"Look around you," the Doctor said, pointing her in all directions, showing her all of time and space through the door of his time machine. "This is all laid out before me- before us- to explore, to know, to learn. But it's not all about what we can gain from it. We have to save it. Oh, so many times we have to save it. This is what I'm bound to do, simply because of the fact that I couldn't save so many before. Now I have to save each planet that I can." Amy looked into the Doctor's eyes. She saw that they had narrowed and gained a depth to them that made it look as though he was so very old, which she now knew he was.
"So, now that you know, what will you do?" the Doctor posed his question. "Will you come with me?" Amy focused on those chocolate brown eyes, eyes that had seen so much; they'd seen pain and suffering, but they'd also seen restoration and great happiness. How could she say no to this man asking her if she wanted to see just a fraction of what he'd seen?
"Oh, Doctor," Amy began with a sigh. The Doctor looked down to his feet. He knew what was coming, she would deny his request, she would go back home to her normal life. "How could I say no? I've waited 14 years for this, for my Raggedy Doctor to come back and take me away. Now, here I am, on your space ship!" she finished with a laugh in her tone. The Doctor looked up at her, cherishing this moment, the moment she agreed, even after he'd told her that it wasn't all fun and games.
"Amelia Pond. Mad, impossible Amelia Pond," the Doctor whispered. He closed the distance between them and hugged her tight. He wouldn't let her get hurt, no matter what the cost. Amy put her head on his shoulder, relaxing into him and trusting him. Her trust was all he needed at that moment in time. He let her go, but kept his arms on her shoulders, now at a distance.
"Well now, I suppose we should find out who in the universe needs our help," the Doctor grinned, a childish grin that Amy recognized from the first moment she'd seen him, when he'd talked about apples and cravings and not wandering off. He gave her a gentle shake before releasing her shoulders and going to the TARDIS console.
"Hey Doctor?" Amy asked. He turned to look at her, the remains of that grin still on his face. She noted how his face had not changed one bit. The only thing that had changed was his clothes. Yes, she'd seen that change happen. She felt herself beginning to blush at the memory, and she remembered that she'd been about to ask a question.
"What if we just kept on going, never coming back for tomorrow?" Amy asked her question. It was theoretical, hypothetical; she would come back for the next day. It was her wedding day! She just felt as though she would want the answer anyway. It was just a question out of curiosity… based on a fleeting thought that she'd had.
"Well, then, let's just take this one adventure at a time, shall we Pond?" the Doctor said, allowing his features to form the familiar smile. Amy nodded and returned the rather infectious smile with one of her own.
He saw her smile and knew that this had all worked out alright, somehow. He had told her five minutes and come back in twelve years. Then two more. But she had waited all that time, just so that she could come with him on adventures.
"The girl who waited," the Doctor muttered, not even realizing that he had spoken. It wasn't until Amy responded that he realized that fact at all.
"The funny thing about waiting, Doctor, is that makes what you get all the more worthwhile," Amy said. The Doctor made a point to look away then, noticing that his eyes had not left her for the past several minutes, and that she might assume he was staring. Which he wasn't… not really.
"It sure will be!" the Doctor agreed, hiding his awkwardness with enthusiasm and spinning the TARDIS off to another point in space and time. He wasn't even paying much attention to the final destination. He was distracted by other thoughts, other sights.
"Anything can become an adventure, especially when I'm involved," the Doctor said, laughing as his machine took him and his new important companion off to see the universe in ways Amy could never have imagined before that night as seven-year-old little Amelia Pond.
"Doctor?" Amy caught his attention. They'd gone and saved the star whale, so now he was maneuvering his buttons, levers, and gadgets again. She watched him turn around, taking in his every motion, his every detail. She knew she could spend forever with him and still never quite understand him, yet all the same she knew she'd like to try.
"Yes?" the Doctor replied. He looked her up and down. It was impossible to think that just a day (or two days perhaps?) ago, she had been a seven year old girl. Now she was very much so not. She was older, and her body reflected that. The fact that she was wearing her night clothes didn't help, or the fact that he knew she was a kissogram. He supposed that must mean that she was a good kisser…
"Doctor, have you heard what I've been saying?" Amy asked, looking at him with her head tilted slightly to the side. Her tone should have held some annoyance, but instead she almost sounded amused.
"Yes," he said, meeting her gaze. Then, upon realizing that she must be waiting for his response to whatever she'd said, he decided to change his answer. "No," he admitted. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.
