Doctor Who Fic-"Moments"

[walkwithheroes]

Title:  Moments
Author: walkwithheroes
Rating: G or K+
Spoilers: Up to "Doomsday"
Word Count: 2,726
Disclaimers: Everything belongs to the BBC.
Pairings: Ten/Rose. 
A/N: Another post-Doomsday fic. Plus, it takes on: 'Rose lied, she was going to have a baby.'  theory. Totally fluff, un beta'ed, and may have a few canon mistakes. But...it's Doctor/Rose fluff, and I won't say I'm sorry about it. If there are huge glaring mistakes, please let me know. I only had my word perfect grammer, spelling, checker.
Summary:  Rose lied to the Doctor. Seven moments that lead up to the big moment. 

The Lie

When Rose Tyler was nineteen years old, she became a mother. It wasn’t planned and it certainly wasn’t expected. She had only been with the father twice, only told the father that she loved him once. And, it wasn’t as if the father was around to help take care of the child. Though, maybe that was partly Rose’s fault. He would have moved the stars to get to her if he had known about the baby. But, that would have only made things worse. That had been why she had only give him a half-truth.

The Children

Simon Tyler was born in the spring. Nora Tyler was born a few weeks later. Uncle and niece, best mates, and one another’s closest confidante. Simon was an awkward boy, all brains and ideas, with little social skills. Nora was a bright girl, more intelligent than anyone in her year, popular, and talented beyond all reason. Different as night and day, and yet they were closer than anyone two people could be.

"I ‘ave to protect Simon from the monsters." Nora often told her mother. "He takes so much looking after."

Whenever Nora told her mother that sort of thing, Rose would only pat her daughter on the head and send her off to play. 

The Playing

When Simon and Nora were children, they often played together in the parks around London.

Nora, wild brown hair flowing around her face, would rush straight to the swings. She’d call after Simon, begging him to come try and touch the sky with her. Simon preferred the ground, or rather the sandbox; it was much more safe, after all.

"He never wants to play." Nora sadly told her Uncle Mickey. It was a bright summer’s day and the two were at the swings. Mickey was swinging Nora, who had been laughing in pure delight only a minute before. Now, she was watching Simon with a very intense and familiar look on her doll-like face. "Do you think he’s scared?"

"Nah. He’s just not a fan of the swings. Go ask him to play something else, yeah?" Mickey patted Nora’s head. "Go on, Nora."

Nora jumped off the swings and walked to the sandbox. She kept her hands politely behind her back and stared at the top of Simon’s mousey brown hair. "Watcha doin’?"

"Nothing." Simon stared up at her, piercing blue eyes meeting wide chocolate ones. "Playin’."

Nora nodded. "Do ya wanta come with me?" She held out her hand for him.

Simon eyed Nora’s hand. He looked deeply into her eyes for a moment, a small smile spreading across his face. "But . . . I don’t like the swings. I’m scared of heights."

Nora nodded again, this time more seriously. "Yeah. That’s a bad piece of luck. We won’t go on the swings, then. We’ll go on the slide."

Simon’s smile grew as he grabbed hold of Nora’s hand. "Sliding would be good, thanks."

Together the two children walked hand and hand to the slides. 

The Learning

Nora Tyler, at the mere age of six, took her A-Levels. According to everyone, she was one bright little girl. She was beyond a genius, really. It was as if she knew the answers to everything. It was a bit creepy for some people.

Rose didn’t want Nora to be thought of as a freak, so she had her daughter put off university for a few years, or rather for eleven or twelve years. Instead, Nora spent her weekdays with Jackie, soaking in some day time television and reading every book in every library in the city of London.

Simon Tyler was ready for university at the age of eighteen. He had done amazing well in everything, though his scores were still below Nora’s. However, that didn’t matter to Simon or Nora. The pair was just excited about (finally) going to university. 

The Summer Before. . .

The summer before university, Rose took Simon and Nora on a holiday; they went to Norway, to a beach called ‘Bad Wolf Bay’.

Rose had the two teens stand with her on the beach and watch the water. She told them a story. She told Nora about lying to the Doctor. Rose had never told Nora one thing about her father; she had always just said ‘he had to go away before you were born’. But that day, Rose told Nora and Simon everything.

"Always knew you were strange." Simon chuckled lightly, putting a comforting hand on Nora’s shoulder. Nora half-smiled at him. "Sorry ‘bout . . . everything."

"Mum?" Nora glanced over to Rose, who was staring intensely at the water. "I’m sorry, ‘bout the Doctor. ‘Bout the fact that you thought you had to lie to him. About the fact that you had to lie to him."

"Your Dad;" Rose shook her head. No, he didn’t feel totally right saying it that way. "Our Doctor would understand." She reached out and took Nora into a hug. "He’d say that you turned out well, sweetheart. So well."

