Well, here we are, you and me on the last page :) This is the last chapter of this story. I've enjoyed writing it and sharing with it you and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. If you havent reviewed yet, let me know what you thought of the story :) And keep an eye out for more Rose/9 stories coming from me!

The Doctor awoke to a pounding in his head. At first he didn't want to open his eyes; he felt so wonderfully warm and relaxed other than his head. But then he caught a scent, one that was sweet and light and the press of a warm body and he opened his eyes. He was in Rose's bed, lying next to her peacefully sleeping form. Completely content to stay here, the Doctor closed his eyes again and put his arms around Rose, pulling her close to him, sighing as he felt her back press into his chest.

"Watch the hands, mate"

The Doctor's eyes popped open at the sound of Jackie's voice so close to him. When he looked, he could see Jackie, red rimmed and sleep deprived eyes staring at him from her chair next to the bed. She sipped coffee slowly, giving him a warning look but her small smile made it much less threatening. The Doctor sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed to put a respectable distance between himself and Rose though it was the last thing that he wanted to do.

"What…..what happened?" The Doctor asked, rubbing his eyes. His memory was fuzzy because he certainly didn't remember going to sleep with Rose.

"You tell me" Jackie said with a shrug. "You put your hands on Rose's head and then you two stayed like for hours. I couldn't say or do anything to make you move, though I didn't really try. I figured you knew what you were doing. After a long time of just sitting there, you two fell over, fast asleep. "She pointed a finger at him. "I left you there because you looked spent. Don't get comfortable sleeping in here"

The Doctor rubbed his head, it all coming back to him slowly. The bond, being inside Rose's head as he guided her toward her memories. The last thing he saw was her going toward her memory…..she must have remembered…

"She's going to remember!" The Doctor said happily to Jackie.

Jackie's eyes widened. "She is? How do you know?" she asked in excitement.

"I helped her…well, it was really all her "The Doctor said, looking at Rose in awe. "She did beautifully…I don't even know how she managed it! Humans usually can't do any of it but she's amazing!" The Doctor was becoming consumed with excitement.

"Oi! What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"Telepathy" the Doctor said excitedly. " Humans cant usually communicate by their minds but Rose is so amazing she managed it! That's how she did it!"

Jackie looked wary of the whole concept of telepathy but he was too excited about Rose's memory to worry. "She's really okay?" she asked, her voice sounding oddly small.

"She's going to be fantastic!" The Doctor said, bursting with excitement. He turned toward Rose and shook her awake, too eager to wait for her to wake on her own.

Rose jumped and looked wary for a moment, wakened so suddenly. She squinted at Jackie, seeing her directly in her path of vision. "Mum?" she asked, her voice heavy from sleep.

"I'm right here, sweetie" Jackie said, leaning forward eagerly and taking her hand, hopefully. "Are you okay?"

Rose rubbed her eyes and looked around, spotting the Doctor a few feet from her. She studied him for several seconds, her eyes full of emotion. She was looking at him like she saw him…..saw the real him. "Doctor?" she said, her voice trembling slightly.

The Doctor felt his hearts burst with hope; she remembered him! "I'm right here, Rose" the Doctor said, taking the hand that Jackie didn't hold. "How are you feeling?"

Rose looked from the Doctor to Jackie, smiling and looking at them like she couldn't believe they were both there; he was sure that they were looking at her like she couldn't quite be believed to exist. "I've got a bloody awful headache" Rose said, her voice slightly hoarse. "But…..but…its different"

"How's…how's your memory?" the Doctor asked.

Rose smiled. "I remember everything about you, you daft alien" she said, looking tired but happy.

"You do?" the Doctor asked. He never understood people shedding tears from happiness but in that moment, he understood it a little better.

"Course I do" Rose said. "You were there…you saw it"

Jackie looked at Rose curiously. "So…you can like, read minds now?" she asked. She was doing a good job hiding her alarm but the Doctor could see it.

"No" Rose said with a laugh. "I can't read your mind, Mum"

"Well…..be grateful for that" Jackie joked with a laugh.

