I know the time between my stories has been pretty long, but through no fault of my own everyone around me seems to think that when I have time off it means I want to hang out with them…yeah. I've worked really hard on these stories and would appreciate any and all feedback that you the readers have for me. Give the good reviews or the bad ones, either way I'd be happy for them.

-0-

1,894 years later a red pinwheel turns in the breeze flowing through the simple English garden. A fine house of two stories was nestled in the middle of the garden made up of brown stone. Upstairs, a little red haired girl was saying her prayers….more or less.

"Dear Santa." Little Amelia prayed, kneeled down next to her bed with her hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I don't wake you, but, honest, it is an emergency." Amelia hesitated, casting a quick glance at the ominous crack. "There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not, because at night there's voices. So, please, please, could you send someone to fix it, or a policeman, or…" A strange wind whistles outside catching Amelia's attention. "Back in a moment."

Amelia snatched up a flashlight as she ran to the window gazing out hopefully, but there was nothing to be seen in the garden. Even the night sky was devoid of light save the moon. The little red head girl frowned in disappointment at the empty garden before turning back into her room.

-0-

Amelia sat before her psychiatrist who was looking at a painting of the moon and stars. Her aunt Sharon was there as well looking on in concern for her niece. Amelia herself was having a hard time not trying to bite the woman.

"It's a lovely painting, Amelia." Christine said turning the painting so Amelia could see it as well. "And what are all these?"

"Stars." Amelia answered simply.

"Oh, Amelia." Sharon sighed in disappointment.

"Tell you what, shall we go outside?" Christine said and the three headed outside the front door, standing just within the light of the foyer. "What do you see, Amelia?"

"The moon." Amelia gazed up at the inky expanse broken only by the light of the moon.

"And what else?" Christine asked.

"Just the dark." Amelia said.

"But no stars." Christine said. "If there were stars up there, we'd be able to see them, wouldn't we?" The psychiatrist kneeled down to Amy's height turning the girl to face her. "Amelia, look at me. You know this is all just a story, don't you? You know there's no such thing as stars."

Soon after they got their answer from Amelia they all went back inside, Aunt Sharon sending Amelia off to bed so she could talk to the psychiatrist alone, not wanting Amelia to hear what they were saying. It did no good though as Amelia could still hear them, their voices drifting up from downstairs to where Amelia stood at the head of the stairs hidden behind the banister.

"But there's bound to be a bit of her that feels alone. Amelia's a really good person." Christine said comfortingly to Sharon. "It's quite common, actually. Throughout history, people have talked about seeing stars in the sky. God knows where it comes from."

"I just don't want her growing up and joining one of those Star Cults. I don't trust that Richard Dawkins." Sharon said

Christine and Sharon walked across the hallway from the kitchen to the living room, Amelia watching them with a frown. Suddenly her attention was taken by someone in a red fez putting a leaflet through the door then going on his way. Amelia ran down to the door snatching up the pamphlet titled The Anomaly, and features the Pandorica as well as a statue titled as the Lady Pandorica at the National Museum. Written on it in red ink were the words 'Come along, Pond' with an arrow pointing to the museum.

-0-

Early the next morning Amelia and Sharon walked up to the museum. They were wrapped in their winter clothes quickening their pace to get into the warmth. As soon as they were inside Amelia det off for the Pandorica.

"Come on, Aunt Sharon." Amelia pulled her Aunt along through the crowds of the museum.

"Oh, look at that. That's good, isn't it?" Aunt Sharon pointed to one of the exhibits.

"Not that. This way." Amelia pressed on.

"But we're not looking at anything." Sharon said.

"This way!" Amelia called out as she got ahead of her Aunt.

"Amelia!" Sharon called after her.

Amelia stopped a short moment to look at the exhibit of petrified Daleks before continuing on. She paused once again to look at the statue of a lovely young woman with strange lines covering her body reaching out before her for the Pandorica, the plaque labeling her as "The Lady Pandorica". The petrified woman's hair was flowing out behind her along with her skirt, looking as though she had been turned to stone mid run, and there were rips on the belle sleeves of her blouse, but it was her face that was most striking. It spoke of desperation, a deep unyielding desperation to get to what she was reaching for.

