A/N: I want to start off by saying a HUGE thank you to Belle France for your exceptionally kind review last chapter. I have no words to tell you how much I appreciate it. Also, yes, 'worried sick Doctor' will definitely be making another appearance lol. It won't be anytime soon, since I'm trying to steer us back into happier territory (because I want to give poor Anna a break from the really heavy stuff for half a minute (though that's nothing to say about angst lite, if you will)). Although, I have been known to divert from my 'plan', so *sigh* we'll see.

Also, thanks to Son of Whitebeard for the review on Chapter 19, as I forgot to mention you last chapter. My bad.

Just a quick note: This next section leading up to the end of this story will be heavy on the episodes. I'll do as I have been doing and steer clear of quoting episodes completely, so hopefully you guys still enjoy.

That being said: As it stands, there's about nineteen chapters left. Knowing me and how bad I've been at keeping up with what I've planned for this story, that could easily turn into more or less, but that's where I'm at right now. This will be a multi-story saga featuring Anna and the NuWho Doctors (which sounds like a great band name, btw?), so I'll keep you posted on future stories (Believe me I've some FUN ideas... As well as sad ones, but let's focus on the happy. Ah I'm so excited!)

Anyway, onto the chapter!

I still don't own Doctor Who.

Chapter Twenty One: 42

"A distress signal, you said?"

She only asked because there was a voice blaring over the loudspeaker announcing that there was an automated distress signal transmitting, and she was feeling particularly cheeky at the moment. His flying had been less than ideal when he'd locked onto it, and some part of her knew that she could do a better job, even if she'd never outright tell him.

There weren't many things he took actual pride in. Being able to fly the Tardis better than anybody else was one of them (and it actually made how much he disliked River in the beginning (in the television show anyway) make sense. At least, partially, anyway. In the show, River'd also made a comment about how he'd been busy the day she'd learned to fly the Tardis, and while most people wouldn't have caught on to what he thought she was implying, Anna did. Because, in the show, he'd been the last. When River had made that comment, there hadn't been anybody else to teach her how to fly the Tardis. So, either River was implying that there were other time lords out there, or she was throwing the fact that he was the last back in his face with a joke. Either way, he was running from his future, because it either meant there were other time lords out there and he'd have to face what he'd done, or he would one day be married to a woman who would willingly make a flippant joke about him being the last of his species (which begged the question of what else she was willing to do). It all made sense, really).

Anna also didn't make a comment about his flying because of how he was feeling lately. It was weird to describe it, but ever since what she'd fondly dubbed as "The Texas Experience", he'd been a lot softer. It wasn't more gentle, it wasn't kinder. It was like he'd accepted that she was there in his life and she wasn't disappearing anytime soon.

The reminder of the painful loss he would suffer was still in the back of her mind, even if she pushed it as far away from herself as she could. From what she could feel, that was still ages away. There was no use dwelling in the years to come when they had the wonderful, beautiful now to focus on.

Right now, they appeared to be in some kind of ship, and by goodness, it was hot in here.

"What do you think?" she asked, fanning herself. "Engines failing?"

"Why'd you say that?"

She shrugged, looking around. "Because the A/C appears to have given out. Engines need to cool down, so if the cooling has failed this badly, the engines aren't far behind."

"Or," he pointed out, examining the equipment. "Maybe they don't have thermodynamic shielding and the heat of wherever we are is seeping into the ship itself."

She raised her eyebrows. "Bet a tenner?"

"Against you?" he asked, before he snorted. "Knowing my luck you're only saying that because you've got a feeling it's the engines and you're just saying it's the A/C to sound impressive. So, no, Anna, I won't be betting a tenner."

"Fifteen quid."

"I'm not making a bet with you," he told her.

She moved to the door at the far end. "Well, if you can't stand the heat." She put on a wide smile and he smirked, leaning against the doorway.

"I see what you did there."

"I know, clever, right?"

"Meh," he said. "Punny, maybe. I don't know I'd go so far as to say clever, though."

He opened the door.

"You are entirely too rude," she told him, as they walked out.

"Well, if you can't stand the heat," he parroted back to her.

She stuck her tongue out at him and he just looked down at her amused.

"Oi, you two!"

Their heads both snapped over to see the three people running over to them. She frowned, trying to remember how she knew them. It quickly came to her.

Her back to basics package had included lines and names of television show characters. Now that she was back up to full power, she recognized them on sight. It was Riley, McDonnell and Scannell.

"Oh, okay," she said, almost dancing in place, she was that pleased. She raised her eyebrows, biting her bottom lip before she smiled, looking at the Doctor. "Good day."

The Doctor, in the meanwhile, looked at her like she were insane, even if his eyes flicked down distracted to her bottom lip all the while.

#####

"Blimey, do you always leave things in such a mess?"

They were currently looking at the thoroughly wrecked engineering, wires coming out of ports and pieces of metal literally ripped off. It looked a bit like a toddler had found a bunch of cooked spaghetti and stuffed it into the cabinets. Except it was so much worse than that.

The ship was in pain.

