Author's Note: Final chapter! Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through this little "what if" that just kept growing. I hope you've enjoyed it, and as always I welcome any comments/thoughts. :) Nope, I don't own Doctor Who.

Rose was unconscious, cradled in Mickey's arms. Tears ran down Jackie's face as she smoothed Rose's hair back, her hands trembling. She had never been so afraid. Rose's affliction was slowly sapping more and more of her strength, pulling her away from them. Jackie had started to fear that one time she just wouldn't recover. In her desperation logic fled, and she had pleaded with the Doctor, even knowing that there was nothing he could do. That daft alien had always somehow saved the day, and she knew that he loved her daughter. Mired in her own grief and fear, she caught just a glimpse of his face - of the flash of pain, of the storm rising in those ancient eyes - and then he was gone. Jackie's heart went cold inside her.

Suddenly Mickey cried out, reeling back in shock. He gently yet hastily released Rose as he retreated. "Get back! Pete!" Mickey caught Pete's eye, and together they pried a furious Jackie away from her daughter as a blinding, golden light began to flow out from and then envelop Rose. Jackie screamed out in terror, calling Rose's name. Mickey saw Pete's eyes grow wide with fear and concern like his own, and he fought to hold his ground, wanting desperately to help his friend. But something inside him had warned him away, and Mickey had listened.

Tears streaming down her face, Jackie thrashed wildly against the arms that restrained her, concerned only for her little girl, her Rose. A moment later she stilled. In the back of her mind she heard Rose's voice, though it sounded a little off, almost echoing. "It's okay, mum. I'm going home. I'll be fine there - I won't be sick anymore. He needs me, and I need him. Please forgive me. Tell my baby brother that I love him. I love you so much mum - I always will." Through her tears she looked at Mickey and Pete, and both nodded, their eyes noticeably damp. They'd heard her, too. Jackie fell into Pete's arms, sobbing uncontrollably with both loss and relief. Pete clasped a hand on Mickey's shoulder, and the three of them stood there together, comforting each other as the unearthly glow faded.

Rose was gone.

"I still had time! Why did you bring me back? Rose needs me!" The Doctor slammed viciously at the controls, his scathing curses filling the control room as he tried in vain to reestablish the connection to Pete's world. The TARDIS ignored him, making no reply except to dim her lights even further. Beneath the Doctor's raging, the ship was eerily silent. Had he been paying attention, he might have felt the focused intensity behind her silence, but he was too overwhelmed by the emotions roiling within him, aware only that his ship seemed to have abandoned him (and Rose) in his need.

The Doctor recognized the dangerous turn his mind had taken - "that way madness lies" - but he could no more control it than he could control what he had just witnessed on that beach. The universe had seen fit to rip him and Rose apart cruelly, but that wasn't enough. Oh, no. One last glimpse, one last memory, and he had watched as the only remaining dream he had for her crumbled. His precious girl was ill, possibly worse, and he could do nothing. He would never even know. Couldn't get back. Couldn't move forward. His mind started to spiral downward into darkness. His hands crashed to the floor as his body buckled, anguished, terrible cries tearing through his soul and rending the silence.

The seconds ticked by painfully, each lasting an eternity, pain and loss and powerlessness reverberating through his vast Time Lord mind. At the edges of his awareness a song seeped through, softly at first then building as the TARDIS broke her silent vigil. It was her song, Rose's song, that had become so familiar since they had lost her, full of love and loss and heartache. Only now the tune had changed ever-so-slightly - still hers, and yet somehow even more so, for now it rang with the life and love and hope that was Rose, swelling jubilantly around him. Believe. One word carried through to his grief-stricken mind, over and over.

He spun around in confusion and despair. Why was his ship tormenting him like this? Rose was lost to him, perhaps lost forever. In what? he threw back. What was there left to believe in? Perhaps his lovely Time ship was descending into madness with him. Thoughtful of her.

