Hi, here's chapter 29, I can't believe it, this story now has exactly 10 chapters less than it's sequel. Anyway sorry I didn't update last night like I normally do, I was at my big cousin Gordon's wedding reception last night, dancing with my mum and my sisters (well two of them) as well as my big cousin Alison. My gran and grandpa were there as well and they danced and grandpa dancd with Alison next to his table cause he's not well. It was a good night, but I didn't like the wedding singer they had, not many people got up to dance when he was singing. He played some scottish dance music and I saw the worst ever Dashing White Sergent, in that dance you're supposed to be in a group of 6 people 3 men and 3 ladies and you're supposed to go round one way and then the other, then you're supposed to dance with the person in the middle then both sets of three go forward then back and repeat the forward bit and move on to another set of three, lets just say that Gordon's in-laws can't do country dancing.
Anyway enough about that, it was really weird, Alison wasn't even a brides maid and she should have been, cause she's Gordon's sister. Right enough from me for now and on with the story.

Rose and the Doctor stood beside the Tardis, still holding hands, Jackie and Mickey were standing behind them "You two coming back up?" Jackie asked as she turned to head back up to her flat with Mickey.

"No, the two of us need to talk." Rose answered "We'll be back up in a while" She tugged on the Doctor's arm and the two of them went for a walk, neither said anything until they were outside the Estate.

Rose took a deep breath "Okay, I accept that you're still the Doctor." she said "But are you still my Doctor?"

The Doctor stopped walking and led her to a bench and they sat down. "Rose..." he pause, he maybe have a gob, but that doesn't mean that he's good at using it for anything other than babbeling. "I still love you..."

"But?"

"I don't know how to explain this." he said

"Just say it."

"Okay...Rose, the thing is, I love you a lot more than I did before and..." he stopped talking as Rose had put a finger on his lips to stop him.

"I love you, too." she told him

"Me or me?" he asked

"You." she answered, reaching into her pocket, which was where she had been keeping their rings since she had changed her clothes and took out his ring. She handed it to him and he put it in his pocket, so that Jackie wouldn't see it. "I don't understand what happened." Rose told him

"Which bit?"

"What happened to you?"

"I regenerated, Rose." he answered "I should have explained it long ago, but I didn't 'cause I didn't think it would happen for a very long time. If I had explained, you would've understood what had happened." Rose squeezed his hand

"I might have, but it wouldn't have made a difference, I would still have waited to see if you were the same before agreeing to travel again." she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Why did you do what you did?"

The Doctor didn't know if he wanted to answer this question but he did anyway. "If I hadn't, you would have died." he answered

"I looked into the Vortex, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"Then this..." she gestured at him "Is all my fault."

The Doctor smiled at her "No, it's not your fault, I'd rather lose a regeneration than you." he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. "You don't know what you mean to me, do you?"

"No." she answered, she knew that he loved her, but, she didn't know that.

"I can show you...If you want."

"How?"

"Time Lords have the ability to look into other people's minds, I can reverse the connection, so that you can see into mine, you'll only be able to see what I show you, though."

"Show me." Rose said, unknowingly preventing him rambling.

The Doctor took her face in his hands and placed his fingers on her temple, both of them closed their eyes and the Doctor projected images into Rose's mind.

--

Rose looked around and knew without a doubt that they were standing on the planet that haunted her husband's dreams...Gallifrey. They stood on red grass under snow capped mountains, and there were silver trees all around them. There were two suns in the sky which made the trees look like they were on fire. "Rose?" the Doctor said

"It was beautiful." she told him

"It was." he agreed "Okay, you are now inside my head..." the image changed from Gallifrey to a corridor, full of doors "Behind each of these doors is a memory..." he looked at the doors "Let's try this one first..." he led her to th first door on their right and opened it. They entered and immediately found themselves in a large room, it looked like a living room

"Where are we?"

"My parents home." he answered "This is my earliest memory."

They watched as a small boy, around two or three years old came into the room and sit with his parents, his father looked like he did now, well not exactly, there were bits of his mother in him, but mostly he looked like his father "That's dad's first body." he said, noticing that Rose was comparing the two of them. They watched as the small boy looked at the bundle in his mother's arms.

"Who's that?"

"My sister." the Doctor answered, she could see something in his eyes, it looked like sadness. "She was involved in the Time War, she was killed by a Dalek..." he trailed off and watched himself as a child looking at his sister.

"What about your mother?" Rose asked

"She died long before the Time War, she wasn't a Time Lady...She was human, she died of old age when I was still in my first body, Dad followed her not long before I regenerated for the first time. Let's go." they left that memory and headed for another.

This memory showed the Doctor, he was in school by the looks of the place where they were, he seemed to hate it there. The next showed his joy at finding the Tardis, and his first travels. Travelling with Susan, his grand daughter.

