River held his, or rather her, sonic screwdriver thoughtfully, she wondered if her death was soon, the death she had read about in Donna Noble's diary. A few days later she found a surprise at her door, Sophia had decided to visit.

"Now that my goals are accomplished I think it's time to help you," the Gallifreyian Timelady said.

"What do I need help with," River asked curiously.

"Do you remember that book I gave you? Donna Noble's diary, which tells about a woman with curly hair dying in the doctor's stead, your death. Didn't you ever wonder how I knew to give it to you so soon after meeting you?"

River was speechless, she hadn't thought about that for even a moment in the years since she had received Donna's journal. She shook her head and Sophia then told her a story.

The regular meetings of the Doctor's former companions had been going on for over a year when Wilfred Mott joined. He talked to them about his own experiences and those of his granddaughter; he also relayed to them his growing concern for Donna's nightmares. Rory, knowing the eventual outcome of Wilfred's problem suggested the solution of a diary.

It was a few months later that Sophia and Jack Harkness were introduced to the group. Sarah Jane welcomed them into her home and brought them to the rest of the group in her foyer. Upon seeing Jack again Martha ran into his arms and was spun around in a tight hug. Rory and Amy looked at one another, trying to gauge how they should react to seeing Sophia and Jack when they would meet for the first time again in five centuries.

"Amy Williams," she said with a smile, introducing herself to Jack.

He gave her one of his best smiles. "Pleasure to meet you Amy."

Rory glared and stepped up and placed himself between his wife and the 51st century flirt. "And I'm Rory, her husband."

To Rory's shock Jack gave him the same smile he had given Amy. "Not a problem, it's a pleasure to meet you too."

Sophia rolled her eyes next to him. "Jack behave yourself."

"I'm just saying hello."

"It's never just hello with you."

Amy laughed. "It's alright. Um, it's nice to meet you both."

Over time they adjusted to Jack and Sophia's presence in the group, even though Amy and Rory knew they couldn't say anything about their future.

A few years later they began the memory record, each of them writing down and recording their experiences with the Doctor. Then they placed all of their files where they would be secure. Amy and Rory were very careful in the recollections they put into the memory vault, censoring all information about River being Melody. Then Wilf brought Donna's diary; he had taken it one day when she wasn't around. She attributed losing it to her general forgetfulness.

When everyone was leaving for the evening Rory held the diary in his hands, and walked up to Sophia. "Can we talk?"

She looked at him inquisitively. "Of course."

He looked around to make sure no one could overhear and then continued. "I know who you are, Amy and I both know. Everyone else, they just think you're another human companion, except Jack."

"How do you know?"

He sighed. "The first time we met you was in your future. You'll find the Doctor and go off with him to find survivors. But before you go you'll meet my oldest daughter, and you'll have to give her this journal. I know that you will because that's how I know what it says about her. She will die for the Doctor. But you're a Timelord, so you better find a way for her to live."

She accepted the journal from his hands and with an unreadable expression on her face replied. "I'll do my best."

"Don't just do your best. Please, I'm begging you; find a way for River to live."

"So I promised your father countless centuries ago to find a way to save you, and I have. I know where you die and when, it's almost a fixed point, much like the Doctor's death. It's possible to find a way around a fixed point; it just takes a lot of work."

River took a deep breath, still processing everything. "So what do we need to do?"

Sophia smiled. "We just need a little technology that you should be familiar with."

So River was ready, whenever she went on an expedition from that point on she made sure she was protected. Then the day came for her to take a trip to the Library.

Despite her foreknowledge nothing could have prepared her for the shock of meeting a Doctor who didn't know her. It hurt her more than anything she could remember. She looked into his eyes and felt a part of herself die.

She watched her team die and hated the pain in every loss.

Then she watched as the man she loved was about to sacrifice himself for everyone inside the Library's database. She knew then that this is how it always would have been. He would always have risked his live and she would sacrifice herself for him.

And what greater reason would he have to trust her than knowing not only that he told her his true name but that she would die for him. Her trust in him at her death led to his faith in her when she killed him.

She needed him to know that she would die; she knew that she could never see him again. She cried, telling him that he couldn't rewrite their lives, their moments, just as he had told her once that she couldn't rewrite time. Funny how they both wanted to rewrite time to save each other. She loved him and she sacrificed herself so that it would all begin.

So the tenth Doctor saw River Song die in a great bright light. Her body was gone and her suit remained. Donna found him some time later and used the sonic screwdriver to unlock him from the pole. Together they moved the suit, containing whatever remained of River Song to a place that would be safe. Then he laid her diary to rest in the Library and uploaded her memory into the data core. River Song was dead...

Or not...

In a private laboratory vessel Sophia and Olivia knew exactly what was happening to River Song. The technology used to keep her safe was one that had been used to kidnap her as a child. River was able to travel to the Library as Flesh, in complete control of her own thoughts and actions. Her flesh avatar died in the Library but her body was safe.

"Something's wrong," Olivia said in a panicked voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Her brain waves, they're abnormal, something has happened to her."

"Try waking her up."

"I did, it's not working."

Sophia placed a gentle hand on the much younger Timelady's back. "Don't worry; we'll get her back safely. I think that some of her brain waves may have been taken into the mainframe of the Library, we'll just need to get close enough to upload them back into our computers and reintegrate them."

They traveled to orbit of the Library where they could access the system and after a difficult time they were able to retrieve River's memory patterns. However even though the upload was successful River's body began to shut down and her vital signs were becoming critical.

"You said this would work! There has to be something more we can do," Olivia pleaded.

Sophia looked just as worried. "Unless she is able to gain energy from somewhere I don't know what more we can do. Usually flesh deaths are simple, this one was complicated. How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

"What about regeneration energy? Mom told me that she used her regeneration energy to restore dad, could the same thing be done now?"

The older woman wasn't sure what to say at first. The plan had potential, but there was no regeneration energy present. "If one of us had just regenerated then yes, there would be a way to do it, but we're both healthy."

Then had one of her mother's expressions, very much a trait of Pond women, an expression of unwavering determination and trouble. "I'll do it then, for her to live."

Some Timelords, gifted in their arts can spark a regeneration without being fatally wounded. Olivia focused her energy and regenerated, passing any energy she could into her mother.

River Song awoke to her daughter's new face smiling down on her. "What happened?"

"There were difficulties in retrieving you, but we succeeded."

River smiled sadly. "Thank you. I only wish your father could know I'm alive."

Olivia shifted her gaze away. "He's gone, no one knows where to find the Doctor anymore. He was so distraught after leaving you the last time that he just left."

River nodded sadly. "He'll return one day. I suppose now that I'm 'dead' I should go home."

"Which home?"

"My parents, I've seen my family grow up, I may as well actually become part of it. I can finally live a normal life with my parents and sisters and brother. I do believe Hope was engaged the last time I visited and I'd hate to miss the wedding."

Olivia nodded, unsure of what to say. River stood up and hugged her daughter. "You and your brother may visit at any time you know. They are your family."

"Then I think we'll have to make regular trips."

"You'd better."

So it was decided, River Song would become Melody Williams and live with her family as a part of the family. And for several years they lived as close to normal as a family so impacted by the Doctor could. Then Sophia came back because the universe needed River Song again

TBC

Still more to come. Reviews appreciated.