The drive from the beach to the airport was at least an hour long, if not more. The Doctor was rather unsure of time at the moment, which was quite unnerving for a Time Lord. All he knew was that he spent however long it was in the one place that he was always supposed to be: with Rose. Even as the foreign landscape of a new, foreign world sped by their windows, shadowed in the dark night and washed by the light of a moon he had never set foot on and stars he had never seen, the Doctor finally felt at home.

He had drifted off to sleep before they got there, with Rose resting on his shoulder, just as sleepy as himself. Jackie and Aren had carried on some more small talk, saying again that it might be their last trip to or back from Bad Wolf Bay. When they got to their destination Jackie paid him even more than she normally did as they all thanked him, wished him well, and said goodbye.

The Doctor yawned as he finally stood to his feet. "There are planes leaving for London this late at night?"

"Not planes, zeppelins." Rose corrected him. "And yeah, if your dad's got as much money and connections as mine." She smiled.

The Doctor still held her hand and she had not let go of his. It did not seem to bother either of them: it was only natural. And it had been far, far too long.

"Alright, this way. Pete said it's gate A4." Jackie led them into the airport. It was not a very busy place at this hour, they had no luggage, and everything had been arranged by Pete over the phone. The Doctor soon found himself being ushered out onto a tarmac where a large zeppelin stood tethered. Other floating, inflated structures could be seen around the way, but not a single airplane was in sight. He seemed to be the only one that still found this a bit strange.

They were all soon climbing stairs and being welcomed aboard. The zeppelin was much, much different than an airplane, even a nice one. In fact, it looked much more like a nice hotel, and they seemed to be in the living room. There were couches and chairs and a few tables, and soon the three of them were all sitting down and a steward was bringing them tea, telling them that they would be taking off in a few moments. Rose pointed out the hallway that the steward left through and told the Doctor that's where the bedrooms were, all four of them, along with the bathroom and a small galley, which the steward had entered. The Doctor regarded all of this as if they were in a very large ship, but she reassured him that this was actually rather standard for a small private aircraft. Zeppelins were, after all, a very developed technology here in Pete's World.

It was with all of this information, as they lifted slowly into the air, that the Doctor realized again what being in a new world meant. It meant he knew nothing: Not the past, not the future. He did not even know for sure what day it was now. He was in a world completely unknown and unexplored. He did not know its history or how different it might be from the world he had lived in for the last thousand or so years. He knew about the Cyberman attack and the little information about this world Torchwood that he had gained from Pete a long time ago. But beyond that, it was all anyone's guess. One thing he did know: This was where Rose was. And that was enough.

"Zeppelins are still a lot slower than planes, though." Rose added with a bit of a huff as she crashed down onto one of the couches. He followed suit and Jackie sat across from them in a rather comfy looking chair. "It's a long flight."

For a while they simply sat there. It was amazing, for people who normally talked so much, who had not seen each other in so long, and who had recently faced so much, to have so little to say. The airship left the ground, and the Doctor's gaze lingered out the dark window, where he found himself lost in thought.

"I'm, uh-" The Doctor's attention was instantly captured by Rose's voice as she spoke up from the couch next to him. She stopped mid-sentence to yawn. He watched her, patiently, and wondered to himself again why his attention was ever anywhere else. "I'm going to head to bed…" She finished, tiredly standing to her feet. Her voice was somewhat distant as she lifted herself from the couch with a short 'goodnight, sweetheart' from Jackie followed by a 'goodnight, mum' and a kiss on the cheek from Rose in response. Suddenly the Doctor felt awkward. As if he, who had been a part of Rose's life and family for so long, was now intruding on her everyday life.

Half of him wanted to follow her up, to do anything that would stop them from being separated for even a moment. Rose was the only thing that he had in this world. He had no place without her. But all the same, he knew that she needed time alone. Time to think. Perhaps, he thought in a moment of sudden doubt, to mourn. As she stood up from the couch and walked slowly towards the hall door the Doctor simply watched her, dumbly, as he tried to figure out his place again.

"Goodnight Rose." He said at last, the words flowing out of his mouth naturally enough. Still, he wished he could do something more. He wanted to continue telling her how much he loved her, how much he missed her, how much he was amazed by her and all she had done. He wanted to keep showing her until his heart gave out. He wanted to keep proving himself to her and to himself. But for now all he could do was whisper a simple 'goodnight'.

Rose stopped and slowly turned. "Goodnight Doctor." She said, slowly, as if she was still trying to understand her own words. The simple four word exchange was one that they had shared countless times before in the years they spent together on the TARDIS. And it was odd for such a familiar and customary conversation so suddenly feel important – as if they were once again attempting to cement themselves back into the place they had been for so long, and had not been since so long ago.

After she had gone the Doctor tried to busy himself again with taking in his new surroundings, but in her absence he quickly grew bored. He yawned. For a moment he wondered at this. It had been a while since he yawned. He took the excuse to stand up and stretch. "I guess I'll head to bed too." He announced to Jackie, who seemed to be absorbed in a magazine supplied by the airline – did they still call them airlines? The Doctor wondered absently.

"Goodnight Doctor." Jackie told him with a level of fondness that the Doctor was unsure he had ever heard from the woman who had slapped his face the first time they met – he swore he could still feel it. "And Doctor?" She called after him as he reached the hall door, and he turned back. "I just wanted to say again – thank you." Jackie said. The Doctor merely nodded, with a little smile. He quietly pushed open the hall door and found that of the four bedroom doors the last one on the right was closed. He chose the door across from it and found himself in a small but comfortable room with not much more than a medium sized bed, a small table, and a wall-mounted reading lamp.

Slipping off his converse, the Doctor crashed down on the bed, closed his eyes, and fell into the arms of sleep.

I sincerely apologize for the complete lack of action in this chapter. It's all kind of set up for the next. I'm sorry!