"I asked if we were going somewhere else sometime soon," she reiterated. The Doctor began thinking about the answer to her question, but his mind became distracted again.
"We need to get you some proper clothes," he said. He couldn't very well leave her without normal clothes. Amy's question had not been answered, but she didn't complain. After all, she had been in her nightgown for ages.
"Okay, but where would I get clothes?" Amy asked. The Doctor smiled; she would like this part. The TARDIS had a wonderful closet, and most of his female companions had been thrilled when they'd first seen it. Actually, he remembered that one had proposed marriage to him right on the spot, but that story was for another day.
"You'll love this," he said cheerfully. He grabbed her hand and showed her through a few hallways and rooms in the TARDIS, leading all the way to the closet. When Amy saw it, she gasped in amazement. It had to be as big as the entire first floor of her house, and it was filled with clothes of all kinds.
"Well I'll, um, leave you to it then," the Doctor said, awkwardly leaving the room so that Amy could get changed. The Doctor leaned against the wall, knowing that girls had a tendency to take a long time to pick out what to wear. He found himself having to wait another twenty minutes before Amy finally walked out of the closet in a long-sleeved red shirt and leggings that fit snuggly on her legs. On her feet she had black converse shoes, and her hair fell in spirals across her shoulders. The Doctor had to mentally shake himself of the thought that this was, again, definitely not a seven year old girl.
"Right! Well, now that you're properly dressed…" he started, leading the way back to the console. Amy grabbed his hand and stopped him.
"Aren't you going to tell me how I look first?" Amy asked with a pout. The Doctor gave her another head to toe scan, knowing that there were many things that he would like to say. She watched him assessing her, wondering what he was thinking.
"It'll do," the Doctor said, though he wanted to pick other words. But he couldn't. Amy's face fell ever so slightly, but the Doctor had already turned away, so he couldn't see the change in her expression. She had been hoping he would at least give her a small compliment; she was a girl after all.
"We've got all of time and space, once more, and now you've got some clothes on!" the Doctor said with enthusiasm. Amy smirked.
"Are you saying it wouldn't be as fun without clothes?" she asked. The Doctor raised one eyebrow before turning heel and continuing his way back to the console room. "What an alien," she muttered under her breath. The Doctor had gone pink around the ears, but he was in the console room in seconds, Amy trailing behind, so she didn't see.
"So, back to my first question, are we going anywhere?" Amy asked after she'd caught up with the Doctor. He whirled around, looking as though she'd interrupted something.
"Yes, I mean, no. Well, not yet anyhow," he stammered. He cleared his throat and did the same with his mind. Sometimes companions could make flying the TARDIS difficult, in different ways of course.
"Why not?" she inquired, curious as always.
"Because, believe it or not, I don't spend absolutely all of my time out traveling," the Doctor answered. In reality, he just wasn't ready for another breath-taking adventure when he was already out of breath from the simplest of things recently. But how could he explain that to Amy? She would probably take it the wrong way, that she was a distraction. Or she would take it as flirting, which the Doctor was definitely not very good at. Was he? No, he had not tried all that often, so he couldn't have been.
"So what do you do when you're not traveling then?" Amy asked. This girl, she asked so many questions. Then again, they always seemed to. Amy was curious, in both meanings of the word. She was curious in the way of sticking her nose into everything. She would always wander off, for instance, and she would always find her way into conversations about his personal life. And then Amy was also curious in the unusual way. She was quite different than most humans. She'd accepted him, cravings, random appearances, fish finger eating and all as a little girl. She'd run away with him as well, barely asking a question at that time. She'd left behind her aunt, her job, and her boyfriend to go on adventures throughout space and time.
"What do I do? Well I…" the Doctor trailed off, not certain of how to answer her question. "Well, I have to do something. I'm in a machine this big, I'm bound to have some hobbies," he mused, more so to himself than to Amy. Amy just laughed at him.
"So without your adventure, you're left with nothing?" she asked. That stung him a little, but he didn't let it show. In fact, he made it that way on purpose. If he let himself get too attached to anything else, he could experience a whole world of hurt, like he had with Rose. But Amy didn't know about Rose, so she couldn't know how her words would sting him.
"Yes, I'm a boring old man. I am 907, remember?" he joked. Amy winked at him.
"You don't look bad for 907," she teased him. He knew that it was all innocent teasing, but he couldn't help his heartbeat increasing slightly. Stupid body, never obeying what his mind might command from it. Maybe an adventure would be best after all.