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The tiny, heartbroken alien with the big Mogwai eyes stared plaintively up at the Doctor, his little lower lip quivering. The Doctor's hearts went out to the fluffy Hvartsblazt. The little bloke, to whom he had given the name Herman, had just seen his mate fall backwards into a temporal rift, presumably gone forever.
The Doctor knelt down, hesitantly scratching Herman's ear. He began to purr, but then remembered his mate and started crying piteously. The Doctor wished he could tell him that it would be all right, that after a while it would stop hurting. But the truth of the matter was quite different. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry this happened. I wish I could have done more."
The little bloke shook his head and patted the Doctor's hand with his paw, as if to say he knew the Doctor had done what he could.
"I know how you feel, though. I had...I had this friend. Rose, her name was." The alien listened intently as the Doctor began to tell his tale. "Rose was beautiful and brilliant. We were together. She always knew just what to do." He sat cross legged on the ground. "She'd know what to tell you, she was brilliant that way."
The tiny alien suddenly hopped up and began awkwardly hopping and trying to indicate, as best he could that the Doctor should turn around, but the Time Lord was deep into his memories and didn't pay attention to the sudden wind that had started to whip around him.
"She had this smile that could...it could outshine the sun. And she did this thing...she'd stick her tongue out of the corner of her mouth when she grinned at me. It felt like home, being with her. And she fell, too. It was just a while ago...and I lost her. She's gone."
A female voice piped up from behind him. "Stop telling people I'm dead!"
"I swear sometimes I can still hear her voice. So clearly," he sighed.
A familiar laugh rang out, finally getting his attention. Little Herman was hopping up and down, squealing and gesturing wildly. The Doctor finally looked around.
She was standing there. She wore a blue jacket and a magenta top and black pants and her hair was golden and beautiful and radiant. Her smile carried the warmth of the sun.
Rose Tyler was not lost anymore. "It's because I'm standing right here, Doctor."
The Doctor stood up clumsily and stepped toward her hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure she was actually there. "Are you...."
"I'm real."
He stepped forward, she stepped forward, and they met in the middle. He took her hand, speechless. He'd forgotten how to talk but his hand hadn't forgotten what it felt like to hold hers. "You're real," he croaked.
The Doctor swept Rose up in a desperate, tight embrace, burying his face in her neck and smelling her gorgeous sweet scent of strawberries and time. Suddenly he was hearing something as well, a high pitched squeak coming from Rose's jacket pocket.
Rose stepped back abruptly, gasping, "Oh, wait! I have something...." The Doctor was confused until Rose produced a tiny, mournful ball of fur from her pocket.
Herman the Hvartsblazt began to shriek with joy.
"She just appeared, just before I found this temporal rift to bring me here. Poor little thing was heartbroken!" Rose set her down and they both watched in wonder as Herman and his mate waddled excitedly to each other and began rubbing noses. "That's her..."
"Mate, yes."
Rose beamed at him. "Brilliant," she laughed. "They mate for life, don't they?"
"Yes, they do, Rose Tyler. Forever."
"Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?"
She gave him that same smile that he had described to Herman. Suddenly every question, every concern about how this was even possible just didn't matter anymore. He pulled her close again. "It's a brilliant idea," the Doctor declared, just before he pressed his lips to hers.