Her Doctor was dying. Oh sure, he wouldn't really die, instead he would regenerate and become new again. River wanted to cry as she drug the lifeless limp body of her Doctor back onto the TARDIS. He would start regenerating at any moment and she wasn't sure if her body could withstand it.

He had died attempting to get her out of the library. He had succeeded, barely, but that was a story for another day. Today's story is about River and the 12th Doctor. A Doctor unlike any before.

River laid the Doctor carefully on the floor and went to stand in a corner of the console room, as far away from as she could, but still within viewing distance. Ready to pounce the moment he should need her. She was frightened. She had a unique fondness for the 10th Doctor with his crooked smile and his deep soulful eyes. She loved the 11th Doctor with his young face and sad eyes. What would she feel for the 12th Doctor?

He would have a new face, new hair, new voice. He would walk differently, talk differently, and most likely dress differently. Yes, he would still be the man she married, but in some ways he would not be.

River jumped as the first signs of regeneration began to show. It was happening. There was nothing she could do to stop it and a little part of her heart broke as she watched her husband die, to be replaced with a new man. The light coming off of him was so bright and hot that she had been forced to duck into a nearby corridor until it was finished.

Once it was done, at least for the time being, River stuck her head back in and peeked up at the Doctor. Her mouth dropped open as she looked upon..."It couldn't possibly..." She crept slowly towards the Doctor. Quite a bit shorter and thinner too. The face looked about mid thirties, and the skin tone was darker, with freckles. The ginger hair the Doctor had always lamented about not getting was there in curls. Not the bright red of her mother's hair, but a deep reddish brown. None of this was very shocking to River, the Doctor wouldn't mind any of those changes much either. However, there was one big difference she was sure the Doctor would mind.

The Doctor was a woman.

Could this even be real? Was it possible for the Doctor to regenerate into a woman? The Doctor had told her once it was possible to regenerate into the opposite gender but it was so very rare. They had no explanation for why it even happened.

Suddenly the Doctor took a big gulp of air and sat straight up, the curls flying in her face. The Doctor's eyes grew wide as she took in the long red curls surrounding her head. She began playing with the hair until she noticed her hands. Slim and long, they looked nothing like the Doctor's large mannish hands from before.

River watched the Doctor close her eyes tightly and bring her hands to her chest. She gasped loudly and looked down. Two breasts, not particularly large, but not particularly small either. They weren't something you were going to be able to hide on a body so slim.

She grimaced at her chest and started looking around the room until her eyes landed on River. River was crouched down in front of her trying to figure out what to say or think. River saw so many thoughts and emotions travel over the Doctor's features before she schooled them into a blank look.

"River...silly question, am I a woman?" The low alto voice wasn't exactly expected, but not bad.

"Yes Doctor, you are a woman." River continued to stare wide eyed with no thoughts of moving either one of them. The Doctor started to attempt to get off the ground, causing River to be shaken out of her deep thoughts. She immediately went to the Doctor's side to help her up. "I'm taking you to our room. You need to rest and finish your regeneration."

"River, I..."

"Don't talk now Sweetie, we'll get you settled in and you can gain your strength back in peace."

River placed the Doctor in bed just as the regeneration had started up again and she had been forced to leave the room. The TARDIS would tell her if the Doctor needed her. She leaned her forehead against the cool metal door in front of her and took a deep breath. She sunk down on to the floor opposite the door and contemplated what all of this would mean.

Would the Doctor be able to handle being a woman, and even if she couldn't, what choice did she have? Would River still be able to love the Doctor? Oh sure, River didn't really care what gender her lovers were, but the Doctor was different. He was who she was in love with, he had always been a man.

She worried her bottom lip and listened intently for any sounds to come from the room across from her as she contemplated her new husband/wife. This new body of River's wasn't exactly ready for all this hard work yet either. River slowly fell into a light slumber with dreams of two Doctor's dancing in her head, the last thought she had before she fell to sleep was a bitter, "At least I look the same".

The Doctor laid in bed having just woke from the last regeneration spell. It was almost over, she was getting stronger. Her inner monologue started running as she tried to understand herself. "I am a woman now. A complete check of my body has confirmed that what is on my chest and between my legs is all woman. Am I okay with that? I suppose I have no choice but to be okay with that.

"But do I even feel like a woman? What does a woman feel like? I suppose she would feel at home in her body. I definitely don't feel that, but I never do this early after. It usually takes a good adventure for me to get used to it. Maybe that's what we should do, go on an adventure. Just River and I.

"River..." The Doctor's thoughts stumbled when she reached River. She stood up and began pacing the room, asking no one in particular, "what do I feel for her? I feel the same really as I did yesterday. In love, like I just want my wife back. Will she feel the same for me? Oh god, what if I am still a man in here and I fall in love with my body, oh dear lord." The Doctor jumped into action stripping off all of the clothes hanging loosely from her body and stood in front of a mirror with a look of horror on her face.

"No, I feel like I am looking at my naked body, no weird feelings." In her closet though she found only clothes from her last life. Tweed and bow ties and suspenders. A few suspect fezzes that River hadn't found yet.

She turned from her closet and looked around. "What do I wear now? What's even cool for women to wear? I don't suppose I could slap on a bow tie and fez and call it good. I wonder if River would find it good?" The Doctor scoffed at herself and began the process of attempting to convince herself that River wouldn't love her as a woman. It would make the rejection much easier to deal with.

The TARDIS hummed sending her a message. She heard it loud and clear and re-opened her closet, inside was a multitude of different outfits and accessories. She began pulling out the choices that caught her eye first and throwing them on the bed. She would have to do a fashion show.

At first she sneered at the thought, but then realized that it actually sounded like a pretty cool time. The Doctor shrugged as she headed towards the pile, "Women".

She threw each outfit back into the closet as soon as she got them on. Too much like Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy. That last outfit brought her up short. "Oh Amelia Pond, I could so use your advice right now. I'm sure your daughter would like some too." Off the outfit came and she crammed on the last one. Sexy, but workable. Tan capri trousers, tight to the legs, with a belt to hold the trousers in place. Flat sneakers and a vest in place of a shirt. A soft cloth jacket thrown over, because jackets and vests are cool. For now she would let her long red curls hang loose, she liked them. Wild and big like River's were.

She smirked at herself in the mirror, feeling that old confidence creep in. "Not only am a cool, but I am sexy. I believe its time to find my wife." She pocketed the sonic screw driver and the psychic paper and turned to the door.

She had a brief moment of panic wondering if River would still care for her, the way she always had, but she shook it off. She knew what she had to do.