CHAPTER 123

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THE TRUE ROSE TYLER

"Wa-hoo!" The little girl screamed with joy as she swung from one bar after another on the monkeybars with all of the skill of a trained gymnast despite the fact that she was only ten years old.

Unfortunately for her however, no matter how good that she was even she could occasionally make mistakes as she quickly discovered when she suddenly missed a bar! That was when the young Rose Tyler began to cry out in terror as she headed straight toward the ground headfirst.

She was almost certain that she was about to die or at the very least be seriously hurt at any moment now and maybe she would have been at that if she hadn't suddenly been caught at the very last minute by the old man who she had seen watching her play earlier. She had no idea how he had moved so quickly because he had been halfway across the playground one minute and then suddenly right by her side just when she needed him the most in the next.

Just as he always would be . . . save for that one horrible day at Canary Wharf.

"Thanks, Mister. I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't been there," Rose said with an appreciative smile that filled her entire face.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to speak to strangers?" The Doctor said with a frown.

"Sure. Mum's always telling me that but I suppose if that stranger's just saved your life that probably gives them a free pass doesn't it?" Rose said as she hugged the Doctor in gratitude.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile even as he involuntarily stiffened as a response to her hug. He immediately set her back down on the ground as gently as he could a moment later and began to quickly walk away from her before he could unintentionally alter history by staying here any longer.

The young Rose Tyler wasn't about to let him get away that easily however. Before he could take more than a few steps away from her, she suddenly rushed ahead of him far faster than he would have thought that such a small child would be capable of running. He quickly found himself being completely blocked from the pathway back to the TARDIS by her miniature but somehow still formidable frame as she placed herself solidly in front of him and refused to move.

He knew that look on her face all too well. It meant that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon until he had finished answering all of her questions.

"Yes?" The Doctor said patiently as he humored her.

"You look worried about something. Would you like to talk about it? Maybe I could help," Rose offered with a reassuring smile.

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh to himself a little at that. She really never did change did she?

"You're only a child. What makes you think that you could possibly help me with anything even if I did have a problem . . . which I don't?" The Doctor asked as he tried to hide his amusement at her actions from her.

Rose looked at him indignantly now as she said, "Blimey! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean that I don't know anything. I'm a lot more mature than I look and I've been told that I'm a really good listener. I help my Mum all of the time whenever she's worried about something so why not you too, yeah? I figure it's the least that I could do for someone who just saved my life."

To his surprise, The Doctor found himself gently nuzzling her hair and actually properly smiling at her as he said, "Actually I came here to think about what to tell a friend of mine to do about a problem that he's having."

Rose looked at him skeptically as she said, "Right. It's your friend's problem."

The Doctor scowled at her as he protested, "Yes, it is. You see I have this friend who's a bit of an idiot and he has problems properly expressing his feelings to others sometimes."

Rose nodded but still gave him a knowing look as she said with a grin, "And this friend of yours . . . is he having problems with a girl?"

"Yes, he is but not in the way that you mean. You see his wife had something extremely traumatizing happen to her recently. She acts as if she's recovered from it, but he knows that she really hasn't. He wants to say something to her to make her feel better and to help her if he can, but he . . . he just can't seem to find the right words. Like I said, he's a bit of an idiot and he can't always interact with other people too well," The Doctor admitted with an embarrassed look on his face.

"He can't even talk to his own wife? How did he ever even get a wife in the first place then?" Rose said in disbelief.

Then she immediately looked at him apologetically as she said, "I'm sorry. My Mum would say that I'm being rude. I didn't mean to be. It just seems a bit hard to believe that he wouldn't be able to even talk to her."

"Usually he can . . . about anything. When she's really in pain however that's when he's the most unsure of what to say to her because he knows that he can sometimes be a bit . . . brusque and cold towards people. He's afraid that he'll be that way with her too without meaning to be and make things even worse for her. He doesn't want to do that so he's been searching for exactly the right words to say to her," The Doctor admitted.

Rose smiled as she said, "And that's why he asked you for advice is it? So you're going to a park to watch children play while you think about what to tell him? Isn't that a bit weird?"

"I have been told that sometimes I act a bit strange on occasion," The Doctor said with a shrug.

Rose laughed as she said, "I bet. Sorry! I'm being rude again. I really have to watch that. I guess you must like kids a lot or something then. Is that why you're here? Does being around them help relax you or something?"

