Dry your smoke-stung eyes
so you can see the light.
Staring at the sky,
watching stars collide.

If you leave,
When I go,
You'll find me
in the shallows.

When the time comes,
on the last day...
when they start to come down,
will you just,
Will you run away?

Let it all rain down, from the blood stained clouds.
Come out, come out, to the sea my love
and just
drown with me...
drown with me...

~ In The Shallows, Daughter

A cry woke me at midnight.

For a few long seconds I sat bolt upright, fingers gripping the white sheets. My heart thumped as I tried to determine if the sound was real or part of a dream. My blonde hair hung limp in my face, shivering in my breath.

Suddenly, it came again.

A horrid howl ripped from the throat of the man I'd befriended, the man I knew so well.

Doctor.

I stumbled out of bed, a silent agonizing cry stuck in my throat. I ran out of the room, through our cramped, Dalek prison quarters, to the Doctor's door. Madly, my fingers tore at the door latch.

Locked.

In a flurry of panic, I backed up quickly down the grey hall and dashed at the door, ramming my shoulder into it.

Arcs of pain tore through my side as I smashed the barrier. I fell inside and rose my heavy head.

An all-too familiar stench of metallic sweetness hit my nose.

Doctor sat on the ground, back against his cot. He was twisted in the uniform white sheets stained with sweat and blooms of scarlet. His arms were tatters of flesh, veins exposed, bones protruding out.

In his right hand he clutched a jagged-edged piece of glass smeared with vivid red.

Doctor's face twisted in an expression that broke my heart. His eyes met mine.

That did not prevent him from raising the glass shard and driving it down deep into his chest, sending out a burst of crimson.

I screamed, my whole body trembling with agony as I hurried over and took his bloody body into my arms, sobbing like a child. Feverishly, I tore the sleeve off my jumper and pressed it to his chest to staunch the heavy flow of blood.

"Why, Doctor?" I cried bitterly, feeling the hot blood pulsing and seeping through my clothes. "Oh God, you'll die!"

Giving a wet cough, Doctor rolled his head into the crook of my arm weakly. "No I won't," he gasped. "I won't die – I'll be fine, Rose…"

Bewildered, I exclaimed, "Why would you do this to yourself?"

"For you," he managed around a mouthful of blood. "They're only holding me captive…because they know I'm afraid…they'll hurt you….If I die…they would have no reason…to hurt you. If I died…it would be…so much easier…but I've got this damned regeneration….Look, even now."

Doctor held his arms out feebly to my, and I could see the shredded muscles noticeably returning to their place and the flesh sewing itself back together.

I ran a finger lightly over his new skin. It was soft as a feather.

For a long period of silence I cradled his head in my arms. Then I asked gently, "Does it hurt? The regeneration?"

"The healing process does not," he answered, speaking easier this time. "But…It hurts to leave you alone." Doctor nestled near to me gently. "I'm afraid to leave you. I'm even more afraid to kill you slowly through them. Because I need you, Rose."

His puppy-dog brown eyes watered as he murmured into my arm, "I think if you leave me…I'll go mad…Rose…"

Slowly, my body sunk down next to his. I held his head in my hands, watching the muscle and flesh fold over his hearts again, encasing them in his chest once more and leaving a jagged scar of new skin.

Pulling way the torn remnants of his shirt, I looked my Doctor in the eyes and let the words come out. I let them come out completely uncensored and free from the restraint and ration of my mind.

"I need you too, my Doctor…more than I've ever needed any other person in the universe," I whispered. The words were only for him, such a little string of hushed words stitched into the immense fabric of everything. "Even living in the stars must grow cold. I couldn't stand staring at the stars, waiting for you to come back to me."

Doctor brushed the golden hair back from my face. "Oh, Rose Tyler…"

"You're all to me, Doctor. You're my cornerstone." Tears dripped hot down my cheeks. "You're home."

Without another word, some force brought us together.

