I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I figured out what I wanted to write while I was in Disney a month ago, but I couldn't find the right way to say it. I wanted this chapter to be perfect. It's far from being that, but I'm pretty happy with it.

I'll get this out of the way before the actual narrative starts again: I'd like to take this moment here to quickly thank everyone who has read this story: especially those who have stuck with me since the very beginning in May. All the reviews, favorites, and alerts really came as a shock to me throughout writing this; I've never posted anything this popular before! Also, I'd like to give a special thank you to people who gave suggestions that helped me to improve this story as well as make it more fun for all of you reading it. All of the support I've received has been absolutely amazing and mind blowing. I am so grateful. To those of you who have been to Walt Disney World, I hope I've done it justice for all of you out there who love it as much as I do, and to those of you who have never been, I hope I've given you a good idea of what it's like and maybe even made you want to visit for yourselves now. :)

After this chapter, there will be an epilogue, but I won't be writing any more author's notes after this, so I will say farewell to all of you now and thank you so much again.

River was the first one up the next morning. They had managed to get the same room at the Floridian as they'd had a few days before, and she stood out on the balcony, looking out over the Seven Seas Lagoon. She was about to go back inside when she heard the door to the next balcony to her right open: the door to her parents' balcony. River leaned over the railing and around the divider between the two parts of the balcony to see Rory standing there. He didn't see River at first, but she called over to him softly.

"Morning, Dad."

Rory turned around and smiled at her. It was still always a bit strange when she called him Dad, but he liked it; it felt right. "Morning, River."

She leaned farther over the railing and around the divider. It was strange, she knew she wanted to talk, but she was a bit at a loss as to what she wanted to say. So she settled for something mundane. "Are you up so early because you couldn't sleep?"

"No, well... kind of." He rubbed his face. "I guess I didn't sleep well last night."

At this point, River had begun to climb over the railing and around the divider so she could stand on the other balcony with Rory. "Is everything okay?" she asked as she sat down in the other chair across from him.

"Well, that depends. I mean, I was up a lot last night because I was thinking... Actually, thinking a lot about you. Are you alright? Because I mean, yesterday... well, compared to the rest of our visit here, you were in a fantastic mood. I wasn't sure if it was genuine or if you were trying to hide something..." River tried to break in here, but Rory continued. "...because I know you do that. Hide what you're really feeling so the rest of us don't get hurt. I wish you didn't do that. If something is bothering you, you should tell us: me and Amy at least, even if you don't want to tell the Doctor."

River shook her head slightly and looked at Rory with a small smile. "You know, you don't often sound like or act like a father, but right now, you are all dad."

"Well, it's strange. I know you know that. I mean, we didn't get a chance to really be parents to you. We were friends, but not proper parents, so it's hard to try to be a parent to you now. Amy and I have the instincts; we want to protect and help you, but we both realize that at the same time, you're completely grown. You have to make your own decisions and live your own life... but that doesn't mean we don't worry about you. Because we do, very much in fact. Also, you didn't answer my question."

River looked down at the floor of the balcony and then out over the lagoon. "I was hurting, but unfortunately that came out during that argument with Amy in Epcot two days ago and when we faced the Trancitluzion the few days before." She looked up and looked Rory right in the eyes. "But I'm much better now. I am, really. I'm not sure what it was, but yesterday during that video... that one about Walt Disney, I think I finally understand this place. And by understanding it and its purpose... I like it much better. I'm actually looking forward to going to the Magic Kingdom today!" She paused in what she was saying to see if she would get any reaction from Rory. He just stared back with a look of expectant patience, so she finished, "I think I understand enough now to try to let go. To let go and enjoy myself."

Rory nodded and smiled at her. "Good. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

River smiled back and walked over to him and gave Rory a hug. "Thanks, Dad."

When the Doctor finally awoke, it was because River was... poking his shoulder? The oddity of this was enough to wake him completely; River never did such a "immature" thing (her own words on one occasion). He sat bolt upright and was about to ask her if she was feeling alright, but he was stopped short when he saw the look of complete innocence on her face. So he simply asked, "River, what is it?"

She didn't answer verbally, but she reached down to pick something up that was on the floor next to her and pulled up her pair of the TARDIS blue Mickey Ears. She looked at them, turning them around to look at her name embroidered in the white thread on the back: River. And then she did something completely shocking...

She put them on.

The Doctor's eyes widened and now he was worried that something might actually be wrong with her. "River, are you feeling alright?"