She glanced at the lady one more time before pushing through the people standing looking at the Pandorica. Someone snatched her Original Cola drink from her, out of sight before she could spot them. When she turned back to the Pandorica there was a post-it note stuck to it saying 'Stick around Pond.'

Behind her the man in a Fez holding her Original Cola paused at the entrance looking up at the Lady Pandorica with a deep physically pained look in his eyes. He reached into his pocket taking out a cluster of small white and purple roses setting them down at the feet of the statue and sending her a soft kiss before he disappeared.

"Amelia!" Sharon called out. Amelia ran hiding behind the exhibit of the Lady Pandorica amongst the arrangement of flowers and shrubbery that covered the base. "Amelia? Amelia?" Closing time came and still Sharon could find no sign of her niece. "Amelia!"

'Amelia Pond, please go to the reception, please. Your aunt is waiting for you there. Amelia Pond, please go to reception.' Is called over the speakers, but still Amelia does not come out until all is quiet and she is sure she's alone. She creeped out from behind the Lady Pandorica display, knocking down the small cluster of white flowers that had been place there.

"Sorry." Amelia said as she picked up the cluster of flowers, turning them over thoughtfully in her hand before she placed them back in front of the statue. She quickly returned to the Pandorica and removed the post-it note. She put her hand on the Pandorica which triggered the Pandorica to open. Amelia backed away wincing at the brightness of the light, only lowering her hand when the person inside spoke to her.

"Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated." Amy said as she sagged in the chair of the Pandorica.

-0-

1,894 years previously Rory had the body of Amy lying across his lap having shot her against his will. He had tried, desperately struggled to against whatever was controlling him, but he couldn't stop it. He had raised his hand, his fingers had fallen away, and he had shot her.

"So the universe ended. You missed that, in 102 AD." Rory said, his face streaked with tears and his voice thick with pain. "I suppose this means you and I never get born at all. Twice, in my case." He forced out a weak laugh. "You would have laughed at that. Please laugh." Rory begged brokenly. "The Doctor and Stella said the universe was huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there were miracles. I could do with a ridiculous miracle about now.

The Doctor popped in from thin air with a crackle of energy, wearing a red fez and carrying a mop.

"Rory!" The Doctor cheered upon spotting the shocked Centurion. "Listen, she's not dead. Well, she is dead, but it's not the end of the world. Well, it is the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the universe. Oh, no." The Doctor looked down at the mop in his hands. "Hang on."

The Doctor vanished again.

"Doctor? Doctor!" Rory called out and the Doctor reappeared, without the mop this time.

"You need to get me out of the Pandorica." The Doctor said.

"But you're not in the Pandorica." Rory replied in confusion.

"Yes, I am." The Doctor shot right back. "Well, I'm not now, but I was back then. Well, back now from your point of view, which is back then from my point of view." The Doctor ranted on only confusing Rory even more. "Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's easy to open from the outside. Just point and press." The Doctor gave Rory his sonic screwdriver. "Now go." The Doctor vanished and returned. "Oh, and when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket. Good luck."

He disappeared once again, not coming back this time.

"What do you mean? Done what?" Rory called out, but there was no answer. Gently setting Amy on the ground giving her one last lingering look of guilt, love, and loss he stood to his feet rushing for the Pandorica. As soon as she was inside he glanced down at the sonic before pointing it at the Pandorica opening it up with a press of a button. The Doctor looked up with red rimmed eyes and streaks of tears marring his cheeks, his face a mask of shock as he was released from the chair.

"Rory?!" The Doctor blurted out in a croaky voice. "How did you do that?"

"You gave me this." Rory said as the Doctor stood and stepped down from the Pandorica taking his screwdriver from his own pocket, using his free hand to wipe at is face with the back of her sleeve.

"No, I didn't." The Doctor sniffed, schooling his features.

"You did. Look at it." Rory argued. The Doctor slowly extended his sonic touching his screwdriver to Rory's causing them to spark.

"Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream." The Doctor said. "Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future." The Doctor smiled weakly. "I've got a future. That's nice." As the Doctor slipped his sonic back into his pocket, Rory still holding his other from the future, something that ripped his hearts caught his eye. He sprinted over to his Starlight, now no more than a fossilized statue. "Stella! No, no, no, no…."

She had escaped from the grasp of the lizard men, the female lying in on the ground holding her leg to her chest in pain, and was shoving past one of the Dalek. Her hand was desperately outstretched before her mid run trying to reach for him before the Pandorica closed, but she was too late. The Doctor slowly reached up gently cupping her stone face running his thumbs over her rough cheeks as tears slipped down from his eyes.

"What happened to her? What happened to all of them?" Rory gasped out. Not only was Stella stone, but so was everyone who was in the chamber when the universe had ended.

"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images." The Doctor replied mechanically, his voice laced with pain. "Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the….never-were."

"Er, what does that mean?" Rory asked gently.

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened." The Doctor looked into Stella's stone eyes, so cold and distant, not a trace of the warmth he adored.

His eyes dropped from hers, not able to look into them anymore, falling on the statue behind her with the dagger still poised to strike, frozen barely an inch from Stella's back. The Doctor walked around Stella and pushed it over to the ground, causing it to shatter on impact. Not stopping there he did the same to the other stone Lacerta, pushing it down allowing them to shatter on the stone ground landing on the injured one shattering her as well.

"Doctor, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?" Rory asked hesitantly as the Doctor starred down at the remains of the statues, breathing hard in his anger and loss.

"Nothing." The Doctor shook his head, his arms flopping to his sides as he hung his head. "Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out." The Doctor spotted a cluster of small white and purple roses at his feet, slowly reaching down and picking them up holding them close to his hearts. Suddenly he looked up to Rory. "Amy. Where's Amy?"

-0-

Rory led the Doctor back up to the surface, the Doctor rushing over to Amy who was covered in a blanket while her fiancé hovered over them looking on brokenly.

"I killed her." Rory said tearfully.

"Oh, Rory." The Doctor sighed as he looked over Amy.

"Doctor, what am I?" Rory questioned.

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity." The Doctor answered.

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped." Rory said desperately as the doctor scanned Amy with his sonic, looking over the readings. "I'm Rory."

"That's software talking." The Doctor argued then heard Stella's voice in his head.

'I'd give anything for them to be happy again'

"Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?" Rory begged, breaking the Doctor out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time." The Doctor stood up dismissively.

"The time?" Rory echoed indignantly as he snapped to his feet.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky." The Doctor stepped over Amy's prone form looking up at the sky, a painful stab to his hearts at the starless expanse of black. "Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

"She is to me!" Rory belted the Doctor straight across the face sending him crashing to the ground.

"Welcome back, Rory Williams!" The Doctor sprung back up, his jaw cracking back into place. "Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning."

The Doctor walked away, Rory scrambling to pick up Amy and follow him down back to the Pandorica. The Doctor placed Amy gently inside the large box as Rory hovered around him.

"So you've got a plan, then?" Rory asked hopefully.

"Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night." The Doctor explained to Rory as he made sure that Amy was all set up. "The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul." The Doctor gently placed his fingers against her head like a mind meld. "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening."

The Doctor stepped back and sealed Amy inside the Pandorica.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Rory demanded as the Pandorica sealed up.

"Saving her." The Doctor replied. "This box is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive."

"But she's already dead." Rory said.

"Well, she's mostly dead." The Doctor corrected him. "The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. Now, all it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?" Rory asked.

"In about two thousand years." The Doctor checked his watch.

"Could you do that for Stella to?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"No…she….she doesn't exist…anymore. There's no way to get a live DNA signature." The Doctor took a shaky breath looking over to Stella. He knew that the only reason he was doing all of this was because she'd want him to save Amy and Rory, but after they were safe…

-0-

Amy fell out of the Pandorica bracing herself against the floor on her hand and knees, gasping for air.

"Are you all right? Who are you?" Amelia questioned.

"I'm fine. I'm supposed to rest. Got to rest, the Doctor says." Amy said in a breathy voice.

"What doctor?" Amelia asked.

