p style="text-align: center;"Amy Pond stared into the cold, lifeless eyes of her future. She had to do it. She had to. The Angel had taken Rory. Her Rory. Her husband. Life without him wasn't life at all. Even a life with the /br /br /br /"Amy…please!" The Doctor begged, inching closer to her. "Just…come back into the TARDIS! Come along, Pond, please!"br /br /br /br /Amy felt the tears coming, knowing that she had no choice. She loved the Doctor, but she loved Rory more, and even though she knew that she would never be able to see her best friend again, it was worth it. Rory was worth everything. The Doctor would make it without her; he'd find someone else to travel with, maybe even Melody. She'd promised to be a good girl and look after him. A bigger adventure awaited her /br /br /br /"Raggedy Man…" She forced the words out, her voice choked with emotion. How had it come to this? Having to choose between her husband and her best friend? "Goodbye!" She tore her gaze away from the Weeping Angel and turned to face the Doctor. She looked into his sad brown eyes, burning the sight into her memory. If she couldn't see him ever again, at least she'd remember how he looked. br /br /br /br /She felt something cold and stone-hard press into her back, and in the blink of an eye, she was /br /br /br /The next second, she was standing in exactly the same place, but it was different. It was night, for one thing, and even through the impenetrable darkness, she could tell that there weren't as many graves in the grave yard as there had been moments before. She'd done it, she'd travelled in time! br /br /br /br /Rory! Where was Rory!? Amy looked around, her heart hammering in her chest. "Rory? Rory!?" Her voice echoed through the graveyard, the only noise on an otherwise quiet New York /br /br /br / "Amy?" There! Amy recognized Rory's voice. br /br /br /br / "I'm over here!" Amy shouted, ducking through rows of gravestones and statues as she spotted the man that she had travelled back through time to spend her life wife. "Oh, Rory."br /br /br /br / "Amy!"br /br /br /br / Amy found herself in Rory's loving, comforting embrace. The world felt right again. "I thought I'd lost you," she whispered, squeezing him tighter. br /br /br /br / "Never." Rory sighed. "But what are you doing here?"br /br /br /br / "I let the Angel take me," Amy explained, brows knit. Surely Rory knew that she wouldn't leave him here to die on his own?br /br /br /br / "Amy, why?"br /br /br /br / "Because you're my husband, and I love you, stupid." Amy smacked his /br /br /br / "But what about the Doctor?" Rory asked. "He'll come back for us, won't he?"br /br /br /br / Amy felt the sting of tears again. "He can't."br /br /br /br / "What do you mean, he can't? He's the Doctor! He can do anything!"br /br /br /br / "Not this. Not this time. You heard him. He said he couldn't. The timelines are too scrambled…"br /br /br /br / "But…."br /br /br /br / "No. It's just us now, Rory, as it should be."br /br /br /br / "Life without the Doctor…."br /br /br /br / "That's what we wanted, isn't it?"br /br /br /br / "Is it?"br /br /br /br / Amy pondered that for a second. She had loved travelling with her Raggedy Doctor, seeing all the wonders of the universe. It had been the adventure of a lifetime. But it couldn't go on forever. That's why the Doctor had dropped them off in London all those years ago…he'd known that he couldn't keep them safe forever. And although this wasn't the worst possible scenario – at least they were still alive – it was hardly the perfect /br /br /br / "It is," she said finally, setting her chin. This was her life now, she'd have to learn to deal with it."br /br /br /br / "But what about our lives back home? My parents. Your parents! Our jobs!"br /br /br /br / "That doesn't matter," Amy replied with a shake of her head. "What matters is this. We're together. And nothing can change that now."br /br /br /br / Rory pulled her into an embrace and they started walking. br /br /br /br /******************************************************************************br /br /br /br /Months passed by in an almost uneventful blink. Since neither of them had had much money on they stayed in a cheap motel until they both found jobs. Rory managed to find a job at a hospital - he'd been a nurse back home – it wouldn't be much different now. Amy managed to secure