Chapter Ten: Wishing for the Stars

Jack, Emma, River, Snow, and Mulan trekked through the forest with sunset approaching. Snow and Mulan kept up front leading the group while Jack remained in between them and Emma and River, who kept the rear. Walking side-by-side with River, Emma began to grow curious about the woman, having never seen her before; then again, she had never seen anyone in that world before that day. "I'm sorry, but…are you a fairy tale character?" Her question brought an amused grin on River's face. "It's just that…everyone here is new to me until I find out who they are and…I just can't figure you out."

River chuckled. "I'm not from this world, if that's what you're asking."

Emma seemed surprised. "Oh, well, uh…where are you from?" She then began to figure it out. "Wait. You know the Doctor, too?"

"Yes," said River, with a nod. "He's my husband."

Now Emma was really surprised. She had even more questions to ask River before Mulan stopped in one spot amidst a large clearing and said, "This will do. We'll make camp here for the night. We just need to find water – collect some firewood."

"Great." Emma said. "Easy task."

"Actually, Emma, I thought it'd be best for you to stay here and guard the campsite while the rest of us get food and water." Snow suggested.

"You mean the big, empty clearing?" Emma scathingly remarked. "C'mon, you're even taking Jack with you, and he's been here no longer than I have."

"Gee, thanks," said Harkness.

Snow sighed in frustration. "I just need you to be safe…for me."

Seeing how disappointed Emma was over the thought of being left alone, River stepped in and offered her services: "I'll stay with her, so that she won't be too lonely while you're all away."

"Thank you, River. We'll be right back." Snow said, before she and Mulan went in separate directions with Jack going with Mulan.

As soon as they were alone, Emma turned to River and said, "She thinks I'm out of my element here, but I am fine."

"I know exactly how you feel. I felt useless in this world when I first came here long before you and Jack. The Doctor helped me to survive, of course, for that short period we were together."

"You've traveled with him before?"

River nodded. "We've visited countless worlds, come across millions of species, and saved the universe more times than I can remember. The Doctor is a savior, just like you. The people look to him and praise him – though many have feared him as well. But I truly believe if he were here with us right now, he'd never find us a way out like your mother has. Magic has been a great challenge for even him."

Thinking about what River was telling her, Emma stood amazed. "From what I read in that Verity Newman book, I thought for sure that the Doctor was more of a myth than this place. But, seeing that big-little blue box of his, it's just so…incredible. The idea of him being an alien from another world. I mean, that's a whole different thing to take in."

"For you and many others he has traveled with."

"You mean more people have traveled with him?"

"Oh, darling, he's shown the stars to countless others. Companions, he calls us. I've only got to meet two of them, because they were my parents, of course. But he takes so many with him to keep himself from being lonely. We're all that he's got and it tears him apart to see us leave him – whether it's by choice or…" She paused somberly and added with a hint of hesitation, "by death."

Emma drew concern from that last part. "He's had people die from journeying with him?" She then remembered the names of the people that were mentioned during her first time in the TARDIS. "Amy and Rory – they died." She saw River confirm this with a sad nod. "But I thought they were taken by those…" She stumbled on the peculiar name of the species that the Doctor referred in their earlier discussion, settling on a more layman terminology, "…those angel things and sent away to another time or something."

"To the Weeping Angels, living the rest of your lifespan in another timeline is considered death."

Emma shrugged on the idea. "Sounds like a pretty lenient death sentence."

"Not for the Doctor – he hates to see his companions grow old, when he can't himself – not like regular humans. When you dedicate a lifetime's worth of journeying with the Doctor, you must anticipate the consequences for yourself and him."

"I'd welcome that kind of journey. To see the stars – to see other planets outside our solar system – that's practically a dream to a lot of people. Even I dreamt of something like that once."

River smiled. "Well, perhaps you'll get your chance when we return home."

Hope sparked into the eyes of Emma. "Me? Travel with the Doctor?"

"Emma Swan – Companion of the Doctor." River teased.

Emma silently admitted how captivating that title sounded – and even a tad overwhelming. She thought back to that brief moment in the TARDIS – how huge it looked on the inside to her and others who stepped inside of it. With a surprise like that, she wondered what more she could see of the Doctor's life. Would it be more thrilling than what she had seen so far in the world she was born in?