"You still got Miss Michaela then?" Cosima forced herself to smile at Ron. He deserved to be happy.
"Well, there's 5 of us now- Mum, Dad, Michaela... and the baby."
"Oh. Oh, so you- she's... you're..."
"No." Ron chuckled dryly, looking down and then back at Cosima. "It's Mum. She's three months gone, More Tylers on the way."
Cosima genuinely grinned at the thought. "And what about you? Are you...um..."
"I've got a job. I'm a writer now. Children's books mostly."
"Oh yeah? That's cool."
Now Ron grinned. "No it's not shut up."
"No really!" Cosima insisted "You're always so good with children so that's... that's good."
"Yeah, you think so?" Ron said after a moment.
"Yeah." Cosima said, a lot quieter than she meant to. She wasn't sure if he had heard but at the risk of repeating herself she kept quiet.
"You're dead officially. Back home." Cosima blurted.
Ron pinched his lips together tightly the way he did when he wanted to say something but was probably better not to. Cosima just continued. "So many people died that day, and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead."
Ron sniffled and looked up at the sky, blinking rapidly. He wasn't really prone to crying.
"But here you are," Cosima weakly gestured at the rest of the beach, towards Michaela and Ron's family. "Living a life, day after day..." her voice cracked at the very end of the last word. She hoped Ron hadn't heard it, after all it wasn't fair of her to cry. "The one adventure I can never have." she finished strongly.
"Am I ever gonna see you again?" Ron said suddenly, finally looking at Cosima again. His face was surprisingly red.
Cosima hated seeing him in pain like this but, there's nothing she can do. She shook her head. "You can't."
"What are you going to do?" Ron asked almost pleadingly
Cosima shrugged and replied "Same-old."
Ron just smiled his tight-lipped smile at her.
"Traveling." Cosima added mirroring his expression.
"I-" Ron began and then stopped.
All Cosima could do was stand there. Silently, politely.
"I've always loved you, you know."
Cosima's inner jaw dropped. "Ron, don't - "
"No, it's alright. And why not. It's the last time we'll ever see each other again. Then you can run away. Same-old Cosima, last of the Time-Lords."
Cosima felt her face heat up. But she kept what she hoped now was a straight face.
"And you know what the real kicker is? I still love you. Even now." A small tear made it's way almost undetected down Ron's tight face.
"Ronnie, I'll miss you, I swear. I'm so sorry. We just, It wouldn't work I'm sorry. But you can have a whole new life here! You've got- "
Ron shook his head, and Cosima stopped talking.
"Well..." Cosima said her lower lip trembling violently. "...If it's any consolation, Ron Tyler, I-"
And that was it. The connection faded rapidly, and with no warning.
Cosima's mouth hung open, her last words caught in her throat. she shut her mouth and dropped her face in her hands letting out a guttural groan.
Well, that was that.
Cosima lifted her head and slumped against the console, and it was then she noticed there was another woman in her TARDIS.
"What?" she said aloud, her mind reeling.
"What?" The woman said tuning around.
"What?" Cosima said again. Was this real?
"Who are you?!" The woman screeched
Cosima just stood frozen silently assessing the situation
"Where am I?!" The woman demanded
"Uh..."
"What the hell is this place?!"
Her last words were so loud the jolted Cosima out of her dazed state and she flew around the console, checking all the sensors.
"This is impossible" Cosima laughed, talking to her self.
"You can't do that." she said shooting a quick glare in Donna direction, not long enough to actually notice anything. Really, she was just making sure she was still there. "You can't be here. Were in flight!" she said raising her voice, still flitting around the TARDIS console.
Cosima abruptly stopped, seeming at a loss of things to do.
"TELL ME WHERE I AM." Donna yelled not missing a beat. "I DEMAND you tell me where I am right NOW- WHERE AM I?!"
Cosima was not accustomed to being yelled at. And admittedly, her thoughts were moving almost a tad bit slow, being bogged down by emotional baggage and what not. So she went on indignant autopilot. "Excuse me?" Cosima said matching Donna's pitch. "You demand?"
"That's right! You tell me where I am- thisinstant!"
Something about her tone made Cosima scoff. "Alright then. You're in the TARDIS."
"The what?"
"The TARDIS."
"The what?"
"She's called the TARDIS!" Cosima said, more curious now than angry.
"Who?"
"The ship-"
"What ship?" Donna asked cutting off Cosima's explanation "You're not even saying proper words you're just making up stuff! Who was it?" Donna said expectantly
"We-" Cosima began
"Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my god she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it!" Donna was shouting to the heavens
"Excuse me?" Cosima said tilting her head and giving a little wave to get Donna's attention. " Um, no one is paying me anything, I don't know what you're talking about. Who the hell is Nerys?"
"You're best friend!" Donna snapped
"Oookay." Cosima said turning a quick 360 degrees and producing her sonic screwdriver "Well, hello, I'm The Doctor, you are in my spaceship- I call her the TARDIS- and you're rude . And I- I don't know anyone named... Nerys. " Cosima tried not to pinch up her face while pronouncing the name. She preferred softer names, like 'Delphine'.
"Whaddya mean I'm on a spaceship? And who are you calling rude? I think I'm reserved the right to be a bit cross with my kidnapper!"
"Kidnapper?" Cosima repeated. What in the world is going on. She thought to herself. She scanned Donna and read the readings on her screwdriver. "Oh my god." she said quietly to herself.
"What?" Donna demanded "Oi! What is that?"
"Oh, it's nothing, completely harmless just a screwdriver," Cosima answered, distracted. She was still going through the readings. "It's just..." she crossed her arms and looked up, giving Donna a once over- curiosity burning in her eyes. "It's so weeird, it's saying you're completely human."
"Oh really?" Donna said, calmer now, but sarcasm still infused in each of her words. "Was that optional?"
"Well for me it is, " she said absently bringing the screwdriver to her lips while she avoided Donna's stare. Avoiding eye contact just happened to mean staring intensely at Donna's shoes while she thought about what to do next.
(It was then that Cosima became aware of the fact that she couldn't see her shoes because the woman's feet were covered by the end of a long, draping, very elegant white gown.)
"Hold on, what are you dressed like that for?"