Just a reminder: this story is getting so long that I've decided to divide it into multiple books. So, this is the end of Book One, which I've subtitled "The Dawn". Book Two will be "The Twin Light of Home: The Storm". There will likely also be a third book, which I haven't found a subtitle for as yet. So keep your eye out for them if you want to know what happens next. I plan to start posting "The Storm" on July 1st.

However, I haven't been getting any reviews! This makes me very sad. So here is my challenge to you. If I get a review from every single one of my readers, I will post the prologue to "The Storm" in mid-June or sooner. Hope I get plenty of responses as I like giving gifts.

Chapter 25

September 15, 2015

Alex's therapy sessions went very well, though he wished it had taken far less time than the seven days it had for him to leave the hospital. When he was finally released, he immediately returned to living in Rose's condominium, just as they had planned. He was grateful that Rose had put away all of his belongings. He decided that, as a hobby, he would repair the stereo and television and possibly even upgrade them. After all, if he could increase its reception, they might be able to pick up stations from the other side of the planet without having to pay for satellite.

He renewed his relationship with Torchwood, deciding to accept Pete's offer to work full-time for the organization. However, since he had found remaining in Research and Development to be tedious, Alex was given a unique position as a kind of jack-of-all-trades. If he was needed somewhere he was sent there, whether it was to help identify an artifact, work with Xenobiology in uncovering what could be the latest medical find, or going on missions with Rose's team. He even got a job as a substitute teacher for the local primary school, though he hadn't yet had the chance to teach as the school year was just starting. The arrangement with Torchwood and the addition chance to instruct young children turned out to be exactly what the Doctor had ordered. For the first time since arriving on "Pete's World", he felt truly happy with his jobs.

His relationships had grown as well. While he hadn't spent much time with the people he considered his closest friends before, now he relished the chance to go out for a pint or an occasional game of whatever sport they wanted to play: darts, football, rugby, or (his personal favorite) cricket. Only the week before a large group of them had gone ten-pin bowling where Alex showed just how skilled he was at the sport. It helped that he still had the Time Lord's amazingly accurate hand-eye coordination.

As for his relationship with Rose, the last two weeks revealed to be the best time they had ever had with each other. There had only been one argument – it had been more like a disagreement than an argument – which had been resolved logically rather than emotionally, a first in their new life together. In many ways, their relationship was just like they had when they were traveling in the TARDIS, minus the time traveling and alien worlds of course. They'd gone on two missions together, both of which were fairly simple and one of which required Alex's innate ability to speak every language in the universe. They were growing closer to each other than they had ever been before, which told Alex that they were ready for the next phase in their relationship. But for that, he needed an expert.

Dressed casually in a light blue short-sleeved dress shirt and black trousers (no tie), and his white trainers, he smiled as Rose emerged from her bedroom, wearing an elegantly simple pink sun dress and strappy sandals which spoke of summer comfort without being too relaxed. "You look beautiful," he complimented, noting how her dangle earrings and thin-chained pendant necklace accented just the right areas.

"You're not so bad yourself," she complimented back with one of her now-famous teasing grins that he so loved. "I'm glad Dad convinced Mum to make this party more casual. I'm not sure I could handle dressing up all posh with how warm it is out." The weatherman had predicted a high temperature of 24 Celsius. "Not sure how she feels about him insisting on having a barbecue, especially since he wants to do all the cooking."

"I thought that rule number one concerning birthdays was that the one for whom the party is being held has the right to do whatever he wants within the limits of the law?"

"It's his party and he can cook if he wants to?" Rose paraphrased with a grin.

"Well, better than crying," he replied, understanding the cultural reference. Gaining a slight chuckle from her, he extended his hand for her to take. "Allons-y, Rose Tyler."

"Allons-y, Alex Smith," she replied, allowing him to escort her out of the condo.

By the time they got to the Tyler estate, most of the invitees had already arrived and Pete was just starting to put some burgers on the grill. Introductions were made to those people the Doctor didn't know, which him having been to several Tyler parties meant only three people and they were new hires to Torchwood. The two did the obligatory socialization, picking up a couple of drinks and hor d'oeurves as they did so.

Seeing Jake arrive at the party, Alex gave Rose a kiss on the cheek, gaining a smile from her, before excusing himself. Going to him, he extended his hand. "Jake, good to see you! How was Brighton?" The Torchwood field agent had been on assignment for the last week.

"Not bad. Could have done without the rain. How are you doing, Doctor?"

"Oh, brilliantly! Couldn't be better. Actually, it could be better but I plan on solving that but I need some advice on how."

"What's the matter?" Jake questioned. He'd grown accustomed to being Rose and the Doctor's source of advise over the last year.

Alex took a deep breath and lowered his voice to assure privacy in their conversation. "Rose and I have been doing very well. Marvelously, in fact. And I think that it's time to move our relationship to the next phase. I'm going to propose marriage."

