**Notes: Posting this now instead of in the morning because we have lots of family plans tomorrow and I'm not sure when I'll be near my computer to post this otherwise. There is one more chapter between this and my version of the xmas special. I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. Please review! **

Chapter Twenty – Down Memory Lane

Alex wandered through the TARDIS garden deep in thought. His last clear memories were just barely after the war. He felt like he should be the broken man that he remembered and yet, being here with these two people, who were apparently another version of himself and somehow Rose Tyler, he didn't feel broken at all.

He believed the memories that they shared with him were real; he could feel their love and sincerity. He was also sure that the TARDIS would have warned him if there were anything wrong. And if that was the case, then he had fallen deeply in love with Rose. He wasn't sure where the story of their lives would turn next, considering where it had left off, but she was somehow here now and they were married. Alex hoped desperately that his own memories would come back to him so that he could feel like he was a part of all of this again, instead of feeling like he was watching a movie about someone else.

He prodded curiously at the bond that he shared with them and felt Rose return an affectionate caress towards him. In his memory, he had never created a link like this with anyone and certainly not this deep. Considering the fact that they didn't have to be touching for all of the communicating they were doing, it meant that they had tied their lives together. He certainly wouldn't have done that lightly.

Having taken the time to let his thoughts settle and absorb all of the information they had shared with him, Alex started his walk back to the tree. It was time to move on with this story, because he knew there was a lot more to go. The other Doctor had said he lost about seven or eight years and so far, it was only a little over two years of memories that they had shared.

Rose walked briskly to their room, ready to indulge in a scalding shower. Reliving her first years with the Doctor were both wonderful and painful. She loved recalling the fun adventures and looked back fondly on their blossoming relationship at that time. But feeling his pain from the Game Station, reliving the events that happened in France, and most horrible of all, seeing his perspective of Canary Wharf, had all worn down her emotional reserves. Going through his years without her would likely be difficult and then, she would have to share everything that had happened in the parallel world, the trial, and their search for Evander.

She let the hot water ease her tense muscles and rolled her neck as she closed her eyes. Rose noticed that the TARDIS had given her some lavender body wash and smiled. Their beloved time ship always knew just what she needed.

Once she felt relaxed and refreshed, Rose put on the new dress she had bought while shopping with Jack earlier and made her way back to the garden room. She felt Alex exploring their bond and sent him a mental caress with a wave of affection. She missed him. He was right there, but she missed him anyway. They would fix all of this, somehow.

As Rose returned to her place on the grass next to Evander, she watched Alex walking up the path towards them. He had his hands buried in his pockets, just as he usually did and he flashed her a grin that was painfully familiar. Yes, they WOULD fix this.

"Are we ready to continue?" Evander asked both of them as he closed his book.

"Yes, I think so. I really hope that this works. I want these memories to feel like my own and right now I just feel like it's someone else's story," Alex replied as he returned to his place on the grass. He didn't meet their eyes and Rose took his hand in support.

"We WILL fix this, Doctor. I will not lose you again," she said assuredly.

He swallowed hard and nodded, squeezing her hand in return.

"Of course we will," Evander added with his usual authority.

Without another word, Evander went straight back into sharing his memories with them. Following the events of Canary Wharf, the Doctor spent months trying to find a crack large enough to somehow get her back. There were tears and screams and throwing several copies of the TARDIS manuals into supernovas when he disagreed with them. Then he found that one little gap and a supernova that he could tap into for enough power. That was when they said their goodbyes. When the transmission cut off and the tears were still glistening in his eyes, he found himself face to face with Donna.

The memories flashed by faster now through the events with the Racnoss Empress, meeting Martha Jones in the hospital, taking her to meet Shakespeare and New Earth. The heartbreak of knowing that the Daleks involved in Canary Wharf had survived and made it to New York was difficult to watch. Following that were the events with Professor Lazarus, a spaceship falling into a living sun and his time as John Smith. For a few months, he was trapped in 1969 with Martha while they worked on all of the steps outlined by Sally Sparrow to get the TARDIS back from the Weeping Angels.

The events surrounding the return of the Master were horrible. He was a prisoner for a year with the man who used to be his best friend, but had long ago become a psychotic enemy. The Master was an expert in telepathic torture and had learned about Rose right away. It was a constant wound to be opened during that time, but the Doctor tried to use his memories of her as an escape from the pain. When Martha had revealed the plan, he could almost imagine her voice calling out 'Doctor' with the rest of the world.

Then came the spaceship Titanic and the return of Donna Noble. Their adventures with Adipose Industries, saving a family in Pompeii, freeing the Ood and stopping the Sontarans from turning the Earth into a new clone breeding planet were lighthearted in comparison to the tortures he had been through in recent years. There were several fun trips where he took her shopping on various planets and visited the wonders of the universe before tragedy struck again.

Rose had seen the memories of what happened on Messaline recently, but she could feel Alex's pain regarding Jenny's murder. The mystery that the Doctor and Donna solved with Agatha Christie was almost as filled with death as the events that followed in the Library. Rose found the idea of the Vashta Nerada absolutely terrifying, especially knowing that the Doctor hadn't beaten them, just convinced them to allow everyone to leave based on his reputation alone.