Rose laughed as she looked at Jackie and then she turned her gaze to the Doctor. "It's really good to have you back" The Doctor said as he gazed at Rose in awe. Somehow, she had beaten the odds and gotten her memory back. He didn't believe any other human could. But Rose…..Rose was different.

Rose leaned up, putting one arm around Jackie and the other around the Doctor, hugging them. "I'm so glad to be back…I missed you guys" she said, her voice strong as she held onto them. The Doctor felt a tear on his neck but he pretended that he didn't.

….

After a long time of trying to convince Jackie and the Doctor that she was alright, Rose managed to get out of bed. Though her head hurt, she didn't want to stay in bed and have the two of them hover over her. She felt, in most respects, as good as she ever had and she didn't want to be coddled in bed. As it was, Jackie insisted on making a huge breakfast for the three of them and insisted that she and the Doctor rest while she prepared it ("Not in the bedroom….on the couch where I can see you two!"). Rose lay on the couch curled up to the Doctor who must have been exhausted because he had actually Jackie's offer of some pyjamas to put on; Rose had to laugh when she saw the Doctor emerge from the bathroom in a battered Star Wars shirt and sweatpants though she managed to hide most of her snicker behind her hand. The Doctor nodded off twice while Jackie was cooking, though he pretended both times that he hadn't. She knew he was exhausted; she was too. The travel through her mind had been exhausting on them both. After eating a huge breakfast, Jackie and the Doctor had passed out on separate chairs in front of the telly. Rose had taken some pain medicine for her headache and was feeling drowsy as she walked over to the Doctor.

She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so completely and totally beautiful. He'd probably shudder if he heard her call him that but that was what he was. It was true that when you got to know a person, beauty really became them; and Rose had found, these past few weeks more than ever, that the Doctor was beautiful. Rose watched the Doctor's chest rise and fall as he slept, his strong arms crossed over his chest; funny, that she had never really seen his arms under all that leather and jumpers. His face was relaxed, his sleep peaceful; she almost hated waking him from such a peaceful slumber.

Almost…..Rose leaned over and placed a gentle, chaste kiss to the Doctor's lips. Her heart jumped in her chest, remembering the last of their kisses that were not at all innocent. The Doctor would waken without the slightest provocation and this was no difference. She was just lifting up when his eyes popped open and met hers. A warm, entirely too wide and undeserved smile spread across his face.

"Morning" he said, his voice husky from sleep, running a maddening tongue along his lips.

"More like afternoon, sleepyhead" Rose joked.

The Doctor smiled. "You should be asleep" he said.

"I was thinking it would be more comfortable to sleep in my bed" Rose said with a teasing smile.

"Well…..then off you go" The Doctor said, running a hand along her cheek. "Off to bed, Miss Tyler"

"I thought it might be better with you" Rose said, her tongue peeking out from between her teeth.

The Doctor started to smile goofily and then tried to suppress it. "Do you want Jackie to slap me into my next regeneration?" he asked with a laugh.

Rose felt her cheeks deepen but she couldn't stop smiling. "Mum is asleep" she said cheekily, putting out her hand for the Doctor to take. Though it was odd, this open flirting with the Doctor and yet somehow it felt right too.

The Doctor looked like he was debating the potential risk and reward for several seconds before taking her hand and allowing Rose to lead the way past a sleeping Jackie and to Rose's bedroom.

Rose let the Doctor walk into the room before her, closing the door behind them. She locked the door for good measure; no reason to give Jackie an invitation again. When Rose walked over to her bed she saw the Doctor standing on the opposite side, watching her uncertain. Rose felt her stomach squirm; where exactly had she been going with this? It seemed a little more awkward now that they were in here than in there. She had to remind herself that while she was in a different frame of mine than she had been last night on the couch, the Doctor was not. He had kissed her the way he had knowing full well the truth. The thought gave Rose the courage to slip under the covers of the bed, patting the spot next to her. The Doctor smiled goofily, this time not hiding it, as he pulled the covers back in the bed and slid in next to her. Rose turned on her side, looking at him as he turned on his side. Rose felt her heart skip when the Doctor's bare foot rubbed up against hers under the covers.

