AN: Finally! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me as I struggled with this story. I cracked the code last night, and I love how this turned out.

Rose wasn't sure when she figured it out. When the Doctor reached for her telepathically to tell her he loved her? When Ida told them he was gone, and she knew—she knew—he wasn't? When she woke up in the rocket and could feel his relief that she was safe, mixed in equal parts with a desperate fear that he would never see her again?

She bit her lip as she waited for him to finish his message to Zach, Ida, and Danny. No, it was when I reached back to him to tell him I was never going to leave him, and I could tell he heard me.

That's when she'd realised this connection they had was not temporary. Somehow, he'd created a permanent link between them without asking or telling her.

So much made sense once she understood that. The Doctor had explained to her that on Gallifrey, telepathic contact—beyond the surface level his touch telepathy afforded him—was never done without consent. Going into another mind without their permission was not only forbidden, it was against the law.

Of course he was anxious and unwilling to talk about what was bothering him. He'd broken one of his culture's most unbending rules.

"Hang on though, Doctor," Ida said. "You never really said. You two, who are you?"

Rose's heart jumped into her throat; how would he answer that question?

The Doctor looked over at her, a hint of doubt in his eyes but a broad smile on his face. "Oh, the stuff of legend," he proclaimed, then turned the comms off.

"I think… I promised you we would talk now," he said, his voice quiet but steady.

Rose raised her eyebrows. After the way he'd dodged all her questions for the last 48 hours, she'd figured she'd have to pin him down, maybe even literally, to get him to tell her what had happened.

"Yeah, you did," she agreed. She looked down at her rumpled jacket. She didn't want to put him off if he was going to open up, but she felt disgusting. "I'd like a shower first, though. Meet me in the library in twenty minutes?" She toyed with the hem of her sleeve and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

The Doctor nodded. "And I'll find us some food. It's been hours since we ate."

Rose washed hurriedly and pulled on the first clean clothes she laid her hands on. Despite the Doctor's promises, she still had a hard time believing he wouldn't run from this conversation again, and she didn't want to give him any opportunity to get away.

But he was waiting for her on the couch in the library, hair damp from a shower and wearing only his trousers and oxford. The fact that he'd shed any of his armour at all gave her hope as she sat down next to him.

There was a plate of sandwiches on the coffee table, and she bit into one while debating where to start the conversation. She could confront him with what she'd figured out, or she could wait for him to explain himself.

As tempting as it was to shock him with her insight, she really wanted him to tell her. "All right, Doctor," she said, after wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Tell me why you've been so… uptight since we got back from Teruro."

The Doctor took a deep breath and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Well, you know my people were telepathic," he started, and she nodded. "Telepathy was, in many ways, our primary sense. There was a constant awareness of every single Gallifreyan at all times. That let the Time Lords recognise each other, even if one had regenerated since the last time they'd met."

"I never thought about that," Rose said. "Imagine me going home and running into Shareen or Keisha, but not recognising them because they'd changed so much."

"Exactly. It was a necessary ability." He loosened his tie and rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers. "There were also closer bonds between family members and loved ones," he continued. "We weren't a particularly… family oriented society, but parents and children and siblings still had a unique connection."

His gaze skittered away from her. "Sometimes, when closer communication was required with non-family members, we would form a light telepathic connection that was dissolved once the need was gone. That was the type of link I meant to form with you."

The Doctor paused, looking for the words to explain what had happened. In the end, he didn't need to.

"But that's not what happened, is it?" Rose asked.

He blinked twice; how could she… When he stared at her, she met his gaze without any condemnation. Does she really understand what happened?

The Doctor clenched his hands into fists. "No, it isn't, but I promise Rose, it's all I meant to do. Just a temporary link so I could share my telepathic barriers with you."

I wanted to keep you safe. The last was said to himself, but when Rose smiled at him, he wondered if she had somehow heard him.

She reached out and took his hands. "Doctor, it's okay. I know that's what you meant to do. Just… tell me what happened."

He clutched her hands tightly and let the love and trust he felt flowing through her give him strength. "There was another kind of link… a bond that could be shared by romantic partners. Both partners would know each other completely, inside and out. And, unlike a simple short-term telepathic connection for communication, a bond like that was unbreakable."

To his surprise, Rose… wasn't. "I know," she told him. "Even at first, I knew this was different from any other time we've connected telepathically. It's like you're… you're there with me, in my head."

The Doctor flinched at the bald statement of fact. "Yes."

Rose pulled her hands back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you… Can you feel me like that too?" she asked.

"I… yes," the Doctor said, watching helplessly as she withdrew even further. "That's… that's how a bond works," he said, the words coming faster as he tried to explain before she cut herself off from him. "In a bond, there's a part of me in you, and a part of you in me." He ran his hand through his hair. "A bond with a human shouldn't be possible, but I think—"

"Bad Wolf," Rose cut in. "She made me telepathic so we could communicate."

He nodded. "And if I'd known you were telepathic, I'd never have gone into your mind without barriers in place. This… this shouldn't have been possible."

Rose scowled. "Well, I'm sorry if you don't want to be bonded to a human, but you're stuck with me."

"That's… what… where did you get that idea?" he sputtered.

She rolled her eyes. "Doctor, you just told me you wouldn't have touched me telepathically if you'd known this was a possibility."

"What kind of man marries the woman he's in love with without even asking her?" the Doctor exclaimed.

Rose stopped breathing. The Doctor's eyes widened when he realised what he'd said.

"Married?" she whispered, struggling to keep up with the sudden change in the conversation. Or not a change, she realised. I just didn't know what we were talking about before.

The Doctor slumped down into the sofa. "Yes. That's what I've been trying to tell you, Rose," he said. "This bond, this was essentially marriage for my people. That's why I'm so upset. Forcing a link like this... This is the highest form of intimacy possible for telepaths, and I've locked you into it, without even asking."

