Prologue.
"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you- the real you, the future you, I mean- you turned up on my doorstep with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Verilian to see the singing towers. What a night that was. The towers sang and you cried. You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library."
.
River Song's hearty laugh echoed around the TARDIS as her and the Doctor fell over each other, bounding towards the center of the room.
"I love travelling with mum and dad," River declared, her curly hair bouncing as she held back more laughter, "it's always so much fun. Why do they always have to go home?"
The Doctor shook his head, his grin fading slightly, "They want a normal life outside of the TARDIS, plus no one can keep up with the constant excitement and danger which comes with travelling with me."
"Oh I can, I'll travel with you forever!" She insisted, smiling widely as if to make up for the discomfort bleeding into the time lord's eyes.
"Ha!" The Doctor uttered, not denying or affirming this fact. "Where would you like to go next?" The Doctor turned away, leaping towards the monitor which immediately switched to a list of possible destinations; "The planet Protax, the moons of Sufron.. Ooh what about 10th century Scotland?"
River Song followed her husband over to his destination, turning him around boldly; "Right here," she pressed her lips greedily to his, taking away all the worry from the surface of his mind and wiping it clean, so all he could think was River. Kissing River had evolved so much since the first awkward fumble in her cell many years ago, to the unpredictable display of passion which occurred whenever they were together. As she pulled her mouth from his, River's eyes flickered to the monitor; keeping her body pressed against his against the controls. "How about Verlilian, I've heard the singing towers are to die for"
The body beneath hers jolted slightly before falling still. The Doctor lay there for a moment before detangling himself from his wife, pacing the floor of his beloved TARDIS.
"What is it, my love?" River asked concern evident in every syllable.
The Doctor steadied his heartrates before striding over to her; placing a kiss on her forehead, and then her hand. "Or what about visiting Jim the fish, that would be so much better than stupid Verilian!"
With narrowed eyelids River agreed with the understanding that whatever it was which bothered him so, she would understand eventually. But as she reached for the TARDIS controls to set coordinents for Jim the fish's dam, she missed the solitary tear tracing a track down her Doctor's face.
.
"When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it will never end. But, however hard you try, you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever, for one moment, accepts it."