Hi everyone! Here's chapter 2! Reviews are much appreciated! :D

I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more,
Because it came from you.
And then I open up and see the person falling here is me,
A different way to be.

-Dreams; The Cranberries

The Doctor and Rose both took their time walking to the small town a mile or so from where they had landed. Apparently this is where they would get permission to go swimming. The houses were painted bright and happy colors; corals and yellows seemed to be the favorite choice. It looked like something you'd see in a travel magazine. It was one of the most beautiful places Rose had ever been to.

She looked to the Doctor. "So, where do we get permission for swimming?" she asked.

The Doctor looked around for a minute or so, before he finally found a small shack. "Ah! There we go," he said, leading Rose to the stand.

The man in the booth was quite fit. He was tanned and he had hair that almost matched Rose's. His eyes were a color Rose had never seen before; they were purple around the outside, while fading to Green as they got towards the center. When he turned, she noticed that he had gills on his neck, and translucent scales along his jawline – like sideburns. She almost couldn't stop staring. "Welcome to Laki Lagoon! I'm Pelagius," he said exuberantly.

Rose grinned at his accent. It was what she would call 'California surfer dude' accent. The Doctor was smiling as well. "We're just here to get permission to swim," he said.

The man nodded. "Cool… Of course, you'll only be able to attend the night swim," he explained.

"Why's that then?" Rose asked.

"Tonight's the celebration of the moon, dude!" he explained. "If you haven't noticed, it's mostly empty right now. Everyone's sleeping – saving up their energy for tonight. There'll be big bonfires and dancing, and everyone will be swimming! Well, those with permission…"

"What bars someone from permission?" the Doctor asked.

"If they don't know how to swim, or if they've been in trouble recently, or if they have a beef with the royal family…" he said. "You two don't fit into that category, do you?"

They both shook their heads. "Nope," the Doctor said.

He shrugged and said; "Works for me. Here y'go," he said, handing them each a pearl bracelet.

Rose took it and put it on. "What's this for then?" she asked.

"You have to wear it to show you have permission to swim," he explained. "Otherwise the royal family will be severely pissed."

Rose and the Doctor shared a look and shrugged. They walked through the town, but just like Pelagius had said, it was completely empty. It looked like a ghost town. The sun beamed down on them, and Rose welcomed the warmth. She had been on the TARDIS for so long, and it tended to be a bit chilly in the ship. The Doctor suggested they return to the beach and wait for nightfall. Rose agreed and they headed back to the where the TARDIS was parked.

The Doctor ran inside for a moment and came back out with his coat. He spread it out on the ground underneath the shade of a palm tree. Rose smiled and lounged next to him. If she were being honest, she didn't even need a fancy location. Yeah, travelling to strange places was great, but right now just being with the Doctor was enough for her to feel even a bit better. She listened closely as he told her the story of the first time he came here – many faces ago. Still, the lack of sleep she'd been getting must have caught up with her, because she felt herself slip into sleep only thirty minutes into the story.

The Doctor was so caught up in his story that he didn't notice Rose had stopped paying attention. He had moved on from the story about his last trip to this planet, and switched to a story about the time he went deep sea diving in the Pacific. "And then, I almost got caught in the biggest school of fish I'd ever seen, and of course they were swimming away from a shark…"

He glanced down at Rose and saw that she was asleep and cuddled into his side. He moved so that his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and she stirred so that her arm was wrapped around his waist. He was starting to wish he'd chosen something more comfortable to lean against than a bloody tree, but he would deal with it. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. She hadn't been sleeping well, and she'd need all her energy if they were going to have fun at the lunar celebration.

He could probably do with a short power nap as well, but his thoughts wouldn't let him doze off. He kept thinking back to what Rose had said earlier. She didn't blame him and she never would… but she couldn't be certain of that, could she? Rose was brilliant – she really was one of the more clever humans he'd met – but even she couldn't be certain of how she'd feel months down the road. At some point, she'd realize how everything that happened was his fault, and she'd hate him for it.

Or, worse, she wouldn't, and he'd still have to leave her anyway. It was inevitable; he had told her as much before. He wouldn't leave her behind – never her – but one day she wouldn't be able to travel with him anymore. One day she wouldn't want to. She was human; they needed domestics, and that was something he could never give her.

The TARDIS sent him a signal of disapproval, but he brushed it away. She tried speaking to him again, but he tuned her out. All he caught was something about 'no ordinary human'. As if there was any such thing as an ordinary human. The Doctor really wasn't in any mood to think about this right now. He wanted to be as happy as he could, and he wanted to help make Rose better; he didn't need to worry about his inner demons right now. He was sure there'd be plenty of time for that later.

Instead, he closed his eyes and, without realizing, wrapped his arms a little tighter around Rose. He was asleep in moments, and for once, it was dreamless.

The first thought on Rose Tyler's mind when she woke up was that she was insanely uncomfortable. She opened her eyes and saw that she was resting her head on the Doctor's chest. That wasn't the uncomfortable part – she quite liked that, actually. The uncomfortable part was that she had fallen asleep on the ground, and now her shoulder hurt whenever she tried to move it. Still, she wasn't in any hurry to move just yet. She took her chance and nuzzled further into the Doctor's arms, which tightened around her ever so slightly.

