Disclaimer: The BBC owns all and I'm just playing with their toys.

Rose existed for the first several months after the Doctor's last message to her. Oh, she worked at the Torchwood Institute with Pete and Mickey, she helped care for her new-born sister, she hung out with some of the girls at work and their circle. But she was going through the motions. Her body was there, but her heart and mind were far away.

She spent hours some nights just looking up at the stars. She'd play a game in which she tried to guess which of those tiny twinkly lights was Raxacoricofallapatorius or Barcelona. And her eyes always searched, no matter where she went, for a tell-tale blue box.

The idea occurred to her slowly, slipping into her consciousness through the grief. Did his planet exist in this dimension? Had the Time War occurred here as it had in her dimension, leaving the Daleks scattered and a single survivor of the Time Lords? She began to do research on the side, noting patterns and references and never saying a word to anyone of her idea. Her family thought she was healing; no need to disabuse them of that notion.

After three years, Rose had evidence that Time Lords existed; a collection of photographs, drawings, and historical accounts that showed the same man in two different points in time. She had such links for four different men and two women. The Doctor had never said whether regeneration sometimes meant a new gender, but she suspected that her information was for at least two different Time Lords. But the pattern was the same as the one Clive had shown her so long ago: the Time Lord's presence spelled disaster and not everyone survived when he appeared (except for that occasional rapturous day when everyone lived).

She had reached something of a dead end, unable to find any new information for months, when it happened.

Rose was spending the afternoon with her sister. Gwynnie was a bright and voluble child, deeply interested in science and all the things her father, sister, Uncle Mickey and Aunt Adeola did at Torchwood. Today they had gone to a nearby park; Gwynnie had mixed up several different concoctions from kitchen ingredients, meant to be fertilizers, and tried them out on a flowerbed near the play area. Rose let her run ahead to check the progress of the plants and stopped for a moment. The April air was chilly and for a moment she was back on the beach in Norway, feeling the breeze whip her hair as her soul had split in two…

She closed her eyes and fought back tears. When she opened them again, her gaze was drawn to something unfamiliar…what was that Wendy house doing there in between the swings?

With the briefest glance to see that Gwynnie was still examining the flowerbed, Rose started across the play area. Her heart began beating faster as she saw that the door wasn't completely shut. She reached out to pull the door open and duck inside…

She entered a large room, full of sweeping arches that surrounded the central controls. That thrumming of the engines, almost like a heartbeat, sang in the background. The arches were shaped differently. There was much more silver and blue around. But it was unmistakably a TARDIS.

She stepped up to the controls, touching the panel gently and being very careful not to disturb any knob or switch. The silver and blue made her feel cold and she shivered.

"Oi! Where'd you come from?"

Rose jumped and whirled to face a man. A middle-aged man with a heavy jowl, long nose, and surprised eyes. His short hair was receding from his forehead slightly…and was red. Very red.

She swallowed hard, fighting to control herself between the dizzying flush of success and the crushing disappointment that she didn't recognize him. Had she really hoped to see one of those beloved faces?

"You're finally ginger," she whispered.

"I beg your pardon, young lady?"

She pointed vaguely at his hair. "You're ginger."

He strode forward until he was almost nose-to-nose with her, looking down at her. "Yes. I am ginger. I have been ginger for some time. Now that we have established the fact that I am indeed ginger, will you please explain how you got in here?" While clearly irritated, he was doing his best to be polite to his sudden intruder.

"I walked in. The door was open. You hadn't locked it. I saw the Wendy house outside, where it shouldn't have been—you should have put it farther back, away from the swings—and I came in to see if it was a TARDIS."

His mouth dropped open for a split second, then closed. His eyes took on a faraway look, cutting to one side slightly as he began processing what she'd said and how she could have said it. The expression was so familiar that Rose bit her lip to hold back tears.

"How do you know what a TARDIS is? For that matter, why do you address me as if you know me, when I am certain we have never met before?"

"Oh, sorry." She straightened up and held out a hand. "I'm Rose. Rose Tyler. I travelled with the Doctor in another dimension." Her hand hung in the air as he stared, this time focusing on her intently. She put her hand down. "Are you…are you the Doctor?"

He puffed his cheeks, then blew the air out with force. "Yes, Rose Tyler. I am the Doctor."