She smiled and simply said, "Do they look alright?"

They looked adorable, flattening some of her hair on top of her head which only caused the rest of it to poof out from underneath in a mass of golden curls even more than it usually poofed. Of course, she also still managed to look gorgeous, even while wearing something so ridiculous, and the Doctor wanted to tell her all of this, but he settled for just grinning like the five-year-old he was so much of the time, leaned over to kiss her on her cheek, and reply, "Yes, they look... so cool."

River rolled her eyes and laughed.

The four of them rode back to the Magic Kingdom on the Monorail (all of them wearing their Mickey Ears), River and Amy went though bag inspection again, they all proceeded through the turnstiles, and then stood in front of the train station looking at the sign that read "Let the Memories Begin!".

"Well, I know for sure that we have some interesting memories from this trip... possibly even more than usual," Rory remarked.

The others nodded in agreement.

"So, what are we going to do here today? It's only a little after nine, so we have the entire day left!" the Doctor said excitedly.

Amy and Rory looked at each other and smiled before looking back at the Doctor and answering, "We think River should pick what we do today."

River smiled upon hearing this. "May I see the map?"

They started in Adventureland. River and Amy asked the Doctor and Rory to run over to Space Mountain to get Fastpasses for later and then to all meet back at the Jungle Cruise, which they then rode. River's favorite part was when they rode through the collapsing Cambodian temple; it reminded her of one of her favorite excavations from while she was learning at the Luna University. The Doctor liked the monkeys in the temple, and when he expressed this, Amy and River responded that the reason for that was that the Doctor was a monkey. All the monkeys needed were fezzes. They also all had to laugh when upon meeting Trader Sam (the jungle's "Head Salesman"), the guide told them that, "He has a great special right now! Two of his heads (shrunken ones) for one of yours! ...How about you sir?" The guide pointed at Rory. "Would you like to trade your head for two of his?"

Rory shook his head and shrunk down while everyone else in the boat laughed.

"I guess you just have a face for mishap, Dad..." River said when they were off of the ride and walking over to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Once inside Pirates, they chose the right-hand side of the queue, which lead them past a dungeon cell where two skeletons were locked in a game of chess. The Doctor had to stop and stare intrigued at the figures. "You know," he remarked, "That is a very clever joke that I'm sure very few people get: the game is in a state of "perpetual check". There is no way that either of those men could have ever won the game... Which is why I suppose they still appear to be playing." All three of the Ponds just rolled their eyes and dragged the Doctor on to the ride.

The Doctor found the skeletons at the beginning of the ride a bit unnerving (they reminded him of the Vashda Nerada), and none of them were expecting the mermaids that could be seen just below the surface of the water in the caverns. Once their boat had gone over the "waterfall" and they were in the scene with the battle between the fort and the pirate galleon, a "cannon ball" landed in the water right next to them, soaking all four of them at once. Upon exiting the ride, Rory commented, "I expected to get that wet when we were going to ride Splash Mountain... but on Pirates of the Caribbean?!"

Amy just laughed and shook her head. "I guess we're just lucky like that..."

River laughed as the Doctor shook his head like a dog trying to dry off. "Tell you what, Sweetie, Amy and I are going to dry off. We'll meet you and Dad over at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, alright? I feel like a ride on Splash Mountain would be unnecessary now..."

The Doctor and Rory both nodded in agreement, and started off towards Frontierland.

After a half hour, they were still sitting on a bench waiting for Amy and River, and the Doctor was getting extremely impatient. Rory was having trouble trying to calm the nine-hundred-and-seven-year-old-who-is-actually-a-seven-year-old and was also wondering where the two women had gotten to when he saw them walking over the bridge towards them. He mentioned this to the Doctor, who immediately ran over to River and Amy only to stop in shock after a second...

"River!... Amy!... What are you two wearing?... It's so... so... COOL!" he began running around them in circles to see their entire outfits.

River smirked. "Sorry it took so long, Sweetie. We figured it was our turn to go to the Pirates League."

It was obvious that's where they had been. Amy was wearing an outfit similar to the one she had worn during their encounter with the Siren and the Pirates, and River was wearing a white poet's shirt with an aqua vest. Her makeup was done in the style based off of the mermaids from the fourth movie in the series, and the Doctor couldn't help but notice that the blues and small amount of orange eye-shadow really brought out the blue-green in River's eyes. Some people may have thought she looked ridiculous: a grown woman with a pirate costume and mermaid makeup on, but the Doctor thought she looked beautiful.

