Several months had gone by since the Doctor's last visit. Dani and Ellie were still asking their mother when he would be back, still talking about the flowers that changed colours. Clara tried her hardest to reassure them that the Doctor would most definitely be back to take them on more adventures, but her heart was breaking every time she looked at those girls. Sometimes she'd forget, though. Sometimes she would be so happy and laugh so loudly that she forgot. But then, out of nowhere, she remembered. She remembered that soon she would disappear out of their lives, and she would leave her precious girls. And her heart would shatter into a million pieces all over again. She would disappear unless she found a way to stop it. But, how can you stop something when you don't really know when it's going to happen, let alone what is going to happen? Dani had turned 10 this summer. Her beautiful grown-up girl had celebrated with flowers in her hair and her sister always right by her side. They really were very close, her and Ellie. And now November was fast approaching, and with that, Ellie's 7th birthday.
Ellie was so excited for her birthday. Clara had promised her that she could have a Harry Potter themed party, as her daughter loved the books dearly. Clara made that promise very well knowing that she would most likely not be there.
It wasn't that she hadn't tried to stop this from happening. Clara had tried to think of different ways to try and figure out what this thing that was going to happen was. But she didn't know where to start, except for the Doctor. She had thought very hard on it one day, hoping to get a message to the Doctor on his psychic paper, as he was not picking up his phone. Her message got through alright, but it wasn't the Doctor who was in possession of the psychic paper. It was professor River Song. They had met before, but that was River as a mere projection, an image of the woman who was lost a long time ago. The woman who appeared in front of Clara in a hiss of smoke this time, however, did seem very much alive. And she didn't seem to know Clara at all.
"Well, hello there", Professor Song said seductively. "If you're the Doctor, I must have skipped a few regenerations." Clara stood dumb founded.
"Ah, no, Professor Song, it's me, Clara." River eyed her suspiciously. "I travelled with the Doctor a while ago. We met once, remember? With Vastra and Jenny and Strax."
"How do you know my name? I haven't the faintest idea who you are." River looked very suspicious now, looking around the room, her hand gliding down to the gun she had strapped to her right thigh. Clara's heart dropped into her stomach. If River didn't recognize her, she surely wouldn't be willing to help. Clara's mind was racing, desperate to convince River that she was trustworthy.
"That's a... That's a vortex manipulator, yeah?" she blurted out, gesturing to the device on River's wrist. "I've used one of those, effective, but terrible on the hair." River looked genuinely surprised. She opened her mouth to speak, but Clara continued:
"I know you are married to the Doctor. Or you will be, anyway. I know that you know his name, and I don't think anybody else knows it, which means that he must love you a great deal. Your parents are... Amy and Rory! And they travelled with the Doctor as well. And you saved the Doctor once. He speaks about it with such love and pride in his voice." Clara was done ranting, and hoped that she had said enough to make River stay, to make her help her. River's frown suddenly turned into a grin.
"Once? Oh, I've saved that man so many times you wouldn't believe it, although he might not admit he needed saving. I don't believe we've been properly introduced. Doctor River Song." River held out her hand.
"Clara. Oswald. Doctor Song? Sorry, spoilers I guess", Clara said hesitantly. River grinned.
"Precisely, dear. Now, the Doctor has kindly lent me his psychic paper. Well, not lent me as much as... Unknowingly borrowed it to me. " Clara understood that this was a gentle way of saying she stole it.
"How can I help you, miss Clara Oswald?" Clara took a deep breath, and tried to get her thoughts organized. At least the girls were at school, so they wouldn't be disturbed.
"River. The Doctor has told me that something... Is going to happen to me. I don't know what or even exactly when, but I know that I have to stop it." Clara looked up at River with hope and desperation. Surely she would be able to help? The way the Doctor spoke of her, he made her sound like a super hero. River's eyes looked at her with a mixture of pity and sadness.
"Clara... If he has told you that it will happen... It will happen. The Doctor would change it if he could, you know he would. Although, I must say it's very unprofessional of him to even tell you in the first place. Spoilers aren't something to be taken lightly."
"But don't you think he told me for a reason? So that I could change it? Why else would he have told me?" Clara could hear herself clinging at straws here, but she couldn't just accept it.
"Oh sweetie, maybe he just wanted to give you time to prepare." Clara could feel tears building up in her eyes, again. God, the amount of crying she had been doing lately, it's amazing she hadn't run dry yet. Clara gently sat down on the floor, tears running freely now. She felt as though she'd been deflated, her last hope dwindling before her eyes. She looked up at the table beside her. There was a picture of Dani, Ellie and her there, smiling, laughing, and looking so happy. It was taken at Dani's birthday party. River's eyes followed Clara's, and, realizing why Clara was so very desperate for help, she let out a long sigh.
"Oh, Clara, I'm so sorry." She sat down on the floor beside Clara. River grabbed the photo and looked down at it. Clara couldn't take her eyes off it.
"They are beautiful girls", River said with a smile. "How old are they?"
Clara's voice was barely a whisper: "Dani's 10 and Ellie's almost 7. He said it would happen before her 7th birthday, and that's... In a week." Clara broke into a sob.
"Less than a week I have left with my girls, unless someone helps me. Unless you help me, River! You are the only person I know who can help, the Doctor isn't answering my calls!" Clara was grabbing River's hands now.
"Please, River, I beg you. Help me." Clara looked straight into River's eyes, and River looked back, not shying away from the hurt that was radiating from Clara's brown eyes. Clara thought she could see something change in River. She seemed to sit up more straight, looking more determined.
"Alright", she said. Clara couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"What?" she asked confusedly. River stood up and started pressing buttons on the vortex manipulator on her wrist.
"Alright, I will help you. I will do what I can. But I can't promise anything, you understand?" She gave Clara a hard stare. Clara flung herself at River, hugging her tightly. If possible she was crying even more now.
"Thank you", she whispered. She gave River a long hug, and then took a few steps back, looking at River with a whole new respect. River smiled that seductive smile at her again, oddly reassuring it was, and with a loud crack she had vanished, just a bit of smoke left where she had been standing.