They'd dropped off their friends and companions, and none too soon. It wasn't that they didn't care deeply for those friends of theirs. They were all precious to them. But their marriage bond had gone far too long without completion.

They'd just dropped Lucille off, back at her home in the mountains of New York, and the Archivist had just spent what, to the Doctor, felt all together too many minutes saying goodbye to the woman. When finally she'd turned back towards the TARDIS, he surged towards the ship, practically dragged her back inside and as soon as the doors were closed, backed her towards one of the coral struts. "How are you handling this so well?" he growled.

She smiled at him, calm and steady, irritating him further. "Perhaps you've forgotten Doctor, but for me, it's been 16 months, almost 13,000 hours, since we made our vow. It took me about an hour to get over the absolute panic that I'd lost you forever. Then at least one more to stop weeping. Then a few more to allow my resolve to grow and realize I had to survive and find a way back to you, even if it meant hiding away and surviving in the city till I could find you back in the time I'd just left you." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued. "And there, as I sat, alone in the alley—my mind, it started to itch. Then my whole body. It was like I was itching, tingling, burning, from the inside out. They don't write about that in Gallifreyan textbooks, do they, Doctor? Haven't read about that feeling in all the literature about Time Lord wedding rituals, hmm? Do you know what I was missing, Doctor? Do you?"

He eased back, suddenly feeling guilty. He knew exactly how she had felt. The same feeling was currently driving him mad. "M-me?"

"Yes, precisely."

"I'm sorry," he said, hanging his head low in shame.

She lifted his chin with one finger, then cupped his cheek in her hand, speaking gently into his mind. I don't want you to be sorry. I just want you to understand. She then spoke aloud again, but still in a hushed quiet tone, "I'm not immune to it. I'm about to crawl out of my skin, Doctor. I lived with that underlying feeling of—lacking, of missing something, of being incomplete—for over a year. Having you back by my side, your hand in mine, and now—this." She held up their hands, showing their ribbon-wrapped wrists. "I'm not handling it well, I've just learned how to fake it." She held out her other hand so he could see how much it trembled. He took it in his free hand and held it up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. She smiled for a moment, then as he lowered their hands, her face grew serious again and he saw emotion swirling in her eyes. She was letting the control she'd built up over the past 16 months slip.

"Alone we are weak." She stated, repeating words similar to those of their wedding vows.

"Together, we are strong." He spoke the other half of the vow.

She moved away from the outer doorway and across the control room, leading him to the inner doorway towards the hallway and depths of the TARDIS. Not too far away would be the bedroom the TARDISes had worked together to prepare for their newly bonded Time Lord pair. He followed closely.

When the Doctor slowly blinked his eyes open several hours later, he looked up at the ceiling above him and smiled. His mind was calm, and he no longer felt like he might vibrate out of his own skin. He'd been so on edge he almost took it out on his own wife, the one person who could calm him. He turned his head to the side and first saw his own wrist, still attached by the ribbon to hers. They'd twisted the ribbons more loose so that their wrists could lay flat against the pillows between them as they both lay flat on their backs in the bed. It was the most comfortable position they could find while still connected by the ribbon, neither quite yet willing to cut them as they drifted off to sleep. He pushed his own wrist against the pillow, moving it out of the way to give him a better view of her. She looked so peaceful—not a surprise since the final puzzle piece of their bond had been put into place. As he watched her sleep, he considered the past several days, and even went as far back as their childhood, stretching himself to think about memories he'd hidden away for so long. He'd done his best to forget about Gallifrey and now he regretted it. He'd allowed himself to forget one of his most precious friends.

He'd walk through the darkest pits of Hades for this woman. Another smile crossed his face as he considered what he'd promised to do—to honor, respect, protect, and love her—for the rest of his lives.

He grinned again before testing their bond, 'poking' a bit at the edge of her sleeping presence in his mind.

He only barely caught the change in her breathing before he heard her drowsy voice in his head, having picked up on his thoughts.

The 'rest of your lives' isn't going to be very long if you wake me up poking around at me in your brain, Doctor.

Are you threatening your husband? He grinned.

I'm threatening the man whose poking about when I'm trying to sleep. If that foolish man happens to be my husband, so be it.

Aw, you wouldn't hurt me, would you?

She slowly opened her eyes, and saw a playful challenging glare in the blue depths. I don't do mornings. You knew that before you married me.

Technically, it's not morning, it's—

Don't push it, Doc. I really don't want to have to hurt you.

He smiled again. He could 'hear' the playfulness in her mental voice. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her wrist, just below the ribbon.

It sent a chill through her and he grinned again, before looking solemnly down at the deep blue and purple ribbons criss crossing around their wrists.. He whispered into her mind. I think it's safe now, don't you? We can cut the ribbon.

