A/N: This one takes place not too long after TATM, but long enough afterward that the initial grief has worn off. I pulled this word from the hat and immediately knew what to write about. I was hoping this would clear up some things. Enjoy! : )

28: Clouds- a visible mass of particles of condensed vapor (as water or ice) suspended in the atmosphere of a planet or moon

The Doctor walked back to the console. He'd been looking for River, to no avail. She wasn't in the library, the living room, the swimming pool, or their bedroom. He had also checked the wardrobe, but she wasn't in there either. He sighed and walked around the console when he realized that the TARDIS was no longer in the time vortex. She had landed.

Well, that explains it, the Doctor thought. She's gone out. Probably off on some adventure. I can't believe she left without me!

He exited his ship, deciding to go off and find her. About a second and a half after he stepped out of the blue box he found what he was looking for, almost colliding into his wife in the process.

"Ah, River! There you are. I've been looking for you." He sat down next to her and looked around. The TARDIS was parked on a cloud high up in Earth's atmosphere and River was sitting on the edge, her feet dangling in midair, merely observing the other clouds as they passed by. The Doctor placed the back of his hand against her forehead to gauge her temperature, frowning. "Are you… feeling all right, dear?"

She looked at him for a moment, confused by the randomness of his question. "Yes... Are you?"

"I'm fine, I was just asking if you are."

"I'm always fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because… you do realize we're on a cloud, right?" he asked slowly, looking at her with concern.

River laughed then. "Yes, I realize. I landed us here."

"Are you sure you don't have a fever? Come here." He moved closer and pressed his lips to her forehead, trying to get a better sense of her temperature. "You're not warm; you feel fine to me."

"I'm fine," she said as she leaned her head the other way, out of his reach. "I don't have a fever. I landed us here on purpose and I know full well what I'm doing. I'm not ill."

"Okay. Then… Why exactly are you sitting on a cloud?"

"I don't know, I thought it was nice."

"Nice?"

"You really have no sense of the word 'calm,' do you? It's nice and quiet. There aren't any university students up here to repeatedly ask me if I've graded their papers yet, there aren't any aliens trying to kill me, and there isn't any noise. It's calm."

The Doctor appeared confused. "Who likes calm? It's so boring!"

"To you, maybe," she exclaimed with a laugh. "But to me, it's wonderful, at least sometimes, in between the chaos. To just be able to sit up here for a while and not worry about the tests I have to grade or the students failing my class. And besides, it's a good place to go when you've lost someone. It's easier to think up here, with no noise to distract me. I can remember them."

"Amy and Rory," he said, looking down over the edge of the cloud.

"Amy and Rory," she repeated, validating the sentence that had been half statement, half question.

He thought for a moment, sitting in silence. "Do you do this often? Sit on clouds, I mean."

She smiled, realizing how absurd that would sound to any normal person. "Sometimes. You really should try it."

"Maybe someday."

"It really does help. Doctor." River paused pensively. "When I die- don't you give me that look, we both know it'll happen someday- when I die, find a nice cloud and sit for a while. Just think. Remember all the things we've done together, all the times I nearly drove you mad. Do that for me."

"Anything for you, my dear."

And the Doctor made a promise right then: after River went to library in both of their time streams, he would find a cloud and stay for a while. He would think of her, how beautiful and kind she was and how she made his world something more than it had been before. He would stay as long as it would take to give her a proper memorial in his mind, a place where her memory could live on in his hearts forever. He would do that for her.