"He's in here." Amy tapped her head as she struggled to stand up. "Left a message in my head like I'm an answerphone. Where am I?" Amy looked around herself. "Hang on. National Museum, right? I was here once when I was a little…" Amy's eyes widened as she looked down at Amelia. "Yeah, complicated." Amy stood in front of Amelia checking the young girl's height and picking at her hair. "Let's see, it's what, 1996?"

"Who are you?" Amelia asked watching as Amy moved around the room.

"It's a long story." Amy replied then spotted the timeline of the Pandorica on the far wall. "Oh. A very long story."

It was depicted starting at 118AD when the Pandorica was taken back to Rome under armed guard along with a statue of 'The Lady Pandorica.'. In 420AD it was raided by the Franks, then in 1120AD they were the prized possessions of the Knights Templar, and in 1231 they were donated to the Vatican.

-0-

The Doctor took River's vortex manipulator from her bag and strapped it to his wrist. He checked over the readings as he typed in his destination. He tried his best not to look over at Stella's stone form, his hearts aching with pain.

"She's going to be in that box for two thousand years?" Rory asked in worry.

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut." The Doctor said finishing up with the manipulator as he talked to Rory. "River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So hang on. The future's still there, then. Our world." Rory said uncertainly.

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky." The Doctor explained as he held out his arm with the manipulator on it. "Let's go and have a look. You put your hand there." The Doctor held up his arm, but Rory continued to look at the Pandorica. "Don't worry. Should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Rory replied looking to the Pandorica.

"She'll be fine." The Doctor assured him. "Nothing can get into this box."

"Well, you got in there." Rory pointed out.

"Well, there's only one of me. I counted." The Doctor replied.

"This box needs a guard." Rory said in determination. "I killed the last one."

"No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it." The Doctor shook his head.

"She'll be all alone." Rory said.

"She won't feel it." The Doctor tried.

"You bet she won't." Rory said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Two thousand years, Rory." The Doctor said. "You won't even sleep. You'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Will she be safer if I stay?" Rory asked. "Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

"Rory, you…" The Doctor tried to argue.

"Answer me!" Rory cut him off.

"Yes. Obviously." The Doctor relented in frustration.

"Then how could I leave her?" Rory asked.

"Why do you have to be so human?" The Doctor shook his head with a small smile.

"Because right now, I'm not." Rory answered simply.

"Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time." The Doctor gave him a serious look before going into his orders for Rory. "You're living plastic, but you're not immortal. I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of…"

The Doctor vanished before he could finish his sentence leaving Rory on his own. He put on his helmet, drew his sword and settled down next to the Pandorica, his sword laying across his legs, ready to begin the longest stint of guard duty in history.

'According to legend, wherever the Pandorica and Statue of the Lady Pandorica was taken, throughout its long history, the Centurion would be there, guarding them.'

-0-

'He appears as an iconic image in the artwork of many cultures, and there are several documented accounts of his appearances, and his warnings to the many who attempted to open the box before its time. His last recorded appearance was during the London blitz in 1941. The warehouse where the Pandorica and the Lady Pandorica were stored was destroyed by incendiary bombs, but the box and Statue itself were found the next morning, a safe distance from the blaze. There are eyewitness accounts from the night of the fire of a figure in Roman dress, carrying the box from the flames then returning and carrying out the statue. Since then, there have been no sightings of the Lone Centurion, and many have speculated that if he ever existed, he perished in the fires of that night, performing one last act of devotion to the box and statue he had pledged to protect for nearly two thousand years.'

"Rory. Oh, Rory." Amy said softly as the audio visual presentation ended then her eyes were drawn to the statue of the Lady Pandorica, her hand going to her mouth to stifle the small sob.

"Do you know her?" Amelia asked Amy.

"Yes…" Amy took a deep breath, knowing what had happened to Stella thanks to the message he'd left in her head. "She was my best friend."

"Exterminate!"

"What's that?" Amelia asked Amy fearfully.

"Exterminate!" The stone Dalek called out again just as the Doctor appeared before Amy and Amelia.

"…trouble." The Doctor looked to the Dalek then to Amy and Amelia. "Oh. Ah, two of you. Complicated."

