A Journey in Love

A/N: Special thanks to mattkaztrophe (also known as mattkaztrofic or blooming-legolas on tumblr) for letting me use their idea to write this fanfiction. It was a truly genius idea and I'm so grateful that they let me pursue it. I really hope you all enjoy it!

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Chapter One

Amelia Pond was a traveler. Ever since she was a little girl she would always be caught wandering off and finding herself curious in matters she didn't belong to.

She simply couldn't help herself. The moment her mum looked away, little Amelia would run off and get herself into all sorts of trouble.

It was only in her teenage years that life began to change. Her father, Augustus Pond, became a famous Doctor, and suddenly became too busy for even his family. While he traveled and always found excuses to stay away at work, Amelia started to realize she was waiting on someone who wasn't interested in coming back.

But even while he was gone, the money kept coming in, and to say Amelia was living a life of luxury was a hard understatement.

Yet even while the Ponds' lives seemed glamorous, Amelia found it anything but. With growing older in a rich lifestyle came new rules and responsibilities, and with them: consequences.

Amelia Pond quickly grew up. Shortening her name to Amy, she learned to stop wandering off and breaking rules. She stopped trying to poke her nose in where it didn't belong, and quickly learned there was a certain comfort in going with the flow.

But God, did she hate it.

So Amy found a more luxurious, friendlier way to wander off. She started traveling. The moment she was legal and out of school, she took her parents money and left.

She made a home for herself in a simple, cozy, but wonderful flat in the most beautiful city in the world: Venice.

It was there that she always found herself returning to. She could never imagine living anywhere else, nor did she ever want to.

She loved the view from her living room. When she pulled open the curtains and let the morning light in, she could feel it reach through the entire house until everything felt warm, even in early autumn as the cool temperatures started were beginning to settle in.

Amy would often find herself lounging on the sofa for hours during her breaks between traveling, listening to anything from the latest hits to old folk songs that reminded her of childhood. But this was all when she wasn't traveling.

Amy had been nearly everywhere, and it still was never enough. She'd visited America, Rome, New Zealand, Paris, everywhere. But she still had yet to see everything.

"You should see China this time of year," one of Amy's closest friends, River Song had told her. "It's absolutely gorgeous." And River would know. She had seen everything. Amy wanted with all her heart to do the same.

So, as soon as she got home, Amy did her research, bought her tickets, and started packing for her next trip, this time, to the lands of China.

Amy was excited. She usually was when it came to going somewhere new. What excited her most about this trip was that it was the one month of the year, September, that she had a chance to see the ancient and valuable paintings in the Beijing Palace Museum.

Amy loved art. Absolutely nothing could have dampened her spirits that morning as she pulled out her prepared suitcase and got herself ready to head to the airport. Nothing could have changed her bright morning, if it weren't for the phone call.

Amy was quite literally walking out the door when her cell phone rang in her jacket pocket. She took a moment to lock the door behind her before she pulled out the device and checked the ID number.

She felt her heart skip a beat as she flipped it open and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hello mum," Amy said, forcing a smile as if her mother could see her face all the way from London.

"Amelia! Where are you?" Tabetha Pond, her mother, said on the other line. She didn't sound upset or worried, just curious.

Amy bit the inside of her cheek and took a deep breath. She hated it when people called her Amelia.

"In Venice, mum. I'm on my way to the airport... New trip planned…" She replied, careful with the woman who was technically paying for Amy's extravagant lifestyle.

"Amelia, you need to stop running off and doing whatever you like. You're 25 years old! You should either be studying or getting a job, or getting married! I feel like all you're doing is running away from real life, dear."

"Mum, I'm not running away. I'm seeing the world while it's still here. What's so wrong with that?" Amy argued.

"Nothing," Tabetha replied coolly. "But if you're not in school, you should get a job and learn to support yourself."

Amy took a deep breath and counted to ten as she put her suitcase in her car.

"But mum, there aren't any good jobs for someone like me. Especially ones that let me travel."

"You need to keep looking. I'm sure there's something out there for you."

Maybe, Amy thought to herself, but instead replied, "Sure. I'll keep my eyes open." Anything to make her mum hang up…

"I certainly hope so. If you keep putting this off, the money will stop for you," her mum said.

Amy rolled her eyes. Her mum had been saying that for five years. Her mum would never cut off her only daughter.

"I understand," Amy said nonchalantly. "Bye."

Amy heard a muffled 'good-bye' as she turned off the phone and shoved it back in her pocket. She ran a hand through her bright red and hair and sighed in exhaustion.

She didn't like what their relationship had become, but her mum simply didn't understand. This is what Amy loved. She truly wanted nothing more than to see the world and have fun doing it. For Amy it was all about the next great adventure, and she refused to miss it for a second.

