Author's Notes: This is it, the final chapter of In the Bleak Midwinter. Thank you so much to everyone who has been following along, I cherish every one of your lovely reviews. They have definitely made all the hours I've struggled with this fic worth it. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The room was dark and a little cold. Rose shifted around, her sleep-fogged mind confused by the unfamiliar bed and the lack of the presence she had been seeking in her half-awake state.

She opened her eyes. The Doctor was not in the bed with her, and lifting her head to look at the bedside clock Rose saw that it was 5:13 am. There was no light under the ensuite door, so he wasn't in the loo. What was he doing up so early?

Rose got out of bed and hunted around for her discarded pyjamas. Once dressed, she left the room and went quietly down the hall to the stairs. She made her way to the main floor, keeping her ears open for any sound of the the Doctor. Unsurprisingly, he was in the family room. He had turned the tree lights on and was sitting on the sofa in his pyjamas and robe, nursing a cup of tea. Rose paused in the door, watching his face in the soft light. He looked so young, hair tousled from sleep, the small lines on his face washed away. She loved him more then she could possibly put into words.

"What are you doing up so early?" Rose asked, keeping her voice soft.

He shrugged, "Was just thinking a lot last night. Didn't sleep very much."

She moved into the room and sat down next to him. At some point in the night her mother or Pete had come down and filled the stockings, and they hung plump and full from the mantle, a candy cane sticking out of each. There were more presents under the tree, with Tony's new tryke still holding the place of pride in front.

"I used to wake up early every Christmas and would just sit by the tree and stare at everything, waiting for Mum to get up. No matter how bad things were she always managed to put a few things under the tree for me every year. I don't know how she did it."

"Your mother's an amazing woman, Rose, and don't ever tell her I said that."

Rose nudged him, "Yeah, she loves you too."

They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, Rose closed her eyes and had almost dozed off when the Doctor cleared his throat and she felt him shift on the sofa.

"Rose? I, um, have a little gift for you, and I think I'd like you to open it now, when it's just the two of us."

"Okay," Rose said, surprised. She hadn't really been expecting a gift from him, in fact she kind of felt like he was her gift. Filing away the thought of the Doctor in a big red bow and nothing else for later, she turned to face him.

The Doctor fished in the pocket of his robe and pulled out a small package wrapped in gold paper with a silver ribbon. A small tag hung from the bow and read simply, "Rose".

Rose took the present and turned it over in her hands. The Doctor picked up his tea and watched her thread the loose ends of the ribbon between her fingers.

"The actual gift is inside, you know." he said. Rose stuck her tongue out at him.

"Quiet you, I'm savouring the moment," she said.

"Then by all means, keep savouring."

They smiled at each other. Rose untied the bow and peeled off the wrapping paper to reveal a plain white box. She took off the lid and looked down at a necklace resting on a bed of white cotton.

"Do you like it?" the Doctor asked, sounding shy.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Rose said, lifting it out. Hung on a simple silver chain was a wire-wrapped pink stone pendant. The stone was roughly teardrop-shaped, a bit bigger then her thumbnail, and the wire swirled around it in a Celtic-looking design.

"Doctor, thank you," she said, letting the pendant fall into the palm of her hand and stopped in surprise, "It feels warm!"

"Close your hand around it and close your eyes," the Doctor instructed. Rose complied, concentrating on the weight of it in her fist. The metal was cool against her skin, but where the stone touched there was definite warmth and faintly, as if from far away, she thought she heard humming. A very familiar hum.

She opened her eyes in shock and found the Doctor still smiling at her. "The TARDIS," she whispered, "I can hear her."

"Yes," he said, holding out his hand. Rose passed him the necklace and he held it up so that the pendant dangled between them at eye level. Rose stared at the little pink stone.

"It's a piece of TARDIS coral. I took it with me when we left. It's like a seed, do you remember when I told you that a TARDIS was grown?"

Rose nodded.

"This is how they begin. If we had a few centuries and the right equipment, this coral would grow into another TARDIS. Here on Earth it will just remain like this. But Rose and I will still hear you singing, won't we girl?" he said, giving the stone a pat. The Doctor passed the necklace back to Rose and she held it tightly, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes.

"A piece of the TARDIS? It was your home, and I know how much it meant to you. And you want me to have it?" Rose whispered, looking at the Doctor in amazement.

He ducked his head slightly and reached for her free hand. Rose clasped her fingers with his.

"This is my home now. You're my home, Rose. I want you to have this, to keep it safe. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes," she said, "I'll wear it always."

She handed the necklace to the Doctor and turned, lifting her hair up. He put it around her neck and fastened the clasp, and the pendant nestled on her chest. Rose smiled, looking down at it. She knew that no one else would ever understand the true significance of the gesture, to the rest of the world it would just be a simple piece of jewelry, but to her it was the most precious gift she had ever been given.

"Thank you," she said, facing him again and leaning forward to kiss him, "It's wonderful."

Rose hugged the Doctor, and his arms came around her, holding her tight. He truly was hers, her Doctor, her love, hers forever.

They broke apart and Rose blinked, clearing away the moisture from her eyes.

"I have something you can open now, too," she said, getting off the sofa and kneeling by the tree. She rummaged in the pile of packages, leaving the square box that held the mobile phone and pulling out his other gift.

"Here," she said, handing it to him.

