"Doctor, why isn't she waking up?" asked Rory, panicking as he knelt over the prone form of his girlfriend. He and the Doctor had been forced to leave Amy behind in order to deal with the Atraxi. But now they were back, and both working themselves into a state over Amy's condition.
"I don't know," the Doctor snapped, if possible, even more worried than Rory was. "It must have something to do with the psychic link between her and Prisoner Zero. If only I knew how to break the connection …"
He began to pace up and down the aisle, tapping his fingers against his temple. "There's something I'm missing …" he muttered to himself, "Something important, something powerful – aha!"
"What?" Rory's head snapped up at the Doctor's exclamation.
"We have to break the spell with the most powerful thing in the world – true love's kiss."
"What?" Rory repeated, dumbfounded that the Doctor would actually believe in such nonsense.
"True love's kiss is the most powerful thing in the world," the Doctor explained patiently, as though he were talking to a small child. "Surely you know that?"
Rory shook his head numbly.
"Oh, you humans," the Doctor said, bemoaning their species. "I can't believe how unwilling you are to accept what's staring you right in the face. Rory, magic is real. True love is real. And happily-ever-afters exist. The boy gets the girl, and they ride off into the sunset together. End of story. Now, kiss Amy."
"Right," Rory nodded determinedly, before turning once more to face the girl who had always seemed to hold his heart in the palm of her hands. Carefully bending over her so as not to crush her, he pressed their lips together. Pulling away, he watched, waiting for her to open her eyes and bestow him with one of her dazzling smiles. "Doctor, nothing's happening," he cried out. Desperately, he kissed her again and again, but she remained unmoving.
By this time, the Doctor had moved to kneel beside Rory. "Come on, Amy – wake up," he pleaded with her. "Don't give up on me."
Rory say back on his heels, observing the pair of them. "Doctor, it's you," he said with sudden clarity. "You're her true love."
"Don't be silly, Rory," said the Doctor, dismissing Rory's claim in the same way as Rory had dismissed his. "How could it be me? We hardly know each other. One meeting, twelve years ago – that's not enough to base a lifetime of love on."
"Yes, it is. She's spent all those years pining for you. She drew pictures and made dolls … she even had me dress up as you once. Amy loves you, Doctor – I know she does. And now you have to kiss her if you want the happy ending that you both deserve to come true."
The Doctor looked apologetically at Rory. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"I'll be fine," Rory replied, shrugging off the Doctor's concern. "I always knew she was merely settling for me. I never stood a chance, not really. With Amy, everything's always been about you. I was just a substitute for the real thing."
"Rory …" the Doctor reached for him, but he abruptly pulled away.
"Just kiss her, Doctor," he ordered gruffly.
Giving him a calculating glance, the Doctor nodded once, before doing as Rory said. Slowly bending over the girl he hardly knew, but who he inexplicably loved, he whispered her name ever-so-softly as he brushed his lips over hers. That was all it took. Her eyelids fluttered, and Amy opened her eyes to find the Doctor's face directly above her own. "I knew it was you," she whispered, before wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging him down to her level for a tender embrace.
Rory smiled as he looked on. He was glad to have done his part in bringing them together, but now his work was done. The Prisoner Zero debacle behind them, the Doctor and Amy, who had always been destined for more than Leadworth could offer, left to explore all of time and space.
And, as the saying goes, they lived happily ever after.