literature

A Proper Wedding (Part 4 FINAL)

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Outside, the Doctor stood at the altar. The sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon behind him, and he looked up at the reddening sky as he straightened his bowtie nervously (actually causing it to go more askew, but he didn’t notice).
The ceremony was set directly behind the mansion, so that the processional could make a proper entrance through the double doors, and so that the Doctor wouldn’t see his bride until it was time for her to walk up the isle.
The music started, and the mother of the bride made her way up the isle. She held her head tall, but all the Doctor could think of was seeing her at her own wedding, which brought a humored smile to his face. She took her seat in the front row of seats.
There were very few bridesmaid and groomsmen – mostly members of this universe’s Torchwood paired with some surprisingly familiar faces. There was Martha Jones being led up the isle. Then was a face that brought a warm wave of nostalgia – good old Sarah Jane Smith. After her was that ginger friend of Rose’s… He recognized her, too. Amy, he thought. Amelia Pond. Good name. Fairy tale name. He’d talked her out of her own wedding jitters after finding her removing her engagement ring earlier. Next was little Tony, who held his head high, bearing the pillow with the rings like the most precious thing he’d ever handled in his young life. Mickey, the best man, walked the Maid of Honor up the isle, and oh what a noble Maid of Honor she was. Donna Noble. The brilliant Doctor Donna. The ginger smiled meekly at the groom, obviously not recognizing him (she was originally from this universe, after all, she’d have no reason to know him). He shot her a wink, grinning. Mickey offered the Doctor a smile as he reached the altar, taking a step forward to straighten his bowtie for him. The Doctor muttered a word of thanks, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder before Mickey took his own place off to the side.
The music suddenly swelled, and the doctor looked eagerly towards the house. The double doors that the rest of the bridal party had come through had been closed again to hide the bride-to-be from sight. The swung open deliberately and slowly, Revealing first a proud and beaming Pete, and then…
The Doctor had to physically brace himself to keep from falling over at what he saw. There was his gorgeous bride, looking straight at him, the happiest he’d ever seen her, and wearing a traditional Gallifreyan wedding gown.
Her hair was up to compensate for the high collared design, a large red rose adornment placed in the magnificent golden curls of the updo. The scarlet dress brought out the red in her cheeks and nose, and her lips had been painted to match the hue. Those red lips curled upwards into the most beautiful smile as she caught sight of the Doctor’s dumbfounded expression. Her arm was hooked around her father’s. Slowly, deliberately, they made their way up the isle. It was all that the Doctor could do to not run down to close the distance, to take her face in his hands and kiss her passionately.
Some miracle kept his feet planted as she came steadily closer.
At the end of the isle, Rose hugged her father, whispering something and nodding with a small laugh. He broke away and took his seat beside his wife.
Rose, now alone, made eye contact with the Doctor – her groom – as she took the final few steps to the altar, standing in her place across from him. She tore her eyes from him to look at the minister for a moment.
“Terribly sorry, but we’ve got it from here.”
The minister looked uncertain and very much flustered by his sudden dismissal, but after being pointed towards an open seat by Rose, he sat in one of the chairs with the rest of the guests, furtively whispering to his neighbor ‘was it something I said?’
Mickey stepped forward, at the ready. Rose reached for the Doctor, unbuttoning his jacket with surprisingly steady fingers. He caught her wrists, causing her to look up at him. His chocolate eyes were full of… concern?
“Rose, you only get one wedding. If this isn’t what you want-“ he said quietly.
She quieted him, placing a hand on his chest and smiling. “This is what I want, Doctor. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. It doesn’t matter how, as long as it happens. And this – getting to be part of your world, if even for a moment – is what I want.”
Her hand travelled back to his buttons, and she quickly un-did them. He turned, helping her as she pulled off his jacket. The jacket she handed to Mickey with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. The best man returned to his spot, standing tall. Rose’s hand travelled to her neck, where she unfastened the cape she wore over her dress. She nodded her head at the Doctor, indicating that he was a bit too tall for her.  The Doctor bowed, allowing her to swing the cape over his shoulders, securing the pin delicately. She grinned at him and he returned it.
