A/N

A/N

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, you'd all know my name. And I would've met David Tennant and Billie Piper.

Hey guys! I'm back! And geez, I'm sorry it's taken so long…so, so long to get this chapter out. Had writer's block for ages, and school's been hovering over my head like a storm cloud. I don't mind rain though, so it's all good. But, hey, it's the last chapter, right? I've got heaps of people to thank, so I'll do that at the end. This chapter is dedicated to all those that read (or are reading) this story. This is for you guys!

My last gesture to keep reading…so nostalgic… But first, here's a little reminder about what happened last chapter. Or you could just go back and read it; it's up to you, really. Lots of stuff in this chapter, so keep your eyes peeled.

And enjoy!

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"Right. I've got to go," Martha told both of them. "You two going to be alright?"

Rose shot a look at the Doctor that he returned. "We'll be fine," Rose confirmed, moving towards Martha to give her a friendly hug. "Thanks, Martha. Keep in touch?"

Martha grinned as Rose stepped back. "For sure." She turned to go.

"Wait," the Doctor called. "What about me?" He walked forward so he was right next to her.

"See you, Doctor," Martha smiled.

"Bye, Martha!" he grabbed her in a hug, and she put her arms around him and hugged back. This time, however, was unlike previous times they had hugged. This time, Martha wasn't trying to cling herself to him. She was keeping her distance. Hugging as a friend, and nothing more.

The Doctor grinned softly at her as she pulled back. "You're a good person, Martha Jones."

Martha stared back at him. Something crossed her eyes at that moment, something with understanding and happiness and sadness and forgiveness all rolled into one nice, neat package. She continued to stare at him, and he could see the same fiery passion as the first day they had met. Her eyes were burning with it. "I know you love her," she stated, not breaking eye contact. Refusing to break eye contact.

He replied in much the same way, eyes never wavering. "Not really a surprise."

She smiled softly.

And then he blinked, and the fire was gone.

Replaced with a happiness that the Doctor couldn't quite define, or understand.

"You'd still better answer my calls!" Martha said warmly.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, I will!"

And Martha was gone out through the med-lab doors, turning to wave a goodbye to Rose on her way out.

She didn't say anything else.

But the Doctor could still sense that soft, happy smile.

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The Doctor turned around as soon as the TARDIS had told him in her usual humming tone that Martha had left through the TARDIS doors. Rose was half-standing half-leaning against the TARDIS' med-lab stretcher, a smile of gratitude slowly fading from her face. "So…" the Doctor started, trying to ignite a conversation as both of them recalled the exchange, if it could be called that, about clothes and undressing and dressing.

"What should I say?" the Doctor thought to himself quickly, which was unusual for him, seeing as he was the kind of person to speak before he thought. "Need something spiffy. Nothing to do with clothes or lack of clothes or beds or sleeping or sleeping with Rose or anything like that. Something spiffy. Cool spiffy, not sparkly spiffy. Spiffy. Spiffy, spiffy, spiffy. Really ought to use that more often. Oh, I know!" the Doctor cleared his throat. "Ro-"

"You do know that you said all that out loud, right?" Rose's eyes glittered in amusement.

"No I didn't," the Doctor pouted.

Rose nodded with a grin. "You did."

"No, I didn't," he denied.

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

Rose just grinned at him, making him incredibly nervous. "Spiffy, huh?"

"It's a cool word, yeah," the Doctor agreed. His eyes widened slightly as he realised what that implied. "Ah."

Rose nodded with the same cheeky grin, tongue poking out between her teeth. "Yeah."

"Right."

"Yeah."

"Well," the Doctor started, ignoring the awkward atmosphere. "What to do now, eh?"

Rose shrugged, continuing to grin.

The Doctor ignored the smile. "We could go to New Earth again…or New Earth's moon! Did you know they called New Earth's moon just New Moon? I mean, honestly, sometimes you humans have the most boring names for things. Well… they named the other planet in the New Earth system Cicero, which is a great name for the planet, 'cos guess what they called the moon?" the Doctor didn't wait for Rose to reply. "They called the moon Atticus! Cicero and Atticus… get it?" he grinned widely. "Yeah? Cicero and Atticus? Yeah?" he paused. "No?"

"No," Rose agreed.

