Accalia was frantic as she piloted the TARDIS through the vortex. There was a yellowed letter practically crushed in her palm, and though it made driving difficult, she refused to let it go. "No. No. No," she kept muttering over and over, refusing to believe the words on the letter in her hand.
The TARDIS landed a bit more roughly than usual, and Accalia threw herself out the door, staring at the empty house in front of her. She pounded on the doors, calling to someone who wasn't there. She eventually picked the lock, and slipped inside. Someone had already begun the process of boxing everything up; somehow, that made everything all the more real to Accalia.
"Oh, Rory…" she whispered, dropping to her knees in the half-empty living room.
"I can't believe I kept forgetting about this!" Jack called to her from another room.
Accalia had stopped in to visit, and Jack had leapt up mid conversation, muttering about some letter he'd been meaning to give her. "I thought of it after you left last time, when you mentioned the Ponds. I knew the name sounded familiar, I just couldn't quite place it," Jack continued from the other room. Accalia could hear the sound of rustling, and the occasional clunk as something was tossed aside. "Ah hah!" came his tell of triumph.
He walked back into the sitting room, and handed her an old, yellowed letter. "I spent about a century wandering around without anything to do. One day I run into this old guy, and he recognized my vortex manipulator. You should have seen my face! He shouldn't have known about that technology, not in that era. Hell, shouldn't even know about it in this era!" Jack chuckled. "Anyway, he asked if I knew you. Had to go through a couple of names before I knew he was talking about you, actually. Anyway, he made me promise to give this to you."
Accalia opened it curiously. Who would have been trying to get her a letter so long ago?
My Dear Fortuna,
So many years since I last saw you, and I finally find the chance to say my last goodbyes. Amy and I are happy and safe, I want you to know that first and foremost. We've made a life here, together, the kind of life we never could have had with the Doctor jumping in and out of our lives. I'm still a nurse; Amy's a writer. We're happy.
Right, by this point you're probably wondering what on Earth I'm talking about. We were on a trip with the Doctor, our last trip, when we ran afoul of a large group of Weeping Angels. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say Amy and I didn't make it out. And that's okay; we have each other.
Don't come back to see me. The Doctor can't even approach New York anymore without causing a paradox; we fear it's the same for you. I'm nearing the end of my life now, I can feel it. And that's okay, it was a good life. I hope you will miss me, but not too much. I have missed you.
Live well; there is darkness in you, darkness from a past you never fully explained, but there is light and love as well. Sometimes you forget it. Be safe; I know you cannot die, but that doesn't mean you should hold onto each injury, or search out dangerous situations. Remember to love; there are so many of us that love you and would see you do well. Remember us, and love us in return. And please look after River—we have not been able to see her, either, and someone needs to make sure she stays out of trouble.
All my love, and Amy's too,
Your Centurion.
"I…I have to go…" Accalia had whispered, then run to the TARDIS, leaving behind a confused and worried Jack.
From there, she had come straight here, hoping against hope that Rory was wrong, or still here, or something. Even if it had been some sort of cruel joke, she would have forgiven him, them.
But he was gone. He and Amy both; they were gone. Gone. Gone!
Accalia choked back a sob, and ran back to the TARDIS. There was still a chance. They might be on the TARDIS, with the Doctor. There was always a chance!
"C'mon girl, find your sister. Can you sense her?" She pounded on the keys of the TARDIS harder than necessary, but the TARDIS didn't object; she could feel the hurt and pain in her Wolf's mind.
"Damn!" Accalia shouted, stalking away from the screen when the TARDIS was unable to locate the Doctor's. "Okay, okay…" she muttered, pacing. There had to be a way. There had to be some way. Martha's phone! She'd seen it in the console back when they had defeated the Daleks before all of this even began. Would he still have it? Would he answer it? Accalia decided that wouldn't matter, so long as he had it: she could trace the signal through the void.
She tore down the halls of the TADIS, trying to remember where she'd thrown her old cell phone. She was pretty sure she'd thrown it at some point in her initial tantrum upon returning to the TARDIS the first time after John's death.
She muttered to herself angrily as she threw things around, searching desperately for the old phone. She yelled in triumph when she found it, then yelled in rage when she realized the screen was cracked, and it wouldn't turn on. 'But that might be the battery…' she thought, refusing to give up hope.
She didn't have the faintest idea where the power cord was, so she opened the back of the phone as she ran to the small room that doubled as both her work shop and a junk room. She had random odds and ends in here, some human, some alien. After some searching, and a lot of cursing, she found a power cube from Shethoria that should be strong enough to charge the phone, but not so strong it would fry the circuits.
