Pink and Yellow Roses

The Doctor sat in the TARDIS, thinking of what new adventure he could whisk Amy and Rory off to next. He was so fond of those two and thought they made the cutest couple. Oh, he couldn't wait until they had kids of their own. Cute, little kids… Well, on Amy's side anyway.

He sighed, fixing his bowtie as he realized it was lopsided just a tad.

"Where to next, where to next?" He kept asking himself. "Maybe I'll ask Amy and Rory once they come back."

They had stopped in London so they could each get a little shopping done. The Doctor refused when they had invited him. He had more than enough thanks to the TARDIS. He patted the console lovingly.

He looked up when the doors opened, and Amy and Rory came in.

Amy was wearing a new pair of black jeans and red shirt while Rory sported a new flannel and jeans.

"Just show it to me!" Amy yelled.

"Not yet," Rory told her. "Just be patient."

"What is it?" The Doctor asked looking from one to the other.

"Rory bought something, and he won't show me," Amy pouted, crossing her arms.

Rory laughed at her childish expression. "Let me put down the bags." He placed the many bags they had on one of the TARDIS'S seats.

He opened one of them and took something out. He hid it behind his back. "Amy, I got something for you."

Amy uncrossed her arms and looked at him questioningly.

Rory smiled and revealed a bouquet of flowers. Not just any flowers. It was a bouquet of a dozen beautiful pink and yellow roses.

Amy smiled hugely and took the flowers from him, pressing her nose into them. "Oh, Rory, I love them! What do you think, Doctor?" Amy showed the bouquet to the Doctor who had gone white as a sheet. "What's wrong?"

The Doctor didn't answer. His eyes were fixated upon the pink and yellow roses. So many memories came flooding back to his brain. So many painful memories of his lost Rose.

"Doctor?" Amy asked again. "What's wrong?"

"Roses," the Doctor said simply. "They're roses."

"Well, of course they're roses," she pointed out. "What'd you think they were: daisies?"

"Rose, beautiful pink and yellow Rose."

Amy and Rory exchanged worried glances. "There is more than one rose," Rory spoke up.

"There can never be more than one Rose. There is only one," the Doctor said. He sat down on one of the chairs and stared up at the ceiling. His eyes glanced to an overcoat that was hanging in an open closet. He remembered flinging it off his body when he came here to regenerate just after seeing Rose. The TARDIS must have taken it into her own hands to put it away. His hand flew up to his hair. He remembered his last words too, "I don't want to go." And he didn't want to go. He missed that big grin his last form had, the humanness of him, and that hair. Oh, he loved that hair. Especially when Rose had it in her hands. He wondered what she was up to now. Probably married to the clone Doctor. Maybe she had kids. The Doctor envied the clone. He was living the life, the one adventure, he could never have.

Amy stood in front him, the pink and yellow roses visible from his position.

He had gone so long without the immense pain of her loss. Why now?

"Doctor?" Amy asked, her voice soft and gentle. "Please, talk to me."

The Doctor took his eyes off the roses and raised them to Amy's face, which was full of concern.

"It's the roses," he said softly.

"Roses?" Rory asked. "Roses sent you into this depression?"

"I don't tell you two everything."

Amy frowned; she felt slightly betrayed. She always thought the Doctor told her everything.

"Sit down. I want to tell you."
Amy and Rory glanced at each other before sitting down and facing the Doctor.

"Can you… please put those away?" The Doctor asked, voice trembling with emotion. He pointed at the roses in Amy's arms.

Amy nodded and quickly put the roses in a vase on the kitchen table. She returned, eager to hear what the Doctor was going to tell them.

"I had a companion," he started. "A long time ago. When I die, I regenerate. It's a Time Lord's way of cheating death. I change physically and my tastes change slightly as well. I met this companion when I was in my 9th form. I had big ears and wore leather. I just got out of the Time War on my planet. So, I was bitter, very, very bitter. With her by my side, I had changed. I wasn't so bitter and violent. No, she made me softer, better," he added softly. "I regenerated into my 10th form saving her life. We traveled for a while together before fate tore us apart. She was sent to a parallel universe, and we had one last time together. Around two minutes to say our goodbyes before we would never see each other again. She loved me. She told me so. And I…" He trailed off. "You know; there's no point in saying it. I couldn't even tell her. I had planned to, really. When we met in the parallel universe, but our connection broke before I could get the words out. My last words to her there were her name. Do you remember when the Earth disappeared?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, yeah! That was crazy!" Rory exclaimed.

"Yeah, well. Donna, my companion at that time, Jack Harkness, an old friend, Martha and Sarah Jane, my older companions, and I were doing all in our power to save the universe. And she came back."

They did not need to question who 'she' was.

"Donna touched my severed hand, don't ask," he said quickly when Rory and Amy opened their mouths, "and a clone of me was formed. Once we saved the earth, I took her back to the parallel universe. My clone was bitter and violent, much like I was when I met her. He needed her so much more than I did. And he could tell her the words I couldn't." He sighed. "I miss her so much."

"Which form are you in now?" Rory asked.

"11th. I regenerated again shortly after saying goodbye to her. I went back in time to the year we met. Told her she was going to have a great year!" He laughed, remembering the joy of seeing Rose again, even if she didn't know who he was. "Yeah…"

"What was her name?" Amy asked gently.

The Doctor looked at her, swallowing down the lump in his throat. "Her name was Rose. She was my pink and yellow human."

Amy got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around the Doctor's neck. He hugged her back, burying his head into the crook of her neck.

"Thank you, Amy," he said. "Now…." He broke away from her and jumped up. "Where to next?!"

"Anywhere is good," Rory said, taking Amy's hand.

"Alrighty then!" He pressed some buttons on the TARDIS console. "Allon…" He stopped himself. "Geronimo!"

And they were off. While they were on their way, the Doctor couldn't help but have his mind full of Rose the entire time, his pink and yellow human.