The morning after Amy had sent the afterword to the publisher, she woke with tears in her eyes. She sat up, and a sob escaped her before she could trap it. Rory stirred at the sound, and looked over at his wife's scrunched up face, the tears in her eyes, her hand over her mouth. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her.
He knew what it was, in the general sense at least. Manhattan. It was always Manhattan. But he had to ask. "Amy, what is it?"
She turned to him, and when she moved her hand away to speak, he saw that she was actually smiling. "He's doing it."
"Who's doing what?"
"The Doctor," Amy replied with a sniffle. "He's going back to my garden when I was a kid. He's gone to see me."
Rory held her tighter, and kissed her head. "How do you know?"
"All these memories…it's like they've been there forever, but they're still being created," she tried to explain as the tears poured down her face. "It was – is – dawn. The end of the night I spent waiting for him. I can hear the Tardis landing, and I looked up to the sky and grinned. And suddenly, there it was. That stupid blue box, and out comes a man in a tweed jacket and bow tie. My Doctor. Not raggedy anymore. Just…beautifully silly.
"Hello, Pond," the Doctor said, and Amelia sprung to her feet, her suitcase all but forgotten.
"Are we going now?" she asked excitedly.
"Ah…no. Give me five minutes…I have to do some things first. But! I just wanted to come back and tell you something."
"Something that couldn't wait five minutes?" Amelia asked sceptically.
"Twelve years, five minutes - what's the difference, eh?"
"A lot," Amelia replied with certainty.
"Well, yes, but never mind. I have something important to tell you, but first I'll tell you a story. You like stories, don't you?"
"Only if they're good."
"This one is very, very good. It involves pirates, and famous painters, and true love, and space whales!"
"Space whales?"
"Yep. Space whales. And this story is about you. And it's all going to be true, in-"
"No don't tell me!"
"Why not?" the Doctor asked, confused.
"If I find out about the story before I'm meant to, it will spoil it!"
The Doctor smiled. "Of course. Spoilers. Can't be having those. Pesky things."
"Exactly," Amelia said with an emphatic nod.
"Exactly. Now, that important thing I needed to tell you," he crouched down so that he was eye to eye with little Amelia, "Is that you must never think this was all a dream. It's real. And I'll be here," he said, pointing to her heart, before pointing to his own two hearts, "And you will always be here. Remember that. If ever you need me, really, really need me, then I will be there. I promise. Like how I fixed up the crack in the wall. I'll always be there when you need me. And sometimes just when you want me to be there. And if I'm not there, then know that you can manage whatever's happening by yourself. But most importantly, Amelia Pond, you must never give up hope. Because hope is incredibly important. Can you do that?"
Amelia thought long and hard for a moment, before nodding resolutely. The Doctor leaned over and kissed her fiery red hair.
"Good." He looked at her for a moment, before opening his arms to give her a hug. It was a big hug, full of warmth and comfort, tight and secure. He let go, and when he pulled back, she thought there might have been tears in his eyes, but he sprang to his feet and the spun around too quickly for her to see. "Good! Now then, like I said, I have something to do before we go away together."
He stepped back into the Tardis, and for a moment, Amelia could have sworn she saw someone else in there with him. A woman, with curly hair. But then the Doctor bounced back into her view, and she took no more notice. The Doctor did a funny sort of salute, and Amelia giggled.
"Five minutes," she murmured to herself, waving at the Doctor, and he grinned in his mad way before shutting the door. The odd noise of the box started up again, and it faded before her eyes.
Amelia sat back down on her suitcase to wait.
The Doctor closed the doors of the Tardis. "You'll see me in twelve years, Amelia Pond. But now you have some hope to get you through those times. And a certain future Roman."
"And me..well, Mels at least," River said, sidling up to him, resting her hands against him. He smiled, and a tear spilled out from the corner of his eye, which River wiped gently away. "And now it's your turn to have me with you. So, Doctor: where are we going?"
Amy wiped her tears away as she finished recounting the new memories to Rory. "I remember it all, right up until the moment he closed the doors with that grin on his face."
Rory gave a gentle smile. "That sounds like him."
"I can't believe he did it. I can't believe I know. He broke time again. Just once more."
"For you? Of course he would."
"I miss him," Amy whispered, and her face crumpled as she tried and failed to fight back the new onslaught of the grief of separation. Rory held her tightly, his own tears trickling down his cheeks and falling into Amy's hair, just as hers were soaking into his shirt. Slowly, her sobs stilled, and she pulled away from him just enough to be able to see his face. "But he was right."
"About what?"
"He'll always be here," Amy said, resting her hands over Rory's heart and her own.
"Always," Rory agreed, kissing her hair and holding her tightly once more.
"Always," Amy whispered.