"I'm so glad you're back" The Doctor said, his voice barely a whisper as his icy blue eyes stared into her own. He reached his hand up to her cheek, running his thumb along her skin. "I was…so…..worried…..about you"

Rose swallowed hard as the memory of the past few weeks came back. She'd been terrified, thinking her memory would never come back, not knowing her own self. The Doctor had put on a brave face but now she could see how scared he'd been. He'd been just as worried she wouldn't remember. She could only imagine where his mind had gone in those long weeks and yet he hadn't taken off. He had not abandoned her.

Rose hooked her leg around the Doctor's, pulling him close to her so that he was pressed against her. It suddenly seemed important to be even closer to him right now. "Me too…..it was like I was lost in my own head" Rose admitted. "I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. I didn't even know who I was. " Rose reached her hands up to cup the Doctor's face. "I didn't know you…..I knew you were special but I wanted to know so badly who you were"

"I knew you'd come back to me…..I just knew it" The Doctor said. His hand ran through her hair, running over her forehead. Rose felt a tremble of sensation at the small movement; it was too much to be simply normal touch and something about it felt…..different. Rose sighed.

Fear, happiness and longing mixed in Rose so strong that she felt like she was about to burst. "What if I didn't?" Rose asked. "Didn't it ever occur to you that I might not remember? What would you have done then?"

The Doctor looked like the thought alone pained him; his fingers were still sliding along her head and it was nearly her undoing. She could feel tinging in her toes as if even they were bursting with energy. "I would have stayed" the Doctor said. "I would have stayed until you remembered…..no matter how long that took"

Rose couldn't believe it; the Doctor who saved whole worlds, who rescued entire civilizations would have stayed with her on Earth? "But the TARDIS…..the traveling…you don't do domestics. This isn't your home" Rose said.

The Doctor smiled, looking at her as if she had said something spectacular. "You really don't know, do you?" he asked.

"Don't know what?" Rose asked, feeling her heart speed up because the small space between her and the Doctor was rapidly closing.

The Doctor put his forehead on Rose's and the tingling from the contact was running through her whole body; her very mind seemed to ache for something she couldn't place. Her breath had still as her eyes stared into the ones that were less than inch from her own. "I love you, Rose Tyler" The Doctor said, his smiling beaming from ear to ear.

Before Rose could formulate a response, the Doctor captured her lips with his. The Doctor's hand wound through her hair, feeling burning wherever it touched. Rose's lips were still for a moment before they began to match the quick pace of the Doctor's, her tongue searching his open mouth. Her heart was beating inside her chest so quick she was sure that it was going to escape her. The fire that burned in her the previous night was awake and growing with quick speed. As the Doctor's hands tangled in her hair, her hands moved from his face to his ears, stroking from the top to the bottom, tugging on the lobs gently. She remembered it had yielded good results last night and she was not disappointed. The Doctor moved closer to her so that he was mostly on top of her, a moan escaping his mouth and muffled by hers. Rose smiled against his lips; she had wondered, many times, too many times about the secret spots that would make him melt. She was sure that this was only one of many that she would happily discover.

The Doctor had said that he loved her; they were words that she had thought that she would never hear. Until a very short time ago, she had not known she loved him. Sure, she'd had plenty of indecent thoughts but as far as genuine love, she hadn't truly realized that until he had sent her back. The despair and the heartache she felt at that thought she would never see him again, never step foot on the TARDIS, never leave the Earth with her hand around a very strong and very alien hand was nearly enough to break her soul in two. She hadn't known ahead of time that the time vortex could hurt her, kill her even. Had she known that, it wouldn't have made a difference. Life on Earth without him, without traveling, without saving worlds and helping people was not worth living. But never had she expected him to feel that way.

Rose was spurned on, gripping the Doctor tighter, her movements becoming more desperate. She was lost in an in depth exploration of his mouth, his hands on her head when suddenly something happened that she didn't expect. Her head was filled with a light; it was like the light that she had experienced when she was looking for her memory only this one wasn't hers, that much she knew. Instead of bright yellow and warm, it was deep orange with flecks of red and black and it burned like fire. It didn't hurt; it enveloped her and she wanted to let it.

