amberfocus | Of the Vortex Born: Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-seven: Moon Bubble

“What are we doing here?” Rose asked her daughter Mairi in confusion. The day had been a long and confusing one for her. She’d been shagged rotten by the Doctor, had her hearts broken, had her hope restored when he’d proposed marriage, and was currently stewing in a fit of confusion. And now her eldest daughter had virtually abducted her and brought her to the outer edge of Dome Lambda with no other explanation then that her mother needed to come with her right now.

“Grandfather’s been wanting you to test out his company’s newest creation and you’ve been stalling. He needs a run through today. And Dad and I thought--.”

“Dad and you thought? Have you been conspiring with the Doctor?” Rose demanded.

“He came to me for help. Said he’d made a bit of a mess of things with you and could I think of anything he could do to make it better,” Mairi told her mother impatiently.

“He did?” Rose asked softly.

“He did. He felt so bad, too, Mum. I think that whatever it is he said to you today to hurt you broke his hearts,” her daughter said evenly. “And just so you know, he told me he’d asked you to marry him and that you said yes even if you are still mad at him.”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly tell the love of my life no even if he was being a total git,” Rose said on a sigh.

“Anyway, I came up with the how but he’s come up with the details and it involves the two of you testing Grandfather’s new…thingy,” Mairi said. “Now go on, Mum. He’s waiting for you inside.”

“Why are you helping him? I thought you and he didn’t get on,” Rose said.

“He asked,” Mairi said simply. Then she added, “And he asked me to come back with you and Jamie, too. I told him yes.”

Rose’s hearts lurched. “He’s trying, Mum. I’d really like it if you’d try, too.” Mairi’s hearts were completely exposed as she spoke, her eyes entreating her mother to forgive her father.

Rose nodded softly. “I’ll try,” she mumbled.

“Good. Now go.”

Rose walked slowly over to the Moon Bubble, her father’s latest flight of fancy. Of course, it was his flights of fancy that had been responsible for much of the building of the two colonies and his latest push had been more for the tourist industry. She entered the giant transparent sphere and found the Doctor waiting inside. He turned to her with so much hope on his face that she couldn’t help the small smile that washed over her own.

“Rose?”

“Mairi says we need to take this thing out for a spin,” Rose told him in a no-nonsense tone. “Though I feel like I’m in a bit of a hamster wheel, really.” The Doctor’s fingers moved over the controls and the sphere sealed. The sphere had large grooves that ran along either side, allowing for a low ring on the outside a foot off the ground to stay in place while the rest of the ball rotated forwards or backwards, left or right. The ring had gravity stabilizers that kept the sphere firmly against the floor and would do the same against the ground once out on the moon's surface. An internal ring ran around the inside at waist height, allowing for storage of emergency breathing apparatus and food and water stores as well as whatever the tourists using it would want to bring along.

Together they walked the thing out through the airlock and onto the surface of the moon. “Taking a walk on the moon without a space suit, it could be a rather romantic thing,” the Doctor said with a sidelong glance at his fiancée.

“Could be,” she agreed shortly. Rose tried to ignore the little looks he kept shooting her way as they walked along.

“Be more romantic if we were holding hands, don’t you think?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m not here for the romance, Doctor,” she told him abruptly. “I’m here to test the bloody thing for my dad.” The Doctor sighed heavily but let the silence descend between them.

They had walked for two miles with the sphere revolving quietly around them when finally Rose said, “Let’s stop.” She glanced back behind her but the colony was completely out of sight.

“I brought a picnic,” the Doctor said softly. “If you want.”

“I could eat,” Rose said grudgingly.

With a smile the Doctor jumped over to the inner ring and pulled open one of the compartments. He pulled out a blanket and swooshed it open with a flourish then spread it across the floor of the Moon Bubble. Hastily he pulled a picnic hamper out of another compartment and sat down. He gestured for Rose to sit, too and she did. She watched in silence as he set out plates and silverware and unpacked the food.

He removed two champagne flutes from the case and then carefully opened a bottle of sparkling cider, mindful of Rose’s pregnancy. Even a Gallifreyan embryo would not be able to metabolize alcohol. He poured the cider into the glass and then while Rose was looking away he dropped the engagement ring he’d bought that afternoon with his daughter’s help into the glass.

“Here you are,” he said handing her the glass. She took it from him and met his eyes.

“You planning on toasting to something?” she asked.

“To you, Rose. For your patience and your kindness and your love, for your capacity to forgive and for the way you’ve raised our wonderful children all on your own these many years. You’re an amazing woman. I am in awe of you. And I love you.”

He clinked his glass against hers and watched as she raised it to her lips. She caught sight of the ring before she took a sip and gave him an odd look. Very carefully she sipped the cider down until it was gone and then poured the ring out of the flute. She put it in her mouth a moment to suck off the juice and then pulled it back out again.

The band was silver or platinum, she wasn’t sure which and it was intricately filigreed. The stone was a gorgeous deep green emerald set well into the ring itself and not raised above it. A good thing considering how soft emeralds were and how easily they could get banged up on someone’s hand. “It’s lovely,” she told him.

“Matches your eyes,” he returned. He took the ring out of her palm and turned over her left hand.

“Rose Tyler, love of my life, mother of my children, mate of my soul, will you marry me?” he asked.

“Haven’t changed my mind since the last time you asked,” she told him gruffly. Her voice was rough but he could see tears in her eyes. Gently he pushed the ring onto her finger and then held her hand in his for a moment.

“I love you, Rose. More than I ever thought it possible for a man to love a woman, I love you. Part of me died when I lost you. I’ve never given up trying to find a way back to you. Somehow I got here, somehow I got back to you and all I know is that I’m never letting you go again,” he told her.

“Then why were you so stupid?” she asked her voice breaking.

“I got scared,” he said. “That’s what it was, Rose, plain and simple. I tried to protect myself before I lost you again.”

“You’re not losing me again,” Rose said fiercely. “Reality would not be that cruel twice.” She launched herself at him, into his arms, knocking his full glass of cider over. He let it fall and held her tightly to him.

“This thing does have a privacy setting,” he told her. "Everything but the very top goes opaque so you can still see the stars but no one can see in from the sides.”

“Activate it then,” she growled at him. “The picnic can wait.”

An hour later they resumed their picnic. “Does this mean I’m forgiven now?” he asked her.

“Oh, you think I’m that easy, do you?” she asked, but her smile was enormous.

“I was hoping that you were,” he agreed amiably.

“Yes, I forgive you but next time you get scared about how I feel, talk to me. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere without you. I love you,” she admonished.

“I will. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky,” he said.

“Okay, bit of overkill now,” she said.

“You think?”

She nodded. “All right. But I meant it, you know.”

“I know.” She smiled at him.

“I suppose we should get back. Jamie really needs checking on. I called her after our…fight but I’d like to go see her and make sure she’s still okay. She could be prone to post traumatic stress if the memories sharpen,” Rose said.

“Okay,” agreed the Doctor and he began to pack up their picnic supplies. Once everything was stowed safely away again they lowered the privacy shield. The Moon Bubble was completely surrounded by the shining, glittery black surfaces of the diamond and onyx bodies of over a dozen Ganyites.

“Oh, bloody hell,” said Rose. “How’d they get on the moon?”