The Doctor dropped off Sarah Jane at her home first, as she was anxious to see her son. To his surprise, Mickey slipped out to join her. "Oi, where are you going?" he asked.

Mickey turned back to him with a sad smile. "Well, I'm not stupid. I can work out what happens next." The Doctor glanced away. He wished he could be as sure. "And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world, but my gran passed away. Nice and peaceful. She spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing there for me now, certainly not Rose."

The Doctor nodded. It was good to see the trembling wimp had matured into someone who knew what he wanted. "What will you do?" he asked curiously.

He shrugged with a grin. "Anything. Brand new life. Just you watch." He smiled. "See you, boss." They bumped fists, and then Mickey Smith, defender of the Earth, turned and walked away. The Doctor smiled after him. He'd started out despising the weak human who somehow had Rose's heart, but they ended as friends and fellow survivors. He hoped this wasn't the last he saw of Mickey Smith.

Jack opted to stay a while and see some of the others off. The Doctor knew where he had to go next, but something in his hearts ached with fear with what choice lay ahead.

He landed the TARDIS somberly, the ship barely shaking as she landed. Rose looked at him curiously. "Where are we?" He didn't answer, just nodding to the door.

Intrigued, Rose went to open the door, only stopping dead in shock at what she saw. The others made their way out, Rose eventually joining them, even though every step onto that wretched beach obviously caused her pain.

Jackie let out a hiss of disgust as they walked onto the beach. "Oh, fat lot of good this is. Back of beyond. Bloody Norway?" She turned to Rose. "I'm going to have to phone your father. He's on the nursery run." The Doctor was walking beside her, not looking at Rose. Jackie looked at him. "I was pregnant, do you remember? Had a baby boy."

"Oh, brilliant," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "What did you call him?"

"Doctor."

He blinked. "Really?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "No, you plum. He's called Tony." That actually managed to get a real smile out of the Doctor.

It didn't last long. "Wait, this is the parallel universe. Bad Wolf Bay."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"Why are we here?" There was a tremor of fear in her voice.

The Time Lord nodded to Jackie. "Well, I figured she'd want to see her son and husband again." He closed his eyes. "And to offer you a choice."

"Choice?" she almost laughed. "What choice?" All the other companions were dead silent. They knew this wasn't a moment for them to intrude on.

The Doctor sighed, forcing himself to look her in the eyes. "The walls of reality are closing again," he said gently. "Once it's over, you'll never be able to jump between parallels again. If you come with me, you'll never see your mum and family again. It's up to you."

Rose glanced back at Jackie. There was pain in her expression, but when she turned back to the Doctor, there was no remorse or hesitation to be seen. "I made my choice a long time ago, Doctor," she told him gently. "I spent two years looking for you because that's where I want to be. If you'll have me."

"Of course!" the Doctor said a little too quickly. He glanced nervously at Jackie, but Rose's mum didn't seen angry at all. There was some sadness in her eyes, but she was smiling for her daughter. She must've known all along what Rose's choice would be.

Rose hesitated. "Doctor, I have to ask you something." The Doctor knew which question was coming next, but he nodded anyway. "The last time we were here, on the worst day of my life, I asked you a question." She paused, looking into his eyes with an unwavering gaze. "You didn't get to finish. What were you going to say?"

The Doctor gulped. There was still that little part of his brain that wanted to hold back. But he'd had three years to miss Rose, and to think about what they could have had. Yes, she was human. Yes, she would be lost to him one day. But he'd spent long enough without her to know that he'd rather have a lifetime with her at his side and lose her than, than to push her away again. She was staring at him, his beautiful Rose, waiting for an answer he was finally ready to give. He took a step towards her; she didn't move away, just watching as he approached. "I was going to say, Rose Tyler," he said softly, "that I have loved you since the moment I took your hand in that shop." There was so much warmth and relief and love in her eyes. He was standing right in front of her nose. The love beating in his hearts threatened to overwhelm him. He reached out to her, brushing some strands of hair from her face. His hand cupped her chin, and she was crying, and so was he.

The kiss started out gentle, soft and hesitant. But there was four years of waiting and pining and longing built up, and the kiss grew in passion. Her arms were around his neck, he was holding her waist, and she was kissing him, and his hearts were ready to burst with happiness. The universe had never felt more right.

SCENEBREAK

Molly smiled fondly on the scene in front of her. The Doctor was her best friend, and she knew how much the loss of Rose Tyler had hurt him. Now that she knew Rose herself, and how compassionate and kind and brave she was, she couldn't be happier for the couple. It was as it was meant to be. Rose Tyler and the Doctor, together.

While the Doctor and Rose had their reunion, however, she and the others had been talking. Once the Doctor's attention was no longer so distracted, and Rose had gone off to say goodbye to her mum, Molly, Donna, and Greg pulled the Doctor aside.

He looked at them warily. "Yeah?"

Molly glanced at the others before speaking. "We've been doing some thinking," she said, "and we think we'd like to be dropped off on Earth."

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise, before being lit by sadness. "Oh. Um, sure, if that's what you want."

"Not forever, you tosser," Donna said with exasperation. The Doctor was evidently confused.

Molly grinned. "We're really happy for you and Rose, and we figure you two might want some time to yourself, after everything. So we're going to stay on Earth for three months. You and Rose can have the TARDIS to yourselves. After the three months is up, though, we'd like to come back."