So with that settled in her mind, Amy climbed into the driver's seat and sped off to the airport.

The trip itself had been lovely. The tours had been fairly long, but ultimately worth it in the end. The artwork was breathtaking, the people had been friendly, and Amy had never had such a great experience. The conversation with her mum, being one out of many, was long since forgotten by the time her trip drew to an end.

As she packed, she quickly went over her mental checklist to make sure she'd bought enough souvenirs for her friends and herself, hadn't lost any of her immediate belongings, and make sure her flight plans were all still in order. Once she was assured that they were, she left the hotel and went back to the airport for her long, ten hour flight back to Venice.

She slept for half of it. The other half she spent her time between reading one of her favorite books and watching an old Chinese movie that was provided during the flight.

Only once she was back in the open, evening air of Venice did she finally stretch and allow herself to relax. She was home. She would never let anyone tell her coming home wasn't the best part of traveling.

There was something beautiful about getting out of her comfort zone, exploring the world and seeing things she'd never imagined for the first time, and then unwinding immediately after. Jet lag was awful. But only if there was something to do as soon as she got back. Which was never.

Amy smiled to herself as she found her car and drove down the familiar streets that had become her home since she was eighteen. Making a split second decision, she decided to stop by one of her friend's flat.

Her name was Cecilia Dale. She was brunette and a bit shorter than Amy, but with her bright and friendly personality, she and Amy got along famously.

"Amy!" Cecilia smiled when she opened the door.

"Hey Cece," Amy replied, accepting her friend's hug before stepping inside.

"I remember you mentioning that you were coming back in today," Her friend said. "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," Amy replied. "I was just stopping by to give you this."

Cecilia raised an eyebrow as Amy pulled the items out of her bag and handed them back to her friend, who quickly smiled when she saw them.

"It's a Chinese knot and paper cutting. They're both pretty popular, I've learned."

"Oh my goodness, their beautiful!" Cecilia said excitedly. "They'll be perfect in the living room. The colors are perfect!"

"I'm glad you like them," Amy smiled.

"Oh! Amy, I almost forgot," Cecilia suddenly frowned as she set them down on the table. "I saw something odd the other day when I was driving past your place."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"There was a car out front. It didn't look like yours. It was a dark blue or something. A microbus I think."

"A microbus?" Amy said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Cecilia nodded in thought. "That's right. You didn't buy one on a random splurge did you?"

"Ugh, no! Like I would splurge on a microbus." Amy shivered in distaste.

"You know, it might be River's. I've seen her drive one like that once or twice," Amy stated after a moment. "I figured it had to be for a job or something. Never really bothered to ask."

"You should ask," Cecelia said as Amy made her way to the door.

"Yeah, I will. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem," Cecelia smiled. "See you later."

"Bye," Amy grinned and stepped outside.

It was starting to get dark by the time Amy made it home. And just like Cecelia had said, in the driveway was a dark blue Volkswagen Microbus. And a pretty old one by the looks of it, but it shone bright under the street lamps from the obvious great care of the owner.

Amy frowned and pulled her car to a stop beside it, examining it up and down as she pulled out her suitcase and slammed the car door shut.

It certainly looked like River's. But as she looked through the windows she realized it looked a lot more like someone had been living in it more than just driving it around. And that didn't seem like River Song to her.

But hey, maybe she had a boyfriend? It was the simplest explanation. River didn't talk much about things like that.

Amy sighed and walked up to her flat, keys jingling in her hand. It was probably River. Both River and Cecilia had keys to her place. They would sometimes stop by while Amy was traveling, mostly to bring in the mail and make sure everything was in order. So, it had to be River.

Amy tried the door, but was surprised to find it was locked. If it was just River stopping by, the door would have been left unlocked for just a quick pop-in-and-out. But Amy brushed it off and unlocked the door.

She pushed it open and stepped inside. She stopped herself just short of screaming.

It was a mess! All of it! There were dirty dishes on the table, couch cushions on the floor and a blanket thrown half-hazardly over the armchair and almost all of it on the ground. There were take-out wrappers on the side table and muddy boots sitting on the carpet.

Amy felt anger building inside her. This couldn't have been River, could it? It just didn't seem possible. Yet here she was, looking at her once cozy flat and seeing nothing but disorder and mayhem.

"River!" Amy shouted, tossing her things on the sofa. At least she would pick them up later.

Just as she looked up from her things, she froze. It hadn't been River. It hadn't been River at all.

A man popped his head around the corner, his hair wet and sticking up and out everywhere. It was only then that Amy heard the shower going. Her eye twitched as he stepped out, naked, and eyed her suspiciously with his hazel green eyes.

"You're not River?" He said, like Amy was the strange one.

This time, Amy screamed.

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