"Oh." The Doctor felt a bit put off, but as always, that lasted about a second. "Well, we can always search for the planet Terelis. It's one of the seven hundred Wonders of the Universe, you know. But it's always called Terelis the Lost, because no-one's been able to find it for over one million years. Apparently the inhabitants were big writers. They liked writing." The Doctor frowned slightly, deep in thought. "Their stories were so good it almost seemed as if they were writing future events. No one ever figured out how the stories were so good."

When there was no reply, he looked up. Rose had a look of deep thought on her face, and, if the Doctor concentrated, he could sense the faintest aura of confusion and awe surrounding her. Being one of the most ingenious individuals in the universe, he easily pieced together the clues. "You've seen one, haven't you? You've seen one! Where? When?"

"In the other universe… found by Torchwood in the sixteenth century," Rose replied. "They couldn't understand it. They had to get some special linguist to come in and translate it, 'cos none of the languages matched. The guy took about… uh… a bit over a year to translate it. Nobody knows how he did it. But he ran off with it for some reason. Torchwood thought he was just some mad hatter, so they let him go. Don't think they cared much for some strange book."

"Why not?!" the Doctor was quite irritated. "Books are the best. Better than guns. But that's Torchwood, right, look I've found a book! Let's get rid of it, we don't want to get smarter! Oh, look! I've found a gun! Yes, let's use it! We can be complete idiots and destroy everything that doesn't look like a human!" he glanced at Rose. "No offence."

Rose sighed, but grinned, and the Doctor knew he'd gotten away with it.

"Anyway, continue," the Doctor encouraged.

"Well, the book was found again buried in the Sonoran Desert."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Rose was quick to clarify. "I've got no idea how it ended up there," she told him. "Torchwood chucked it in their archive."

"They didn't even bother reading it?!" the Doctor exclaimed in fury. His mind whirled. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why humans would be so wasteful. And he doubted he ever would.

Rose shook her head ruefully. "I found it though, one day. I was searching through, and I found it, and so I asked if I could have it when I found that nobody wanted it."

The Doctor frowned. "And they let you?"

"Well, sort of…" Rose glanced down in embarrassment. "Mickey stole it and gave it to me as a present. Said I should get my mind off y-… someone."

Taking no heed of the last sentences, the Doctor replied, "Do you have it with you?"

His eagerness must've been unmistakeable, for Rose grinned and nodded. He had to stop himself from cheering. He hadn't been this excited since… well, since he'd seen Rose once again. That reunion was the surprise of his life. At the time, though, the Doctor hadn't seen it as incredible… he'd just seen it as impossible. But now…

Now he could see it for what it was. Incredible. Impossible, but then again, nothing was impossible. A miracle, if he believed in them. It was amazing, and the Doctor again felt the bubbling joy rise in him, the same joy that he'd had when Rose had entered the TARDIS for the first time in a year. Bubbling joy gave way to something bigger… better. A thousand emotions swirled around in his head and his hearts. And his hearts ached with it, ached with the one emotion he'd thought he couldn't feel again; at least, not to this extent.

He looked up at Rose, and she seemed to be mirroring his feelings. Eyes were the window to the soul, they said, and right now both pairs of brown eyes showed that marvellous joy. Joy of being alive, and joy of being together.

The loneliness, though it would never be gone, had faded to nothing but a shadow at the recesses of their minds.

"You know what, Doctor?" Rose whispered.

"What?" he whispered back, not breaking eye contact.

"You taught me something, Doctor. Nothing is impossible."

Her brown eyes echoed the truth of this statement, but the Doctor was the Doctor, and so amusement had to be added. "Never tried to slam a revolving door, then?" his eyes gleamed.

She smirked. "I'm sure it's possible on one planet or another."

He let the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. "Sure?"

The smirk widened. "Yep."

The Doctor thought for a split second, and his face echoed Rose's smile. "You'd be right."

They ceased talking, and a light silence emerged, a companionable silence, a nice silence, the Doctor thought, despite his love of action.

Rose broke the silence. "That goodbye on Bad Wolf Bay… seems so long ago now…"

"And I would hope so, too!" the Doctor replied. "Because you're back now. It doesn't matter what happened before; it's over, and it's irrelevant." And it was, too. The pain was irrelevant. The loneliness was irrelevant.

