"Homecoming"
They arrived in a burst of smoke and time, precisely two weeks to the day that Amy and Rory announced they were off on a trip to America to visit a friend, and they'd be back soon.
It was the first time she had been in the ground-floor flat in her current incarnation. She was more used to seeing them in the house the Doctor had gifted them a bit later on. But at the same time, it was as familiar as her cell at Stormcage. Mels had frequented the place - literally taking over the small spare bedroom at times. Everything was the same as she remembered from so many years ago, the IKEA furniture, the books scattered about that she, Rory and Amy had used to track the Doctor through time and space.
Amy and Rory moved stiffly, arms around each other as if one would slip through the floor if they let go. They blinked slowly as their eyes adjusted to the living room, brighter than the darkened hall they'd been trapped in at Demon's Run. Someone had been by, had left fresh groceries and the mail. A note was taped to the fridge, signed by Rory's parents. Yes, of course, River thought, they'd always been one to think of things like this.
She turned to find Rory staring intently at her as Amy turned away. They had questions, she had answers. She'd been preparing for this day since not long after her incarceration, and she learned the truth about the backwardness of her own future. There was nothing to be done by standing here, River firmly told herself and strode into the kitchen to make them all a cup of tea.
"You have my eyes. Kind of," Rory said after a moment.
River put the kettle on and didn't say anything. She didn't many parental resemblances carried through regenerations, but if it made them feel better, she'd let them think it.
"And Amy's face. Doesn't she have your face?"
Amy slowly lifted her head, and her eyes were empty. Stark. Bleak. "Why are you talking? Why are the two of you saying anything?" Her head snapped around, and those brilliant eyes filled with tears. "Can't you just leave? You weren't here when we needed you, so just leave us alone."
The words hurt , but it wasn't as bad as when Amy had held a gun on her minutes earlier … or when the Doctor had hurled the same statement in River's face with so much venom that for a moment she had feared she had accidentally ruined their future by doing as she was told. "Amy, I know you're in a lot of pain …"
"How do you know? You just come swanning in here after everything is over. How do I know you're not lying now? How do I know you're really Melody?" Amy pushed Rory away from her and stalked over to River as the kettle began to boil.
"Because the Doctor believes her, Amy," Rory called out. Amy looked away, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm not quite Time Lord, but I have the memory of one," River said after a moment, looking down at the silver electric kettle, absently admiring the technology. It'd been a gift from Mels. Stolen from Marks & Spencer, but no one ever mentioned that - after all, they'd never caught her. "The very first memory I have as a child was being told of a man who would do anything for me, who was very ancient. The Last Centurion. I was also told that I might not always be protected or loved, but I was to be very, very brave."
Amy kept staring at a fixed point on the elaborate setup of IKEA shelving. Rory looked torn between going to his wife and going to his daughter, and River pulled mugs out of the cabinet, quietly pleased she was able to keep her hands from trembling.
The buzzer sounded like an alarm suddenly going off, and all of them jumped. River's hand immediately flew to her gun before it dropped away, a movement so fast and fluid that thankfully no one caught it.
"Hello!" An achingly voice familiar echoed in the front hall, and River's heart lept into her throat. "You two better be back, it's been boring without you around. You've been gone for ages. Hope you didn't mind, I bummed on the couch here a couple nights. And I didn't kill that fern of yours, Rory, just so you know."
"Mels," Amy choked out, and she flew into the small entrance hall.
"I have to go." River's fingers were already flying over the vortex manipulator, keying in coordinates.
"You can't just leave. Not now."
River's gaze met her father's. "I have to. Especially now." She hesitated, then said the one thing she'd never remembered telling her parents at any time of her life. There'd been only one person she'd ever said it to, and it had taken years and years before she could get it out without choking. "Please, remember that no matter what happens, I love you." She disappeared just as Amy and Mels walked into the room.
"What was that?" Mels asked.
Neither Amy or Rory could answer her.