Dream a Little Dream of Me
While I'm alone and blue as can be…
Rory had always thought that watching emotions flit across Amy's face was one of the most beautiful things in the world.
But judging by the look on her face now, she was clearly agitated and Rory didn't like agitated Amy.
"Doctor, she knows about the silence," she said, confusion and a little panic in her voice.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"Silence will fall," Sophia said.
"How do you know…"
Sophia shook her head, "I was there. In the void… but not the void."
"What?" the Doctor grabbed Sophia's arm
She looked at him, clearly disturbed by something, "I can't …there were cracks…I don't remember…I can't remember…"
Amy interjected, "But Doctor, I thought the cracks, we closed them…you closed them…"
The Doctor shook his head, "We still don't know what caused them."
Rory frowned, "I thought it was because the TARDIS exploded…"
Sophia looked at him with shock, "What?"
Rory tried to explain, "The TARDIS exploded, the universe ended and the Doctor brought it back."
"The TARDIS exploded? How can that bring about the end of the universe? It regenerates, like you," she looked at the Doctor for some explanation.
"I wasn't in it when it happened…I can only assume it was because the eye…" he answered, clearly unsure of how it happened himself.
"But you cannot destroy the eye unless…"
"It is impossible," the Doctor stated, finality in his tone.
"Improbable, not impossible," Sophia argued.
The Doctor looked at her, anger and affection in his eyes, "Damn you."
"I cannot believe you haven't thought about this," she said, looking at the center of the TARDIS.
He sighed, "I have."
"And?"
He just shook his head sadly, "There's a time and place for everything."
She scoffed, "Proverbs?"
There was anger and frustration in his voice, "I'm not avoiding this! But I cannot sit around all the time thinking about it. It will drive me insane. Or maybe it already has. I mean, look at you. You are here, speaking of the silence I don't want to hear."
Silence fell. The Doctor stood there, his body tense, his eyes haunted.
Sophia touched him gently on the arm, "You think you're being punished, don't you?"
"I ran away and look at me now…"
Rory thought he saw tears glistening in the Doctor's eyes. This wasn't the Doctor he knew. This wasn't the Doctor who gleefully proclaimed that he was going to kick start the universe again.
Sophia put her other hand on his face, cupping it gently, "Has it ever occurred to you that we let you go?"
It was an almost imperceptible movement, the Doctor leaned into her hand.
"You died," he whispered.
"Yes, because you and…you needed to live. You had to live. Or everything would have been lost. Everything will be lost," she whispered back.
He put his hand on her hand, "What did you see when you looked into the Schism?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why can't you tell me?"
"Because… at the moment I can't really remember…" she said, her grin irreverent.
"Oh," the Doctor reacted. He couldn't help it, he grinned back.
"Besides, you're not supposed to know," she added.
"Spoilers?"
She gave him a bemused look, "There's that word again."
"Can you tell me if it's good or bad?" he asked, a rather cheeky smile on his face now.
Still bemused, she replied, " There is no good or bad…"
"…there is just the end," the Doctor finished.
"We had this conversation before," Sophia remarked, surprised by this.
"Déjà vu? Really?" the Doctor looked skeptical.
"Time is a bit muddled in my head right now. Everything is a bit muddled," she answered apologetically.
"As soon as you think you've got it figured it out, everything gets confusing again!" Rory exclaimed. He was sure that before meeting the Doctor, being confused didn't occupy most of his time.
The Doctor turned to him, " Rory my man, mate-y, fellow…man. You are right!"
This made poor Rory even more confused, "I am?"
"Of course! There's no point in us standing around here, discussing things to death. Leron waits outside the doors. Let us explore Leron!"
"Doctor, that's just…" Amy wanted to say but he interrupted her.
"Ah, Pond. I know, I know. But if this is a dream, it is most definitely my dream. I mean, why would you or Rory dream of my wife? Naked. And if it is a dream, then I don't see the harm in us enjoying the wonders of Leron. If it is a dream, Leron might even be more fantastical and magical than it actually is. Trust me, I have a very active imagination."
"But…" Amy tried to say, but the Doctor wouldn't let her finish again.
"Besides, a change of scenery would do us all good. It would certainly do me good. I often find that when I'm trying to work out something, not thinking about it helps."
