Although the last chapter only got two reviews, I'm posting now because has been acting really screwy with me lately and I'm leaving for vacation soon and I wanted this finished before I left. So here you go! Rach-Malia is pronounced "Rock Mall-ia"
Without a word the Doctor picked Rose up bridal style and began to walk again, thankful that the wish allowed him to carry her. Rose tried to protest but felt her head dipping into his warm and comfortable chest. Within a few seconds she was sound asleep. The Doctor looked down and smiled at her, his hearts warming at her peaceful expression.
Chapter 3 – The Solution
Rose was awakened by the jolt signaling that the Doctor had stopped walking. Her eyes immediately snapped open as guilt hit her like a tidal wave. He had carried her this whole way, and she had slept through it all like she was a child! She tried to struggle but the Doctor shushed her.
"Put me down!" She squeaked. The Doctor just threw her a cheesy grin.
"No. I don't want to." Rose was taken aback at his childish tone.
"But you just walked five miles carrying...however much I weigh."
"One hundred and-"
"Nope. Don't need to say it." She blushed, realizing the Doctor knew her weight just by holding her.
"It's nothing to be ashamed about really." The Doctor countered. "Your height and curves account for the healthiest weight you should be right now." Rose turned away, wondering how the Doctor had noticed her 'curves'. "Humans and your insecurities." He finished. Rose just rolled her eyes.
"Can you put me down now?" The Doctor shook his head. Rose sighed wearily and instead looked around, seeing why he had stopped.
"We're at the edge of town."
"Yup. Now we need to ask around, see if anyone knows about the legend of the Wishing Well." He walked forward and Rose realised he would probably carry her until his arms fell off.
The Doctor grinned inwardly. He was loving this feeling of being her protector, no matter how much she hated it. He had used an ancient Gallifreyan trick of energy as to not get his arms tired with her weight.
As long as she was in his arms, there was no way the beast's prophecy could come true. He knew he was being ridiculous, but for right now, he wasn't going to argue with himself.
After getting more than one strange look from the local inhabitants, Rose begged him to let her down, and finally he consented. He had to admit his arms were just a little bit sore. Perhaps that ancient Gallifreyan trick wasn't as powerful as he thought it was.
The two of them asked all over town, trying to find someone who knew how to reverse the affects of the Wishing Well, but to no avail.
After a few hours of searching they were both starting to get frustrated. The daylight was slowly running out and they had nowhere to stay for the night with the TARDIS being so far away. They sat down on a bench in the park and Rose leaned against him wearily. The Doctor hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. The Doctor was feeling tired himself just looking at her.
Just as he was about to nod off he heard a noise in front of them. They both jerked their heads up and saw one of the locals coming towards them. The Doctor nodded and raised a finger to his brow; the traditional greeting on Kalla 12, the female following suit, introducing herself as Rach-Malia.
"I heard you've been looking for someone who knows about the Well." The Doctor nodded, vaguely noticing that Rose had fallen asleep again. She did look rather cute, snuggled up against his side.
"Yes, uh, we seem to have gotten ourselves in a predicament." Rach-Malia nodded.
"Then you'll want to speak to Trommin-Fo. He's the oldest member of our society."
"Do you know where he lives?"
"Yes, I'll take you to him." Rach-Malia began to walk away. The Doctor started to get up but remembered Rose was still out. He smiled and picked her up again, following Rach-Malia to the outskirts on the other side of town.
It was completely dark once they reached an old cabin built of wood. Rach-Malia stepped back, motioning for him to go inside.
"He'll know we're here already."
"Thank you Rach-Malia." He tried to reach his finger to his temple but couldn't due to carrying Rose. Rach-Malia noticed the gesture and acknowledged it. After she disappeared into the woods behind them, the Doctor came up to the door. Shifting Rose, he reached a hand out to knock but before he could, a tired voice spoke from within.
"You may enter." The Doctor turned to the side so he could reach the doorknob. As he entered, he took note of his surroundings. The inside seemed to match the outside, it was small and old, but warm and homey. A grizzled old Kallan sat on a chair in front of the fireplace. His skin was a pale blue rather than the vibrant blue of the younger members of his species. He greeted the Doctor and motioned for him to sit on a bed against the left wall. He gratefully set himself and Rose down.
