Soft gales whipped around the nearly abandoned beach as the waves gently spread up the damp sand, seagulls flying around the grey, dull sky, waiting for an opportunity to snatch some prey for their pestering offspring. The three of them, they stood on that … forsaken beach, watching as the magical blue police box disappeared from view, slowly but surely.

The Bad Wolf stood incredibly still, staring at the empty spot her old home once stood, desperately willing it to materialise again. She knew this wouldn't work, however this didn't stop her. She stared at the spot for a few long moments, before her attention was dragged else where, down to her recently filled paw.

The Oncoming Storm… the Duplicate took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, making sure she knew he was still there, still by her side. She turned to him, a blank expression on her face. The shape of his hand fit perfectly into hers, like the shape of a jigsaw puzzle, but the feel wasn't quite right.

She attempted to say something, anything. But the words refused to come. They stood like statues for a few minutes, before an intruding voice called, "It's bloody freezing out here! You two can stand there if you wan', I'm getting a taxi," Jackie Tyler wandered off the beach, muttering 'Bloody Norway…' as she went.

The Doctor chuckled lightly at the older woman as she walked, leaving her soon to be fading footprints in the sand. "She's right," he admitted to Rose. "it is quite cold." He looked back at the spot where the TARDIS- the last reminder of his home planet- had vanished. Squeezing her hand again, he asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

Rose gave him a bemused look, an uncertain one. For once, she didn't really know what she felt like. Tired was one of the things she was feeling due to her long day, sadness was another because the long day didn't get her the goal she wanted, and confusion as to why a copy could say something the original couldn't. She gave him a weak smile, squeezing his hand in reply. "I'm always alright."

The Doctor winced at these three little words. It wasn't the best feeling in the world, having this young woman he loved so dearly repeat the phrase he so frequently said. Because he knew what it meant, what she was really saying.

"Is 'all right' special Time Lord Code for really not all right at all?" Donna asked him once, the pair of them leaning against a wall.

"Why?" he replied.

"Because I'm all right, too."

The Doctor grimaced at the thought of his red-headed friend. She had given him so much during their time travelling together. A laugh, a person to argue with every now and then when they both needed it, someone to hold him back before he went too far. He was no idiot. He knew what the meta-crises had cost her; her life. The life she loved. He knew what his Time Lord counter part would have to do, and he was grateful that he didn't have to witness it. He would miss Donna, but he had to do what he always did; move on.

"C'mon," Rose urged. "I don't want to be here any longer then we have to." Nodding in agreement, glad she was ignoring his past words 'always wait five and a half hours', the Doctor followed her up the beach, not allowing her to take her hand away from his. He needed to know she was there, not just some cruel illusion that would vanish if he let his guard down. He'd already felt the pain of that before.

However, half way up the beach, he stopped. There was a buzzing in his mind, a familiar, guilty buzzing that he remembered all too well. He turned quickly, watching as a cloaked figure slowly made their way towards them, a small bundle in their arms. "Look…" the Doctor whispered.

Rose turned quickly, secretly hoping she would look round to see the blue wooden box appear once again, but was slightly disappointed, if not angry, to see who she saw. Ripping her hand away from the Doctor's, she took her place in front of him, a look in her eyes that could match the Oncoming Storm's. "Don't you dare come any closer," Rose growled. "Don't you dare!"

The figure chuckled. "I find it funny that you don't even have to see my face to know it's me." They adjusted what was in their arms to rest on their left arm, lifting the right to pull back the hood, revealing their long known friend; Eliza.

"I'd recognise you anywhere," Rose spat. "Just leave, okay? I don't want to see you."

"I take it you still don't forgive me, then?" Eliza asked cheerfully, smiling happily to try and lighten her friend's mood. In reaction, she only got a glare. "Y'know, you can be really difficult at times."

"Difficult?" Rose demanded. "Difficult?! After what you did, I have a right to be difficult! You took my baby away from me, my little girl, Eliza! Mine and the Doctor's baby girl!" she looked at the Doctor, then remembered that he wasn't really the Doctor, her Doctor that helped make their baby. He looked down at the sand, making small circles in the surface.

"I told you it was necessary," Eliza huffed slightly, adjusting the bundle in her arms. "and I swore to bring her back."

