CHAPTER 29
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THE SONG THAT SAVED THE DAY
"Am I dead?" Amelia asked as she stared at her mother in disbelief.
"Not yet but it certainly wasn't from lack of trying. What were you thinking by charging headfirst into a fight with the Valeyard like that?" River asked in an angry voice.
"Oh, I just love it. The first time I ever talk to you, and you're giving me a lecture! I was trying to protect my grandmother, your mother, from being attacked again. She almost died not too long ago thanks to the Valeyard," Amelia said as she quickly became enraged.
"I know but that's no excuse to be so stupid, Amelia. We shouldn't even be having this meeting. I wasn't expecting to see you for a long time," River said.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Amelia said.
"I'm not disappointed. I've never been disappointed in you. I never could be. I am angry at you though for not listening to your grandmother and trying to throw your life away. I never wanted this for you. I want you to have a long and happy life and to give me some grandchildren," River said the last part with a smile.
"If you wanted me to be happy, then why did you die? Why did you leave me all alone?" Amelia said in anger.
"It wasn't exactly my choice, Amelia. Well it was but it wasn't much of one. Either I let the Doctor die or I die in his place. If the Doctor died you and I wouldn't even exist in the first place so I chose to take his place," River said.
"You should have found another way. You're River Song. I've read all kinds of stories about how you always did the impossible so why couldn't you do it again one more time, huh?" Amelia said in a hurt voice.
"You seem to have me confused with your step-mother. Oh, wait. She isn't married to him yet is she? Spoilers!" River said with a grin.
"Do you think that this is funny?!" Amelia shouted.
"No, I was just making a point and trying to make you laugh all at the same time. Apparently you need to work on building a sense of humor. You're going to need it to get through living the kind of life that the Doctor leads. The point is that I don't do the impossible, and the situation that I was put in was the very definition of impossible. I was the only one there other than the Doctor who could have fixed things, and I wasn't about to let him do it. I would never sacrifice the life that I had that way. It was long and hard and filled with heartache at times, but I wouldn't change any of it for anything. I also never would have sacrificed you. I love you, Amelia. I know that you don't believe that but it's true. Part of the reason that I did what I did was to save you or did you never think of that?" River asked.
Amelia stared at her for a long moment as she tried to weigh the truth of her words. Then she nodded and smiled.
"You do, don't you? You really do. I was never sure. I always thought that maybe since you didn't tell Dad about me that I was an embarrassment to you," Amelia admitted in an emotional voice.
River immediately moved forward and embraced her to Amelia's surprise as she said, "That's never been true! I didn't tell him because I never met him in the right order. I couldn't tell him too early or I might change the future and wind up erasing you by accident. Unfortunately I never did meet the right version of the Doctor again in order to tell him anything. I just had to hope that someday that you would do that yourself and you finally did. You were always smart though so I had every confidence in you that you'd find him if anyone could."
Amelia looked at River in shock as she said, "You know about me? You know about my life?"
"Of course I do. I've been watching over you all of this time, Amelia. You just couldn't see me. No one could but I was still there nonetheless. I saw everything that you ever did. I was always so proud of you despite what you might think," River said with a look of pure parental love in her eyes that she usually would have never allowed anyone to see.
"If I couldn't see you before, then why can I see you now?" Amelia asked.
"It's because you're dying. You're trapped in a dreamlike state where you're starting to hallucinate. It happens sometimes when Time Lords are dying. Their minds start reliving the past as they shut down. You are still technically dreaming though so I took the opportunity to let myself into your dreams since that's an ability of mine in this form. I've tried to get into your dreams before, but you were always too strong-willed for me to get in past your mental defenses," River said smiling at her.
"Strong-willed, eh? Is that your way of saying that I have a thick skull?" Amelia asked with a chuckle.
"You said it not me," River said.
Amelia laughed for a moment and then turned serious as she said, "Am I going to die?"
River placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she said, "No, you're going to regenerate. It's going to be very hard for you both because of the amount of damage that was done to you and because this is your first time. You can do it though. I know you can. You can make it through this, Amelia. Use that hard head of yours to your advantage for once and live!"
"I'll try. I don't want to die. I just didn't want to lose Amy like I lost you," Amelia admitted.
"You won't. She's a survivor, Amelia, just like you are. You'll find that out eventually if you don't get yourself killed first. It's almost time. Get ready," River said.
"Almost time for what?" Amelia asked.
"You're about to regenerate. If you don't die for real first that is. Fight, Amelia. Fight to stay alive," River said encouraging her.
"I will," Amelia said with a determined look on her face as she could feel something happening to her back in the outside world just like River had said.
Then as she began to feel herself pulled back to reality, she asked, "Is this real? How do I know that this is really you and not just a hallucination?"
"You don't. At least you don't know yet anyway. You will soon though if you make it through what's to come because for once I'm going to give away a spoiler about the future. When it comes true, then you'll know that I really was here. Soon, Amelia, your father is going to discover the Divergence's biggest weakness and use it against them, and it isn't jazz music," River said.
"What is it then?" Amelia asked.
"Uh uh. I only said one spoiler," River said grinning
"I'm your daughter though," Amelia said in disbelief.
"I don't play favorites when it comes to protecting the future, sweetie," River said stubbornly.
"Now I see where I get it from," Amelia said as she shook her head.
"It's time," River said with a sad look on her face as Amelia felt herself starting to leave the dream.
"Will I ever see you again?" Amelia said in tears.
"I hope so. Maybe you'll see me in a dream sometime. Oh, and Amelia, I'd focus on a dress size if I were you," River said as she faded away with a reassuring smile on her face.
"No! Please don't go!" Amelia screamed and then she was suddenly back in the real world and covered in golden energy.
"Mum!" Amelia screamed because she was still disoriented for a moment.
Her head quickly cleared though, and Amelia could feel herself beginning to change already as regenerative energy threatened to burst out of her at any moment. She turned to see her family and friends staring at her in shock as she quickly got back on her feet.
"Amelia," Amy said with concern.
Amelia smiled at her as she said in excitement, "I made it, Gran! I made it! I already know what I want to look like in my next body too."
Just as she was about to let go and start to fully regenerate though, she and the others were attacked by the Divergence. The Divergence began firing Vortex energy blasts all over the area and sent everyone but Amelia running for cover.
Amelia smiled as she said, "Oh, no. Not this time, boys. Your boss already killed me once. You don't get a redo. Now it's my turn!"
That was when she let loose with the regenerative energy that had been building up in her body at last as it poured forth from her head and hands. She deliberately aimed it at as many of the Divergence that she could hit as possible even as she felt herself changing. She smiled to herself as she aimed her hands at her enemies like guns and completely obliterated dozens of them at once.
"Beat that, Ace," Amelia said as she laughed.
Then her laughter quickly turned into a scream as her old body faded away and began being replaced by her new one. She had never felt so much pain in her life, and she now knew what her mother meant about fighting to stay alive as she could feel her body threatening to give out at any moment before the process was finished. She held on though until the regeneration was done, and then she smiled as she looked down on herself.
"Oh, I love it! This is exactly what I wanted," Amelia said happily.
Amy looked at the new Amelia in shock while the Doctor looked at her in jealousy. Donna was the first one to speak though.
"Oi! I can really tell that she loves you, Amy. She looks like she'd win first place in an Amy impersonators contest now. She's got the red hair, the long legs, and even the Scottish accent," Donna said laughing.
"She got to be ginger on her first try. Why can I never be ginger?" the Doctor said in a jealous voice.
"Really? Are you going to be worried about that now? My granddaughter who almost died now looks like my little sister and that's what you're focused on? Her hair color?" Amy asked indignantly.
"I can't help it. I really want to be ginger," the Doctor pouted.
"Oh, hush up, Dad. I was thinking of Gran when I changed is why it worked. I wanted to be just like her," Amelia said.
"Hmm. Maybe I should do that next time that I regenerate," the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"Don't you dare, Chin Boy! Amy's not my type," Clara joked.
"Hey!" Amy said as she smiled at her.
"Oi! Did everyone forget about the Divergence? TNT Head killed a lot of them just now, but there are plenty more left. They're all coming this way now," Ace warned.
"Mum said that you discover their weakness soon, Dad, so get discovering," Amelia said to the Doctor.
"What? You saw your mother?" the Doctor asked with an upset look on his face while Clara stiffened next to him.
"Yeah, at least I think I did. She was so cool. I wanted to stay with her," Amelia admitted in a sad voice.
"I'm so glad that you didn't," the Doctor said as he hugged her.
"I wish your mum would have told us what this weakness was. It really would have been helpful," Ace said as she started throwing Nitro-9 at the Divergence who were now rapidly approaching them.
"I tried to ask but all she said was . . ." Amelia said.
"Spoilers. Yeah, that sounds like her alright," Amy said as she finished her sentence with a fond smile on her face.
"Any ideas what this weakness of theirs might be, Doctor?" Clara asked.
"Not yet. Did River give you any other clues?" the Doctor asked Amelia.
"She just said something about it not being jazz music. Does that help?" Amelia asked.
"Not really," Ace said as she continued to throw every explosive that she could the Divergence's way.
The Doctor's eyes widened though as he said, "It's something in the music but not the music itself. It's a specific tone or a certain harmony. That must be it. If I could isolate whatever it is and amplify it . . ."
He began to rapidly play through the jazz music that he had recorded on his sonic screwdriver as he stopped and paused it over and over again at each new note and played around with the settings on it. He was going through the music so fast that none of the others could keep up with what he was listening to. His mind was simply moving too fast for the rest of them to keep up with him.
The Divergence started to scream as he played around with one particular note of the music and he smiled in triumph as he said, "Oh, you don't like that do you? How about if I make it even louder?"
The sonic began playing that particular note so loud that it started to deafen the others as they put their hands to their ears in agony. It did much more than just deafen the Divergence however. It caused them to all start exploding in an enormous burst of energy as they all went off like firecrackers!
"Ordinarily I'd love a nice fireworks display but this is a bit much, Professor!" Ace said with a horrified look on her face.
"I know that you're saving our lives, but this is just gruesome to me, Doctor," Clara said with a frown.
"I don't like it any more than you do, Clara, Dorothy, but it's the only way to stop them from wiping us all out. Now that we know how to stop them, maybe they'll stay away from us from now on. I really hope that we'll never have to use it again," the Doctor said.
"I hope not too. I don't fancy having to watch people blow up even if they are out to kill me," Donna said.
Amelia however couldn't help but smile as she said, "It was her. It was really her. I really got to talk to her."
Amy put her arm around her as she said, "I'm glad, Amelia. I'm so glad. I know how much that was eating you up inside. I told you that she loved you."
"You were right, Gran. I should have listened to you. I should have listened to you about a lot of things. If I had, I'd still have my old body. Then again I never would have met Mum so I guess it worked out after all. It was worth losing a body to get to finally see her," Amelia said.
"So you're going to listen to me from now on and not run off after dangerous madmen again?" Amy asked.
"Definitely. I won't ever do something that stupid again. I've learned my lesson, Gran. From now on, I'll leave all the really stupid stuff to Dad," Amelia said.
"Good. It's what he does best after all," Amy said laughing.
"I can't believe those two are bonding while the Divergence are exploding all around us. It's surreal," Donna said in disbelief.
"You take your special moments while you can when you're traveling with him," Ace said.
"It's not like I'm enjoying this, Donna. Would you rather I not do it and let them kill us instead?" the Doctor said.
"I think that she'd just rather that you find another way to stop them that was a lot less messy and so would I," Clara admitted.
"I will once we're out of danger. I promise," the Doctor said to the worried Clara.
He knew what she and Donna were both thinking. They were afraid that he was already on his way to becoming the Valeyard by doing what he was doing now.
It didn't help any that the Valeyard suddenly chose that moment to emerge and start laughing. He stood in front of the TARDIS now with a triumphant look on his face.
"I wondered when you would finally figure it out, Doctor. How does it feel to kill them all so callously? You like it don't you?" the Valeyard taunted.
To Amelia's horror, Amy marched right up to him and put her finger in his face as she said, "You set this all up on purpose. You knew that this was going to happen didn't you? It's your way of trying to corrupt him and make him into you."
"Oh, Amy, you know me so well. Then again you always did. I often considered this the first day that I started to walk down the path that led to who I am now. You see I actually started to enjoy what I was doing to them because they had hounded me and my family for so long. Tell me that I'm wrong, Doctor," the Valeyard said as he laughed.
The Doctor said nothing as Clara looked at him in disappointment which caused him to look away from her in shame.
"So you see? Even though I didn't kill you or Amelia and accelerate the process. I still win because it's still happening just as it did before. He's still going to someday become me," the Valeyard said as he continued to laugh.
"I finally did it. Watch out," Susan Foreman suddenly said as she finally opened the Heart of the TARDIS at last.
"What?" the Valeyard said in surprise.
