A/N Don't you love interruptions just as things start to get good? *ducks and hides*

Oh, and tuck away the rather foreboding final paragraph for future reference. They've got a lot of ground to cover in between, but more trouble will eventually rear its ugly head.

Chapter 13

The Doctor broke the surface beside Rose, vigorously shaking the water from his hair. He gave her a brief up and down glance as they stood in a shallower region of waist-deep water, his eyes taking on a distinctly wicked glint that betrayed his boyish grin. "Typical choice for underwear, white. Though not always the most practical. Take, for instance, when it gets wet." He clucked his tongue, then waggled his eyebrows as his voice dropped just one note lower. "Practically see-through."

Rose's eyes skittered down to her wet self, and she self-consciously ducked just a little lower in the water. Her earlier boldness momentarily waned in the face of the Doctor's sudden brazenness.

"Now who's the prude, hmm?" he said with a triumphant, impish grin as he swam off.

Oh, he wasn't going to get the upper hand that easily. Recovering her confidence, Rose rolled her eyes and swam after him, glad that he seemed to be coming out of his funk, even if it was at her expense.

They splashed and teased, and then swam leisurely for a bit, just enjoying the moment and each other's company for what it was. There were moments of time when they both felt as if the universe itself could come to a standstill, and as long as they were together they wouldn't even notice.

Falling into the usual giddiness that accompanied just being together, they got a little more playful, which led to competitiveness as Rose challenged the Doctor to a few races, of which she accused him of cheating every time by using his respiratory bypass, even though he claimed he wasn't. Both knew he was.

"This...," Rose elaborated as she launched herself up out of the water and planted her hands firmly on the top of his head, dunking him under, "is for cheating!"

She quickly swam off, but the Doctor chased her down, catching up to her in a few swift strokes. He grabbed her by the ankles, pulled her back and into his arms, and then proceeded to tickle her senseless up and down her ribs. "Cheating? Cheating! This, Rose Tyler, is your punishment for casting aspersions on my good name!"

"Stop! S-stop!" she cried breathlessly, squirming in his grip as he refused to relent.

"And what do we say?" he sing-songed.

"Please!"

He let up on his assault and just grinned at her, about as brightly as the sun shining down from the clear sky above. His arms relaxed but still held her to him. Rose buried her face in his chest, still laughing breathlessly. She lifted her head back up, their faces now inches apart and both still breathing hard.

Their shared grins slowly faded, replaced by something much more intense as the atmosphere between them seemed to shift. His wide, fathomless eyes roamed her face, and he shifted his grip around her waist to bring one hand to her forehead, gently sweeping wet clinging strands of hair back from her eyes. One long finger then trailed a tender path down her cheek, and Rose shivered at the intimate, deliberate touch from him.

She was suddenly hyper-aware of each place their bodies touched and melded as one – her legs twined around his, his left arm wrapped around her waist and holding her fast, his hearts beating out a rapid double rhythm beneath her open palms where they rested on the firm pectoral muscles of his chest. Each place of contact left her tingling, and she wondered if he could feel it too, electric and passing from her skin into his.

He could feel it, and it was something he didn't want to let go of just yet. "Thank you," The Doctor said softly, his voice low and overflowing with warmth.

Rose stared into his eyes, deep and dark and spellbinding. No eyes had ever reached into her chest and enveloped her heart as his did. Only his and only him. Drops of water fell from his wet fringe and trailed down his face and across his lips. Her eyes followed the path before lifting and finding his again. Rose softly shook her head, the movement slow, almost dream-like. "For what?"

His sigh was a long, drawn out sound of release that she could feel passing through and into her own body. "For helping me forget, even just for a little while. For helping me forget about crashed ships and...and loneliness and wars and death and..." His entire body shuddered and he briefly closed his eyes.

In shame, Rose realized there were times she would forget the unimaginable loss he carried inside, because at times he was so good at masking what he lived with. "Doctor...," she breathed out on a whisper. He slowly opened his eyes and locked on hers. Rose lifted a hand from his chest and caressed down his cheek as he nuzzled into her palm, seeking and craving the contact, and for just this once allowing a little more of it. "My Doctor," she whispered again, her hand sliding up to stroke back through his hair, comfortingly, soothingly, lovingly.

His eyes fell closed again as he accepted her touch, a touch that reached so much deeper.

Neither had noticed the sound of distant galloping until it drew even nearer, pulling the Doctor and Rose out of what had seemed to be steadily rising up between them, unnamed but not unknown.