And more importantly, she looked so happy. Genuinely, smiling from ear to ear, eyes sparkling happy.

Most importantly, it wasn't for just that moment. She was happy as they rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and they played a game where if you saw a goat on the mountain, you punched the other rider (the Doctor and Rory were both sure that they would have bruised arms the next day from that game).

She was happy as they ran all over Tom Sawyer Island, and she and the Doctor took a moment in a secluded corner of one of the caves to steal a kiss.

She was happy as they rode the Haunted Mansion, and watched as a Hitchhiking Ghost sat in their Doombuggy, which was already crammed full with all four of them in one car.

She was also happy because out of the four rides they'd ridden, she had spotted the Hidden Mickeys on three of the four rides.

They rode It's a Small World, and Peter Pan's Flight. They went in the 3-D theatre and watched Mickey's Phillharmagic, and they rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. They rode the teacups, River riding with Rory and Amy riding with the Doctor, and both pairs were having a competition to see which cup could be spun faster... None of them could walk when they got off of the ride, and the Doctor tripped into a flower bed full of topiaries of Alice in Wonderland characters.

By then, their Fastpasses for Space Mountain were ready, so they walked over to Tomorrowland, and wound through the slightly confusing, and very long queue for the coaster. Upon arriving at the loading gate, the Doctor was put in the front seat, with River behind him, Amy in the car behind her, and Rory in the back. The car passed into a small corridor that flashed many colors of lights, making them feel like they were traveling much faster than they really were. From the tunnel, the cars emerged into what looked like some sort of large space station and from there, they shot off into "space", circling down the track through the darkness and "stars". The Doctor had to admit, it was pretty close to traveling through the Vortex and then space when in the TARDIS, but there were some glaring errors between the two, and he was going to point these out after the ride when River placed one had over his mouth and used the other to grab his wrist and pull him over to where they showed the pictures taken of the cars throughout the ride. The Doctor had his hands in the air and a huge grin on his face, River was rolling her eyes at him but laughing all the same, Amy was screaming, and Rory looked bored.

"Where do they even take the pictures?" Rory asked in annoyance upon seeing this.

"Exactly. You screamed through the whole ride, and they managed to get a picture of you looking bored," Amy responded while laughing.

"I did not scream through the whole ride!"

The Doctor bought the picture anyway.

They all agreed that they would ride skip Stitch's Great Escape... for obvious reasons, so they went to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin next. They all realized that it may not have been the best decision because River broke the score-keeper on the car. The cars held two people each and were equipped with small "laser blasters" that riders were supposed to use to hit targets with "Z"s on them (standing for Zurg, the evil emperor, sworn enemy of the Galactic alliance). So basically, it was like a ride through competitive shooting arcade. The electronic score-keepers could count up to 999,999, but River must have gotten at least four times that score by the end of the ride, causing the small, light-up board to spark and go out. The Doctor ducked down to hide just in case it decided to explode as well.

When they got off, River had the most self-satisfied smirk on her face, and the Doctor looked at her and said, "Really, River, must you look so smug?"

She just laughed and patted his cheek. "Oh, my love, I've seen you look this smug more times than I can count, and you're just jealous that I won."

They headed back to Fantasyland at the Doctor's request, and they noticed something a bit strange for the first time... The Snow White's Scary Adventures ride that they had ridden during their first day in the park was gone and covered with a wall to hide what appeared to be some renovations, and there was a stone wall on their right encircling what appeared to be trees and some other buildings that they couldn't see very clearly.

"Was that always there?" Amy asked as she, Rory, and River all stared at it with confused expressions on their faces.

The Doctor just smiled. He didn't stop to explain, but he grabbed River's right hand and Amy's left, who in turn grabbed Rory's left hand, and he led them off to the gate in the stone wall. He flashed his psychic paper at a few Castmembers standing outside of it, and they nodded and stepped away from the stone arch. The Doctor led the others past a cottage among some pine trees; it was Maurice's cottage from Beauty and the Beast. He pulled them across a bridge lined with lampposts that had carved mythical creatures at their bases, through an opening in what looked like a mountainside that was held up by carvings of more mythical creatures. From the entrance, they walked down a hall that had suits of armor on either side, and... were those suits of armor moving a bit? And talking?

The three Ponds looked confused, and the Doctor just smiled. "I know you've all seen Beauty and the Beast, so at least some of this should look familiar...