The three of them spent the rest of the day on the beach, Rose telling Simon and Nora about all her adventures with the Doctor and about all the different ways Nora was like him. 

The Swing Set (Revisited)

Simon and Nora get a flat near their university of choice. They move in a week before school starts, and they spend a great deal of time making things ‘hip’ and ‘cool’. In their spare time, the two headed to the nearest park.

They headed straight for the swings.

"You have to swing me, Simon." Nora nearly begged. She made her lips as pouty as possible. "I want to see if I can finally touch the sky."

"Might have to wait until you’re a proper scientist." Simon told her firmly. "You know I hate the swings." He gestured to the slide. "We could slide, yeah?"

Nora gently ran a hand over the swing set. "But . . . I like the swings, Simon." Her voice took on that whiny tone that Simon couldn’t stand. "You could just push me a couple of times."

Simon chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "I’d really rather not." Nora pouted even more. "Fine." He let out a loud sigh.

Nora sat on the swing, all ladylike and posh. Simon moved behind her, and gave the swing a gentle push forward. Nora tried and push herself higher, wanting to try and touch the sky. 

The Meeting

Nora Tyler had an unhealthy love of two things: chips and the sky. The chips came from her mother, the sky thing from her father. So, every day after classes she waited for Simon at the local fish and chips shop, reading her books on space.

She sat at one of the small tables, eating chips and reading one of her books about possible space travel, when she finally met him.

The bell above the door had caused her to look up, thinking it was Simon. Instead, she came face to face with a man, whose hair was brown and whose eyes were very soft and warm. The man had stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes landed on Nora.

Nora offered the man an awkward smile. "Lost?" She asked, not fully understanding why nor fully comfortable with the way the man was looking at her.

"Yes . . . I mean no . . . I mean hello." The man returned the awkward smile. "Are you, uh . . . I think . . . yeah." The man blushed slightly. "I’m sorry. You just look like someone I knew a long time ago."

"Oh."

"Yes, again sorry."

There was a long and awkward silence, with the two of them just staring at one another. The silence was only broken by the sound of the bell above the door. It was Simon, bag and arms full of books.

"Nora . . . " he trailed off. "Nora?"

"Simon!" It came out sounding a bit more needy then she wanted it to. "Come, sit."

Simon did as he was told. As he placed all his books on the same table, he gave the man a once over. "Hello. Simon Tyler. You a friend of Nora’s?"

The man looked momentarily confused. "Wait, what? You’re Simon Tyler?" The man’s eyes narrowed on Simon. "Jackie and Pete Tyler’s son?" Whirling to face Nora, the odd man smiled widely. "You are not Jackie and Pete’s? You’re Rose’s? You look just like Rose, same eyes, mouth, you even sit the same way!" The man was growing more excited by the moment. It was scary, and Simon had moved protectively in front of Nora. "Nora, like Norway!" The man let out a joyous laugh. "That’s brilliant!"

Simon and Nora exchanged a nervous glance. "Um, are Nora and I supposed to know you?"

Were they supposed to know him? No. But, they should have. They should have grown up knowing him. The man shook his head. "No. I’m just a bit late." He stared intensely and sadly at Nora for a moment. "You’re . . . sorry." He let out a nervous laugh, before turning to leave the shop.

Nora stared after him, realization slowly creeping up on her. "Wait!" She shot up from her chair, causing Simon to jump and the man to stop and turn back to her. "You’re him, aren’t you?" Her eyes narrowed on his face. "Aren’t you? Otherwise, how else would you know?" She smiled softly, willing the man to say that he was.

Instead, the man asked: "You two are uncle and niece, and you seem close, are you?"

"Best mates." Simon answered with a smile, though he didn’t seem to fully understand what was going on.

"He doesn’t do well with people, neither do I. So, we stick together." Nora added. "Best mates, confidantes-"

"Companions?" The strange man cut-in.

Simon and Nora exchanged another look, and Nora answered with a shrug. "Guess so, yeah."

The man smiled, clearly happily with that. "Good. Everyone should have a companion."

"Everyone should be with the person they love." Nora told him softly. "If you are who I think you are, and if you can . . . why not go back? Have those missing nineteen years."

The man gave Nora a long and sad look. "You can’t always . . . just promise you’ll have a good life, Nora Tyler. Do that for me."

Nora smiled, unsure. "Yeah. I promise." She slipped her hand into Simon’s. "We’ll be fine, Dad."

The Doctor smiled sadly, tears burning in his eyes. "Thank you." Tears threatening to fall from his eyes, he turned again and left the shop.

Nora and Simon watched as the Doctor walked across the street and entered a blue police box. A moment later strange sounds filled their ears and the blue police box was gone.

Simon turned his attention to Nora, mouth slightly agape. "That was your Dad."