"And if you don't pick us up on time, we'll hunt you down ourselves," Donna threatened.

The Doctor smiled, and there was a lightness to it that Molly hadn't seen in a long time. "I wouldn't dream of it," he promised. "So, three months on Earth. What will you do?"

"Actually, we were talking to Jack, and he's going to let us work at Torchwood for a bit," Greg explained. "None of us really have much of a job on Earth anymore. Nor places to stay, for that matter."

"Apparently, Sherlock's been paying the cost of my flat while I've been traveling," Molly said. "Nice as that is, though. I think I'll sell it once I get back. I don't really need it anymore. I've already got a home." She glanced at the TARDIS, feeling a rush of warmth.

"Sherlock and John think Mrs. Hudson would be okay with us renting out 221C in Baker Street," Lestrade explained. "It's large enough for the three of us, and we'll be close to John and Sherlock, so we can get to work together and such."

The Doctor looked between the three of them. "Look at you lot," he said fondly. "Making plans and ready to save the world again. I'm so grateful, to all of you. Thank you for traveling with me. And for everything you've done."

Molly reached forward and hugged the Time Lord, grinning into his shoulder. "Thank you, Doctor," she said quietly. They stayed like that for several moments, then pulled back.

The Doctor said his goodbyes to Donna and Greg, then went off to tell Rose what was going on. Molly turned to Greg, feeling lighter than she had in years. She reached out her hand, and he took it. As the Doctor headed back to the TARDIS, knowing fully well why, Molly followed him, Greg at her side. She glanced up at him with a warm smile, and said, "Let's see what Torchwood needs help with."

END

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Wow. This is it. This is really the end this time.

Well, sort of. I will be posting a brief alternate ending in a few hours/minutes (not as a chapter to this story, but as a separate story, so keep an eye on my account,) and I may or may not write a spin-off in which Sherlock and John are at Torchwood, but other than that distant possible future, this is it. This is the end of The Soldier Who Stayed and The Woman Who Counted, my journey with Molly Hooper, which has taken a year and a half to complete. I'm a little in shock right now, and kind of sad. Actually, pretty sad.

Thank you. All of you, thank you so much for reading and reviewing and caring about my story. I can't thank you enough. You guys pushed me to keep this story going even when I got lazy and lost motivation. You are all so awesome. I hope this is the ending you were hoping for.

So yay, Donna doesn't get her memory wiped, Rose gets to stay with the Doctor forever (yes forever, in my version, she's been altered by the whole Bad Wolf experience and has a lifespan just as long as the Doctor's), and Molly and co. are coming back after a brief holiday on Earth. And while Molly, Donna, and Greg have human lifespans and won't be able to stay with the Doctor and Rose forever, they'll stay as long as they can, and they'll live full, happy lives on the TARDIS. Perhaps there will even be some Hoopstrade and Rose/Doctor babies for Donna to babysit...? ;)

Yes, it's a sappy, corny, perhaps even somewhat unrealistic ending. I don't bloody care. I also don't particularly care if you think Rose and the Doctor don't belong together. They're my OTP to end all OTPs, so in my version of things, they get their happily ever after. Because I said so.

As for the alternate ending, I'll probably have that up briefly.

Now, to talk about my next project, which I've mentioned a couple times. I'm pleased to announce that my next project is a rewrite of the Moffat seasons of Doctor Who. I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Moffat. The point of my rewrite will not be to change things to how I wish they were. In that case, Rose would stay with the Doctor forever, Donna would still be there, and everyone would be happy. That's not the point of my rewrite. The point of it is to take the ideas that Moffat came up with and show how they could have been written in a more... constructive way, let's say. Taking out the sexism, filling in the plot-holes, altogether getting rid of the more nonsensical and problematic bits. I'll try to stay close to the main idea while only changing how it's presented and portrayed, but I might change some plots entirely due to either their nature or the way the story before it progressed. I may enlist the advice of other fanfic writers and Whovians, as I really want to do this right. And in all likelihood, by the time I reach the 50th Anniversary, I will try to recruit a Classic Who fan to help me write it, as I would like my version of that episode to be a proper tribute to past Doctors, and I don't have enough Classic Who knowledge to do that justice. So yeah, that's basically what my next project is. I haven't settled on a name yet, so suggestions are welcome. If that sounds like something you'd like to read, keep an eye out for that in the coming months. If you're a fan of Moffat's and rather wouldn't, that's fine too. Just warning you ahead of time what it'll be like.

Now, I probably won't start that project for a while, for two reasons. One, I'm working on an original project, and now that TSWS is done, I'd like to focus on that for a while. Two, I need some time to plan just how I'm going to tackle this. Again, suggestions are welcome.

That's it, guys. Keep an eye out for the alternate ending and my future project, and thank you all again. Until then, allons-y!

Kirk: Hello there guest who has been reading my story. I can't reply to your comments, and I'm not going to reply to them all individually here, as the responses would be pretty redundant now that you've read every chapter. You haven't by the time I put this here, I assume by the comment you just posted - I just wanted this message here at the end as a nice surprise. I just wanted to say thanks for reading my story and commenting on it. I haven't gotten a ton of comments on it since it's ended, and seeing these really nice comments on this story thats' been over for months has been really, really nice. So thank you for that. :D