As Rose reentered the TARDIS, the Doctor could tell that she was trying not to cry. Of course, she would be upset about leaving Jack again. Without even thinking about it, he crossed over to her and put his arms around her for support. She leaned gratefully against him for a moment and then, to his surprise, leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek.

"That's from Jack," she said and then giggled a little at the expression on his face. They looked at each other with small smiles, but neither of them could think of something to say. After a moment, Rose sighed and reluctantly moved out of the Doctor's embrace. "I need to go change," she explained. "Is the TARDIS ready to go?"

The Doctor just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He just didn't know what to say to comfort her, when all he wanted to do was keep her on this ship with this him. Knowing that wasn't possible meant that no words would come to him. Therefore, he just watched her walk away from him to go and prepare herself for her inevitable departure.

After a quick cry on her bed and another shower to try and erase some of the evidence of her weak moment, Rose donned her so called "jumping" outfit. There was no real reason to wear the same outfit each time, but she liked the consistency of it. She rationalized that it was like it was her armor against the universe. Right now, she felt like she needed as much emotional armor as she could get because she really dreaded going back into the console room to say goodbye. However, she knew that it had to be done, regardless. She took a moment to steel herself and to shore up her ragged emotions a bit. Rationally, she knew her maudlin mood really didn't make sense. She would definitely see Jack again and now she had the means to contact him whenever she wanted. Also, she realized that she would literally see the next Doctor again in just a few minutes. However, it just wouldn't be the same as being in the here and now with this Jack and this Doctor. She just felt like she had to grieve a little for this ending – before she could face the new beginning. She took a deep breath and headed back towards the console room.

He pretended to be busy at the console when he heard her reenter the room. He didn't know if he could look at her, yet. How many of these goodbyes could he take? he wondered to himself. Each one seemed to get harder than the last. He knew that this was because his feelings for her grew stronger each time she jumped into his life again. Last time, they had become emotionally closer. This time, their closeness had become more physical. He thought back to spending last night with her wrapped in his arms on the library couch and he couldn't help but to smile a little. He knew, rationally, that he would see her again in his next form and that he wouldn't even remember her until then. However, he still couldn't help almost being overwhelmed by the sense of loss that just the thought of her leaving was causing. He finally looked up to see her standing in the doorway, looking sadly at him, too. Without thinking about it, he opened up his arms and she rushed into them again. They stood in each other's embrace for just a few minutes, their blond heads touching. She finally pulled back and reached up to stroke his cheek.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye until next time," she said softly. She removed her hand, stepped back a few feet, and started typing her jump code into the wrist comp.

"No! Rose, wait!" the Doctor cried out a little bit desperately. He just couldn't let her leave like this, not yet. Not without…He strode purposefully towards her until he was looking directly into her warm eyes, glistening with unshed tears. Both of his hands reached up to cup her cheeks and then his lips crashed down on hers with an intensity that surprised them both. She gasped and stiffened momentarily in shock. The Doctor was actually kissing her! However, as his lips glided over hers, and hers parted to accept his, Rose found herself relaxing completely, wrapping her arms around his waist, pulling him closer, and responding ferociously to his kiss. It was then his turn to be taken by surprise, but he recovered quickly and deepened the kiss once again! The kiss of all kisses continued until the Doctor realized that his respiratory bypass had kicked in and that meant that Rose would need to stop and breathe. As they finally broke apart and looked shyly into each other's eyes, they both became aware of the heavy thrumming of all three of their heartbeats. They also both felt that the TARDIS's humming had increased in intensity, almost as if she was cheering them on, and that she exuded an overall feeling of Finally! into the atmosphere of the ship itself!

"Wow!" Rose murmured, leaning her forehead against his.

"Indeed!" he replied in a murmur of his own.

Their eyes met again and both of them smiled. Rose pulled his head back down towards her for another kiss. Whereas their first one had been intense, this one was soft and sensual. The Doctor felt himself drowning in it and he had no desire to be rescued. It was only when the rest of his body started to respond, that he knew that he had to stop. He touched his lips to hers once more, simply and quickly, and then gently pulled away.

"Now go," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion, "while it is still possible for me to let you leave."

She looked back at him and met his gaze. {Goodbye, Doctor.} she thought, looking in his eyes. She did not trust her voice enough to speak aloud, especially since her mind was still reeling with what had just happened. Then she smiled and her eyes brightened as a thought suddenly came to her. {Our next meeting should be …interesting, don't you think?}

He smiled back, suddenly full of anticipation. {I can't wait to find out!} he answered. He watched as she continued to smile while she finished typing the jump sequence into the wrist comp. She looked up and met his gaze again for just a moment. Then, in a flash, she was gone!