Bit angsty. The Doctor's feeling left behind as Amy and Rory age. One shot! Thank you for reading this!
"Amy! Rory!" The Doctor grinned as the TARDIS finished materializing around them, "Look at you two! Oh, you are brilliant. It's been ages, hasn't it? I left a message or two, can't remember when. You may not get them until tomorrow. How are you?"
"Good. We were about to settle in for the night, though. Can this wait until morning?" Rory asked, holding the edge of his shirt indicate the fact that he was in his pajamas.
"No! Half the universe is in danger, need your help." He came over to hug them, and then paused. "Amy, are you wearing glasses?"
"Yeah, I was going to read this new novel that's just out, it's really cool—"
"But why do you need glasses for that? Is it for the look? I do wear glasses for the look. Especially when I'm reading a book. That rhymed!" He grinned happily, looking mildly like a puppy that had just brought back the stick for the first time.
"No, I'm wearing them because I need to wear them. My eyes aren't able to read up close anymore without help."
The sonic came out immediately, and was waved in front of Amy's eyes. "What happened?"
"Nothing happened. It's something that comes with age. Happened to my grandmother too. Watch out if you and River have any kids." She laughed, pushing the sonic to the side.
The Doctor smile became strained before he pulled them both into a tight hug. He spoke with a sad tone, his voice muffled by their hair "Who told you that you could grow up? Thought I put a law against it."
"Oh, you're one to talk. How old are you now?" Rory rolled his eyes.
"The wrong side of 1200." The Doctor released them from the hug, "Why, how old are you?"
"Rory'll be thirty six next month." Amy said with a proud smile.
"Really? Are you holding a party? Am I invited? I love a party." The Doctor's face lit up again, "I can do balloon animals. I've gotten really good at making balloon animals."
"Yeah, I'm holding a party. And of course you're invited. Rory's dad will be there. He's getting on too, though. He's almost bald. Rory's got the worse genes for hair." Amy smiled encouragingly, hugging Rory's arm lightly. "It'll be fun."
"What was this about the universe in trouble?" Rory asked, "Not to disrupt anything, but if we're going to talk about how old I've gotten, we're also going to save the universe."
"Half the universe Rory!" The Doctor corrected, racing back to the console, "And we were talking about your party, not your age!"
"Still counts." Rory replied, rolling his eyes. The Doctor's own eyes caught sight of a few grey hairs in Rory's hair, and the Doctor disappeared behind his console. He hit various buttons and pulled numerous levers as he told them, "Go get changed, can't have you meeting people looking like that! You'll embarrass me."
"Turn-about is fair play, Doctor!" Amy laughed, "God, you sound like a 12 year old."
"1268, I'll have you know."
"Twelve and a half." Rory corrected them both. "We'll be right back. Don't set the house on fire."
"I haven't set a house on fire in 100 years! Granted, that was the White House, but I helped Mrs. Madison get the picture of George Washington out." He listened to their laughter echo down the hall and the look on his face grew sadder with each passing moment. Quietly, he turned on the console-vision and loaded up images of them fifteen years ago; no grey hair or glasses. No wrinkles or slight balding. Just eyes, bright with wonder at the universe. Just Amy's hair as vibrant as a badly colored sunset, and gangly limbs that Rory never seemed to be able to manage back then.
Aging.
They were getting tired more easily; it was almost impossible to notice, but the Doctor liked to notice the impossible.
Maybe they were getting tired of him?
"Oi! Where'd the wardrobe room go Raggedy Man?" Amy shouted from the doorway.
"Ah, two lefts and a right from the last place it was! Had to move it again, needed a stable. I need to tell you about this horse I found…" He started, but Amy cut him off.
"One minute, let me put on proper clothes." She disappeared again.
Proper clothes. Who needed proper clothes? Adults. Grown-ups. People who would leave him. People who didn't need him. The first time he had taken Amy away, she had worn her nighty for three days in a row.
And then on their wedding day—they'd gone to see the king of the planet the star whale had brought the British to in their wedding outfits. And then they'd gone to a party in the 54th century where they met Thor. And to a planet of five eyed humanoid beings, where Amy got kidnapped…He still owed her a wedding dress for that.
Growing up. How dare they.
"Right, ready!" Amy entered the console room fixing her hair while Rory pulled on a jacket. "Let's go save half the universe!"
Of course, the 'half the universe' turned out to be the whole universe, and it was all over a fight between a husband and wife, which Rory and Amy handled particularly well while the Doctor was chasing down the loose universe ending bombs and deactivating them. He managed, once again, to burn of the eyebrows he had just started to grow back.
And he dropped them off at home. Their home. Said his goodnights, turned down the opportunity to stay the night, and went back to his TARDIS. After dematerializing into the time vortex, he began to speak.
"They're getting older, old girl. They always do. I just—I don't watch it. I don't see it happen. Sometimes, I look back at all of the ones I've left and marveled at their age. But this time…oh, old girl. I don't know how to handle it. My brilliant Ponds. They're going to leave me, you know. They'll have to. Humans degenerate at far too fast a pace. And if they keep coming, someone will get hurt. Broken bones that won't fully heal. Broken hearts that never…well. You know."
The TARDIS hummed in response, and the Doctor directed the ship into space, orbiting Andromeda.
"And they'll blame me. Maybe not for more than a second, but Rory will give me that look, and Amy might get tears in her eyes, and they'll blame me." He sat down in one of the chairs, "And then they'll leave. I know they want to stay, but I don't know where. Humans need stability, I've noticed. And a place to lay their heads every night."
He stopped talking for a while; minutes or hours or even days.
With a nod, he stood up.
"Do you know old girl, I think I am going to miss them."
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