Tales from the TARDIS • Doctor Who

THREE

ONESHOT THREE
❝The Best of Me❞

[Ten x Rose]

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Corridors spanned out for eternity, weaving in a non-coherent pattern, taking him deeper into the TARDIS. The rooms within her never stayed in the exact same position; they shuffled about to aid the Doctor in getting from point A to B. Usually the journey was short but tonight it was different. Tonight the Doctor didn't have a particular B in mind. His indecisiveness had confused the TARDIS; she let him wander on his own for once, instead of lending a hand.

Several hours ago, the Doctor and Donna Noble had returned from the planet Midnight. Donna had returned to the TARDIS worn off from her day spent bathing in safely filtered lethal radiation. Before the Doctor could whisk her away on another adventure or take her back to dreary London, she had retreated to her own bedroom within the TARDIS. This left the Doctor alone and restless.

He passed the library, the swimming pool, the observatory and even the tennis court but none of those roused his interest. The Doctor weaved through the corridors one by one until the TARDIS halted his trek with a groan.

"What is it girl?" The Doctor asked, looking up at the ceiling as if to expect the answer to be written above.

The TARDIS groaned again.

His eyes travelled from the ceiling and stopped in front of him. There was a door he would never forget, untouched just like it was last time he stumbled upon it.

"Did you send me here?" The Doctor whispered but the TARDIS did not respond.

He stared at the door, golden and gleaming in the corridor light. Inside contained enough to make the Doctor's hearts shred in two. If he left it be he would regret it but if he entered he was regret it as well.

He was glad that the Doctor enjoyed taking leaps of faith.

The Doctor reached out and opened the door; it creaked faintly from years of neglect. Inside the room softly lit up to reveal a room almost exactly the same as how it was last left by the owner. The Doctor had to stifle a sigh when he caught her scent lingering in the air. Clothes worn on their adventures were piled on the bed and dripped onto the floor. Mementos from far away worlds and even further away times sat on shelves and loose paper still sat, organised neatly on the desk.

It was Rose Tyler's room just the way she left it before her departure.

The Doctor hesitated, eyes lingered on the pink 1950's dress that hung up on her wardrobe. A smile threatened to form on his lips as he remembered his Rose dressed up in pink and speaking the 50s lingo. That slice of his past seemed so distant yet he could remember every second as if it had just happened.

The pile of organised papers caught his attention next. Shining in the dull light was glossy photo paper. The gleaming gloss drew the Doctor's attention, bringing him over to the desk so he could get a closer look. Underneath several sheets of writing paper that listed all the places Rose Tyler had been were a stack of photographs that the Doctor had not seen before. Grabbing the first one the Doctor had to bite back a laugh as he came face to face with his last regeneration. The photo was of him, clad in leather with minimal hair and statement ears. He was arm in arm with Rose, both looking thrilled. The Doctor did not understand how the photo could have been taken until he realised that the TARDIS kept a constant eye on her surroundings. Snapping a picture every now and then wouldn't have been a hard task to carry out. Relishing the picture for what felt like a century, the Doctor moved onto the one below it. This time the Doctor's face was his own; nice brown locks and wise brown eyes. He and Rose were in a hug this time, both their faces beaming with delight. As he studied the picture his own smiled mirrored the picture - radiant and joyous. Below it was a third and final picture. When the Doctor saw it his hearts clenched as sadness washed over him. It was taken back at the Powell Estate, when the Doctor dropped Rose off for a weekend with Jackie. Rose wore her Pink jacket and the Doctor had donned his trench coat . Rose had a backpack full of dirty clothes and presents and she had a hand extended towards the Doctor. He had it clutched in his own hands, lips pressed lightly on the back of her hand. He stared at that photo, studying every minor detail. He smirked at how Rose was blushing and that his own eyes were filled with a mischievous gleam. He grinned when he spotted Jackie in the blurry background, hands on hips. He remembered that night, the kiss on the hand before getting a lecture from dear Jackie and then a suffocating hug from the same woman. His smile faulted when he realised both of them, Rose and Jackie Tyler, where gone from this Universe. That a night like that could never exist again in all of the Doctors lives.

He didn't realise he was crying until a single tear splashed onto the photograph, landing right on the blushing Rose Tyler's exuberant grin. Gently he stroked the salty tear off the photograph before whispering, "You were the best of me, Rose Tyler."