A/N: Alright, in recompense for having to wait until Friday afternoon to get chapter 3 (because of this stupid website) I am rewarding you all with chapter 4 EARLY! yay! This is the FINAL chapter, too. I do hope you like it!

Rose held the torturous white button for what seemed like an eternity. She held it through all of his hellish screams, her own agonized cries filling the air as she sobbed for the pain she was causing him. But she did not release him. For his sake, she did not let go. She had to trust the Doctor's word. She had to trust that he would survive and the Vionyfir would not. She only prayed that he might forgive her for the impossible agony that she now shot straight into his hearts.

After what seemed like a lifetime the Doctors' screaming stopped. His miserable voice faded, his body still trembling helplessly against the electric shock. Every muscle in his being was locked and stretched or compressed to the breaking point, and every nerve screamed as if it were on fire.

Rose held the trigger for as long as she could, but once he lay silent and pale on the ground she could stand it no longer. With a loud sob she released him and herself collapsed to the floor.

Silence; heavy, tense, and dreadful settled upon them. The air, after having been ripped through by so many horrendous sounds and flashes of lightening, now seemed itself to resettle over their still and fallen bodies. Rose could barely move. Exhausted in every way, she sat for a moment in the terrible silence and prayed that she might not be the first to make a sound. Her heart beat louder and louder in his ears. But all she wished to hear was his. She watched him, staring long and hard at the defeated form that slumped before her on the ground. He did not move. He did not even breathe. Rose bit her lip. She had killed him.

No. No, she couldn't have. He was the Doctor. He had to be alright. She had to make sure. She slowly drew herself closer to him, dragging herself across the floor until she sat by his side. Her hand hovered above his still and lifeless form. She choked back a sob as she stared at him. Fear clenched in her heart again and she could not bring herself to touch him. Some part of her mind protested: What if the Vionyfir was not dead? What if it was waiting to grab her again? She told herself that this was why she was hesitant to stir him. But in reality it was because she was deathly afraid that he would not respond; that he would never respond again. And it would be all her fault.

She needed him. He was the Doctor and she needed him. It was not just because she was trapped alone floating through space God-knows-how-many years in her relative future. She needed him because he was him and she was her: He was her Doctor and she was his Rose. There was no way around it. She needed him to be alive because he was what she lived for. If he died, Rose was sure that she would as well.

At long last she could stand it no more. Her hand came to rest upon the Doctor's shoulder. He did not respond. His eyes did not burst open and he did not try to grab her. But neither did he moan or turn to her and smile. He simply did nothing. He lay like a dead man on the floor. Rose could not bring herself to believe it.

"D-Doctor?" She called him hoarsely, letting herself come closer now that she was sure the Vionyfir had gone away. She leaned over him with a hand on each shoulder and shook him gently. Nothing. Rose's heart clenched in panic. She could feel it now; he was not even breathing under her grasp. No. No! She almost shouted in protest. This could not be happening. The Doctor could not die! Least of all by her hand. But he had.

Rose let out a broken, desperate sob. She could not hold herself back now. She collapsed onto him, crying freely and burrowing her face into his ragged suit. Violent sobs wracked her frame, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. She hugged his body closer and managed to open her eyes. He gaze fell on the psychic paper that lay discarded on the floor. The message had changed one last time. It read in pain-filled but beautiful letters three words: Three words that he had never before uttered, but she had always known.

'I love you.'

Rose's heart seemed to stop. She could not even cry anymore. She wanted to stop herself form breathing and join the Doctor in death.

But as she quieted herself down at last, staring blankly off into the darkness and wishing that it might swallow them both, Rose heard something. It was faint and unexpected, but at the same time it was as if she had heard it all along. As she lay with her ear on his chest she could have sworn she heard a faint thump-thump echo in her mind. At first she had thought it was a trick of her brain. Then she thought it was the weak and vain beating of her own heart. But slowly she realized it was something much more. After a moment she finally had her wits about her enough to at least check a deluded hope. She lifted herself off of him just enough to move, and then placed her head back down, this time on the right side of his chest.