"Yeah." Nora beamed. "That was my Dad. I think he’s proud of me, Simon."

"It’s just too bad that he couldn’t see Rose. Too bad he couldn’t stay."

"Oh, I wouldn’t worry." Nora smiled at him. "I think it’ll work itself out." 

The Reunion

Rose Tyler sat on a bench in the middle of the park, the autumn wind causing her hair to blow into her face every now and again. Despite her wind issues, Rose kept her eyes firmly on the sandbox and the two three-year-olds playing inside it. Nora was busy making her own sandy copy of the Tower of London, while Simon was busy making his toy trucks fill up with, and then dump piles of sand on his new shoes.

Rose was about to go tell Simon to try and maybe dump the sand on someone else’s shoes when a familiar sound caught her ear. She sat still for a moment, willing the sound to get out of her head. It only hurt more when she thought the Doctor had found a way to her. Rose slowly turned her attention back to Simon and Nora, who were both now using Simon’s trucks to dump sand all over both of their shoes.

"Guys, sandy shoes are not the way to go." Rose told them, getting up from her spot. She walked to the sand box and awkwardly got herself into it. "Come on, I think the Tower of London could use some work." She gave the twosome a warm grin. "And after this, ice cream."

"With sprinkles?" Simon questioned.

Rose nodded. "With sprinkles."

Nora clapped her little hands, delighted. She seemed about to speak, but her gaze trailed off too somewhere behind Rose. "Mummy, there’s a man watching us."

Air caught in Rose’s throat. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. She had imagined the noise and it was just a random man that Nora saw. Slowly, Rose turned around to see a man standing by the bench she had been sitting on. He had brown hair and soft eyes. He was wearing a very familiar brown suit and coat.

Rose felt her eyes begin to burn, and when she spoke it was through tears. "Nora, that’s your Daddy. He’s come back."

The Doctor smiled gently. "Hello, Rose Tyler."

The pair smiled at one another, before running straight for one another. The Doctor gathered Rose up into his arms, lifting her clean off the ground. Rose’s lips caught the Doctor’s in a short kiss.

"How did you..."

"Found a way to get here without destroying everything. Though, it’s closed behind me." The Doctor set Rose back on the ground. "Got here about sixteen years too late, so I just came back a bit." He glanced past Rose and to the sand box. "Nora, named oddly enough for Norway. And her Uncle Simon, who she protects from the monsters. You lied to me, Rose." He told her, in a tone that might have been scolding, if he hadn’t been smiling so widely. "Jackie wasn’t the only one who was going to have a baby."

Rose ignored him, just a bit. She slid her hand into his. "Come met her. If you’re staying, you could . . . she’s so bloody smart, Doctor. And she’s got this thing for punk music. You’d like her."

"I do like her." The Doctor corrected. He gently placed a hand on her cheek, forcing Rose to look into his eyes. "I...I’ve got a daughter." He paused, his smiling slowly fading. "Does this mean I’ve got to get a job?"

Rose laughed in spite of herself. "No." She pulled him along, toward the sandbox and the children. "It just means you’re home. Nora’s been waiting to meet you."

The Doctor gave Rose a cheeky smile. "You have no idea."

From her spot in the sandbox, Nora smiled happily. "Hello. I’ve made the Tower of London with Simon." She looked to Simon. "He likes putting sand on our shoes."

Rose and the Doctor awkwardly sat themselves in the sandbox. "You know," the Doctor slowly began. "you really have gotten the Tower of London just right. You are very intelligent." He looked from Nora to Simon to Rose. "Still, I’ll have to teach them a few things."

"Nothing dangerous." Rose warned gently. "Just everyday things."

The Doctor nodded. "Music, history, maths, science, how to use the red bucket and not the blue one." He offered Rose another cheeky grin. "Well, they will have to know the basics."

Nora and Simon started to giggle. "You’re funny." Simon told the Doctor seriously. "I like you."

The Doctor smiled. "I like you, too." He looked to Rose. "Remind me to teach him the fine art of talking to girls other than our Nora." Turning his attention to Nora, the Doctor gave her a warm look. "So much like Rose. Though, I do see a bit of myself. Tell me, what is it you want to do."

"Touch the sky, Daddy." She looked up, smiling at the clouds. "Touch the sky."

"All right. I’ll teach them music, history, maths, science, how to use the red bucket and not the blue one, and how to work the TARDIS, so they can actually touch the sky."

"Doctor . . . "

He held up a hand. "No, no, no, a father knows best and . . . " he was cut off by Rose’s lips on his.

They didn’t stop kissing, even when Simon and Nora let out a collective ‘EW.’

Moments later, the Doctor and Rose were still kissing, and Simon had begun dumping dirt on their shoes, while Nora began her sandy verison of a blue police box.