[ for rude_not_ginger; shadows and light ]

[roseoflegend]

Winter wasn't coming, it had already been there and claimed its territory. London was unrelenting at this time of year, the way it tended to be with snowstorms and sleeting rain that solidified into ice and made the going across the roads near to impossible with a steady stride. Jackie was adamant about staying in until things thawed out but Rose

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[rude_not_ginger]

He could do anything.

He could do anything.

He split the fabric of the universe and took a quick trip. Just a quick trip. For a man who could do anything, this was nothing. The universe would repair itself.

The TARDIS landed inside of London. He only breezed past the date, making sure he was somewhere in the right vicinity. He wouldn't meet himself, and if he did, so what? So he met himself.

He wanted to prove just how much he could do.

[roseoflegend]

The sound was enough to shock the breath out of her, and no matter where she was or what had happened, it would never fail to make her heart beat faster. A cold breeze caught itself in her hair and Rose whirled around, blinking through the disarrayed blonde strands.

It had to be impossible. Had to be -

[rude_not_ginger]

He pulled open the TARDIS door and grinned. Icy cold day. He liked icy cold days. And a Saturday, he liked Saturdays, too.

And Rose Tyler.

Rose, he promised himself he'd never pull from her universe. Rose, he promised himself he'd let be safe and secure here. He wondered if she thought she was dreaming. Was he her dream?

He held out a hand.

"Come with me."

[roseoflegend]

She had to be dreaming. There was no other way that this was possible. And if it was a dream then it was harmless, because admittedly she had dreamed this before. Sometimes he came to her window with the TARDIS, others he was alone and kneeling beside her bed, nudging her gently awake with a wild gleam in his eye. The scenario always changed, but her reaction never did. The response was always the same.

Rose's face was burned with a slight redness from the cold but she ignored it, running the few steps to the TARDIS doors - and to him.

"Is it..is it really? It..it can't be."

But she, without hesitation, reached out and put her hand in his.

[rude_not_ginger]

"That's right. But I do well with impossible things, don't I?" He tugged her hand gently, pulling her into the TARDIS.

Her life didn't matter out there.

He would take her to see the stars. It was what he wanted, it was what he always wanted. And after 900 years of doing what other people wanted, it was his turn.

"Tell me where you want to go," he said. Unspoken, he would decide if he should go there.

[roseoflegend]

There was something different about him. She could see it, feel it, even when everything was somehow so..perfect. It felt right, being with him again, even after all this time.

Her fingers entwined with his and Rose brought her free arm around his shoulders to hug him, hold on with everything that she had in her.

"Someplace magical," she said softly, turning her face against his neck.

[rude_not_ginger]

The hug was unexpected, but he approved. Rose could hug him. He deserved to hug Rose. Her breath was warm against his neck and he approved of that, too.

Magical. He knew a lot of magical worlds out there.

"I'm going to take you away from here," he said, firmly. "And you'll never have to come back."

[roseoflegend]

"You said we couldn't." It felt like a reunited lovers' embrace, and in a way that was exactly what it was. They had always been close, a part of one another's lives since they met, and now -

- now they were together again. Everything felt as if it couldn't be more right, and yet it couldn't be because this was a dream, and she would have to wake up at some point.

But not yet.

"You said I'd never be able to see you again. How..?"

[rude_not_ginger]

"I changed my mind." It came out harsher than he'd intended it, but that was all right. She would understand, or she wouldn't. Either way, he'd decided he was leaving with her.

She really didn't believe this was real, did she? How adorable. He was a regular knight, sweeping a damsel off her feet.

[roseoflegend]

Was it that simple? Could it be? No, never mind that. If she thought about it too much, he might disappear and Rose didn't want that to ever happen again. Losing him again wasn't something she wanted to endure.

Her arm stayed around his neck and when she looked up at him, the resemblance to a knight and damsel was almost striking. She might be more strong now than she had been before, but she would never stop looking at him the same way she always had.

"We can go? Just like that?"

[rude_not_ginger]

"Yep," he said, his voice now supremely smug. "Just like that. Leave the Earth behind with me."

He slipped an arm around her waist. It was very nearly a romantic gesture, except where he gripped, he gripped harshly. She'd slipped away too many times not to be sure.

[roseoflegend]

The tightness of his arm made her heart leap into her throat, and a little prickle of unease crept up her spine. But she couldn't listen to that now. Not when he was here and they were finally..close. Close like this.

"Forever," she said softly, her free hand brushing his cheek. "Forever."

[rude_not_ginger]

Forever was an idiotic concept.

Only one of them had forever and it wasn't her. Pity.

"For as long as you live," he said, as though this were agreement.

It was not.

[roseoflegend]

It wasn't, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it. But Rose wasn't going to let herself care right now. Not when they were here, together.

Rose laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, just letting herself hold on.

[rude_not_ginger]

"Away from here, then. We've had enough of this universe. Pete or not." He flipped a few controls on the TARDIS's panels and the ship rocked, taking off.

He pulled away from her, roughly, to attend to the machine. The ship buckled and swayed as he sped her through the vortex.

[roseoflegend]

Not being so close to him cleared part of her mind, and now Rose could tell that there were differences from the way he had been before. There was a change in his eyes, something darker, and the way he held her was tighter, harder.

But why? What had happened?

The TARDIS moved and Rose staggered, her hands clutching onto the smooth metal railings. It felt familiar, but at the same time everything was different. She didn't know what to make of it. Not yet.