Journey's Beginning

Jackie and the rest of the Tyler family took the engagement news rather well. The overly emotional mother only yelled and debated with them for an hour- they figured it would be at least two. That next week was full of wedding planning and excitement Rose never thought she would feel down here on Earth.

Weeks went on and when summer arrived, the wedding was planned down to the smallest of details. Everything was ready except one tiny piece of information Jackie had pointed out over lunch. It had been so obvious yet something in Rose didn't want to know the answer. She knew him well enough to know that he was going to give her the answer she didn't want. This one part of them would always be not quite right, not as it should have been.

The Doctor and Rose got out of a cab and made their way to the little flat they called home. Dinner had been prepared and they talked about the latest happenings at Torchwood as they ate. New projects were coming together and a few ideas the Doctor had suggested on his first day of work were coming to pass. He asked her about lunch with Jackie and knew that something was wrong the moment he did so.

"Tell me," he demanded wondering if the flower order was wrong, hoping nothing happened to the dress, and ready to fix whatever needed to be fixed to make their wedding day absolutely perfect.

"Well, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," she began, not even able to make eye contact.

"Whatever it is, you choose. I love everything about the plans so far- the colors, the music, the cake." He was going on as if it couldn't be anything of importance, hoping it wasn't anything of importance.

"Actually, it’s something you've been putting off too," she sighed.

The time had finally come for him to make the decision that would make his being a human on Earth official. The flat paperwork had been signed by Rose and Jackie. Everything from Torchwood was addressed or given to "The Doctor"- even his and Rose's pay was combined under her name in one single check. Thus far in his human life, he only used cash or Rose's credit cards for anything he needed, eliminating more paperwork. All the business he had done in his few weeks on Earth had allowed him to put off the single most important detail of the wedding. He could feel the fear on his face, lips slightly parted as if he had words to speak and wrinkled forehead with helpless slanted eyebrows.

"When I meet you at the end of that church isle, when you take those vows, what proper name are you going to say?" She held her breath the moment the last word was uttered.

"Rose, you know I have to--"

"No, you don't have to be John Smith now. You can be you, don't you see? You have the opportunity to choose your own name. Whatever name you want to put on all legal documents and records. The name you're known by." She paused, saving the most personal of the list for last. "The one I call you in public. Can't go around calling you "doctor" for the rest of our lives."

The half human knew she was right. But she didn't understand and he couldn't explain to her the depths of what she was wanting him to do.

"You want me to go by Samuel Tempus, yeah?" He spoke the name slowly and perfectly articulated each syllable as if sarcastically saying the name of a great enemy.

"Yeah, why not?"

They had been clearing the table until now. He took the last dish from her hand and put it in the sink with the rest of the night's dishes. Hand in hand he walked her over to the couch where they sat, never letting go of eachother's hand.

"I can't use that name here," he stated, obviously knowing more than what he was telling her.

"Give me a good reason, not just an excuse," she challenged, her heart being set on becoming Mrs. Tempus- the special genuine name of the man she loved.

"Think about it, Rose. Why would I not want to use my real name? Why would I have gone through the trouble of being known by everyone as 'The Doctor', huh?"

She had a few ideas but only a few of them were rational.

"You're trying to protect the ones you care about? The bad guys know your real name, they can find and hurt the ones connected to that name?"

"Close," he tried to grin.

"Your past? Does it have something to do with the other Time Lords?"

"That's a large part of it," he admitted.

"But if you are all Time Lords, aren't you all on the same side? Won't they help protect you?"

With a fake unsure expression and a shrug, as if he didn’t know the correct answer, he replied, "The others aren't as, well, fond of humans. We'll leave it at that."

"What, you mean the lot of them are mad at you for being so close to humans?"

"Yeah, something like that," he grinned, trying to lighten the mood of the deep and secretive conversation.

He didn't want her to know the whole story. Some parts of him, only a few parts of him, were best left unknown to his sweet clever Rose. He partly wanted to spare her the worry and the other part of him didn’t want her to solve the other few puzzles of his past.

"You know this means everything to me? A name is an important thing on this planet. People have everything they want or nothing at all just because of their name."

"Well, let's keep it to John Smith so we have a chance to have the little piece of heaven we want." The Doctor sweetly moved a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure? John Smith is just so dull, so generic, the complete opposite of everything you are."

"Exactly," he declared. "There's two of me out there now. The one did a fantastic job of not stirring up trouble down here because of a name and that's what I intend to do."

After a thoughtful few seconds, she asked, "Is using your real name really that dangerous?"

Instead of answering, he gave a single solemn nod.

"Fine," Rose growled, not wanting to pry further or continue a conversation he clearly didn't want to have. "John and Rose Smith it is."

