Amy and Rory were huddled in a corner of the exhibition room while River worked silently on the Doctor's vortex manipulator. Daemon stood quietly near the Pandorica, not moving and barely even blinking. Amy watched the Time Lady and she shook her head.

"I don't get it." She finally confided in Rory. Her fiance nodded.

"Yeah, me neither." He admitted. "I mean, how can Terry - or what did the Doctor and River call her? Daemon? - be linked to the Doctor and Tardis? And somehow, Terry will be okay when the Doctor causes the Tardis to explode but Daemon will die? If they're the same body, how does that work?"

Amy gave Rory a bland look. "No, stupid, that's not what I meant."

Rory glanced at her questioningly and Amy elaborated.

"If she knew the Doctor was planning to fly into the explosion, if she knew he was going down a path that would kill her, why did she let the Doctor go on ahead? Why didn't she stop him?"

Rory shrugged helplessly. "Maybe she can't? I mean, it is the fate of the whole universe at stake."

"No." Amy shook her head in disagreement and she looked at Rory. "I don't think that's it. I don't think she's like Terry at all, and she's not like you."

Amy looked back at Daemon shrewdly.

"See, if it were you and it was the fate of the universe, you'd do it. You'd sacrifice yourself for everyone else. But I'm not like that. If I knew someone was trying to kill me, I'd do everything I could to stop that from ever becoming an option. Even if it meant risking the whole universe."

"So… you're saying you think Daemon's got a plan?" Rory asked. Amy looked back at him archly.

"Wouldn't you if you saw this coming?"

The same thought was going through River's head. She eyed the Time Lady as she worked over the Doctor and as she started to reach the finishing stages, she finally voiced her suspicions.

"What are you really planning?"

Daemon glanced at the blonde and she sniffed. "Listen to you. Playing the hero in a children's fairytale."

Daemon shook her head.

"When in reality, you're just a child soldier trained for only one purpose."

"A purpose that Terry freed me from." River answered. "Now, I'll ask again - what are you really planning, Daemon?"

"You admire her but you do realize you sound exactly like him, right?" Daemon gestured at the Doctor to emphasize her point.

"And you realize your evasion tactics aren't going to work on me, right?" River returned sweetly, the sickly honeyed tones of her voice at great odds with her cold eyes.

"As you said, I was trained as a child soldier who admired you, Daemon. Not my angel. I studied you. The Silence used all the stories of your ruthless methods to indoctrinate me. To make me as unwavering in completing my mission as you are in trying to fulfill yours. No matter who gets in the way or how many lives must be sacrificed… Even if the universe is at stake."

Daemon's expression remained unchanged throughout River's speech, and River's lip curled.

"You don't even deny it. I was right after all - you really are a psychopath."

Finally, a flicker of irritation flashed across Daemon's face, but it was at that moment that the Doctor finally stirred. River's attention was briefly distracted as the Time Lord sat up just a little bit straighter and he glanced around at the almost completed set up.

"Doctor? How are you feeling?" River asked but the Doctor's eyes had moved past her to land on Daemon.

"Daemon." The Doctor greeted.

"Doctor." She answered with only the slightest hint of disdain. River moved away to give them space while the Doctor smiled faintly.

"I'm not your favourite person right now." He guessed.

"You're never my favourite person." Daemon shot back and the Doctor chuckled.

"And you're never mine." The Doctor murmured, staring up into the Time Lady's impassive gold eyes. "But you should be happy, in a way. You're finally getting what you want."

"No."

Daemon shook her head curtly, and the Doctor chuckled.

"Are you that disappointed I'm only being banished instead of dying?"

"I do not wish for your death, Doctor." Daemon replied as she gazed down at him with her ever resentful gold eyes that now betrayed a hint of pain. "Because even if you were to die, it wouldn't bring them back. Nothing ever will. So, no, I am not happy. I never will be after what you did that day on Gallifrey."

The Doctor nodded slowly. "I see… Even so, I am sorry that you'll end up dying because of my decision."

"No, you're not." Daemon answered, her tone now short once again. "You might be doing this partly to save the universe - you really do have a massive hero complex - but really, you're hoping this will free your precious Terry. Your angel."