a columnist at a small local /br /br /br /One night, when they were settled into their humble one-bedroom apartment, Amy went out for groceries. She was walking up the sidewalk toward the apartment building when she saw tiny flashes of lightning coming from the alleyway and felt the static in the /br /br /br /She'd grown accustomed to that feeling. It meant her daughter had come to see her. Setting the grocery bags down on the stoop, Amy raced into the alley, a grin on her face. It was her daughter, Melody. "Melody!"br /br /br /br /"Hello, Mother." Melody smiled warmly and gave her a quick hug. br /br /br /br /"How…?"br /br /br /br /"Vortex manipulator." Melody raised her wrist with a flourish of movement. On her wrist was the black leather strap. Amy hadn't quite wrapped her mind about the specifics of a vortex manipulator, but she did understand that it allowed the wearer to travel in /br /br /br /Amy nodded. "How can you come back, but the Doctor can't?" she couldn't help but ask. br /br /br /br /"Not pleased to see me?" Melody /br /br /br /"Sorry, of course I am." Amy patted her shoulder lovingly. "I just meant…"br /br /br /br /"I know." Melody waved it off. "To answer your question, the mechanics behind a vortex manipulator are different that a TARDIS. They're similar, but the vortex manipulator is much safer. In the right hands. Besides, we both know if the Doctor came back here, he'd create another paradox because he wouldn't be able to leave you behind."br /br /br /br /Amy couldn't help but smile. She knew it was true. The Doctor wouldn't be able to leave her behind, and she didn't want the rest of the universe to suffer because of her. "How is he?"br /br /br /br /"He's devastated. Blames himself for what happened."br /br /br /br /"But it's not his fault!" Amy argued. "I chose to let the Angel touch me!"br /br /br /br /"But he blames himself for putting you in that situation. If you'd never met him, you and Rory would be happy together in your time. Not trapped the past."br /br /br /br /"But we're happy. And if we'd never met, I wouldn't have you! I'd be some Scottish girl in an English village. My life would be a shadow of what it is now…thanks to him."br /br /br /br /"I know."br /br /br /br /She sniffed. "Do you wanna come up? It's not much but…"br /br /br /br / "I'd love to. Is Dad in?" br /br /br /br / "He's upstairs cooking dinner. He'd love to see you."br /br /br /br / "Then, let's go." Melody linked her arm through Amy' /br /br /br / They went upstairs and juggling the bags, Amy managed to open to the door to the apartment. "Husband!" she bellowed, trying not to drop a bag with tomato sauce in it. "We've got company."br /br /br /br / "Who is it?" Rory asked, appearing from around the corner. He looked past Amy and his breath caught. "Melody!"br /br /br /br / "Hello, Dad." Melody set her bags down and embraced her father. Strange, in this incarnation, she was older than her parents; no matter when in their lives she encountered /br /br /br / "Melody used the vortex manipulator to pop back and give us a visit," Amy explained, setting her bags down on the table. br /br /br /br / "I actually came back for another reason," Melody explained, sitting down and crossing her legs. "Not that I didn't want to see you."br /br /br /br / "Of course." Amy crossed her arms over her chest and eyed her daughter suspiciously. "What is it, Melody?"br /br /br /br / "Do you remember the book? Melody Malone?"br /br /br /br / "The book the Doctor was reading?" Amy asked, /br /br /br / "I wrote it."br /br /br /br / "Well, I had put together that bit," Amy /br /br /br / "No, I mean, I wrote it. As in it's done," Melody clarified. You just have to drop it off the publisher."br /br /br /br / "What does that have to do with us?" Rory /br /br /br / "The last chapter," Melody /br /br /br / "The last chapter?" Amy /br /br /br / "The Doctor's going to read that book."br /br /br /br / "Yeah, but he tore out the last page. He said that he hates endings."br /br /br /br / "Yes, but the point is, there was a last page. A proper ending."br /br /br /br / "And…?"br /br /br /br / "Well, your story has ended, Mother," Melody reminded her gently. "As far as he's concerned. But he needs to know that you're happy. Both of you."br /br /br /br / "But how?" Rory knit his /br /br /br / Melody fixed her gaze on Amy. "I'd like you to write the