"You're strange," Amy replied.
"Thank you," the Doctor replied, not hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"So, what are we doing now?" Rory thought it would be best if he just asked because he wasn't sure of anything anymore and just wanted clear instructions.
"You are putting your coats back on," the Doctor pointed at Rory and Amy. The obeyed.
He pointed at Sophia, who clearly wasn't dressed for sub-zero conditions, "You'll be fine."
"But it says here it's freezing out there!" Rory protested, pointing at the monitor.
Sophia waved her hand dismissively, "Gallifreyan. Not really bothered by that bit of cold."
"Then why is the Doctor wearing a coat and scarf?" Rory wanted to know.
"Because coats and scarves are cool," the Doctor replied, in a well-duh tone.
"Right," Rory said.
"So we're all just going to ignore the situation and have some fun on Leron?" Amy asked, sounding unsure.
The Doctor, who was already by the door, turned back to grin at her, "Basically, yes."
Amy looked at Rory. He just shrugged a response. She looked at Sophia, who merely smiled.
"Alright then," Amy commented, grabbed Rory's hand and raced towards the door.
Sophia followed at a more dignified pace.
The Doctor's face was full of excitement as he dramatically announced, "Ponds, welcome to Leroy!"
He opened the door of the TARDIS and they stepped outside into what Rory's Earth brain described as a winter wonderland.
"Look at the snow! And the sky! And the snow! Rory! Look at the snow!" Amy exclaimed.
He looked at her face, glowing with childish joy. She looked beautiful.
"It's beautiful," Rory replied.
He'd never seen so much snow, so much whiteness. He thought it would be blinding, but somehow it wasn't. In the far distance, he could see hills, though he wasn't sure if it was just an optical illusion brought on by the whiteness.
Not far away was an ice palace. The Doctor had mentioned that earlier. That must be the resort.
He was about to point it out to Amy, but she was lying in the snow, moving her arms and legs.
"Rory! Rory!" she called, "Come and make snow angels with me!"
He rushed over, dropped into the powdery white, surprisingly dry, snow and mimicked Amy's movements.
He could hear the Doctor and Sophia laughing, but it sounded like it came from far away. He turned his head to look at Amy. She was smiling at him, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Then a rather naughty glint came into her eye and Rory didn't even have to ask what she was thinking because he knew that look. He'd been a victim of that look enough times before.
Amy twisted her head, looking for the Doctor. She looked back at Rory and he knew what he had to do.
He got up, thought he had to shake the snow off his clothes, but it was so powdery that it gently fell to the ground with the slightest of Rory's movements.
He winked at Amy, who had put on an air of complete innocence. His wife, the sneaky snow angel.
"Doctor!" he called, to get the attention of the man.
He'd been speaking with Sophia, looking relaxed and had seemingly accepted the woman's presence as normal.
The Doctor beamed at him, "Yes?"
Usually, he wasn't this nimble or quick-witted but the wrath of Amy was involved so his brain worked double time, though he did struggle for a second to come up with something plausible.
He looked up and it occurred to him. He pointed up, "The sky, Doctor. It's very blue. You said something earlier about why?"
Nothing like a complicated scientific explanation to excite the Doctor, "Ah yes! The blue sky. Almost TARDIS blue, isn't it?"
He proceeded to go into a very technical but typically rambling explanation that involved ions and ozone or something, Rory couldn't keep quite up. The bit of his brain that was a science nut actually enjoyed the Doctor's lecture, even noting some things it needed to look up later. The TARDIS had a big enough library, there was bound to be some reference text in there.
However, most of his brain was busy trying to stay calm and relaxed and cool and not at all worried that the Doctor might see through his ruse. He was desperately avoiding looking at Amy, approaching the Doctor from behind.
'Just focus on the Doctor's face,' Rory thought.
A quieter thought followed, 'That scarf is distracting.'
The Doctor was now in full swing, visibly enjoying the lecture, "…and then of course there's the auroras…you have them on Earth as well…beautiful ghostly things…you haven't really…"
"Hey Doctor!"
The Doctor stopped his rambling, turned, saw something white fly towards his face.
Then everything turned black.
tbc