Two Ponds, A River, And A Rose {[Doctor Who Fanfic]}

6: Ginger Buddies

The Doctor sits on the floor not saying a word, obviously hurt. I slowly and quietly climb the stairs toward him. When he comes into view, I see that he has his head in his hands. I approach him warily, not wanting to startle him.

"Doctor?" I say, laying a hand on his shoulder. he suddenly leaps up and throws my hand of him.

"Get back!" he shouts. Seeing the look on my face, he quickly adds, "No, look." and holds up his hand. Its glowing with a soft golden light. Regeneration energy. I back up quickly, bumping into the railing. He screams in agony as the light consumes him. Katelyn and Rose run into the room to see what's going on.

"Who set him on fire and why?!" Katelyn yells at me. Rose starts to explain, but stops when she sees the face of the tenth doctor staring at her.

"Rose..." he whispers, still obviously in pain. "Please." She walks slowly towards him, as if in some sort of trance. She extends her hand to him and he takes it, clasping it between both of his own. "I won't stay like this for long, so listen to me. Remember the beach? Bad Wolf Bay? What was the last thing I said to you?" She blinks, but he keeps his gaze locked on her.

"Um... You said... Rose Tyler." He nods.

"Do you want to know how that was going to end?" she nods vigorously, tears welling up in her eyes. "Rose Tyler, I-" then he suddenly doubles over, clutching his stomach and screaming in pain. He's regenerating again. Oh, no. Poor Rose! The golden light surrounds the Timelord again as Rose stumbles backwards, tears streaming down her face.

"You can't do this to me again, Doctor! Please! You can't just-" she is cut off by her own hysterical sobbing.

"Rose! I-" he struggles between gasps of air to get the words out, the words that have evaded them both for so long. "Love. . . You!" he finishes, and finally lets the regeneration take him. He falls to the floor, crying and yelling in pain. After a few minutes, the light begins to fade, and the fourteenth Doctor's face is back. I cover my mouth to muffle my own sobs. Katelyn stands in the doorway, a look of total confusion on her face. The Doctor looks at Rose, no feeling in his eyes. She must notice, too, because she looks utterly heartbroken.

"Take me home. To the parallel world." she whispers. "TAKE ME HOME!" she startles all of us with her sudden anger. The Doctor dashes to the console and starts pushing buttons frantically. He pulls the lever and the Tardis takes off, flying Rose on her final journey. Moments later, I'm watching Rose run from the Tardis like she can't get away fast enough. I don't even see where the little blue box is parked before the doors slam shut and we're off again. I think I see a tear roll down his cheek, but he wipes it away before I can be sure that's what it was.

"Okey-doke!" he says. "Where to next?" I'm about to come up with an answer when Katelyn yells from behind me,

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL JUST HAPPENED?!"

After we got Katelyn caught up and she was a little over the shock of losing her planet, we unanimously decided that we could all use a break. The Doctor, still wearing his fake happy face that he's had so much practice with over the years, says he's going to take us to a beach on Lucem, a sickeningly cheery planet, he said, but the water is always warm. The familiar whoosh of the engines brings me down from my room. I carry a bag packed with typical beach things and run out the door with Amy and Katelyn. Rory and the Doctor were taking way too long. We walk, past things that look like seagulls and human-like people, and then a guy with weird tentacle things that I'm not even going to talk about, until we reach an empty stretch of sand. Amy waves at the boys when they finally emerge from the Tardis and they run over to us. I take the Doctor's hand and drag him toward the water, and he barely has time to throw the bag he was carrying onto the sand before I push him under.

"AHH!" he yells, "Katelyn, Amy, help!" They run into the water, chanting,

"Ginger buddies unite!" they shove me over and grab the Doctor from my grip. I laugh as they pull him to shore and then collapse next to him, as if the effort of 'saving him' exhausted them. I walk back to where Rory's standing, smiling a little at his wife. He falls on the ground laughing when the three make a human pyramid and yell, over and over again, "Ginger buddies! Ginger buddies! Ginger buddies!" I dig a beach ball out of one of the bags and throw it at them. It flies into the Doctor's face, and it distracts him long enough for his elbow to bend and send the pyramid crashing down. Amy throws the ball back at me, but Rory deflects it and sends it sailing back. This is how our three hour long beach ball game started.

It was getting dark. Amy and Rory were taking a walk along the shoreline, and I watch their silhouettes against the purple sky. Katelyn is back in the Tardis, sleeping. The Doctor is just staring off into the sun, no doubt subtly and casually thinking up ways to destroy the daleks. I stand and make my way over to him. I bump his shoulder with mine.

"You alright?" I ask him. he nods, but doesn't look at me. "I mean about Rose and all that. you seemed pretty-"

"Shut up." I look at him, startled. "Please. It's already painful enough... just... don't." I nod and look back over the ocean.

"Do you. . . Do you ever miss River? Anymore I mean. . . In this form. . . Do you miss her?"

"Yes. But not as much. Same with Rose and Martha and Donna and Amy and Rory. I still love them, but it feels different. Like iI'm more distant. Like I've already put them behind me. You, on the other hand, I feel like. . . Like this is how it's supposed to be. You and me, in the Tardis, having adventures. I don't think you were supposed to meet for a long, long time. Not until I looked like this." I say nothing for a long time. I can't imagine not being with the Doctor now that I've had a taste of adventure. But he's right. It feels more natural to be around this Doctor than Eleven. He kisses the top of my head and turns back to the Tardis, walking quickly. I see his cheeks redden as he walks away.

A/N A huge thank you to Katelynthewriter for helping me with this chapter! (Yes, yes. The character Katelyn in the story is based off of) She is going to be the Moffat of this fanfic so watch out if you see her name in the dedication. (The Rose thing was all her idea) So ya but her stories are great too! You should go check them out! I'm helping her with the next chapter of her doctor who fanfic (which is amazing) so go take a look at her page :)