Never Give up on Her

Rose pockets her piece of the Dimension Cannon as the street comes into focus around her. It looks just like an ordinary street, nothing special here, no sign of anything unusual that would attract her Doctor. She sighs, turning back and reaching into her pocket when she hears the familiar sound of the TARDIS' engines. She stops and spins on her heels, blinking in disbelief at the flash of blue as it begins to materialise. This is it; years of fighting and she's finally got back to him.

Except she's too early. Or at least she's not in the right place; the Doctor that opens the door has blue eyes, big ears and wears that dark leather jacket that she knows so well. She slips into a nearby alley way, peeking around the corner as she watches him at the end of the road. He steps out of the TARDIS, never looking up from the floor. "Of course Rose wouldn't come." He scuffs his heels on the floor, kicking the curb. "I can't believe I ever expected her to." With a sigh he leans his forehead against the door of the TARDIS. "Not that I blame her; she's beautiful and she's got a home there, why would she give that up for an ugly old man like me? Why would she come? What would she see in a broken, lonely old man?" He reaches out towards his ship, stroking the TARDIS affectionately. "But if she's happy then that's okay. Maybe she's what I need right now, maybe for one bright shining moment there was some hope in my life." He vigorously shakes his head. "No, stop it. This is how it should be, she was right not to come. You don't deserve her."

Rose watches him walk away, tears in her eyes; she wants to follow him, pull him close and tell him that she comes with him. She wishes she could tell him that she'll grow to love him and is fighting to get back to him now but she knows she can't. She can't mess with time like that, no one should ever know their future and she thinks it would take something away from their relationship if that knowledge is why he falls for her.

When he's gone and far out of sight of the TARDIS, Rose hatches a plan. Maybe she can't comfort him now but she can make sure that her younger self will. So she rips some paper off of a notice on the wall and pulls a pen out of her pocket, wedging her note between the doors of the blue police box. When she's done the key around her neck begins to glow; she feels the warmth of the metal and considers opening the doors. It'd be so easy just to unlock the TARDIS and run into the ship she's come to know as home; she could run her hands over the console and look around the familiar interior but she knows if she does then she'll never want to leave.

So she presses a hand to the door, feeling the wood beneath her fingertips and softly kisses the ship. "I'll see you soon old girl." She walks away, fading from sight as if she was never there.

An hour later the Doctor returns. With tears in his eyes he reads her message.

Never give up on her.
Did you mention that it travels in time?