A/N Thanks for all your lovely reviews guys! Carrying on from the last, the historical events in this chapter are mostly true!

Doctor Who, the TARDIS, Amelia Pond and Rory Williams all belong to the BBC

Amy turned herself to see this professor and his apparently marvelous wife. She stood in the arched entry; dark hair curled and tucked neatly, eyes sparkling even through her mask.

The man next to her wasn't wearing a mask. He was older and slightly chubby, with an unflattering moustache. But there was no mistaking him.

It was Rory.

Everything slowed. Her surroundings dimmed. The air was stuck in her lungs. She stared at his face, so changed, but with the same eyes. How many times had she thought about those eyes since he had walked away from her?

She was suddenly horrified that he might see her, and quickly turned back to her plate.

She looked to her right, to her Doctor. He was just in the act of turning to see the new guests himself, but caught her eye and frowned. His lips formed her name. His hand was at her cheek, and she realized her mouth was open. She closed it and blinked. The world seemed to refocus.

"Amy what's wrong?" His forehead was creased with worry and confusion.

"Nothing." She swallowed and smiled, but she couldn't seem to make the smile reach her eyes. His hand dropped and he looked around.

She could see on his face the moment he saw Professor Ronald Ross, the moment he recognized his old companion. Her husband.

His expression turned to stone.

He seemed to process the new information, before gathering his resolve and turning back to her.

"It's OK, do you hear me? We're fine." He glanced back towards the entrance, and she saw a frown flicker briefly between his eyebrows. Are we fine?

Yes…

She took a deep breath and rallied her nerve.

Yes, we're fine.

Professor and Mrs Ross were by that time climbing onto the gondola, greeting other guests, taking glasses of champagne. Any minute now…

She could not tear her eyes from his face, but she could sense her Doctor in the seat next to her, poised like a jungle cat. Fight or flight.

Rory saw her. His gaze glided past as he scanned the table, then his expression of light joviality faded from his face. He turned back to his wife, briefly clasped her hand, and then began moving towards where Amy sat.

She felt the Doctor rise from his seat. She was about to reach out and stop him, thinking he was going to prevent Rory from coming over, but before she could he had slid behind her and further down the table to sit next to Sir Thomas Dewar. She felt as though her last defense had been stripped from her. She would have to face this man. Face what she had done to him.

"Hello Amy." His voice was deeper and slightly gravelly.

He sat down in the Doctor's vacated chair. She couldn't help admiring him for holding her gaze. She found herself studying his face. How old was he? 45? 50? His hair was not greying but it had an unnaturally dark tint to it that looked slightly chemical.

"Hi Rory." She didn't know what to do with her hands. She tucked a ginger curl behind her ear. "Or should I say Professor?" She tried to smile at him, but he remained serious.

"I'm the professor of tropical medicine at Liverpool University College." He informed her tonelessly.

"And the discoverer of malaria I hear."

"I simply proved that malaria is spread by mosquitos." He corrected dismissively.

Amy swallowed before steeling herself to ask what she really wanted to know.

"You got married?" She glanced over at the dark haired woman he had come in with.

"Yes, sixteen years ago." She looked back at his blank face. "We have four children."

She let out a little choking noise and managed to pass it off as laughter.

"Well you got what you wanted then. A family and a career-"

"He left me in 1875."

Amy stared at him, all pretenses gone.

"I-I'm sure he didn't mean to, the TARDIS must have-"

"I waited for you to come back, I thought surely you would realize…" For the first time some emotion crossed his face, his eyebrows collapsing slightly before he reigned himself in again. "But I soon faced reality. I made a life for myself, I studied medicine in London, I joined the Indian Medical Service. I fell in love."

He looked over at his wife and his expression softened. Seeing this caused a flurry of confusion in Amy's chest.

"It's not the same as... as us. Victorian life is very traditional. But she's faithful and honest." This pronouncement tipped her pain into anger.

"Well at least now you have the subservient housewife you always wanted." She hissed.

He gave her a look that made her see how much he had aged.

"Amy, I'm past all this. I'm 55. It's been 30 years since I walked out of the TARDIS." She realized he had spent more of his life without her than with her.

"So you're happy are you?"

"In a way." He stared down at his empty glass, spinning the stem between his fingers.

"I wouldn't have chosen this for myself but the choice wasn't mine to make."

It was at this point that Kessler interrupted their conversation to congratulate Rory on his Nobel Prize.

Amy lent back in her chair and let out her breath. She noticed that the professor's wife, Rosa, was sat next to the Doctor, who kept glancing over at her distractedly. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

The courses were brought out and sailed over to them one by one. Amy could only sample each dish, partly due to her corset seriously restricting her food intake, and partly because of Rory's presence at her side. After the seemingly never-ending stream of food, Enrico Caruso stood up from his seat at the table and sang a series of heart melting melodies. Amy tried to lose herself in the music.

Their dinner reached it's climax when a five foot birthday cake was brought out on the back of a baby elephant.

"My dearest friends and respected colleagues." Kessler boomed, raising his glass. "What a splendid evening this has been. And it need not end here! Let us proceed to the Ballroom."

The guests started singing For He's A Jolly Good Fellow as the gondola was steered to the edge of the courtyard, allowing them to dismount. When it came her turn to climb ashore, Rory held out his hand, and she felt she had no choice but to take it. He gave her a look that was full of meaning, before moving away with everyone to the ballroom, leaving her at the waters edge.

She felt dazed, and then sensed someone behind her.

"Amy."

He took her hand in his, and led her after the crowd. She followed him wordlessly, and they spent the evening in each other's arms, swaying to the music played by a full orchestra. She tried to stop herself from looking over at the professor and his wife, tried to concentrate on the safety that was the Doctor's arms around her waist.

"Come on" He whispered in her ear after what felt like an eternity. He took her hand and led her away from the brightly lit room, to the dark staircase that would take them up to their bed.

As they reached the foot of them, Amy found herself wriggling her hand out of his. He turned towards her expectantly, his worried eyes shining in the dark.

"I think I need some fresh air."

He nodded.

Back in the courtyard, she stood on the steps and watched the lights reflected in the calm surface of the water. The staff were clearing away the chairs from the gondola. This should have been a wonderful evening.

"Amy?"

She looked around to see Rory stood quietly next to her, looking out over the scene before them. Trepidation and guilt filled her stomach.

"I apologize for interrupting your reflections." He even sounds Victorian. "But I need to make the situation perfectly clear to you." He turned to her, his eyes probing her face.

"I had no choice, but you still do. You can ask him to take you back to where you left me, in 1875. You can rewrite this. We can still be together. I can be your Rory again. Or," He paused, eyes watching her, "you can leave me. Again. With him."

She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. She must not cry.

She formed an answer in her head, and turned to him.

But he was gone.

A/N Will Amy make her final choice? Will the Doctor be left again? Or will he travel with his true love happily ever after? Find out soon!

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