She did nothing to hide her derision and the Doctor did nothing to protest her words. They were the truth, after all. For a moment, they were silent. Daemon contemplated the Doctor while he simply remained slouched in the seat that would be his grave.

"She's not real. You know that, right?" Daemon finally asked in her usual business-like manner. The Doctor shook his head.

"She's real to us."

The Doctor gestured slightly to indicate himself and his companions nearby, who continued to watch from afar to give them some privacy.

"And to all the lives she's touched. That makes her plenty real."

Daemon just shook her head.

"I suppose it doesn't matter anyway." She commented. "When she fails to survive your little plan, neither of us will be around for me to say, 'I told you so'."

"And when Terry is able to live her life freely, you can be sure I'll be saying it. No matter where I am." The Doctor answered calmly.

Daemon scoffed before she sighed.

"I assume you want to say goodbye to her."

"If you wouldn't mind." The Doctor smiled, but it was laced with pain and sorrow.

Daemon shot him a dry look but at last, she closed her eyes. And when they opened, Terry's blue hues stared back at the Doctor.

"Doctor?" Terry murmured, sounding dazed and rather sleepy.

"Angel." The Doctor murmured.

Terry slowly focused on his face. And the moment that her eyes finally locked onto him clearly, they widened and she inhaled sharply.

"No." Terry said frantically as her eyes darted around the Pandorica and then back to where the Doctor remained watching her sadly.

"You can't go."

"Angel-" The Doctor murmured in a soft breath that was almost a sigh. But Terry shook her head and ploughed over him.

"If you're at the heart of the explosion when it happens, you'll end up on the wrong side when the cracks in time close. You'll be trapped in the never-space, with all memory of you gone from this universe. Forever."

"I know." The Doctor answered calmly. Terry's eyes filled with tears and she shook her head again.

"You can't go." She repeated in a whisper, her throat tight. The Doctor's gaze saddened infinitely and Terry swallowed thickly.

"Doctor, if you go in there… It'll be like you were never even born."

"I know. And you'll be free at last." The Doctor said quietly.

"I don't care about that."

"But I care." The Doctor replied, giving Terry a tiny smile that didn't comfort her in the slightest. "If this works… If it works, you should be able to live without her. Daemon can't live without Time Lords or the Tardis. But you can. You'll finally be able to live free from Daemon's hold on you."

"But without you." Terry whispered.

She blinked hard, trying to keep the tears at bay. The Doctor's finger twitched like he wanted to reach out and touch her face as he usually did… but he couldn't. Not while he was in the Pandorica. And not where he was going. Terry blinked again and took a shuddering breath, trying to steady herself before she reached out to touch the Doctor's face instead.

"I thought Daemon wanted to kill me." Terry confessed, tracing the Doctor's cheek and brushing her fingertips along the edges of the Doctor's too old eyes. "I never realized that it was never about me. That it was going to be a sacrifice between you or the universe."

The Doctor could only give her a small sigh, just as the Pandorica started to shake.

"Terry." River was suddenly there again, Amy and Rory right behind her. The couple looked alarmed while River placed a firm hand on Terry's shoulder as she warned the Time Lords, "It's speeding up!"

Terry didn't move, staying where she was beside the Doctor.

"I'm not letting you go. Not like this." Terry pleaded, and a tear finally trickled down the side of her face. "Don't leave me, Theta."

"Oh, angel." The Doctor murmured. He would have done anything for her if she asked - moved planets, burnt stars, set an entire world aflame. He'd have done it all; anything, but this.

Reaching up with every bit of energy that he had, the Doctor kissed her. Terry bent down closer, kissing him back as the Pandorica started to lock the Doctor down in the chair. It was a kiss filled with desperation as Terry wondered if this was going to be a point when the Doctor's future diverged from the one she had known. She couldn't see his future anymore, any of it - like it had been erased from her mind. Eventually, however, the Doctor had to pull back. Still, Terry couldn't let him go.

"No." Terry whispered, reaching for him.

But the Doctor just gave her one last, beautiful, brave smile, before he called over her shoulder.

"River!"

"No!" Terry cried as River hauled her back suddenly. Terry stumbled back and lost her footing. For a second, she was forced to look away as she regained her balance; and she turned back just in time to see the Pandorica closing.

