The First Man You Remember

Disclaimer in first chapter.

"Good morning, Rose. Ready for breakfast?"

Rose opened her eyes and blinked sleepily at the sight of the Doctor leaning over her with his customary mad mental patient grin plastered firmly upon his face.

"What have you done, Theta?" Rose asked warily. The Doctor almost never cooked a meal. In fact since she'd been with him she'd done the lion's share of the cooking. Even after Jack had arrived and had taken over some of the meals Rose still did the majority of the cooking. The only time the Doctor cooked was when he needed to apologize for something. So if he was asking if she was ready for breakfast implying that he had made it then he must have done something horrible.

Rose was willing to bet the something horrible had to do with the past two weeks. The Doctor had been even more nervous than before and was jumpy. He'd be talking to Jack and if she entered the room without his being aware of it he'd snap at her for sneaking up on him. Even the TARDIS had changed. She spoke to Rose more but had recently started shutting Rose out of the console room. The TARDIS would apologize and blame it on crossed wires letting Rose into the room a few minutes later. Rose wanted to believe the old girl but then she'd see the Doctor and Jack standing there with guilty expressions and know that something was happening even if she wasn't sure what it was. Now here he was with offers of a breakfast she didn't have to cook. Like anyone who spent more than ten minutes around the Doctor Rose was a little worried.

"Don't you trust me?" The Doctor asked his expression dark as he gave her a mock pout.

"Of course I do. Now what did you break?" Rose asked sliding out of bed and following him out of their bedroom.

When Rose walked into the kitchen she was surprised to see a small bouquet of lilies next to her normal place at the table. She looked at the Doctor first and then Jack for an explanation but was answered with only smiles. Acting on instinct, and betting that Jack wouldn't know lilies were her favorite flower she walked over to the Doctor and gave him a kiss of thanks.

When she started to ask him what she'd done to rate the flower treatment he silenced her with a cryptic. "I just wanted everything to be perfect.

The day went along like that with secretive smiles from the Doctor and Jack until Rose thought she would finally lose her composure and start screaming until someone told her what was going on with her men. Finally, the Doctor told her to go to the TARDIS wardrobe room and pick out something to wear that was appropriate for Europe in the 1880's. When she started to ask where specifically in Europe they were he shooed her away telling her to hurry or that they would be late.

Rose eventually found a dress and after slipping into it and shoes graciously provided by the TARDIS she went to find the Doctor and Jack. She wondered if the Doctor would be pleasantly surprised when he realized she was wearing the same dress she'd worn the night he called her beautiful for a human. Instead she was the one in for a surprise. When she walked into the console room she discovered the Doctor was wearing a tuxedo. He still had on his Doc Martins she was amused to note but his ever present jacket, jumper and jeans were gone. The Doctor looked at her expectantly but Rose was stunned into silence.

"I think she likes it." Jack joked as Rose's silence continued.

Rose looked over at him to say thank you and noticed unlike the Doctor and herself Jack was dressed in casual clothing. As if reading her thoughts Jack answered her.

"As much as I'd love to join in if for nothing other than the shock value I'm staying here this time."

"Are you ready?" The Doctor asked holding out his hand for her own and interrupting her thoughts.

"Always." Rose replied giving him a smile.

"Wait!" Jack's voice was sharp and Rose automatically froze. A few minutes later the world around her went dark as he tied something over her eyes.

"Now you're ready." Jack told her a few seconds before she could feel the Doctor leading her out of the TARDIS.

The first thing Rose noticed when they stepped outside of the TARDIS was that the air seemed chilly and there was a feeling she couldn't shake like she was in a basement or otherwise underground. She could hear water around her and that confused her even more. Had the Doctor taken her to some underground lake? If so why had he let Jack blindfold her? Deciding the only way to find out was to ask she spoke.

"Theta?"

"It's fine Rose. Hold still for a moment." As he spoke Rose felt herself lifted off the ground by two very strong, very familiar arms, locked around her waist. Then she was standing on a floor that was rocking below her feet. Reaching behind her Rose felt around for something to help her keep her balance on the rocking floor. She found a bench and sat herself gingerly on it. Seconds later she felt the Doctor sitting down next to her. As the rocking beneath her feet intensified Rose asked.

"Theta, are we on a boat?"

"Indeed you are, mademoiselle. It is the only way for visitors to reach my home." A smooth voice with a thick French accent answered. As the mystery man spoke The Doctor removed her blindfold. After her eyes adjusted Rose took in the sight of the thousands of candles dotting the other shore. It couldn't be? Could it? Rose wondered to herself. While her mind was racing with new thoughts her eyes traveled over the man who had spoken. He was tall, thin and wore a cloth mask that covered most of his face.

"Good evening mademoiselle. I am Erik, welcome to my home."

She was in the lair of the phantom of the Paris opera house. Looking over Erik's shoulder she saw a picnic laid out for two. This was her perfect date. She turned slightly to look at the Doctor and saw that he was giving her his rarely seen, soft, tender smile.

"I can't give you guarantees of safety, or tomorrow or anything like that as much as I want to do so. I can give you this. Come with me?" The Doctor held his hand out to her.

"Always." Rose agreed with a smile as she let him lead her to the perfect first date and and an even more perfect life.

The End

Thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed.