August 2008

After stopping to pick up Sabrina, the Williams, no, the Tyler family's time ship landed with a soft thud on an alien planet. Amy launched herself out of the doors before anyone could say a word to her. What had seemed like an adventure of a lifetime just ten minutes ago now felt like the biggest betrayal ever.

They were her family, the only people who had ever acted like they cared about her. Had it all been a lie? She had fallen in love with Rory, was that a lie too? Suddenly her entire world had been tipped sideways and she felt sick.

She ran as fast as she could, not looking or caring where she was going. When she couldn't breathe anymore, she stopped and took in her surroundings. The sky was a light purple and the grass a magnificent shade of blue, the silver leaves on the trees swayed lightly in the gentle, chilly breeze. It was absolutely breathtaking. She was on another planet, just like she had dreamed about since the Doctor had crash landed in her backyard as a child.

She was also lost. Turning in a circle, she could no longer tell which way she came from. Falling to her knees, still wearing her ridiculous Halloween costume, she began to cry. Amelia Pond, once again reduced to that sad child no one really cared about, at least in her own mind.

Rory's voice broke the silence of the forest. "Amy, where are you? Amy? Please, let's just talk." The voice was coming closer. Conflicting emotions ran through her brain. On the one hand, she was glad that she wouldn't be lost on some alien planet in the middle of nowhere.

On the other hand, she in no way, shape or form wanted to talk to any member of her so-called family.

Closing her eyes tightly, she prayed that all of this was some sort of dream. She would wake up and either her dad wouldn't be a version of the Doctor, or that they would have told her the truth from the very beginning. Focusing on keeping her breathing steady, she heard Rory, presumably, entering the clearing.

"Go away," Amy said loudly and with false bravado. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Amy, I broke your trust and you have no idea how sorry I am," Rory said in a soft voice. "You don't have to talk to me. I know you must be… You know, I don't really have any idea what you must be feeling. But I can't just leave you here by yourself, so I'll be over here. Not talking. In case you need me."

There was a shuffling noise and then the sound of someone sitting on the ground several meters away. Amy simply hugged her knees into her chest and focused on remembering how to breathe.

It was a long time later that she actually spoke, still not looking at him. "I lived with that thing in my room for twelve years, twelve years! How could you not know? The Doctor knew, the raggedy Doctor, not Dad." Her words were full of anger and fear.

Rory eased closer. "I scanned your house dozens of times, as did Dad. We couldn't find anything. The crack was gone and something was distorting or hiding or covering up our readings. Honestly, we believed that the Doctor had gotten rid of the threat. We never would have let you stay there if we knew Prisoner Zero was still in your house. Please believe me when I tell you that I'd never want you hurt."

"Too late for that," Amy spat and looked up to see him flinch at the words. Good, she thought, let him know how hurt she was. For a few minutes she let him stew before asking, "What caused the crack in the first place?"

"From what we can tell, Mum did." Again, he dared to move a little closer.

Her anger faded slightly, replaced with disbelief. "How could Mum have caused a crack in the universe?"

"It must have happened when we were brought back from the other universe. Mum and Dad are both fuzzy on the exact details of what happened. But she used the power of the Bad Wolf to do it and trust me, that took a tremendous amount of power to get back here. Bad Wolf started when Mum opened the heart of the TARDIS to save Dad and Uncle Jack. Anyway, in order to travel between two worlds there has to be a hole in the wall between them. Dad and I think that's why the tear happened in Leadworth. Mum cracked the wall. It's also what pulled the Doctor and his TARDIS to your house."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Confusion marred her brow. "Slow down, maybe you should start from the beginning and catch me up. I have a feeling there is a lot that I don't know."

"Yeah, I should and I will tell you everything. I've wanted to tell you for years." And so he started telling the story of his parent's first meeting all the way up until now. Amelia thought the stories were so much better than anything that her imagination could have ever dreamed of.

It took hours, but he told her everything he had held back. Well, mostly everything. It would have taken days to tell her all the stories. Rory told her he'd fill in the gaps as they went. No more secrets, he promised.

"Ok, so I have a few questions," Amy said, linking hands with him after he had finished his story. "Just a couple of things I don't understand."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," he said, gently stroking the back of her hand.

"Is this why you aren't in university? I mean, you have all of time and space. Why would you want to study things like us humans do? Why does Trisha go by Tyler and not Williams? I mean, I know it's your real name, but everyone else goes by Williams." She took a deep breath and asked the one that bothered her most.