Rose thought for a moment. "Except you said you didn't realise it had happened, right?" she asked. "So it's not like you consciously created the bond between us."

"Well, no, but if I'd been more aware, I would have realised you were telepathic and I would have known I shouldn't just go into your mind like that without my barriers in place." He bit his lip, and his soft, brown eyes were filled with remorse. "If you ever left me, the broken bond would give you chronic migraines."

She noticed he didn't say anything about what it would feel like for him—he probably felt like he would deserve the pain, since the bond had been created without her knowledge or consent. But here, finally, was a concern she knew how to answer.

"Doctor, I'm never gonna leave you."

Even without touching him, she could feel his doubt. Rose shook her head and took his hand, letting him feel the the depth of her commitment through that light, empathic connection. Someday soon, she would ask him to teach her out to use their bond to communicate, but for now, this would do.

"You keep thinking I'm going to realise what I'm missing on Earth, or that I'm going to find some life that's better than this, but you don't see that this is the life I want." She laughed and tightened her fingers around his. "You sent me home once, and I came right back—don't you remember?"

Wry amusement filtered through her mind. "I don't think I'll ever forget that."

"If I came back to you at the worst of moments, what makes you think I would ever willingly leave you?" She let go of his hand to brush her knuckles along his jaw. "Doctor, I love you, and I am never going to leave you."

She could feel the moment he finally believed her, and the joy breaking through his doubt took her breath away. He leaned in and brushed the softest kiss against her lips, and the tenderness made Rose's heart ache with love for him.

She sank her hand into his hair and pulled him in for a deeper kiss, sucking his bottom lip between hers. The Doctor immediately hummed his approval and nipped lightly at her upper lip in return.

The Doctor wrapped an arm around Rose's waist and tugged her closer. The movement shifted the angle of the kiss, and he took advantage of the opportunity to deepen it, licking at her lips and then stroking his tongue against hers when she opened for him. Holding Rose, kissing her, was one of his favourite things to do, and now that they were bonded, he could feel exactly how much she loved it, too.

It was tempting to sweep her up in his arms and carry her back to their room to show her how much he loved her, but something in the back of his mind kept saying, Wait.

Wait for what? he argued with himself. This will be our first night together as a bonded couple. Rose deserves a proper wedding night.

Ah. That's what he wanted to wait for.

He slowed the kiss reluctantly, pressing his forehead to Rose's and nearly losing the battle with his restraint when she tried to tilt her head back and recapture his lips.

"Wait," he breathed, and thankfully, she listened.

A moment later, he pulled back a few inches. There was a furrow in Rose's brow, and he traced it lovingly, then brushed a strand of hair back over her ear.

"I have a proposal," he said, over-emphasising the second syllable. Rose bit her lip, and he smiled when he felt her cautious excitement. "We bonded without any conscious thought, without consideration."

She opened her mouth, and he pressed his finger to her lips.

"I know you don't regret it, and if you don't, then neither do I. Being bonded to you, Rose… having you for a wife… I can't think of anything I want more in the universe."

She blinked back tears and smiled up at him. "Then what's your suggestion, Doctor?"

"Well…" He tugged on his ear. "I do feel cheated, a bit. If I'd known this was possible, I would have asked you properly, and prepared some kind of vows. Will you… will you let me do that now?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice hoarse. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, pulling her along with him. "I know just the place to go."

oOoOoOoOo

Rose gasped when she stepped out of the TARDIS fifteen minutes later. She turned slowly in a circle, taking in the incredible rock formations towering around them.

When she faced the Doctor again, he had his hands in his pockets and a hopeful smile on his face. "Do you like it?"

"I love it."

He grinned and held his hand out for her. "Then wait until you see what I really want to show you."

She took his hand and laughed when he pulled her forward until they were standing on the edge of a cliff. "Where are we?"

The Doctor stood close enough for her to feel his coat brush against her leg. "Cyllaro," he told her, the L in the middle making the word sound Welsh. "It means, "the cliff on the edge of forever."

Rose carefully looked ahead of her, not down. "Well, I can see why," she told him. "The view is incredible." She drank it in for another moment, then looked at the Doctor. "So, is there something special we say?"

A giddy smile tipped up the corners of his mouth. "There's no ceremony, if that's what you mean, but there's definitely something special."

She laughed and swung their hands between them. "All right then, Doctor. This was your plan. You take the lead."

"Rose Tyler." He paused, and the love in his eyes made her heart race. "How long are you going to stay with me?"

She thought about where they were, and she knew exactly what to say.

"Forever."

The Doctor grinned broadly. "Brilliant," he proclaimed, then tugged her close.

Rose dodged his kiss, and nearly laughed at the confused little furrow between his brows. "Vows are supposed to be mutual," she reminded him. A few giggles escaped when the tips of his ears turned red, and she moved her hands over his chest to link behind his neck. "Well, Doctor?" she purred. "How long are you going to stay with me?"

She held her breath. She hadn't forgotten the curse of the Time Lords, but hopefully, her Doctor could forget the cold facts just for a moment and give her the symbolic answer. When she didn't feel an ounce of fear from him, she relaxed and smiled up at him.

The Doctor placed his hands on his hips and pulled her closer. He bumped her nose with his, and Rose could feel his breath against her lips. "Oh, forever of course," he whispered.

Rose sighed happily when he cupped her jaw and pressed his lips to hers. Wind swept up the cliff face, ruffling her hair and making the Doctor's coat billow out around them. Like any mortal creatures, they didn't know how long they would have, but standing here with forever spread out at their feet, it was easy to believe the impossible.

The Doctor and Rose Tyler, forever.