afterword."br /br /br /br / "But…what am I supposed to say?" Amy /br /br /br / "just tell him…what you know he needs to hear."br /br /br /br / Amy tapped her nails on the tabletop. Melody was right. She owed it to the Doctor to let him know that she and Rory were okay. That they were happy. But what was she going to say? br /br /br /br / She rose and went into the sitting room, finding her typewriter sitting on the desk. She sat down, her fingers poised over the keys. Melody came up behind her. "Mother?" she /br /br /br / "I-I'll figure it out, help your Dad with dinner, would you?"br /br /br /br / "Of course." Melody smiled and went back into the kitchen to help Rory with /br /br /br / Amy stared at the blank page of paper for a long time, trying to find the right words. These would be her last words to the Doctor; she wanted them to be /br /br /br / The words came to her – slow at first – then steadily faster. Her fingers flew over the keys as she told the Doctor what he needed to /br /br /br /emAfterword /embr /br /br /br /emBy Amelia Williams/embr /br /br /br /emHello, old friend, and here we are, you and me, on the last page. By the time you read these words, Rory and I will be long gone, so know that we lived well, and we're very happy, and above all else, know that we will love you always. Sometimes, I do worry about you, though. I think, once we're gone, you won't be coming back here for a while, and you might be alone, which you should never be. Don't be alone, Doctor. And do more one thing for me:/embr /br /br /br /emThere's a little girl waiting in a garden. She's going to wait for a long while, so she's going to need a lot of hope. Go to her, tell her a story. Tell her if she's patient, the days are coming that she'll never forget. Tell her that she'll go to sea and fight pirates; she'll fall in love with a who'll wait two thousand years to keep her safe. Tell her, she'll give hope to the greatest painter who ever lived, and save a whale in outer space./embr /br /br /br /emTell her – this is the story of Amelia Pond – and this is how it ends./embr /br /br /br / When she was done, Amy reread it, making sure it was perfect, and, satisfied, she pulled it from the typewriter and went into the kitchen. Melody and Rory were sitting at the table, talking. Melody noticed her and paused. "Mother."br /br /br /br / "All done." Amy held the paper out to Melody. "So, what now? You drop it off at some publisher's office and become a writer?"br /br /br /br / "Something like that." Melody grinned and stood, hugging her coat /br /br /br / "Wait! That's it? You're leaving?" Rory asked, /br /br /br / "I have to," Melody apologized, shrugging. "I've got worlds of adventures to have."br /br /br /br / "You can't even stay for supper?"br /br /br /br / "Not this time." Melody pulled a sheaf of paper from her coat and handed it to Amy. It was the rest of the novel. "But I'll be back. You haven't seen the last of me."br /br / "Good. You know your Mum will find a way to get to you," Rory joked, acceptance settling in. Melody would never be a part of their day to day life, but she'd pop in when she could and make their day /br /br /br / "Be a good girl," Amy said, rubbing Melody's back as they hugged. As she pulled back, she held up the novel. "I'll pop this round the publisher's tomorrow." And if you run into the Doctor, tell him…tell him…." She couldn't get the words to come out and once again she felt the waves of sadness washing over herbr /br /br /br / "I'll tell him." Melody stroked Amy's cheek, then turned to Rory. "I'll see you next time, Dad."br /br /br /br / "Later." Rory was dumbfounded. He still didn't quite know how to converse properly with his daughter, who happened to be older than /br /br /br / With one last smile at her parents, Melody hit a few buttons on the wrist strap of her vortex manipulator, and with a flash of light, she was /br /br /br / Amy stared at the empty spot where she'd been for a few seconds and then turned to Rory. "You okay?" she /br /br /br / "Fine, yeah. You?"br /br /br /br / "Fine." She smiled. br /br /br /br / They had no idea where their lives would take them now, but it would be an adventure, that's for sure. Not the kind of adventure that they were used to, but an adventure none the less. Arm-in-arm, the Ponds sat down, beginning the rest of their very long, very happy life together./p