A/N: Here we are again ;) As usual, if you haven't already read any of the other stories in the Stars Aligned series, then TURN BACK NOW. Read those first to know exactly what's going on.

Now, considering that the Year That Never Was left a mark on both the Doctor and Rose, they have a bunch of healing to go through. While I didn't feel the need to go in depth with it, I summarized it all in this prologue.

This story will take place a year after Of Cruises and Christmas. I thought that would be a fair amount of time for the both of them. 'Course you can never keep track of time in the TARDIS, but whatever. Sorry this is waaaaay shorter than my usual chapters, but prologues aren't usually that long.

Okay, enough of my trap. Here it is. :)

Prologue: The Road So Far

It's been said that time heals all wounds. That's not always the case though. They still exist no matter how much time passes by, always remained in the mind, beneath the skin covered by scar tissue, lessening the pain. But they were still there.

Even then, it didn't matter. Part of the healing process was to go through it with someone that cared. Someone who would be there with you through the good, the bad, and all of the bits in between.

A little over a year had passed as the Doctor and Rose took a well deserved break from the hectic life they knew all too well, traveling lightly across the stars. Considering the universe was always in constant need of saving from the cynic wrongdoers residing from the vast galaxies and civilizations all over, there were times where it was in no need of saving, times where there was only peace and quiet without any kind of disturbances. So they chose to lay low and stay at the Christmas planet Noel for a week, cheerfully enjoying themselves without a worry in the world, enjoying the other's warmth and company just as they always would, where the only bad thing that could happen is not being able to require the rich hot maxa-chocolate that became their trademark.

Once the week had passed they were a little reluctant to say the least to leave, considering that the last time they visited the planet then left a storm was in their wake and nearly tore both of them worlds apart. As if they wanted to deal with that again. But that was the universe and what it did best; to slam everything at them in hopes of ripping them from each other's arms, but failing as they remained in their rightful place. So they decided to run back across the stars, to see what else lay before them at their fingertips. So many precious seconds and minutes and hours that could have been used for those moments of passion and tender care were wasted during their separate ordeals, and they were making up for loss time.

Of course nothing is ever simple with their lives as the nightmares lingered for quite some time. Something they couldn't run away from in their year of recuperation. At least in the beginning. Sleeping wasn't much of an issue for them at first. The dreams were still pleasant, images and scenes of calmness and buoyancy. However, every now and then something restless would permeate their minds, painfully reminding them of the unwanted memories that happened to each of then during their time in Hell.

Nightmarish scenes of their imprisonment during a time period they could only wish were obliterated from their minds haunted them—a year for him, and a year and a half for her—two separate periods of time filled with pain, bitterness, anguish, misery, and absolute mayhem of isolated and traumatic tribulations. The fresh new wounds of the Year That Never Was, though they tried to mask the bulk of the grief, scarred them. Yes, they were healing by each other's mutual methods of remedial love, but beneath the sutures the scars remained. Granted the pain was nowhere near as bad as the suffering they dealt with firsthand through their incarcerations, much to their relief. Only taking a couple steps back after taking one forward.

It had seemed that their last adventure on an ill-fated ship named after the infamous Earth vessel Titanic had triggered their suppressed grief, threatening to break them down.

The Doctor was more prone to the nightmares, which wasn't much of a surprise as his lovely old friend that was the darkness always hung around, waiting to give him the unwelcomed company. Images of his wife being poked and prodded with instruments of torture, unceremoniously being used as a canvas for tasteless and nauseating works of art that only boiled his blood at the now fallen man who had done such sickening things. Then came the painful images of her slain body tarnished by gunfire, something he knew he would never forget for the rest of his long lives, that would be forever burned into his memory. Constant torture that haunted him during that whole reversed year, plaguing him with painful reminders. Subsequently he would shut himself off through their bond, not wanting to disturb Rose with those reels as she was dealing with her own trauma.

Old habits do die hard, and when they become part of another person close to you, they become harder to get rid of. And that was the main situation with Rose. She may have been showing her strength by disclosing her suffering, but in times it bled through. Much like her husband she kept everything bottled up inside, telling him she was fine whereas the effects were rippling inside of her. And that's what they were: ripple effects displaying scenes that she saw when she was alive, taken as a hostage and tormented with psychological lies and various tools used to mark her skin with tokens of her time in her cells. Then came the ones she herself may not have seen, but were witnessed by the Bad Wolf. The universal enslavement, the slaughtering of humans as creatures sliced through them as if their skin were made of paper, every horrid image seen by the entity that was a part of her during a year that was erased from existence.

Whenever one would whimper in their sleep, cry out the other's name almost in a desperate attempt to save them from the nightmare that came to them, the other was always quick to reassure their safety and confirm their presence, holding each other close for solace. Once their shuddering bodies calmed the one would apologize for disturbing the other, but neither one of them cared. Comforting each other in their times of need was the number one priority for both of them, chasing away the monsters and the demons that crept inside of them and tried to claw their way out to the surface.

Through the constant internal battles, though, were those warm and tender reassurances that were always more than welcomed and gladly accepted on each receiving end. When it was just them in their own little world. Together. Where no outside source could break through and taint their walls. When they were just being their selves; joking, teasing, laughing, smiling, sharing those passionate moments filled with long and lingering kisses, savoring every inch of each other's bodies with the slightest touch whether it be physically or mentally, cradling each other in their protective arms, enveloping them in their warmth and love and everything that defined them.

And in that time nothing fought their way through. The demons, while still lurking in the shadows, backed away. The echoes had silenced. The nightmares that once plagued their minds dispersed altogether. Sure, once in a while one could leak through the cracks of their conscience, but it didn't take long for it scurry back into some corner, out of sight. If one of them were lost at sea the other would call their name, reach their hand out and carry them away from the darkness, keeping their sanity intact when it seemed all was lost for even the briefest second. And soon enough the nightmares eased up completely, and they soothed each other and returned to their normal selves. Their normal carefree selves.

Yes, the pain was still there, and they knew it. Acknowledged it. It would always be there, and they knew that. Those scars, while healing, still remained and would probably ache again some time in the future. But as they've said to each other through the darkest of times, they were strong. As long as they had each other then they'd always believe to be alright, no matter what ordeals they trudge through. Through the shadows that cast over them they burned bright, lighting the way for the other and lead them away from the troubles that haunt them. That was all that mattered.

And they knew the moment they would step foot back on planet Earth something else would be coming in their life. Even if it were things that were just a bit unexpected.

Again, sorry for the length. I'll post the next chapter either tomorrow or the next day. I personally like to be ahead of myself in the story, and I'm working on chapter four at the moment. Just my system, and I'm adamant about sticking to it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this opening for now. I promise there won't be a long wait for the next chapter. And I guarantee future chapters will never be this short :)