Thoughts of a Logophile

 namarie24 and I had a lot of fun working together on this story for a friend's 21st birthday. She wrote part one, and I wrote part two. You'll want to read part one first (link below), although I suppose it'll make sense without it.

Title: Twenty-One To Forever (Part Two)
Spoilers: up to Army of Ghosts
Summary: The Doctor realizes it's almost Rose's birthday, and quickly comes up with a plan for an appropriately memorable celebration. Completely authorized continuation of “Twenty-One To Forever” by namarie24 which can be found here.
Characters: The 10th Doctor, Rose Tyler
Rating: G
Author's Note: Many thanks to kaffyr for the very helpful edits and comments!

Even as he asked the question, the Doctor knew what she would say. She'd already made it very clear what she wanted – but he had to keep reminding her of her options. “Forever,” she said, smiling that beautiful open smile, and he didn't have the heart to press her on it.

He knew he should. He knew that she thought she knew that forever was a different word for him than it was for her, but she couldn’t really comprehend it, could she? She was young even for a human, and she didn't really remember the brief moment where she could see as much of Time as he could. But here he was, actually making an effort to give a companion choice in the matter of staying with him, and Rose continually chose to stay. So, to honor her wishes, he couldn't tell her to leave, to go back to a normal life and forget about him – as much as in his hearts he knew that must happen, eventually. And of course, selfishly, he was glad she stayed.

She spoke again, breaking their silence. “Doctor, don’t do that.”

“Do what?” he asked innocently.

“This is part of my birthday present. And it was your idea to celebrate it, I might add, so don't spoil it by getting serious on me,” she said, pointing an accusative finger.

“Sorry, you're quite right, no more seriousness allowed,” he said briskly. “What d'you think, then? Isn't it brilliant?” He gestured toward the rock formations and the creatures that flew above them, with the sun rising behind it all.

“Yeah,” said Rose. “I could never have imagined this!” She crossed her arms tighter around herself in the chilly morning air.

“That's why surprises are the best,” the Doctor said. “I first discovered this planet entirely by surprise, but it's perfect for a little break.”

“By surprise? You mean you tried to go somewhere else and you ended up here instead,” Rose said, laughing. “Does that ever not happen, with you?”

“Oi! Sometimes we go exactly where and when I mean for us to!” he protested, but she just shook her head. “Anyway, come on, birthday girl, there's something else you have got to see.” He grabbed her hand and walked quickly, picking his way through the rocks.

Rose matched his pace. “Another surprise?”

“Yep,” he said, “and I won't be giving any hints, so you'll just have to wait and see. It's a bit of a walk, but it's worth it,” he promised.

“All right,” she said, seeming content. “Bit of a walk will do me good, after that food.”

He looked at her. “Oh, come on, it's tradition to eat a lot for your birthday, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it is,” she said. “And that was perfect birthday food, although I'd never thought of that before, either.”

“That's part of what I like about humans,” the Doctor mused. “All your holidays and celebrations involve lots of food.”

She laughed. “Guess they do.”

“'Course, there are lots of planets with races that do that, but not all of them.” He grimaced. “Some celebrations, well, you wouldn't want to get involved, believe me. Although I suppose it's all in your perspective, really. But I know I, at least, am not in favor of being the dish for someone else's party.”

“Me, neither,” Rose said firmly. She stepped carefully over an inlet, as they continued to skirt the edge of the body of water.

The Doctor stretched out a hand to hers and helped her jump over the widest part. “And not everyone thinks to remember the day of being born as special, either.”

She hesitated, but then seemed to decide to go for it, and asked, “When's your birthday, Doctor?”

He stopped. His first instinct when asked about home, and all those memories, was still to close down completely, but he decided to try to keep it light. “Aw, Rose, you expect me to remember? After 900 years, you do tend to not care as much.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, it's 902, at least. It's got to have been two years since you last told me your age.”

He frowned dramatically, grumbling, “Just because I said I didn't care as much doesn't mean I need you reminding me of that. Even I know it's impolite in your society.”

Now she laughed. “Touchy! Fine, I don't have to bring it up, but you're the one who told me, so don't expect me to forget so quickly. Learning that the man I'm traveling with is older than me by quite a few centuries doesn't happen every day, you know.”

“One or two centuries, though, that's pretty common, right?” he said, smiling, and trying not to let his thoughts go back to where they had been before.

“Oh, yeah, ten a penny, those,” she replied airily, and grinned.

It was about fifteen minutes later, during which time the trail had gone slightly uphill, that the Doctor put out a hand. He spoke quietly. “Wait, we're almost there. Let me just go on ahead and check.” He walked forward a few steps, bent over slightly, then turned around again. “All right, come on, Rose.”

