A/N Rose takes the first steps of getting to know the Doctor and their relationship anew and asks a few more of the many questions still to learn. And Ten being, well...Ten, a little shameless flirting is inevitable. ;)

Chapter 27

Despite the Doctor's casual statement of saying he'd be spending his time in the TARDIS performing a few maintenance repairs, all he'd actually managed to accomplish was to make countless laps through the console room as he paced anxiously for the duration of the time Rose was away. He had told her to take as much time as she needed. What if it ended up being days or even weeks? A grim thought briefly entered his mind. What if she decided not to come back at all? That unthinkable possibility met with a quick end. He knew better than to doubt Rose like that – even if he was a new, new Doctor to her all over again. This version of himself had won her over once before with a sword and a satsuma; if he had to, he'd do it all again.

As time continued its slow-ticking progression, his thoughts strayed to the possibility that maybe Rose's condition had taken a sudden turn for the worse and that's why she'd yet to come back. The Doctor reasoned to himself that Jackie or Pete would have summoned him if that had been the case, though. He'd learned the hard way not to probe her mind unexpectedly or uninvited, and he wasn't going to repeat that mistake by checking to see. He would just have to quell his worry for now and trust that Rose was alright. But still, all worry was not completely unfounded, and he really needed to give her a thorough exam soon. As it was, it had been too long for his liking since he'd been able to do so, and it was vital to keep her condition closely monitored. Would Rose be comfortable enough with him to let him do that? There really weren't any other options. Considering the uniqueness of her pregnancy, it didn't exactly allow for her to be seen or treated by anyone else.

As the Doctor's rushing stream of thoughts continued to flow, his mind kept circling back to the possible reason for Rose regaining all of her memories except for the ones of who he was now. The dark possibility once again came to him that maybe it was because she didn't want to remember. Maybe it was her mind's way of protecting her from the pain he'd put her through just before those memories had been lost.

The Doctor walked over to the jump seat and sank down heavily into the worn chair as feelings of guilt swamped over him yet again. He'd never even had the chance to try and make that up to Rose and let her see he didn't regret having this child with her – far from it. He'd just been terrified at the time and reacted out of fear. He still feared for the safety of them both, but he did not resent this baby. This child was their gift, their miracle; and if he were allowed, he would show Rose how he adored her for it. He hoped in time he would have that privilege.

Meanwhile, the sole focus of his thoughts was currently approaching the TARDIS. With each step nearer Rose tried to suppress her nervousness, and with each step it only grew. She tried to tell herself there was nothing to be nervous about. He wasn't exactly a stranger to her. Rose was continually having to remind herself that he was still the Doctor, even if he'd changed. She had also spent this past week and a half with him. Now knowing the truth and the depth of their relationship, however, put things between them on a different level entirely. Being the Doctor's companion was a role she was familiar with, one she could play; but suddenly learning of having this deep intimacy and being the mother of his unborn child – that was a completely different matter altogether. Considering she'd never let herself even dream of such possibilities, it was going to take some time to simply wrap her head around the enormity of it all.

Rose came to a stop outside the familiar blue door of the TARDIS and paused. She drew a long breath and gathered her resolve before reaching forward and opening the door. As the door creaked open and she stepped inside, the Doctor quickly sprang up from his sitting position on the jump seat in response.

She was back! His initial gut instinct was to run to Rose and sweep her into his arms, but considering she'd only just worked up the courage to come back to him, he didn't want to scare her off with his over-exuberance, so he stopped after a few hasty forward steps and forced his hands, which sought to reach and embrace her, into the pockets of his trousers where he could keep them confined and subdued.

Two sets of emotional eyes met in silence, and Rose's earlier question of 'what do I say to him?' returned. She took her mum's advice and started with "Hello," spoken softly.

The Doctor smiled slowly, and she nearly melted. Oh, he really was gorgeous when he did that. "Hello," he echoed back, equally soft.

Well, so much for his gob taking it from there. It seemed his power of speech had momentarily taken flight. Just as Rose had finished that thought, she was proven wrong.

"A lovely evening out," he chirped up. "Though a bit warm for this time of year." Oh, for Rassilon's sake – he was talking about the weather! The Doctor mentally kicked himself. Surely he could do better than that. Though once it started, it seemed this one-way meteorological jabber was intent on going all the way, and at rapid speed.

