OK, so firstly I need to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed, favourited and alerted this story. I never intended (as with most of my stories) to write anymore, but I was persuaded to!

I was very conscious that I could easily ruin the first part by adding to it, so I'm VERY nervous about uploading this!

I really hope you like it and it would make me INCREDIBLY happy if you would take a second or two to review? Please? :)

"I really need to get going." River said with a sigh. She pushed the mug of now cold tea away from her across the table top and moved her chair backwards. Both she and Rory winced at the sharp squeaking sound that the wooden legs made on the tiles of the floor, neither noticing that their expressions were identical.

"Back to prison?" Rory asked, almost reluctant to ask the question. He had so many questions to ask River about her life. While they'd been drinking tea, they'd chatted normally, almost as though their situation was normal. She'd dodged most of his questions, preferring instead to listen to him talking about his past and Amy's. When he'd asked her a direct question, making sure that he looked straight into her eyes as the words left his mouth, a look of sadness flickered through her eyes. The same look that she was now wearing.

"Yes." Was the simple answer she gave him. While she couldn't lie and had no reason to, River didn't want to elaborate although she knew Rory was going to ask her more questions.

"Why?"

She sighed. It was a long story; a very long story. She was a murderer and he knew that. She couldn't begin to understand how the realisation that your daughter, who had only been born that morning, was older than you and had been locked up for murder would affect your mind. Her life had been difficult and painful, but for Rory and Amy this was as bad as it got.

"Because I made a promise that I had to keep."

Rory was confused, but River had stood up and was pushing the chair under the table, ready to leave. As she turned her attention to the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist, her father stood as well, panicking slightly at the fact that she was leaving. He didn't want her to leave, not yet.

With the coordinates for Stormcage set into her time travel device, River glanced across at him, smiling weakly. He took an awkward step towards her, his arms outstretched once more. She laughed softly and hugged him tightly, causing him to relax instantly.

"Before you go… say goodbye to Amy?" Rory said, his words sounding more like a question than a statement as her gazed imploringly at her. River's own gaze faltered slightly, her beaming smile falling as she watched his expression. Pain appeared in her sparkling eyes as she thought about how her mother had reacted when she'd discovered who she was.

She didn't blame Amy; far from it. River completely understood the red-head's reaction to the information she had learnt, but that didn't mean that she wasn't hurt by it. Not with what had been said or the emotions that had been fired at her, so much. River was hurt by the whole situation; she had just been a baby when this all started and her life had been ripped apart as much as her parents' lives had. She'd got through it and so would they, given time.

Sighing, River nodded and allowed Rory to lead her along the corridor to their bedroom. He knocked gently, leaning his head against the painted wooden door and opening it a crack. There was a murmur from his wife and he opened it a little more, signalling for River to wait outside while he went in and spoke to Amy.

Nodding, she waited, twisting her hands nervously and wondering what would await her in the bedroom. River was rarely nervous, but this was one of the few moments when she was truly uneasy about what was about to happen. Amy had a temper, that was probably where River had got her own temper from, and the woman was wary of upsetting her anymore. Ideally, she would have liked to let Amy come to terms with the news in her own time and allow her to make the first move. But her dad had asked her to do this and so she couldn't refuse.

"River…" Rory said softly, opening the door and beckoning her inside. Taking a deep breath, River fixed a calm smile on her face and went in.

Amy was sitting up in bed, her arms folded across her chest and a formidable scowl across her pretty features. As River approached, she watched her closely; scrutinising her thoroughly. The red-head was looking for any hints that she might have missed before; tell-tale traits that would indicate a link between River and her or Rory – expressions, mannerisms, that sort of thing.

"Hello." River said, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the bed. Subconsciously Amy shuffled slightly, moving away from the woman. She didn't notice the move, but River did. Glancing down at her hands in her lap she took a steadying breath.

"You're leaving?" Amy asked bluntly, arching an eyebrow. Rory had come in to say that River was heading back to Stormcage, but that he wanted his wife to say goodbye before she left. Amy had agreed because she could see how important it was to her husband. She could see the look in his eyes and it scared her slightly. Before now, Amy had never really had much reason to be jealous where Rory was concerned; unlike the many times Rory had had a good reason to be jealous about her and her behaviour. But she felt that now, perhaps, someone else was moving in on the affection he had for her.

"Yes. Yes… I… I have to go back. They'll be missing me." The woman said lightly, giving a small laugh and trying to make light of the fact that she was returning to her prison cell.

"Right, well…" Amy really didn't know what to say. For once she was at a loss for words.

River had been her friend, her companion, her confidant. She'd trusted the older woman with so many of her worries and fears and now she had found out that the woman was her daughter. Her Melody. Her little girl. But she was older than Amy, so much more experienced in… in everything. It was too much for the red-head to understand. The Doctor had warned her, all that time ago, that travelling with him was never simple; never easy. But this… this was something completely beyond anything she would ever have dreamt possible.

It terrified Amy. River had known for all that time who she was and yet she'd never said anything, never given any hints as to her identity. Was she that hardened… that cold… that emotionless… that being in such close proximity to her parents hadn't affected her at all? Had she just been able to pretend that they were strangers, no more connected to her than a random couple in the street? Was it really that easy for River to forget?

But no, looking at her now, the red-head could see just how hard all of this must have been for River. Her head was bowed, her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply, as though she was desperately trying to control her emotions. She'd mentioned once, almost by mistake, that she had her own ways of protecting herself from the pain that she had suffered. Perhaps this was how she coped; closing herself off, shutting out the things that hurt her.

Cautiously Amy reached out her hand; stopping just short of River's which were clasped tightly in her lap. She twitched unable to allow herself to make contact with her daughter and retracted her hand slightly, curling her fingers into a tight ball as she too closed her eyes tightly, a pained expression on her face. Then, almost of its own volition, Amy's hand reached out and clasped her daughter's. She squeezed it tightly, staring straight in front of her so that she wouldn't have to meet River's eyes.

River gasped quietly, feeling Amy's warm hand close over her own cold ones. She opened her eyes, staring down at it, before glancing at the woman. Amy was staring carefully away from her, obviously not ready to look at her. But the contact was enough. A warm feeling spread throughout her body and the tears that had been building up behind her closed eyelids spilled down her cheeks. But these were not tears of sadness as the others had been; they were tears of joy.

Reluctantly River stood, keeping hold of her mother's hand. She moved slightly, before bending to kiss Amy on the cheek. Squeezing her hand, she let go and hugged Rory tightly. He clung on, not wanting to let her leave. Amy was still staring at the same space ahead of her, motionless.

Disentangling herself from her father, River moved to the middle of the room and flipped open the cover of her Vortex Manipulator. "I'll see you very soon." She promised.

Then, with a smile, she vanished.