Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Rory would still be in there.

Once upon a time in a small village, there lived a beautiful girl with a fire in her soul and flames in her hair. She was quite a peculiar girl, for she had an imaginary friend, of whom she insisted was real. Despite of that she was well liked in the village and she had many suitors. Amelia Pond was her name.

A young healer's assistant also lived in the village. He was Amelia's best friend and happy to be so. His name was Rory and unlike Amelia, or Amy, as she insisted on being called, he was not really popular amongst the villagers. No, he was too clumsy and shy and plain. The only thing worth noticing about him, according to the villagers, was his profession, and even then he was just an assistant. They didn't quite understand why Amy bothered with him. And sometimes he himself wondered it too. But as much as he appreciated and cherished her friendship he too, just like so many others, felt more towards Amy than just friendship. He however kept his silence, for he knew she would never feel the same for him. Not like that. Not when all her other admirers were richer and more handsome, overall better than he was. But her happiness was his happiness and he was lucky to be her friend and confidant. And no matter how much it hurt he could see her with another and smile, if it made her happy. And everything kept on going as usual. Until one day…

Suddenly, a man came crashing to the village. No one knew who he was, nor had anyone seen him before. Anyone except Amy. She ran to the man, storm gathering inside her, everyone stepping out of her way not wanting to face her wrath. For Amy Pond was not a girl to be trifled with. However, the man didn't seem to know this, as he only smiled with a dumb look on his face and greeted Amy cheerfully.

"Hello again", he said.

He was rewarded with a punch in the face.

After the first shock wore out Amy and the strange man became inseparable. And the whole village was surprised, for the man was the Doctor, Amy's imaginary friend. Only that the man whom everyone thought was just a fragment of an overly active imagination, was real. And now he was back. And no matter how hard he tried to deny it, Rory was jealous. Jealous of the attention she gave him. Jealous of the fact that he seemed to have completely replaced him in Amy's eyes. Before the return of the Doctor Rory had been Amelia's best friend, even if he could never be anything more, but now the Doctor had taken his place as her best friend as well. And it did hurt. He tried to still spend time with her, but now he felt like the third wheel. And there was nothing he could do but to accept it.

Now the Doctor was a very bizarre character. Smart and clever, yes, but bizarre. In the end he was also incredibly likeable. Of course there were some who had a hard time getting past all of his strange manners, but most of the villagers did eventually take a liking to him. Unfortunately however, the Doctor also had quite a few enemies. And even though he tried to protect the village from them, they caught up to him and with him, the villagers.

They came at hordes. Strange creatures coming for the Doctor. They brought with them a box, big enough to fit a human inside. A prison for the Doctor. The battle was hard, but they won. But not without a price. For the battle shook the very foundations of the world. And though the Doctor managed to survive, although barely, Amy was not as lucky. She had been brave, and fought with all her might but in the end she had fallen. It was Rory's anguished yell that had alerted the Doctor and what he saw broke both of his two hearts. It was Rory, cradling the pale, cold body of Amy, tears streaming down his face. He wanted to save her. But he couldn't. Unless… Gears started turning in his head. He still might not be able to save her, but there was something he could try. He walked up to Rory and gently pried Amy from his hands. Rory objected at first but once the Doctor told him he was trying to save her, he backed down, still being on his guard. The Doctor carried the lifeless young woman to the box and put her inside. For the box was not an ordinary prison. No. It also had the power to keep anyone sealed inside alive. Amy would live. But would she ever wake up? That he didn't know.

He would wait. That Rory promised. Not to himself, but to Amy. The Doctor didn't know how long it would take, or if she would wake up at all. But he would not leave her alone. The Doctor tried to persuade him out of it, but in the end he yielded. He had to leave, for he feared that if he stayed there would be more enemies coming after him. But before he left he granted Rory one last gift. As long as Rory would stay by Amy's side, guarding the box, he would not age or die though he could still be wounded, for the box's magic would extend to him too. And with that the Doctor was gone.

Rory waited. And waited. And waited. At first he was hopeful. Then he became disheartened. After that it all turned in to a routine, days and weeks all muddling together while standing in guard of the box. But never, even when weeks turned to months, months turned to years and years to decades, did he ever consider abandoning Amy.

Centuries went by and many had heard of the box and the boy who waited. Some wanted to see them themselves. In some cases they came to gawk at him. In other cases they spent a moment with him talking to him, keeping him company and he appreciated it, for guarding a box for centuries was terribly lonely, and it was wonderful to have someone else but to himself to talk to. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to stay sane without those people. There were also people who came hoping to open the box, thinking riches would be waiting inside. Those people he stopped, fending them off by any means necessary, sometimes even resorting to extremities despite of his kind nature and occupation as a healer's assistant. For he knew that opening the box before its time would disrupt the healing process, undoing everything he had been patiently waiting for, possibly taking away his beloved Amy forever. So he waited.

Centuries went by and soon turned to millenniums. It was close to the end of the second millennium and yet even still, Rory only left if absolute necessary, and even then never for long. It was during one such occasion, that the box started to open.

When Amy Pond came to everything was disorienting to say the least. She saw that she was in a box of some sort that was opening as we speak, but was not quite sure why or where it was located. Her ears were ringing, but were soon replaced with another voice. The voice of her Doctor, coming from inside her own head. She didn't know how it was possible, but there it was, explaining her what had happened and telling her that now that she was awake it would be alright. For some reason she also knew how long she had been asleep. With swaggering feet she stepped out of the box looking around her, trying to find something familiar. There was nothing. Not until she saw Rory walking towards her, lost in thought. She could not have been happier.

"Rory", she breathed, running to him.

"Amy." He caught her into his arms pulling her into an embrace. "I waited. For two thousand years I waited for you."

She gazed into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth. She saw devotion and unwavering loyalty in those beautiful, kind eyes. And she saw love. Love so true it could not be broken by anything, not even time itself. With that, she pulled him in to a deep kiss knowing she could never let him go.

And she never did.

The end