Amy and the others nearest to him immediately ran away as the Valeyard was instantly enveloped by the power that came out of the console. He screamed in agony as he started being torn apart by it.
"No! This can't be! This isn't what happened before!" the Valeyard screamed as he completely disintegrated right before everyone's eyes.
"This is . . . This is just too much. There are people dying left and right today in the most gruesome ways," Donna protested in shock.
Susan Foreman looked on in horror for a moment and then she quickly shut the console back up. She stood there shaking as she took in the full enormity of what she had done.
"I didn't know that he was standing there. I didn't mean to do it," Susan said in a horrified voice.
The Doctor immediately went to her and wrapped his arms around her as he said, "I know you didn't. It's okay, Susan. It's okay. You didn't really kill me. He wasn't me. I know he wasn't. He was some kind of temporal anomaly or a me from an alternate reality instead. He must have been. He said himself that that didn't happen before. Just don't worry about it, Susan."
Susan couldn't stop shaking though despite his reassuring words.
"Professor, I think that we're going to need to stay here a while in order to get over what just happened. I know I am anyway. Then I think I'll go back home. I'm starting to remember just why I stopped traveling with you the first time," Ace said.
"I'm sorry, Dorothy," the Doctor said.
"I know," Ace said with a small smile.
"Do you really think that he's safe from being the Valeyard now?" Amelia asked Amy.
"I hope so but the way that he was acting today doesn't exactly make me feel too positive about that. I think that we're going to have to be extra careful to make sure that our Doctor doesn't wind up being the one who gets disintegrated by the TARDIS one day," Amy said.
"You can count on me, Gran. I only just got a dad, and I definitely don't want to lose him anytime soon," Amelia agreed.
"It's so funny," Susan Foreman said to the Doctor as he continued to try to comfort her.
"What is?" the Doctor asked.
"I was told to open the Heart again in a dream or I never would have done it. Now I wish that I hadn't," Susan Foreman said.
"A dream?" the Doctor asked in surprise.
'What's this about a dream?" Amelia asked in shock.
"It was just a weird dream that I had last night where someone kept telling me to open up the Heart again," Susan admitted.
"Who? Who did?" Amelia demanded.
"I don't remember. I just remember that it was a woman's voice and . . . You know come to think of it she sounded a lot like you. The old you I mean. Isn't that weird?" Susan asked.
"Mum. It had to be," Amelia said more to herself than anyone else.
The Doctor smiled grimly as he said, "Why do I get the feeling that if River were here that she'd be smiling at me right now but admitting nothing?"
Meanwhile somewhere inside of CAL, River felt a presence behind her and said, "Well, hello. I was wondering when you'd show up. I take it that you don't approve of what I did."
"I don't approve of your using Susan to kill a version of her grandfather or making the Doctor blow up the Divergence, no. You did just stop them all though so I can't argue with the results. If you could lower the violence down though from now on, I think that the Doctor's friends might appreciate it a bit more though," Rose said as she stood there in full Bad Wolf mode.
"I'll do that. I guess I just couldn't help a mother's instinct to protect her child coming out in me though after what they did to Amelia. The rest of the Divergence will definitely think twice before tangling with her or any of the Doctor's crew again I'm sure," River said with a smile.
"Somehow I don't think that we would have gotten along too well if we had met normally and not just because we both wanted the Doctor. The funny thing is that we both have to give him up now to someone else. I'm glad that she didn't approve of what he did. I hope that Clara keeps him from going that far from now on," Rose said.
"Oh, I'm sure that she will. You don't have to worry about that. She's just as squeamish as you," River said with a smirk.
Rose frowned as she said, "I think that I should go now before I'm tempted to do something that I might regret later."
"You know you wouldn't be so bad if you were just a little more ruthless now and then," River said.
"Yeah, that's just not me. Oh, tell Amelia hello for me," Rose said as she started to fade away.
"What? Am I going to get to see Amelia again? When? How?" River said with a hopeful look on her face.
"Spoilers," Rose said with a grin as she left.
"Now I know how everyone else feels," River said with a frown.
Next: An all new storyline starts as the Doctor and the others return to Gallifrey to check up on Rayna, the Master, and the others. What insidious new menace will they find there and how will it endanger the Time Lords and possibly the entire universe? Plus who will leave the Doctor because of the events of this chapter and who will think about leaving? Can he convince them not to or is it already too late?