In her. His heart felt a stab of impossible hope at the memory of his own words, thrown defiantly at the beast in that awful pit. If I believe in one thing, just one thing - I believe in her. A sudden burst of golden light filled the room, almost blinding him with its brilliance as the song crescendoed in triumph. Gradually the light began to fade, and the TARDIS' song subsided into a more subdued yet immensely happy thrum.

And there before him, mere feet away, lay the impossible. Rose.

Tears streaked silently down his face as he gaped at the vision before him. If this was madness, he would take it. Her skin still glowed faintly golden. The Doctor watched in fascination and fear as his ship absorbed the swirling energy that had surrounded her. With relief he noted the rise and fall of Rose's chest and he gasped, having temporarily forgotten to breathe himself.

With one swift move he was beside her, pulling her up into his embrace. He was drowning in her, fighting for breath, eyes clouded by tears. He ran his hand lovingly through her hair, cradling her head to his chest, treasuring the soft warm weight of her in his arms, the strong steady pulse of her heart against his. Rassilon, he loved her, and somehow she was here. His impossible little human. A choked sound of relief, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, escaped his throat as he clung to her.

He felt a flutter of movement against his chest as his warm little human nestled even closer to him, and he pulled back abruptly in surprise. Her eyes immediately sought his, hazel eyes meeting brown, their lovely depths bursting with love and joy, yet with a trace of hurt and uncertainty at his retreat. Completely undone, the Doctor chased away any doubt as his lips crashed against hers. Rose returned the kiss eagerly, a glorious dance of lips and tongues and teeth, nibbling and tasting and caressing. Her hands wound blissfully through his already-mussed hair, both sighing at the contact. Gently he pulled back, peppering small kisses across her cheeks, her eyelids, the tip of her nose.

She opened her eyes again, tears pooling there as she looked at him in wonder and delight. She was really, truly here, with him. One cool hand sought her face, gently brushing away the tears that escaped.

"How?" he rasped, his voice rough with emotion.

"Bad Wolf," she whispered reverently. She told him about her strange episodes, watching as fear then anger crossed his lovely face. Rose shivered. Her hand stroked his cheek, bringing him back to the present, to her. He sighed deeply, then turned to press a kiss into her palm, surprising her. She smiled up at him, biting her lip, trying to explain without upsetting him further.

"It was like I didn't belong there. I ached with missing you, but I was really trying to make a life for myself. But that last time, on the beach, it all became so clear. I remembered. I could feel her. A little bit of Bad Wolf, of the Time Vortex, still inside me. And being separated from it, from my connection with the TARDIS, well... my body wasn't handling it very well." Pain and fear flashed in his eyes again as his mind followed that scenario through to its probable outcome. Once the gaps had all been sealed, she would have been cut off completely, would have... He shuddered.

Rose wound her fingers through his, and the Doctor calmed visibly at her touch. It felt so right. She was home. "The TARDIS saved me - that tingling, it had felt so strange and yet so familiar. That was you, wasn't it?" she asked, laying a loving hand against the console. The ship hummed happily beneath her hand, sending her the equivalent of a mental hug. Rose smiled, her eyes once more filling with tears. "Thank you - for helping me, for bringing me back, for letting me say goodbye."

"Ohhh, the song... she was trying to strengthen you through your connection... reaching for you." The pieces clicked together rapidly in his brain - the odd power fluctuations, the hope and desperation he'd heard in the TARDIS' song, the golden energy of the Vortex. "Oh, you wonderful, beautiful, brilliant ship, you. And, about earlier... I'm so sorry," he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck absently. The lights flickered softly in response; she knew.

Suddenly Rose pinned him with her gaze, eyes flashing knowingly. "That's not all I remembered," she said softly, her eyes dark and possessive. He felt thrilled and terrified all at once. "So long ago... when I was Bad Wolf, you kissed me."

"I saved your life - I died to save you," he said defensively, his voice squeaking slightly.