There. She heard it, louder this time. Thump-thump. There was no mistaking it. It was a heartbeat. A single, dying heartbeat. But it was there.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice was as weak and frail as the beat itself, but now that she had discovered it her sluggish motions became nearly frantic. "Doctor!" She called louder, as if he could hear her. She pushed herself up and looked down on him. Whatever small glimpse of hope this was, she needed it. She needed to keep it alive – to keep him alive.

Rose opened the Doctor's jacket and dug in his pockets. They were much, much larger than they looked but after a bit of searching Rose pulled out the only 'doctor' like thing that the Doctor carried; a stethoscope. She quickly put it on and hesitantly moved the cold metal to the Doctor's chest, placing it first where a human heart would sound. She heard nothing. Holding her breath she quickly moved it over to his right. Tump-thump. His heart was beating. He needed to breathe. Throwing the Doctor's tool down, Rose launched into action. She had never done this before, but she knew how it was supposed to work. Saying a prayer, she sat up and placed her hands over the Doctor's non-pumping heart. She pressed down hard and fast. One, two, three, four, five – she did not know how many times. The Doctor did not seem to respond. Rose bit her lip and moved next to his breathing.

The Doctor's head lay rolled limply to the side where it had fallen when he had finally been released from the dreadful lightening's hold. Rose took his face in her hands as she knelt beside him, lifting up his chin, his mouth opened. With one hand she closed his nose, and with the other she steadied them both as she bent down and touched her lips to his, breathing out hard. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his chest rise with her breath. She breathed out fully than gasped in a quick breath before filling his lungs up with air again. It looked like a miracle just to see his chest rise and fall, but she knew that it was not over. She moved back to chest compressions, counting out loud until she reached thirty, each becoming harder and more desperate. She did not know where she had heard thirty, but it seemed right. Perhaps it was the TARDIS guiding her along. She moved faster than she could believe of herself, breathing into him what she hoped was life-giving breath once more. She could not give up now. She could not let him die. Rose poured all of her effort, all of her being into saving him.

As she began to pump his chest a third time she had to fight off a wave of panicked doubt and despair as he did not respond. "Come on!" She shouted out loud, pounding his chest harder. "Come on, Doctor, please!" She unintentionally echoed his earlier cry, tears streaming down her face. "PLEASE!"

With the twenty-fifth compression of that set something changed. As her hands hovered over him for a moment, the Doctor's head fell back to the side. A little more air escaped his lips, and this time his body made a reaction; sucking in a tiny amount of air on its own. "Doctor?" Rose stopped for a moment. The Doctor exhaled a small cough.

Rapturous joy at once filled Rose's heart. She grabbed the Doctor's still limp form and pulled him close in a tight hug, pressing her ear once more to his chest. She could hear him. Thump-thump-thump-thump. Two hearts. Both beating. She heard him weakly inhale. Releasing him at once, Rose rolled him onto his side and the Doctor began coughing hard, wracking coughs, as if at any moment he might start coughing up blood. But he did not. Rose held him as his breathing settled, and when he was finally within grasp of some sort of control she hugged him again, calling his name in joy.

"R-Rose…" He whispered weakly, seeming only at the sound of her voice to realize that he was still alive. He did not have the strength to return her embrace. "I-I… I'm sorry…" He whispered into her ear as she pulled him close. "-'m so sorry."

"No, Doctor. I'm sorry." She said as she released him to look at his face once more. She cupped his head in her hands and smiled just to see him alive, but the Doctor frowned deeply at the red marks and bruises and the tear tracks that now marred her beautiful face. He had caused them.

Rose looked down at the Doctor; he was not much better. Blood stained his nose, lips, and chin from where she had kicked him in the face, and she knew that he would have countless other bruises from slamming into doors, among other things.

"You alright?" He asked, sounding truly frightened that she would say no.

Rose gently wiped a tear from his eyes and smiled. "Are you?" She answered. There was no hiding that they had both been hurt, but in the end it was neither of their fault. They had survived, and they were together. That was what mattered. She knew he wanted her forgiveness, and she wanted his as well. But there was nothing to forgive.

"Oh Rose…" The Doctor at last managed to lift his arms around her. He pulled her close and nestled his face into her golden hair. Rose rested atop him and pulled him up to wrap her arms about him. "Oh my sweet, brilliant Rose…" He whispered, and Rose was reminded of his last message on the psychic paper.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear. The Doctor hugged her tighter. For a moment he did not respond but merely pressed his tear-streaked, blood-stained face into the gentle crook of her neck. He kissed her softly.