Jake's face beamed happiness at Alex's pronouncement. "That's fantastic, Doctor! But… what's the problem?"

"How do I do that?"

The Northerner blinked at him, surprised by the question. "You don't know how to propose marriage?"

"Well, it entirely depends on the culture, doesn't it? And I have conflicting memories on what is proper for Earth culture, what with me having Donna's memories as well as my own. The last time I proposed marriage was on Gallifrey and that was a long and a bit complicated process. I had to go to the parents to inform them of my intention to propose after which they put me through a sort of vetting process to see whether I was actually worthy, in their opinion, for the honor. Then after they approved, I had to go to a member of the High Council and get her approval before I could go and actually propose. Marriage on Gallifrey had everything to do with politics and social connections. If you happened to actually be in love, that was even better. As for here on Earth… well, my memories are conflicted between what entertainment says is done and what Donna experienced. Of course, what actually happened contradicts what she told me happened. She said that he begged her to marry him when in fact she was the one who did the begging. Then again, he only married her to keep an eye on her so that he give her to the Racnoss Queen."

"Racnoss…" Jake started only to be interrupted as Alex continued without stopping.

"Certainly not a relationship to emulate. And I seriously doubt that Rose will beg me to marry her. Do I do the begging? Begging sounds so… humiliating, though. However, there doesn't seem to be any sort of method for proposing on Earth, from what I've seen. I should get a ring though. Engagement rings are very human. Then maybe I can convince her to go to the continent with me. We keep talking about how we miss exploring the universe; we should explore this planet. It's not like the Earth in the other universe and we'd hardly visited Earth at all there. We could go to Barcelona, the city! Not the planet. Which means there wouldn't be dogs with no noses. That's disappointing."

"Dogs with no…"

"Maybe visit Moscow? The Great Wall of China? We could make a whole year or two of it, just exploring the world. Vienna! I could propose in Vienna! I could show her where I met Leonardo DaVinci. That would be brilliant, wouldn't it? On the pier with a clear sky so we can see all the stars." He turned to the younger man. "Thanks, Jake. I knew I could rely on you to help me out."

Jake blinked in bemusement, having just listened to Alex going from total confusion on what to do to utter determination, all the while not giving him a chance to speak. "My pleasure."

"Would you help me to pick out a ring? I want to make sure it's perfect. Right now, I'm thinking a plain band engraved with something that reflects our relationship. Maybe an intertwining of our names, alternating between each letter. Let's see… R…A…O…L…S…E…E…X?"

"No! You don't want that," the Northerner stated emphatically.

"Why not?"

"Remove one of those E's and you've got a porno website."

Alex grimaced. "Yeah… I see what you mean. Definitely wouldn't work. What about the other way? A…R…L…O…E…S…X…E?"

Jake shook his head. "Not as horrible but still not a good idea. Move the S to the end and you've got "Arlo Exes" which is the name of the newest Arlo Gunthrie album. Mark's been asking for it for his birthday."

"No, that doesn't work either," the half-Gallifreyan agreed. "But I don't want just any engagement ring. I want it to be special."

"What did you give your late wife?"

"A medallion which had a specialized symbol that represented the joining of our two Houses in marriage. I gave it to her a month after she accepted the proposal, though. I don't think that would go well with human engagement customs."

"How about you engrave that instead of that convolution you were thinking of before?"

"Because neither I nor the Tylers have Houses or symbols to represent them. I'm not part of any Time Lord house anymore because Gallifrey is gone, my brother and I are the last of our kind, and I'm not even fully Time Lord."

"So, make one up."

Alex rolled his eyes. "You don't make up a House's symbol. It's inherited. And the integration of the symbols are made by genealogists who have studied their art for centuries. That's why it took a month for me to even give my late wife the symbol of our future union." He paused, suddenly thoughtful. "On the other hand… maybe I can make it up. It would be a first, for certain, starting a new House. I mean, why not? It's not like the High Council will object. I'd probably have to engrave it myself. Not sure that it would fit on a ring, though. This requires some serious thought."

"You do that. Think on it. When you're ready, if you still want my help, I'll be glad to give it. Right now, though, I'm smelling those burgers and they smell delicious." He patted Alex's shoulder and started towards the grill where Rose had just succeeded in convincing Pete to stop grilling and start enjoying his birthday party.

Giving a small smile at the sight, Alex headed for Rose, intent on pushing the matter of how to propose to her to the side for the time being, deciding that could wait until after the party.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

November 16, 2015

It had taken over a month but, with clever manipulation of his time, the Doctor was able to find not only the right ring but also to design and engrave the perfect etchings to symbolize his relationship with Rose, a way of creating a new House using the traditions he had grown up with on Gallifrey. The engraving featured two roses on either side of a Gallifreyan symbol, their blooms facing the symbol. The symbol itself was a weaving of their names in the language of the Time Lords, which the Doctor made sure couldn't be misread as anything other than their names.

