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The whole of time and space was open to them. The Doctor and Rose. Rose and The Doctor. Drifting in time and space; together. No matter where or when they went, it was together. If -and when- they lost each other, they found each other. Always.
The Doctor and Rose were going somewhere far away and probably beautiful, at least that's what Rose was told.
"I promise, you'll love it, Rose," The Doctor assured the sceptical Rose. Normally, she'd believe him but normally he'd tell her about how wonderful the place was after they'd landed, not during the bumpy ride there.
It wasn't unusual for the ride to make Rose have to hold on to anything and everything she could while The Doctor grinned like the mad man he was. He stopped grinning when he saw Rose get thrown across the Tardis, he was barely holding on himself. The Tardis was chaos, the usual quiet hum of the Tardis rose into screeches and the lights started blinking brightly as sparks danced around the machinery.
Silence. The chaos stopped. Darkness. The Tardis just stopped.
The Doctor called out Rose's name frantically. His mind focused only on Rose and whether she was okay. He had to find her.
"Rose!" His voice broke. He was desperate. He needed Rose.
There was a whimper and although it was only quiet, it filled all his senses and became his oxygen. He knew what the feeling to save people was, he felt it every day, but this was something more.
Like a prayer on her lips, Rose whispered, "Doctor." Her saviour.
The Doctor followed the sound and released the breath he was holding in and unclenched his fist. She was so small in the corner, crumpled up like a broken doll. He dared to step closer, even though he thought his legs might give out at the mere sight of her. He didn't want to think of how much worse she could look as he got nearer.
Red.
The closer he got the more clearly he could see it. Red. Blood.
Rose was bleeding.
A small cut on her head, above her eyebrows and on the edge of her forehead. The exact spot which he had kissed time after time. Yet he took that time for advantage, thinking that because he was a Time Lord, all he had was time. He forgot that not everybody had nothing but time.
Just because he and Rose could get lost in time, didn't mean she could waste it.
"Doctor," she whispered again. He could see the hope in her eyes and he thought about how his eyes and hers looked the same. How every time they saw each other, they both had the same look in their eyes.
As Rose sat up, The Doctor cupped her face in hands. "Rose Tyler. My Rose."
From inspecting her wound, he could see that she would be fine but he still intended to take her to a doctor that wasn't him the second the Tardis started again.
Slowly, so slowly and carefully, he helped her stand up. He then moved her hair away from where it had fallen in front of her face and on her new wound. Just the sight of it made both of his hearts stutter.
There, in the quiet and silent Tardis, The Doctor and Rose held on to each other, as if even a step apart from the other would be torture.
"You never told me where we were going, it better have been wonderful."
"We're still going because it is unmissable. The largest flower garden the solar system. Except they owed me a favour, it's a long story including peonies, an alien version of a Venus fly trap and a race of vegetarian aliens who prefer flowers instead of vegetables-" He stopped himself, smiling. "It's a long story which involves some digestion and I doubt you want to hear. What is important is how I asked them to plant a certain type of flower. A rose. There is a whole planet of roses in bloom just for you."
"Just for me?" Rose laughed at him and his insane plan. He was brilliant. "But don't you need to figure out how to start the Tardis again?" Rose asked tentatively, afraid to break the moment and afraid the way The Doctor was looking at her might change.
"At some point." Rose took this as a cue to move away but The Doctor continued to hold onto her.
"You're what I need. I don't need anything else." And he kissed her.
They had only kissed once before, but that was a lifetime ago. When The Doctor had a different face and Rose had a different name. Rose was no longer Bad Wold, she kissed like Rose, she smelt like Rose and she felt like home.