Return to Memory
Chapter 5: A Bit of Travelling
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Or David Tennant. But they are definitely on my birthday list!
Rose lay awake in her bed that night, trying with all her might to fall asleep. Her hearts were still pounding from her conversation in the marketplace hours before.
The Doctor.
Why did that name feel right? Why did that smile he had given her look so familiar? It was manic- she could tell the man must be slightly insane, but everything about him was right. Her fingers had itched to ruffle his hair. When he shook her hand, she had felt electricity between them. She was incredibly attracted to him, and she had only just met him.
She sighed and threw the covers off, walking across her room to her small window. The stars shone down on her in constellations she had long ago memorized. She had always been fascinated with space. Only the lucky few got to travel there. She had longed to attend the Academy when she was a child. She dreamed of having a TARDIS of her own, to travel through time and space. Only graduates got a title to substitute their names- the status that held them above the rest. But she was too ruled by her emotions, and her family was too poor. When her dad had perished in the Time War, her mum had opened the shop to support them. She had been rejected by the Academy, so she ran the shop with her mother.
She fumbled with her necklace as she thought. She ran her finger over the teeth on the key, feeling its comforting weight in her hand. She had had it as long as she could remember and it helped her concentrate when she kept getting distracted. Unfortunately, it seemed to be helping her concentrate on her distraction.
The Doctor was way out of her league. He couldn't have been flirting with her, she must have imagined it. He had a title, maybe even a TARDIS. He had all of time and space at his fingertips. Why would he want her?
She knew all these things, but she still thought of his smile as she stared up into the stars. His laugh echoed through her mind, as if she had been hearing it for years.
She scoffed at herself. What was she doing? She was up late from her weekly sleep, and she was daydreaming about a man that she had just met. She turned from the window and flopped herself back in her bed, determined not to think of him again.
Still, she smiled into her pillow and she couldn't wait until tomorrow.
The Doctor woke in his bed, the morning sun shining brightly into the room. He sighed and turned over, remembering the events of the previous day.
He had lost Rose. He had found Rose. And now he had to make her remember.
The weight of his loss pushed him into the mattress for a moment. Rose was alive, but she didn't know him. Would she ever get her memories back? Even if she fell in love with him again, she wouldn't know of all the time they had spent together. She wouldn't remember how she loved chips, and how the ash had fallen like snow around them that Christmas when he regenerated. She had forgotten the Dalek in the museum, wouldn't understand the meaning of Rexacoricofallapatorius, and would have no idea what he meant if he asked her "Are you my mummy?".
What had stolen her memories? If this Goddess had done this properly, he wouldn't be stuck feeling homeless on Gallifrey, trying to win the heart of a woman who held both of his hearts in her hand. Sure, they hadn't had the ideal relationship. They spent far too much time as 'just friends' and the experiences they shared had brought them together. Their relationship had been fraught with peril and their first real kiss was actually their third.
He remembered how he had longed to court her properly.
He sat straight up in bed. That was it. His desires had done this to her. He had a second chance to court her and get to know her properly and respectfully. He could take her on dates and tell her he loved her before she actually knew. He could say it, not because it needed saying, but because he had the freedom to love her.
He could have smacked himself, had the house not decided to do it first. At least the house threw pillows instead of heavy metal tools.
He would just have to make her fall in love with him again.
He hopped out of bed and ran into the TARDIS, determined to look extremely foxy today. He had a Time Lady to woo, after all.
Rose walked to the shop, lugging the heavy register with her. Why did her mum have to bring this thing home with them every night? Was it that hard to just take the money out?
The morning was cool, dew settling on the red grass and making the trees shimmer in the early sun. She enjoyed her walk to the shop and tried her best not to think of the Doctor. He had said he was coming around today. How long would she have to wait to see him again?
Not long, she realized as she rounded the corner. There he was, sitting by the fountain eating a golanka waffle…with bananas?
She opened the shop, trying to reason out why it didn't seem strange at all for him to be eating banana on his waffle, even though she would have thought anyone else a complete nutter for doing it. She glanced at him every once in a while, and could tell he was trying his best to be inconspicuous. She laughed at his antics.
Why did she feel that she knew this man?
There were a few people milling about in the streets; mostly early morning shoppers and people who had spent the night out partying and hadn't yet gone to bed. She had a few customers and she served them, though she had an eye on the Doctor almost constantly. She met his gaze a few times and they both glanced away quickly. After a few minutes, he finally came over to the shop. There were no other customers around, and she was glad to have a moment of semi-aloneness with him, regardless of her worries last night. If he wanted to talk to her, she certainly wasn't going to stop him. Not when he grinned like that.
