'Rose Tyler, I-'

And then she was gone, like a flower petal in a tornado.

It seemed that, when she had disappeared, she had taken part of him with her. She had torn part of his physical body away, and he was so numb that he couldn't feel it.

He couldn't feel it, yet it filled him. And two solitary tears fell down his face as he opened his mouth and closed it, letting those two sweet words fall back down his throat, let them fall back into nothing. He needed her. He physically and mentally needed her. She was always there for him, she always had the words, the hugs, the smiles he needed to see, to hear, to feel. Always. And where was she now?

Stranded, and all because of him. And her hugs, her words and her smiles were stranded with her.

She loved him. He always knew, even though he never said it. He saw the way she looked at him, the special smiles and laughs she saved for him, the adoration and protection she held for him. And he hadn't minded, of course. He loved her too, after all. He had received so many chances to tell Rose Tyler he loved her, but he passed them all up. He took the easy path. He took the name coward, which he usually proudly bore.

He had run out of time.

The irony was killing him. A Time Lord, who could see all that is, was, and will be, who had tamed the time vortex, who was part of time itself, had run out of time. The seconds had ticked by, and before he knew it, the chances were gone.

And so was she.

The Doctor couldn't take just standing there, feeling nothing, yet feeling everything. He wiped his face with his hands and then walked to the coral console, pressing buttons and pulling levers, not knowing what he was doing, not caring. He needed to escape from the pain, even if that meant possibly blowing himself up.

Crash.

He spun around, eyes crinkling in confusion, and saw a tiny, fragile body laying on the walkway that lead from the doors to the console. He ran over to the body and turned it over, seeing the face that was calm in unconsciousness.

"What?" He muttered under his breath, taking in her appearance. It was a woman about his age, or, actually, about how old he looked. She had very long hair streaked with light blue, as well as some gold highlights. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving except for the small rise and fall of her chest, the only proof that she wasn't a corpse. She was wearing a plain gold dress that fell to her knees, and her body was positioned in such a way that she could have been sleeping.

He leaned down and picked her up, carrying her bridal style up the walkway, towards the hallway that lead to bedrooms. He couldn't turn away a helpless, unconscious woman. Who could?

'TARDIS, could you make an extra room for her, please?'

No reply.

'TARDIS? Is something wrong, girl?'

Silence.

Thinking that maybe she was ignoring him because she was mourning Rose in her own way, he carried her to his own barely used room and laid her down in the bed. The Doctor walked to the door, hands in his pockets, turning back to look at the strange girl when he reached the door. Her hair was fanned out around the pillow, and she looked almost angelic. Shaking his head, the Doctor turned and left the room, closing the door tightly behind him.

A few hours later, the Doctor heard light footsteps on the metal walkway that lead from the hallway to the console. He turned around and saw the woman standing there, staring at him, her head slightly tilted to the side.

"Hello, Theta," She said, her voice like honey, almost hypnotic.

The Doctor ignored what she said, squinting at her, as if analyzing her. "Ah, you're awake," He said, sounding almost pleased. "Now, if you could please explain how you landed on my ship, that would be nice."

"I did not land on your ship, Theta," The woman said with a smile, her eyes crinkling. They were strange, her eyes – they glowed gold, staring him squarely in the eye. "I am your ship. I am the TARDIS, and I am the ship of the Last of the Time Lords."

Hey, it's LOP! *wave* Now, let's get this straight – I am not back for good. This is the only story I'll be updating, as I've been writing it on my iPod for a very long time. This is a re-write of the first chapter, as the original bothered me, it seemed too… immature. Don't ask me, I'm blonde.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, the next chapter will be up in a few hours/a day. It'll be about how the TARDIS got a physical form, etc. etc., then into Runaway Bride. It'll still follow the basic storyline, and I'll try to get the episodes right and stuff [thank goodness for recordings! T.T]

Well… Hopefully this isn't too cliché. Review, please?

~LOP