She didn't know how long she'd been asleep. The sky was darker, and there were a few stars showing up. Still, she wasn't sure how days and nights worked here. It could have been hours or mere minutes since she fell asleep. Rose felt rested, though. It was a strange feeling, because it felt like she had been without a good night's sleep for such a long time, due to the nightmares she'd have when she slept. Now she felt more awake than she had in the past few weeks.

She was about to close her eyes and get a few more minutes of rest when she heard a loud commotion behind her. It sounded like a large crowd of people cheering and someone talking over a loudspeaker. The Doctor was startled out of his sleep and sat up quickly, looking around for anything that might be considered danger. When he saw that they were safe, he stood and turned to help Rose off the ground. She wondered if he were going to mention them sleeping together under the stars – and make it awkward, like he had a tendency to do at times – or if he would just ignore it and try to put it on the backburner for now. When he started talking a mile a minute, she assumed the latter.

"So, goodnight then," he said, gesturing to the starlit sky around them.

Rose couldn't help but grin. "Goodnight," she said.

Before the Doctor could respond, Pelagius walked past them. "C'mon dudes, the fun's this way!" he said.

They watched him rush towards the crowd, and the Doctor smiled at her. "Well then, are you ready to party?" he asked.

He held his arm out towards her, and she looped her arm through his. "Let's go, dude," she replied with that signature smile of hers.

The Doctor laughed as they made their way towards the crowd. When they got there, they saw somewhat of a makeshift stage set up in front of the shoreline. There was a tanned, shirtless man up on the stage, trying to quiet the crowd so he wouldn't have to shout for them to hear him. He had scales and gills too, like Pelagius, only the man on the stage had golden scales. Rose was enjoying this planet already, what with all the shirtless men running around. She wondered if the Doctor was ever going to take off his shirt, but then she shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about that right now.

The man on the stage cleared his throat and held the microphone to his mouth. "Welcome visitors and natives alike!" he said. His accent was less "surfer guy" but it still wasn't what she was used to. "I am Prince Kamui, and I want to extend my father's most heartfelt apologies that he could not be here this evening." The crowd sounded displeased as they chanted something that Rose didn't quite catch, because the TARDIS hadn't translated. "I thank you all for your wishes of good health. I promise, you'll all get to swim later, but you know the drill: no swimming until after midnight! Until then, we'll dance and eat and party, and then at midnight we'll all start the swim."

The crowd cheered and Prince Kamui dismissed everyone, and Rose heard music start up from speakers set up in the trees surrounding the beach, and everyone cheered and began partying. Rose pulled the Doctor out onto the sand, and they danced as long as they were able. This was a fun party, and Rose was happy the Doctor had brought her here. The pain of losing her mother was starting to ease up, and the knot in the pit of her stomach was easily forgotten.

The Doctor didn't know how long he and Rose had danced to what sounded like 60's era beach music, but eventually she thought they should take a break. He knew she was bound to be a bit puckish – all she'd had was tea in the past twenty-four hours. They were having a beach barbeque, and the Doctor told Rose to go mingle while he got them both a plate. The smell of the barbeque made his mouth water as he stood in line, and he hoped the line would hurry up and move so he could return to Rose. He shouldn't be alone with his thoughts for too long.

The person behind him must have noticed his impatience, because he heard them chuckle when he started bouncing around. He turned to look behind him and noticed a petite brunette, with a dimpled smile and the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen. Honestly, she looked like a child's doll. "I guess you're not one for waiting in line, huh?" she asked.

He gave her a sheepish grin and said; "Well, I guess patience isn't my strong suit."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're going to be a bit disappointed, then. Those are our class chaperones at the front of the line. They never make up their minds quickly; they take forever for the simplest decisions."

"You're here on a school trip, then?" he asked.

She nodded. "Oh yes. Well, it's more of a school club trip. I'm in university right now, and I'm part of the Culture Club. We travel to learn about the most interesting cultures in the universe," she said proudly.

The Doctor hummed. "Sounds interesting enough. I suppose the swimming and fun-in-the-sun is all a bonus, then?" he teased.

She laughed. "Tethys' Celebration of the Moon is one of the most famous celebrations in this system. Of course we'd want to visit, and they only let so many visitors in each year. We were lucky to even get invited! Plus, everyone knows what happens at midnight."

He looked confused. "What?"

She laughed. "At the stroke of midnight, the moon lights up in a glow, and everyone kisses the person they love. It's said, if you kiss your loved one at midnight, you're destined to be together forever."

The Doctor was going to ask if she had someone she loved with her, but an argument broke out towards the front of the line. The two chaperones were in a heated debate about something the Doctor couldn't quite make out. The brunette girl sighed and shook her head. "I'd better go break that up before they ruin the party for everyone else. It was nice meeting you…"

"Doctor," he replied. "You can call me the Doctor."