"I thought that they might help inspire me. Children always have a way of getting right to the heart of every problem and finding a simple solution to it that most adults would never think of by themselves. Adults frequently overthink and needlessly complicate just about everything in life, you know?" The Doctor said with a brief smile.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Rose said with a chuckle.

The Doctor hesitated for a moment and then finally said, "How about I tell you my problem . . . I mean my friend's problem and you could maybe come up with an answer for me?"

Rose gave it some serious thought for a brief moment and then nodded as she said, "I'll certainly try. Okay? Why don't you tell me something about your . . . I mean your friend's wife first though."

The Doctor actually properly smiled now as he said, "She's the most beautiful woman in the universe without a doubt. No one else even comes close to her."

Rose giggled as she said, "Universe, huh? Now I see how you got her I think. You're a charmer you are."

"I can be. I mean he can be! It's his wife not mine of course," The Doctor said with a soft smile as he found himself already feeling less worried and anxious already just by talking to Rose, any version of Rose.

He then began to tell her a heavily abridged version of what had happened to Clara and how it had affected his Rose. He did his best as he talked however not to give away too much information to her about her own future or to tell her that the whole matter involved Rose's future use of her powers since he knew that she would never believe such a thing.

Even as he spoke, he saw the younger version of Rose growing more and more thoughtful and couldn't help but wonder what advice if any that she might offer him on how to talk to herself. Sometimes the best way to find an answer to a problem was just to go directly to the source after all.

Meanwhile a universe away on Pete's World . . .

"Oh, they're as beautiful as their mother just as I said they'd be," Jackie said with pride as Rose handed her two of her newly born triplets, Pete and Clara, as they stood together in her front yard.

It was the first time that Jackie had gotten to see them, and just as Rose predicted she already loved them completely at first sight. She held both babies to her tightly and continued to talk about how wonderful that they were while babbling away to them in mostly incoherent baby talk.

"Is any of that actually supposed to mean something? So far it just sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me," Pete asked his sister in confusion while Jackie held them.

"Stop being such a jerk, Pete. She can't help it if she doesn't speak Baby. I like her. She seems to be just as nice as Mum said that she'd be. See? That proves that you can't always listen to Dad. He said that she was scarier than a Dalek. She's not scary at all," Clara said with a frown.

"Wait until you get older. Then you might just change your tune a bit," Rose said in Baby with an evil smile.

As the two children laughed, Jackie immediately became suspicious and said, "Alright, what are you up to now, Rose?"

"I don't know what you mean, Mum," Rose said as she put on her best innocent act.

"Why is it that you always tell everyone else the truth but your own mother, Rose? Don't even think about trying to put one over on me. I know you inside and out. You said something about me to the babies didn't you," Jackie said with a frown.

Rose immediately gave her a reassuring smile as she said, "Nothing bad I promise. Clara was just talking about how nice you were and I said that would probably change when she got older."

Jackie partially smiled despite herself as she said, "Only if she turns out to be as much trouble for me as her mother was."

"Naw, she'll probably get along just fine with you. It's me that she'll make all the trouble for I bet," Rose said with a mischievous grin.

"I can hardly wait. Turnabout's fair play I say," Jackie said with a good-natured laugh.

"Why are you saying that, Mum? I won't cause you any trouble. I promise," Clara said with a confused look.

"Yeah, you say that now but when you get older I bet it'll be a completely different story," Rose said with a smile.

"No, I promise," Clara said in what seemed to Rose to be an earnest tone as she began to look upset.

"Don't take it to heart, sweetie. Your Gran and I were just joking around, alright? I know you're a good girl," Rose said with a guilty expression as she lightly stroked her daughter's hair reassuringly.

Well, what do you know? I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I actually have a daughter who seems to be halfway normal. Rose thought to herself with amusement.

She wasn't sure how to feel about that if it was true but she knew that she'd love Clara no matter what the case was. It might actually be a welcome change of pace to have at least one child who wasn't exactly like their mother and/or father at that.

"Well, I guess we all know who the kiss-up in the family is going to be, don't we?" Sarah said from where she sat in a stroller on the ground.

"Shut up. I'm just being honest. I really am nice unlike some people," Clara said with a frown.

"Oi! That's enough, you two. Sarah, don't be rude to your sister. She can't help it if she's just as sweet as her mother," Rose joked.

That was when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jackie was looking at her intently with a sudden serious expression on her face. It almost seemed as if she was searching for some answer there.

"What is it?" Rose asked her with a frown.

"Nothing," Jackie said as her smile immediately returned once more.

Rose sighed as she said, "Have you been talking to Bella? Mum, you don't have to be worried about me. I'm fine."

