Title: Promise of Adventure
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Kid!Rory and Kid!Amy
Rating: K+
Genres: Friendship, Comfort
Summery: The lonely English boy and the lone Scottish girl. At least they had each other.
Notes: Any suggestions for improvement are much appreciated!

Rory first met Amy when they were seven.

She was Amelia then, or at least that's how her aunt introduced the red-headed girl. Their first meeting left much to be desired - he held out his hand and he slapped it away.

Amelia glared at him a lot that afternoon. Her aunt and his mum sat inside his kitchen (not really his kitchen… his parents kitchen), chatting and glancing outside every now and then. Rory may not have been the brightest child, but he did know that his mother expected him to become friends with Amelia. And he really hated disappointing his mother.

So, rolling his sleeves up purposefully, the young boy stepped over to where Amelia was: sitting on a rock next to the flower garden.

She gave him a quick glance with a rather scary expression, before going back to look colony of worms she had collected on the rock next to her.

Rory was confused about how to strike up a conversation with this girl, so he went with the first thing that came to mind. "What's your favourite colour?"

Amelia didn't respond, didn't even look his way this time.

"Favourite animal? I like fish."

Again. It was as if she couldn't hear him.

So Rory tried again. His mother always said he was patient, and he wouldn't disappoint her. "What is it like, becoming English?"

This got her attention. Amelia turned to him sharply, "what's that suppose to me?"

"Well… uh…" Truth be told, the young boy was rather taken aback by her sudden fierceness, "just that… you were Scottish, now you're English. It must be weird."

Amelia dropped what she was doing and brought herself to her full height. "I am not English."

"Yes you are." Rory countered quickly, "you're not Scottish anymore; you're English."

If fire actually burst from her eyes at that moment, Rory would not be surprised. He wasn't sure what he said to set her off, but she seemed to light up like one of those sparklers dad sometimes let him play with. What was so bad about being English, anyway? He was English, and Rory thought it was fairly brilliant. "I will never be English." Amelia said, her voice rising with each word. "I am Scottish, not English. I belong in Scotland!"

With the, she kicked him in the leg. It hurt a lot, and Rory fell to the ground and started to cry. He wasn't quite sure what happened, but Amelia was gone, and in the next moment his mother was there, promising to make it better.

Amelia didn't see Rory again for a long time after that.

Her aunt was angry with her, and Amelia was angry with her aunt. She didn't want to be here - she wanted to go home to Scotland. To go back to her house next to the ocean where everything was beautiful and strong and people said what the meant.

Most importantly, she wanted to go back and live with a mum and dad. But she didn't have a mum and dad.

Then came her adventure that night with the Doctor. With the Doctor and Prisoner Zero and fish fingers and custard. He wasn't like the adults here. He said what he meant and could take her away from this awful English village and their horrible stuffy rules.

She waited for him that night. Five minutes became ten, ten minutes became twenty, and without realizing it little Amelia fell asleep. She woke up in her bed that morning (her Aunt must've brought her in), with nothing to tell her what happened was real besides a sink full of dishes and a very angry Aunt.

There was nothing left besides her memories, but Amelia didn't trust her memories. She knew she must have had a mum and dad at one point, but she couldn't remember them. She definitely didn't want to forget the raggedy old Doctor.

So Amelia drew, and built his time machine from cardboard and glue. The more she made, the more real he was, after all. Though her Aunt still called him Amelia's imaginary friend. But he wasn't imaginary! He was real!

She knew he was real, and he would come back for her to take her away from this place. Take her on an adventure. Her very own fairytale. He said that, didn't he? That her name was something out of a fairytale?

The more time went on, though, the worse things got. Amelia would talk about the raggedy Doctor at school, to tell the other kids about the adventures she was going to go on, and would get in trouble with the teachers. The teachers would then talk to her aunt, who would get frustrated with Amelia. Imaginary friends and imaginary adventures aren't proper, she would say.

Amelia knew what she meant, though - they weren't English things to do.

Amelia was a smart girl, though. Very bright for her age. She had to be if she was going to go away with the Raggedy Doctor one day. So she knew that her Aunt would soon try to force her to make friends. They had, after all, been in Leadworth a year, and she had not made a single one.

She had made a friend though, and his name was the Raggedy Doctor. But her Aunt didn't believe that.

It was a rainy day when it happened. Amelia was in her room, drawing the Raggedy Doctor's time machine flying through space when she heard someone scurry up the stairs and open her door.

She could see him in the mirror. It was… what was his name? Rory. That stupid English boy with a mother and father who talked far too much for his own good. And got beat up a lot at school.

He seemed hesitant walking forward, so Amelia put her blue pencil crayon and slid off her chair. Might as well get things over with.

She moved to stand in from of him, took and deep breath, and said loudly, "I don't like you!"

"I want to be friends with you!"

He spoke at the same time as she did, and just as loudly. Amelia was taken aback for a second, but placed her hands on her hips to stare at him. "Why?"

"Why what?" Rory seemed confused, he really wasn't that bright at all.

"Why do you want to be my friend? We know nothing about each other! And I kicked you!"

The shorter boy shuffled from side-to-side, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He didn't speak right away, and Amelia grew impatient. "It's just… um…"

"Go on, Rory!"

"Well, I don't have any friends! I'm sure… I'm sure you know that. You don't have any friends either. I've seen you at school; you look lonely." He shrugged, gaining a little more confidence as he spoke. "People tease you, you know. Behind your back. About being alone with your stories. I…I don't like it. Nobody should be alone, and you have really good stories. I like your stories. And if we're together, no one can tease us." Rory paused, staring at her expectantly. "So… let's be friends."

Amelia looked at him closely, hands still on her hips, and thought about what he said. The more she thought, though, the less she could hate him. He wasn't quite the annoying English boy with a family he was before, and more a lonely boy who didn't have any friends. Like her.

Except not quite. She had the Raggedy Doctor. Who did Rory have?

"I do have a friend." Amelia said slowly, and this caused Rory to mumble something and look at the floor. In a moment, he caught her eye again.

"You mean… you mean the Doctor?"

"Yes." Amelia confirmed with a bit of a smirk, "I mean the Doctor, stupid. He… he can be your friend too, if you want."

Rory brightened almost instantly, and Amelia found that his smile made her smile too. "Oh, yes please!"

With a bit of a laugh, Amelia took his hand and lead him to her desk. "C'mon then. I don't know when he'll get here and there's a lot of explaining to do."