During this time, he was also able to persuade Rose that they should start travelling to other locales, though it didn't take much to convince her. Getting Pete to cooperate with the idea was even easier than he'd thought. Ever since his birthday party, Pete had been talking about retiring from Torchwood, saying that running two operations at his age was starting to affect his health. When Alex went to him to arrange time off for both him and Rose, Pete told him that he hoped to get Rose out of Torchwood as well, though he wasn't going to force her to leave. While he appreciated Torchwood for all that they had done for him and his family, he didn't want the organization to become their legacy. Instead, he wanted Rose to eventually take over Vitex and run it with Tony when he came to age.

Jackie, of course, was thrilled that the Doctor and Rose were finally going to spend some quality time together. She insisted, however, that they wait until after Alex's birthday – his first as a metacrisis – so that they could have a large party for him. The Doctor contradicted her wishes, though, adamant that the party be limited only to those people he actually knew instead of the crème de la crème of London society.

The day after the party, the two packed two large suitcases and, borrowing Pete's dirigible, set off for Europe, stopping in the city of Barcelona first. From there, they moved through Europe at a leisurely pace, visiting each major city and exploring the sights.

The trip, Alex decided, was the best idea he'd had in a long time. He couldn't help but beam with joy at seeing Rose's delight as they went from one attraction to another, him explaining the historical significance of each place. In many ways, it was as if they were still traveling in the TARDIS only this time the chameleon circuit got stuck as a zeppelin.

When they arrived in Vienna, a city renown for its love of music, the Doctor arranged for tickets to the latest concert. The next day was spent visiting the city's grand museums, ending with a stroll along the pier as they drank cocoa. They'd just finished their treats when they decided to walk to the edge of the pier so that they could stare out into the gently rolling river as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

"Today was wonderful," Rose told him after a long moment of genial silence. "The sky's so clear you can actually see the stars even with all these lights on."

"It is beautiful," he agreed. Glancing at her content expression, he knew the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived. "Rose, there's something I need to say." Seeing her features become concerned, he quickly assured her, "Nothing's wrong. Honest. I just wanted to tell you just how much I care about you. When we came to this universe, I really didn't know who I was. And my brother was right in his assessment of me; I was dangerous and I needed you to help me. I know that I've made some pretty serious mistakes in the last year but, each time, you were there to pull me back. You've never abandoned me even when I abandoned you. I don't deserve you."

"Doctor…" she started.

"Please, let me finish. It's because of you that I finally know who I am. I'm Alexander Wilfred Smith but I'm also the Doctor. I can be both Alex Smith and the Doctor, have both the Doctor's and Donna's memories, and not have a massive internal conflict about it. I finally know that I'm my own man and I'm worthy of both of my names. And I know that my feelings for you aren't the Time Lord's. They're mine. Yes, the Doctor loves you. But, being a Time Lord, he can't possible love you as much as I do. You're the reason I live. You're the reason I die. You're the reason I give when I break down and… Hold on… That's Aerosmith." Hearing her giggle at his words, he grinned broadly at her, taking her right hand in his left. "The point is… when I look into your eyes – those brilliant twin lights – I know that I'm finally home and that I will never run away from home again. I've been running my whole life and you, Rose Tyler, have given me a reason to finally stop." He reached into his pocket, searching for the jewelry box there while Rose watched with a sense of anticipation.

Even as he started to pull the box out of his pocket, an odd sensation of foreboding entered his mind, causing him to raise his eyes and look over Rose's head. He ignored the expression on her face, his attention now on the bright light coming down from the sky and heading in their direction. "What's that?"

Frowning, she turned to see what he was gazing on. "Meteorite?" she questioned, concern taking over.

He shook his head. "No. Something else." As the bright object came closer, it started to take on a diamond-like shape, about eight feet in height. "Can't be," he whispered, his expression changing from curiosity to trepidation. A moment later, it was clear that he was afraid. "It is! Run!" he ordered, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him as he bolted in the opposite direction of the incoming threat.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rose demanded as she ran with him. She glanced briefly behind her and noticed that whatever was now chasing them was going to catch up. "What is that thing?"

"I think it's a time scoop," he told her emphatically.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that, unless we get away from it, we're going to go very very far away." He too glanced back to see where it was – less than ten yards away – and knew that they weren't going to be able to outrun it. It was nearly on top of them when Alex stopped abruptly, pulling Rose into a tight hug. He needed to make sure that they weren't separated from each other by whatever eddies might be creating the time scoop. "No matter what happens, remember I love you," he told her emphatically, just in case his attempt to keep them together failed. A second later, the diamond-like shape enveloped them and then vanished, taking Alex and Rose with it.

Neither noticed that, in their haste to escape the oncoming threat, Alex had dropped the engagement ring he'd been going to present. The box rolled across the walkway and nestled itself under a bench so that, unless someone was actually looking, it couldn't be seen.