I suppose so, yes. She let out an audible sigh and turned her head away from him, reaching her free hand out from under the thick duvet that covered them and sliding open the side table, pulling out a silver handled ornate knife. The flickering light of the candle on the table reflected against the surface of the blade.

"Be careful with that," he whispered aloud. "It's sharp."

"It's meant to be, isn't it? Otherwise it couldn't cut through six layers of ribbon. She carefully moved the blade between their wrists and he covered her hand with his.

"Ready?

She gave a small nod and they both closed their eyes, taking a brief moment and inhaling.

We are one. With one quick, slight motion of their hands, the blade sliced through the layers of ribbon, breaking them free of the fabric that had tethered them together for several hours.

She let out another audible sigh. But he detected a note of sadness more than relief.

He opened his eyes and saw her, still laying flat on her back and now staring at the cut ribbon. "What's wrong?"

"I'll sort of miss it. Miss what it represents."

"It represents what is now complete between us, Telana," he whispered, and her eyes were drawn to his at his use of her personal name.

"I just mean—I don't know, it's silly—," she said before rolling away from him, taking the ribbon with her in her hand. The duvet fell away from her shoulder, and he saw the simple cream-colored tank top she'd been wearing under the button-up top she'd been wearing in 1929. Being tied to your mate made things a little more complicated when it came to disrobing. He wondered for a brief nanosecond how ancient, much less the more modern Galifreyans had handled that. But his mind quickly went back to his concerned wife.

"If it bothers you it isn't silly," he said, rolling to his side and scooting up behind her. He placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Would it make you feel better if I held your hand and didn't let go for a few more hours?"

She sighed. "You don't need to do that. Besides." She started to squirm. I can finally go to the bathroom, and get out of the last of these blasted 1929 clothes. She sat up, holding the cut ribbons carefully in her cupped hands and laying them reverently on the bedside table. "We'll have to decide what to do with them. I don't want to just discard them. They mean too much." Then, she was up and off to the bathroom before he could ask any more questions.

When she came back out, the Doctor was standing there, in boxers, arms crossed over his chest. "My turn. Don't go far. I'll be right back."

When he came back out, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the ribbons. She'd changed clothes and was wearing leggings and a loose tunic. He could tell she felt so much more comfortable back in her own clothes, but she was still concerned about those ribbons. He sat down beside her and took her hand in his own, interlacing their fingers. "Archie, please talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking."

"When I last lost those ribbons, I lost you—for over a year. I guess that connection is just still so fresh."

"Oh, Arch," he whispered, his heart breaking for her. He pulled her towards him and holding her close. "You put up such a brave, strong front, I didn't realize it had affected you so deeply."

"It felt like I'd only just found you again. I mean, compared to the hundreds of years apart, the time we've had together since we met when I was Christine, it's been short. And it was the most bizarre thing, seeing the City a half century prior to when I had lived there. It still reminded me of Greg and the kids, even in 1929 I could find places we had been. Then I was missing them and you. It got so overwhelming sometimes."

As she confessed the feelings she had experienced over the past year, he held her, stroking her back and placing light kisses on her hairline.

After a few moments of quiet, he finally spoke again. "I know we'd planned a few adventures for our honeymoon, but how about we just stay in the Vortex and spend some time together on the TARDISes? We could watch movies, take a swim in the pool, explore the Gallifrey Library, we've got all the rooms on two TARDISes to explore, plenty to do for as long as we need."

"Thank you, Theta. For being so understanding. I don't want to slow you down though, we can still go on those adventures—"

"Slow me down?"

"I just mean, I know you like to keep moving, keep exploring and adventuring…"

"It's not an either-or thing, Arch. It's a now and later. Now, we take it easy and spend time together. Later, we explore and adventure. Besides, I think it could be quite the adventure exploring the TARDISes. It's been ages since I had a good walk through to see what the Old Girl has been up to lately. She loves expanding and coming up with rooms. And we've been so busy, I know you haven't gotten to spend nearly as much time with Libby as you'd like since you opened that fob watch and became a Time Lord again."

He could see she was withholding the excitement she clearly felt at the idea. She held his hands even tighter and a small smile came across her face as she bounced up off the bed, pulling him up with her. "I haven't had a chance to show you the garden, yet."

"Garden?"

"Libby's garden."

"That sounds brilliant. Why don't you head on over to Libby. I need to land the TARDIS for one quick stop then we'll head back into the Vortex, okay?"

She frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is brilliant, wife of mine," he said with a grin. "Just a quick stop, I promise."

"Okay," she said cautiously, then smiled.

"No peeking, okay? And no checking Libby's location readings. This is a little surprise I've come up with."

"A surprise?"

"Mm-hmm, okay?"

She couldn't help but return his infectious smile. "Okay. I'll see you in Libby's control room…husband of mine."