A/N: Just so everybody knows Diana will not just be a romantic interest for the Doctor. She's going to be very important to his story, like she is in the previous chapter. Her life is a mystery and she still has to find out how she came to be in the Doctor's universe, a problem which I will address before the end of the book. Her appearance in the Doctor's universe will change things. I'm also addressing that in part in the next two chapters. (And sorry if this chapter sucks. All the technical/science is a bother to write. Boring for me, but I don't know how you readers feel about that.)

Also, the next three chapters are already planned and partially written. But if you'd like to see a specific Doctor, episode, audio, book after those three, (etc.) then review/comment and let me know! If you want to see Diana with a certain companion or villain, on her own, in Torchwood/The Sarah Jane Adventures, changing lots of things or keeping them much the same, please tell me. It might be my story, but it wouldn't be anywhere without my readers. Thank you all. Your comments really encourage me to keep writing and often give me fantastic ideas.

"Why are you calling for Rory?"

I sniffled and let out another sob. "Please," I begged softly. "Please. I haven't killed anyone. I haven't done anything wrong."

I could hear the Doctor moving against his metal bounds. His fingertips just brushed against my fingers. I looked up and could barely make out his profile through the dark. "Diana, it's going to be alright. I promise."

"That's a lie. Isn't it?"

"Just a bit, yeah." He smiled and slowly moved his fingers against mine. "But I don't want you to cry."

I took a deep, calming breath to settle myself. "Sorry. I've just been roughed up by a bloody Auton, one of my greatest fears, and then stuffed into a box and strapped into it and it's almost completely dark, which is another one of my greatest fears. I'll try not to cry or have a damn breakdown."

"Diana, please. I-I just meant that..." He exhaled heavily and hung his head. "This is all my fault. If you'd never met me, you wouldn't be stuck in here with me and you wouldn't be hurt. You've been hurt because of me and... I don't think I can forgive myself."

I looked over at him, my tears drying on my face. "Doctor... I know-... I know that I just said the opposite, but... Oh God, please tell me that everything's going to be okay."

He strained against his metal bounds, brushing his fingertips against my palm. I curled my fingers in and closed them around his. My eyes flitted shut and my head fell back against the head clamp. "I'm so scared," I said.

"I know. So am I."

"You? Y-You're... scared?"

"Yes."

I started crying again and squeezed the Doctor's fingers. "Rory, please," I choked through my tears. "Please."

"Why do you keep saying his name? Why Rory?"

"B-Because... he's going to save us."

I could feel the Doctor start to pull his hand away and I realized that the position probably hurt him. I readjusted my hand so he didn't have to stretch his arm as much. "Please don't. I really need to know that you're still here. With me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Do you remember the Venusian lullaby you sang to me?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

He exhaled sharply. "Yes."

"Could I ask... Would you sing it to me?"

His voice was different from his younger self. Three's voice was low and baritone and vibrated pleasantly when he sang the lullaby. Eleven's voice was lighter, a little higher than I had expected, but made me smile nonetheless. "Klokleda partha mennin kletch. Haroon, haroon, haroon. Klokleda sheena tirra nach. Haroon, haroon, haroon. Haroon, haroon, haroon. Haroon, haroon, haroon. Haroon, haroon, haroon. Haroon, haroon, haroon."

I continued the song where he had stopped in an effort to comfort myself. I sang the entire song once more on my own before sighing heavily. "Thank you," I whispered as I closed my eyes.

I had all but given up hope of Rory coming to rescue us when the Pandorica doors started to open. Although I had managed to stop myself from crying earlier, I started all over again. As soon as I saw Rory standing outside the Pandorica with the sonic screwdriver in his hands, I gasped and started sobbing.

"Diana," the Doctor said gently. "Diana, look at me. You're alright. Rory saved us, just like you said." He looked away from me and stepped out of the Pandorica, observing Rory with silent curiosity. "By the way, how did you do that?"

"You gave me this," Rory said, holding up the screwdriver.

The Doctor took his own screwdriver from his pocket and held it up. "No, Rory, I didn't."

"You did. Look at it."

The Doctor touched his screwdriver to Rory's, causing the a loud, green spark to erupt from the tips.

"Temporal energy," the Time Lord explained. "Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future. That's nice." His gaze fell on the fossilized Daleks and Cybermen immediately near the Pandorica. "That's not. Oh, and I'm getting carried away and forgetting about one very important person."

I blinked lazily and wiped the tears off my cheeks. The Doctor returned to my side, cupping my cheek with a gentle smile. "How are you?" he asked.

