He awoke feeling comfortable on a soft surface. He opened his eyes a crack and saw that he was in his room, in his bed. He wanted to pull the blankets up and get the hair off his forehead but he was comfortable. He closed his eyes completely again and tried to go back to sleep. His body shuddered and he opened his mouth and released his breath roughly.

"Is he going to be okay," He heard Rose ask someone as two sets of footsteps entered the room.

"He had a really rough regeneration. Not only had he been dead for several minutes, he also had an excess of regeneration energy built up. I hate to think what would have happened to the Tardis if he had been on board her." John replied. He felt the bed move and a cool cloth was placed against his sweaty head. He groaned.

"Hey, don't wake up quite yet. You need to sleep." Rose whispered and the room fell silent. After a little while the voices started again. "So how come I don't remember us arriving." Rose sounded concerned.

"Because River, and I wiped your memories in order to avoid a paradox that could rip time itself apart." John replied.

"I still can't believe he just intended to die." Rose scoffed. "He is going to get an earful for that later."

"Just go easy on him Rose," John responded. "He has to make hard decisions sometimes to save the universe. He doesn't consider his life more important than everyone elses and he shouldn't."

"I know." he felt a kiss on his cheek and then the bed moved as Rose stood up again.

"Come on, let's leave him to sleep." She said and the footsteps retreated. He lay there in the silence until sleep overtook him again.

-DW-

He awoke again and cried out in pain as his body twisted in ways he shouldn't have been able to bend. He opened his eyes and watched as a golden mist escaped his lips. As the twisting stopped he jumped out of bed and stumbled. He started to examine his new body.

"Legs. I've still got legs." He said in an unfamiliar voice as he grabbed his knee and pulled it up to. "Good. Arms. Hands. Ooo, fingers. Lots of fingers." He didn't bother to count them as he wiggled them in front of his face, excited to see that he had lots of fingers on both hands. He moved those long fingers to his face. "Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse." He frowned at how long his nose was and then again when he examined his chin. "Chin, blimey."

But it was when he moved up to his hair that he began to panic. "Hair. I'm a girl!" He cried out as he pulled at his hair and realized how long it was. His hands quickly released his hair and went to his throat. He felt relieved to feel an Adam's apple. "No. No. I'm not a girl." His hands went back to his hair and he pulled it down to look at the color. He quickly became disappointed. "Still not ginger." He sighed.

He crossed the room quickly and went out the doors to the wardrobe. He opened the doors and entered. He shut them tightly behind him and crossed to the full length mirror. Examining himself he was surprised to see that he was a little shorter but his body looked lankier than before.

He thought for a moment, to a conversation that Rose, Martha and Mickey were having aboard the Tardis. She had said he would be lankier and here he was. He shook his head, Rose had affected his regeneration again. He thought about what else had been said. "Bowties." He suddenly exclaimed.

He opened a drawer and chose a red bowtie and gently held it. It had been a while since he had worn one and now it seemed right. He chose a pair of blue trousers and a pair of red braces. He slipped on a white shirt with red pinstripes and then put on the braces. He carefully placed the bow tie around his neck and adjusted it so it was straight. He needed one more thing, to make his new outfit complete. He looked through his jackets, until he found one that made him smile. It was a tweed Jacket. He slipped it on and looked in the mirror again.

"I need a fez." He commented as he sat down and pulled on a pair of black boots. He laced them up and then headed out of the wardrobe down to the control room. As he entered the four of them looked up at him and Rose burst into laughter.

"Oh my god, he is dressed like my granddad. Mickey owes me." She started to laugh harder.

"So Doctor what's with the outfit." John asked him casually and he frowned and his hand moved to his bow tie again.

"Bow ties are cool." He stated adjusting it again."

"If you say so." Amy responded.

"I am going to wet myself." Rose gasped from the floor.

"Daddy," Kiam asked sounding unsure. He got down on one knee in front of him and held out his arms. Kiam came close but stood far enough away that the Doctor couldn't reach him.

"Hey it's still me." He said softly. "Daddy may look different now but I know you can feel the fact it is still me."

Kiam looked unsure as he backed up and then held onto John's leg. "He'll come around," John said as the Doctor stood up.

"What happened?" He asked John, stepping over Rose's legs and heading to the console. "I remember dying on the beach and then waking up in my bed."

"Rose figured out everything when the Tardis returned empty. We headed to the beach and with River's help brought you back and started the regeneration process. Then we modified her, Jack and Kiam's memories and sent them on their way."

"Thank you." He told John. "Don't do it again." He added as an afterthought.

"Don't you lie to me again," Rose said standing up and wiping the tears from her face.

"Does that mean you are staying." He asked her hopefully and in response she leaned over and kissed him. "So bowties are cool."

"Definitely not." She chuckled. "But I could get use to it."