“I’ll admit, I’m not sure about the verbal bits of this, so you might have to help a bit,” whispered Rose.
“Of coure,” the Doctor nodded. He turned to the parents of his bride, motioning for them to come forward. He turned towards the older couple, straightening his spine and raising his chin slightly.
“Jacquelyn Tyler, do you consent and gladly give your blessing that I wed your only daughter?” spoke the Doctor loudly. Then, in a quieter voice, he directed Jackie “say ‘I consent and gladly give’”
“Heh, Gladly,” she scoffed.
“Mum!” Rose hissed, face flushing.
Jackie sighed. “I consent and gladly give.”
The Doctor smiled, looking both relieved and eternally grateful. “Thank you. Now, Pete-“
“I consent and gladly give,” said Pete immediately.
The Doctor laughed. “Well, technically you’re supposed to wait for me to say my bit, but it counts the same, I suppose. You may sit.”
Pete grinned sheepishly, and the pair went back to their seats.
The Doctor turned to face Rose again. “Now, there’s no rings bit in my custom, but I suppose we can improvise a bit. Tony?”
The boy stepped up slowly, holding up the pillow with the most adorable seriousness masking his face. The Doctor plucked the first ring from the pillow, holding Rose’s hand in his other. His eyes lifted, meeting hers. Her breath caught at the pure, unabashed love in his gaze. To think, this eternal God would ever settle for her…
As if reading her thoughts, he began to speak. As he did so, he slipped the engagement ring from her finger, slipping it into the new ring. “Rose Tyler. I’ve been waiting for this day since the very first time I took your hand. The very first time we ran, together. And there was an awful lot of running, wasn’t there?” he laughed, his eyes dropping to the rings in his hand, observing them serenely and making sure they were properly aligned. “When I first met you, I had lost all hope of love. I was a man born of hate and fire. But then there was you. You showed me how to love again. You showed me the universe through brand new eyes. Suddenly, everything that had once been cold and dark was beautiful, fantastic,” he met her eyes again. “Brilliant. And I was reborn with you. I was reborn out of love, and I became the man you deserved. I became yours.” With steady, careful fingers, he slipped the ring onto her hand. The metal was slightly warm, and Rose liked to think that it was a symbol of their love as opposed to the fusing of the three parts. “With this ring, I’m giving you a reminder of my promises to you. I promise to cherish you for the rest of my life, even if you turn out just like your mother.”
There was a moment of laughter from all parties – even Jackie herself smiled, shaking her head.
As the laughter died down, he continued, his voice laden with a soft, warm intensity. “I promise to protect you from threats great and small. I promise to never let you go or leave you behind. I promise to run with you to the ends of the universe, and to keep running. I promise to tell you everything; to never keep another secret from you. I promise you, Rose Tyler, to make life an adventure, because this is the biggest one I’ve ever embarked upon. A lifetime with you. This is my eternal promise to you.”
She realized she wasn’t breathing.
Forcing her brain to work again, she tore her eyes from him to get the ring from Tony. As she plucked the ring from the pillow, she ruffled the small boy’s hair, causing him to break his stony mask with a grin. She directed him away, back to his spot, before turning back to her groom.
“Doctor,” she started, smiling through the word. “When I first met you, I was… Well, I was a shop girl. I thought I wasn’t good for much of anything. Life was mundane and repetitive and… you… saved me. Literally. And with you, I learned how to be a better person. I learned that you don’t just let things happen. Sometimes you do have to stand up and make a decision because you’re the only one who will. I promise, Doctor, to never let life pass us by. I promise to always be there to hold your hand, through thick and thin. I promise to keep you sane, and to keep that big head of yours grounded. I promise to love you with all of my heart the rest of my days, and to spend every single one of those days with you. I’m going to be with you, forever. And this time nothing is going to stop that, because if anything does you already know I’d tear two universes apart to get you back. This is my promise to you, until the end of time itself.”