"I-I don't know. I don't know what to feel."

"I want you to look at me and listen to me very carefully, Diana. Can you do that?" I nodded and kept my eyes locked on his. "This was not your fault. Do you understand? None of this was your fault. Do not ever think that it was. This was my fault and for that I am so, so sorry. I love you very much. You are my friend and companion and are one of the few people in this universe that I can trust and I am so sorry that I have done this to you. I promise."

"I forgive you," I answered weakly. "Thank you."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine in the briefest of kisses. Then he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me to my feet. "Now, then. Let's figure out how to fix this."

"Uh, Doctor?" Rory asked. "What are they? These things?"

The Doctor and I looked around at the fossilized aliens scattered around the Pandorica. "History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."

"Er, what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

The Doctor helped me step out of the Pandorica, then put his arm around my shoulders. I avoided his eyes because all I could think about was the kiss he gave me. I let out a breath as I looked around at the creatures that had forced the Time Lord and myself to endure the Pandorica for what had felt like an eternity. Even though I knew the Doctor had been through much worse with much less crying, I still felt completely overwhelmed. But I forced myself not to cry until the ordeal was over and I was back in my room in the TARDIS.

"So," Rory started, "how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out." The Doctor's arm tightened around my shoulders. He looked from me to Rory in a panic. "Amy. Where's Amy?"

"I killed her."

The Doctor watched as I pulled Rory into a comforting hug. "Oh, Rory," he said a little sadly.

"Doctor, what am I?" he asked, tightening his grip around my back.

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity."

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory."

"That's software talking."

Even though I knew the Doctor was trying to make sure Rory's feelings were genuine, I still have him a scolding look for his words. Rory released me, but kept an arm around my shoulders. "Can you help her?" he asked worriedly. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time."

"The time?" Rory repeated incredulously.

The Doctor waved his hand absently. "All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived?" He turned around and looked up at the starless sky with a sort of laugh. "Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

Rory stepped forward, tapped the Time Lord on the shoulder, and then punched him in the face. "She is to me!"

"Welcome back, Rory Williams!" the Doctor said with a laugh as he hauled himself to his feet. "Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning."

I smiled proudly, putting an arm around Rory's back. "You're brilliant, Rory. You know that?" He only shrugged and put his arm over my shoulders. "I wish someone would love me more than anything else in the universe." I quickly thought over the troubling times Rory and Amelia Williams would face in their future. "And don't ever forget, Rory, that Amy loves you. No matter what might happen or what she might say, she loves you. And you will always be good enough for her. Promise me you'll remember that."

He nodded. "Promise."

The Doctor picked Amy up and cradled her against his chest. He turned and started to walk away when Rory stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. A silent understanding passed from Rory to the Doctor and he quickly placed the Scottish girl in her fiancé's arms.

Rory walked past us without another word, his eyes flitting from Amy's face to the ground in front of him. I knew I couldn't understand the feelings of love and loss that he was experiencing, but I could empathize with him and try to comfort him. But the Doctor held me back, telling me with his eyes that I should stay back and let him have a few minutes alone with Amy.

"I wish I could spare him the pain," I told the Doctor, "but I know that she lives in the end. And they get married and stay together. That's why I didn't try to stop it."

"You were also a little tied up with me and the Pandorica," the Time Lord added with a slightly playful tone.

I nodded. "Yeah."

The Doctor noticed that I closed my eyes and turned my face away. It seemed to worry him because he took my chin in his hand and turned my face back. "Diana," he said pleadingly.

I slowly opened my eyes. "What?" I said blankly.

He sighed gently and looked over my face for a few seconds. "Diana, I-... Rassilon, Diana, I am so sorry."

"For what?"

His fingertips brushed lightly over my jawbone where the Auton had hit me. I noticed that his jaw tightened and his eyes turned a little cold for a moment. "It's my fault this happened to you."

"Please don't blame yourself." Hurt, anger, confusion, and something akin to fear washed over the Time Lord's face. I thought back to the last time I'd seen him so distraught and called him the same way I had then. "Theta."

The Doctor sighed and closed his eyes. "We should catch up to Rory," he suggested in a low voice.

I slowly twined my fingers around his and swung our arms a little. The gesture seemed to relax him and I noticed his shoulders droop slightly.

The Doctor placed Amy in the Pandorica, being careful not to bang any part of her body against the unforgiving stone.

"So you've got a plan, then?" Rory asked hopefully.

