Chapter Text
I love you.
With three words, the start of a new adventure began. An adventure he never thought he could have. Even now, waiting on the cold Norwegian beach, he feels as if it's all still a dream.
His superior senses have mostly abandoned him, but not entirely. Approximately twenty-three minutes have passed since the Old Girl disappeared from this universe for the final time. Twenty-three minutes since the final wheezing groan faded from their ears. Twenty-three, no, twenty-four now, since he held her hand. She's sitting right next to him on the bare stone facing the sea.
He looks over at her. Her thoughts are far away, still chasing that box between universes.
He reaches out, palm up, offering his hand again. He prays to everything, begs the universe for this one thing, after all he's lost. He can't take it if Rose doesn't want him. If she'll always be yearning for the whole Time Lord.
She simply stares at it for a long time.
His single heart is beating hard now, hammering against his ribs. She needs time, he understands suddenly, and begins to return it to his side. Quickly she reaches out and takes it, holding on for dear life.
She looks at him for a moment... and a small smile graces her face. He returns it, beaming like an idiot because the lost look in her eyes fades in just that moment. Then a certain sadness returns to them, a sadness he feels too, and she scoots closer. The smiles quickly slip from their faces. Resting her head on his shoulder, they wait for the zeppelin to arrive.
A new adventure.