Rose jerked back unexpectedly, breaking the kiss and her contact with the Doctor. His hands were still around her, but he leaned up enough so that he could look at her properly. "What was that?" Rose asked, biting her swollen lips, her heart racing. Whatever it was, she knew it hadn't lasted nearly long enough and she wanted it back.

The Doctor's cheeks blushed deeply, a smile on his face. "That was me" he said, his breath labored. "That was my mind. I didn't mean to…..it just sort of happened. That can happen when things get…..heated."

Rose was confused; though she knew that the Doctor had used telepathic abilities to help her gain her memory back, she hadn't really given thought to what else it might be able to do. "But….what was it?" Rose asked. Her hand was knotting in his shirt, holding on because everything felt so sensitive and charged.

"Time lords are telepaths" the Doctor said, "When my people were still around we communicated through our minds quite frequently. But there were also deeper, more personal connections that we reserved for only the people closest to us. Through that you could see a person's thoughts, feel their emotions…..you could really know them on the personal and intimate level. Humans, I thought, weren't capable of doing that. I've never yet met a human who had any telepathic abilities. But you Rose…you are something quite special"

Rose could feel her cheeks, which were already hot from the encounter, grow warmer. "Special? What's so special?" she asked, unused to this lavish praise but enjoying it.

"The techniques I used to help you get your memory back wouldn't even work on most people" The Doctor explained. "And that was a passive telepathic experience. It didn't require your mind to do any of the work. But you, Rose, are capable of not only being able to tolerate telepathic touch from the outside. You can also give it…..you can touch me back"

Rose smiled as all of the connotations of the word 'touch' came to find. "Good….I want to be able to….touch….you back" she said. "How do you know I can?"

"You already did it once" The Doctor admitted "On accident, I think."

"I did?" Rose asked, surprised she was capable of it.

"When we were working on your memory once, your mind strayed into mind and grazed it, just barely but I know from that the potential is there" The Doctor said.

Rose's hands traveled up and down the Doctor's back, slipping under the back of his t-shirt so her skin could touch his. Even though his body was pressed against hers, she still needed to feel him more; she could tell that this sharing of their thoughts was not something to be taken lightly and discussing it seemed so intimate. "So…..what's it mean?" Rose asked. "We can look inside each other's heads if we want to?"

"It's kind of a lot more than that" The Doctor said, shifting so he was lying beside Rose, much to her dismay. "We will have a mental connection with each other the more that we experiment with it. It'll grow stronger until we won't just want to do it…..we'll need to connect with each other. I can….already kind of feel it"

Rose looked at the Doctor who seemed a bit sheepish at admitting it but all Rose could do was smile; she liked the idea of the Doctor needing her. She couldn't see what the problem with it would be; but she knew him and she knew that he probably didn't view dependency of any kind a good thing. "Isn't that a good thing?" Rose asked cautiously, her fingers running along his chest, watching her own movements to prevent having to look at him for fear of what she would see in his eyes.

"Yeah, it is…." The Doctor said thoughtfully. "I just don't know what it will mean for us, since you're human. With time lords, we could create a unbreakable bond, one that meant that once it was created, the two people would always need each other. It was not something that was ever done lightly. That could happen with us…..or…..maybe not. I don't really know what will happen since this is different than what I'm used to. But before we explore it, I just wanted you to know what could happen"

"Afraid of playing around in case you can't get rid of me?" Rose teased. She made a joke because it seemed too serious and though she wasn't afraid what could happen, she was worried he might be. She had already made up her mind that traveling with the Doctor was the only life she was going to want as long as she lived.

When Rose looked up, she was expecting to see the Doctor smiling at her joke but he wasn't. His face was serious and still. "I don't want to get rid you…..not ever" he said, his voice never sounding as serious as it did not. It made her heart jump just as much as when he told her he loved her because this was the same thing. He didn't want to get rid of her; he didn't want to leave her. He wanted to hold onto her as much as she did.

