Rose was finding it suddenly too hard to take in a full, deep breath. She closed her eyes against the feeling of being drawn underwater and opened them a half second later, when the fear was gone and there was a little more clarity than there had been. And when she did look, all she saw was him. Tired and drawn as he might think he was, he was still him.

"I know that all you've ever tried to do is protect me," she said quietly, "from anything, from...Slitheen and Daleks and the end of the world and everything else in between. And I know why you made things the way they are. But you also need to know, in case you don't, that the only thing that I've ever really wanted, more than my own safety or to know what's coming next, is you. And I don't care if you think that's daft, it's the truth."