Rose paused, looking confused and slightly hurt. "Even what I said?"

The Doctor frowned. "What did y-" Oh. "No-no-no-no. Of course not!" The Doctor mentally cursed himself. The confession made by Rose and the almost-confession made by him… they both hadn't mentioned it since returning. The Doctor still loved her, loved her with both his hearts. He'd never stop loving her. Maybe it was embarrassment, or maybe it was just waiting for the fire to rekindle, but no time previously had been the right time. He remembered his decision based on the Master's words: Let her decide. Let her choose. And suddenly, he felt incredibly insecure and nervous. "What I meant… well… uh… um… what you… said… is it… still, uh… still…"

"Real?" Rose finished quickly, nervously.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, glad she understood, but still brimming with that anxious anticipation.

"Yeah, yeah, they're real." Rose nodded hastily.

The Doctor gave a sigh of relief that he hoped she couldn't hear. "That's good."

"Really?" Rose was nervous as well.

"Yeah."

There was a silence, filled with a nervous tension.

"Does that mean, uh…" Rose trailed off, looking awkward.

"Does that mean…" the Doctor gestured for her to continue, maybe too quickly.

"Well, do you…" Rose fidgeted, her hands wriggling where they were resting on her thighs. "Do you… um… do you… I mean, I said it… but do you see me like-"

The Doctor realised what she was going to say, and cursed himself again for being so slow. He was a Time Lord! He should be faster than that! Embarrassed, but refusing to show it, he placed his hands on her shoulders. Now or never. He stared her in the eye. "Yes, Rose Tyler, I love you. I love you too."

Rose's joyous grin was immediate. "Yeah?" she whispered, and her eyes began to glisten. "Quite right, too."

The Doctor held out his arms, and Rose jumped into them. He held her close, feeling her trembling with excitement and happiness and the overwhelming contentment that he was also feeling.

He didn't time how long they were hugging. Neither of them did. An eternity could last a second.

But seconds passed, and the Doctor, as his normal enthusiastic self, said to Rose, "Can I see the book?"

Rose pulled back, and the Doctor could see the happy tears in her eyes. "Stupid," she said fondly, wiping her eyes. "C'mon then."

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Rose glanced at him for the second time as they walked down the corridor of the TARDIS to her room, aiming for the book that Mickey had stolen for her. He was standing as his tall self, his coat back around his shoulders and swishing as he moved, even though he had yet to get out of his pyjamas. His brown hair was standing up at all angles, another normal. His expression; excited. Excited and happy, and there was a gleam in his eye that hadn't been there before.

If Rose could look into a mirror, she'd probably see the exact same gleam. All the 'what ifs', they'd gone, sent to the back of her mind as nothing but a memory, a fragment of a thought. There were no more what ifs, there was just the Doctor and there was just Rose.

And, of course, there was that book.

The TARDIS seemed to sense the mood, because she moved Rose's room closer to them. When Rose recognised the familiar pattern outside her door, she grinned and opened it. Entering her room, she was again astounded by the normalcy of it all. The feel of belonging…

It was back.

She was home.

Her room was mostly clean; the orb, the flower and the photo were still where she'd left them, on her bedside table, and her bag was still on her bed. Her bag… the only thing from the alternate universe, the only thing left apart from her memories.

She was deep in thought as she rummaged through her backpack. She pulled things out at random, not paying attention to what she pulled out; her purse, a light-bulb thing, a book, a stun gun, a comm., the phone she'd received from her mother…

Mum.

Her family. She'd never see them again, would she? She'd never again tell her mother off for using the phone for too long, never again joke around with her dad, never see Heather grow. She couldn't even-

"Hello!" the Doctor interrupted her thoughts. "What's this?"

She looked up. The Doctor had the light-bulb thing in his hands, and it was glowing a very light blue colour. She remembered that. But she hadn't had it on Earth. And she suddenly realised with joy what it was. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

"What?"

Rose glanced at him, eyes brimming with ecstasy. "I'm not sure if I told you… the Time Lords gave me another device as well… a communication device."

Another man, hiding in shadows, walked out and handed Rose a different device, slightly smaller, looking almost like a light bulb except a pale blue in colour. Rose grabbed it, and stared at the old man in confusion.

"Thankyou," Rose said, then upon realising who it was, grinned. "Thanks, Officer."