"Although, saying 'a bit warm' is always relative to the location. Now on Jixtoon, where the population is somewhat like walking bits of molten lava – never shake hands with them, by the way. Very bad for the dermal layers, that. Not that many could survive the climate long enough in the first place to even consider shaking their hands, mind you. But as I was saying...what was I saying? Ah, yes, for the people of Jixtoon, this weather would be deathly frigid." The Doctor's hands had broken free from their pocketed confinement and were gesticulating through the air in front of him. "With temperatures like this, their internal smolder would be snuffed out in 23.84 seconds. Very bad, indeed. For them, that is. Now, if we're talking in comparison to Woman Wept, these temperatures would be scorching – enough to turn the frozen sea into a boiling cauldron. Well, perhaps not boiling. That would require a temperature gradient of..."

The Doctor's babbling finally halted as he noticed Rose's look of bemusement shift to amusement.

It might have been at his expense, but at least Rose was smiling. An open, genuine smile that caused a feeling of spreading warmth to suffuse through his hearts, and it had nothing to do with the outside temperature he'd been randomly prattling on about seconds ago.

The Doctor cleared his throat and slowed his verbal speed. "But as I was initially saying, lovely evening out."

"Relatively speaking," Rose replied, a faint smile lingering.

"Exactly!" he beamed, his hands finding their way into his pockets once more.

Silence returned, but only for a minute. It was now Rose's turn for a sudden flow of words as the thoughts she was thinking made their escape before she had a chance to stop them. It could have seemed like an abrupt change in subject, considering it had nothing to do with the previous topic, but it had everything to do with the only matter that was currently on both their minds. "I...I still can't really even believe all of this." The Doctor stood and listened quietly, letting her continue as far as she was comfortable going. She paused, her thoughts trailing back to her memories of the past. "I'm having such a hard time getting my head around realizing that all this even happened...y-you and me, that is." She shook her head slowly. "I mean, before, you were sometimes so...closed off. You didn't really open up very much. You wouldn't even consider ever having tea with my mum, and you swore you didn't do domestic..."

"I still don't do domestic," he insisted with a slight frown, and Rose swore she heard a slight bit of Northern creep into his voice. "We live in the TARDIS, same as ever." He shuddered slightly. "Catch me living in a house with doors and carpets..."

Rose couldn't help but chuckle, feeling just a little more comfortable. Maybe not so different, then. "Okay, so you still don't do domestic. I guess that means in some ways it's the same as ever for us. Well, obviously except for the occasional se–" Rose stopped herself abruptly before the word she was thinking had completely escaped and been said out loud. She promptly closed her mouth as her face turned bright crimson.

Rose felt her cheeks burn all the hotter as the Doctor gazed at her intently, his eyes positively searing and his voice lower than she'd ever recalled hearing. He knew exactly what she'd been about to say, and apparently he wasn't letting that near-slip skate by as he replied to it with boldness. "Oh, it's more than occasional, Rose. Our relationship is quite...physical." He had the sudden urge to take it even further and boast of his No Refractory Period, but Rose seemed to be blushing intensely enough as it was.

And just how was she supposed to reply to that? Rose swallowed, bringing some moisture to her throat which had momentarily gone dry. She decided simply to reply with the next question that statement led her to, one that had been somewhere in the back of her mind each time she caught him looking at her with what could only be described as unveiled desire. Rose hadn't planned to ever bring this up again, considering her embarrassment over the incident. But the rules of this game had since changed considerably, so she decided it was best to just say it, although her eyes couldn't quite focus on his when she did, shifting a little on her feet. "Then...why did you stop when I almost...kissed you before?"

She'd said it. Now if she could just manage to breathe normally.

The Doctor took a few more steps closer to her, his voice almost raspy as he recalled just how painful it had been for him to hold back. "Not because I didn't want to, Rose, but because of how much I did. Because I was afraid it would be too much – for both of us. Our bond, even though it has been partially severed, is still very strong between us. My reaction to you wouldn't be anything less than powerful. There was no way you wouldn't feel that, and I was afraid it would complicate things further for you." He moved even closer, and Rose wondered if he could hear the sound of her heart galloping from where he stood. "But just for the record, if you ever decide you'd like to do it again, I won't stop you."

There went the moisture in her throat again. Rose had been avoiding his eyes, but she could no longer stop herself from looking into them. Instead of the dark passion she'd seen a moment earlier when he'd spoken of their relationship's physical nature, she now saw unbridled, consuming love. It pulled the air from her lungs.

Compelling herself to breathe while still looking at the intensity in his eyes – which was no small feat – she forced herself to reply. "I...I'll keep that in mind."

She dropped his gaze again, and Rose now found a vital question beginning to form in her thoughts. If she never regained her memories of their love, could she still come to the place of loving him all over again? Rose already knew the answer to that question and it frightened her just a little. What frightened her was the intensity behind the resounding 'Yes.' Before the word 'love' had even been allowed into her thoughts, Rose had already known she was attracted to him beyond reason, but that somehow made her all the more nervous around him now. How do you behave objectively and have a rational conversation when your thoughts stray to things involving decidedly less talk? Things she was nowhere near ready for emotionally.