"Bit of a plan, yeah. You see, Rory, Diana, memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul." He placed his fingertips along Amy's face and pursed his lips. "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening."

Then the Doctor sealed Amy inside the Pandorica with his screwdriver. Rory, who didn't understand or know the entire plan, panicked and instantly became both protective and worried of his fiancée. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"I'm saving her. This box is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive. She'll be safe."

"But she's already dead."

The Doctor waved his hand and stuffed the screwdriver into his coat pocket. "Well, she's mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. Now, all it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?"

With a quick glance at his wristwatch, the Time Lord answered, "In about two thousand years."

"She's going to be in that box for two thousand years?"

I looked at the Doctor, who was rummaging through River's bag that she had left behind. He pulled out her vortex manipulator with a smile. "Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

Because my memory of Rory had returned, I knew what he would chose to do. "So hang on," he began. "The future's still there, then. Our world."

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look." He gestured to the manipulator on his wrist. "You put your hand there. Don't worry. Should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box."

"Well, you got in there."

"Well, there's only one of me. I counted."

I knew that Rory had already made his decision and that he wouldn't change his mind. "This box needs a guard. I killed the last one."

"No," the Doctor said with a frown. "Rory, no. Don't even think about it."

"She'll be all alone."

"She won't feel it."

"You bet she won't."

"Two thousand years, Rory. You won't even sleep. you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Doctor," I tried. "He loves her and he's not going to abandon her. Surely you understand that. Think of Rose or Sarah or Charley. You never wanted to abandon them."

Rory pressed his lips together firmly. "Doctor, will she be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

"Rory, you-"

"Answer me!"

"Yes." The Doctor spared me a glance full of confusion before continuing. "Obviously."

"Then how could I leave her?"

"You don't," I told the young man turned Roman soldier. "You stay with her, Rory Williams. Because that's what you do for the people you love."

"Why do you have to be so human?" the Doctor asked.

"Because right now, I'm not."

"Listen to me. Carefully. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but you're not immortal. I have no idea how long you'll last- Diana, come here. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. Put your hand here and hold on very tight. Understand? Good. So, for God's sake, Rory, however bored you get, stay out of-"

The manipulator crackle with electricity and the Doctor and I dematerialized into the future. It only took a second, but the sensation of traveling with the manipulator made me feel sick and dizzy and I could barely stand up. A hand rested on my shoulder and steadied me. I looked up and saw the Doctor gazing worriedly at me.

"You sit down right here. Do not move from this spot. I will be right back."

I looked around the exhibit we had materialized into, noticing a fez on one of the mannequins. In the distance I could hear a Dalek shouting his command to exterminate. I froze, having never encountered a Dalek before.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" Several footsteps and rushed, worried voices started to approach. So did the Dalek. "Exterminate! Weapons systems restoring."

"Come along, Ponds!"

"Exterminate!"

In ran the Doctor, young Amelia and grown up Amy Pond in front of him. The Time Lord smashed into the mannequin with the fez. He grabbed the hat as it fell and shoved onto his head.

"What are we doing?" Amy asked.

"Well, we are running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one."

"What's going on?" called a man in the shadows.

"Get out of here," the Doctor shouted frantically, looking for the man. "Go! Just run!"

"Drop the device!" the Dalek screeched.

"It's not a weapon!" the Doctor insisted. "Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste."

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed."

The clanking of a flashlight hitting the stone floor startled me. "Do you think?" Rory asked, stepping into the light and holding out his hand. The Auton weapon stuck out and fired at the Dalek.

"Vision impaired! Vision-."

"Good," I said softly to myself. "It's dead. Ish."

"Amy!" Rory exclaimed in joy.

"Rory."

I watched the reunion with a tearful smile. Rory was speechless upon seeing her face again and Amy was smiling brilliantly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Any. I couldn't help it. It just happened."

"Oh, shut up." Amy laughed and kissed Rory firmly on the lips.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on."

Rory pulled away from the kiss. "I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you."

"No, still shut up."

The Doctor's mouth went slack when he saw the passion the couple had involved in their kiss. "And break. And breathe. Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years."

"I'm thirsty," little Amelia asked. "Can I get a drink?"

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it." The figurative light suddenly turned on above the Doctor's head. "The light. The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek. Oh. Dalek waking up. Out! Out! Out!"

We all ran out of the room and into the main hall of the museum.

"So, two thousand years, Rory," the Doctor said conversationally. "How did you do?"

"Kept out of trouble."

"Oh. How?" He grabbed a mop, planning to barricade the door with it.