"It's a communication device," the Master told her. "It'll enable conversation between different universes, but only when both ends have a device such as this. I'll be giving one to your family after you leave."

The Doctor caught onto her train of thought quickly. A smile threatened to cover his face. "So you can talk to your family!"

"Yeah!" Rose cheered, placing the device upright on her bed. Then, gently, almost hesitantly, she placed her hand over the device, and narrowed her eyes in concentration. The effect was instantaneous. The bulb glowed brighter, and slightly darker, and a holographic image of static appeared above it, about the size of a small television. Rose pulled her hand away in shock, and the Doctor was quick to grasp it.

She squeezed the Doctor's hand as she stared eagerly at the display.

The static took an eternity to clear. When it did, though, Rose frowned. A black background wasn't what she had expected. She glanced at the Doctor, but he was frowning too.

Hoping that she could still be heard, she spoke. "Hello? Is anyone there? This is Rose Tyler."

She heard a yelp or a small scream from the other end, and she grinned at the Doctor, who promptly grinned back. The communication device worked. Disjointed voices came to their ears:

"Not… going to be fine…nothing to worry…no voices…"

"Hello?" Rose repeated, heart pounding, although she couldn't tell why. Not yet, anyway.

Another scream came from the other end. This time, the words were easy to hear. "I'm not hearing voices… I'm not hearing voices…"

"It's okay," Rose spared a look at the Doctor. "I'm talking through a communication device." She recognised the voice on the other end though; it wasn't her family, or Mickey, or Jake, and she couldn't tell who it was, but she definitely recognised the voice. Female. It was female.

The image on the holographic screen went fuzzy for a moment, before clearing. And this time, it wasn't dark. It was as bright as day. Rose could see what looked like the bow of a boat, and beyond that the sparkling ocean, and the blue sky. This was the other Earth. Then a female came into focus, wearing black and white and carrying something in her arms.

"Heather!" Rose realised when she saw who was getting carried. The small child in the screen turned around and giggled. "Wo-wo!"

The older female crouched down, and Rose recalled her as one of the many maids in the Tyler residence. "Miss Tyler?"

"Yeah! Yeah, it's me!" Rose replied.

"How can I be talking to you? You were captured! I was ordered to take Heather away from the danger!"

Rose's eyes widened. So this woman didn't know that the crisis was over. "No, no, it's okay. Really. The danger's gone! You can go back!"

The voice on the other end sounded unsure at best. "But…the thing… the light in the sky…"

"It's gone now," Rose comforted her. "You can turn the ship around!"

"The ship hasn't left yet," the woman replied hesitantly. "I… are you sure, Miss Tyler?"

"I'm sure! Really! It's safe!" Rose told her.

The female made a choking sound, and stood up suddenly, causing the image to buzz with static once again.

"What is it?" Rose questioned. "What's wrong?

The woman's voice trembled. "They're here! The enemy… they're here! How'd they find me? Did you send them?"

Rose and the Doctor shared a confused glance. "The enemy's gone," Rose said gently.

"No they haven't! It's that Torchwood! And you're with them! I know you are! You're not getting Heather!"

"No, wait-" Rose gasped, but she was too late. The woman's foot kicked the device away, and the image turned to static. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Rose cried. Not now, not after she'd come so close to talking to everyone…

"Shh," the Doctor whispered to her. "It's just the image that's gone. Wait, I'll try to boost the signal." He reached into his pocket and got out the sonic screwdriver, running the buzzing device against the bottom of the communication device. "Come on… there!"

Voices could be heard once again.

"No! You can't…Heather…"

"Ma'am, the threat has been…you can return…they are all safe…"

"No! Don't lie! I saw them! I saw… with them!"

"…I swear… gone…not coming back…"

"Lies! … They… Miss Tyler…"

"Rose Tyler?"

"Yes! …She… working with them…"

"I'd never do that!" Rose cried indignantly. She felt the Doctor squeeze her hand in reassurance.

"Rose?"

"Where?"

"The device… you're with them… you know…"

Rose could hear the maid's sobs, and her heart went out to the distressed woman. But she had greater priorities at the moment. "This is Rose Tyler, who am I speaking to?"

The voices paused, then one replied, "Thompson and Fraser, ma'am."

"Aren't they-?" the Doctor whispered to her.

