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"Baby, make my wish come true..
All I want for Christmas is you….."
When Rose materializes on the snowy street, she realizes three things:
One, she is in London. A London, maybe not the right London at the right time or even in the right universe but that really big clock in the tower confirms that it is indeed London.
Two, there are fairy lights and trees everywhere and so she's landed on Christmas or close to it. One day to do, according to that countdown clock displayed in the bookstore window. London, Christmas Eve.
And three, she can hear a song piped out onto the street, the bouncy beat telling her that it's her current most hated Christmas song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” "Fantastic," her internal Northern-sounding voice grouses. " I've landed on the “Love Actually” planet."
She hates the song because, of course, there's only one person she'd want for Christmas and it was becoming harder to have hope that she'd actually find him for that holiday or any other occasion on the calendar.
Rose walks away from the bookstore, hoping the song will fade into the distance, but it's just her luck that a particularly persistent earworm has burrowed into her brain and she'll likely be listening to it all day. She remembers a time when she and the Doctor escaped from real earworms, hell bent on infecting their minds with annoying songs (she had the Piña Colada song stuck in her head for hours afterward) and the memory of their adventure makes her want to cry. Again.
As she wills bitter tears to keep from forming she becomes aware of a fourth thing.
Her TARDIS key is warm and glowing against her skin.
Rose pulls it out of her shirt with a gasp, spinning around. She doesn't know which way to run, so she picks a direction and dashes back toward the bookstore. The key fades, so she diverts to a walking bridge festooned with fairy lights. The glow brightens and suddenly it's like she's playing a very high stakes game of “Hot and Cold.” She's not aware that she's muttering “Please, oh please” over and over as she runs.
Then she sees him, standing near a street lamp, hands in the pockets of his long brown coat, his hair in utter disarray. She imagined he must have been tugging at it.
“Doctor!” she squeaks, no more than a whisper, then she takes a breath and yells it, properly loud this time.
********
After dropping Donna off at home for a brief visit with Wilf, the Doctor had wanted to visit the outer rings of Saturn, and pick up some TARDIS parts at an asteroid bazaar nearby.
The TARDIS has other plans, and he finds himself stepping out onto a decorated London street. He can hear music being
piped from one of the buildings, “All I Want For Christmas is You”. He's banned that song from the TARDIS and he certainly doesn't want to hear it now.
Turning to go into his time ship, he's shocked when the door refuses to open. The sonic won't work on it, his key doesn't fit into the lock. He's not going anywhere.
The Doctor would administer a swift kick to the door but he remembers what happened the last time he did that, and it hurt. He paces away from the door, angrily pulling at his hair. He supposes there's nothing to do until the TARDIS is over this inexplicable snit.
He's hungry and there's a chippie nearby, but he hasn't had chips since Rose and he's not going to now. He shoves his hands in his pockets and resigns himself to finding someplace else to eat.
Then, he hears it.
He spins around in the direction of that impossible voice.
The Doctor sees Rose Tyler, beautiful in the glow of the Christmas lights, smiling at at him. He's afraid he's hallucinating it. He wants her to be there, so he's imagined it. But still, even though his mind can't quite believe it, his feet do and he starts walking, then running through the throng of Christmas shoppers. She's running too. He bumps into someone whose packages spill out of the shopping bag. He apologizes over his shoulder but keeps running. She's running, too.
The Doctor runs until he finds himself with an armful of Rose Tyler, and he picks her up, joyfully spinning her around. They're both laughing and crying as he sets her on her feet. She cups his cheek gently and he leans down, capturing her lips in a fervent kiss. She parts her lips and he accepts the invitation, exploring this new territory and claiming it for his own.
They taste each other breathless, until they hear the sound of applause behind them and realize they've attracted a bit of an audience. Even the lady with the spilled packages is clapping.
Rose waves at the crowd, and that causes the Doctor to burst out laughing. He grabs her hand and mutters “Run,” and they dash off to the alley where the TARDIS sits. “She locked me out,” the Doctor stammers. Now he thinks he might understand why.
“I got it!” Rose declares, pulling out her key. The lock operates perfectly, as the Doctor predicted it would.
Once inside the TARDIS Rose sighs, looking around at the coral walls. Tears are flowing again, as she whispers, “Home. I'm home.”
The Doctor pulls her into an embrace, kissing her deeply again. When he eases her out of the kiss, he rests his forehead against hers and blurts, “Rose Tyler, I love you.”
“And I love you,” Rose replies. “Forever, remember?”
The Doctor nods, overwhelmed by emotion. There's so much to ask. How she got here, why was it possible, what about her family…..
But there'll be time for that later, he decides, since right now all he wants, for Christmas, or any time at all, is Rose Tyler.
"I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you…."