"Unsuccessfully. The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah. Well, no time to lose, then." He returned and barricaded the door as he'd planned. "Oh, I forgot," he said before disappearing with blue electricity again.

Amelia tugged on Amy's shirt when the Time Lord reappeared. "How can he do that? Is he magic?"

"Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it Rory two thousand years ago." He quickly fixed the problem with a smile and a readjustment of his tweed jacket. "Right then. Screwdriver. Thank you, Amy," he said as he pulled it from her coat pocket. "Off we go! No, hang on. How did you know to come here?"

Amelia showed the Doctor the leaflet and the post-it note, a little confused. "Ah, my handwriting. Okay." He returned with problem solved and Amelia's drink from before I arrived in the museum. "There you go. Drink up."

Amy pointed. "What is that? How are you doing that?"

"Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

"Where are we going?" she asked as we started up the flight of stairs.

"The roof."

A second Doctor suddenly appeared further up the stairs, minus the fez, and rolled sown the steps. His clothes were smoking and his face was blackened from fire.

Rory pointed and looked at him curiously. "Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?"

"Doctor, is that you?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Me from the future."

I bolted up the stairs for one reason alone: I needed to get away from Rory and Amy and the Doctor and the normal reactions they were having to everything. They had been through hell and were acting totally normal. Weren't they traumatized at all?

"What, it's morning already?" Amy questioned upon coming onto the roof after me. "How did that happen?"

"History is shrinking, Amy," the Doctor explained. "Is anybody listening to me? The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left."

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at a satellite receiver dish and pulled it off its pole.

Rory finally joined us and watched with curiosity as the Doctor jumped about. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the TARDIS."

"But the TARDIS exploded."

"Okay. Then I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

Amy shook her head. "I don't understand. So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?"

I suspected that the Doctor didn't have an answer. "Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?" he asked as he pointed to the sun-like ball office in the sky.

"Like I said," the Doctor repeated slowly, "I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the sun," Rory insisted.

"Is it?" The Doctor pointed the satellite dish in the direction of the 'sun'. "Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now." The beautiful, wheezing sound of the TARDIS came out of the satellite. I felt my heart squeeze painfully. Oh, Sexy, I thought sadly. "That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

Rory put a hand against his ear. "Doctor, there's something else."

"I'm sorry, my love."

"There's a voice."

Amy shook her head. "I can't hear anything."

Rory tapped his ear. "Trust the plastic."

"I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love."

"Doctor, that's River." Amy took a few steps forward so he was right next to the Doctor. "How can she be up there?"

"It must be like a recording or something," Rory thought aloud.

"No, it's not. It's the emergency protocols. The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion."

"I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love."

"I'm going to go save her. Be right back."

Blue electricity crackled in the air and he disappeared. Less than a second later, he reappeared with River. I smiled in relief and gave her a hug.

River's arm was wrapped around the Doctor's. "Diana, Amy!" she exclaimed pleasantly. "And the plastic Centurion?"

"It's okay, he's on our side."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

River flashed a brilliant grin. "I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh." She took her arm out of the Doctor's and held her hands in front of her. "Right then, I have questions, but number one is this. What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?"

"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool."

Amy looked at River with a mischievous grin. She snatched the fez, threw it in the air, and watched as River shot it with her blaster. But broth the Doctor could protest, the Dalek from earlier rose above the roof.

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor hauled River in front of her, pushing at her back. "Run, run! Move, move. Go!"

He grabbed me by the wrist and shielded me with his own body and the satellite dish. Once the five of us were safely under a hatch, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the lock to keep the Dalek out for another few minutes.

"Doctor, come on," River urged.

"Shush. It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know?" Rory asked.

"Because that's when it's due to kill me."

River looked startled. "Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?"

"Oh, shut up. Never mind. How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back."

We all walked from the roof down to the level right below. Rory scratched his head as he looked around. "You said the light from the Pandorica," he said helpfully.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field. But never mind, call it a light. That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

"Okay, tell us," Amy said.

"When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except-."

"Except inside the Pandorica."

The Doctor pointed at her and nodded. "The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

Rory shook his head. "No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it."

"The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it."

"Do what?" Amy asked as she glanced at me and River in confusion.

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!"

"Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous," River scolded. "The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?"

"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible."

"It's not," I said finally. Everyone looked at me. "It's not impossible. It's the only way we can save the universe. It's either this or let the universe destroy itself."

"You see?" the Doctor asked with a gin. "It's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?"