His lips were on mine like the burst of some glorious supernova, a brilliant, beautiful collision. Doctor's arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to his bare chest.

Doctor tasted like the bittersweet blood of life, like winter. He tasted like snow, so pure and good, like everything strange yet so innately familiar. The entire galaxy was caught between our lips.

I felt how everything in time and space could slow down just because two people loved each other.

Gasping, I reluctantly broke the kiss and bowed my head to the rising and falling bare chest. Gingerly, I kissed the fresh scar tissue over his hearts, making him inhale sharply, splaying his hands across my back.

"That's so you know I was the first thing that touched your new hearts," I explained, tracing his skin with a kind finger. Doctor watched me as I followed the arc of the scar, eyes fresh with wetness. "Love was the first thing."

"Yes," he answered. "Love for you, Rose Tyler. Love that's unbroken as time."

"That wibbly-wobbly stuff," I replied, lips curling into a sad smile. He lifted my head to capture me in another kiss. My lips brushed the blood crusting a cut on his face and I tasted the salt of his tears. It was the first time love could be such a gorgeous tragedy.

Doctor returned the favor, bent down to press kisses to my neck, running his fingertips up and down my spine. I drew his hand to my mouth and kissed each one of his knuckles with adoration.

"Doctor…please don't ever leave me," I wept against his cool flesh, a lump rising in my throat. "I'll go with you anywhere – everywhere. I don't want to look for the man in the moon all my life. It's simply lunacy."

Doctor laughed with a watery smile. "There is no one I'd want better to travel with me than you, my stargazer. I will always remember the one who put my feet on the ground, who gave me a place to call home."

"Yes? And who's that?" I teased, ever so softly, pressing my cheek to his hand. My Doctor leaned in and kissed me deep on the lips, outlining my jaw with trembling fingers.

Then he whispered, ever quieter than me, into my ear:

"Lovely Rose, the lady who is forever scarred into my hearts."

I ran my hands up the back of his neck and into his wonderful mess of hair, drawing my nails through it and making Doctor shiver. Kissing him again, I tasted blood and years and love as our tongues danced together.

Excited from this, I stretched up his body, grinding our hips together. Our heat was intense and fervent. Doctor panted against my skin and kissed my neck passionately, making me arch my back and moan, head thrown back. "Such sweet noises…" he hissed against my throat, teasing the small of my back with his fingers. We dove into kissing again.

My heart began to swell with emotions but soon Doctor's strength faded. I tenderly kissed his bottom lip and drew back, looking at him with pitiful eyes, my chest heaving with eager breath.

Washed white with moonlight, the Doctor's long fingers intertwined with mine.

"I'm sorry Rose…so sorry," he said softly. "The healing…the regeneration…takes much out of me. I'm giving all the effort I can…"

"Don't fret, my love. You gave me more than I could've asked for tonight," I smiled, nuzzling his nose with mine and curling up against him in his arms. "Rest now. Tomorrow's a new day."

"Go back…to your room," he murmured. "If they find you in here with me…they'll think that we…that you and I…"

I hushed him by brushing his bottom lip with the pad of my thumb. "I've got everything under control, Doctor. Just trust me. Rest now."

Brows knitted acutely, my Doctor gazed into my eyes for some time then nodded, pressing me gently to his chest, cradling me there.

Soon his breath eased and slowed as he fell into a gently sleep, head lolling against mine, breath nestling in my hair. Holding his arm close to me like a teddy bear, I relished the warmth that roiled off of him, the deep, musky scent of millions of years.

Together we slipped off into a dream, the Doctor and I, fingers intertwined, where dawn would never touch us.

We floated together beneath the watery surface of sleep. It was the only place that could afford us a blissful release from that strange universe we floated through.

The Man in the Blue Box and Rose Tyler were finally one.

For sorrow and hope bred love.

And we were finally truly happy.

Hey everyone! Hope you liked my oneshot of Ten and Rose. I would really appreciate some feedback, especially concerning if I should continue this or not. Thanks! :)