"C'mon you piece of shit!" She all but shrieked at the phone as it slowly powered on, letting out a far too cheerful jingle as it brought up the main screen. Her joy that phone still worked despite the damages was cut short by her need to get to the Doctor's TARDIS, now.
She ran back to the console, sending a mental thank you to the TARDIS for rearranging herself so that the two rooms were closer together than they had been before. She wired the phone to the console, setting it up to trace the signal, then pulled up Martha's number.
"Here goes," she muttered, taking a deep breath before hitting the call button. There were a few moments of silence when Accalia didn't dare to even breathe, but soon the ringing that indicated the call was going through started, and she let out a whoop of triumph. She started flying the TARDIS at a speed that was nowhere near safe, following the signal until the scanners picked up the Doctor's TARDIS.
The shields were up, so she couldn't just materialize in side, which made Accalia growl in annoyance. She got as close to the Doctor's TARDIS as she could, then threw open the door to her own.
"Doctor!" She yelled angrily, desperately.
When he didn't respond, she ran back inside for a moment, before returning with a wrench. She threw it, satisfied when it made a loud "clunk!" before falling away.
The door opened a moment later, and the Doctor's bewildered face appeared.
"Wha—"
"Lower your shields!" Accalia yelled at him, before shutting the door and running to the console. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the Doctor to lower his shields. When they did, she immediately dematerialized, then rematerialized in the Doctor's TARDIS.
"Where are they?" She yelled, running out of her red door into the Doctor's familiar TARDIS. She ignored the melancholy hum of the TARDIS' welcome, and stared at the Doctor's face. His eyes were red, and blood shot, as if he'd been crying.
"Rose, I—" the Doctor started; she could hear the heartbreak in his voice, and couldn't bear to let him finish.
"Don't you dare tell me they're gone!" She screamed at him, tears falling down her own face now. "They're not gone. They're not!"
"Rose, I'm so sorry. But they are," the Doctor said softly, stepping towards her.
"No, no, no!" She yelled, stepping back and sliding down the wall to sit on the ground.
The Doctor came to crouch in front of her, and she glared at him weakly. "You should have saved them. Why didn't you save them?" She asked, her voice quieter now.
The Doctor flinched as if she'd struck him. "I tried. You have to believe me, I tried," he begged.
Accalia shook her head, and let it lean back against the wall, her eyes closed. They sat in silence for a long time.
"Rose, I did try to save them, I promise you. I did everything I could…" the Doctor whispered brokenly.
Accalia kept her eyes shut. "I know. God, I know you loved them more than anything," the Doctor muttered something unintelligible, and Accalia ignored him, "and I know you would have done everything you could, I just…" she trailed off, a few tears leaking out from her closed eyes.
"Wish they were here," the Doctor finished with a sigh.
Accalia nodded, and finally opened her eyes. "Does River know?"
The Doctor nodded, his eyes guarded. "She was there, she knows. But Rose, about River—"
"Accalia. My name is Accalia," she interrupted. It was less because she cared, and more because she thought she heard more bad news in his voice. She couldn't take more bad news.
The Doctor saw through her anyway. "River took a manuscript to Amy to help guide her through. And then River left to guide a small private group through a library," the Doctor paused, and Accalia thought she saw his hearts break a little more. "She dies there, Rose. River dies in that library."
"No," Accalia said, shaking her head violently. "No. No. You're lying. No."
"Rose—" The Doctor started, grabbing her knee.
"NO!" She screamed, jerking away from his touch and covering her ears like a small child. "River is not dead. Rory told me to protect her, she is not dead!"
The Doctor flinched, but moved towards her. Accalia tried to scoot away, but the Doctor caught her in a hug, trying to restrain her more than anything. Accalia screamed and tried to fight her way out of his arms, but the Doctor endured her abuse and just held her. Eventually, Accalia gave up, and just cried in his arms, mourning the family she'd only just found.
We are really nearing the end now. Two, maybe three more chapters. Thank you guys so much for all of your support. There have been 168 wonderful reviews, all of which encouraged me to keep writing, and gave me ideas for the story as a whole. 199 Followers; each new person who followed gave me more faith in this story. 90 favorites. 90 of you liked this story enough to add it your favorites list, and I'm honored. And 3 communities. Thank you all so very much!
Things are going to be about healing the Doctor and Rose from here on out. I'll give you a hint: there's one final name change.
Until next time!