She joined him at the short ledge they had come to, and gasped. Several yards below the drop-off, another ledge jutted out into the water. On it, two of the ray creatures rested. The Doctor spoke quietly again. “We got here in time. Come on.” He walked a few more paces to his left, then turned around and started climbing down the steep incline, facing inward toward the cliff.

“You're going down there?” Rose asked, a little nervously. “It's okay? Those ray things are okay?”

“Oh, more than okay,” the Doctor said, grinning. “They're brilliant! Come on, you'll love it!”

“All right,” she said, still sounding unsure, and started climbing above him. He helped her jump down when they had reached the bottom. One of the creatures turned around at their approach. Its eyes seemed to scan them, but it made no response other than that.

The Doctor brushed his hands off, then walked slowly right up to the creature, smiling. He reached out and gently touched the horn-like part. “Hello. Have we met before?” he asked. He saw that Rose was watching in amazement as it butted against him. “Maybe we have.” Its comrade also butted against him. “See, Rose? They're almost tame. Friendly.”

She came forward a little slower than he had, and then touched one gently on its huge wing. “Hello,” she said. “Oh, its skin is soft! I thought it'd be tougher.” She smiled, and it leaned into her touch. “What are they, Doctor?”

“You know, I don't really know,” he said reflectively. “This planet's hardly named anywhere, it's like no one knows about it.”

“They look just like manta rays,” she said. “From Earth. I learned about them in school once.”

“You might call them rays,” the Doctor agreed. “Although we've already seen one of the biggest differences.”

“Yeah, how do they fly? Doesn't seem like it should be possible!”

“Well,” began the Doctor, “the air is denser on this planet, for one thing. And there are pockets of warm air they tend to find, and their wingspan allows them to glide more than fly, usually.”

“They're beautiful,” Rose remarked.

“And they're a lot of fun,” the Doctor said.

“What d'you mean, Doctor?” Rose asked. She was starting to look suspicious.

“I mean that I discovered,” said the Doctor, gently putting one hand on one wing of the creature, which obligingly lifted it, “that if you do this-” he stretched across the animal and leaned on it with the same hand “-and then sit down,” he said, suiting actions to words, and the animal swung around quickly and then slid off the ledge, skimming the water before lifting off. The Doctor, crouching forward across its back, yelled, “... they fly! Are you coming or not?!”

Rose shouted, “You might have warned me!” and did her best to copy his actions. Her mount took off suddenly as soon as she was sitting, and the Doctor craned his head until he saw that she was sitting safely.

As he had thought they would, the two stayed relatively close together, so he was able to watch Rose's reactions to their flight. He knew she had been alarmed at the beginning, but she was enjoying it now. In fact, she let out a whoop of joy as her creature dove and wheeled, and the Doctor laughed. His hearts lifted, and he let out a cheer of his own.

Of course, the last time he had done this the flight had only been a few minutes in length, and it had ended in the water. He realized he had forgotten that detail, just as it seemed like the ray decided the ride was over. He had also forgotten to warn Rose. He turned to her. “Rose, when they land, it'll be in the water!” he yelled over the noise of the air rushing past.

“What?” she called back.

He took a breath to answer, but the landing interrupted him. Since there was nothing really to hold on to, he found himself in quite a different kind of flight, over the head of the creature, and he splashed headfirst into the cool water. He surfaced just in time to see Rose meet the same fate. He swam over to her awkwardly, wishing he had remembered to take off his coat that was now threatening to pull him down. “Rose, you all right?” he asked, wiping a hand across his face.

She spluttered, treading water. “Fine, except my coat is soaked. And do you know where we are?” She didn't sound too pleased.

“Uh, well, basically, yeah,” he said, nodding, not having thought of that, either.

She shook her head, spraying him with water. “Doctor, I think knowing about this part ahead of time would have been better. A lot better.”

“Maybe so,” he agreed, chagrined. “At least it's warmed up. Let's go to the shore, I bet we'll dry in no time.”

They clambered out onto the rocks, and both removed their drenched coats. “That was fun, though, wasn't it?” The Doctor asked, wringing his out as best as he could. He smiled, hoping it succeeded in being winning.

She shook her head again, but smiled in response. “It was amazing.” She sighed. “The most unforgettable birthday I've ever had, by far.”

He grinned full force. “Good. Then let's head back to the TARDIS for some dry clothes, and we can think about going to your mum's for the more normal birthday stuff.”

“She'll never believe what we did,” Rose said, putting her coat over one shoulder and taking his hand. “But I'll remember it forever, really.”

The Doctor tried to listen as she mentioned a few more things that would probably come up at her mother's house. There was that word again – forever. It pleased him that he had managed to give her such a memorable day, after all. And after all, he had decided before, and he reinforced that choice again: for now, her forever would be his.