"I know you are, sweetheart. What makes you think that I'm worried about you anyway?" Jackie said with that same much too innocent look that Rose had just given to her earlier.

"That's because I know you just as well as you know me, Mum. That's why. Yes, I have decided to stop holding back in fights from now on but that doesn't mean that I'm going to suddenly go around disintegrating people or anything, yeah? I'm just going to stop any threats that I come across as quickly and efficiently as possible, okay? I'm not going to suddenly turn into the Master or anything though. I'm still the same old Rose as I always was so don't worry so much about me. I'm fine. Really," Rose said with a reassuring smile.

Jackie instantly gave her a skeptical look in response that made her wince as she quickly added, "I didn't mean to say it like that. It's not the same kind of 'I'm fine' that the Doctor always gives me when he's really not fine in the slightest. I really am alright. I promise."

Jackie looked troubled now as she said, "You seem to be but you also lost it recently according to Bella. She said that you became a one-woman wrecking crew when Clara died. Not that I can blame you for that, Rose, because what the Brethren did to her was horrible. It still bothers me though and I wouldn't be a proper mother if I didn't at least try to talk to you about it."

Rose smiled and nodded despite the growing irritation that she felt at that moment as she said in her most persuasive tone of voice, "Yeah, I did blow my top for a while, but I was never completely out of control. I wouldn't allow myself to be because they just weren't worth it, Mum. They weren't worth losing you over. Nothing is, alright? I'm not going to start killing or wiping people out of time and space all of a sudden. I'm just not holding back anymore out of fear now. That's all that this is. I won't be ruthless or cruel to anyone, Mum. That's not who I want to be."

Jackie nodded as she said, "It's just that losing Clara like that even temporarily would be enough to change anyone that was as close to her as you are. I mean she is your daughter even if I still don't quite understand how that is exactly when she was born to somebody else. I know I'd certainly lose my mind if anything ever happened to you."

"Nothing is going to happen so you can stop going on about it, alright?" Rose said with a growing edge to her voice that was a clear warning to her mother to drop this topic right away.

"Okay, okay. Forget I said anything. I believe you, Rose. I really do," Jackie said in her best conciliatory tone.

"Sorry. I just don't want everyone looking at me like I'm about to suddenly turn into River Song at any moment. I'm not quite that mad, Mum," Rose said in an apologetic voice.

Suddenly Bella appeared right next to them in a burst of energy as she said in a surprised voice,

"I'm here? You mean I actually made it this time? Usually I miss wherever I'm going by a mile. Sometimes I even land in the wrong country."

"See? I told you that all that you needed was some practice. You'll be just as good as me in no time, yeah?" Rose said to Bella in a voice filled with pride as she swiftly tried to change the subject.

Bella wasn't about to let her do that quite so easily however as she immediately said in a guilty voice, "I'm sorry, Rose. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't mean to cause a fight between you and Jackie."

"You didn't. We're good. Aren't we, Mum?" Rose said with a warm smile.

"Of course we are. I just worry too much. It's my job as a mother," Jackie said dismissively.

"Uh, Rose. I have something else to apologize for I'm afraid. I didn't exactly come here alone. It just took them a minute longer to come because I'm still so inexperienced at this world hopping business. I tried to warn them about that but they just wouldn't listen. They still insisted on coming here anyway despite the risks," Bella said with that same guilty look as before.

Rose started to ask her exactly what she meant by that when suddenly Mickey and Shareen appeared next to Bella a moment later. Both of them immediately gave Rose the same scrutinizing look that her mother just had earlier, and Rose instantly glared at Bella in disapproval as a result.

"So the two of you wanted to see if I had gone off the deep end too, huh?" Rose said in dismay.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I just told them what happened and then they started to worry about you. I shouldn't have said anything. I know. I'm sorry, alright?" Bella said with those same sad puppy dog eyes that she always used to give her before whenever she knew that Rose was really and truly ticked off at her.

Rose couldn't help but smile at her and kiss her cheek despite not being too pleased with her at that moment as she said, "I know, Bella. You're just worried about me too. None of you have a reason to be though. I'm the same as I ever was."

"She's got it all wrong, Rose. That's not why we came at all. We just wanted to see the kids. We haven't seen them yet either," Shareen said with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, that's right. It's been almost a week now since they were born, and they still haven't gotten to meet their Uncle Mickey yet. How are they going to get a chance to soak up my brilliance if they never get to actually meet me?" Mickey said with an evil grin.