"I know." He whispered. He pulled back and she sat up slightly. He brought his blood-stained right hand up to gently caress her face, his fingers lightly tracing over the marks and bruises that broke her soft, pale skin. They made him sick, but her beautiful smile shone through them and told him that everything would be alright. She was brilliant and so, so strong. He knew that she had saved him. Once again and forever, she had saved his life. He did not know where he would be without her, only that he would probably – no, definitely - be dead. In more ways than one.

He could feel the heavy bruises from where her hands had been as she pressed and pounded his heart back into action, breathing life into him once more even after the terrifying beating she had received. He was alive. He could still not quite believe it. As the lightning struck and held him and horrendous screams were wrenched from his aching throat he was sure that he was going to die. But here she was smiling over him.

She smiled at him like he was the most amazing, beautiful, and wonderful being in the world. Because to her he was. He knew, and she knew, and they had both known for so long now that she meant the exact same thing to him.

The Doctor leaned up slightly, having regained a good bit of his strength. He took her head in his hands and laid a gentle kiss on her brow. Rose knew that he loved her, even if he did not say it out loud. "Thank you." He said softly. Rose pulled him into a hug again, this time all the way up until they were both sitting up next to each other, secure in a tight embrace. The Doctor smiled. And then he laughed. And Rose could not help but laugh with him. She almost wanted to cry again of pure relief and joy.

As he released her at last they pulled back and smiled at each other and both admired the other's beautiful smile: The way the Doctor's eyes squinted in what could be only described as bliss, and Rose's tongue peeked through her teeth in laughter. Both wondered if they were put into this world for the express purpose of making the other smile. Both believed that it would be purpose enough; a grand purpose for which to live.

The Doctor pushed himself to his feet. Even after needing resuscitation, his body was amazingly fast at healing. He offered Rose and hand and then pulled her up beside him, slipping his hand into hers and entwining their fingers perfectly. Sometimes he thought that hands only existed to be held, and that arms were only meant for hugging. Rose leaned her head on his shoulder and kicked the blue capacitor out of the way. The Doctor laughed and bent down to pick up his psychic paper from the floor. It still held his message: 'I love you' in clear letters.

"I'll trade you." He held it out to Rose. Rose smiled and pulled his sonic screwdriver from her pocket.

"Don't you need both?" She asked as she handed him his tool.

"You keep it." The Doctor placed the psychic paper in her hands. He had not changed the message at all. "Now how about we get back to the TARDIS sickbay. I think we could both do with a bit of mending."

Rose laughed as they began their journey hand in hand to the place where this had all begun. "And then to the city of Aethra?" She asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"I thought maybe we could take a day off, rest a bit…" He said, but his huge grin spoke otherwise. He was just so happy that they were both alive.

"You?" Rose addressed him sarcastically "Pass up a chance to show me a city on the sun?"

The Doctor laughed with her. "Never." He said with a grin. "Come one, then; Allons-y!"

This was what he lived for, for so long: To see the stars and all of their wonders, to save the world, to live a life of adventure. But each day he realized a bit more that the stars did not inspire him quite as much if she was not around. He realized that she was the reason he wanted to save the world, and that adventures were no fun if he did not have her hand to hold. He was beyond grateful that she could forgive him all of his faults and failures, even if they left their mark. Because he needed her. He knew how selfish that sounded, and it was times like this that he was truly afraid that he had taken it a step too far and endangered her too much. But he needed her. He needed to be part of 'them'. They both knew that. He did not just live for the adventure anymore, he lived for her. He lived for them. Living for two people sounds like a bit of a hard task, but in reality it was no burden at all; in fact it lifted all the burdens he had ever had before, as she came along beside him. Because it was not one man living life for two people, it was two people living one life together, and that made all the difference in the world.

Rose smiled up at him despite her cuts and bruises. No matter the cuts and bruises that they suffered together, as long as they suffered them together, than she knew that whatever happened they would make it through. Whatever happened, they had each other. Whatever happened, they would be alright.

A/N2: I'd just like to thank you all SO MUCH for reading and for reviewing! - I don't have any other stories ready to go up just yet, but I hope to post more soon. Thanks again! I love you all.