"Forgive me," a voice called out behind them. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

The Doctor and Rose disentangled themselves from each other and turned in the direction of the voice. King Zerin was dismounting from his black charger, the animal drinking thirstily from the cool water.

The Doctor managed to quickly subdue what had been stirring within him moments before, a skill of repression he had come to master. "Oh, um, no...forgive us. This is your lake, after all," he called, purposely moving to shield Rose behind him. Okay, so he was a prude.

And Rose was not, he noted with a frown of hearty disapproval as she moved out from behind him.

"Nothing to apologize for," Zerin replied, noting the seeming closeness between the two and briefly wondering if he had interrupted more than a swim. "It's a perfect day for a refreshing swim."

"And have you come to take advantage of the cool water, too?" Rose asked with a polite smile. Even though she was barely clothed, she didn't feel overly self-conscious around the King or feel that nervous fluttering in her belly she'd had when stripping down in front of the Doctor. But then, Zerin's eyes couldn't see through to her soul, so it wasn't possible to feel quite so exposed around any other man.

Zerin smiled slightly and shook his head. "Oh no. I haven't come to swim. Only to refresh my steed on my way back to the castle." He paused thoughtfully as he looked into the lake. "I do not believe I have taken a swim here since I was a very young boy."

"Why not?" Rose asked.

He pondered her question with a furrowed brow. "It's...something to do in leisure, and my life has been anything but. There is always a battle to be fought or a kingdom to oversee or..."

"No battles raging today," Rose reasoned with a smile. In all honesty, she wanted nothing more than to reclaim the moment and the solitude she'd had with the Doctor. It had passed now though, too fragile to last. And something about the King with the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders who never allowed himself time of leisure gave her a tug of sympathy, and she encouraged him to stay. "And I doubt your kingdom would fall apart just because you took a few minutes to go for a swim. What'd you say?" she asked with an inviting smile. "Come and join us?"

The Doctor glanced at Rose, a brief feeling passing over him that he absolutely, categorically refused to name as jealously. There was absolutely no reason to feel jealously over this attractive, slightly yet intriguingly enigmatic, notable King who at times looked at Rose with an intensity the Doctor was not entirely comfortable with. The Doctor decided to stop there in his reasons-not-to-be-jealous before it became the opposite. He wouldn't allow himself to feel jealousy, because that dangerous emotion led to other dangerous things he didn't allow himself to feel. Or so said the rules he staunchly lived by.

"Yes, the water's quite refreshing!" the Doctor chirped up with a little more cheer than he was feeling.

"I..." Zerin paused, weighing the decision as if it was a monumental one, then seemed to realize it didn't have to be. "You know? Perhaps you're right. Maybe the kingdom isn't going to fall into ruin if I recapture a small moment of my youth."

"Well, he was easier to convince than you," Rose teased the Doctor with a smirk.

The King seemed to have no qualms about shedding his midnight-blue royal garb until he was down to what reminded Rose of a dark blue mid-thigh Speedo. He dove into the water, immersing himself, then emerged a moment later in the waist-deep water, rivulets sluicing down his muscular chest as he slicked the water back from his short dark hair.

"Why don't we all have a race?" Rose suggested with a grin, still feeling playful in this relaxed setting. She then looked pointedly at the Doctor. "And I bet he won't cheat...unlike you."

"A race?" Zerin questioned curiously. "You mean a competition?"

"Exactly!" she answered.

"Tell you what," the Doctor spoke up, the lighter mood he'd managed to achieve earlier starting to quickly fade as his thoughts went back to his quest to get them off this planet, preferably sooner rather than later, "why don't you two stay and enjoy yourselves, but I really should be getting back to the repairs of the TARDIS."

"But...," Rose started to object.

"No, really. You deserve a bit more of a break, and now that the King is here I won't be leaving you alone."

Rose was reluctant to consent, but it would be rude for both to just up and leave after asking Zerin to join them. She wished the Doctor would stay and give himself a break for a little longer, but she was glad that she had at least been able to get him to relax for as long as she had. "Yeah, okay. But I'll see you back at the TARDIS in just a bit."

The Doctor smiled and nodded, swimming back to the shore and quickly sonicking himself dry and changing back into his suit as Rose and Zerin continued to enjoy the lake. Maybe it was really for the best that they had been interrupted when they had, he thought. It shook him a little to realize he wasn't quite sure how much more he might have said to Rose in that unguarded moment, but considering the potential consequences, it was probably better for the moment to have ended when it did. He needed to keep this emotionally-charged situation of the past several days from allowing feelings that went against his judgment to get the better of him, he realized.