"We have an Uncle Mickey?" Clara asked her siblings in confusion.

"Yeah, of course we do. Isn't he the one that Dad always calls an idiot?" Pete asked his sisters.

"You'll have to be a little bit more specific than that, Pete. Dad calls pretty much everyone an idiot," Sarah said with a chuckle.

"I see I'm going to have to give your father a little talking to when we get home. For the record though, you shouldn't always believe everything that he says about people," Rose said in a stern voice.

"Well, I can guess what he told them about me," Mickey said with a groan.

"It's not just you either I'll bet. I can only imagine what he told them about me," Jackie said with a deep frown.

"At least they've actually heard of both of you though. I can already tell from the way that they're looking at me that they don't even know me at all," Shareen said with disapproval.

"Now I almost wish you'd start talking about me again," Rose muttered to herself with a sigh as she made herself a quick mental note to slap the Doctor later.

That was when Clara raised her arms towards Shareen and cooed loudly as Rose said, "Give her to Shareen, Mum. She wants to get to know her."

"Really? She said that?" Shareen said in a touched voice.

"She's the sweet one of the family. She doesn't like for anyone to feel bad," Rose said with a wide grin.

"She's the kiss-up in the family you mean," Sarah said with a smirk.

"I am not! Mum!" Clara protested even as Jackie handed her to Shareen who eagerly took her.

"I said stop teasing her, Sarah. I can already tell that you're going to be trouble you are," Rose said with disapproval as she shook her head at her.

"Just like her Mum," Shareen said with a wicked smile.

"That's it. Rub it in," Rose said with a chuckle.

"I bet this will make you think twice before you have any more kids, won't it?" Mickey said as he too began to laugh now.

"I should hope so. I think this is more than enough grandchildren even for me. I don't know how you handle them all even with super powers, Rose," Jackie said with a look of disbelief.

"Thankfully I have Big Clara, Cassiopeia, and others to help me out from time to time or I probably actually would become just as mad as River," Rose said not entirely joking.

"Big Clara? That's probably the first time in history she's ever been called that I bet," Mickey said with an evil smile.

"Better not let her hear you say that," Rose said with a chuckle.

"Don't worry. I'm definitely not the idiot that the Doctor thinks that I am," Mickey said with a shudder.

"And yeah I think that these are definitely the last kids that I'll be having. If I keep going at this rate, I'm going to have my own army soon so it's probably best to stop right now. I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to take over their planet or anything whenever I bring the family with me somewhere," Rose said with a grin.

"Besides that, there's no need to have any more kids anyway, Mum. You've already hit the jackpot with me," Sarah said proudly.

"You definitely have your father's ego alright," Rose said laughing as she playfully tousled Sarah's hair.

"That's one way of putting it," Pete said with a smirk.

"Don't be jealous of me just because I'm perfect, Pete," Sarah said with a smug little smile.

Despite the seeming innocence of that moment, Rose couldn't help but think to herself that this was the same arrogance that would one day lead Sarah to make the biggest mistake of her life and cause her to charge ahead blindly and try to take on an entire army of Weeping Angels all by herself in a far future battle. She had never fully understood why she would do such a thing before because the future version of Sarah that she knew was far more laid back than this one but now she understood it all perfectly. Even despite that though, there was still absolutely nothing that she could do to change things without risking altering the Web of Time far too much for her own comfort.

Or could she? Was there really any true limit to what she could do now?

Rose instantly shook her head clear of such thoughts as she reaffirmed her own rules to herself. She would not risk endangering the Web no matter what the reason or how tempted that she was. She had learned the hard way not to tamper needlessly with it anymore after she found out that the small seemingly innocent changes she had made to it recently had actually helped Erebus to escape from the Void. There was no way that she was going to risk something like that happening again no matter how skilled that she thought that she was at manipulating Time.

She was given a gift to help people and that's all that it was. It wasn't a license to play God.

"Rose, are you alright?" Bella asked with concern as she noticed Rose's brief struggle with herself.

"Yeah, don't worry," Rose reassured her.

Suddenly a series of loud explosions went off nearby and there were several screams from across the street as Jackie said in a frightened voice, "What was that?"

Just as quickly as they had started however the tumult of noises suddenly stopped as Rose's eyes briefly glowed and she said in a nonchalant tone, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, what was that?" Mickey said in an anxious voice.

"It was nothing just like I said," Rose said dismissively.

"No, that was definitely something. What just happened, Rose?" Shareen said with open concern.

