Chapter 2- To Pick a Peck of Pomegranates

Disclaimer- *checks email* Nope! They still haven't emailed me the rights to Doctor Who. Still don't own it, sorry! I do however own a single pomegranate. Well, I did until I ate it. Oh, and by the way, I did invent Tefari-12 and the Wasaki Clan. And the story of how pomegranates came to Earth. It may come as a shock to some of you, but pomegranates are actually from Earth. Despite their appearance, they are native fruit. As far as I know anyways. To those who have reviewed and favorite or followed this story, thank you so very much, it brightened my day to learn that people out there are actually reading this! Read, review, and enjoy!

Only an hour later, Rose and the Doctor sat side by side on the grass outside a Wasaki tree-home, removing seeds from pomegranates. Rose couldn't quite get over the fact that these were the exact same fruits she'd picked up in a London market earlier that day. Sitting on an alien planet's blue grass, next to the Doctor and a house made out of a tree that grew in a hollow dome shape, it was utterly surreal. This was everything she loved about traveling with the Doctor; that every day was new and exciting and amazing. Just like him.

Rose shot a shy look sideways, and smiled at the determined look on his face as he pried seeds from the pomegranate flesh carefully, delicately. And this was the same man who could swordfight with a Sycorax and grip her hand as they ran away from whatever explosion he'd caused most recently. He turned, as though he felt her gaze on him, and Rose blushed, searching her mind frantically for something to say. She wasn't just staring at him. Not really.

"So what's this festival for?" Rose asked the Doctor, turning her attention back to her struggles with her own pomegranate and trying not to feel his warm brown gaze on her.

"Oh, it celebrates the pomegranate harvest before the Frost. It's also a sort of New Year's celebration too. Tefari gets one frost a year for two weeks straight of sub-zero temperatures. Everything goes into hibernation, including the Wasaki people. These fruits have so much energy, they keep them healthy during the Frost."

"You are partially right Doctor," Nakima interrupted, gracefully settling herself down across from them, legs crossed and tail wrapped over her lap. "These Golden Gifts- Pomegranates as you call them- provide all the nutrients we need. We engineered them specifically to meet these requirements. And…" she broke off, cocking her head to listen to something, but Rose couldn't hear anything. "Sorry, Clanmaster Rochenleok needs to see me," Nakima said, and then she was gone, bounding across the blue grass like a deer.

"The pomegranates also replenish their DNA," the Doctor said softly, his voice tinged with something darker, the sort of melancholy Rose had come to associate with her northern Doctor. She shot him a concerned glance, but his face showed nothing, and he seemed entirely focused on the fruit in his hands. "During the Time War, we came close to this planet… the radiation that struck should have killed them, but they survived, and they developed this very fruit to hold their DNA. It fixes the mutations and repairs the breakdowns. It's why humans think it's so good for them. All because my people nearly destroyed this planet." The Doctor stilled, the lost look in his eyes echoing once again something Rose was familiar with but hadn't seen in a long while.

"It wasn't your fault," she said, twining her red-stained, sticky, pomegranate juice-covered fingers with his.

"Rose you have no idea what they- what I did." She leaned into his shoulder, and his breath hitched. She pretended not to notice.

"I don't care. Whatever it was, I know you, and know you didn't mean it." He sighed, and looked at her hazel eyes, his pink-and-yellow human, the sunshine to his darkness.

"Rose Tyler you really are a brilliant ape, you know that?" she gave him one of her huge, tongue-in-teeth Rose Tyler smiles.

"And so the mighty Time Lord admits his inferiority to the tiny ape."

"Now wait a moment, I never said that…"

"You didn't have to. It was implied," Rose sang happily, stopping to gasp as she felt his hand against her cheek, cool and… sticky!

"Hey!" she cried, realizing her face was covered in bright red juice. The Doctor's wide smile rapidly changed to dismay as Rose very deliberately stuck her juice covered hands on the front of his white shirt, just over his hearts, (his jacket having already been removed for fear of death by juice, a fear that he now realized was entirely viable.)

"Oi! That was one of my favorite shirts!" he said, looking down, forlornly at the two, bright red handprints and reflecting that probably even the TARDIS couldn't get rid of the stains. Rose just grinned, and eventually his scowl brightened to match her with his own mad grin.

"I like it better this way," she said, sitting back slightly to run her eyes up and down him, examining her handiwork. She didn't notice his slight tremor, or the way that he proceeded to rake his eyes along her hair swirled into disorder and cheek stained a pinkish-red.

"Me too," he said, almost whispering, and then they were silent. Rose's heart was pounding so loudly she didn't see how he couldn't hear it, and then again, she realized with a start, maybe he could. She felt her cheeks heat up, embarrassed as she wondered if he knew how she felt- right now and always. His eyes were locked on hers, an unfamiliar expression in their deep brown depths, and she shivered, her eyes suddenly drown to his lips. Without her conscious awareness, she leaned forwards, reaching with her hands for his. As their faces grew closer, she suddenly wobbled and toppled over, having leaned too far from where she'd been kneeling on the ground.

Face buried in the Doctor's chest, Rose felt embarrassment heat her face, her hands clutched in his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her, and to her shock pulled her around and into his lap. Both stilled, and she looked up at him in surprise for a moment, distantly amused to find her surprise echoed in his expression. Unable to stop herself, Rose started giggling, leaning back into his chest. For a moment the Doctor remained as still as a statue, but then he started to chuckle. Before either of them knew it, they were stretched out on the grass laughing hysterically, arms wrapped around one another, completely content. Even after they stopped laughing they sat there, Rose's back pressed against the Doctor's chest and his arms around her shoulders.

"We aren't getting very much pomegranate seeding done Doctor," she said, just needing something to say as she tried to slow her racing heartbeat, closing her eyes.

"Oh? Do you want to get back to it then," he asked, loosening his arms a bit. Rose wondered if she'd imagined the disappointment in his voice. She took hold of his arms with her own, fought down her sudden anxiety and pulled them back around her shoulders.

"No, this is nice. Let's just… stay awhile," she said, closing her eyes and feeling the Doctor's dual heartbeats pound against her back. She wanted to remember this moment forever, she thought, wholly unawares that the Doctor was thinking the exact same thought as she drifted off to sleep beside him.

AN- I have no idea how this ended up so cute and fluffy. This is pretty much my first attempt at ever (and I mean ever) writing romance, so if anyone has any feedback or ways to improve, please let me know! The third and final chapter will be ready for update soon, probably before next week. This story just started writing itself, (my characters have a funny way of knocking me over the head and dragging me through the plot of their own accord,) turning out much longer than I was expecting, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. It's certainly one of the best feelings when you read over what you wrote, look at a line and say "wow, that's really good. Did I write that?" I swear half the time I don't remember it! I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am, and if you are leave a review below!