Title: I will see you again
Rating: T (R)
Pairing: River Song, Amy Pond/Rory Williams, the 11th Doctor
Genre: AU-ish, Family, Romance, Drama
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me; I just like playing with them.
Notes: Written for me, myself & mine
Summary: The time can be bent, sneaked in and even taken back as a pay-off. The family bond is one of the strongest. Especially in a family like that of the Ponds.
Word count: ~ 1300
Spoilers: 07x05 The Angels Take Manhattan de facto. Seasons 5-7 in general.
A/N 1: After listening countless times on the repeat to Together or Not at All (Unreleased OST The Angels Take Manhattan) by Murray Gold and re-watching 04x09Forest of the Dead & 07x05The Angels Take Manhattan I was inspired to write this ficlet. It's my first time writing for the Doctor Who fandom.
I adore River Song and am hopelessly in love with Amy and Rory. River may seem a little OOC but I personally think that this could have legitimately happened in between shown scenes. I see her this way, too.
A/N 2: Be gentle)))) As it's becoming the norm, this thing has spiraled out of my control. Per use, some inconsistence may be present. Sorry in advance! Love ya, peeps!
A/N 3: May seem as not very nice to the Doctor himself. I have no regrets. Sometimes I think he forgets who Rivers is to him... in all the meanings.
Started: 26-09-2013 (September 26th 2013)
(*)(*)(*)
They had almost got away. She should have learned by now that almost is not always good enough.
Together the Ponds were unbreakable, invincible. Every child thinks that way of their mum and dad. Even if that child is much older than both of her parents. River had an utmost faith in Amy's strength and Rory's bravery. So their actions were shocking and soul-shattering on one hand, but on the other hand River understood this. The Doctor's wail of her mother's name sliced through her as the hot laser beam River was fond of using for a weapon. As they were falling, falling, she couldn't take her eyes off of them. To River it seemed as if it took forever before the bright light and the barely distinguished sound of ripping reality finally broke through the haze she has been in.
The Doctor screamed an explanation, but she has felt the jolt inside of her that her father had guessed right. The paradox had worked. Her mum and dad were safe. As River closed her eyes the relief she experienced was indescribable. The next time she opened her eyes River and the Doctor were in the TARDIS. The woman flew out of the booth long before her husband and found that they have landed in the cemetery.
River Song knew where to run to find her mother. She has always known. She saw them getting up not that far from the Doctor's ship, unharmed and smiling. River fell on her knees with a thud, throwing her arms around them. Feeling overwhelmed as both Amy and Rory simultaneously pulled her in, closing the embrace.
Amy tightened one of her arms around her daughter and another around her newly saved husband. By the way River was clinging to them Rory understood that his daughter had been and still was beyond terrified despite all her years of traveling through stars, dimensions and time itself.
"We're okay, Mel." Rory whispered gently in her hair. River reveled in his and Amy's hold along with her mother's ever present encouraging giggles.
They got up soon after that just to find themselves in the Doctor's embrace. River stood aside but she discovered that both of her parents were looking at her fiercely with love pouring out every second the gaze was held. It was as if her father had suspected that it was not the end and her mother picked up on his vexation.
The Doctor bounded forth to his beloved TARDIS as River and Amy were walking slowly up to it, too. Rory was behind them, looking around and wondering how they have managed to land in a bloody graveyard.
"Melody." Amy's low tone with a hint of deep sadness caught River by surprise. "I love you." It was hard not lean into her mother's hand on her cheek, warm in spite of the chilly weather. "And I'm sorry." Amy whispered, now bringing River into another tight but equally warm hug. "Melody, I'm sorry that he loves me more than he should." Amy urgently kissed River's temple.
"Oh, mummy." River retreated from the hold a bit to look her mother in the eye. "He does." She then shook her head at Amy's crestfallen face. Though it has still stung to hear her husband call in such a way after her mother, River knew and hoped. "It's still only the beginning." They smiled at each other and then felt Rory's hands on theirs waist and shoulder.
"Ready to go, girls?" His grin was infectious.
"Let's go, daddy."
Then suddenly all hell broke loose. One moment all of them were on their way out to new adventures. An the next... Her father has vanished at the hands of the last weeping angel after a minute delay.
"Melody, don't be afraid." Her mother's last words and a kiss on the hand. The Doctor's pleas went unheard. Because the Ponds belonged with each other. And then Amy blinked.
Looking at the thin air where her presence was still so vivid to River, the Lady of Time then trailed her eyes to the grave that has made her father pause. River gulped for breath. Two names were glaring back at her in the afternoon sun.
'They had it.' She smiled sadly with trembling lips, thinking. 'They'd found each other.'
Seeing the devastation on the Doctor's face she briefly caressed the names on the stone and went to guide her distraught man to his now only home.
River stopped at the TARDIS' door and turned to look at the back of the gravestone once more. 'I will return'. The door slowly closed behind the pair as if bidding a silent goodbye to its two longest occupants.
(*)(*)(*)
And she did.
River's vortex manipulator was a detail the Doctor in his grief over Amy's goodbye didn't even consider. After some time the Doctor went in exile, leaving River to her own devises. River Song came to expect such.. not disregard.. but some form of negligence.
River knew that to remind him of the way to see Amy and Rory would not give him the closure the Doctor needed to keep going in life. Because as she now became a painful reminder of them, there might be a time she could be a positive and obsessive one. And even River Song won't be living forever. Melody Pond was certain that her parents would've wholeheartedly approved.
(*)(*)(*)
She appeared in the backyard of a 1940s two-story house. A beautiful garden and a pergola were the centerpiece of it. River went up to the back door and twisted the handle. She thought to herself that it was silly to feel any diffidence and that for sure her mum and dad would be glad to see her. Upon entering the kitchen she saw Amy and Rory sitting at the table. They were starting to dine and River noticed that there has been set another plate and a piece of tableware.
"Expecting someone?" She exclaimed in her usual upbeat manner. Both Amy and Rory turned to her. The blinding smiles they had no hesitance to gift her with caused Melody to tear up.
"Melody." Amy reached her first and River laughed happily, nestling withing her mother's arms. Rory came up to them and engulfed them both in his long arms.
"We had no doubts that you'll find a way." He smirked lopsidedly. "Sooner or later."
"How long?" River dared to ask.
"Your aim has always been the best. Just five months." Rory looked at Melody in question.
"Dad, it's been three for me." She looked down. "He only just went to a temple." Glancing at each other Amy and Rory decided to postpone that particular topic of discussion for later.
"I can't tell you how happy we are that you're finally here." Rory gave the screw-loose sign. "Your mom was driving me mental with all the fretting." Amy slapped him on the back.
"I most certainly wasn't!"
"I missed you." Melody giggled at them. "So tell me everything!"
"How long do you have?" They asked simultaneously.
"We have all the time in the world." Melody stage-whispered and gave them a blazing smile. Amy and Rory brightened at the answer and grinning kissed their daughter on her cheeks.
Clasping her hands with theirs, Melody Pond exuberantly dragged her parents to the table as if she were a 5-year-old. Amy and Rory Williams haven't felt such clear happiness in a very, very long time.
(*)(*)(*)
"Together or not at all. It's called marriage." Melody Pond forever remembered those words. And at that moment she knew what exactly made The River Song all the Universes seem to know her as.
The End