Rose sighed as she said, "A group of aliens called the Xedefing Confederacy just attacked some buildings a few blocks away from here or at least they did until I completely erased that whole event from history. Now in the new timeline they completely went off course thanks to a sudden navigational instrument error and missed this whole planet entirely. They'll wander around a while aimlessly and then eventually decide to go home and call it a day. Problem solved."

"If you just erased it from history, then why do we still remember it?" Bella asked in confusion.

"I let you remember it. I don't know why exactly. I guess it's just that I don't like keeping things from the people I care about," Rose admitted with a shrug.

"Or maybe you secretly wanted to talk to someone about it because you're still unsure about all of this?" Bella proposed.

"So this is what you're doing now? Undoing alien invasions with a single thought?" Shareen asked in a bothered tone.

"Whenever I can I do, yeah. I'm not hurting anyone and it's definitely a lot better than letting them tear up the city. Don't you think so?" Rose asked with seemingly no concern whatsoever.

"I suppose so. It just . . ." Shareen said and then stopped herself.

"It bothers you?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. It does. It's like you're deciding things that no one should get to decide. I'm not saying that I don't trust you to do the right thing, Rose. I know that you just saved a lot of people on both sides from getting hurt or killed but that sort of thing still bothers me," Shareen admitted with a troubled look.

Rose gave her a sympathetic look as she said, "It bothers me too. That's why I never did it before. After what happened to Clara though, I think maybe it's time that I started. Maybe if I had tried to stop the Brethren with my full power sooner instead of always holding back, then that might not have ever happened at all. I promise I'm only undoing things that don't have to happen though not fixed points in time. It's exactly the same thing that I've always done really just on a much bigger scale."

"I – I just wish that you'd think it over a little more before you do things like that, Rose. It just bothers me," Shareen admitted.

"Rose would never change anything big, Shareen. I mean if she was going to do that she would have just made it so that Clara never died in the first place. I'm sure she could easily do that. She didn't though so that shows that she's alright," Mickey said in a tone of voice that suggested that he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was Shareen.

Rose could feel their need to be reassured about her motives and sighed in response as she said, "Look, I know it bothers you but I really think that I'll save more lives this way in the long run. I'll admit that I'm much more tempted to change things that I know I shouldn't now that I've stopped holding back but I won't do that. I won't allow myself to do it. I won't ever forget that it isn't my right to reshape the universe like I'd like it to be. I already learned what happens when you try to do that even a little bit and it taught me a valuable lesson, alright?"

The others all nodded at her without saying a word but still looked more than a bit uncertain. That alone made her almost reconsider this new road that she was traveling down, but then she quickly talked herself out of it. Every time that she even so much as thought about going back to the way that she used to operate, the memory of Clara being horribly killed right in front of her always made her stop. She just couldn't go through something like that again. Not if there was any possible way that she could prevent it.

"Rose, I'm sure that you'll always do the right thing in the end. I know you will," Jackie finally said as she could see how much this was bothering her daughter.

"Thank you," Rose said in an emotional voice.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to make sure that you thought things through," Shareen said as she put a comforting arm around her.

"Yeah, we're just trying to look out for you. Maybe we're not exactly going about it the right way though," Mickey admitted.

Rose smiled as she said, "You're just bringing up things that I've already thought of myself over and over again. I appreciate that, Mickey. I really do and I want you to keep looking out for me, alright? You'll help keep me honest, okay?"

"Rose, it's not that we don't trust you. Please don't ever think that. We just worry about you, okay? We love you," Bella said with a soft smile.

"I know. I love all of you too," Rose said as she continued to smile at them reassuringly.

Then she was suddenly interrupted as a huge metallic fist completely took her off guard and slammed right into her face. She was sent flying halfway across her mother's yard with a single punch and unceremoniously landed right in the middle of a large patch of mud that instantly ruined one of her best dresses.

"Okay, that's exactly what I deserve for letting my guard down," Rose said with a sigh as she instantly levitated above the mud and faced her attacker with a furious look on her face.

What she saw before her was someone in an enormous suit of alien armor (it was easily eight feet tall if not more) that looked like it came from the best weapons designers in the galaxy. She could already tell just from that last punch alone that it gave its wearer enough strength to punch through a Dalek's outer shell if they wanted.

"And exactly what have I ever done to you that meant that my dress deserved to die?" Rose asked curiously even as she quickly cleaned her dress off with a single snap of her fingers.

The imposing metal figure never said anything however. Its only response was yet another attempt to knock her senseless with another blow from its formidable fists. This time however Rose wasn't about to let it connect again since the last attack would have easily killed her if she were still human.