"Yeah," Rose replied softly, before raising her voice. "Is everyone okay?"

"Your family is fine ma'am. Estimated casualties are unknown as of yet. We were ordered to retrieve your younger sister."

Rose breathed a sigh of relief, and next to her, the Doctor did the same thing. "Make sure you look after them," Rose said.

"What? … hear you…"

"No-no-no!" the Doctor fiddled with the settings on the sonic screwdriver before buzzing it against the device once more.

Rose raised her voice. "Look after them!"

"Will…ma'am…is… Doctor…"

"I'm here!" the Doctor cried out. He seemed to realise something, and his eyes went wide as his body went still. "Is the Master alive?"

"…sorry…hear you…"

"I said, is the Master alive?" the Doctor's voice rose in desperation.

"can't…off…hear…"

"The Master!" the Doctor shouted. "Is the Master alive?"

" breaking…static…leave…fix? Maybe…return…"

"Is he alive?" the Doctor roared, and Rose could tell that the Doctor knew it was a lost cause.

With a shrill screech and a burst of static, the sounds and the images from the other end failed, and the Doctor fell against Rose's bed, Rose sagging to her knees with the shock.

Her family was safe. Those were the only words that were in her mind. Her family was safe. Echoing and repeating itself around her head like a broken record. She gave another sigh of relief. No matter what happened, her family was safe. And the two Torchwood guards, Thompson and Fraser- Rose could see as clear as day that they were trying to redeem themselves. She hoped they'd manage; because those two, they were alright, really.

But the Master…

He'd helped Rose so much… him and Loranos and the Officer. She practically owed her life to them. Time Lords were different to humans, she realised suddenly. Who would waste their lives for a complete stranger? For a dead man?

She closed her eyes, feeling the emotions rise up in her chest. Shock, horror, pity, loss, fear, sorrow… but then happiness, love, gratitude.

She gave a rueful smile. The Master… complete with brown-black hair and blue eyes… she hoped he'd survive.

Because hope was the only thing she could do. Hope, and remember.

…Not daring to believe it, but wanting to believe it, she ran towards the sound. She stopped abruptly at the end of an alley, seeing something that she would've expected. The TARDIS looked different. It wasn't a police box; instead it was a phone booth, not dissimilar to the one she had been using mere moments ago.

The door opened, and a man walked out. He had dark brown hair, almost black and bright blue eyes. But when he stared at her, she knew it wasn't the Doctor.

…"Are you a Time Lord?" she asked.

"Are you a human?" the man replied sarcastically.

…"My name… is the Master."

…Finally, the TARDIS landed, with a smooth shift from space to ground. "You can actually fly the TARDIS," she realised in wonder, staring at the Master.

…"Hey, I've known you for a whole..." he checked his watch, "three minutes!"

…"I'll call you Sprout for short. Right-oh Sprout?"

…"Believe me," the Master told her, "I regret it. I wasted half my life looking for something I couldn't have."

…"You're searching for someone you care about. I, on the other hand, was searching for conquest and power. I was searching for control. You're searching for someone you love." The Master stopped at Rose's gasp. "I know you love him. It's not that hard to tell," he said to her. "Only something like love would allow you to trust someone like me."

…"Rose, the Officer's death wasn't your fault, alright?" the Master knelt down to where Rose was crouched, haunted eyes shifting from the Doctor's still form to the Master's caring blue eyes. "He died to save you. Respect him for that. But Rose… it's not your fault. He really did care for you, Rose. Like I do. Like the Doctor does." He paused. "Your family is whoever you care about. Remember that, Rose. It doesn't make it easier, it doesn't make it better. But it does make it true."

…"No!" she screamed in denial, unable to close her eyes, which were focused on the knife, coming down, towards the Doctor…and suddenly the Master was in the way and the knife wasn't in the Doctor, it was in him…

It doesn't make it easier, it doesn't make it better. But it does make it true.

Rose opened her eyes slowly. She could feel moist tears at the edges of her eyes. After all the Master had done for them, for her… she didn't know if he was still alive.

Alive or dead?

She understood now why people wanted closure. Why people wanted to be sure that a person was dead, or if a person would die.

Because waiting was horrible.

It was horrible.