"Well…..then what's the problem?" Rose asked, forcing her voice to not shake. "Cause I know it can't possibly be that you're afraid of me wanting to leave" Rose let her eyes meet the Doctor's, knowing that was exactly the reason for his hesitancy. "You sent me away on Satellite 5 and I came back like a bad penny. We won't be doing that again." Rose joked. Her hand went to the Doctor's cheek and she knew it shook. She was surprised and pleased when the Doctor leaned in and kissed her. This one was long and slow, full of meaning but barely veiled passion. When he pulled back, he was smiling and Rose couldn't stop the words from coming out.

"I love you, Doctor" Though she hadn't intended to say it right at that moment, she was glad that she did. The Doctor had already said it and if he wasn't too afraid, there was no reason for her to be.

The Doctor put his hand on Rose's cheek and his forehead against hers so that she felt that anticipation that she now knew had something to do with the mental energy between them. "How did a daft, old mental alien like me get lucky enough to hear those words coming from an amazing, beautiful, wonderful human girl?" The Doctor asked, looking at Rose like she held the world in her hands. She didn't know how he could, with all of time and space at his hands, look at her that way.

Rose turned in bed so that she was lying on top of the Doctor, looking down at his growing grin. "Well, I don't know, but I guess you'll just have to consider yourself very lucky" Rose teased.

The Doctor gazed up at Rose. "Oh, I consider myself very lucky" he said, his voice husky and low, launching Rose's desire into overdrive.

The Doctor pulled Rose down so that their foreheads touched again. The Doctor ran his fingers along her temples and forehead, anywhere he could touch and Rose felt her toes tingle and curl. Even her mind seemed to tingle, a new but not at all unpleasant feeling. "I hope you're planning on doing some experimenting right now" Rose said, her voice low and giving her desire away.

The Doctor laughed. "Experimenting…..hmm…..yeah I think we can arrange some experimenting" he teased.

Rose felt her mind opened and consumed by the Doctor's; never had she felt such a sense of love and wellbeing fill her. She didn't know how long it lasted but she was sure that afternoon turned into evening long before she came back to Earth, falling slowly from that place of bright ecstasy and back to her own self, every inch of her body and mind tingly and delighted in a way that she had never known.

….

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Jackie fretted, holding on to Rose after she had hugged her.

"Mum, I'm fine" Rose insisted, the cold January wind blowing her hair around and cutting into her skin. She was ready to get into the warmth of the TARDIS and yet reluctant to leave Jackie as well.

"Can't you stay? Just for a little while longer?" Jackie pleaded.

Rose smiled. "We stayed for Christmas and we stayed for New Year's. If we stay much longer that one might go crazy" Rose gestured toward the Doctor leaning against the TARDIS waiting on her. They had been hanging around the Tyler flat for a few weeks after Rose regained her memory and while it had been nice to spend the holidays with her Mum, Rose was ready to get back to traveling. She knew the Doctor had to be going stir crazy by now. She was surprised he was really doing this well.

"Oh, he's already crazy" Jackie teased, making Rose laugh. "But I know you two. Can't stay still long"

Rose gave Jackie another hug. "I really am doing alright, you know? I'll be fine" she said, pulling back to look at Jackie. She looked worried but she was trying hard to hide it.

"I was so worried about you Rose" Jackie said, letting down her barriers down. "I thought…..I thought you might have died when me and Mickey sent you off. Then you come back…..the Doctor was holding you and I thought you were dead"

Rose could see Jackie was close to tears and gave her a brave smile. "But he saved me, Mum. He always does and he always will" she said confidently.

"I know…..I've got to hand it to him" Jackie admitted reluctantly. "He has watched over you well. I honestly expected him to take off"

"Mum! That's not like him" Rose chided. She felt a sense of relief knowing for certain now that he wouldn't leave. After him sending her away on Satellite 5 it would have been easy to worry that he might. But it was not a worry that she had any longer.

"Well…..I suppose not" Jackie said, giving the Doctor a suspicious look, then her face softened. "He brought you back to us and I'll give him that"

"I would definitely say that credit goes to him. I wouldn't have made it back without him" Rose admitted.

"And you're sure you're not…..like a mind reader or something now?" Jackie asked, looking at Rose strangely.