The Doctor started off toward the path they had come, the fading sound of Rose's carefree laughter pulling his gaze back in her direction one last time. He momentarily felt a tug in two directions. Something in his gut, something strong and primal, didn't like submitting to leaving Rose in the company of this other man. It was the same stomach-clenching sensation he'd once had when Rose accused him of 'Captain Envy.' The same feeling he'd again had when said Captain nearly caught him watching from the TARDIS monitor as Rose and Mickey had once gone off alone together. Different body, same feeling. Yet aside from that feeling which wasn't entirely unfamiliar, he also had a gnawing sense driving him to get them off this planet. That could only be done once the TARDIS was repaired, which drove his purposeful steps as he headed back to the ship.

-:-:-:-

After enjoying a few minutes of leisurely swimming, Rose challenged Zerin to an underwater race across the lake, and though she was still beaten, at least she knew in this case her competitor hadn't relied on a respiratory bypass in order to accomplish his win.

Both were laughing heartily as they reached the other side of the lake and caught their breath.

"Thank you, Rose," Zerin finally said as their breathing recovered, his voice filled with genuine warmth.

Rose didn't think she had ever seen him look so relaxed and open. She shook her head slightly. "That's the second time someone's thanked me just for asking them to swim. Blokes around here just need to lighten up," she answered, giving him a grin to keep things lighthearted.

He lowered his eyes before bringing them back to hers, now carrying the weight she was more used to seeing in them. "It's just that I have not done this in such a long time."

Trying to keep the mood light, Rose splashed some water in his direction. "Well you see? You should try to swim more often, then."

He nodded in agreement, Rose managing to make him see the small things he for so long had overlooked in a life that rarely afforded trivial indulgence. "I'm not just referring to the swimming, though. I mean...laughing. I cannot remember the last time I...laughed."

Rose felt a deep pang of sadness for the King who had obviously borne such burdens. "Well, you should try to laugh more often then, too," she replied gently.

He smiled, and for once it reached his eyes, his voice deep with emotion. "Perhaps if you remain longer then I shall."

-:-:-:-

Zerin returned to the castle a short time later, his demeanor noticeably lighter as he dismounted and passed the reins to a royal stable hand standing in wait. Eilam was walking through the outer court, and upon seeing the King's return, stopped to speak with him.

"Your inspection of the troops during their final day of the training excursion must have gone well. You look quite pleased," the Elder noted as the two began walking along towards the colonnade which led to the King's Court.

Zerin nodded, hands clasped behind his back. "It went quite well, yes. Has Amron returned with the men yet?"

"Yes. They arrived a short time ago. I had expected you sooner as well."

"I...came upon Rose on my way and spent some time with her before returning."

The two stopped walking as Eilam turned to him, the aged man's voice growing urgent. "And? Was she favorably receptive to your intentions?"

Zerin shook his head, breathing a sigh. "I realize that you know a great deal about the affairs of the kingdom, but I'm afraid when it comes to affairs of the heart that even I am more knowledgeable than you. One simply does not present a woman with such a proposal in such a short amount of time. These things must be handled...delicately."

Eilam's face hardened. "The luxury of time in order for you to carry this out delicately, as you say, is not something we have. Every day repairs are being made to their mode of transport. You must act while she is still here. Not only that, but you must act while her heart is still free. You believe I do not understand matters of the heart, but I understand them quite apparently better than you. Have you not seen what is between her and this man who is her physician?"

"They are simply traveling companions, as she affirmed on the first day of their arrival. He is her physician and her friend, nothing more," Zerin refuted, though he reflected back on what appeared to be an intimate embrace between the Doctor and Rose when he came upon the two of them at the lake.

"Ah, but often friends can progress to lovers. And trust me, if you do not act, another man will." The Elder narrowed his eyes. "Sufficient time has already passed. Do you still doubt that she is the one?"

Zerin paused thoughtfully as he weighed his response. He had felt hesitant in the beginning, for numerous reasons and some of which persisted, but the more he came to know of Rose the more he was unable to deny what seemed to be becoming clear. "No. No, I believe that Rose must be the appointed one. She is...remarkable."

Eilam clutched the King's shoulder. "Then make your plans in haste, Sire."

He nodded, settling it in his own mind. "I will speak with her again tomorrow and make my intentions known. No more delay."

The two journeyed on through the colonnade and into the castle. Neither had seen Amron who had overheard their conversation from a nearby alcove. He re-emerged and went on his way. Depending on which way the pendulum swung in this situation, plans of his own were being formulated accordingly.