And she understood how the Doctor felt now… or at least, what he could be feeling. She glanced at him. And she was right. The Doctor was staring blankly at the bed, completely ignorant to the world outside. She felt a burst of sympathy for him, he who'd lost so much, and still smiled.

The last of his race… possibly in two universes.

"Doctor?" she uttered softly. He looked up, and she almost gasped. His eyes weren't watering, but they were dark. Dark and swirling and sad. Was that what her eyes looked like? "The Master told me something, Doctor. While you were still unconscious in that cell. The Officer died to save my life. I felt- I still feel- like it's my fault. But he died to save my life. I'll respect him for the rest of my life for that. The Master… he cares for you. His best friend. You two are like brothers. And you know what?" she watched as the Doctor turned to meet her gaze head on. She smiled. "Families look out for each other."

The Doctor nodded, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"And Doctor…" Rose scrutinised him. "Don't you dare give up on the Master. He's still alive, you got that? He's still alive, 'cos you saved him, too."

The Doctor's smile widened slightly. "Thanks."

Rose moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. "They'll be fine."

The Doctor put his arms around her. "I really love you, Rose Tyler."

Rose grinned, her face buried in his shirt. "I know."

They really did like their hugs, Rose mused as they remained lying against the bed, arms around each other, comforting and consoling and doing basically everything that had been left unsaid.

Everything that didn't need to be said.

She tightened her grip on him. Next time, though, she'd be the one to save the Doctor. Next time-

"Rose," the Doctor's hushed voice reached her. "Look…"

Rose looked. The Doctor was staring, transfixed, in awe, at her bedside table. What was-?

The flower.

She picked up a small, brown, hardened flower which still smelt just as sweet as the first day she'd seen it. It had been the first alien planet she had ever visited, and the flower, according to the natives, was said to bloom only once every five thousand years, and only for a couple of seconds. And when it bloomed, it showed colours of unimaginable beauty. Even though the flower appeared withered and dead, it still smelt fresh and moist, as if to announce the fact that it was still alive.

It still smelt fresh and moist. Still announced that it was still alive.

But it was blooming.

The flower was slowly waking up. The petals, almost frosted by time, shrivelled outwards slowly, and the colours of the universe began to seep through.

Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand and squeezed, still watching the flower in awe.

The colours were dazzling and bright, and mystifying and dark, and anything you could imagine. It was blue and green and yellow and red and stunning.

"Wow," Rose breathed.

The colours began to fade again, as the petals began to shrivel inwards once again. And the flower was withered and brown and dead-looking again. Something so small, and capable of such beauty.

Rose's face lit up with an enormous smile.

The universe was incredible.

And the book was momentarily forgotten.

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It was the afternoon. The clouds rolled past the mountains slowly, and slowly, as he watched, the clouds turned hues of pink and blue and orange. It was as if nothing had happened. He heard the crunch of footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around.

"You should still be resting," the arrival told him. "You almost died."

"I think I did die," he replied.

"The world can wait another day, you know. Get some rest."

"Pete, right?"

"Yeah," Pete emerged from behind him.

He turned to Rose's father. "Has your youngest daughter been found?"

Pete smiled. "Yes. Two Torchwood personnel brought her back. The maid with her was a bit frightened, but that's going to be expected, isn't it?"

The man beside Pete nodded. "Everyone is frightened. That won't disappear for a while. But the weapon's been destroyed. That's over. All the differences between the places of this Earth… it's all irrelevant now. You've all got to work together."

"I know." Pete ran a hand through his short hair. "I've managed to get emergency supplies to other survivors around the world. They're going to be offered a place here, in Britain."

The Master glanced at Pete. "How many are dead?"

Pete sighed, and suddenly the leader of Torchwood looked weak and fragile. "Over half the world's population, gone. Over four billion people. The United States is almost completely wiped out. China is too. London is almost gone. But Britain itself was pretty lucky. It didn't get hit that hard. The world's in disarray."

"It's not going to be easy," he told Pete. "Never is. But you humans can adapt. You'll get there."

"In the end," Pete nodded. "Yeah, I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll stay for a bit. Help you lot get back on track. Then I'm travelling again, back to the place I've been living."

He could sense Pete frowning next to him. "But didn't your TARDIS get destroyed?"

The Master's blue eyes lowered to the ground. "It did, yeah. No way to change that. But I can find my way back."