She smiled and turned to break up the fight between the chaperones, and he turned to go to a different table. He had a feeling that, while she seemed like a nice enough girl, the two people who were meant to be in charge of a group of university students wouldn't be ending their argument any time soon. He wanted to get back to Rose as soon as possible and continue their partying.

Rose had been drifting through the crowd, looking at all the different people gathered for the celebration. She loved this part of coming to a new planet. Yes, saving different people was great, but meeting new people was what she loved – the domestics, the Doctor called it. She loved mingling, and she was quite good at it, if she did say so herself. Already she'd seen couples snogging each other senseless where they thought no one could see, and single people walking around and hitting on other single people. She'd even gotten hit on a few times by two different scaly men – it was very interesting.

Now, though, she was just standing at the edge of the shore, letting the water lap up against her bare toes. The people behind her were still partying and dancing to the music, but she let it fade away. Her thoughts were too loud. She kept wishing that she could give her mother a call – or even Mickey – and let them know what was going on. She wanted to tell them all about this beautiful planet, and the people with their scales, and how she misses them like crazy and wishes they could be here. She wishes she could just hear her mum's voice one more time. She has a voicemail on her cellphone that she had been listening to on repeat since her mother got trapped in the parallel world, but she knew that wasn't helping her heal at all.

She heard someone step behind her, and she figured the Doctor had found his way back. "The line must've been long," she commented.

"They are. It took me forever to get these chips," the voice behind her said, but it wasn't the Doctor. She turned to look behind her. It was a young man she didn't recognize. His hair was sort of curly, and brown, and it stuck up around his head. He looked nice, but in a kid sort of way – which was strange, because he had to be only two or three years younger than her. He had a plate of chips in his hand.

"Oh… sorry. I thought you were someone else," she said, keeping her distance.

The young man nodded. "I figured," he replied.

"Sorry to be rude, but who are you?" she asked, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"Oh, right! Sorry. You can call me Jamie," he said. "I wasn't trying to be a creeper or anything; you just looked lonely."

She smiled. "I'm Rose," she said.

He gave her a small nod. "Nice to meet ya, Rose. Chip?" he asked. She shook her head and he shrugged before popping one in his mouth. "So, what're you doing standin' all by yourself out here?" he asked.

"Just thinking," she sighed. "My… friend is here too, but he's probably stuck standing in the really long food line."

He nodded. "Yeah, my girlfriend decided to try the whole waiting in line thing. I kind of jumped in front and took my plate," he said sheepishly.

She smiled. "Well aren't you a rebel," she said. He laughed when she took a chip off the plate and ate it. "So, what brings you and your girlfriend to Tethys?" she asked, hoping she remembered the right name of the planet.

"We're part of this club at our university – the Culture Club. It's not a very good name, which I told them, but they didn't think I was being very clever. The club basically researches and learns as much as we can about different cultures throughout the universe, and then we throw this big get-together at the end of the year – across the universe in 80 days. Anyway, our club got invited to Tethys' celebration, and we couldn't just turn it down," he explained.

He talked very quickly, and tried to fit as many words as he possibly could into one breath. "Well, that sounds fun."

"Yeah, it is. I really enjoy it. I'm glad my girlfriend talked me into joining. Truth be told, I thought she'd never stop smiling when we got invited here. They have an interesting custom."

"What's that then?" Rose asked.

"Well, at midnight everyone stops what they're doing and kissing the one they love. If they do that, they're supposedly destined to stay together forever. What about you? What brings you here?" he asked.

She took in a breath and sighed. "Well, my friend and I travel a lot," she said. She didn't want to give too much away. They weren't exactly invited – they just sort of showed up. "He meets a lot of people, so he's bound to get an invite to at least one fun social event."

"Would this friend happen to be about so-tall with spiky hair and a scowl on his face?" Jamie asked.

Rose frowned. "Uh, I guess. Why?" she asked.

"Because he's walking over here."

Rose turned to see the Doctor walking towards them, looking none too pleased. He had a plate in each hand – each piled with food – and Rose couldn't help but wonder what got him in a mood so quickly. He finally reached Rose and Jamie and handed Rose one of the plates. "I am never doing that again," he said petulantly. Rose grinned – he wasn't angry, just annoyed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I kept getting bumped into by an elderly woman, and there were people arguing at the front of the line, and it just wasn't something I'd care to go through again," he explained. He finally seemed to notice Jamie standing behind Rose. "Oh, hello. Who's this then?" he asked.

Jamie held his hand out. "I'm Jamie," he said. "And you are…?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Just the Doctor?" Jamie asked with a smirk.

The Doctor nodded. "That's me!"

Jamie nodded and gave a chuckle before saying; "Well, it was nice to meet you both. Enjoy the party! I've gotta go find my girlfriend," he said.

Both Rose and the Doctor waved goodbye and watched him leave, before returning to the plates of food in their hands. They spent the rest of their time talking – and dancing – and waiting for midnight to arrive. Neither one knew that the other was planning to kiss them at midnight, no matter what the outcome would be. They weren't exactly superstitious, but this was one tradition that neither of them were going to miss out on.