One week later...
River had finally and reluctantly accepted her friends' deaths...
On the day of her return, she had to go to each of her colleagues' family's' houses and deliver the news, it was heart-breaking. River hadn't returned to work yet, it wouldn't seem right. The only time she had set foot in the building was to give the news on the last expedition to her superiors.
Today was the funeral service for each of them, it had been arranged by the agency that they worked at and the families had approved for the service to be for all five. The service was short and quiet. Hardly any discussions were distributed amongst anyone. Each family had a chance to mourn for their lost one and even then, it was still almost silent.
River could hear her own heartbeat amongst the sobs of the saddened relatives. She was the only person who was not a relative and she was the only one who was mourning all of the deaths, she had no shoulder to cry on and no one to comfort her in quite the same way. She felt alone.
River stood, dressed in black and alone in the cemetery. She had a long black coat draped over her knee length black dress with tights, her golden curls were pinned back into a bun and she had deep cherry lipstick on.
Her sad and disheartened gaze lay upon the monument in front of her which had the names of the five archaeologists engraved on it, but not the mysterious Doctor- who no one has ever heard of. He didn't have any others to mourn him, he was unknown.
The monument was a deep grey stone that stood several feet tall and the names were engraved in a formal and legible font one below the other. River was the one who picked out the monument, she didn't want one that was too decorative or one that was too plain and showed little respect. She wanted a monument to show that they were loved.
There was a slight drizzle of light rain descending onto the stone graves and the dark grey clouds loomed over the cemetery. It was a humid and miserable day; the light rain dampened the grass and created tiny dotted patterns on the concrete.
The funeral had already ended and River was last to leave, she had to say her last goodbyes first and she preferred the privacy when saying a heart-to-heart farewell.
She stepped towards the headstone of the monument and she sighed as the tears slowly built up in her bright emerald eyes. Her feet came to a halt on the grass just a few inches away from the monument. The right words for a last good-bye were hard to think of and River still struggled trying to find them.
River knelt down to come in line with the list of names engraved on the stone. She placed a single deep red rose on the foot of the stone and she reached out towards it. Her hand gently touched the stone and she stroked her fingers over the names, treasuring them. She still felt mostly responsible for each of their deaths.
She pressed her lips together trying to hold back all of the sadness and guilt. At least now they have had a proper burial and that made her slightly satisfied. Her friends were put to rest properly instead of left to rot on the planet of the Library. However, Mr Lux's body was not retrieved as the download error meant that his body could not have been re-uploaded.
The tears began to fall and they landed onto the dark green grass and the foot of the monument. She placed two fingers on her lips then pressed them to the stone- a good-bye kiss addressed to all of them.
River still searched for her farewell words, any words would do. Then she opened her mouth and some words came...
"It doesn't feel right... my name should be there with all of yours, I was meant to die at the Library but, I had a guardian Time-Lord to stop me. If only he came a bit earlier, then he could've saved all of us..." she whispered through the tears. Her guilty conscience was never going to give up, she knew that she was right, she should be dead too.
Then a faint and awkward smile came from the corner of her lips. "...It's not going to be the same without you all in the office. It's going to be so empty and well, I'm going to have to find a new team, get acquainted to them and such..." she chuckled forcefully. Then her face turned sad again and her smile faded. "...I'm going to be so lonely without you..."
She spent a long quiet moment remembering them, all of the good times they've had and all of the places they have been and their success as a team. "We were always the best..." she reminded herself.
River's hand slid across the names again, the stone was so smooth and every letter was clearly and deeply carved. River tried to imagine her name on the bottom of that list, how it should have been if the mysterious Doctor didn't show up. She felt as if he only came by chance, like he wasn't meant to be there but decided to come.
More tears were flooding out from her eyes and she pressed her lips together holding her breath as they fell. "...Good-bye..." she whispered shakily. The cold air had made those words condensate in the cloud of water vapour that had emerged from her dark lips. As the condensation faded her hand left the stone, breaking the remaining memories.
River rose to her feet and she turned and began walking away from the grave. She was walking alone down the concrete path in the rain. She had said all that needed to be said and now was the time to move on.
The cemetery gate creaked as she departed and made her journey home. The streets were unusually quiet almost as if they were all mourning the loss of the archaeologists, the silence was a sign of respect.
River returned home and instead of going through her front door, she went around the back gate. As she pushed it open, the sight that greeted her was the blue Police Box sitting in the middle of the grass.
River stepped in and she pulled out the TARDIS key from her pocket with a small smile. This is the first time she would enter the TARDIS. She placed the key into the keyhole and turned it open. The door eased open and River took a step inside. She paused for a moment to take in the wonders of the time machine.
The TARDIS hummed melodically as she closed the door, it was welcoming her to her rightful home. River approached the console and her eyes inspected it and the various sticky-notes dotted around. She smiled as she remembered that the Doctor told her about the sticky-notes and the manual being thrown into a supernova.
"So this is his time-machine... it's beautiful!" River gasped.
Her hands glided over the controls as she looked at several sticky-notes. On some of them were instructions on how to fly the TARDIS, some of the rules and other basic information such as 'Look in the drawer on the Left. The Doctor x'
"Hang on..." River mumbled, sounding puzzled as she re-read the note.
She picked it up and held it on her finger. She looked around the panel for a drawer, and then she spotted it just below all of the controls. It was small and tucked away and River wondered what could be inside it.
Her hand reached towards the drawer and she gripped onto it. Her curiosity was strong and she pulled open the small drawer...