"One year on," Rose spat.

"It hasn't been that long for her," Eliza insisted. "It's only been a few days, three at the max." Rose and Eliza stared each other down for a few seconds before a small noise came from the blankets. A small hand emerged from them, reaching for the chain on Eliza's coat. Taking one of the ends, she gave the small metal chains to the hand, the small fist bringing the end of the chain to its mouth. Eliza looked up at the two now looking at her, Rose, near enough, having tears in her eyes. Taking two steps foreword, she hesitantly drew out her arms. "Give her here."

At first, Eliza was reluctant. Looking down at the chocolate brown eyes, she gave a small smile and sighed, adjusting the baby, readying her for transfer. Slowly, the small, fragile baby was taken from Eliza's secure arms to Rose's. At that point, Rose felt… in all honesty, she didn't know what she felt. Happiness for having her child back, guilty for now preventing her kidnapping, a small amount of awkwardness due to the Doctor peering over her shoulder. The small baby rubbed her eyes, then looked at the two giants looking down on her. "Hello," Rose greeted softly as the brown eyes met with hers. Reaching up, a tiny hand rested on her chin.

"I really am sorry," Eliza said quietly. "For taking her away, and dumping her on you like this," she looked at the Doctor at the last comment. "It's not easy adjusting to a new life, let alone an actual new one," she looked back at Rose, who was still looking down at the bundle. "But I couldn't really think of a better way to bring her back, so… here I am."

"You two comin' or what?" Jackie called from the upper part of the beach. Eliza gave a small wave, not at all surprised when she didn't receive one back. "I'll explain to you on the way back what's going to be needed and stuff," she told them, taking place in front of the others.

The Doctor found he couldn't move, neither could Rose. They stood there for a long few moments, staring down at the baby, her eyes searching their faces silently. Eventually, when the baby had done enough, she moved to nuzzle into Rose's breast, feeling the rhythmic beat of her heart. "C'mon, it's too cold out here," the Doctor muttered, taking his eyes away from the bundle to walk up the beach, where Eliza was attempted to block Jackie slaps, most of them coming through successfully.

"Pete's sendin' a zeppelin over," Jackie grumbled as the other two made their way to the road. "Meanwhile, we've got a taxi to take us to the nearest motel, wherever the bloody hell it is…" she looked to Rose, then to the blanket in her arms, taking note of the small tuffs of hair sticking out. Rose gave Jackie a weak smile, the older woman approaching and taking some of the blanket back, revealing the dozing child. Knowing Rose wasn't going to let the baby out of her arms for a while, she gave a glare to Eliza, then proceeded to wait for the taxi.

The Doctor paced for a small while, once or twice looking over to Rose and their… her child.

"Don't think like that," Eliza chastised. "She's yours, too."

"She's his," the Doctor corrected, shaking his head at her. "Not mine, his."

"Same person, different body," Eliza replied dismissively. "A bit like regeneration."

"You know as well as I do that this is far from regeneration," the Doctor sighed inwardly as the taxi arrived.

"It's not, really," Eliza denied. "Different body, different personality, same memories. Sound like regeneration to me." The Doctor ignored this comment as he clambered into the taxi, Jackie coming in next to him, Rose next to her mother, Eliza sitting with the driver to avoid awkwardness. Instead, she talked to the driver about the upcoming Christmas, even though it was only mid July, as the two women in the backseats talked quietly about what would happen with the baby, leaving the Doctor the watched as the trees sped by, occasionally talking to Eliza.

When they arrived at the motel, Rose and Jackie immediately retreated to their room, the Doctor walking around outside in the small garden the motel provided. Once he'd gone to his room, which was next door to the girl's, and Jackie was fast asleep, Eliza crept into their room, seeing Rose pacing around the room with the bundle in her arms.

"Has she eaten yet?" Eliza asked, making Rose jump a little slightly, quickly rousing the dozing baby. Receiving a cold glare in reply, she added, "Oh, c'mon, Rose. I only asked if she'd had something to eat." Rose shook her head, not replying verbally. Sighing, Eliza reached inside her coat and took out a bag; inside held milk filled bottles, nappy equipment and a small, TARDIS blue blanket. "The milk's fresh."