She wasn't even about to think of what her mysterious attacker could do to her mother or her friends if they accidentally hit one of them instead of her next time. She just hoped that Bella had the good sense to stay out of this since she was still far too unskilled in her powers to really make much of a difference in this fight.

That concern for her family and friends was why she quickly took the fight to the armored being instead as she snapped her fingers, and its armored joints immediately seized up so that it could now no longer move. Even as it stood there frozen in mid-punch however, Rose could somehow sense through several years of combat experience that this fight was far from over however.

She was immediately proven to be right as a moment later a fine spray of Vortex shielding particles began issuing forth from the armor's gauntlets and started heading straight towards her. Luckily Rose was able to teleport out of the shielding's way just in time to avoid being hit by it.

"Well, someone's certainly been doing their homework about me haven't they? I have a feeling you'd have a lot more nasty little tricks waiting for me too . . . if I actually let you keep fighting me that is. Unfortunately for you, I don't do that anymore. It's a new day now, mate. You had one chance with me and you just blew it. Anyone who puts my family in danger from now on doesn't get any second chances at all from me, got it?" Rose said in a hard voice as she gestured at her mystery opponent with a determined look in her eyes.

As she watched dispassionately, several tiny cracks began to develop in the armor. All of these cracks soon quickly widened and deepened however in a matter of seconds. Moments later, the armor had started to completely fall to pieces as Rose watched with no emotion whatsoever.

"Rose . . ." Bella said in a warning tone as she saw that Rose was acting just like she had back on Telos once more.

That was when Rose started to hear a low-pitched sound that only she could hear with her enhanced senses, and it immediately made her stop what she was doing. It was the sound of someone softly sobbing to themselves because they were frightened.

Rose knew that it might easily be a trick but every instinct that she possessed told her otherwise.

She immediately proceeded to silently strip the last remaining pieces of armor away from her mystery assailant, and then nearly gasped out loud as she saw that he was an extremely young Slitheen or at least someone from their home planet anyway.

"He's nothing more than a boy. I bet he's only a few years older than Tony," Jackie said in a surprised voice.

"Please. Don't!" The boy said in a terrified voice as he continued to cry.

"It's alright. No one's going to hurt you. I promise," Rose said in a soothing voice as she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It wasn't me. They put me in that armor and made me attack you. I didn't want to but they made me. They said that if I didn't that they'd kill my family," The boy said in-between sobs.

"Who did?" Rose said in as gentle a voice as possible as she pulled the boy close to her and embraced him.

"I don't know. It all happened so fast that I never got a look at them. They're watching you right now though. They said that they'd be watching the whole thing so that they'd know right away if I wasn't really trying to kill you," The boy said as he pointed upwards at a hovering camera that was hanging above them just out of their line of sight.

Rose immediately became filled with anger but was careful not to show it for the boy's sake because even now he was still looking at her as if he was completely terrified of her. This more than anything made her start wondering all over again if maybe she was doing the wrong thing.

Then she saw Clara's face once again as she died, and she no longer knew what to think anymore.

All that she knew for sure was that she never wanted anyone as innocent as this boy to be afraid of her again. That wasn't who she was and it was never going to be either.

That was when she finally made a choice once and for all about who she was going to be now and she never looked back.

At that moment however, she was much more interested in finding out who was behind all of this. She used her power to quickly scan the camera in order to look for clues but immediately cried out in frustration as she realized that her mysterious opponent was never going to make it that easy for her.

"Oh, yeah. You're really brave aren't you, whoever you are? You can't even let me see your face because you're such a coward. The camera's Vortex shielded just like the inside of your little armored suit was so that I couldn't see that I was just fighting a poor, scared kid. It was a test wasn't it? You wanted to see exactly how far that I'd go now. What did you think? That I'd be so reckless that I'd actually kill him before I even checked who he was? That just shows that you really don't understand me at all. I'm about saving lives not destroying them, and that's never going to change no matter what terrible thing happens to me. Got it? You can tell that to everyone else who wants to know too. I'm going to continue to go all out against my enemies in the future in order to help people, but I won't ever let that stop me from being who I am. I'll always show mercy whenever I can, but don't think for a moment that that means that I won't put people like you down hard whenever I have to in order to help others. You'd better release this boy's family safe and unharmed right now or I'll show you exactly what I mean by that live and in person because I won't rest for a single moment until I hunt you down," Rose said as she stared up defiantly at whoever was watching.