She could feel it, down to her bones. The ship was in pain, in agony, and it wanted them to suffer for it.

Oh, no, hang about. That wasn't the ship. That was the sun. She'd grown so used to feeling the Tardis that she'd forgotten for a moment that not all ships were alive.

She smiled at the realization that she could feel the sun… before she realized that she could feel the sun being in pain, and she wiped the smile off of her face. The sun was in pain. That was nothing to smile about. Even if it was cool that she could feel it.

"Hm," she said, quietly, in thought, but the Doctor paid her little mind as the action happened.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on feeling the sun, tried to see if maybe she could do something, communicate with it or something. This was a pretty easy one to resolve, and the only thing that she wouldn't be able to do was save Korwin, but she could easily throw him in the alternate dimension that she'd set up. She wanted to see if she could talk to the sun, reassure it that this would be over soon, that it would get it's heart back and all would be well.

It was just anger. Anger and confusion and hurt and anger. She wouldn't be able to talk to the sun, not even to reassure it. It hadn't even noticed that she was feeling it out, and to be honest, who wanted to hold a conversation when the equivalent of a limb had been torn away?

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion?" the Doctor asked. "Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

Oop, that's my cue.

"We're due to upgrade next docking. Scannell, engine-"

"You lying liar."

McConnell looked at her like she were insane, though the Doctor glanced over at her curiously, glancing between the two of them. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, you should be, but that's not my next point, my next point is that you are lying, because you're not due for an upgrade next docking."

"I have no idea-"

"No, I mean, I get it," she reassured her. "You're trying to make an honest living and people bump up the price of things and force you to upgrade for 'safety'-"

"What are you even-"

"-or because some parts manufacturer bribed the local star systems government to make their part the standard and it's all just one big inconvenience. So, no, I don't think you're a bad person. I do think that you've- oh shit."

It hadn't hit her, until then. The only reason this whole catastrophe had even occurred was because they hadn't upgraded one part. Four people would've died because of it.

Now, McDonnell would lose her husband, and all for the equivalent of not upgrading her vehicle from diesel to electric.

She opened and closed her mouth as she stared at McDonnell, genuinely speechless. McDonnell, on the other hand, was still looking at her like she were insane.

"I have no idea what you're on about, and the fact that you're calling me a liar, on my own ship-"

"Usually, she isn't wrong, Anna, what's them not upgrading from fusion scoops have to do with what's happening now?"

She raised her eyebrows, looking at McDonnell. She couldn't save Korwin. He and McDonnell would've had a child that was never supposed to be born, creating ripples in the universe that would've been insurmountable, even for her.

She finally managed to speak. "You're not a bad person," she said, quietly, fully believing it. Yes, her and her husband hadn't scanned for life, but they hadn't intentionally set out to hurt the sun. She and her husband hadn't intentionally set out to hurt anybody. "So it's unfair that this bad thing is about to happen."

That did it. McDonnell was now on the defensive, her hackles rising. "What are you talking about? Are you threatening me?"

But, Anna didn't care. She simply shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm telling you that I'm sorry. I'll do all that I can to save the people that I can, but I can't save everyone." She shook her head again. "I'm so sorry."

She grabbed the Doctor's hand and took off running with him, running to the front of the ship and passing through walls to do it, the Doctor not even objecting all the while.

Here was the conundrum. She could save Korwin by throwing him into that alternate dimension. Then what? McDonnell was the love of his life, so much so that she threw herself out of the ship for the small chance that, in the afterlife, she would see him again.

If Anna simply threw him into the alternate dimension, Korwin would be alive, but he would be forced to live the rest of his life without the love of his life.

Maybe she could reunite them, after McDonnell had lived her life. She could turn back the clock so that McDonnell was the same age that she had been when he'd last seen her.

But wouldn't that be cruel, too? McDonnell would live and although she would be miserable, she would find some small semblance of happiness with another man and his child. What would Anna be doing, then? She'd find happiness only to have old wounds be reopened by being separated once more from someone she loved and this time, it would be a child she'd grown to call her own.

What was Anna supposed to do here? Just let Korwin die because living life without the love of his life was crueler than if she had just let him die?

Didn't that mean that she was basically saying that life was only worth something because he was in love with someone else? Did that mean he was only worth something because he'd fallen in love and started a life with the woman he'd thought he'd be spending the rest of it with?

An idea shot through her so fiercely that she actually jerked her and the Doctor both to a halt, staring at the still sealed bulkhead door. "I'm a-" she started, before she whooped for joy, jumping up and down. "I'm a bloody moron!" she shouted.

"You're really not," he said, though he was happily confused by the display.

She didn't care. She quickly ran over to him and kissed him, long and hard.

Because why the fuck couldn't she just transport McDonnell to the alternate dimension?

She was meant to bloody die in the show anyway, so why the hell couldn't she just teleport her to the alternate dimension where she could be happy with the love of her life?

The other man and his child would be fine without her, since they had been originally anyway.

It meant that her and Korwin could be together and they could share their lives and it would be a happy ending for everybody.