"Doctor! What about Stella? Can you fix her?" Amy glanced over to the Lady Pandorica. The Doctor's face fell as he too looked to Stella, but there was no time to answer.

"Exterminate! Weapons systems restoring." The Dalek said, cutting off whatever answer the Doctor might have struggled to give.

"Come along, Ponds." The Doctor urged them on, grabbing onto their hand and pulling them around the other side of the Pandorica.

"Exterminate!" The Dalek said as they ran to a Middle Eastern montage where the Doctor took the fez from one of the dummies he knocked over.

"What are we doing?" Amy asked.

"Well, we are running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan that basically involves not being in one." The Doctor replied placing the fez on his head.

"What's going on?" A man at the end of the hall with a flashlight asked.

"Get out of here. Go! Just run!" The Doctor ordered.

"Drop the device!" The Dalek ordered.

"It's not a weapon. Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste." The Doctor said quickly.

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed." The Dalek stated. The man dropped the flashlight revealing Rory in a museum guard uniform.

"Do you think?" Rory asked as his fingers drop away revealing his Auton weapon shooting the Dalek in the eye stalk.

"Vision impaired! Vision…" The Dalek cried out as it was forced to power down.

"Amy!" Rory called out.

"Rory." Amy rushed over to him and brought him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened." Rory said when they separated, but kept their arms around each other.

"Oh, Shut up." Amy kissed him deeply.

"Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on." The Doctor said coming up to them, almost coming between them.

"I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you." Rory said when they came up for more air.

"No, still shut up." Amy ordered as they lip locked again.

"And break. And breathe." The Doctor moved around them. "Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years."

"I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?" Amelia asked the Doctor, tugging on his sleeve.

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?" The Doctor said with a sigh, his mind wondering to Stella causing his hearts to give a painful tug. He placed the fez on Amelia's head, the hat slipping down over her eyes. Amelia took off the offensive hat shoving it back into his hands.

"The light." The Doctor said in realization as he gazed past the Dalek. "The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek." The Dalek's weapon started to move. "Out!" The Doctor shouted finally causing the couple to break apart. The Doctor ran out with the others following, the Doctor pulling Amelia along with him. "Out! Out!"

-0-

They ducked through some double doors, Rory and the Doctor closing them allowing the timelord to lock them with his sonic. Amy and Amelia stood back watching them, Amy concerned for her dear friend seeing the strain that was bearing down on him, the loss of Stella was torture for him.

"So, two thousand years. How did you do?" The Doctor questioned, trying to keep his mind going so he didn't have to focus on the pain in his hearts.

"Kept out of trouble. Rory shrugged.

"Oh. How?" The Doctor asked in interest, gazing in confusion at the fez in his hand before he placed it on his head.

"Unsuccessfully." Rory replied.

"Sounds familiar." The Doctor muttered to himself. "I wanted to thank you Rory." The Doctor said as he moved over to the other side of the hall. "For taking care of Stella…all those years…."

"It was nothing." Rory said with a concerned look to the Doctor then his eyes lit up in realization as the Doctor took up a mop about to use it to brace the doors they had come through. "The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah. Well, no time to lose, then." The Doctor disappeared thanks to Rivers manipulator then returned putting the mop through the door handles to the Anomaly exhibition. "Oops, sorry."

"How can he do that? Is he magic?" Amelia asked when he disappeared and reappeared again.

"Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it Rory two thousand years ago." The Doctor disappeared again then he was back again. "Right then." The Doctor retrieved his screwdriver from Amy. "Off we go!" The Doctor started up the stairs only to turn back down them. "No, hang on." He looked to Amelia. "How did you know to come here?" Amelia showed him the leaflet and the post-it note. "Ah, my handwriting. Okay." He grabbed a new leaflet and post-it note from the information desk and vanished. He returned soon after with the drink he took from Amelia earlier. "There you go. Drink up."

"What is that? How are you doing that?" Amy asked.

"Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up." The Doctor replied.

"Where are we going?" Amy asked as they followed him toward the stairs.

"The roof. The Doctor told her. Suddenly a second Doctor appeared further up the stairs, sans fez, and his clothes are smoking. He fell forward down the stairs, the others rushing to him.

