A/N: A long chapter, just for you, my faithful readers. :)

Rose Tyler drummed her fingers on the TARDIS console, racking her brains and pushing through waking-up-drowsiness. He hadn't been in the library, kitchen, or his room, the normal getaways...

She thought through her life with the Doctor in the other universe. There were only certain places that he went to think or be alone, and she had exhausted all of them. There had to be another place she was missing.

Ah! She snapped her head up and nodded as she recalled one place she hadn't checked yet. Though it was a rarer escape for the Doctor, her Doctor was new and different, and she wasn't used to his TARDIS habits yet.

"Can you show me where the pool is?" Rose asked the TARDIS. She knew the temperamental time and space machine well enough to know not to ask it to make rooms appear at her whim; though the TARDIS had been happy enough to help Rose last night, she knew the ship didn't like to be told what to do.

A map of the TARDIS interior appeared on the console's monitor with one room glowing a bright red. Rose memorized the way easily enough and patted the console with a smile. Instead of taking the center hallway to her room, she took the left one and opened the first set of double doors on her right. An Olympic-size swimming pool dominated the entire room, its translucent water rippling slightly.

Rose stepped forward onto white concrete and peered into the pool to see the Doctor's slim figure swimming in the opposite direction. The Doctor surfaced at the other end of the pool, shaking his head and flinging water droplets in all directions. He ran a hand through his hair, and finally looked in Rose's direction.

"Rose!" His exclamation echoed endlessly throughout the room. With a clean dive he was back in the water, racing towards her. His head popped up beneath her soon enough, splashing her feet with ice cold water. She giggled and jumped out of the way, sitting down at the edge of the pool and letting her legs dangle off in the water.

"Care to join me?" he asked, water dripping at a constant rate from his drooping hair. He heaved himself halfway out of the water and crossed his arms on top of Rose's knees, grinning his biggest.

Rose felt warmth creeping into her cheeks as she realized he was shirtless, though wearing a pair of swimming trunks. His skin was so pale that it was almost white, though whether the water or the lighting had an effect on that, she wasn't sure. She couldn't help but noticing that every muscle she could see seemed to be perfectly toned; not buff, but not scrawny in the slightest.

"What?" The Doctor looked down at his arm and poked at nonexistent flab. "Is it that bad?"

Rose shook her head and forced herself to focus on his face. "No, just thinking...shouldn't we be on our way to the Vespiform's planet?"
His smile was unwavering. "Time machine. We can be there whenever we want."

"Yeah I know, but..." Rose bit her lip. "I don't like not being there with my family. What if they find out that Mum's really not the Queen?"

"They won't," he assured her in a gentle voice. He began to slip away from her and quickly readjusted his grip. "We haven't left yet because I've been thinking."

She couldn't stop a smile from peeking through. "When aren't you?"

"Right. But I mean something specific this time. Why was it your mum that got picked? Out of the millions of females on planet Earth, it had to be your mum. Why?"

Rose hadn't really considered this before. To be fair, however, there hadn't been much time for her to think. She needed several hours more sleep than the Doctor did.

"I dunno, just chance?"

His gaze turned a little lighter than it had been a moment before. "Chance. You know, I don't think I believe in chance. Chance, luck, fate; I've had too much in one lifetime for it to be random."

"You told me you kissed up to Fortuna once."

His eyes shone with mirth. "Ah, yes. That was back in my fourth regeneration. 'Spose that could be part of it." He lifted his body up out of the water even further, bringing his head closer to Rose's as his smile faded. "But why your mum? Someone we're connected to. Someone we would do anything to protect."

Rose backed away an inch as what he was saying sunk in. "You're not saying that all this is because of us?"

He sighed as he slid back into the water, his head bobbing above the surface. "I don't know. But I don't like it."

"You were jumping at the chance yesterday," she said, recalling how excited he had been to see new life forms, and soon, a new planet.

"Oh no." A smile crept onto his face again. "I wouldn't miss the chance to go to that planet in a million years! It's the missing Queen part I don't like. I still need to think it through, though. Library was too quiet, my room was too familiar, so I came here! Turns out I still enjoy swimming." He stretched out on his back and smiled. "So, join me?"

After waking up no more than ten minutes ago, Rose wasn't in the mood to go change and get completely wet. "I'll just watch."

The Doctor sighed sadly and shook his head as he approached her again. "Well, you leave me no choice."

Rose pulled her feet out of the water quickly, knowing what the Doctor had in mind by the mischievous grin on his face. She smirked at him as she jumped up out of his reach. "Not today, Doctor."

He surprised her by continuing his pursuit and hoisting himself out of the water and onto the concrete. Rose ran to the other side of the pool as he climbed, careful not to slip.

"It's just water," he called, his body sopping wet. "I'm starting to think you're avoiding me on purpose."

No way was he going to win by appealing to her compassion. She ran around to the long side of the pool across from the Doctor. As soon as he saw her position he jumped into the pool, cutting through the water as though he belonged there. Rose continued to run along the side, but the Doctor was quicker. As soon as she thought she had escaped, wet palms grasped her ankles. She stopped in her tracks, as the grip was unrelenting. The Doctor grinned up at her.