Rose laughed. "I told you, it's nothing like that" she said. Jackie had seemed so alarmed by the Doctor and her telepathic connection to bring her back Rose felt the need to leave out any discussion of their new found telepathic connection. Besides, it was extremely private.

"Well, good" Jackie said, giving the Doctor a critical gaze. "That's all a bit creepy, that is"

"Hey, it got me back didn't it?" Rose asked. It had started to snow, the flakes landing on her face and melting.

"Yes, he did" Jackie said, looking grateful as she gave Rose another hug. When she pulled back, she was giving Rose a curious look. "So tell me, Rose, before you go running off, what is the deal with you and him now"

"What do you mean? There is no deal" Rose lied horribly, grinning like an idiot. The Doctor and she had done well to hide the budding whatever it was that they were beginning to have, reserving most of it for the hours when Jackie was asleep. But Rose knew that Jackie wasn't stupid and she could see that things were different between them.

"Yeah right there's nothing there" Jackie said with a knowing smile. "I've seen the two of you, all cheesy grins and stolen looks. And I won't soon forget about that living room incident"

Rose laughed, feeling her face turn red. "Well….maybe something's there" she admitted.

"I'm happy if you're happy" Jackie said. "Just be careful, keep that alien in line. And don't forget to call. Don't just drop by in with some alien grandchildren one day"

"Mum!" Rose said, embarrassment flaming her cheeks. She was glad the Doctor was far out of earshot; at least she thought he was far enough away that he couldn't hear.

"Oh, you know I'm just teasing" Jackie said with a smile. The snow and the wind increased and Jackie pulled her jacket tighter around her. "You better get going, your ride's libel to leave you"

Rose turned to look at the Doctor who was pacing around as if he was getting antsy. Rose gave Jackie a hug. "Love you, Mum. I'll talk to you soon"

"Love you too, sweetie" Jackie said before Rose jogged off toward the TARDIS and the waiting Doctor.

When Rose burst through the door of the TARDIS, she was greeted by a wonderful blast of warm air on her frozen skin as she left the London winter. She was just about to demand that their next destination be somewhere completely warm and beautiful when she found herself being pressed against the TARDIS doors, the Doctor's lips meeting her own. Completely okay with this eager time lord, Rose kissed the Doctor back, slow and deep for several minuet before they eventually pulled apart. Now having crossed a bridge in their physical relationship, Rose wondered how the Doctor had ever had such good self-control. Now that he was more comfortable with her she was finding he was surprisingly affectionate.

"Well, isn't that quite a welcome back" Rose asked cheekily, running her tongue along her lip as the Doctor pulled back and gave her a smile.

"I thought Jackie was going to keep you all day" The Doctor said, happiness and eagerness in his eyes. He began to run towards the console. "And I have a couple of wonderful destinations I want to show you. Forget January cold in London, we're looking for heat! And sun! And there's this….."

The Doctor kept rattling on about their new exciting destinations, but Rose couldn't hear him. She could see him over by the console, pumping on the levers with extreme vigor but she couldn't hear a word of what he was saying. She felt like she was in a bubble, where the events around her were going on but she couldn't participate. Her mind, her thoughts were suspended in a world all their own.

Love…she felt so much love and protection and care. Since she had spent so much time in the Doctor's head and his in hers, she knew this had something to do with telepathic touch but other than she didn't know quite what it was. She felt love like she had never known, a love that seemed to exist before she was born and extend to long after she was gone. She felt protection in the way of all the good things she'd ever known; it felt like her Mum hugging her when she was a child, it felt like bedtime stories and reassurances when she was scared. It wrapped around her like the Doctor's arms when she was in trouble and he came to help her.

When it ended, she found she was on her knees on the console room floor, the Doctor kneeling next to her, looking alarmed. "Rose! Can't you hear me?" the Doctor asked in alarm.

Rose looked up, realizing that she had tears on her cheek and brushed them away. "What was that?" Rose asked, her voice broken with emotion.

"What? What happened?" the Doctor asked.

"You didn't feel that?" Rose asked, disbelief showing through her tone because she couldn't imagine how he hadn't felt that. If it had existed, even in her head, he couldn't imagine how anyone couldn't have felt it it was so strong.

