Prezzies for the lot of ya! Thanks for all the kind responses on the last chapter, I know I'm not good at responding to reviews, but they do mean a lot.

Disclaimer: Most of this belongs to the BBC. Except for the bit by Morgenstern.

By unspoken agreement, they walked in silence until they were comfortably ensconced in the decadent sofa of the Tardis Library.

"I heard what you told Martha." The Doctor said, breaking the silence. "The dimension cannon, can I see it."

Rose dug out the remote. "The cannon had to stay behind in Pete's world. It's too bulky. This is the remote I used."

The Doctor pulled out his specs and sonic and set to examining the device carefully. He sat back. "This is a bit rubbish, it couldn't teleport you anywhere. All it does is send a signal, at only one frequency."

"I hadn't noticed." Rose said. She'd only built the thing.

"Then you have another device? Can I see that?"

Rose sighed, ever curious was her Doctor. She'd had more than a year to figure out how to tell him that she wouldn't go growing old on him and she still didn't know how to do it. "There is no other device."

"Then how…" He trailed off. "Rose, that doesn't make any sense."

She closed her eyes, trying to think of how best to do this. Then- "It's time to remember, Doctor."

"What? Remember what? Oh." As the memory unblocked, Rose lowered the block around her telepathy.

The Doctor swallowed. "That's… unexpected."

Rose had to laugh, "Inconceivable?" She asked.

The Doctor grinned. "I do not think that means what you think it means." He quoted back at her. "I don't know what question to ask first." He stammered.

"I don't know which to answer, and I've had a while to think about it."

"Tell you what, I'll just let you tell me the story. No interruptions, just start at the beginning."

"You, not interrupt? I think the universe would implode all over again." Rose teased.

The Doctor made a face at her and mimed zipping his lips.

"Alright, alright." Rose said, "One boring day at work, doing paperwork, I fell unexpectedly unconscious. At least, that's how it seemed to the people that found me. I was actually inside my mind and discovered a part of it locked away, waiting for me to discover it. It sang to me." Rose's voice took on a tone of wonder as she thought about the song of the Tardis, which echoed all around her deep inside the halls of the magnificent ship. "I unlocked a piece of the Heart of the Tardis which had been stored inside my mind since the Gamestation."

"What?" The Doctor exploded, "That's impossible. It should have killed you."

"Fingers on lips." Rose said with a smile. "You said you wouldn't interrupt. And no, it's not impossible. Not if a certain multidimensional being made some genetic changes during the time they were connected. I held onto the Time Vortex much longer than you did, she had to do something. Anyway, with that piece reconnected to my mind, I opened the telepathic connection and the other… gifts… from the Tardis."

"What gifts?"

Rose gave him a crooked grin. "It's a lot more than just telepathy, Doctor. I can hear the Tardis, talk to her even, I can travel… through time and space, and I'm not getting any older."

The Doctor did his best fish impression.

"I s'pose that's it, really. I built the dimension cannon. I can also sense disturbances in time, so I knew something was going on over here that allowed me to get through. Started saving your arse." She grinned.

The Doctor pulled her to him in a tight hug. He softly stroked her hair. "Rose," He choked out, "Do you- do you want to travel with me? Again?"

Rose laughed breathlessly. "Course, Doctor. I promised you forever, and now I can give it to you. That is… if you still want me to."

"Want you to? I'd love that. Rose, I missed you so much."

"Well, now you're squishing me."

The Doctor let her sit upright again. "How long has it been? For you?" He asked.

"'Bout six years. Kinda lost track this last bit." She studied his face, "Longer than for you." She smiled. "I'm just glad to be back."

"Six years." The Doctor murmured, "And you worked for Torchwood all that time?"

Rose shook her head. "Most of it. Spent nearly two years back here. The Year that Never Was, a couple other things. Before though, I took my A levels and went to Uni for a bit. Went back to Torchwood. It was the only thing exciting enough after travelling in the Tardis."

"Good for you. Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. What did you study?"

"Mechanical engineering and Astrophysics." Rose grinned.

The Doctor was clearly impressed. He'd always known Rose was smart, she picked up on things quickly, but she'd done so much more than he'd imagined. "That's how you built the dimension cannon?"

Rose nodded.

"Brilliant. Just brilliant. Did you say genetic modification?"

"What?"

"Earlier, did you say that the Tardis changed your DNA?"

"Yeah, otherwise I'd have some problems." Rose said.

The Doctor stood and tugged Rose along with him.

"Where are we going?" She demanded.

"Infirmary. I need to run some tests."

"Doctor, I've already run tests. I'm fine. Completely stable. Three parts human, one part Tardis."

