I Promise

By the Alternative Source

Author's Note: This is set after Journey's End. Donna has gone back home. The "Actual" Doctor is all alone now. This happens before the Christmas Special. That's all that I'm going to say.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

//////////////////////////////////////////Chapter One: My Doctor//////////////////////////////////////////

She pushed the hair out of his eyes softly and sighed. The time was coming. He slowly turned his head towards her and opened his eyes searching for her but seeing nothing. His eyes stared at her blankly. He had lost his sight years ago but he still knew her every touch. She couldn't help but smile.

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Rose. What are you doing here?" his raspy voice asked.

Rose's eyes became full of tears and she cupped his face. He was losing his memories, "Doctor. I'm always here."

"Of course, of course……….. Still as beautiful as ever I suppose?" he said with a grin on his lips.

"Still the same Rose that you met years ago."

The Doctor smiled, "Don't be daft. You're still as beautiful as the first day that I met you."

Rose lowered her head, "And in there lies the problem."

"Rose?..............Rose?" he asked with a frown on his face.

"How do you know when I'm not looking at you?"

"Because you're magnificent," he answered with the same quirky smile that she had lived with for the last 70 years. Silence ensued for a couple more minutes as Rose contemplated what she was going to say. She didn't even know what she was going to do. The Doctor interrupted her thoughts, "You always worry yourself too much. You know what must be done."

Rose looked at him as he said this, "I know. I just…with mom gone and dad. The only ones' left are you and me. I can't…."

The Doctor's grinning face turned stern as Rose spoke, "You have given me a whole lifetime of memories. A whole lifetime of human memories. And even though it didn't turn out the way we wanted it too, we were together."

"I thought you would never grow old with me and now it turns out to be the opposite way. You're turning old without me."

The Doctor lifted his hand towards Rose and she caught it. Pulling it to her face she let his hand cup her cheek, "Rose Tyler. What did I tell you the first day I told you that I loved you?"

A tear slid down her cheek and she tried to keep her voice calm, "You said you wanted to grow old with me."

"And I have. It's not every day that a time lord, well ex-time lord, lives out his life to the fullest extent with the one woman he thought he could never have. You have given me more than anyone ever has. You have given me love and happiness to last forever. But the time has come. And now we have to make sure it's forever.""

Rose could not control the tears and started weeping. The Doctor gently nudged her towards him and she leaned forward in her sitting position and placed her head on his chest. The tears continued to flow as The Doctor stroked her hair.

"One heartbeat," she said as she listened intently, "One heartbeat."

"I know," he said softly.

"I love you."

"I love you as well," he replied with emotion in his voice. It was the last time he would be with her and he knew that he had to make her promise. He had to make her promise for her own sake, "Promise me that you will find me."

Rose lifted her head at his words. She leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to his lips and then to his forehead, "I promise. You will not be alone forever."

"I always knew that you were different. Atta girl."

Rose felt The Doctor go slack and she couldn't stop the sobs that wracked her body. He was gone. The 70 years that they spent together were gone. And it made it all worse as she shook his shoulders slightly trying to wake him up, "Doctor? Doctor?"

When she received no response she pressed her forehead against his and tried to stop her tears. But no matter what she did they would not stop.

'It's ok Rose. It's ok. He's not gone. All of him is not gone. This is just a part of him that I got to spend many wonderful years with.'

"What kind of cruel joke is this? I promised myself that I would be with you forever. That we would grow old together. And now we see that the tables have been turned. You grew old without me. You became human while," Rose pulled back from him and stared at her hands, "I stayed young."

Rose looked back at the aged Doctor. His skin was littered with age spots. His hair was a snowy white, and there were wrinkles around his lips and eyes that he never thought he would have. He had aged. He had gone domestic for her. And now that he was gone it was time.

She didn't want to leave his side but she knew that she had too. She had to leave now like she promised. Lifting herself off the bed she stood up and wiped her tears away. Grabbing her purple jacket she zipped herself up. Leaning over John, the name that he had given himself, she slowly uncurled the fingers of his right hand. A small pocket watch rested in his palm. It was his pocket watch. The one that he had put his consciousness in one time before. But now it was different. It held his memories. His 70 years as a human. His years of a normal life.

Removing it from his hand she clipped it to her jacket and deposited it into her jacket pocket. She went to grab his other hand and paused.

His wedding ring. A simple band that meant so much to them. Running her fingers over it she slowly slipped it off of his finger and put it on the necklace around her neck that held the Tardis key. Stepping back from John she bit her lip as she looked at his resting body.

'You are gone,' her eyes began to glow a soft golden hue, 'and I can't go with you.'

Her body began to glow brighter as the seconds passed. She reached into her pocket and opened the pocket watch. As her body grew brighter the Doctor's body flashed a golden hue and turned into a misty form that eventually disappeared into the pocket watch. Rose closed and pocketed the watch as the golden light finally became too much and the world around her disappeared.

"I'm coming, my Doctor. I'm coming."

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To be continued………

Author's Note: Tell me what you think guys. It's my first Doctor Who fanfic that I couldn't get out of my head. Any questions, comments, or criticism are very welcome. Ciao.