He took her through other doors, just to show her what he looked like in his other lives. Eventually they came to his eigth life and behind the next door was the memory that haunted him. "We don't have to go in there." Rose told him, knowing that he hated that memory and not wanting to put him through reliving it again

"Yes, we do." he said determindly. She took his hand and entwined their fingers as they walked through the door

They watched what the Doctor saw in his nightmares, the Daleks taking the crucible and being chosen to end it all by Romana, he didn't want to do it, but he had to. He pushed the great big threatening button and everything was destroyed and everything went black...

The exited that room and Rose quickly wrapped her arms around her husband giving him a comforting hug, he returned the hug and they moved to the next door,behind which was him memories from right after regenerating into his last form.

The next door contained the first of his memories of Rose. They watched the familiar scene play out before them and smiled when he told her to run and when he introduced himself. This door contained that whole incident, including Mickey being plastic. Now that Rose was reliving it, she found it funny and the Doctor did too, apparently as he laughed as his previous self pulled plastic Mickey's head off. They watched as he asked her to come with him, but she said no.

"I wanted to come, you know." Rose told him "But I couldn't leave them to go travelling through space..."

"I know." he interrupted as his past self decided to ask Rose again.

After that memory finished, they moved to the next or more specifically the way he felt when she was close to being killed by the sun... Rose could see that he cared for her even then, but not nearly as much as he did now, she could no longer separate them into two different people as she had spent the last twenty four hours doing.

Then came the Gelth and their admittions that they were glad to have met one another.

Rose saw the Doctor being slapped by her mother, his face was still funny, then Downing Street "I could save the world, but lose you." he had said, they could both see that that was when their feelings had changed.

Next came the Dalek... They watched their most hated trip again and then moved on to the next trip and taking Adam home.

They watched the Doctor take the plunge and admit his feelings to Rose... From her position Rose could see herself and could literally feel the Doctor's feelings for her being projected into her, and she was over whelmed, after this the memories went flying past, meeting Jack, Cardiff, Rexicoricophalvitorius, their wedding, after she was disintegrated on the Weakest Link.

The final door that they came to that belonged to the previous incarnation held what had happened before he regenerated. The Doctor squeezed her hand and they entered. They watched as the Doctor prepared for death by Dalek and how Rose came in the Tardis and destroyed the Daleks

"I did that?" she asked

"Yep." he answered "You saved my life and everyone elses on Earth."

"But you still died."

"If I'd been killed by a Dalek, I wouldn't have regenerated. That's one thing that can permanatly kill me."

They exited his mind and as they did, he projected his feelings for her over their connection. Rose was overwhelmed by them, he did love her more than before. When she opened her eyes, she kissed him.

When they broke the kiss, they rested their foreheads together and then stood up, they headed back to the flat, via their bedroom on the Tardis where Rose had left the presents that she'd gotten to give to her mother, Mickey and the Doctor for the first Christmas that they were at home. They walked up the stairs to the Tyler's flat, flirting the whole way and when they entered the flat they were dragged into the living room by Jackie. They all opened their presents, after that, Mickey said good night and headed back to his flat. Jackie went to bed a some time later after the Doctor and Rose told her stories about the places that they'd been and also about Jack.

When Jackie went to bed the Doctor and Rose were left alone. "Go get some sleep, Rose."

"I'll sleep here." she said, not moving from her position, now that her mother had gone, Rose sat beside the Doctor with her head on his shoulder and her legs on the settee beside her, one of her arms was across him and after she spoke she began to fall asleep. When she was asleep, the Doctor picked her up and carried her into her bedroom, he knew that she would be more comfortable in there. Once she was in her bed, he headed down to the Tardis.

The Doctor spent the entire night in the Tardis, fixing her after her crash landing, which was entirely his fault, he spent most of the night there and returned to the flat next morning.

--

Rose was confused, she was sure she had fallen asleep in the living room. She got up and went out into the hall, just in time to see the Doctor coming back into the flat. "Where were you?"

"Tardis." he answered "There was quite a bit of damage done when we crashed on Christmas Eve. So I thought I'd fix it while you were asleep."

"Fine." she said as she kissed his cheek

The two of them went into the kitchen, where they were surprised to find Jackie. She was making breakfast and cups of tea. The two of them sat down. "When are you leaving?" she asked as she sat down

"Well, it'll be after New Year." answered the Doctor "The Tardis needs some more repair work done before we leave again."

"Good."

They sat and ate their breakfast with small talk. When it was finished Jackie sent them into the living room. They spent the rest of that day and the next in Jackie's flat.

Well, that's it for this chapter, the next will be up soon.

TTFN

Julie