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"think about it doctor. one last day with your beloved. which one are you choosing?"
those words stayed in his head. he couldn't shake them, no matter how hard he tried. he walked through the abandoned halls of a warehouse somewhere in london quietly, thinking to himself. after saving a species from dying out on earth, and saving earth from a species that would've accidentally destroyed all life, he couldn't quiet his thoughts of the past. to ask what he was thinking about would be stupid, because the doctor always had one thing on his mind, one person- rose tyler. being in her part of london, in her time, only a few years after he left her on the beach was difficult.
she would've been thrilled to see that once again, everyone lived. her face would've lit up and she would've been pulled in for a hug, happily reciprocating, burying her face in his neck. her hugs were always the best.
'oh rose, i'm so sorry.' he knew when it had happened he made a mistake. not long after he left her in the parallel universe for the second time, the metacrisis doctor couldn't sustain a time lord mind with only one heart and he passed away- the doctor had felt it. after all, they were the same person.
the doctor knew it was a possibility, but if there was a chance for rose tyler to be happy he would've done anything to ensure that happiness. now more than ever he wished he hadn't left her there.
he walked along the old abandoned hallway when he noticed a blonde woman approaching from far away. the doctor tried not to pay attention to her, and tried to ignore that her hair was as shiny and gorgeous as rose's had been. he had no intentions of speaking to the woman as he slipped back into some of his favorite memories with rose.
"now don't tell me you're gonna sit back and do nothing." rose crossed her arms as the doctor popped up from underneath the floorboards. the machine he held looked like something from a sci-fi movie.
"who you gonna call?" he sang.
"ghost busters!" rose cried. the doctor bobbed his head.
"i ain't afraid of no ghosts." and he ran outside the tardis with rose tyler following closely at his heels. they laughed, not realizing how dim things would soon become.
a tear dropped down his face. they had been having so much fun that day hunting for ghosts and what they could really be, and it all went so wrong. they didn't know that was the last time they'd travel together, and one of the last adventures they'd ever have.
"am i ever gonna see you again?" her tears shattered his hearts.
"you can't." the words he never wanted to speak. he would never see her again, and that was the worst thing imaginable to him.
little did he know what was to come.
the moment in all his regenerations where he was the happiest was when he saw her again, after what for him had been years, tardis travel and all, but what seemed to only be a few months for her.
"why don't you ask her yourself." his mind couldn't quite register what it was that donna meant when she spoke those words. but as donna glanced over his shoulder, he allowed himself to think the impossible.
and as he turned around, he realized it was true. rose, his rose, had returned.
"rose." he said aloud. he shook his head, trying to shake the blonde girl out of his vision.
the more the woman approached him the more she resembled his beloved rose.
'it's not her it can't be. just stop it.' the doctor smacked his head to try and stop his thoughts. she was getting closer, close enough that he could see her face and the doctor gasped in shock.
walking towards him was, in fact, the one and only rose tyler.
"rose." he cried. the doctor froze in his spot as the blonde looked over in alarm.
"sorry. can i help you?" she asked politely as she approached him. she stood in full view of him now, her arms dangling at her side and her smile not quite reaching her eyes.
the doctor just stared at her until she began to look uncomfortable.
"i-i don't think, you wouldn't-" he took a deep breath before trying again. "you don't know me. at least, not this face. but it's me, rose. it's me."
rose's eyes held so much hope and so much fear, as if she wouldn't allow herself to believe that she was there in front of him. as if she couldn't believe what he was trying to tell her.
"doctor?" she asked tentatively, her hand going up to his cheek but not quite touching it yet. "is-is that you?"
"it's me, rose. oh rose." her hand laid on his cheek and he pulled his hand up to hers, cupping it gently. "how are you here? the walls of the worlds, they're closed, forever."
"i-i dunno really." she furrowed her brows but left her hand in his. "we found this wormhole. a few years back. no one really knew where it led to so we sent some things through and were able to figure out which universe it was. mum, dad, tony and i decided to come through so i could-"
"what?" his face held worry.
"so i could find you." they smiled, but rose's smile fell and she pulled her hand back, causing him to worry once again. "the other doctor. the other you, he-"
"passed away." the doctor looked down. "i felt it. i'm so so sorry rose."
"how many?" rose sniffled.
the doctor didn't say anything, but he hung his head. he knew what she was asking, but he didn't know how to respond.
"how many years has it been?" she took a short breath. "how many others have there been?"
"it's been about 300 years." his voice held sadness and pain, and rose felt her heart breaking. "i've been travelling with the ponds."
rose didn't want to ask this question, but it was eating her up inside.
"how many times have you forgotten my name?" his eyes snapped up but they were still soft and sad.
"i've never forgotten you, rose tyler."
"right. but you tried." her voice betrayed her, she had started to cry. rose wiped a single tear away and looked down.
"of course i've tried. remembering hurts." she didn't say anything. she couldn't say anything.
rose knew that he was still the same man he was when she first met her, but this was a man that was almost 500 years old. he had seen more, lived more, travelled more, been alive longer in the time that they had been apart than rose ever would in her entire life. while it had only been a few years for her, it had been hundreds for him.
"come with me." his head was facing down again, but he looked up at her through his eyelashes. "travel with me. we can go everywhere. anywhere you want. just, come with me again."
it didn't take rose long. her answer would always be the same.
"forever." she grabbed his hand and he smiled. suddenly, she lightly grabbed his bow tie and pulled him in for a kiss.
rose tyler and the doctor. together, in the tardis, like it should be.