"Big Bang Two! Now listen-" The Dalek had somehow snuck up on us and shot the Doctor.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"Get back," Rory ordered, holding his Auton hand up and pointing it at the Dalek. "River, get back now!"

"Exterminate!"

I ran from Rory's side to the Doctor's. He looked up at me and his voice cracked. "Doctor?" River asked. "Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?"

He managed to look away from my eyes and activate the vortex manipulator. River threw her hands up in frustration. "Where did he go? Damn it, he could be anywhere."

"He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago," Amy explained.

Without waiting for the others, I jumped to my feet and ran downstairs to the floor the Pandorica was on. I knew what the Doctor had been planning and wanted to either help him or go with him. I knew he would need someone with him.

I called his name when I finally reached the Pandorica. I could see him, slumped in the right chair and trying to lock himself into it. I called his name again and he still didn't respond.

"Doctor, wait. Let's think about this. Can't you just wrap the manipulator around one of the metal holders and press the buttons? So you don't have to go up there?"

He shook his head. "I have... to do this."

"But you don't have to sacrifice yourself!"

"I'm not sacrificing anyone else for the universe." He managed to put the last clamp over his hand just as I reached him. "Besides, the universe doesn't need me."

"Yes it does. Of course it does. Doctor, think of how many planets you've saved."

He looked up at me, his eyes dark and sad. "Think of how many I've destroyed."

"Doctor!"

Amy's voice echoed. I looked away from the Doctor and saw her running into the room with Rory and River close behind.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory questioned.

"We were a diversion," Amy realized. "As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here."

River touched his shoulder gently. "Doctor, can you hear me? What were you doing?"

I pulled back to the far end of the room, away from the Doctor and River and her parents. I thought over what was going to happen and what I could do, if anything. I didn't want the Doctor to be alone, but I wasn't exactly thrilled to get in the Pandorica with him. But I was willing to go through it again, if it meant that he would be alright or would feel less alone.

Then another thought entered my mind: what would happen to me when the universe restarted? Would I be sent back to my universe? Would I die because I didn't belong here? Or maybe I would be stuck in a state of non-existence. None of the options sounded like anything I wanted to experience. But I couldn't stop it. Whether I went with him or not, I would have to be put somewhere.

River cleared her throat a little loudly, drawing my attention. "A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work. He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?"

"So he can take it with him. He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

I knelt in front of the Doctor, resting a hand on his knee. "What will happen to me when the universe is restarted?"

"I don't know. You won't be able to return to your universe. I don't know where you'll go."

"Will it be any different if I go with you?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm sorry."

I looked at him sadly; his head was slumped and he seemed tired, like he had mentally and emotionally aged. My heart went out to him and I wanted to do whatever I could to make him comfortable. I reached forward and cupped his cheek.

"Let me come with you."

The Doctor's head flew up and he gazed at me. "No. You are not getting in this-"

"Will it endanger the plan? Will it change anything?"

"No, but-"

"Then let me come with you. If I don't have you, then what do I have? I don't have a family or a home or a place that the universe can put me where I'll belong. You know that. I've told you enough times. And I don't want you to go through this alone."

"Diana," he pleaded weakly. "Don't-..."

"This is my choice."

"Please, Diana. I beg of you. Do not come with me. If I know anything, it's that you will be worse off by coming with me. And I can't do that to you. Not after what you've been through already." I started to protest, but the desperate and pleading look on his face told me that I needed to obey his one demand. "Please."

I nodded slowly. "Alright. Just... Just remember that I-..." I shook my head and wondered what I could say to comfort him. "I don't know if I'll remember you, Doctor. And even if I'm afraid for myself, I'm afraid for you. You won't exist."

"But you will. You and Amy and Rory and River. The whole universe. You'll all be safe once I'm on the other side. And that's all I could ever ask for."

Afraid that this could very possibly be the last time I ever saw him or vice versa, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Come back safe and sound. Promise you'll come back."

"I promise."

I nodded and turned, walking away slowly. I glanced at River at smiled weakly. She came forward and gave me a comforting hug. "Oh, Diana, I'm sorry."

"It's him I'm worried about," I muttered. "I mean, I'm obviously worried about what the hell is going to happen to me because I have no idea. But I'm worried about him, too."

"I know. I understand."

WIth a sigh, I pulled back. "You should talk to him. See if he needs anything. He won't have the chance to get to know either of us now. If he doesn't come back, that is."

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom," the Doctor was telling Amy, "and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

"But how could I just forget?" the Scot asked.