That was when malicious laughter started to come from the camera and a voice that was so scrambled that Rose would have never recognized it even if she knew who it was said, "Very good, Rose Tyler. Just as human as ever I see. I had to know for sure though because only a fool would ever underestimate you especially once you've set your mind to do something. Don't worry about the boy's family. I have no interest whatsoever in them. Both he and they were only means to an end. Now that I know that you're still as annoyingly moral as you ever were though, I've finally found out everything that I needed to know."

"So have I," Jackie said as she looked at her daughter with pride.

"I think that we all have," Bella said with a smile of satisfaction.

"I never doubted her for a moment actually," Mickey said smugly.

"Oh, shut up," Shareen said with a groan.

As Rose quickly looked around, she could see that the others were all just as happy with what she had shown them as her mother was. Their faith in her seemed to be completely renewed once more.

Rose smiled from ear to ear now as she said to her unseen observer, "Don't think that just because I'm not going to wipe out everyone in sight that I'm a pushover, yeah? I'm always going to be there to take a stand against people like you even when everyone else is running away and I won't ever back down. Do you understand that? That's a promise that I made myself a long time ago and I intend to always keep it. I may not know where you are now but if you keep crossing my path sooner or later I will find you and it won't be pretty. That's a not so friendly word of warning from me to you."

"I look forward to it. Good bye, Rose Tyler . . . for now," The mysterious watcher said.

Then the camera suddenly imploded inwards on itself with such force that it instantly disappeared without a trace!

"Blimey! This new enemy of mine definitely doesn't believe in leaving a trail behind do they?" Rose said with a frown.

Then she smiled as she used her senses to scan the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious back in her home dimension and saw that her unknown foe had indeed kept their word. Her new friend's family was alive and well, and it looked like the boy's mother was worried sick over him at that moment judging from the look on her face.

Rose smiled down at him and said, "Everything's fine now so don't you worry anymore, okay? You can tell that to your Mum too in a minute when you see her."

The young alien now looked up at her with eyes filled with gratitude as he said in disbelief, "You're nothing at all like the Slitheen said that you were. You're actually nice."

"That just goes to show you, mate. You can't always believe what you hear can you?" Rose said with a grin as she began to send him back home with a single gesture.

"Thank you . . . for everything!" The young alien said in a voice filled with joy and then to Rose's complete surprise he suddenly kissed the side of her mouth and hugged her tightly just before he vanished.

Rose grinned at the others mischievously now as she said, "Looks like I have a brand new fan. I don't think I'll tell the Doctor about what he just did though if I want to continue to keep him around."

Her smile widened even further as she suddenly said, "Oh, so that's where you went. I wondered what you were up to lately."

"What is it, Rose? Is it that horrible person who sent the camera again?" Jackie asked with concern.

Rose shook her head at her reassuringly as she said, "Nope, everything's fine now. I promise. I just need to leave for a little bit to wrap up one last loose end to all of this. Can you take care of the kids until I get back? It shouldn't take long."

"Yeah, of course. I'll be glad to," Jackie said without hesitation.

Rose now looked at Sarah intently as she said in Baby, "Make sure that she stays glad to see you, Sarah. Do you hear me? You're going to be on your best behavior until I get back, right?"

"Don't worry, Mum. I'll be good," Sarah said with an innocent look on her face.

"Don't think that I don't know that you have your fingers crossed behind your back," Rose said with a stern look.

Sarah sighed as she said in a resigned voice, "Fine. I'll be good. I promise. I just can't get away with anything when you're around can I?"

"No, you can't. Always remember that," Rose said with a huge grin.

Then she hugged Sarah tightly as she said, "I'll always love you though no matter what. I want you to always remember that too."

Sarah looked at her in confusion for a moment as she said, "Of course, Mum. I love you too."

Rose then disappeared in a burst of golden energy as Sarah wondered to herself what had brought that on.

Back in Rose's past . . .

The Doctor had finally explained the whole story to the young Rose at last and she immediately rolled her eyes at him as she said, "I don't know what you friend is so worried about. Of course she's upset that her daughter was hurt but that's not going to suddenly change who she is. I know it won't."

"How can you be so sure of that though?" The Doctor asked her curiously.

"I know because I wouldn't let it change me if I were her. My daughter wouldn't want that and neither would my family, and I'd never want them to be disappointed in me. If I had a family besides Mum that is . . . and Mickey too I suppose. Anyway I guess what I'm saying is that family is important. Much too important to ever risk losing that way," The young Rose said in a sad voice.