"Trommin-Fo?" He ventured. The Kallan nodded. "Do you-"
"-Know about the well? Yes, I do."
"H-how did you know?"
"Unless you and your friend are in some kind of marriage bond, it is apparent that you two are stuck together, resulting in a sort of wish made by the female I'm guessing, that she never wanted to leave your side. The only power I'm aware of close by able to do that is the Well. Naturally, I made an assumption." The Doctor nodded, agreeing and slightly astounded by Trommin-Fo's wisdom.
"How do we reverse this process?" He noticed Trommin-Fo watching Rose and noticed she was waking up again.
"I fell asleep, again? Oh hell, you carried me here, didn't you?" Her eyes went wide as she noticed where she was and immediately shut up.
"Rose, I was just asking Trommin-Fo here how to fix what happened to us." Rose pushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her eyes.
"Yes, Mr. Fo-"
"Trommin-Fo." The Doctor corrected her.
"Trommin-Fo, we'd be very grateful if you could tell us how to get out of this mess I've caused." Trommin-Fo smiled at her honesty.
"Answers can wait until tomorrow. You look weary and could use some sleep." Neither of them objected and laid down on the bed they were sitting on. Trommin-Fo smiled as the Doctor's arm went protectively around his companion whose head was on his chest.
They both slept the whole night.
By the time they woke up the next day, the Doctor was more than ready for an answer from Trommin-Fo.
"It's very simple actually, since no one knows the power behind the Well, the only way to reverse the effects is to make another wish." The pair were stunned for a moment. It was that easy? Finally the Doctor spluttered in anger.
"Make another wish? That's too simple! There should be a sign posted at the Well that if stuff like this were to happen – which I'm sure it does a lot – you were to just make another damn wish!" Rose put her hand on his shoulder, attempting to get him to calm down. He only ever swore when he was really worked up. It seemed to work. He looked sheepishly at Rose.
"Sorry." She patted his shoulder.
"That's alright. Rude boy." She smiled cheekily and looked away from him.
"Thank you Trommin-Fo. If you don't mind, we must be on our way." She began to stand up but Trommin-Fo still had something to say.
"Rose Tyler? Don't worry about the future. What comes to pass cannot be changed, no matter how hard we try." Rose was immediately on her guard. She had never mentioned what her last name was.
"Why, do you know something?" Her heart began to race in fear.
"It is not our place to change our destiny. Forever may only last as long as Fate allows."
"How long you gonna stay with me?"
"Forever." She had only said that to him days ago, on the Moon of Weldrone. The old alien couldn't have possibly known about that. Unless he was some sort of psychic.
"Enjoy your every moment together, and say what you need to say, before it's too late." The Doctor lowered his eyebrows. That hit a little close to home.
"As Rose said, we must be leaving. Thanks again." He steered Rose out of the small enclosure.
As soon as they were gone, Trommin-Fo shook his head wearily. They were going to have some tough times ahead of them. And very soon.
About halfway back Rose started giggling. The Doctor looked at her questioningly.
"It's just...make another wish. It's that simple, why didn't we think of that?" The Doctor's face stayed impassive for a few moments, before he started to laugh as well.
"Yeah. We should have." He wrapped his arm around her and half hugged her. She sighed and leaned into his side.
"It's not that bad." She muttered.
"What?"
"Being stuck with you, or to you I should say, it's not so bad." The Doctor grinned, remembering when she said that before.
"Really?"
"Yes." She replied resolutely.
"Just wait until you have to go the loo. Then you'll be ready to be rid of me." Rose's eyes widened in realisation. She smacked his shoulder hard.
"Thanks, now I have to go!" She picked up her step and the Doctor just laughed at her.
When they made it back to the Well, they found a group of Kallans there waiting for them who had heard about the two off-worlders who were glued to each others' side. Rach-Malia was also there standing right next to the Well. Rose smiled politely, barely remembering her from last night.
"Gosh, are we really the star attraction today?" Rose huddled up closer against the Doctor, a bit unnerved by the intense stares the pair of them were getting. The Doctor didn't seem to notice. "I still can't believe that it's this easy," Rose said as the two of them stood in front of the wishing well. She looked over at the Doctor, who was strangely quiet. "Do want to do the honors?" She asked him.