The Doctor looked past Amy and into my eyes. I could see the hint of tears behind his eyelids and wished he would let me go with him just so that I could comfort him. "Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really." He looked back at Amy. "But you have to try."

River looked at her scanner. "Doctor! It's speeding up!"

Amy put the Doctor's screwdriver in his pocket and tried to hold back her tears.

"There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there."

"But how can I remember them if they never existed?"

The Time Lord smiled a little sadly. "Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back, too. You just remember and they'll be there. You're the girl who waited, Amelia Pond, and you're brilliant. You can bring them all back."

"You won't come back, though."

"You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend any more." Amy let out a muffled cry and wiped her tears from her cheeks. "Ha! Amy Pond crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"Gotcha."

The Pandorica started to close. I took a half step forward and gasped. "Doctor," I tried to say through my tears. "Doctor, please come back."

The doors slammed shut and sent an echo through the museum. River grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the ground with her. "Back! Get back!"

The Pandorica started shaking, then suddenly took off in flight. A little beep sounded from River's communicator. We both looked down at it and shook our heads. "Geronimo," I breathed in unison with her.

Explosions started erupting inside and outside of the building. The entire planet was shaking like a world devastating earthquake was awakening. I grabbed River and Amy's arms, holding on to them as tightly as I could and closed my eyes. Earthquakes were a great fear of mine and this one was unlike any I had ever experienced, even living in California.

Suddenly, all noise turned into silence and my surroundings flashed into white nothingness. Then I was floating, flying through the air as something whipped past me at incredible speeds. My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness around me when I heard something, a voice and a wheeze. It was the Doctor and the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" I cried. "Doctor!"

My eyes adjusted within seconds and I saw a terrifying sight: I was floating in the time vortex. Dark blue, red, pink, and orange hues were flying past me in a spiral of colors. I could just make out the shapes of planets and stars through the vortex. Sometimes I could see planets existing in different times at the same moment, sometimes I saw stars exploding and imploding. Clouds of red and black-blue wrapped around me and went straight through me.

I lifted my arms and saw that my fingertips brushed one of the edges of the vortex. I opened my mouth to gasp, but no air went in or out. I wasn't breathing and something told me that my heart wasn't beating, yet I was still alive. Technically, I should be truly dead. As in, being unconscious dead. But I wasn't. I could see and hear and comprehend.

The wheezing sound of the TARDIS dematerializing echoed around me. Although I couldn't see anything other than the swirling colors and winds of the vortex, I knew the TARDIS was close by. It was as if I could feel the soul of the ship nearby.

She was calling to me, whispering my name and hers as if it were a lover's greeting. I reached my arms out, reaching for the ship I called home. "TARDIS," I whispered. "Sexy. Idris. Home. Please."

I was suddenly flipped upside down. A silent scream erupted inside my chest. My arms and legs were flailing wildly in search of something to hold on to.

I could see the fantastic blues and reds and greens of the vortex fading away into other colors. At first they were white, then they were a natural and warm orange and coral combination, and then they turned into a hazy mix of silver, blue, and gray. I could feel the power of the vortex disappearing and melting off my body.

Confused and disoriented, I blinked a few times and shook my head. I realized that I wasn't floating anymore, but was standing comfortably on solid ground.

"Where am I?"

"TARDIS," answered a thick, Scottish voice.

I turned and saw him, the new Doctor. My vision was slightly hazy and his tall, thin figure went in and out of focus. Just behind him stood a person in the shadows. I could barely make out that it was a woman with hair that reached her shoulders.

"Clara?" I asked.

"Diana," the Doctor said, his voice low and calm. "Look at me. Please."

"Why-...? I haven't met you yet. You're the Doctor's future."

"I'm also part of your future." Through my semi-blurry vision, I could see the silvery hair on his head; it was somehow comforting to see. "Diana, listen to me, darling. You're going to be alright. I'm coming for you."

"I'm scared."

He reached out and brushed my bangs from my eyes. "I am doing everything I can to get back to you."

"The vortex," I said with a slow exhale.

"Remember my promise. Diana, I promised something to you. Tell me what it was."

It took a couple of minutes to remember. The vortex had muddled my brain and I could hardly think straight like a normal person. "You said... you would never leave me."

"And I won't. I'm coming for you, love. I'm looking for you. And you're going to be safe. It's going to be alright." His hand slid from my cheek to ear to the nape of my neck. "Remember my promise. The one promise I have always kept."

The TARDIS started to melt away into the swirling vortex. I reached up and held the Doctor's face for a brief moment before he disappeared entirely and I went flying through the time vortex like space and time debris.