She invited him to tea. It was all she could think of on the spur of the moment, and she knew that the house would be empty at this time of day. He accepted, jamming an unbecoming Aussie hat on his head and throwing a black overcoat over his rumpled clothes. He locked the TARDIS with a flourish but stubbornly chose not to move it from the swings.

Rose introduced Gwynnie briefly and said the Doctor was a friend from Torchwood. Once they arrived at the house, she gave Gwynnie a tea tray of her own and gave her permission to eat up in her room. She settled the Doctor in the parlour and poured out, and it was only after he gave her a quizzical look over his cup that she realized she'd automatically put in the amount of sugar that her Doctor had taken. This one, the Ginger Doctor, seemed to think that it was fine that way.

She excused herself and fetched a small box that was buried deep in a desk drawer in her room. She sat back down across from him and offered it to him. "Have a look inside."

He did, and drew the object out in some astonishment. He lifted the chain up and looked at the TARDIS key hanging from it as if it were a holy relic. It wasn't the amused curiosity that her Doctor had shown at first, nor the manic glee that he often displayed after his change, and for a moment Rose felt a little better. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver to take a closer look and the fact that the light from the end shone red made her feel even better.

And then he breathed one word: "Fantastic!"

And Rose dissolved into sobs.

She managed to pull herself together after a short storm of weeping, partly because her reaction so flustered the Ginger Doctor. He patted her hand, very awkwardly, and tutted repeatedly. Finally he had a brainwave and began asking questions to help her focus. He was able to piece together her story from her answers, including the fact that his people and home had been destroyed in the alternate reality. Whatever these things, these Daleks, were, he was grateful that his Gallifrey had never had to face such a deadly threat.

He was intrigued by this young woman who had apparently fallen in love with a Time Lord. He had taken companions from time to time, though none in his current incarnation. If he'd found a companion like her, so selfless in her sacrifices and so determined to stay and pull her weight…well, he could understand why his counterpart had returned that love.

And certainly the events of a few years ago were now explained. It had caused quite a stir on Gallifrey when all dimensional travel had been closed off suddenly, without explanation. The last time he'd checked, they were making progress on re-establishing the gateways…perhaps it was time to pay a home visit.

The Ginger Doctor dropped in on Rose over the next year and a half. He met Pete, Jackie and Mickey, and when they were assured that Rose had no intentions of running off with this Doctor, they were quite welcoming. He found Rose to be a valuable resource, between her own experiences and her contacts with Torchwood, and each time he left her, he was more determined than ever to find a way to his goal. She, in turn, began to look forward to his visits as well, enjoying the very courtly, polite way he treated everyone around him even when he was busy saving the world. This Doctor was in no way rude.

On Rose's twenty-fifth birthday, he arrived in a tool shed that appeared next to a larger storage barn behind the mansion. Mickey, in the middle of a fierce battle of tag with Gwynnie and Jake, was the first to notice him emerge, carrying a gaily-wrapped parcel. He called to his wife, who was rocking their own new-born son, "Oi, love! Can you let Jackie know we got another guest?" Adeola picked up a hand-held intercom and spoke into it.

In a very few moments, Rose herself appeared to give the Doctor a hug. "It's so nice to see you, Doctor." She spied the parcel in his hand and smiled in slightly embarrassed pleasure. "Oh, you shouldn't have done."

"Wait until you see what it is before you decide." He followed her inside to pay his respects to Jackie and Pete.

When the cake had been consumed and Gwynnie put to bed, Jackie came in with a tea tray and poured out for them. Rose had unwrapped things like a new jumper, a book, a gadget to go with her music player. The Doctor waited until Adeola had gone upstairs with baby Rickey before taking out his gift from behind the divan.

Rose looked at him a moment, then carefully removed the paper and lifted out a silver-coloured object with a number of coppery buttons. She'd never seen it before, but she knew instantly that it was made to mount on the control panels of a TARDIS.

Clearing his voice and speaking in that slightly pompous manner he had, the Doctor spoke, "For your birthday, Rose Tyler, I give you options."

Pete's eyebrows lifted. Mickey sat up, suddenly alert. Jackie took a moment longer, then jumped to her feet, upsetting the tea tray. Everyone ignored it, staring at Rose or the Doctor.