"Why did you stay in Leadworth? Once your TARDIS was ready, you could have gone anywhere. Found all those old friends of Mum and Dad's. You could have lived your entire life among the stars. Why didn't you?"

Rory tilted his head to the side, a gesture that his mum did on occasion when thinking. "To answer your first question, I'm not in university because I don't find it challenging. I've spent a lot of time reading and learning about languages, other cultures, all kinds of things really. Dad has taught me physics, mathematics, biology, all sorts of sciences. Plus, I would have to leave you if I went off to study some dead boring subject that I had mastered by the time I was nine."

Blushing, she snuggled into his chest. "Humble I see."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm not as bad as Dad, though. He used to throw his superior intellect and biology in Mum's face all the time. Don't know how she put up with him. Especially when you hear the stories Uncle Jack tells."

"So in a family of doctors you're going to be just Rory?" Amy teased.

"Well, I do have a doctorate from Fillvypa in the 72nd century, in astrophysics. Earned it by correspondence classes when I was eighteen," he said with a smile.

"The Doctor's family is a family of doctors." Amy laughed, scooting ever closer. Yesterday, this entire conversation would've seemed like nothing more than them bouncing ideas off each other for her next book.

"So it would seem." He stroked her hair now, most of his tension having been released. "Trisha goes by Tyler because it's who we really are, and," he sighed, "she's stubborn. Williams is our cover, so that no one could find us when I was a baby, and well, so Mum and Dad's friends wouldn't find us before the time was right.

"Tyler's a great name, our legacy. It's the name of my grandparents, who gave up everything to keep us safe, a name that we use when we travel the stars. I think Tony is planning on changing it back to Tyler, now that the timelines match up. It'd be a bit easier to do that when it's already his wife's name. Move to a new town, work in a new hospital and he can finally be who he really is."

Amy looked up at him, studying his face and feeling what she now knew was a double heartbeat in his chest. "So why Leadworth? Of all the places in the universe to stay, why there?"

"Oh, that one's easy." He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "We stayed in Leadworth because of you."

Suddenly it was hard for her to breathe. "Me?"

"You're special; you needed us and we needed you." His fingers were now playing with the fabric of the ridiculous costume she was still wearing. "You know, this planet is pretty liberal with fashion, but even this," he motioned to her outfit, "would stand out here. Come on."

"We should probably find your parents, too. They must be worried. We've been here for hours." She accepted his hand to help her up.

Giving her a grin, he pulled her back in the direction that she had run from. "They know we're fine. The three of us are telepathic. We can communicate in here." Rory tapped his temple with his free hand.

"You are so weird," Amy said, leaning into him.

"A little bit, yeah. Made it easier when we were kids and we'd disappear for hours on end. Mum and Dad always knew we were alright." They crested a hill and saw a small village with its lights twinkling in the distance. It was beautiful, Amy thought. They walked the rest of the way to the inn where the family was staying. The innkeeper was expecting them and promptly handed over keys to their rooms, their separate rooms.

"This one's yours," Rory said, opening her door. "It looks like Mum packed you a bag. If you need anything, I'm right next door."

"Thank you," Amy said, kissing him softly on the mouth. "It's been a long day and I really need some sleep."

She made to close the door and Rory stopped her. "One last thing." He pulled out a deep red, leather-bound book. "A gift."

Her fingers traced the embossed black, circular patterns on the cover. "What are these?" she asked.

"It's your name, or the best equivalent of your name, in Gallifreyan."

Cracking open the front cover, Amy flipped through a few pages. "It's blank."

"It's a journal," Rory said, pulling out another leather-bound book from his pocket. This one was a dark forest green. "Time travel can get confusing, meeting people out-of-order, sometimes forgetting that the first time you were on a planet was actually six hundred years in its future. Mum started keeping one the first time she traveled with Dad. Now it's kind of a family tradition. And I wanted you to have one, since I'm hoping that you will be doing a lot of traveling with… you know… with the family."

Amy's breath stilled yet again. Rory wanted her to travel with them on a regular basis, seeing the universe. It was everything that she had wanted since the Doctor had crash landed in her back garden twelve years ago. Now she was going to experience it, just not in the way she originally planned. There were no words to express how she felt right now. Unable to form a coherent, thoughtful sentence, she managed to murmur a thank you and plant a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek.