The Doctor smiled as he said, "Yes, you're absolutely right of course."

"As for what you should say, I think you should just let her know that you'll always be there for her if she needs someone and that you love her. That's all that she really wants to hear anyway," The young Rose said as the smile quickly returned to her face.

"It's my friend not me," The Doctor reminded her.

"Uh, huh," The young Rose said as she began to giggle.

"How can you be so intelligent and yet be so young?" The Doctor asked with a fond smile even as he already knew the answer to that question.

The young Rose shrugged as she said, "I've always been that way. Mum says I have an old soul. Maybe I do because sometimes I'm more of an adult than she is."

"Now that I can believe," The Doctor said with a snort.

"Huh? Do you know my mother?" The young Rose asked in a suspicious tone.

The Doctor immediately shook his head as he said, "No, but I certainly feel as if I do from what you've told me about yourself. I bet she's the best mother in the world to have raised someone as mature and intelligent as you. Am I right?"

The younger Rose never knew of course just how much bile that The Doctor had to choke back as it threatened to come up in his throat after he said all of those kind words about her mother.

Young Rose laughed as she said, "I don't always act that mature according to my teachers, but I'm not so bad I guess. I mean I can't really be completely mature can I? I am still just a kid and I'd like to enjoy that a little while longer while I still can."

"You're very wise, Rose Tyler," The Doctor said as he laughed at her.

He felt more like his previous selves at that moment than the grumpy old man that he usually was in this incarnation. Only Rose could have that effect on him. Only she could always reach his true self no matter how far down that it was.

"Hey! How did you know my name? I never told you," The young Rose asked suspiciously.

"He heard your Mum calling you. That's how. Didn't you hear her?" The older Rose said as she suddenly came walking towards them.

The younger Rose now plainly heard her mother shouting for her over and over again and heard the agitation loud and clear in her voice. She knew that she had to go to her right away or she'd never hear the end of it.

"Sorry, I have to go now. Mum's definitely on the warpath about something. Thanks again for saving me. Oh, and I agree with you by the way. She is beautiful," Young Rose said to the Doctor as she briefly looked at her older self with a smile before running off.

Rose looked more than a bit embarrassed by that last comment as she said, "Well, I guess you're not the only one who's a bit full of themselves are you? Mind you I had no idea that I was meeting the future me at the time."

"You were just being honest," The Doctor said with a brief smile as his current self's personality started to reassert itself now.

"Doctor, you know you don't have to come and talk to me as a kid in order to find out if I'm going to be okay or not. You could just ask the current me. That's definitely much easier," Rose said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I noticed that when others brought it up that it bothered you though and I'm . . . not as tactful as they are," The Doctor admitted.

"That's all too true but we should always be able to talk about anything no matter what, Doctor. I want you to remember that from now on, okay? Just say what's in your heart and that'll be alright with me," Rose said.

"That's not always easy for this version of me though," The Doctor said in a voice filled with regret.

"When has it ever been easy for you? The younger me was right though in what she told you. As long as I know that you're behind me all the way and that you love me no matter what, then that's all that I really need to hear in the end. You don't ever have to think about what to say to me. I already know all of it anyway," Rose said with a warm smile as she kissed him.

"So that's where Clara got it from," The Doctor said with a soft smile.

"Either that or you're just that easy to read," Rose said with a grin as she kissed him once more.

Then he watched her intently to see how mentioning Clara would make her react. To his welcome relief, she didn't wince or suddenly reveal the hidden pain inside of her in her expression anymore. She merely continued to smile at him instead and that was when he was sure at last that she had finally moved past what had happened at last.

That's when he knew that she was going to be alright.

"Told you so," The young Rose said as she watched them from across the playground with a relieved smile.

She could only hope that she would find the same kind of love herself one day. She couldn't help but wonder if his wife knew just how lucky that she was to have a love like that in her life. It certainly seemed to be a once in a lifetime thing judging from what her mother had told her about her father.

To her younger self's surprise, Rose suddenly looked back at her and smiled. It was almost as if she had just read her thoughts and was responding back to her!

The younger Rose just laughed to herself and shook her head as she quietly walked away. She really had to stop reading Mickey's comic books. They were starting to make her just as weird as he was.

Next: Rose definitely hasn't heard the last of her mysterious new enemy from this chapter. Next time we'll find out more about them and what they're up to even as Rose and Bella come across someone who will turn out to be very important in their future. After all, I think it's long past time that Rose got a new companion, don't you?