"I didn't feel anything" The Doctor said, "I was just driving the TARDIS and when I looked back at you you were in some sort of daze"

"I felt something in my head…..but I know it wasn't you. But it was telepathic, I know that" Rose said.

The Doctor looked alarmed. "You felt something in your head? What did it feel like?"

Rose paused, remembering the emotions and how strongly they felt inside of her. "Love…..so much love" she said, her voice cracking again.

The Doctor looked relieved. "Love?" he asked.

Rose sniffled, wiping away and errant tear. "It was love like I've never felt. Like I've always been loved and always will be. And I felt so protected….as if nothing could ever happen to me, like I had nothing to be afraid of."

The Doctor gave her a beaming smile. "I think I know what you were feeling. I wondered if this might happen" he said, looking extremely pleased.

"Could you clue me in then? I'd love to know what is inside my head" Rose said with a frantic laugh.

"Rose, the TARDIS is a telepathic being" The Doctor explained. "Now that your mind is attuned to telepathic touch, you can feel her too" He looked like he was beaming with excitement; Rose could feel his happiness gently. It was a new part of their telepathic relationship that she was starting to sense what he was feeling and she enjoyed it; sometimes he could be hard to read. This was not one of those times.

"You mean what I felt was the TARDIS trying to communicate with me?" Rose asked in awe. She had wondered why in the past that the Doctor seemed to emotionally connected to the TARDIS, sometimes alarmingly so. If he could communicate with the TARDIS like he and Rose were starting to communicate, the way that the TARDIS had just spoke to her, she could understand. In just a few short minuets her feelings for the ship and increased more than she could have imagined.

"Yes" The Doctor said grinning.

"It was so…..so powerful" Rose said, finally managing to catch her breath. "I…..I never expected…."

"Oi, old girl…..go easy on her. She's new at this" The Doctor said to the ship.

Rose could instantly feel the TARDIS again, but this time it was much calmer and easier to take. It was like a warm, gentle hug around her mind. "That's alright" Rose said with a laugh. "She didn't hurt me. I just didn't expect her to…..to….."

"You didn't expect her to love you?" The Doctor asked in surprise.

"Well…..no" Rose admitted. Until right this moment she didn't expect that the TARDIS had any feelings. She had greatly underestimated the ship.

"Of course she loves you" The Doctor said, his eyes alight. "She's loved you the entire time. You stared into the time vortex; you shared something with her no one else has. It's made a huge connection between you two." The Doctor stood up and held out his hand toward Rose. "Come on, she has missed you so much"

Rose felt excitement bubble up inside of her as the Doctor led her toward the console. "She has?" she asked.

"Yeah" The Doctor said, glancing down and away from her eyes. "We both have"

Rose reached across the console and grabbed the Doctor's hand giving it a squeeze. "Well, I'm glad to be back with both of you" she said. The Doctor looked up at her, smiling and Rose could feel both his and the TARDIS' relief that she was once again back with them where she belonged.

The Doctor held her gaze for a long time before he let go of her hand and said, "Alright! Now….I've got quite a destination planned for the two of us" There was a twinkle in his blue eyes.

Rose felt her excitement. "Oh really, where are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise and you're driving" The Doctor said, walking up behind her.

"Driving? How I am supposed to drive?" Rose asked. She looked down at the numerous buttons and switches on the console and while they didn't make sense to her, she felt gentle nudges toward certain buttons as if she was supposed to press them.

The Doctor stood behind Rose, putting his hands on Rose's and guiding. "I'll help you" he said, his voice close to her ear. "And the TARDIS will help you. She'll teach you what you need to do"

Rose opened her mind, calming it and searching for the feel of something coming toward her mind. Almost instantly, Rose felt the TARDIS press into her mind, showing her which buttons to press and the Doctor's mind close behind it, encouraging her as she did so. Rose was amazed that she had lived so long without feeling what she could feel now. She knew that even though she had forgotten where she was supposed to be for a little while, she was right where she needed to be now; Rose and the Doctor in the TARDIS.

Just as it should be….