I watched the way his mouth formed the words, how he tripped over the foreign syllables rather than stare into his eyes. I couldn't begin to comprehend his ageless experience and wisdom. How small he must see me. So insignificant compared to him. What was I to his Apollo-like perfection? Even in the guise of an everyday mortal, his splendor dazzled me.

"River, please listen" he insisted. "Look at me. Try to understand."

"After all we've been through, you'd leave me?" I whispered, voice breaking with the effort. "I can't live without you."

Life itself was what he'd become to me. Without him, I was nothing. An empty shell. A walking corpse.

He cradled my face in his cold hands, causing my hearts to launch into a frenzy. "I want what's best for you." He leaned in closer, resting his brow against mine. I had to remind myself to breath as I closed my eyes with a shiver. His warm breath washed over me with every word he spoke, caressing my face. "You know why I can't be close to you. Everyone I'm around gets hurt and I won't let you be the next one." His voice was deliberately quiet, peaceful, a cruel mockery of the situation. "We can't go on together anymore."

"No!" I cried in protest, all the warmth stolen from my body.

Without him...without him...!

"Don't say that. You've...you've always saved me from the nightmares. Save me now!" I panicked when all sense of touch was lost to me and reached out to feel him beneath numbed fingers.

"River, you need to let go of the past. It can't be us. I know it's hard..."

Oh heartless lover! Didn't he care? Didn't he know that my life held no meaning when I was away from him? Why couldn't I make him understand? I stared up into his eyes- an enchanting russet flecked with gold- and lost myself in him.

"...but it's for the best. We'll both forget and move on."

"I'll never forget," I vowed in a breathless murmur as I buried my face in his jacket, breathing in its scent of danger and space. "My Doctor...my Doctor"

"Forget me. Find someone better, less dangerous who'll make you happy."

Happier? I danced with danger when I was with him and loved every second of it. "You're worth the danger," I said, leaning up to bridge a kiss between us. "My life is all yours."

He stopped our contact before it began by laying a finger, ice-cold, on my parted lips. "Goodbye, River Song."

I watched, incredulously, as he turned his back on me, never once pausing to look over his shoulder. All I could recall of him was that final expression- his eyes devoid of love and resigned to a lonely life, as though he'd already learned to forget me. The fog had consumed him, but I plunged into the ghostly cloud, screaming his name.

Come back. Please. Come back!

How long I wandered in circles, I don't know. Time has ceased, the world around me coming to an abrupt halt. Without him, I have nothing. My foot caught on a branch and I slammed into the ground.

Life has no meaning without him.

No meaning.

I closed my eyes as I curled up into a protective ball in the dirt. And waited to die.