She slipped the ring onto his finger, perhaps brushing his skin with her fingertips more than she needed to.
“Back to a Gallifreyan ceremony, then?” she asked with a grin.
He smiled. “Now, do you have a strip of-“
“Relax, Doctor. I know this bit,” reassured Rose. She reached up to her hair, releasing a golden ribbon that was wrapped around the large red rose adornment. She unwrapped it and brought it between them. The doctor took one end in his palm, while Rose took the other. Slowly, gently, deliberately, they moved their hands around each other’s, wrapping the ribbon again and again around their skin and bringing their hands closer and closer until they were secured against each others’. Rose looked up at the Doctor to see his eyes already on her with such a passionate, smoldering expression that it made her cheeks flush.
“Now’s the sharing of names,” the Doctor said softly.
“What’s that?” asked Rose.
“I’m going to tell you my true name. It’s a part of a Timelord that is extremely personal – it’s like giving your very soul to another person. What I’m about to tell you, no-one else has ever known.”
He moved towards her, only stopping once his lips were right beside her ear. His breath was hot against her skin and it sent goosepimples running up and down her spine. Everything else disappeared as she waited… waited…
And then he whispered something in her ear she could never repeat, even if she tried. If she had to describe the words themselves, she could only vaguely describe that they sounded just like the circular gallifreyan that she’d seen, but a different pattern than she’d ever witnessed. When asked how a word could sound like a bunch of circles, she was never quite able to explain.
It was the Doctor. It was everything that he was, everything that he had ever been. She saw him, all of him. She saw all of the pain and suffering within him. Generations lost – his own family. Parents, but not just that. He’d had children. His children had had children. And all of them lost, with him the only survivor. She saw all of the blood on his hands and the guilt in his heart, all of the suffering and the loss and the horrors of war and the fire and the ice and the rage…. She was hardly surprised to find a tear running down her cheek.
But there was so, so much more than that. There was such wonderful joy. There was laughter and brilliance and song and dance, and so many bright and shining companions and his compassion for each and every one of them, and for each and every person he’d ever saved. There was brilliance, such knowledge that she could never even imagine. There was wonder and beauty and the memories of a thousand thousand planets and stars and moons, of alien races and plants and customs.
There was rebellion. A flame, a wildfire, roaring against the injustice of his own race, of his own rules. She saw he’d always been a fighter, since the very beginning. She saw him run, and keep running, and she saw how by running he ended up fighting, the defender of the universe, defender of all that is right and just. Nine hundred years old and he was still a rebellious teenager picketing the government.
And then, rising like a crescendo to her ears, there was love. Unabashed, unfiltered, pure and true love. Blinding like a sun, like every star that had ever blazed through the black, there was the beauty of his love for her. Her mouth opened and she gasped in a breath, another tear falling from her eye, this one a tear for the man’s unending beauty. He leaned away from her, watching her closely as she struggled to absorb every syllable of the inexplicable word he’d just put in her ear.
It was her turn, now. Forcing herself not to think how meager her simple words would be in comparison to what she’d just heard, she stood on her tiptoes, moving towards his ear. He met her halfway, leaning in slightly and tilting his head to get his ear closer to her.
She was almost kissing his ear. She resisted the urge to break the distance in that way. Swallowing and licking her lips for composure, she pronounced to him, taking the upmost care in each syllable and letter,
“Rose Marion Tyler.”
He trembled the same way she had moments before, and that brought a smile to her lips. She pulled back, and he was staring at her. Staring into her, like suddenly he could see everything about her, see her very soul, and it was mystifying and beautiful and-
He suddenly lunged forward, cupping her face in his free hand as he kissed her passionately. She leaned into him, curling her free arm up around his head to run her hand through his hair and to pull herself up closer to him. She heard all of their guests begin to clap and shout their approval, but for now all she cared about was that this wonderful, amazing, ageless man was now her husband.


