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Rose braced herself as the Tardis jolted to a halt. She laughed when her foot slipped and she had to grab the rail again to balance herself. There was a bang from the other side of the console before a melodic laugh echoed through the room. Rose felt her chest fill with warmth. It didn’t matter that the voice was higher than it used to be, that was still 100% Her Doctor.
“See, told you I could land without burning out the compression coil!” Rose could almost hear the hammer she knew The Doctor had smugly flipped into the air. She actually heard the bang when it bounced off the console and hit the floor. “Oops”
Rose smiled as a cute blonde finally came into view. She had a pair of funky, steampunk goggles around the top of her head. Rose could not stop herself from scanning the women’s body down and back up. Her yellow suspenders were probably the cutest thing Rose had ever seen. And the blue tube socks sticking out of her boots almost pulled a giggle out of her.
Rose never really thought about girls before as a romantic option. She’d never had these kind of giggly feelings for anyone, if she was being honest. She’d kind of just fallen into a relationship with Mickey because they’d been friends forever and it was easy. He seemed to care about her a lot and that felt nice. Before she’d met The Doctor, she had just kind of bounced along her in life, not really caring about anything. She just did what was expected.
Traveling through time and space had woken her up. Finally she cared, finally she was excited about life, finally she had someone in her life that she felt truly saw her. The Doctor understood her in a way that almost got on her nerves. And he was just so cute in that skinny little suit and those ridiculous old chucks. And thinking about that boyish smile still made her a bit giggly.
“Ok let’s review the plan,” said The Doctor, a serious look on her face as she stopped in front of Rose. This doctor was much shorter then the ones that came before. Their heads were basically at the same height, so it wasn’t hard to make eye contact. Rose willed the blush off of her cheeks and hoped it hadn’t been noticed. “We have to split up. I don’t like it, but we won’t have a lot of time…”
It hadn’t been that long since she regenerated, but they hadn’t really acknowledged their romantic feelings yet. Maybe they needed time, but Rose couldn’t silence the voice inside that told her this Doctor couldn’t love her. She had no idea how Time Lord sexuality worked in this case. She’d kind of taken it for granted that it hadn’t been a problem before, at least not for her.
“… and you have to get past the dunes in under a minute or else…” the serious look on the little blondes face was just confirmation for her. Even if this version of her doctor didn’t, Rose was still totally in love with her. It didn’t matter what packaging the Doctor was in, Rose loved every atom of their existence.
“… Rose? Are you listening?” Rose internally shook herself as she realized she zoned out on the tiny cuff the blonde had on the top of her ear. For whatever reason, the first time she’d seen it, a shiver had gone down her back. She found it way more attractive than she would have thought.
“Yes! You were talking about the…” Rose bit her lip sheepishly as her voice trailed off.
“Rose, you need to pay attention. You have to crawl…” and the doctor was off on her plan breakdown again. Of course Rose knew the plan. She helped MAKE the plan. But her Doctor loved a good lecture, so she nodded along with a soft look on her face.
Reaching down, The Doctor pulled the two backpacks they’d put together for this out from under the console. They each had any and all tools that might help them reach their goal. She really hated having to split up, but The Doctor was right, they didn’t have enough time. Rose nodded seriously, slung the bag onto her back and followed the doctor to the door. She took deep steadying breaths, already going through the plan again in her head. Their eyes locked when they reached the door and they took a deep breath together.
“Please be careful, Rose.” Rose couldn’t believe it when the bubbly blonde suddenly got serious. She seemed to debate something for a second before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Rose. It was their first true physical connection since the regeneration. They’d both been too anxious and scared, assuming the other couldn't possibly love them now.
Rose immediately hugged her back, squeezing tightly. She expected the Doctor to step away quickly, but she didn’t. They just held each other for a second, three hearts fluttering. And then, almost simultaneously, they relaxed into each other. It stopped being a hug fueled by fear, and instead it became two people coming together as they were always meant to be. Rose felt the affection she’d been terrified to lose pulsing through the Doctor’s body and she assumed the same was coming off of her. She’d been silly to question, silly to fear. She would always love the Doctor, even if she didn’t love her anymore. But in that moment, she knew that could never happen. Their connection was so much bigger than even Rose understood. It was like their hearts had been crying out for each other and were only able to stop when they were pressed together as tightly as possible. This was how they should be at all times. Their energies mixed together to create something bigger and stronger.
More time passed than should have before the girls forced themselves apart. When their eyes connected, the love passing between them put color in both of their cheeks.
Their hands clasped between them as they stepped back, neither wanting to let go now that they were connected.
“See you soon?” The Doctor said to Rose, some of that fear returning to her eyes. She was really scared. That probably should have freaked Rose out, but she had never doubted that they’d find each other again, and she wasn’t about to start now.
“See you soon,” Rose nodded, squeezing their hands one more time before letting go. Rose reached for the door, turned to give the Doctor an excited look, before she disappeared through the door.