"Oh! Yeah, sure." He reached up and plucked a large pink leaf off a limb from the tree above them. He pulled it in front of them and they both stared at it. The Doctor held it out in front of him, but seemed to have trouble releasing it. Rose noticed his hesitation.
"Doctor!" She said loudly in realisation. "Do you not want to do this?" He turned to her and Rose was shocked to see a desperation in his eyes she'd never seen before. "What is it?" She whispered.
"I...I don't want to lose you. I-I mean, I nearly lost you to the beast, and...I know it's ridiculous but, if you're stuck to me, I know nothing can ever happen to you." He hung his head, hating how absurd he must sound. Rose only smiled at him sympathetically.
"I'm never leaving you Doctor. And if I do, know it was never, ever by my own choice. Got it?" She tried to tune out the sounds of the 'awws' from a few of the locals behind them. The Doctor nodded, his eyes full of unshed tears.
Rose placed her hand on his shoulder and Doctor gazed at her resolutely, before his fingers slowly released their hold the pink leaf. Rose whispered her wish as it fell.
The two of them stared down and watched as the leaf drifted to the bottom and laid there for a few seconds, before vanishing into gold dust. When they turned back they were still stuck together.
"Just like before, it's gonna take a few hours to work," the Doctor explained quietly. The locals began clapping for the two time travelers, for what they had gone through, what they'd confessed, and what they'd accomplished. The Doctor hugged Rose's shoulder to himself and together they walked back to the TARDIS.
"Hey, can we stop at mum's next?" Rose asked him on the way back. The Doctor's face grew to a disgusted look. "Oi!" She shouted. "I have laundry to take."
"You do know the TARDIS has her own washer right?"
"It gives mum a chance to feel needed. Right?"
"Hmm. Sure. Is your laundry in that red backpack you set by the door the other day?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?" The Doctor began to laugh.
"Do you know what you said to me the first time I saw that bag? You threw it in my arms and said "Now you're stuck with me. Ha!" Rose began to blush as she remembered. "Didn't think you meant it literally, did you?"
"Stop it you!" She smacked him playfully. "How was I supposed to know?"
"Hey, I may have lost in the whole 'keeping you stuck to me' thing, but at least I still have you." He giggled girlishly. "I suppose I could say you're my 'constellation prize'." Rose groaned.
"I can't believe you just said that. You think you're so funny."
"No. No I don't. I know I'm funny." He flashed her a self-important grin that made Rose roll her eyes.
"Alright, that's it. Get out."
"I can't, remember? Still stuck to you." Rose smacked him again and their laughter echoed around the wooded forest.
That night...
"Well, looks like we're stuck together for one more night," Rose couldn't keep back a grin. That night in Trommin-Fo's house, in the Doctor's arms, she hadn't slept that well since before the law-defying asteroid base. And no nightmares, of which she was extremely grateful for.
The Doctor pulled her towards his own bedroom which Rose had only been in a few times previously, and the two of them crawled into his bed, after Rose had removed her shirt and pants, the Doctor doing the same.
Rose snuggled up against the Doctor's bare chest, banishing away all dirty thoughts. Keeping their friendship was worth a lot more to her than trying to convince him that they should make love. And even if they did it would be awkward, in more ways than one.
The Doctor however had a much harder time keeping those thoughts away. The intoxicating smell of her hair assailed his nostrils and her skin felt like heaven against his. He buried his face in her shoulder and prepared for a night of physical torture.
But as soon as her breathing fell easier, signalling she was asleep, the Doctor found his eyelids drifting closed, awaiting some much-needed sleep after the day they'd been through.
And, sometime late in the night, when their bodies unstuck, the Doctor, still asleep, only pulled her closer to him, the warmth of her body soothing his lonely hearts.
"We've had some fun.
Yes we've had our ups and downs.
Been down that rocky road,
But here we are, still around.
Yes, it's true,
I'm so happy to be stuck with you.
'Cause I can see,
that you're happy to be stuck with me."
~Huey Lewis & The News
THE END
Sorry for that small note of sadness, but hey, RTD wrote Doomsday, not me. :P Oh and credit for 'constellation prize' goes to the Owl City song "Speed of Love" :D
Please review! Thanks for reading :)
~Kathryn Hart