"And what about-"

"The Doctor?"

"Yeah. Do you-"

"He's alive," the Master looked up at the clouds, and back to Pete. "I'll contact him again. Gotta thank him for saving my life again. Him and Rose."

Pete nodded beside him. The Master, suddenly unwilling to talk further, turned his gaze just in front of him. He smiled softly when he heard Pete's footsteps retreating. He could see why the Doctor was so fascinated with this particular race. Humans… if given the time, they could become legends. Legends of the stars, like the Time Lords were.

And now he was the last of the Time Lords. The last one in this universe, anyway. He'd never been interested in travelling around, not to the extent of the Doctor anyway, but he'd watch over the races. Watch over them, protect them.

They deserved that. They all deserved that.

The Master looked upwards once more.

His determined blue eyes stared at the colourful array of clouds in the sky until the bright spherical glow of the sun finally touched the horizon with orange fire and then was leisurely swallowed up by the silhouettes of mountains in the distance.

And he turned, ready to head back inside.

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The end… of this story, anyway.

A/N

I'm going to miss this story. I really am. But there is going to be a sequel. It's not going to be uploaded for a while yet, but I assure you, there is a sequel on its way. I've written out the summaries for it already. I know what's going to happen.

I hope you all enjoyed this. Because I really did.

Now, there were a couple of things in this chapter and the previous one, that give clues to what's going to be going on in the sequel. Any guesses, anyone?

Alright, time to thank everyone. As per normal.

First, a huge thankyou to those that reviewed the previous chapter:M64, Sunny angel, VampMistress, QuiteRightToo, NewDrWhoFan, Mini Librarian, MythStar Black Dragon, Tylerfan, artistgirl727, laal ratty, gaiafreedom21, Doctor-Lost, I've Lost My Profile Page, ILUVHOUSE, Kuro the Spork Queen, capemaynuts, x-EmilyTennant-x, Atheniandream, gaia-x-goddess, Talia Taylor, theholycows, Sesa28, Isis the Sphinx, Rosie-Jess, Doctah, and Rose-Jane.

Second, thankyou so, so much for putting this story on your favourites lists: Berta433, Captain Oblivious, Cerveth, Doctah, Doctor-Lost, Doctors girl, Draco167, DramaQueen1133, I'mTheMasterOfWhatever, I've Lost My Profile Page, ILUVHOUSE, Iriahm, JeMS7, Kaia-S, Kuro the Spork Queen, Lovelessheart18, Lozz Sparrow, Mara Jade Snape, Mini Librarian, Nia River, Princess of the Fae, QuiteRightToo, Rose Tyler, Rosie-Jess, Sesa28, Sunny angel, Talia-Taylor, Tara-lov-Dr10, Tigerprime, Tylerfan, UnstoppableForce, ValentineEvenings, VampMistress, Wanabee, WhoKnows909, artistgirl727, awesomepwincess123, captaincatch, caromac, enneisilee, gaia-x-goddess, gaiafreedom21, gryphalkon, helenluvsboo, horsemaniac, jimmybeam, rommie-rules, sparks733, theholycows, varjak, wiggiemomsi, x-EmilyTennant-x and yegbb10.

Now you guys get a Donna Noble figurine. A Donna Noble figurine to those who put me on their favourite author lists: ataralasse, awesomepwincess123, Doctah, Doctor-Lost, Doctors girl, Draco167, gaiafreedom21, I'mTheMasterOfWhatever, I've Lost My Profile Page, ILUVHOUSE, johnny-B-reading, Kuro the Spork Queen, Lovelessheart18, Lozz Sparrow, Mara Jade Snape, Mini Librarian, QuiteRightToo, rommie-rules, Rosie-Jess, Talia Taylor, Tara-lov-Dr10, tbeholycows, Tylerfan, ValentineEvenings, VampMistress, Wanabee, wiggiemomsi, windpoetry and x-EmilyTennant-x.

I'm honestly awed and delighted about how much attention this story has received. Almost one hundred alerts and over fifty favourites… thankyou everyone. The support is just incredible. Love the support!

And, geez, over two hundred reviews! You guys are great!

Thankyou again, and I'll see you all (hopefully) when I post the next story. Look out for it!

And I'm going to be replying to all the reviews, so please review!

SnowFox3