His memories from the planet Midnight were strange and disjointed from the creature that had possessed his mind. That trip was supposed to be a relaxing holiday following the wave of death that had been following them. While Donna had managed to relax her days away, the Doctor was left thoroughly shaken by the experience.

Running from the diamond planet, he took Donna to Shan Shen for a relaxing shopping trip. There they were met with the 'Bad Wolf' warnings and Donna's fading memories of Rose after being attacked by a strange beetle that changed her past decisions. Simple decisions that changed the entire universe.

Heeding the warnings of the 'Bad Wolf,' they tried to return to Earth, only to discover that the Earth had disappeared. He took Donna to the Shadow Proclamation for help with the mystery, only to discover that several other planets had also been lost. It was Donna's mention of the bees disappearing on Earth that brought him to the solution.

Once the Doctor had solved the mystery of the twenty-seven planets and, along with help from his extended family, fought his way through to land on Earth, they came to the memory of his first sight of Rose after so long apart. Rose watched the memory closely from his perspective, feeling his emotions flowing through her. As they ran towards each other, she felt his sudden wave of panic at the sight of the solitary Dalek that had interrupted them. She cursed herself yet again for not using the giant gun she was holding at the time, wasn't that what she had brought it for?

They could sense when Alex started putting the pieces together from the aborted regeneration and how it might end up creating a second Doctor. They all felt the pain of Davros' accusations as well as the joy of watching Donna save the day.

Evander continued with his sharing of memories through leaving them on Bad Wolf Bay and what happened to Donna before he allowed it all to fade away. Upon opening his eyes, he could see Alex staring down at his hands.

"I'm a copy then? Not really the Doctor," Alex said softly.

Rose immediately took both of his hands in hers and looked him straight in the eye. "You ARE the Doctor. Just as much as he is," Rose assured him. "Now it's my turn. You will see very clearly just how much you proved to me and everyone that you are completely the Doctor."

Rose began sharing her memories with both of her Doctors from the moment she had asked them how their goodbye was supposed to end. She shared his breakdown at the loss of the TARDIS' song in his mind and followed through their quiet conversations and bonding. At the memory of bonding with Rose, Alex felt a shift in his own mind and gasped as he was thrown back into reality.

Rose and Evander watched him carefully as he tried to catch his breath. "What happened?" Rose asked anxiously.

"There was something... something about remembering our bonding. It all feels real now. All the memories that you shared up to that point, everything of my own memories are back," Alex smiled and hugged Rose tightly. "I still can't remember anything past that, but it's a start. It means that I should be able to get the rest of it back, too."

Keeping a hold on each of their hands, Rose resumed sharing her memories of their life in the parallel world. Their first night of intimacy, his discovery of the changes that had happened to her, preparing for their human wedding, and their travels through their extended honeymoon. Rose braced herself as she moved on into the memories of what happened to her family and their investigation into who could have done such a thing.

When Rose reached the memories of her regeneration, she could feel both of her Doctors squeezing her hands in support. She quickly relayed the memories of their return to this universe and discovering their need to find a way to save Alex's life.

The events surrounding their return to Gallifrey and the trial were pleasant overall. Their time on his home planet was refreshing and sweet, and while the trial was stressful at the time, no one had died during their time there.

The memories of their search for the other Doctor were frustrating, but not traumatizing either. They visited Venice and helped in Sardick Town before meeting his eighth incarnation. The memories of visiting Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart were pleasant for everyone and it was shortly after that when they finally found a way to call the TARDIS to them.

When they reached the memories of sharing Rose's regeneration energy and connecting to the other Doctor, the three of them all felt the spark that flared in Alex's mind. Alex flinched, Rose gasped, and Evander gave a brief shout as a new flood of images came through from Alex's mind. But these were not the memories that they had shared with him, these were all of the memories that came afterward.

Before Rose and Evander could even process what had happened, they found themselves wrapped tightly in Alex's embrace. "Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," Evander said sincerely. "Now will you please let go of me?"

Alex laughed and when he released Evander from the hug, he moved so both of his arms held tightly to Rose. He fell back on the grass and rolled her beneath him as he kissed her soundly.

When he finally pulled back from the kiss, Rose gazed at him lovingly and said, "I'm so glad that you're alright, love. I was so afraid that you'd never remember our time together at all. That I'd be the only one who remembered our wedding and our time together on Gallifrey."

"We could never let that happen, love. If this hadn't worked so easily, we would have found another way. The sustained electric shock scrambled my brain a bit, but the memories were all still there," Alex assured her.

Evander stood and began walking toward the door. "I'm going to go inform Jack that you are back to your usual manic self and maybe get a start on some dinner. When you're done snogging each other senseless, you are welcome to join me," Evander said with a smile and a small bow before leaving the room.

They could feel that he was happy and joking with them. He loved them both, but he wasn't fond of snuggling, tickling and the silly snogging sessions that Alex enjoyed with Rose. Later, Rose knew that he would set some puzzle for her on one of the many chalk boards that he had around the TARDIS and they would work out some problems regarding one of the subjects that Rose had taken an interest in studying lately.

For now, Rose and Alex rolled around in the grass, tickling and kissing and just generally enjoying the fact that all of his memories were clear once again. Everyone was safe and the crisis was past.