"Doctor!" Terry cried, eyes wide and terrified. Terrified he was really going to die. Terrified he was leaving forever. Terrified she couldn't stop it.

The Doctor just smiled at her, holding her eyes through the tiny gap left as he disappeared from view. And then the Pandorica locked into place and Terry's hearts wrenched into four pieces as she watched the Pandorica start to lift up into the air before it flew out - headed right for the exploding Tardis. He was leaving; and Terry refused to let this be the end.

Closing her eyes, she whispered… pleaded…

"Daemon. Born of fire, of ash, of last glimmering hope."

There was no answer in her mind, but Terry felt something stir in the darkest corners of her head.

"I know you can hear me. Save him."

"Why should I?" Daemon finally spoke up; it was an odd feeling for Terry, hearing her own voice talk back to her in a tone only slightly lower than her usual one. "He doesn't deserve it. The man calls himself a "doctor" but all he does is fashion terrible weapons out of the most insignificant things; the most insignificant people. How is that someone worth saving?"

"Because he is hope." Terry shot back, even as River's computer beeped. The blonde checked it as Terry continued her internal war.

"You're wrong; you're thinking like the Daleks. You look at him and only see the worst, but the Doctor takes the weakness of others and strengthens them with hope. You were wrong before about the reason he doesn't carry a gun. When the Doctor is in, he doesn't let others shoot a bullet for him even if they would do it – instead, he will find a solution. That's who he really is."

Daemon remained silent, but it was a stubborn silence.

"It's from the Doctor. " River murmured from beside her but Terry barely heard her as she continued her internal war.

"I know why you're really doing this. I know why you blocked my memories when we came here. I know, so help me. Save him."

"What does it say?" Amy asked River, glancing at her computer. River looked up sadly.

"If I save him, there will be a price." Daemon finally responded in Terry's head.

She didn't even hesitate.

"I'll pay it. Whatever it takes. Please… save him."

The moment Terry agreed, Daemon's eyes glowed gold; just as River whispered the Doctor's message for his friends.

"Geronimo."

And then the world was engulfed in bright, white light.

In a beautifully decorated hall in the small town of Leadworth, Amy Williams, nee Pond, looked up from the table just as her father started his father of the bride speech. Something had felt wrong the entire day, which was ridiculous because it should be the happiest day of her life. It was the happiest day of her life. She was finally married to the man she knew she loved more than anything. More than the entire universe.

So why did it feel like something was missing?

A flash of yellow in the corner of her eye made Amy turn her head and toward the large windows lining the side of the hall. She saw a brunette woman walking casually by. The woman's face was obscured by her long dark hair, making it impossible to see who it was. But there was something about the way the woman walked and the bright yellow scarf she wore over a blood red dress that banged at Amy's brain like a fist on a door, begging to be let out. And as Amy watched the stranger disappear around the edge of the last window, the woman's head turned… and there was a flash of gold light.

And just like that, it all came back to her.

Amy stood up abruptly, eyes wide and a smile already starting to form on her face as she heard Terry's voice in her head, speaking from a time long ago, a time that didn't exist anymore… and yet, it did. Because Amy knew her. And she knew him.

"Here's a bedtime story for you, Amelia. Just for you, the girl who waited and waited. Let me tell you a story about something old, something new. Something borrowed… Something blue."

"I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, I remember you, and you are LATE for my wedding!"

Terry walked into the Ponds' back garden to find River already waiting for her. The time-travelling blonde smiled sadly as she met the brunette woman's eyes before she gestured toward the hall.

"Why didn't you just go in? Amy would have loved to have you there."

"Why don't you?" Terry countered. River chuckled before she tilted her head questioningly.

"You're going to meet him, aren't you?" She guessed. Terry nodded.

"He's already on his way." Terry answered, already able to hear the Tardis's engines spinning through space and time to arrive in time for Amy's wedding. For once, it seemed the Doctor was going to be on time. Mostly.

"I should just steal you away with me right now." River mused, reaching out to gently touch Terry's face near her eyes before she dropped her hand. "You're probably safer with me anyway. And we'd have so much more fun."