"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory asked.

"Doctor, is that you?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, it's me. From the future." The Doctor breathed out. Future Doctor suddenly woke up and whispered in the Doctor's ear, then fell back again.

"Are you? I mean, is he…is he dead?" Amy struggled.

"What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he's dead." The Doctor said as he stood back up. "Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good."

"Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?" Amy asked as the Doctor stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes." The Doctor ranted. "Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof."

"We can't leave you here dead." Rory said.

"Oh, good. Are you in charge now? So tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?" The Doctor demanded starting to get frustrated. Now that he knew what was going to happen he wanted to get it over with, he didn't want to be here anymore without Stella and now he knew he wasn't going to be.

"Where did she go?" Amy asked looking down at the soda cup on the ground, but no little girl.

"Amelia?" Amy Rory called out.

"There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing." The Doctor said.

"But how can I still be here if she's not?" Amy asked.

"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm." The Doctor explained to them. "But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!

The Doctor went ahead leaving them behind.

"He won't die. Time can be rewritten. They'll find a way. I know they will." Amy said as Rory covered the dead Doctor with his jacket.

"Move it! Come on!" The Doctor called out for them.

"Restore. Restore!"

-0-

They came out on the roof through a trap door, the surrounding area illuminated by the light of a rising sun.

"What, it's morning already? How did that happen?" Amy noticed the light.

"History is shrinking. Does anybody listening to me other than Stella?" The Doctor questioned, pausing for a moment, his face drawn up in pain at the thought of his Starlight. Rory and Amy watched him in concern as he squared his shoulder moving on, sonicing a satellite dish receiver from off of its pole. "The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Looking for the Tardis." The Doctor replied waving the dish around as he stepped out onto the edge of the roof.

"But the Tardis exploded." Rory pointed out.

"Okay then, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis." The Doctor amended.

"I don't understand. So, the Tardis blew up and took the universe with it." Amy said. "But why would it do that? How?"

"Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?" The Doctor looked to a large burning ball in the sky along with his companions. "Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis."

"But that's the sun." Rory said in confusion.

"Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now." The Doctor pointed the dish at the 'sun' which was making the Tardis noise. "That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

"Doctor, there's something else." Rory listened closely.

'I'm sorry sweeties.'

"There's a voice." Rory said.

"I can't hear anything." Amy argued.

"Trust the plastic." Rory pointed to his ear.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'

"Doctor, that's River. How can she be up there?" Amy questioned upon hearing the voice of the Professor.

"It must be like a recording or something." Rory thought.

"No, it's not. The emergency protocols. Of course, the emergency protocols." The Doctor realized. "The Tardis has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion."

'I'm sorry sweeties. I'm sorry sweeties. I'm sorry sweeties.'

-0-

River was forever running to the doors, opening them and seeing the rock wall. She then looked over her shoulder as the console exploded with greater force. She knew the Doctor and Stella were coming for her, they had to, they….

"I'm sorry Sweeties." She repeated the scene once again, but this time the Doctor was standing there leaning against the door.

"Hi, honey. I'm home." The Doctor smiled slightly.

"And what sort of time do you call this?" River asked with her hands on her hips, her eyes taking in the tired countenance of the Doctor. She knew right away that something was wrong as the Doctor wordlessly took hold of her hand placing it on the manipulator and transporting them back to the roof. "Amy!" River smiled then saw Rory. "And the plastic Centurion?"

"It's okay, he's on our side." The Doctor assured her.

"Really?" River eyed Rory.

"Yeah." The Doctor nodded.

"I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh." River grinned making Rory uncomfortable as he glanced over to a smirking Amy. "Right then, I have questions, but number one is this." River turned to the Doctor. "What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?"

"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool." The Doctor replied, his smile still not reaching his eyes. River and Amy exchanged a look, the redhead snatching the fez and throwing it into the air, where River shot it into pieces making the Doctor pout. "Oh!"

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure Stella will get you another, she always loves to spoil you." River rolled her eyes, then noticed for the first time the lack of the cyborg. "Doctor, where is Stella?" The Doctor's face fell as did the faces of his companions causing River's blood to go cold. "Doctor…where is Stella?"