She flinched slightly at that, but wouldn't give up. "Why?" she questioned, her eyes never leaving his, bold yet vulnerable at the same time.

The Doctor took a deep breath. He remembered the regret, the heartache, the devastation he'd felt since he lost her. He'd been given a second chance. "Because, Rose Tyler... I love you. I had to save you, and since I had to go, weelll... it was a dying man's last wish, finally getting to kiss the woman he had secretly loved for so long. Best regeneration ever - dying for love. Quite romantic, really," he declared with a flirtatious grin. His eyes, however, spoke of something deeper, smoldering with an intensity that made her breath hitch.

She pulled him closer in response, wrapping her arms around his neck as her eyes locked with his. "I love you too, my Doctor." She pressed her lips softly against his, claiming him. Returning her kiss, the Doctor proceeded to trail soft kisses along her jaw to her ear, the skin tingling in their wake, before he continued down her neck.

Rose started to tremble, and had just begun to pull him back up to her hungry lips when they heard a startled exclamation from the other side of the console. "Oh!"

The Doctor sprang up, looking adorably flustered and confused, pulling Rose up behind him. They gaped open-mouthed at the belligerent redhead who had materialized before them, decked out in full bridal attire. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"But..."

"Where am I?"

"What?"

"What the hell is this place?"

"What?"

Oh, Rose had missed this - the craziness, the rush of adrenaline, the running, the flirting... except now there was no more doubt. The Doctor loved her. They had stolen brief moments, in the midst of fighting off robot Santas and draining the Thames - moments when their eyes would meet and time would stop, their faces radiant with joy, hardly able to believe that they were both here, together again. They had shared a lovely dance and a glorious snog at Donna's "reception." They never strayed too far from each other, almost always touching somehow, earning many eye rolls from Donna. Not that they noticed. Honestly, it was like traveling with a couple of love-struck teenagers.

Rose reveled in the newfound intimacy of the Doctor's affections - the way he would gently run his thumb across her knuckles when they held hands, how he would casually wrap his arm around her waist and pull her against him, pressing kisses into her hair. Though she was slightly concerned by how fiercely protective of her he was, reminding her of his previous incarnation. They would have to discuss that at some point, because while their relationship had changed, the nature of this life hadn't. It had always been hard, and it would be even more trying now to see each other in danger. They would adapt, though, because they had to. They were a team again, Shiver and Shake, and the universe depended on them.

Rose and Donna had gotten along smashingly, at least after Donna's initial shock and indignation had worn off. Rose secretly delighted in watching Donna take the Doctor to task, and hoped that one day she could convince her to reconsider traveling with them. Might be nice, having another friend on board, she thought, though for now she was more than content for it to be just the Doctor and Rose Tyler again - in the TARDIS, the way it should be.

"You're stuck with me now, you know," Rose teased, grinning down at him. The smell of applegrass drifted on the breeze, the sun bathing them in warmth as they relaxed on the Doctor's outspread coat.

The Doctor still wasn't sure how Rose had managed to return unharmed, even with the TARDIS' help, and he was keeping a watchful eye on the subtle changes he'd noticed in her. She was sleeping less, which for his sleepy little human was significant in itself. She had managed to catch him during an impromptu game of tag in the TARDIS (and had pinned him easily, too, though he had quite enjoyed that). And the test results he'd gathered from her had been puzzling, to say the least. Although still mostly human, Rose's biology appeared to be changing, adapting; he knew that Bad Wolf was responsible, and wasn't sure whether that should inspire fear or hope, or perhaps both. But Rose claimed that she felt better than ever, and for once he refused to let worry consume him. He had gotten her back, and, at least for the moment, the universes were being kind.

He grinned back at her, reaching over to brush a strand of hair from her radiant face. His hearts felt lighter than they had in centuries. "Stuck with you, Rose Tyler, well that's... quite perfect, I think," he replied. And he meant it.