"Good morning, Rose Tyler!" he said, striding over to her. His hair was slightly mussed from his nervous habit of running his fingers through it, which really made it more attractive to her. His glasses were perched on his nose, though she was rather sure he didn't need them. He was wearing the same suit he had been yesterday, though for some reason she hadn't expected him to be wearing anything else.
"Morning, Doctor" she said shyly, smiling as he passed the chocolate completely. She doubted at this point that he had wanted chocolate in the first place.
"Splendid day, isn't it?" he said, hoping to start the conversation without making himself look like an idiot.
"A bit, yeah." She said. It was splendid because he was here. She was certain that she had never looked forward to coming to work like she did today.
There was a bit of an awkward silence. He clearly wanted to talk to her, but couldn't think of what to say. He fiddled with his tie, adjusted his glasses, and played with the broken corner of the case he was leaning on. Normally she would have thought him weird. Right now she just found him adorable.
"Did you want that chocolate you came for yesterday?" she asked, trying to prod him into conversation so he would look up at her. She wanted desperately to figure out why his old eyes (far older than he looked) were so familiar. He grinned at her.
"Right, yes. Chocolate. See, Rose Tyler, that is what I like about you! Always remembering the details." He cursed his mouth for running away without him. He wasn't supposed to know her and now she would think he was a stalker or something.
Instead, she laughed. He sighed with relief (in his mind, of course) and reached over for a chocolate bar. She entered the price in the register and he paid for the bar.
When all business was taken care of, though, he couldn't bear to leave her. He tried to tell himself that he needed to leave because she didn't know who he really was, but that excuse fell flat because she was looking at him the way she used to- all anticipation and waiting for what he would do next. Now, with his purchase in his hand, he scrambled to find a way to connect with her again- some guarantee that he would be allowed to see her on a regular basis.
Well, if he was courting her that would work. But somehow it still wasn't in him to follow the rules of his home. Besides, he was rather sure Jackie would see the age difference in his timelines and immediately refuse to let him be with Rose. Though there had been something a bit off with his body lately. Surely he was imagining that young feeling he had. It was almost like he had only regenerated once instead of nine times. Tomorrow he was sure he would wake with all the same aches and pains he used to have.
"So, what are you doing for lunch?"
He glanced up and grinned. It seems she had just taken care of the problem for him. Jackie couldn't get angry at him if it was Rose that asked him to take her out. (Why he was assuming Jackie knew who he was and disliked him was a mystery in itself- she didn't remember him either.)
"Oh, thought I'd go get chips." He said, hoping mention of her old favorite food would spark her memory, and they could get this whole forgetfulness thing over with. It was getting exhausting to have to hold back his babbling mouth. He just wanted to grab her and snog her, truthfully.
She scrunched her nose up in that adorable confused look of hers. "What are chips?"
Well, so much for that plan…maybe tasting them would help? "They're really delicious, Rose! You have to try them!" He tried to hide his disappointment with all his manic mannerisms. With this Rose that didn't know him, it worked horribly well.
"Where do I get them?" she said, her interest piqued. He could see an adventure in her eyes and felt his hearts stutter with excitement. Would she let him take her away?
"Would you like me to take you?" he asked, hoping she would say yes and he could scan her discreetly with the TARDIS to see if he could make her memories come back.
She grinned at him, his favorite smile with the tip of her tongue poking out from her teeth. Oh yes, she would let him take her away. "Yeah. I get lunch in four hours. Meet me back here?"
He could have jumped with excitement. She didn't know him, but she still trusted him enough to take her somewhere. "Absolutely! See you in exactly four hours!" he smiled and walked away, determined to straighten up the TARDIS and hide all traces of her previous presence. He didn't want her seeing her own belongings and thinking he traveled with any women that weren't her.
"Don't be late!" she called. He may be a Time Lord, but something told her he had a knack for being a bit…off with his arrival. Puzzled at this mysterious familiarity, she went about her morning a bit distractedly. Her mum gave her a puzzled look when she said she was going out for lunch. She gave her permission, grumbling that it was "about time she found a man". She certainly wasn't going to tell her mum that she was going out with a man with a title and far more age in his eyes than she could possibly catch up with, even if she used all twelve of her future regenerations.
How could someone only in their second regeneration be so old? She puzzled at this until lunchtime, when she saw him across the fountain. She hurriedly said goodbye to her mother, and before she had time to be asked any questions, was gone and long out of range of Jackie's concerned and irritated gaze.
He saw her running towards him and couldn't help but grin. He had to remind himself that holding hands was considered extremely intimate on Gallifrey, lest he hold his out to her like he used to. He shoved his lonely fingers back in his pockets, cursing the prudishness of his telepathic race. She reached him, grinning and slightly flushed from her run. That was a face he was very familiar with. He laughed.