"Options," she repeated. A desire that had been crammed deep into the darkest corners of her heart sprang to life, filling her with a singing hope that glowed white-hot.

Jackie's gaze fixated on her daughter. "No, Rose! He said it was impossible and he meant it!"

"It was, for him." The Doctor broke in quietly. "He doesn't have the resources I have. For him, creating this device would indeed be impossible. But I have the talent and abilities of all of Gallifrey to use when I feel like it. And I did so feel."

"Gallifrey?" Rose couldn't seem to let more than one word from her lips at a time, lest she start carolling for joy.

"My home planet. It was destroyed in your original reality in the war you described to me at our first meeting. No such war has happened here…yet. So our people still have inter-dimensional travel capability. And they created this.

"This device is a limited pandimensional transmat. It has enough charge for twenty trips, which means," he turned to Jackie, "that this would not be goodbye forever, only that future visits must be timed with care."

Pete shook his head. "But the damage to the universes—"

"Will be prevented in part because of its limited nature and in part because this has been shielded to a fare-thee-well. I was most insistent on that point when I proposed the project." He turned back to Rose. "I have one installed in my own TARDIS. I have used it successfully and I have located a likely point in time for you to rejoin your Doctor, if you wish to."

Rose looked around at her family. Jackie was staring at her in agony, not daring to speak. Pete was looking resigned. And Mickey…Mickey came forward and took her hand.

"Well, you'd better start packing. And let's make a list of times you need to come back and visit."

The trip in the Ginger Doctor's TARDIS was not terribly long, but felt so to Rose. She was silent, locked in her own warring emotions of joy and fear. Joy that she would see her Doctor again. Fear that he had moved on, wouldn't want her back. After all, he'd never actually said he loved her for all that it had appeared he was going to. He had been the one to send her away, twice, when there was no other way to make her safe. She gave a startled gasp when the TARDIS jolted to a stop.

"You'll have to watch those landings," the Ginger Doctor told her.

She nodded, and stood, straightening her magenta jumper. She'd packed nothing but casual clothes, leaving the suits of Torchwood behind. She took her suitcase and went to the door.

"Hold on a tic. I've landed us a few minutes early. Stay put while they say their goodbyes."

Goodbyes? Rose set the suitcase down and opened the door a crack.

There was her Doctor, leaning forward slightly and scrubbing his neck as he often did when nervous or uncomfortable. He was towering over another person, a striking dark woman in expensive clothes that seemed to fit her like a second skin. Rose glanced around…they were in an alley between two tall buildings that looked like blocks of flats. Knightsbridge, perhaps?

Movement recalled her attention to the two figures in front of her. The woman hugged the Doctor and then walked away without a backward glance. He watched her go until she turned a corner and was out of sight. Then he turned and slumped against the familiar blue box.

"Who was that?" she asked the Doctor behind her.

"Martha Jones, medical student. She stayed with him for a short while. They became good friends, I think. Though who am I to judge, as I haven't travelled in company for years…"

Rose turned to look again. Her Doctor had sunk to sit on the ground, back against the TARDIS, elbows on knees and head on clenched fists. She could feel his loneliness washing over her from yards away.

Seizing her courage in both hands, she threw open the door and ran to him.

The Doctor looked Martha up and down. "It's been nice travelling with you and I will miss you."

She smiled, white teeth flashing in her brown face. "Yes, you might, a bit. But we both know you're missing someone else more. And until you can come to terms with that, you'll be PTSD-ing on a regular basis."

He smiled ruefully. "Is that a diagnosis, Madam Doctor?"

"Yes, it is." She embraced him, warmly and with affection. "Take care of yourself. And if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, Martha." He watched as she walked down the alley and out of his life, then leaned against the TARDIS. He'd had no illusions about Martha—in fact, that was part of the reason he'd invited her in the first place. She'd made it clear from the start that she intended to resume her studies and become a surgeon. She'd been a thinker, a planner, a resourceful person to have at his side.

And she wasn't Rose. Beautiful, adventurous, improvising, brave Rose. The memories began to crowd in and the weight of them pressed him down until he was literally on the ground, trying to keep the sorrow inside. Then the sound of running footsteps penetrated. He looked up.

She was running toward him.

