A/N: Wow, it's been a while since I last updated this! Here you are at last, another short fluff piece. This one was inspired by the song "The Face of Boe" from the soundtrack, which is a beautiful song, and by the "Forever" moment in (I think) Doomsday.
Under a velvet sky, two figures walk side by side. Their fingers are twined together, and they look like no more than shadows, two silhouettes joined into one.
They sit on the hillside near the vast smooth lake. She rests her head on his shoulder and looks up at the vast cosmos spread above them. A distant galaxy turns its slow spiral, and not far away, other planets rotate on their axis, swirling with seas and clouds and fire.
"It's amazing," she whispers.
He leans his cheek against her head. "I might as well be seeing it for the first time."
"You're not? You've been here before?"
"Yeah, once or twice, by myself. Beautiful, isn't it?"
Across the deep mirror of the lake, a great ringed planet rises, swirled orange and gold, no bigger than a marble from this distance. They watch it in silence.
"Rose?"
She lifts her head. "Yeah?"
"How long are you going to stay with me?"
It's the first time he's asked her. He's been meaning to for ages, and just hadn't found time until now.
A sleepy smile touches the corners of her lips. "Forever," she murmurs, and lets her head fall on his shoulder again.
"Forever?"
"Yeah. If you want me that long."
"That's a long time."
"'Course it is. And that's how long I'll stay with you." She hesitates. "I mean, assuming you want me that long."
"Always," he reassures her.
"'S what I thought," she breathes, and then she's quiet. She's fallen asleep. He stars out across the lake at the reflections of the stars.
She doesn't understand how long forever is. Not the way he does. He certainly doesn't mind the thought of forever with her hand in his, but if she knew what she was promising she might not be so quick to give her word.
She doesn't have forever, and he knows it. Sometimes, when he looks at her, he sees a time when she'll be gone. Sometimes, when he takes her hand, he feels her not being there. When that happens, the pain and the sorrow and the complete loneliness threaten to overwhelm him, and only she stops him from drowning.
A comet streaks across the sky, trailing streamers of stardust in its wake. Humans call them shootings stars, he thinks, and humans, the stupid apes, think wishes on a star come true. Silly superstitions. Still, he knows what his wish would be.
She stirs in her sleep, and her hand slips into his.
Just for this one precious moment, he lets himself believe in forever.