"Well then, sleep well, Amy," Rory said before turning towards the room next door. "Oh, and be sure to read the inscription."

And with that Amy was left alone, in an alien hotel room, on an alien planet. Softly she closed the door behind her. The room was quaint, a single full-sized bed stood against one wall. There was a small sitting area with a sofa and side table next to the door leading to the en-suite bathroom.

Perched on the end of the bed was a small suitcase, well, more of a small overnight bag. Rory had said Mum had packed her a bag, but how even a change of clothes and a toothbrush would fit in here was a mystery to Amy.

Unzipping the bag, she was surprised to find the bag bigger on the inside and filled with a variety of outfit choices, toiletries, pajamas and a brand new pair of red Converse trainers (with a note pinned to them that said 'for running').

After changing into more appropriate sleep attire and brushing her teeth, Amy settled down in the very comfy bed with her brand new journal. She was far too exhausted to fill it out tonight, however she wanted to read the inscription that Rory had alluded to.

There, written in Rory's distinctive handwriting, were the words I love you till the ends of the Universe and back again.

It was the simple truth. He loved her, and even after the events and revelations of today she loved him, unconditionally. It wouldn't be easy to forgive him and the rest of her family for not telling her earlier. But she would, eventually. They were all she had in the world, in the universe, and families forgave each other. Clutching the journal to her chest, Amy fell asleep.

Early the next morning, just as the first rays of sunlight had started to breach the horizon, Amy snuck outside, her brand new trainers squeaking as they met the morning dew on the grass. Finding a quiet spot, a low retaining wall on the far side of the courtyard, she took out her journal and began to write.

She had just about finished when she heard someone approach. Expecting it to be one of the family members, she looked up to say hello. Instead she was met with a pretty, middle-aged woman with incredibly curly, dark blonde hair.

"Hello, Sweetie," the stranger said, sitting next to her on the wall. "Sorry I'm late, got held up with a spot of trouble on Maraxus. So where are we then?" The woman pulled out her own battered journal. It was blue, and looked similar to the TARDIS, the color more closely matching the Doctor's ship.

"Yours looks brand new," the mystery woman said, flipping towards the back of her journal. "Early days for you then?"

Finding her voice, Amy asked, "I'm sorry, do I know you? Or will I know you? Rory said that sometimes we will meet people out-of-order. I'm still a little confused by all of this."

There was a momentary flicker of something Amy could only describe as anguish that flashed across the woman's face. But then it was gone, replaced by a warm smile. "Sorry, yes, we will know each other in your future. I'm Dr. River Song." River held out a hand for Amy to shake.

"Pleasure to meet you, Rory mentioned you last night," Amy said, smiling before murmuring to herself, "The Doctor's family of doctors."

"What?" River asked perplexed.

"Nothing, it's just that there are a lot of doctors around the family. Mum, Dad, Tony, Rory apparently, and now you. It's just funny."

"Never thought about it before," the mysterious River Song said, a sad smile playing in her lips. "So," she said in a more cheerful tone. "Which trip is this for you? Your first?"

"Yeah, first trip. I just found out yesterday about… well, about who they really are." Momentary hurt stung in Amy's chest.

"You've always known who they are. The background details don't really change who a person is on a fundamental level, Amy. They just enhance the people we already care about." River gave her a pat on the arm. "You'll see."

There was something in River's touch that felt new and yet completely familiar at the same time. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were going to know each other better in her future. The connection Amy felt was undeniable.

"Now I think it's time we caught up with everyone for breakfast," River said, pulling Amy to her feet and linking arms. "Can't have them thinking that you've wandered off already. Plenty of time for that later."

"Rule number one, according to Rory. Don't wander off," Amy said, thinking back to their conversation last night.

"More of a guideline since everyone wanders off eventually." River shrugged. "The only thing that you can really count on is that there will be a lot of running. Mostly for your life, and that every single second will be worth it. And even in the bad times, the ones where you wish you had an out, you know deep down that you wouldn't want to go back to someone else's version of a normal life."

For Amy, the adventure hadn't even really begun and yet she already knew that she didn't regret one minute she had spent with her family so far. She may not be here today if they had told her earlier.

In that moment Amelia Pond knew that given the choice she would never ever change one minute of her life so far. Every person that she had met had shaped her into the person that she was and the one that she would become. Every single moment had been important.

Of course she didn't know yet that you should never say never ever.