He pulled her in for a hug that she didn't return at first. Relief filled him in ways he did not expect. This conversation, this choice, had been put off for this very reason. He knew the reasons she wanted him to use his given name but he knew something she didn't- the consequences that came with being known as Samuel Tempus.

"Thank you," he breathed into her hair. "That meant more than you'll ever know."

"You'd do the same for me," she sighed with a smile, releasing him from their hug.

"You're absolutely fantastic, you know that?" he sang more than spoke in that astonished tone. "I think I should marry you."

"Oh yeah?" she teased back. "You think so, ay?"

"Yeah, I do. I should marry you next month, on a Saturday," he continued, moving closer to her again.

Giddy blushes filled their cheeks as they flirted in the new way they were still trying to get used to. It was wonderful. There was no more wondering if they felt the same, wondering if feelings should be shared, or worrying about their future. Everything had already been decided. They were going to be together for the rest of their lives. He was hers and she was his- forever.

The Doctor had the growing urge to kiss her in a way he had never kissed her before. He had always wanted her, that was no secret, but this was different. Holding her body close to his at night was more remarkable than he ever imagined. Their hours of kissing felt like electric and he adored every last tender minute of it. Yet even hours of snogging hadn't ever satisfied what he longed for now. Being human was a bit different than being a full Time Lord, he was finding this to be more true every passing day. New emotions, new ways of processing things, new routines, and many other surprises. But nothing like this.

He felt something inside of him change, like a switch. Rose noticed his eyes glowing the way they did before they wasted a couple of hours lost in eachother's arms; yet this was ever so slightly different. The way he looked at her now was as if he could see into her very being, everything she ever feared or worried about evaporated. Suddenly, she was the only thing in his sight.

It began as it always did. They traced familiar lines of eachother's faces and gently rubbed their noses together. He moved in for the first kiss, more passionate than the usual first of many kisses to come. She silently urged him to continue with little moaning sounds and driving him crazy with her own movements that usually didn't come until later. With a single pump of her hips against his, they began to lose themselves in eachother.

Things quickly escalated. Before either the Doctor or Rose even thought to stop, they were in their bedroom breathing heavily between long kisses. The eager girl took off her fiancé's shirt as he wrapped strands of her hair around his fingers. Once his shirt was removed, his hands traced their way from her hips up under her shirt to her waist. It was in that moment she knew if they weren't going to go through with the act, they needed to stop.

"Are we doing this tonight?"

Their eyes met, everything that was a blur began to clear. He looked down at her, still fully clothed with wide innocent eyes. Was she to stay innocent a while longer or was this the hour?

"Do you want to do this tonight?" he asked, completely unsure of how he felt about the issue at hand. If she wanted to, his nerves would soon get the best of him. But if she wanted to wait…

Rose's eyes closed and she took a deep breath. What did she want? They had waited for so long. Everything they had been through seemed to have been leading them to this moment, this decision. They had waited this long and the wedding was only a few weeks away. Then her wedding dress came to mind. It was beautiful and pure as the ashy snow that fell the first time she took his hand. She tried to imagine putting the dress on that day.

Couples in her family had been very keen on waiting until the honeymoon. Even as a young girl, she had always thought the act of saving one's self for marriage one of beauty and total selflessness. It had always been a gesture that meant I love you so much that I waited until you were completely mine to give into my urges and fantasies. I waited until I was completely yours. That was the moment her mind was made.

"No," she sighed meeting his anticipating eyes. "I want to. I really really want to. With everything inside of me, my whole heart, I want you right now, Sam."

"But?" he managed while catching his breath, floating above her with trembling arms.

"But we've waited this long. Everything since I met you has been anything but ordinary. I want everything about us to be that way, extraordinary. I want to be the ones that truly waited for eachother. In my family, this is one of the greatest acts of love. Grandmother waited and so did mum. Guess you could call it a tradition. Women in this family are passionate about who we fall for. Guess this is just our way of showing true love."

She could see many silent thoughts crossing his eyes and brow. He had to think her mad. What sort of prude was she? After all they had been through, even though they loved eachother more than humanly possible, how could she not go through with the act they had been dreaming of for years?

"You aren't upset, are you?"

He chuckled and rolled beside her, wrapping her into his arms. Taking a breath, he kissed her forehead and their eyes finally met.

"I waited a very long time to find love, Rose Tyler. And you are more than worth every last century I spent looking for you." The Doctor paused with a smile. "We've waited this long and we have the rest of our lives. What's a few more weeks?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They kissed one sweet tender kiss and began talking about random subjects, from the wedding to comical happenings at Torchwood. An hour later, they were fast asleep more than content in eachother's arms. Things were happening fast and the big day was quickly approaching.