that his mind had struggled to reach out to her and she felt how he had held it back. He never imagined that anyone would commit themselves to him forever as she had.

I could have never imagined I could have this, she said pulling his head down to her shoulder and holding him against her. I treasure this. It's more than I could have ever asked for.

She didn't know how anyone could not want this. She started to rub her fingers in circles at his temples massaging gently as her mind stroked his firmly. It was a gesture she had used the very first time but it continued to be effective. With it she sought to reassure him that she always would try her very best to understand him. Though she knew she could not fully she really did want to. And heavy in her touch she let him know that she wanted this, this way of falling in love. It may not have been the way that she always viewed falling in love before but she was more than eager to learn.

She only feared that this could be taken from them. She wanted to tell him that he would never be alone again but she knew she could not promise that. She still felt the vision of the future in her mind. It felt as if it would never go away, that it would always be there reminding her that this could be taken away from them. But there was something else that troubled her. She felt something dark and ominous coming. This was not the vision of the future. This was something else building up from inside of her. She did not know yet what it was but whatever it was told her that it too could take all of this away. Something else was coming and it was almost here.