As if sensing her thoughts (something he apparently had an unnerving talent for), the Doctor sought to put Rose at ease. "I'm not going to try to rush or push you into anything, Rose. I just want to have you near me and I want to be able to care for you. Whatever may or may not develop between us in the meantime is all your decision. But I will always be here for you throughout, no matter what develops with us."

Rose wasn't sure just what to say, so she simply nodded. She still had so many unanswered questions. After a pause, she spoke up to ask the next question that had been persistent in her thoughts. "Do you think I'll ever remember everything? When so many of my memories came back, why didn't I get all of them?"

The Doctor paused, weighing his words. "I think there's a good chance the rest of your memories will eventually return. I don't want to resume our efforts to try and retrieve them for at least a few days, though. Your mind has been through enough already and you just need some time to rest and process this." Sorrow clouded the Doctor's eyes, pulling his gaze away from hers. He didn't want to have to say this to her, but he knew he needed to be honest with Rose, so he pressed on. "There's also a chance they didn't return because subconsciously, you...you didn't want them to."

Rose shook her head slightly in confusion. "What'd you mean? Why would I not want those memories back?"

He lifted his eyes back to hers, guilt swirling in their depths as he answered, his voice quiet. "Because I hurt you, Rose." He could sense Rose recoil inwardly as she drew a sharp breath. "Not physically. I would never..." He swallowed down hard. "But emotionally...I caused you pain."

Rose's arms came up reflexively, wrapping around herself to stave off the chill she was still feeling – now inwardly and outwardly. "How?"

His throat was tight and the effort to put a voice to his words was strained. "When I first found out about the pregnancy, I was afraid. And that fear caused me to say things I regret; things that made you think I didn't want this child at all."

She was half afraid to ask, but this was something Rose had to know for the sake of her child as she questioned quietly. "And do you want it now?"

"Yes," he answered with conviction. "I was so afraid of losing you both, Rose. I still have that fear. The child is part human, which means it will have a lifespan like yours and one day I'll be without both of you. But that is not going to make me regret having you both in my life while I can. I will cherish each and every day that we have together."

In the midst of all that Rose had been trying to process, she hadn't yet considered the issue of their mismatched lifespans also thrown into this mix. She could understand why the thought of inevitably losing both of those he loved would have caused him to react out of fear and pain. "I'm sorry," she said, her eyes lowering and her voice little more than a whisper.

The Doctor moved close enough to place his hands on both her shoulders as he spoke firmly. "No, Rose. Don't ever say you're sorry for carrying my child. Not ever. Because that is something I could never be sorry for."

Rose looked back up into his eyes, nodding silently.

The Doctor decided that telling her the details of just how the pregnancy had been made possible could wait until another time. Rose already had enough information to content with for one day.

Rose watched his dark brown eyes soften to infinite tenderness as he spoke gently, his hands sliding off her shoulders and fingers lightly skimming her upper arms on their way down. "How are you feeling right now, Rose...about everything? Emotionally, physically – are you feeling alright?"

She smiled faintly, his gentle concern touching something deep within. "'M fine. Really. It's...a lot to take in, but I'm okay. Physically? I s'pose I'm a little tired, and...," her arms tightened their hold around her, "...I'm a little cold, too."

"You're cold?"

She nodded. "Yeah, been cold all day."

He frowned, his hand coming up to press to her cheek. "You are cold. And it's warm out, too."

"Not warm for Jixtoon," she said with a touch of mirth.

He chuckled slightly. "No, not warm for Jixtoon. But you shouldn't be cold." The Doctor's mind was already going over scenarios of what this could mean, and most of them not good. He wasn't going to alarm her, though. It was possible this was nothing to be concerned about. But this did bring up a standing issue that had been weighing on his mind. "Rose, would you let me check you over in the infirmary? I need to keep you closely monitored, and it's been much longer than I'd like since I've given you a full exam."

Her cheeks colored at the phrasing of him giving her a 'full exam,' but Rose told herself to get a grip on her straying thoughts. That wasn't what he meant. At least not in the way she inadvertently found herself picturing. "Time for you to be the doctor, then?" she responded lightly, hoping her blush didn't show.

He grinned. "Yep, that's me." He held out his hand to her and wiggled his fingers.

Rose took his hand, something that still felt so natural. A perfect fit that hadn't changed. She began walking with him towards the corridor leading to the infirmary, but nearly tripped when the Doctor turned his head to her, giving a wink and adding in a husky tone, "And I think you'll find I have an excellent bedside manner."