A/N- I own nothing but in the future plan to own the first 2005 season of Dr Who, I figure if I slowly go buy the season by the time I'm up to number six it wont be so expensive. Anyhow, reviews are welcome.


These thoughts plague her for the rest of the day; the reality of her prison sentence finally sinking in, she ignores the tiny miserable world outside her cell and lies motionless on her bed, she settles so deeply into reverie that she doesn't even notice the changing guards, the darkening sky or the sound of the TARDIS beginning its arrival with the breaks still on. It is only when the TARDIS consciousness or 'mother' as it likes to call itself to River, reaches out and brushes against her mind that she rouses herself enough to sit up on the bed and watch the Doctor bound towards her,

"Hello" he smirks, trying to feign a casual air that would be so much more convincing if he hadn't run the short distance from the TARDIS to her cell.

"Hello" she responds and he breaks out into an exuberant smile, whipping out his sonic to open the cell door and slip in, she holds out her hands to him and he takes them in his, swinging them to and fro,

"Where are we for you?" she asks out of sheer habit and though she didn't think it possible, the Doctor's smile widens, he releases one of her hands to check his watch,

"Exactly twenty-three hours, forty-three minutes and five seconds since we unpacked your belongings" he announces before giving her a worried glance,

"Where are we for you?"

She musters a small smile, "Twenty-three hours, forty-three minutes and thirty seconds since I told you that everything would be fine and you'd arrive on time"

He giggles, "You were right"

"Yes" she counters, amazed at how simply being around him has cheered her up. It astounds her that the Timelord who has seen so much, that has done so much can still be happy and eager to experience everything around him. Although she suspects that he's made it part of his nature to never look back and thus seek pleasure and excitement all around him to prevent any unwitting reflection on his life.

He pulls her to her feet and looks her over, "Ready?"

She grins, "Always"

He runs from the cell, tugging her along behind him, into the TARDIS with suspiciously no guards around to note the escape.


The ship is warm and welcoming, slipping tendrils into her mind and humming as it begins to adjust according to her needs, she feels herself beginning to relax as the doors close and the Doctor begins dancing around the console, chatting away happily as he pulls a lever.

"So...our wedding night, I was thinking we could visit the Formerly Lost Moon of Poosh" he giggled at the name, "I have no idea what it's like but I've been meaning to visit since I returned it to its galaxy and if we get bored Poosh has wonderful dancing"

"Dancing?" River echoed disbelievingly and the Doctor grabbed her hand spinning her around and then pulling her close to him, a mixture of eagerness and shyness. He looks into her eyes, not something he usually does for longer than an instant, normally he moves too quickly for that,

"Your days may be spent in Stormcage Doctor Song, but we can spend your nights dancing across the stars"

She smiles before pressing his lips to hers to steal a kiss, sliding her arms about his neck.

"It is our wedding night my love, surely we can stay in?"

He wrinkles his face, "Stay in? And do what?"

She laughs at his naivety and wraps her fingers around his suspenders, bringing his body against her own as she leant on the console, "Oh Doctor, what do you think?"

She kisses him again, catching his mouth open and slipping her tongue in to press against his. She wondered if he would always be so shell-shocked when she kissed him. He flounders for a few moments before returning the kiss,

"Well, that was nice" he blusters when they break for air, she grins at his endearing lack of expertise with her,

"More where that came from" she promises before leaning in again, only this time he stops her,

"River"

When she ignores him and turns her lips to his jaw and neck instead, he places his hands on her shoulders and gently pushes her away, "River no, not yet"

River has never been rejected before and this moment is so ridiculous that she gapes at him in shock, "But...we're married my love, surely you want to..."

"I do" he admits, tangling one of his hands in her hair, cupping her head, "However I want you to fall in love me first"

River opens her mouth to point out that she'd dreamed of marrying him when she was a child and Kovarian's teachings and trainings, her never-ending focus on the Timelord had filled her young head to the point where the idea of thinking of another person was ludicrous but the Doctor stops her by speaking first,

"I know you think you love me now River, but that's not love, what you feel is the fixation of a lonely traumatized child who was supposed to hate me but was conditioned to the point where the lines blurred and the only feeling you could acknowledge was passion. It became love only because Amy and Rory care for me but it could have easily swung the other way and we would still be fighting now. Melody Pond, you are a one-time miracle, a being conceived on the wish of a human and the heart of the TARDIS as it flew through the Time Vortex, theoretically you are possible but physically and statistically impossible. River there will never be another like you, not even if we tried. You are the perfect accident and the only person left in the whole of the universe capable of being my equal and knowing and seeing me for who I am, I want you to fall in love with me the way I fell in love with you"

"By cheating and out-of-sync meetings?" she quips, even as she holds his hands and squeezes them affectionately, he grins and nods,

"Or by seeing my fantastic skills on the dance floor"

She rolls her eyes and breaks away turning to descend the stairs, "If you insist sweetie, but don't hurry on my account, I haven't even begun to get ready yet"

He frowned and flipped the blue stabilizer unthinkingly, nearly jamming the TARDIS in mid-flight and colliding with an asteroid,

"How much time do you need?"

His only response is laughter that trails from the hallway as she disappears from sight.


By the time the TARDIS is in orbit, River still hasn't emerged and the Doctor goes off in search of his wife, checking the kitchen, the guest bedrooms, a blank room that's been assigned to her and she hasn't found yet and the swimming pool. He has a brief second of discomfort when he wonders if perhaps she wasn't in his room but the TARDIS hummed a negative, assuring him that his living quarters hadn't been opened for at least a year now, she then pointed him to a yellow door still materializing and he thanked her before pushing it open.

In retrospect he should have knocked first.

The room is lit by dozens of floating candles and the Doctor recognizes the music in the background as a harmony from the Colony of Humanoids on 51st Century Jupiter. In the centre of the tiled room is a large bathtub from the 60th century, top of the range on several planets with jets that would fill the tub with any liquid the owner so desired. Right now from the smell and the texture, he could guess that River was bathing in the finest scented mud water that was manufactured and sold on luxury star liners. Her head was tilted back and she had her eyes closed, looking so relaxed he wondered if it was right to disturb her. He put his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat, causing her to look at him,

"Yes?" she murmured in such a soft gentle tone that he was exceedingly grateful that the bathtub was filled with opaque liquid and he wasn't granted a view of her naked body. He'd turned her down yes, but there was hardly a need to test his resolve.

"We were supposed to go dancing" he reminded her and she wrinkled her nose,

"I have nothing to wear" she admitted and he rocked back on his toes,

"Seriously River? I have costumes from every period of time and every part of space in a colossal wardrobe six corridors and three doors down, I have a whole section of that wardrobe dedicated to dancing and fezzes and bowties- you can't tell me you have nothing to wear"

River shrugged and lifted a delicate leg out of the water to inspect her toes while the Doctor averted his eyes to study the really fascinating blank wall,

"Those clothes aren't mine"

"Yes, well when we get some time we'll go shopping, 31st century Poosh has one of the largest collections of shops in this galax..." the Doctor slams his hands to his mouth but he can tell from the triumphant grin on her face that River was well aware of the attractions of Poosh before he even spoke.

"Shopping" she mused, "What a wonderful idea"

She grabs the silk towel from beside the bathtub and the Doctor turns his back as she covers herself. She reaches out and caresses his neck as she moves past him, "I'll be ready in five minutes" she calls, "Don't forget to sonic your intergalactic credit card- wouldn't want to max it out"

He chuckles and rubs his face, leaning against the wall, knowing he's just been played by a brilliant mind. Oh well, maybe he could convince her to go dancing after they were done shopping.