Title: Say Something

Pairing: Ten/Rose

Characters: Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler

Run.

The word echoes through my mind. I was a different man, different face, different voice back then, but one thing always remains constant; same hearts. The day I met Rose, my Rose Tyler, was an ordinary one. Ordinary for me, not for Rose; I was used to autons and the like. I took her hand in that shop basement and together we ran. I never expected one word, one syllable, to become the foundation of the love I feel for her now.

I've no will or reason to start at the beginning; I'm a new man now, yet still the same lonely Time-Lord I've been since the Time-War ended. I'll start from the moment I saw her with my new eyes, scanned her bewildered yet beautiful face. She was magnificent, and I had pleaded deep within, my two hearts that she would recognise in me, the man I used to be. She was confused and bewildered, and I couldn't blame her, I had regenerated right before her eyes. I knew I had to prove to her that I was the same man I always was;

"Run. The first word I ever said to you,"

"Doctor?"

The innocence of her voice touched a place inside of me; her indomitable faith in me, is what changed me. She was the difference in me; the more time I was in her presence, the less guilt and regret I felt for my fallen homeland. Gallifrey was gone, and in my naivety, I allowed myself to become complacent. I assumed she'd be with me for the rest of her life. I suppose that's why the fall was that much further, the sting of it still resonates inside my two hearts, in the place where her name is engraved.

It becomes harder each day to recall the times I shared with Rose, because every new day brings with it a fresh wave of regret and melancholy; it follows me. It creeps like Vashta Nerada; obliterating all that stands in its path. It's time to tear the plaster off now, so here goes.

Doomsday. That's all I can think of to call it. The day my world ended, the day Rose and I became a thousand worlds apart with no way back, and it was all my fault. My sweet, innocent Rose, like a petal she flowed through the breeze, like a butterfly she landed upon my hearts each in turn. I had no choice but to open the void; to send the Daleks and the Cybermen screeching through the time vortex and into the quantum lock. The lever, it...it came loose, and Rose; always helpful, thoughtful Rose, tried her hardest to push it back, and she succeeded. the lever locked in place, but her fingers, my eyes fixated on her delicate fingers; grasping and clasping to hold on to the lever.

"HOLD ON!"

I screamed as loud as my lungs would permit, she looked up at me, I caught the fear in her eyes and pleaded with all of space and time for it to be over, and soon. Her fingers slipped and my blood ran cold, my hearts jumped into a crazy rhythm.

"ROSE!"

In the seconds between her letting go, and my voice strangled and shattered, screaming her name, Pete Tyler transported in and out. That was it. As quick as a blink I had seen my dearest of heart for the last time. The void closed upon its completion and there before me was white. Nothing but white, a wall severing any and all hope I had of keeping her safe. I walked up to the wall, my hearts surely bleeding from the inside and I pressed my cheek to the wall. My hand touched where I wished Rose's would be beneath it. I swear in those moments, I felt her warmth through the wall. it was almost as if she was pressed against the other side, even though she couldn't have been. I don't remember how, but somehow I managed to get back to the TARDIS, and I knew I had to see her one last time.

"New New Doctor,"

I was her New New Doctor, I had to find a way. If I could just use the energy from a supernova, anything, I could project an image of myself to Darlig Ulv Stranden; to Rose. Oh how I wanted to touch her, steal the deserving kiss from the lips of an angel, but this projected image, this vision of me was all I had left to give. I saw her, she walked towards me hopefully;

"Can I touch you?"

I wish it were so simple as to utter a yes, that one simple pleasure of her gentle hand in mine.

"I'm still just an image, no touch,"

And you're just a memory my darling Rose. A haunting, ghost of a memory, that no amount of time and space will let me forget.

"Will I see you again?"

"You can't,"

Yes. Close your eyes and look into your heart and I'll be there sweetheart.

The tears that fell down her face scorched me like molten lava; it was all I could do not to break through completely, universe be damned.

"I love you,"

"Quite right too,"

Say it.

"Well, I suppose if it's my last chance to say it..."

Say it. Say something.

"Rose Tyler..."

The supernova grew dim, its power now completely syphoned by the TARDIS, by my selfish need, by my goodbye.

"I..."

The curse of the Time-Lords, the burden of two hearts, two cracks began to form, twice as many pieces. I should have told her. I became the man who regrets; it's who I am. Still, I burned up a sun, just to say my goodbye, how could I leave her with just;

"Rose Tyler, I..."

I ran out of time, I hesitated, I spent too long guarded, and now here I stand; the Time-Lord Victorious? No, I'm just a Time-Lord, a Time-Lord who became the man who regrets. I wondered until the day I regenerated; where is the victory in that? I became self-righteous, only for a moment and that was all it took for me to fall from grace. Sometimes, it's too late to right all the wrongs you did. It leaves you cold, and all you're left with is the devastating knowledge that had you taken a different path, perhaps you wouldn't have been left alone, with only the fading memories of all your yesterdays.

If I could relive this part of me, this favourite part of me, I'd change three things. I could never change what happened, it was unavoidable every which way, but I'd have tried harder, swapped places with her, desperately searched for a way to fix it, fix us. I'd have given my life to keep her safe, but still, I'd change three things. Three simple words that would have given my Rose Tyler what she deserved; three words, two hearts, one declaration;

"Rose Tyler, I love you,"

And the world may never know.