A/N: Hey guys, this is the last chapter! Hope you liked the story and where it goes in the end- please review to tell me what you think, if you liked it, what could be better etc. Enjoy :)
"Oh Reinette. The girl who waited," tears trickle down the Doctor's face. "Too long, I think, too long." I wipe away his tears and find ones of my own falling to the floor. He leans forwards to clear them away and our lips meet for the last time- the love that never was. I pull away, knowing that if I stay then it will only make me want to go with him and I can't. Inky blackness surrounds us and I wonder where we are. Certainly not the pirate ship, that's for sure.
"Doctor, my lonely angel. I've been thinking," I say, hoping my voice will be strong, just this once. "I know about that world. I know the secret. It wasn't real was it? The second we went towards that star nothing was real. Where was Rose? It's not right that you would stray from her side and join me. I saw inside your mind and you would never do that. You said it yourself; Neverland and Peter Pan and Captain Hook aren't real- a figment of an author's imagination. Maybe it hasn't been real from the start that you took me away in my dreams and I'm dead in reality. Whichever way, and I don't know, I had an adventure." He smiles at me and hugs me again.
"So where are we? Is this like a final meeting place or something?" I ask.
"It's a vortex between the dream world and reality. When you died in the sword fight that world closed up, because it was only alive because of you and the Tardis. I created it for you. I took you from the dead and brought you back to life for one adventure, and I promise you it was the best." He smiles sadly. "But the clock is ticking; we've not got long to say good bye. This vortex will collapse and I will be back in the Tardis. You'll be dead, wherever that is."
"I- I don't know what to say now." Tears stream down my face. "All those years when I thought of what to say to you if you ever returned and I can't think of a single word! I think, maybe I'll say it now. I- I love you." It's out and I can't get it back again. The Doctor smiles weakly.
"I know; I saw your mind." But he doesn't say whether he loves me back. Can he hear the sound of my heart breaking? I already knew it though.
"Will I ever see you again?" I ask, my voice shaking with tears.
"No, I don't think so," a sob racks my whole body.
"Doctor, my lonely angel, my imaginary friend. I'll miss you to the heavens and back, but please, Fireplace Man, don't forget me," they are the last words I utter to him before the inky blackness swallows him.
I stand alone for a while sobbing my heart out. There's a terrible hollowness inside me threatening to swallow me up. I'm dead- I have nothing to go to- is this heaven? Out of the blackness I see a figure emerging.
"Starkey?" I ask. It can't be. "Starkey!" I run to hug him and he nearly topples over with the sudden force. I'm so glad I'm not alone. A friendly face is the one thing I need right now. "Thank you, thank you!" He grins at me and I laugh. I'm so relieved. "You died for me," I remember. "Why?"
"Because..." he sighs. He just can't seem to spit out what he wants to say. "Because I-I think you're beautiful and I love you." The Doctor fades from my mind and I look into Starkey's eyes- they are as green as the sea he sailed upon. He leans inwards and our lips crash. I feel the warmth of his body as he pulls me closer to him. There is something special about him that none of the other pirates had and I can't quite put my finger on it. I wind my fingers up to his curly hair as he holds my hips. I pull my hands lightly around his neck; his skin is burning and hot to touch, but through the cloth on his shoulders I can feel the muscles, hard and smooth. I know that sometime this has to stop, but I don't want it to. And neither does he. We finally separate and he smiles at me.
Suddenly the light changes from black to blinding white and I blink, trying to adjust to the bright light. A booming voice sounds from all around us and I look around, expecting to see someone but there is no one here except us.
"When one truly finds love, they join me in heaven." So we are in heaven now and we are in love. My heart that has been hollow since I was ten years old is filled with my love for Starkey. I look into his smiling eyes once more before our lips brush tenderly and we walk away from our former lives, ready to make a new one together.