"What has you running for your life?" he asked her.
She blushed lightly. "I didn't want my mum to ask questions. She's a bit…overbearing at times."
He snorted internally. Overbearing? Jackie? Noooooo. "Ah. I see."
He began walking and she walked alongside him. Their elbows would brush occasionally and he felt a tingle of electricity. He'd always felt that with Rose, but now she could feel it too and he remembered why his race was so against touch. It was very personal. Through the sleeve of his jacket, it wasn't very strong and it didn't seem to bother her at all. But skin to skin contact was practically like having sex in the middle of a crowded street. That didn't stop him from wanting to reach out and grab her hand so he could feel that comforting tingle on his palm once again. He wanted to know what it would feel like now that she was telepathic, too. Would the electricity be stronger?
He shook himself out of these thoughts when she spoke.
"So, where do we get these chips?" she asked, trying to make conversation with a suddenly quiet Time Lord.
He smiled at her as they rounded the corner and went down a somewhat empty street. "Well, we're going to have to do a bit of traveling."
She frowned at his answer, looking around for a transport disk or something. How were they going to travel without a vehicle? There was nothing on this street. He walked up to a large blue box and took a key out of his pocket. The key on her neck grew a bit warm and she played with it between her fingers as he opened the doors.
"We're going to have dinner in a big blue box?" she frowned at him. "Is this a joke?"
He was still grinning when he gestured she go inside. "Not at all."
Against her better judgment, she walked through the door. She knew immediately what this was. She had dreamed of having one of her own. The ship made a happy chime inside her head, welcoming her and clearly glad to see her. This place was so familiar and so alien that she felt a bit overwhelmed.
"It's a TARDIS." She said dumbly, looking to him in shock. Time Lords weren't supposed to let other Gallifreyans on their TARDIS, nor were they supposed to let people who hadn't graduated from the Academy off the planet. By the way he was adjusting settings and pushing buttons, it appeared that was exactly what he was doing.
He looked up from his settings and smiled at her. "Yup. This is my TARDIS. Wonderful old ship, she is. Saved my life lots of times…weeeelll, exactly 3,749 times…and a half, but let's not go into that. It's a long story."
She waited patiently for his babbling to stop. Something told her interrupting him would only make it worse. "You're going to go against all the rules of this world…for lunch?" she asked, incredulously.
He looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"This!" she said, a bit exasperated. "I'm not supposed to be in here! I haven't graduated from the Academy, I'm not supposed to go off the planet! I shouldn't even be allowed inside your TARDIS!"
The TARDIS made an angry noise inside her head, but she didn't understand it. The Doctor admonished the ship and it backed out of her mind. He turned to her, his face set and determined. "Who made those rules?" he asked.
Rose sighed and tried to remember. "The Council."
"And when did they make them?"
She saw where he was going with this. "During the Time War."
He stood from the console and came over to where she was still standing, near the door. "They made those rules to keep people who weren't soldiers safe. To keep innocent people from getting killed for a little travel. They just haven't changed the rules because they've gotten so used to them. Nobody enforces them anymore."
She finally relaxed a bit and stepped further into the ship. The TARDIS brushed her mind again, but did not make a sound. It seems it had been told not to. Her stomach rumbled and she blushed.
"Ready to go eat?" he asked, with a knowing smirk on his face.
She had a strange urge to smack him and she tamped it down immediately, nodding instead. She shouldn't touch him, let alone hit him. Their handshake yesterday had been proof enough. She was lucky nobody had seen that. It really was highly inappropriate. It was strange that she hadn't felt it was wrong- she still didn't. In fact, she wanted to do it again.
The column began to make a grating sound, and she could barely contain her excitement at finally doing what she had always dreamed of doing. She was travelling in time and space, just as she had dreamed. The TARDIS lurched back and forth in the vortex, and she had to grip the railing to keep from being tossed about the room. She had a slight hunch that he had failed his driving test for this thing. The ship landed and she rushed to the door, waiting impatiently for him to set the parking brake (how did she know what that was?). He ran up next to her, grinning.
"Ready to see experience something new, Rose Tyler?" he asked.
She laughed and pushed the doors open with him. "Definitely!" she said.
And they were met with guns to their face.
So, she had been spot on with that hunch about his driving.
A/N: So, what did you think about this chapter? As you can probably tell, I know very little about the actual Gallifrey from the show. I'm sort of making it up as I go along, so if it helps just think of it as an alternate Gallifrey. Thanks for reading and I'll try and update soon! (Insert shameless begging for reviews here)
With Love,
doctorrosetyler