The Doctor put down his tea and took the gift. Rose sat cross-legged on the floor and leaned her chin on her hand, watching him unwrap the paper. A look of shock crossed his face as he lifted the first item out.

"Sarah Jane," he said, carefully cradling the framed photo, "Where did you get a picture of her?"

Rose smiled, "I wasn't sure if you'd noticed, but when we were all in the TARDIS after bringing the Earth back home I took a few pictures on my phone."

They had all been so happy, jumping around, hugging and laughing, celebrating their victory. It had been too painful for her to think about, after the other Doctor had left them behind, and she had forgotten about the pictures until the salesman had mentioned cameras when he was showing her the phones.

Rose had uploaded the photos to her computer while the Doctor was sleeping and gone through them, selecting the best ones to print out. The ones with Mickey she had saved into her photos file and sent out a silent wish that he would finally find what he needed and have a good life.

She had spent a long moment looking at a picture of the Doctor, the first one, the one who had left them. He had been standing apart from the others, hands in his pockets and a wistful look on his face. Rose was sure he had not known she was taking his photo, his expression was far too unguarded. She remembered how tightly he had held her before he had exited the TARDIS to see Mickey, Martha and Jack off. His farewell, saying a silent goodbye that she hadn't understood until he had already gone.

What would she have done? Rose tried to imagine his impossible choice, what if there had been two of her, the fragile human, and another Rose, one with all her memories, who loved him just as she did, but who wouldn't age, wouldn't die, a Rose who truly would never leave him. And she had felt the last of her anger at him fade, it was a decision no one should ever have to make. He had sacrificed his own happiness for hers, and even if he couldn't say the words, Rose knew that he did love her. She had always known.

The Doctor lifted out the next picture, Martha and Jack, faces pressed together and smiling. Jack had made a suggestive comment after Rose had taken the picture and Martha had playfully swatted him on the arm. Rose didn't know very much about Martha, but she hoped the Doctor would tell her one day.

"Oh Rose," he said at the last picture. He ran his fingers across the glass, across the photo of himself and Donna. They were leaning against one of the TARDIS' support struts, both with their arms crossed casually and smiling at each other.

"I thought you might want something to remember them by," Rose said.

The Doctor set the pictures carefully on the coffee table and slid down onto the floor with her. He took Rose's hands and looked at her intently.

"Thank you," he said, "I can't tell you what it means to me that you did this."

Rose cleared away the discarded gift wrap while the Doctor took his pictures upstairs to tuck them away in their bag. She thought that trying to talk about his friends to her parents might be a little much for him to handle right now. His hands had shook on the photo of Donna, and Rose knew that they'd have to talk about her eventually. Whatever had happened, it wasn't good for him to keep it bottled up.

She went into the kitchen to toss the rubbish and glanced out the window as she threw it into the bin under the sink. She frowned, squinting. It couldn't be what it looked like, could it? Curious, she left the kitchen.

"Rose?" she heard the Doctor call.

"I'm at the front door," she replied, pulling on her boots, "Doctor, come take a look at this."

"What is it?"

He appeared in the hall and she passed him his coat, "We're going outside."

They stepped out the door and looked up into the sky. What she had seen from the kitchen window wasn't an illusion, it had started to snow. Soft flakes drifted down, the lawn was already half-covered.

"Please tell me this is just regular, ordinary snow," Rose said, remembering a spaceship being shot out of the sky and a city covered in ash.

The Doctor stuck his tongue out and a snowflake landed on it.

"Seems to just be snow," he said.

"This is incredible. There hasn't been a white Christmas in years. Not since I've lived here anyways."

They moved a bit farther from the house. Rose held out her hand, watching the little white flakes melt on contact with her skin. In the east, she could see the first faint streaks of pink and gold that heralded the sunrise. Christmas Day was about to begin, Tony would be up soon and would come bounding down the stairs to see what Santa had brought him, Mum and Pete would follow, smiling at their son's enthusiasm. They'd sit around the tree and pass out the gifts, oohing and awing over each package. Mum would make breakfast, Tony would ride his new tryke around the kitchen, Pete would take pictures. And through it all the Doctor would be at her side.

"Are you happy, Rose? Happy here, with me?"

She looked over at where the Doctor stood, hands in his pockets and snow dusting his hair.

"We can't travel to the stars anymore. Can't see the future, or the past. It's a whole new life."

Rose cocked her head at him, "We still see the future, Doctor, every second that passes we're moving forward in time."

He smiled at that, "I suppose you're right."

"I'm happy. We're still gonna go places and see new things. You and me, Doctor, it's our new life."

She went over to him and held out her hand, wiggling her fingers in invitation. He reached for her, and their hands clasped together. They both looked up into the dawn of a new day, into the dawn of their new future.

"I love you, Rose."

Rose smiled at the man beside her, "I love you."

The pendant with the piece of the TARDIS rested warm against her skin. It had been his life, and Rose knew that a part of the Doctor would always miss what he had left behind to be with her. But they would move forward together, and live their life, day by day.

And for the first time since she had landed in this world, Rose knew that she had finally found home.

End.

In the Bleak Midwinter, by Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen,
Snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him,
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When he comes to reign;
In the bleak midwinter
A stable place sufficed
The Lord God incarnate,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for him, whom Cherubim
Worship night and day
A breast full of milk
And a manger full of hay.
Enough for him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But his mother only,
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him —
Give my heart.