"Gotcha." Not releasing his hold on her, he climbed onto the concrete and quickly wrapped his arms around Rose's middle, pressing her against his dripping chest.

Rose rolled her eyes as water seeped through her shirt and shorts. "All right, you've had your fun."

"Nope. Not yet!" He hoisted her over his shoulder with a chuckle as she squealed.

"Put me down!" she demanded, pounding on his back with her fists.

"Right, then! Down you go!" With another laugh he threw her straight into the freezing water onto her back. However, she had barely gone under when the Doctor's arms were supporting her back.

"See? Nice, isn't it?"

Rose sputtered and smacked his chest. "You stupid alien!" But she probably wasn't doing a good job at pretending to be mad at him, because she loved the way he was cradling her and how her head was resting over his heart.

Sure enough, he saw straight through it. "I love you too," he murmured. "And you think I'm bad in the mornings."

"At least Idon't make cheap shots about humans, even though I am one." She could feel her breaths grow a little shorter as she wrapped her arms around his waist and felt his smooth skin underneath her fingers.

"Half human." He let go of Rose and she floated gently onto her feet. He then leaned over and pressed his cheek against Rose's, his lips close by her ear. "The time lord half can hear your heart speeding up."

She wrapped her arms tighter around him as he nuzzled her cheek with his prickly counterpart. "I think you need to shave, mister," Rose remarked none too quietly.

"What, you don't like it?"

"No, it's not you. I like my doctors clean-shaven," she whispered with a smile.

"That can be arranged." He then began to kiss the side of her head, beginning with her ear and then every space on that side he could reach. His arms snaked around her and held her close in a vice-like grip.

Rose took the opportunity to release his waist and memorize what his arms felt like. His muscles hardened as she gripped his forearm and she smiled, running her fingertips gently over his strong and capable arms.

"I never knew you were this strong underneath your suit."

He shrugged. "I went to the gym when I lived in Scotland."

Rose tried to imagine the Doctor working out with weights and treadmills, but she couldn't. It was too normal for him. Even just the idea of it made Rose giggle.

"What? There's nothing wrong with that!" He flexed his muscles again, as if emphasizing his point.

"No," Rose said with a laugh, "it's just you, in a gym, lifting weights and stuff...I can't picture it!"

"I'll have you know, I lived a very human life." He pulled away from her to look her in the eye with a small smile.

"You keep saying human like it's a bad thing." She cocked an eyebrow at him, returning his smile.

His voice was suddenly very soft, his gentle brown eyes boring into her. "It's not all bad." He closed the distance between them and kissed her, wet lips and all.

It didn't matter that they were in the shallow end of the TARDIS pool, or that they were both thoroughly soaked. It didn't matter how many planets they had to save or evil plots they had to uncover; the world could wait for the Doctor and Rose. For far too long they had been separated from each other, and it was only fair that they attempt to make up for every moment lost.

Rose looped her arms around the Doctor's neck and leaned into the kiss, threading her fingers through his hair. The Doctor began to relent and pull away after a few moments, but Rose pushed his head right back down and their lips met again.

But they had to stop some time, and in the end it was Rose who separated their lips, though she couldn't move back much at all because of the Doctor's grip and the concrete wall at her back. It occurred to her then that they must have moved, and she hadn't even noticed.

The Doctor must have realized that he was practically crushing her against him, because he released her, his lips curved in a smile and his eyes alight with love. "Blimey, Rose Tyler, the things you do to me. Sometimes I think you're bent on breaking my poor human body."

She stepped closer to him again and placed a delicate kiss on his lips. "I don't think you'd mind if I did."

He returned a kiss of his own, though much longer. "Definitely not," he murmured as he pulled away. He sighed and looked past her, probably at the door. "Well, I suppose we have to keep going, then?"

Rose smiled and grabbed him in a hug, his reluctance giving her pleasure. "As much as I would love to stay in here with you all day-"

"-which we could, because we're in a time machine-"

"I can't just sit here while my family might be in danger."

He sighed again and pulled away, pushing Rose's hair behind her ears and placing his hands on either side of her face. "I know, Rose, and that's one of the many things I love about you." He gave her another quick peck on her lips and then took her hand in his, leading her up a set of steps to the surface. Two towels were waiting on a long lounge chair and the Doctor picked one up and tossed it at her.

Rose began to dry herself off while watching the Doctor. He ruffled the towel over his hair first, and then proceeded to dry himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and looked up at Rose, who draped her towel over her chest and took the Doctor's outstretched hand.

"Sorry for getting your clothes wet," the Doctor said as they exited the room.

Rose smiled at his uncharacteristic consideration. "'S okay. I needed a bit of waking up." She squeezed his hand as they entered the console room. "I'm going to shower and change, be back in a few minutes."

"Same here." But he held on to her hand and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Which suit should I wear?"

She took a good look at him, his hair all in a disarray and his pale skin practically glowing in the light of the TARDIS. His grin was huge, exposing his perfect teeth, and distracting Rose for a few seconds.

"The blue one," she finally decided.

"Classic," he said approvingly.