The Doctor stopped and peered intently down at Rose, studying her honey-gold eyes. "You're sure?"

"Completely." Rose smiled up at him. "It's late Doctor, I should go to sleep. Still mostly human and all."

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

"Then, goodnight, Rose."

"'Night, Doctor." Rose hugged him tightly, relaxing against his chest with a sigh.

He kissed the top of her head, as he had done so many times in the past, and Rose went off to bed.

The Doctor wandered to the console room, intending to do some tinkering. Instead, he sat staring blankly at the time rotor, wondering how his precious ship conspired to give him Rose Tyler for all of time.

"She told you, then?" Sarah Jane startled him from his thoughts and he realized it was morning.

"Yeah." He said, "She told you? Wait, did you know she was back?"

Sarah Jane smiled. "She stayed with me for a few months after the Master. She rather had to tell me, I thought she was an alien impersonating Rose Tyler since Mister Smith was convinced she was an alien and I believed she was dead."

"She came here." The Doctor murmured. "Thank you, Sarah, for looking after her. All that death… I imagine it was a hard time."

"I told her once that if she ever needed me, I was here. I care for her too."

"Talking about me already?" Rose asked with a yawn as she walked, catlike, into the console room.

"Good morning, Rose. You made it, you're back." Sarah Jane smiled at the younger woman.

"Yup." Rose grinned. "Just the way it should be."

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her. She squeaked into his chest, not expecting the contact, before relaxing and returning the hug.

"I was afraid it was a hallucination." The Doctor said softly, "Things this good just don't happen to me."

"Maybe you've finally caught a break." Rose said, her voice muffled from the hug. "Or I did. I was having a rather terrible run of bad luck. Six years."

"The two longest years of my very long life." The Doctor replied.

"I should make you wait longer." Rose teased. "You're not leaving me again, Doctor. You're stuck with me."

"Alright, you two. The kettle's on and the rest of breakfast will be ready soon. Doctor, can you wake Donna?" Sarah Jane interrupted.

Reluctantly, the Doctor let go of Rose.

"Blimey." Rose said as he left, "He was about to suffocate me."

"He missed you, quite a lot I should think." Sarah Jane said, slinging an arm over the girl's shoulders and leading her from the Tardis.

Tony was waiting on the other side of the blue doors.

"Hey Tony." Rose said and picked him up, "Didn't want a lie in this morning?"

"I wanna go in the Tardis! But the door wouldn't open." He pouted.

"Hmm. Maybe later, squirt. Right now, we're gonna eat some breakfast."

Tony frowned, his gurgling stomach warring with his insatiable curiosity. Finally, he nodded.

Rose laughed and carried him downstairs.

Luke was already at the table, his hair messy and eyes bleary as he greeted Rose.

Jackie bustled into the kitchen, paused to hug Rose, and helped Sarah Jane with the tea.

"Mum," Rose said as she figured out the source of Jackie's anxiety, "I'm not just going to vanish. I'll visit. Often."

Jackie set down the trembling teapot. "Oh, sweetheart." She said, "I know. It's just so hard to let you go."

"Everyone leave home in the end." Rose said gently, "Mum, I'm twenty-six."

"You think." Luke joked quietly.

"You'll never outgrow being my daughter."

"They should start a club." Donna said from the doorway. "Disgruntled Mothers of the Companions of the Doctor. He'd run in fear."

"My face still stings from Martha's mum slapping me." The Doctor said.

"Oi, and what about my slap?" Jackie teased.

"Wrong face." The Doctor shot back.

They spent the day at Sarah Jane's. Mister Smith fixed up documents for the Tylers, even Rose, in case she ended up on Earth for extended time periods. The Doctor was seldom far from Rose; it was like he gravitated towards her. Donna spent her time watching them. The Doctor was so different around Rose, far lighter and happier than Donna had ever seen. A complete opposite of when she'd seen him the first time, tears still streaked across his face… But they weren't couple-y either. Hugs, yes, extended ones, and hand holding too, but no kissing and no undying vows of love.

"They both know it." Jackie said later, when she'd caught Donna watching Rose and the Doctor. "Bloody idiot is too scared to say it and Rose doesn't want to scare him off."

Donna shook her head. "Men." She said.

Jackie sighed. "I think he's still scared it's all a dream. That Rose will vanish in a puff of smoke. That's why he's so clingy. He wasn't quite this bad before."

"I'll make 'im say it." Donna muttered.

"I like you." Jackie said. "Come, let's make lunch."

The next morning, over breakfast, the Doctor asked the question which had been on his tongue since the moment they landed.

"Well, Rose Tyler," He said, "Would you like to go on an adventure?"

Rose grinned. "I'd love it."