Somewhere between running down the isle under a shower of confetti and dancing with her new husband, time started to meld together. She vaguely remembered the Doctor handing her off to her father for the first dance, then Pete handing her back for their first dance as a married couple. Everyone was gushing at the newlyweds, congratulating them and offering compliments to the ceremony (some genuine, others a bit forced about how… unique it was). And the entire time, the Doctor and Rose’s hands were clasped to each other, refusing to let the other go even for a moment.
They rolled out the cake, which the Doctor saw first, letting out an excited squeal as he pulled his new bride towards it. She’d called it in special – telling the bakers to make it look like a 1940’s Police Telephone Box. A slice was cut by the couple, and the Doctor went first, feeding Rose a forkful of banana cake while making airplane noises. Rose responded by putting a dollop of blue icing on his nose, leading to a cake free-for-all that ended in them kissing again, their faces covered in frosting (they’d both been careful not to get any on their garments). As the waitstaff started cutting more pieces for distribution, the couple moved off towards the buffet table in search of napkins.
There was a small stack, and Rose was able to clean one of the Doctor’s cheeks before he broke away, saying he would get some towels from the kitchen. She stayed, trying to use the remaining napkins on her own face. She had her eyes closed, trying to get the most off without completely ruining her eye makeup, when…
“Need a hand?” asked an American accent.
She relinquished the napkin to the familiar voice, smiling knowingly. Cracking one eye open, she observed her friend as he somehow made wiping her face down into flirting.
“I don’t know what you see in that Doctor fellow. I mean, he’s got the looks, yes, but personally you could do better, don’t you think?” He shot her a winning smile. “Captain Jack Harkness, by the way.”
“Pleasure to see you again, Jack,” said Rose.
His eyebrows pulled together slightly. “Sorry, have we met?”
“Not that you’d remember. I see you received your invitation.”
“Funny thing about that invitation… locked in a steel box, buried there since before the agency was even built, yet addressed to me. How do you explain that, exactly?”
“The world is a funny place for time travelers, isn’t it?” Rose pulled away slightly so he was no longer wiping her face. She took his hand (prompting him to smile), and turned it (the smile faltered), examining the vortex manipulator on his wrist. “Take good care of this, right? Don’t want it konking out on you anytime soon. We might appreciate a visit or two.”
At that point the Doctor strolled up behind Rose, unconsciously (or purposely) slipping his hand around her waist as he flashed Jack a smile. “Jack! Great to see you, how’s life?”
“Ah, Doctor, is it? We were just talking about you,” said Jack with a slightly uncertain smile of his own, his eyes flicking between the two (to him) strangers.
“I’m certain you were. I hope you don’t mind if I steal my bride for a dance, do you?”
“She’s all yours,” Jack stepped back, swinging out one arm to motion towards the blonde.
“Thank you, Captain. Also,” he paused, putting a hand on Jack’s arm. “Stick around. I’d love to chat a bit later.”
“Just a chat?” asked Jack, raising an eyebrow.
“Stop it,” the Doctor pointed at him, but was unable to keep a straight face. “I just wish to clear a few things up for you, is all. Perhaps there might be a job here for you outside the Time Agency.”
“I would be interested in how come you two know so much about my life,” the time agent’s voice had a note of suspicion beneath it.
“All in good time, Jack,” Rose assured, cutting in on the conversation and putting a hand on the Doctor’s chest. “For now, though, I think my husband owes me a dance.”
She tore the boys apart, taking the Doctor by the hand to the dance floor. A slower number was playing, and the Doctor put his hands on her waist, while she entwined her arms around his neck, resting her head comfortably on his chest as they swayed. Idly, she listened to the lyrics.
Left a clouded mind and a heavy heart / but I was sure we could see a new start…
“You added something,” mused the Doctor above her.
“Hm?” she asked, peering up at him.
“To the dress. The lettering on the back-“ he motioned with one hand still on the small of her back to the train of her gown, where golden thread formed out Circular Gallifreyan.