The hallway led to a room that looked liked the Beast's parlor, with the great fireplace and the "Master's Chair". When they were part way through the room and close to the door on the opposite side of the room, the Doctor asked them all to close their eyes. They all looked doubtfully at him, but he insisted. He opened the doors and pulled them through. When they had crossed the threshold and he had pulled them all into the centre of the room, he bid them open their eyes, so they did.

And they all gasped at what they saw.

The Doctor smiled at their shocked but amazed faces. They were standing in the middle of the Beast's ballroom, the setting of the famous scene of the movie's title song. There were two tables for two at opposite ends of the room: one over by the windows and one at the other end. When they were finished looking around themselves, they all walked over to the Doctor and enveloped him in a group/family hug. The Doctor and River sat at the table next to the windows and Amy and Rory took the other table.

"My love, how could you have possibly have managed this? ...I think I know now how all of this got here, but..."

"How do you think it got here?" the Doctor responded with a small smirk.

"When we made the trip from the last hotel back to the Floridian in the TARDIS we moved to a different time as well: one a bit in the future from where we were."

"Yes. That would be it."

River smiled. "This place is beautiful. It's hard to believe that it was possible for them to build a building that is so faithful to what was drawn in an animated movie..." she looked around at the painted ceiling and gorgeous chandelier before looking out the enormous windows looking out over a forest and valley covered in show. She looked over at her parents who were laughing and talking while holding hands. She turned back to the Doctor. "You know, all day today I couldn't help but think that... well, I have this nagging feeling that I've been here before, and I don't mean that because we were here a few days ago. I mean... just there were a few things that looked familiar and seemed to try to bring something to surface in my mind that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's nothing, but it doesn't really matter, I guess. I mean, it's not an unpleasant feeling, just... strange."

The Doctor looked at her for a moment. He wasn't really sure what to respond with; there were so many holes in River's mind from her manipulated childhood with the Silence that it could be very possible that she'd been here before and wouldn't really remember it, but he didn't want to try to pry into a reason. The Trancitluzion had done enough damage by bringing up painful memories for her, and he didn't want to accidentally drag more of those to the surface. Instead, he placed his hand over hers on the table. She smiled, and took his hand more firmly before standing up and leading him to the centre of the ballroom. She adjusted her grip on his hand and placed his other hand on her waist and they danced in the ballroom of the Beast's Castle. River had always loved Beauty and the Beast, and it was like a dream come true for her to experience it in a way that was first hand.

Amy and Rory watched from across the ballroom with content and proud smiles on their faces before they stood up and began to dance together too.

After the dinner and dancing, they rode the Ariel's Undersea Adventure ride, which Amy loved, and watched the Wishes! fireworks spectacular from the back of the New Fantasyland area. It actually had a wonderful view. They had all put their matching Mickey Mouse ears back on during the fireworks. For some reason they felt like it was something they should do.

They were about to walk through Cinderella's castle to leave the park when River remembered something.

"We haven't ridden the Carousel yet!" She ran back to the entrance for the beautiful ride, and the other three followed her. There were very few people left in the park, so there was no line and the ride itself was empty. The Castmember running it let them right on, and River immediately ran to a large horse in the second row from the outermost row of horses. It was covered in red and blue roses, and directly to the right of it (in the outermost row) was a horse with Centurion-style armor on. Rory mounted this horse, and the Doctor took the one to River's left which had many bright colors and streamers on it. Amy sat on the horse to the Doctor's left, and it was adorned in feathers and gems. The ride started as soon as they were all properly mounted, and the music organ began to play When You Wish Upon a Star. The horses raced in their circles around and around while the only family on the ride looked at the park around them. They all noticed with some wonder that the whole of Main Street could be seen through the castle when they went around, and that you could see the other families and people walking towards the train station and the park exit. The whole place was peaceful in a way that is known to few; only when it is just before park closing and one is lucky enough to be on the last ride of the night. River couldn't help but smile a huge, genuine smile as she looked at the park then at her family, and the Doctor, Amy, and Rory all did the same. But it was River who reached over to the Doctor and Rory and took their hands in hers, and the Doctor then took Amy's in his as they all sat there, enjoying the lights, the peace, and the gentle motion of the Carousel spinning on and on.

The words to the song playing could be heard softly throughout the rest of the park:

"Like a bolt out of the blue,

Fate steps in and sees you through.

When you wish upon a star,

your dreams come true."