Eying the bottle carefully, Rose extended her arm for it. "Thank you," she said quietly, surprised to see it was warm. The baby latched into the bottle immediately, taking everything she could. Rose gave a tiny smile. She'd missed out of a whole year of doing this. Feeding her child, clothing her, loving her. It'd all been ripped away before she got the chance to do any of it. Sure, Eliza was sorry for what she did, but that still didn't change the fact that she did it. She'd missed her little girl, and she was never going to let her out of her arms again.

"I'd rethink about that, if I were you," Eliza warned. "I know you mean that hypothetically, I mean, you've only just got her back, but you've got to accept some help."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked as she sat down on her bed.

Eliza gave a small chuckled, replying, "She's half Human, half Time Lord, right? That is going to apply to her habits, too. Take sleeping for example. Time Lords can go for a week, maybe even two, without sleep, whereas humans need it every night. I know she's still a baby now, but she'll only need about three hours of sleep a night, and that need will decrease as she grows."

"I'll be able to handle it," Rose replied stubbornly as the baby continued drinking.

"That's the thing, Rose, you won't," Eliza told her sternly. "You're a human, sleep is more important than food. You need rest."

Rose looked down at her child as she went past the half way mark on her bottle. She shook her head, mumbling, "I won't leave her alone."

"And she wont be alone," Eliza assured. "You're forgetting that she's the Doctor's baby, too, and he's exactly the same as her. He's going to need less sleep, he can watch her." Eliza gave a weak smile when Rose shook her head slowly. "Why not? She's his baby, too."

"He's not," she said quietly. "He's not her dad. The Doctor is, not him."

"Oh, God…" Eliza muttered, running a hand through her hair frustratingly. "Just do what I told him; think of this as regeneration. It did take you a while to accept he was still the Doctor after his first change."

"That's because he was still the Doctor," Rose snapped unintentionally. "He's… not. He's a copy, not the real thing."

"And yet he could tell you something the real Doctor couldn't," Eliza replied reasonably. Rose continued to stare down at her child at that comment, tears bouncing to her eyes. Sitting down on her bed, she took the bottle away, which was now empty, and placed the baby on her knee, gently rubbing her lower back as she held her stomach to stop her from falling foreword. Cringing, Eliza brought out a small flannel from her bag, handing it to Rose. "One, you're doing it wrong," she told her. She took Rose's hand and placed it on the baby's upper back, leading the other one near the small infants throat, placing the flannel around her hand. "And two, you're going to need that- a little more careful," Eliza winced as Rose rubbed the baby's back a little roughly.

Eliza's comment seemed to get to Rose as a few tears streamed down her cheeks. Looking down at the small baby in her arms, she hesitantly lifted her up, looking at Eliza. Taking the hint, Eliza took the flannel and placed it over her own hand, sitting down on the bed and placing the baby on her knee, as Rose had done, patting and rubbing the child on the back, only more gently.

Rose lied down on her bed, taking a deep, long yawn as she watched her child give a small burp. "Why couldn't he say it?" she asked weakly.

"Because he knew you would run after him if he did," Eliza replied. "He knew about this one," she gestured the baby. "That's no life for him, or the child, and you know that. You'll grow old, he'll stay young and eventually regenerate. He'd have to watched you and his child and even his grand children die slowly, and it would break him into millions of tiny little pieces," she took a low breath as the baby gave a long yawn, but her eyes still flittering around the room in curiosity. "It's so much easier this way. He's giving you something he could never have; life on the slow path. I know you don't like it, but you'd better get used to it. It's not just you or the Doctor you have to think about now, right?"

Rose gave a small nod, her eye lids drooping, finally snapping to a close after a full five minutes. Eliza smiled lightly, picking the baby up so she was cuddled in her arms, looking up at her. "Y'know, you're not as cute as you think you are," Eliza told the young infant. The baby gave a light chuckle, something a normal human baby wouldn't be able to do at only three days old. "Don't give me all that," Eliza scoffed. "You think you're the most adorable thing in the world. Look at you. Too much hair, chubby cheeks and no teeth. Ask yourself something; is that the recipe of cuteness?" In reply, all the baby did was gurgle, giving another yawn and continuing to look up at her kidnaper. "Yeah, okay," Eliza laughed.