She didn't even bother heading to the front of the ship, quickly pulling away from the Doctor before she threw the fuel particles back into the sun. She ran to a window, quickly pulling the Doctor along with her, and smiled at the trail leading from the ship to the sun.

It was like a thousand fireflies dancing across the backdrop of the stars. She felt herself tearing up when she felt the relief from the sun, a wonderful, huge thing that she couldn't ignore.

Thank goodness, it was saying, and if it could've been sobbing from the relief of it, it would've.

She felt the wonderment flowing from the Doctor as well.

"What is that?" he asked.

Without turning around, she grabbed his hands so that she could wrap his arms around her waist. He let her, still staring at the sun particles, amazed.

"That, Doctor," she said. "Is a good fucking day."

She finally turned around, reaching up and kissing him once more.

#####

It wasn't long before Korwin did 'pass on'. She gave a brief explanation to McDonnell that she'd saved him by bringing him to a place where the sun particles couldn't affect him (which was total bullshit but she wasn't sure she wanted to explain it any other way) before she told her that she could bring her to the same place, so that they could live their happily ever after. Whether or not they had kids, it wouldn't matter in the alternate universe because it wouldn't affect this universe.

The only thing that mattered was that they would happy.

She watched as McDonnell and Korwin walked off into the sunset, some part of her knowing without a shadow of a doubt that they'd live very long and happy lives, never knowing the pain of living without the other.

Her heart swelled with a bittersweet joy at the thought.

#####

"So, what just happened?"

She laughed. They were back in the Tardis and she dove into a quick explanation of it.

"Basically, the sun was alive. They scooped fuel from it and it was angry about that, rightfully so. I knew I could save everybody except for Korwin, but then I thought, well, even if I do throw him into the alternate dimension, he won't be with the love of his life, and then it's all, is there more to life than love, blah, blah, blah, but, I figured out that, because McDonnell was going to die anyway, I could also throw her into the alternate dimension and they could be happy together-"

"Nope, no, hold on, back up," the Doctor said, though he couldn't quite conceal the happiness at the fact that she was practically vibrating with the emotion. "What do you mean, throw Korwin into the alternate dimension? What's that mean? What alternate dimension?"

"You know, the dimension I created so people who are supposed to die can continue to live? I've told you about this, haven't I?" she frowned, looking down at the grating. "Have I?"

"No, no, no, hang on. Hang on. Let me get this straight. You… instead of just letting people die who are, according to the universe, supposed to die, you found a way to let them live out the rest of their lives without consequences to the universe at large by creating an alternate dimension where they could live?"

The sheer volume and ferocity of his emotions made her raise her eyebrows as she looked up at him. He'd started for her, even before she'd had a chance to speak.

"Well, yeah," she said. "Thought-"

She didn't get a chance to finish that sentence before he was on her, once again kissing the living hell out of her.

She made a noise of surprise, but before she was even able to respond, he quickly pulled away. Flustered, she looked up into his eyes.

They held a whole universe of emotion as he spoke.

"Marry me."

It was for about two seconds that she didn't understand the words coming out of his mouth. When she did, a thrill ran through her, even as her eyebrows shot up on her forehead.

Had he really just...

"What?"

Not deterred, he released her before he grabbed her hands, kneeling down in front of her.

"Anna Monroe, despite the fact that you could be gallivanting across the universe and causing total chaos with your many powers, you don't. You choose to be this, a woman who cares so much about the universe and the people in it that you created a whole alternate dimension so that people who were supposed to die won't, and instead, get a second chance at life and happiness and love.

"I love you, more than the stars themselves. By asking you this, I am promising you that you are the love of my lives and that will be true for the rest of my lives. Anna Monroe, will you marry me?"

Ecstatic joy flowed through. "Yes!" she exclaimed, tears of joy resting in her eyes. "Of course, absolutely, yes!"

He let out a shout of delight before he hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around in a circle before he set her back down, immediately diving in for a kiss.

It wasn't long after that that she felt him leaning down so that he was grasping her legs before he hoisted her up. She helped him by wrapping her legs around him. He carried her then, down the hallways of the Tardis.

It wasn't long before they reached his room, and there was a moment when he was getting the door open that she thought about what had happened. She'd spared the sun a little pain and saved the lives of the crew members on board. She'd reunited two souls who were supposed to die but instead would get to live out the rest of their days with the person that they loved.

And The Doctor, the love of her life, had proposed and she'd said yes.

As he opened the door, she realized that it was more than the happiest moment of her life. It was the beginning of a new chapter in her life. More than that, it was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. A grand new adventure for the two of them to share, side by side, happy and in love.

She had so much happiness that she was overflowing with it. It was only increased when she and the Doctor spent the next however long allowing themselves to get so deeply lost in the other, it was hard to tell where one person started and the other one ended.

Because of this, the connection did what it hadn't done; it shared something that the Doctor was gladly willing to give to her, the woman who had changed everything for him.

After all these years, Anna Monroe found out the Doctor's name.

A/N: Well, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Things are going to move quickly from here, in terms of story!

As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!