She winked and Terry laughed.

"Maybe we would. But you know that even if I wanted to, it doesn't work like that."

River hummed but she nodded reluctantly.

"Well, then. I guess this is it for today..."

She started to reach for her vortex manipulator, but she paused as Terry touched her arm.

"Wait," Terry reached into her pocket and extracted something she'd folded in her dress pocket a long time ago. "Here."

She held up an envelope that River took curiously.

"It's got money." Terry explained before River could ask. "For Mels."

River's eyes lit up in understanding and she smiled while Terry instructed with a small smile on her face, "I'll need clothes the next time you meet me – trust me, you'll understand once you get there. Put that in my trouser pocket before you give me the new clothes. And importantly, it has to be the trouser pocket, not my jacket."

River chuckled.

"Oohh, that sounds like it's not good, potentially even dangerous. I'm loving it already." She grinned as Terry laughed. "I'll look forward to seeing you again, angel."

"And I you, Melody Pond." Terry answered.

River smiled and she punched in her next coordinates into her vortex manipulator. Terry smiled back as she watched River start to disappear before she closed her eyes. In a burst of light, Terry allowed Daemon to transport them back onto the Tardis. They arrived just in time to catch the Doctor in the middle of parking the Tardis in the garden outside of the wedding.

"Terry!" The Doctor cried joyfully the moment she was fully materialized, dashing toward her with his arms out wide and a wide smile on his face.

She slapped him, hard, across the face.

The Doctor clutched his cheek and demanded, "What was that for?"

"I don't know, my hand had a mind of its own."

Terry reached forward, grabbed the Doctor by his bowtie and hauled him down to her height so she could kiss him.

The Doctor melted into her touch and he had a goofy grin on his face when Terry finally pulled back from him.

"What was that for?"

"Who knows? Looks like my lips have a mind of their own too." Terry replied too calmly. The Doctor's lips twitched with amusement but it was dampened by the thread of sorrow that wove through his expression as he gazed down at Terry.

"I wanted you to be free." He sighed, reaching out toward Terry's face.

"And I wanted you back." Terry replied simply. The Doctor shook his head.

"You shouldn't have-"

"And neither should you have." Terry answered seriously, staring back at the Doctor sternly. "You should have told me the moment you realized Daemon had purposefully blocked my sight. But you didn't. You thought you had the upper hand on her, you thought you could trick her. You didn't realize Daemon had you tricked."

"You fell for her trick, too." The Doctor pointed out, only for Terry to shake her head.

"No. I knew what she was trying to do, or at least I did once I realized what she had done. I knew from the moment when she gave back control to me, why she'd hidden the vision of this adventure from me. She set it up on purpose, played you, and then gave back control to me right at the end because she knew I'd never let you die. Not if I could save you."

"Even if it meant sacrificing some of you." The Doctor murmured, tracing his finger along the edges of Terry's eyes. Her gold eyes. Terry blinked back at him and the Doctor sighed.

"So, this is why your eyes suddenly became gold somewhere along the line."

"I wasn't going to let you be forgotten and trapped forever." Terry shrugged. "Giving up this… giving some of my control, it was a small price compared to that."

The Doctor clearly disagreed. But instead of wasting time (time he had a renewed appreciation for) arguing, the Doctor slid his hands down from Terry's face.

Grasping her shoulders, he said seriously, "Promise me, angel. Don't try to save me again. I will always find a way back to you - so don't sacrifice yourself to Daemon for my sake."

Terry scoffed. "I'll make that promise if you can promise that you won't ever try to sacrifice yourself for me again."

They stared at each other, caught in an impasse. Neither of them was willing to budge, and each could see that in the other's eyes. Finally, Terry cleared her throat.

"Amy's probably waiting for us. And I think she's waited long enough." She murmured, holding out her hand to the Doctor.

His green eyes softened and he took her hand in his, accepting the agreement to disagree. Smiling, the Doctor bent down so he could nuzzle his nose into Terry's hair affectionately for a brief moment before he breathed out.

"Then let's not keep her waiting."

With that, the Doctor kissed Terry's temple and together, they left the Tardis who hummed contently behind them as the two Time Lords headed back toward their friends.