She was running toward him.

"Doctor!"

"Rose?" He pushed himself to his feet, remembering all of Martha's warnings about memory flashes and hallucinations.

"Doctor!" She was beaming as she ran, her long hair streaming behind her. (It hadn't been that long before, on the beach in Norway or in the depths of the Torchwood tower, had it?) He reached up and pinched his earlobe, viciously.

"Ow!" She was still coming, her smile blazing through like the three suns of Hoptaria Four. "ROSE!"

And then her arms were around him, squeezing fiercely. "I made it back! Oh, Doctor, I missed you so much!" Her voice broke.

He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet in a bear hug and inhaling her scent, the gently-spiced sweetness of her skin and hair…and something else. A faint metallic tinge that he hadn't smelled since… he pulled away far enough to look in her face. "Rose, how…how could you possibly get here?"

She smiled even wider through the tears coursing down her face. "I caught a lift."

And now the Doctor noticed a strange man emerging from a lean-to that he was fairly certain had not been there before. And a sense in his head, long unused, tingled to life. He let Rose lead him down the alley to the ginger-haired man.

"Doctor, this is my Doctor. And Doctor, meet your counterpart from the other dimension."

Well, if the whole of creation were going to explode over this situation, now would be the time, the Doctor thought as he shook hands.

And it didn't.

That was good.

They found a teashop, completely empty thanks to the shiny green Starbucks a few doors down. Rose went to the counter to place the order, giving the two men a chance to trade information. She noticed as her Doctor's attention kept straying back to her, with an expression still tinged with disbelief that she was actually here. At one point the Ginger Doctor was patting her Doctor's arm in a fatherly way as the dark head bent for a moment, and she knew they were discussing the destruction of Gallifrey in this dimension.

She returned with the tray, pouring out for them and adding the right amount of sugar to both cups. Her Doctor took her hand and laced his long fingers between hers, locking them together tightly as if he'd never let go. The Ginger Doctor had moved on to explaining the device that had been created on his Gallifrey.

"It's a workable solution. Twenty chances for Rose to go visit her family – I believe they even made a list of a few occasions they'd like to have her. They have a way to contact me if there's an emergency and Rose is needed. There's no risk to eroding the barriers this time with the shields in place. And Rose is back where she belongs, by your side."

They glanced at one another, Rose and her Doctor. And the Ginger Doctor gave a mental sigh. Perhaps he ought to start picking up assistants again. It would be nice to have a Rose at his side, sometimes.

Her suitcase was stowed in her room. They had said their goodbyes to the Ginger Doctor. Rose watched as the Doctor examined the new control on his panel, installed very carefully by the Ginger Doctor. Then he looked up at her for a moment, still savouring the miracle that had brought her back.

She stepped forward. "I believe we had an interrupted conversation a few years ago, on a cold, deserted beach in Norway." He tensed slightly as she moved even closer and put her arms around his neck. He automatically returned the embrace, pulling her closer.

"We did."

"I love you, Doctor. Whatever has happened before, whatever happens in the future, every minute I get with you is worth it to me. Have you got that?"

"Got it." His voice came out an octave lower than normal as he swallowed hard. He took her face in his hands, holding her so gently that she felt tears springing to her eyes. "I love you, Rose Tyler."

The kiss began as a gentle one, but quickly swelled into a wave of passion that flowed between them. She could feel the thudding of his hearts, pounding in a double rhythm as he parted his lips to deepen the contact between them. He was hyper-aware of the heat radiating from her as she welcomed the rising intensity.

She broke the kiss, and the Doctor groaned, eyes fluttering in slight confusion. She smiled, like a cat contemplating an entire swimming pool of cream, and said, "Doctor, where is the absolute best place to make love for the first time with the one person in the universe you belong with?"

The grin spread across his face and his eyes lit up with that gleeful spark when presented with a challenge. "The lagoons of the southern continent of Draxifiliat, just before the spring season ends and it gets too hot to be outside."

"Would you take me there? I have this urgent need to seduce you."

He practically raced around the controls, setting the destination. And then seized her hand as the TARDIS began its deep, screeching take-off.

She was where she belonged. Body, mind and heart were together again, at his side.

Author's Note: Reviews are nice things. I especially appreciate help with Brit-picking.