“Oh. I nearly forgot. You haven’t gotten to see me from the back before now,” she peered over her shoulder at it, smiling. “I had the TARDIS help me out.”
“It’s the same as what’s on the rings,” the Doctor observed.
“Exactly,” smiled Rose. “What’s it say, anyway? You promised you’d tell me.”
He smiled down at her softly.
I will call you by name…
“The Doctor and Rose Tyler, just as it should be.”
I will share your road.
Suddenly, the music picked up and the Doctor was spinning her around with an excited whoop. She found her feet instantly picking up the pace as they pranced and span to the new tempo. You brought me out of the cold / and how I long, how I long to grow old.
The music slowed just as the Doctor swung her into a dip. She bent backwards, unable to prevent a girlish giggle from escaping her lips. And then suddenly his lips were on hers and she was kissing him again, like it was the first and the last time she’d ever get the chance to, despite knowing that she’d have a lifetime with him, her wonderful Doctor. The music sped up again, but neither of them cared, so wrapped up in the other each one was.
But hold me fast, hold me fast / cuz I’m a hopeless wanderer / and I will learn, I will learn to love the skies I’m under.

“Are you sure that thing’s safe?”
“Very sure, Mum. The Doctor wouldn’t take me with if he thought it’d be dangerous, now would you?”
“Never in a million years, Mrs. Tyler. Besides, it can only travel to locations on Earth for the moment. What’s the worst that could happen on Earth?”
He grinned at his bride and mother-in-law, standing in front of the TARDIS, which had been draped in streamers and strings of cans, with a large ‘Just Married’ sign covering the original ‘Police Public Call Box’ one (the chameleon circuit had grown in just a few nights before, after which the Doctor promptly set the default to the 40’s Police Box he’d come to love)
“Do you mean me, Mrs. Tyler or Mum Mrs. Tyler?” asked Rose, feigning confusion.
“Uh… both?” tried the Doctor. “Mrs. Tyler, now isn’t that a change? I guess that makes me Doctor Tyler, doesn’t it?”
“Well, seeing as you don’t have a proper last name, I suppose,” Rose laughed. “Better than ‘The Tyler’ or something.”
“You don’t forget to call once in a while, alright?” Jackie clutched her daughter’s hand. “And don’t get lost, or hurt, or kidnapped, or dead, or-“
“Mum, I’ll be fine, I promise!”
“She’s in good hands, Jackie,” the Doctor reassured. “Besides, you forget that this is a time machine. I’ll have her back before tomorrow, promise.”
“Do you now? No more year long jumps without notice?” asked Jackie worriedly.
“Cross my hearts,” the Doctor began to make two x’s on his chest, then paused, removing one hand. “Heart?”
“Wrong one, dear,” corrected the younger blonde.
He switched hands, trying again.
“That’s it. See, Mum? Nothing to worry about. I’ll see you soon.” She took a step forward and embraced her mother, then her father, who had been standing by during the exchange. The Doctor hugged Jackie, and shook Pete’s hand before turning towards the TARDIS, unlocking it first, then turning to his wife.
“I’ve always wanted to do this, Rose, c’mere a second.”
Rose moved towards him, the question of what he was doing on her lips when he bent towards her. Before she knew exactly what was happening, he had scooped her up in his arms. Using his foot to push open the doors before them, he carried her into the TARDIS like it was the threshold of their new home, which, to be perfectly honest, it was as good as.
“Well, Mrs. Tyler,” he grinned at her, carrying her towards the console. “You’ve got anywhere on Earth for your Honeymoon. Where do you want to start?”
“Well, Dr. Tyler,” she straightened his bowtie from her position in his arms, grinning impishly at him. “I’m up for anywhere, so long as you’re there.”
Part 1 [link]
Part 2 [link]
Part 3 [link]

Based on this lovely piece here -> [link]

The song is 'Hopeless Wanderer' by Mumford & Sons
© 2013 - 2024 blueskysummer
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SilverDolphin218's avatar
That was absolutely beautiful! :)