Rose walked along a field of wildflowers, the tips of her fingers brushing gently across the leaves and petals of the thigh-high flowers as she passed. She wondered silently how she got here, as the last thing she remembered was going to sleep in the guest bed in her London home.
"You're still there," came a familiar voice behind her. Rose turned to see the smiling face of her beloved husband.
"John!" she exclaimed breathlessly. Rose ran to him and embraced him tightly.
"Hello, love," John replied into her hair.
"What happened? How are you here?" Rose asked.
"You're dreaming," John responded matter-of-factly. "I programmed some dream sequences into the young TARDIS and asked her to play these in your mind in the event of certain… um…. events that might unfold in your future."
"So, you're still dead?" Rose asked, trying to hide her devastation.
"I'm sorry, love, but yes, I'm still dead," John answered with a similar expression of sadness and longing. "But, this message isn't about visiting you from the grave at the time of my death. I decided to skip such a macabre message," John explained.
"Thanks for that," Rose teased. "Then, why are you here now?"
"Ah…well…" John rubbed his neck and looked down at his feet before looking back up at Rose. "This particular sequence is for when you find someone new and fall in love again. I'm here to give you my blessing. I love you, Rose Tyler, and I don't want you to be alone. I give you permission to move on with your life and love him with the same intensity as you loved me."
"Love, you mean. I still love you. Not 'loved' past tense. I will always love you."
"Quite right, too," John replied, which quickly earned him a playful slap on the arm from Rose. "Yes," he grinned, "I suppose I deserved that."
"Quite right," Rose replied cheekily.
John offered his arm and Rose linked her arm with his as they continued walking among the wild flowers. After a few moments of quiet, Rose spoke up, "I miss you."
"I know you do. And I'm sorry I left you alone. I had hoped we'd be together until we were old and crotchety."
Rose wasn't sure how to respond, so they simply continued strolling. Eventually, they came to a weeping willow tree and ducked under its foliage to take a seat against its trunk. Rose sat in between John's legs with her back to his chest. John wrapped Rose in a comforting embrace as they watched the tree blow gently in the breeze.
"Tell me about him," John said. "Tell me about the man you love after me."
Rose smiled and chuckled. "You know him. Well, you are him. Or, he is you… Blimey, this is complicated."
"What do you mean?"
"He's the Doctor from another parallel universe."
"What?!" John replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Rose Tyler, you managed to fall in love with a third version of me?"
"Yep," she replied, popping the p the way John always did. "Well, fourth version if you count you, regenerated you, part-human you, and now him." She proceeded to tell John all about their TARDIS sending her to Manchester and meeting Jason, then parallel Jack, and learning his back story from Jason's TARDIS.
"So, let me get this right. Our TARDIS played matchmaker and you're still Rose Tyler, Healer of Time Lords? Blimey, that's brilliant."
"Yep, and I get to shag ol' Big Ears and Leather," Rose grinned.
"Oi! Let's not talk about that; it'll give me a complex," John teased.
Rose turned in John's lap and straddled his thighs, bringing her hands up to cup his face. "I love you. Whether it's big-eared you, pinstripe you, single-heart part-human you. I love you! And he's already proven he loves me. Took a bullet in one of his hearts to protect me."
John smiled, "I'm happy you've found someone to love and who loves you in return. I would never want you to mourn for me for the rest of your life. I said it back with big ears and I'll say it again now, I want you to have a fantastic life, for me."
Rose couldn't help the tears that formed and began to run down her cheeks. John wiped them away before they moved together to join their lips in a kiss. It started out relatively chaste, with Rose sending her deep love and affection through her touch. But soon Rose wanted more. For all she knew, this might be the last time to see and feel her husband. She deepened the kiss, etching into her memory the way his mouth felt under her explorations. As the kiss went on, a warmth began to pool in her core. If this was her last chance, Rose wanted to memorize everything about John.
Wondering if things could go any further, Rose broke the kiss reluctantly and gazed into John's brown eyes. "John, can we make love, one last time?"
"Of course we can," John replied. "It's your dream." John's cheeky grin and waggling eyebrows earned him another playful slap on the arm.
Rose stared into his eyes, memorizing the flecks of color amid the brown orbs. She inventoried the freckles on his face as her fingers traced lightly over his skin. She ran her fingers through his great hair. John moaned predictably as she scratched his scalp. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body as close as possible to his. Then, he flipped them over onto a pile of blankets and pillows that had mysteriously appeared next to the tree. They slowly removed each other's clothes, worshipping every inch of each other's skin as it was revealed. Rose balanced precariously between wanting to satiate her desires but also prolong this moment for as long as possible. John positioned himself over her body, running his fingers teasingly along her slit before brushing gently over her clit. Rose closed her eyes for a moment, too caught up in the feel of his touch, before opening her eyes again so as not to miss a moment of this time together.
"John," Rose said breathlessly. "I need you."
Without another word spoken, John entered her slowly, languidly. Rose and John had always fit perfectly together, like they were made for each other. He continued to move in and out of her slowly, gently, hitting all the right spots with each thrust. Rose ran her hands over every inch of John's body that she could reach, memorizing the rippling of his muscles under her touch with each thrust, kneading his back and shoulders, grabbing his bum to pull him impossibly closer. John's pace began to increase with Rose's building pressure to climax. They shared passionate kisses. John's lips traced her jaw and neck until he reached her breasts and began sucking on the nipples before returning up the path they had just traveled back to her mouth. John's pace increased again and just as Rose felt her orgasm nearing, John's rhythm faltered. Three more thrusts and they were climaxing together, sweat-covered bodies collapsing together with limbs entangled. Rose couldn't be sure where she ended and John began.
They lay together for a while, just listening to the sounds around them and the beating of their human hearts. "I wish I didn't have to wake up from this dream," Rose admitted.
"I know, my love," John replied wistfully. "But you've got a Time Lord to rescue. He needs you, just as I needed you all those years ago."
"Will you ever visit me in my dreams again?"
"Maybe not in your dreams, but I've always liked how you humans believe that the ones we love never truly leave us. I want to believe that is true and if so, I'll never leave. I'll always be in here," John tapped his finger on Rose's temple, "and here," John rested his hand over Rose's heart. He reached over to give her another soft, loving kiss. Rose closed her eyes and focused on sending all her love and devotion to John. When she opened her eyes again, she was in the bedroom with the early morning light casting a soft glow on the room.