Reign of the World

Chapter 7

Sorry about my random hiatus, I ended up being really busy these fast few days and I saw people asking me to update, so this was as quick as I could get back!

The first thing Rose realized was the waking up on a beach wasn't romantic or calming or really anything pleasant at all.  She felt sticky and uncomfortable and she wondered if she could get away with wearing the sleep shorts that were on under her jeans.

She woke with her head on the Doctor's shoulder, his arm wrapped loosely around her shoulders.  How he was sleeping peacefully in a three piece suit she didn't think she'd ever understand, but there it was.  She turned her head slowly, wary of waking him, and saw highlights of pink and gold peaking over the horizon from where she was facing the beach.

The sunrises were just as beautiful as the sunsets on New Earth, so she tried to keep her thoughts calm and simply watched as the sun rose over the ocean. 

Calm thoughts weren't so easy to come by, though.  She just kept realizing how much death there had been, and that she and the Doctor couldn't stop it.  That was their job, wasn't it?  To keep people from dying?  And now over two hundred people were dead and she couldn't help but think that the whole mess was all her fault because she'd never blame the Doctor.

She sat up suddenly, not realizing she had woken him, and pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead.  It was madness, all of it, and how long could she live with people dying because of her?  She'd never leave the Doctor, she knew that, she couldn't.  But could she handle all the destruction that she sometimes left in her wake?  And not to mention she had committed genocide. 

She felt a light touch on her upper back and jolted out of her reverie.  Breathing heavily, she turned to face the very concerned look on the Doctor's face.  He smoothed his hand in circles on her back, calming her.  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's not  your fault," she whispered back, "You couldn't have known."

He nodded slightly, then stood carefully, dusting off his trousers, and held a hand out for her.  Without a second thought she took it and let him pull her to her feet.  He nodded towards the woods and Rose knew he was going to try to get out what had make her upset, since it clearly wasn't being stranded.

They only walked a little ways into the forest before coming across a log that they sat together on.  The Doctor waited for a few moments for her to get comfortable (Which was frankly impossible) before speaking.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's nothing," she lied, "Just a little bit of panic, I guess.  Never been shipwrecked before."

She expected him to accept it, because he trusted her.  She didn't want to tell him what she thought about the deaths because she thought he would try to hold himself accountable instead of her.  She didn't want him to have to think about it the way she was, because he'd dealt with the Time War, and for all intents and purposes that had been far worse.  If they were playing that game, she had no right to feel guilty at all.

"Hm," the Doctor didn't break his gaze from hers.

"You don't believe me."

"You have telltale lying signs," he said simply.  Then he grinned at her.  "Keeps you honest."  His smile faded and was replaced again by the look of worry.  "What's really wrong?  You should know that you can tell me."

"I know, but why would I burden you with any of that?" Rose protested.  She shrugged a shoulder.  "Just seems as though I needed a moment and now I can move on."

"I don't believe you again."

"It was worth a shot."

He offered her a soft smile.  "If you think I'm going to be angry with you, you're actually very wrong," he said pointedly.

She arched an eyebrow.  "Alright," she said simply.  "There's over two hundred people dead because I couldn't save them.  Lives, with families and houses somewhere and... And they're gone because maybe I could've been faster, or better about something.  But I wasn't.  And now they're under the ocean that shouldn't even be that deep."  She let out a breath, having finally gotten all that out of her system.

The Doctor sat quietly for a moment, taking in her words and calculating them as only he could.  Slowly, he nodded and looked at her.  "Those people are gone."  He said quietly, "But it's not your fault.  Thirty people are saved because of us, not in spite of us.  And even if we had saved one person, it would've been enough for me."

"Really?" Rose asked, looking for an honest answer from him, to make sure she was hearing this right. 

He nodded firmly.  "Really."

When they travelled back to the beach, the others were starting to wake up and stoke the fires, and complain about being hungry.

"Doctor Smith!" Tiffany bounded up to them, completely ignoring Rose's presence.  "We were just about to go looking for you!"

"I'm a grown man, Tiffany, I can take care of myself," he replied airily, "Besides, I had Rose with me."  He smiled and the two of them walked farther onto the beach.  Rose thought it best to not say anything about what had just happened at that moment, and though she couldn't explain it, the Doctor's response to Tiffany eased a few worries.

"Doctor Smith," Mr. Kelly beckoned him over, a smile on his face. "I've just spoken with the survivors while you were gone, and we've come to a decision."

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.  "Okay, and what's that decision, then?"

"They've decided they want you to be the leader until we get off this blasted island."

The Doctor blinked, a shocked look written across his face.  "What?  Why?'

"Because you're the one who saved us," Mr. Kelly scrunched his eyebrows up at the Doctor's response.  "It's very clear, isn't it?"

"If that's the case, Rose should be a leader as well.  But no one mentioned her, so what's the reason?"  He pointed out. 

"Well, no, because you're a Doctor.  Miss Tyler can certainly assist with anything you do, but she was not the primary choice," Mr. Kelly said.

The Doctor turned to Rose.  "What do you think?" he asked quietly.

Rose, of course, knew the Doctor wanted her to say no, absolutely not, never in a million years, but to be truthful she thought that the Doctor was the best shot anybody had of getting out of this situation alive.  And honestly, she didn't really trust anyone else on the ship.

So she turned to him and crossed her arms, nodding slowly.  "You know what?" She cocked her head, "I think you should do it."