A deep silence fell between the people. River shook her head over and over, denying it and debating whether or not to clamp a hand over the Doctor's mouth, if that would help. John and Sherlock remained rooted to the spot. Clara looked immediately like she wanted to take back the two horrible words she'd said.
The Doctor only gave her a Cheshire grin.
"Cassalvidexgallifrain."
A deep boom sounded four times over, shaking the Fields and making the grass tremble and shrink away. River ran to the Doctor's side and took his hand, and the Doctor reached out for Clara's hand.
She shrank away from it. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm—the Fields, Doctor, they were torturing me, I didn't even mean to—"
"You are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven." She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Are the voices gone?"
"Yes." Clara pressed her face into his jacket and cried. "I'm sorry. Please, you have to know, I didn't mean to say it. I didn't want to. Please tell me you're not going to die!"
He wrapped his arms around her and River followed suit. He gave both girls a kiss on their foreheads. "The TARDIS should be coming back soon." Almost as if on cue, the TARDIS wheezed its way back to the Fields, coming back in a dark, low color that hummed with its new source of control. "The Time Lords have locked onto the name, like a signal. They're using the power in the Heart of the TARDIS to pull back Gallifrey."
"Can we destroy the TARDIS?" Sherlock asked weakly.
"Oh, no—I doubt she'd let you."
Up in the sky, a new, red horizon was mounting over the heavens. The air shimmered gold as Gallifrey pushed its way back into the sky, clawing its way out of the time lock with a bloody roar that pierced everyone's ears. It was a beautiful and fearsome thing to behold as the great planet opened up the clouds and the collective cry of the Time Lords, free at last, cheered for their salvation.
"Cassalvidexgallifrain," the Doctor said to himself, "the destroyer and savior of Gallifrey. I destroyed my planet and brought it back, and now it seems I have two options. I can either live as the man who brought back the Time Lords, or die as the man who eradicated them for good."
"Don't!" Clara sobbed into his shirt. "I'll do anything to stop it, please! Doctor…Dad, please stay with me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
"I don't have much time," he said solemnly. "I'll make it to your wedding, you two—I was there earlier, actually. Lovely thing, Sherlock, you have nothing to worry about. Very tasteful flower arrangements. And John, he doesn't leave you."
"I know," John said quietly.
"You'll see me in the future, when you have your son. Make sure you tell him about me, yeah?"
"Doctor—"
"Clara," he interrupted, "you get the TARDIS when this is done. It will go back to normal. River will teach you how to pilot her, and she's yours. Go on the adventures you dreamed of, my dear. Remember everything I told you, and remember the rules, and remember to save people. It's your job now—you're the new Doctor. Or whatever you want to be. I'm really not picky."
"Dad!"
"Lyradesphielumandar," he whispered softly to her, "it's your turn. Illuminate it all, for me, my girl—and remember I have always loved you and always will, until the end of time and back, a million times over. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter, even if I only got to be your proper dad for only one day. It was the best day of my life, and that's saying something."
He pulled away and John put a protective hand around Clara, who weakly tried to push him off and reach for her father. He faced them, knowing River was behind him and took a deep breath.
A sharp stab hit him through the back, twisting in the middle of his right heart, and then a similar jab was placed into his left heart. He let out a soft gasp, feeling River catch him as he fell to the ground and shivered. Regeneration energy scurried around his wounds, trying to mend them quickly and force him into another shape, but he kept his eyes off his transformation and on River's face. "Hello, sweetie," he choked. "Thank you."
"I'm never forgiving you for this," she said in a dark tone. "Never."
"You already have. And I've forgiven you, too. With me dead, the signal will be lost and Gallifrey will snap back into its time lock. You'll all be safe."
"You'll be dead."
"Ah, well, not to you, my River," he chuckled. "Carminecordilis?"
"Yes, Cassalvidexgallifrain?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to hear you say my name again, before I go. Could you kiss me, maybe?"
Tears spilled onto his chest from River's face as she leaned down, her curls a halo of gold brushing the Doctor's face, and kissed him passionately one last time before he regenerated. Blood was spilling out of stab wounds, River was holding a knife in her right hand, and she cradled the Doctor in her arms and kissed him with every cell of life in her body.
Underneath her kiss, the Doctor morphed into a new man completely and seized up with shock before opening his eyes and pulling away from the kiss. River laughed and stroked his hair. "You're finally ginger."
"Of all the times to get what I want," he laughed, and he tilted his head to speak to his friends. "Goodbye, gents. It was a good run."
Even Sherlock was in tears. "Goodbye, Doctor."
Clara ran to his side. "You—you're different. Does this mean you're going to live?"
"Not today, I'm afraid. Hold my hand, please. River, I have one more regeneration after this—you'll have to kill me again, and quickly, before I have time to regenerate." The new man, the new Doctor, reached for his daughter's hand as River laid him down on the ground. Gallifrey whined and strained against the time lock in the sky, aware that something was going wrong on the Fields below and protesting.
He glanced up at River. "I'm remembering it now—the night after Sherlock and John's wedding. It's what I'm going to think about."
She frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You'll understand soon. Goodbye, my mad lady. I love you."
Without responding, River let a heartwrenching sob out of her throat and plunged the knife back into his chest. The Doctor grunted in pain as she pulled the knife back out and slammed it back into his other heart twice, and she abandoned the knife and kissed him, even though by then the golden regeneration energy had scurried off and vanished and the Doctor looked with vacant eyes to the sky.
The giant red planet keened, losing its foothold in the universe, and with a final zap, it was pulled back into the darkness of the time lock. The TARDIS returned to its familiar blue, nearly drained of power, and the cloister bell sounded far too late.
River rested her head on the chest of the Doctor, and Clara joined her. They both held each other over the body of the most important man in their life, who looked so unfamiliar to them now. The blood pooled in his body and stopped running from the wounds, and the four people he left behind sat in silence marred by hollow sobs.