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Rose turned the corner into the hall off the kitchen and bonked into a Doctor bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“What th— were you just standing out here waiting for me??”
“Didn't wanna interrupt… dishes are important!”
“Says the man building a dishwasher from scratch so he never has to touch ‘em again… What's up?”
The Doctor gave her a wide grin and held up a shiny silver key. “Guess what day it is?”
“NO!” Rose covered the key with her hands, glee lighting her face, “you said August, at least!”
“Yeah, I lied,” he said, “she's been moulting, so I didn't wanna rush her, but I knew it would probably be more like June or July.”
“You dick!” Rose shrieked, throwing her arms around the Doctor's neck, “I love you!! Can we go now!?”
He held his hand out in front of him, ushering Rose towards the back door. “After you, mam’selle.”
In all the chaos of their reunion, the piles of Torchwood paperwork to give the human Doctor a new identity ( Smith, John was the best he could come up with) and establish him as a UK citizen, and their eventual relocation to a place comfortable enough to satisfy two restless, earthbound star travelers, it had been nearly four months before the Doctor had found the right spot to grow the chunk of TARDIS. Technically, it wasn't exactly a plant, and it would never have been grown in soil on Gallifrey. There, the Doctor would have had access to a lab and equipment far beyond the archaic technology made available to him by Torchwood. But he made do.
The London climate was much cooler than Gallifrey, and by applying a dimensionally transcendental field to a large wooden crate and burying it in the soil, the doctor was able to create a small underground workshop for himself. After setting up all the particulars though, there was nothing left to do but wait and monitor vitals, and the TARDIS had been growing slowly out of the crate, disguised as a douglas fir.
Still, the conditions were far from ideal, and the projected year to see a full, healthy TARDIS come to full maturity had become 18 months. Visiting their ‘tree’ in Valentines park was almost a daily habit for Rose, but she didn't know much about the care and tending of TARDISes, and gladly left that part up to her giddy Doctor.
They now sprinted hand in hand down the path towards the dense center of the park where the TARDIS tree grew. It looked so ordinary, no one would know it among the surrounding trees except the two of them who knew it so well. The Doctor handed the key to Rose.
“Do the honours?”
She took it excitedly and approached the tree. “Where… okay but how do I actually unlock it?”
“Oh! Over to the left. Belly-button height. You see that little gap in the bark? That's the lock.”
It took a second for her to find it, but at last she was slipping the key into the lock, and pushing open a small, bark-covered door. She reached back and grabbed the Doctor's hand before pulling him into their new TARDIS after her.
It was nothing like the engine room Rose had once been so accustomed to. A curved wooden ramp ran up to the central dias from the front door, branching off in several directions, and leading in a great circle to the upper and lower levels of the control room. The main level was wide and roomy, with a low, fabric padded bench surrounding the central controls. The surfaces all appeared to be dark polished wood, along with a hardwood floor with liftable sections for access to the storage below. Along the walls, great curved columns swept all the way up to the high ceiling like a cathedral roof. The whole thing had the feel of a luxurious study of some wealthy retired professor.
The pair stood staring speechlessly at the interior for a full thirty seconds. With a sudden whoop from the Doctor and a gleeful cackle from Rose, they ran up the ramp and began exploring every nook and cranny.
“She's so pretty!”
“What are you talking about, she's gorgeous!” The Doctor ran a hand almost sensually along the banister, leaning down to inspect the grain.
“You're right, how thoughtless of me. Sorry, beautiful!” Rose called to the rafters. The warm ambient lights gave a bright pulse in reply. She and the Doctor laughed in gleeful surprise. They reconvened at the console and embraced, hearts beating quickly in matching excitement.
It had been such a long wait, such an uncertainty, that Rose had been reluctant to fully invest her hopes in this project. She had complete faith in the Doctor's abilities, but if there was even the slightest chance this TARDIS couldn't be grown… she knew she couldn't handle the disappointment. Now, however, it was real. She stood inside a TARDIS again, her very own TARDIS, and at long last she and the Doctor would be back where they belonged, traveling through the stars and exploring the mysteries of time.
“Are you gonna teach me how to fly it properly?”
“S’pose I'll have to, won't I? It's half yours.” The Doctor gave her an extra tight squeeze before moving to examine the controls, donning his glasses and squinting at some fine print on the dash. “Same core model as the last one. But I'm seeing some modifications. Looks like this one's got the capacity to be flown by three instead of six. That's nuthin’ for you and me!” He whooped again and ran around the console, rapidly flipping switches and pulling levers. An enormous viewscreen lit up overhead, displaying the park outside.
“So, my love, where would you like to go first?”
“London, 1963.” Rose said definitively.
The Doctor frowned in confusion, “That's awfully specific, what's so special about 1963?”
“You'll see! Just a quick stop.”
“You're the boss,” he replied, and began setting the coordinates. Writing appeared on the viewscreen:
Milky-way, Solar System, Earth
51° 30’ 35.5140” N
0° 7’ 5.1312” W
March 17, 1963
17:00
“You ready, Rose?”
Rose threw her hands joyfully in the air and shouted, “Allons-y!”
With a beaming smile, the Doctor pulled a lever, launching them into the vortex. “You take this one!” He said, and when she took over, holding it in position, he ran around the far side and began cranking a wheel, simultaneously lifting his foot to press a button a few feet to his left. The telltale voorp, voorp that had begun suddenly smoothed to a hum ("ooh, would you listen to her purr!"), and a few moments later they came to a standstill with a soft hiss like an old steam engine.
Rose looked at the Doctor with wide eyes. “Think it worked?”
“Only one way to find out,” he grinned. Rose took off down the ramp at a sprint. “I still don't get what's so special about 1963!” He followed after Rose at a slightly slower pace.
She reached the entrance, which presented as a huge set of oak double doors, and turned to face the Doctor.
“You told me, ages ago you visited 1963, and when you were there the TARDIS chameleon circuit broke.” Dawning understanding lit the Doctor's face as Rose continued, “weeeell…” She pushed open the door and stepped out onto a bright London street, tall buildings to her left and a bridge to her right. The Doctor followed her, and they turned together to see their TARDIS as it was meant to be, a tall wooden box with a fresh coat of blue paint and the words ‘POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX’ above the door. Rose sighed rapturously and stepped closer, running her hands lovingly over the facade. “Oooh I missed you, lovely!”
“Careful, you're starting to sound like me,” the Doctor teased, leaning his shoulder against the closed door.
“I've heard that before.” She gave him a mischievous look, “can we make it permanent?”
“I'm not breaking my TARDIS on the very first day out!”
“Our TARDIS. And I'm not saying break it… maybe we could… disable the chameleon circuit? Just for a bit?” She lowered her chin, leveling a wide eyed puppy dog gaze at him.
The Doctor looped his arm around Rose's neck and stepped back with her to admire the TARDIS’s current form. Finally he gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fiiine. We can save the feature for emergencies,” he said, grunting as Rose squeezed him hard around the middle. He smiled down at her, kissing her forehead. “I always liked it this way too.”
“Thank you. So much.” Rose drew a deep breath, shaking her head and blinking to dispel an unexpected oncoming wave of happy tears. “So, Doctor? Show me the stars.”
Biting her lip flirtatiously, she led the way back inside. The Doctor paused just outside the doorway, smiling.
“You heard the boss.” He laid an affectionate hand on the blue wooden paneling. “Welcome back old girl.”