"She's gone." The Doctor said in a strained voice.

"What do you mean gone?!" River demanded grabbing his shoulders when he wouldn't look at her, her voice urgent.

"Exterminate!" The Dalek called out as it flew up.

"Run, run! Move, move. Go!" The Doctor ordered as the Dalek opened fire.

"Come on!" Rory pulled Amy along with River leading the way. The Doctor used the satellite dish as a shield allowing them cover to get back into the museum.

"Doctor, come on." River said as they paused in the stair well, her gun still pointed up at the trapdoor.

"Shush. It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again." The Doctor told them climbing down the ladder. "Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know?" Rory asked.

"Because that's when it's due to kill me." The Doctor replied as they went on their way.

"Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?" River echoed in a sharp tone.

"Oh, shut up. Never mind." The Doctor ordered as they made their way through the museum. "How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back. How?"

"You said the light from the Pandorica…" Rory tried.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field. But never mind, call it a light." The Doctor said as he paused in his stride. "That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

"Okay, tell us." Amy said.

"When the Tardis blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except…" The Doctor trailed off.

"Except inside the Pandorica." Amy realized.

"The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack." The Doctor grinned, getting truly excited.

"No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it." Rory shook his head.

"The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it." The Doctor smiled.

"Do what?" Amy asked.

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe." The Doctor smiled.

"Doctor, would it…would it work for Stella as well?" Amy asked hesitantly, but the Doctor moved on down the hall not answering her except for the large smile that now entered his eyes, a smile filled with hope.

"Come on!" The Doctor called out.

"Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous." River told him as they went down another hall, stopping in a doorway. "The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?" The Doctor questioned as he turned walking back up to River.

"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible." River shook her head.

"Ah no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need." The Doctor told her.

"For what?" River asked.

"Big Bang Two! Now listen…" The Doctor never got to finish his sentence, the Dalek shooting him down causing the skeleton of the Doctor to flash before he fell to the ground.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek cried out.

"Get back. River, get back now!" Rory ordered.

"Exterminate!" The Dalek yelled before Rory shot it forcing it to power down again.

"Doctor? Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?" River crouched down next to the Doctor with Amy and Rory, but the Doctor activated the vortex manipulator and vanished.

"Where did he go? Damn it, he could be anywhere." River snapped.

"He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago." Amy said in a strained voice.

"Show me!" River ordered.

"River, he died." Amy said gently.

"Systems restoring. You will be exterminated." The Dalek announced.

"We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life." Rory told them, keeping his hand trained on the monster.

"You go to the Doctor. I'll be right with you." River told them as she calmly stood up, Amy and Rory leaving the Dalek to her.

"You will be exterminated!" The Dalek said.

"Not yet. Your systems are still restoring, which means your shield density is compromised." River said as she drew her gun checking over the setting in a casual manner. "One Alpha Mezon burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead."

"Records indicate you will show mercy. You are an associate of the Doctor's." The Dalek stated.

"I'm River Song. Check your records again." River said with a dark look coupled with a dangerous smirk.

"Mercy." The Dalek said.

"Say it again." River aimed.

"Mercy!" The Dalek repeated.

"One more time." River smiled.

"Mercy!" The Dalek screamed.

River fired.

-0-

Amy and Rory raced through the halls arriving back at the stairs where they found that the Doctor's body had disappeared without a trace leaving behind Rory's jacket was.

"How could he have moved? He was dead." Rory said glancing around. "Doctor? Doctor!"

"But he was dead." Amy said.

"Who told you that?" River asked as she came down the stairs, her face like stone.

"He did." Amy replied.

"Rule one. The Doctor lies." River said looking around.

"Where's the Dalek?" Amy asked.

"It died." River said darkly before leading them off back toward the Pandorica.

-0-

Twenty Minutes earlier…

Stella slowly came to, her eyes blinking rapidly as her systems came back on. She winced slightly as her vision was filled with a bright shining light and the stiffness in her muscles was not helping. She took in her surroundings as she stepped down from the display she found herself in while stretching out her arms. Across from her was the Pandorica standing wide open and empty making her hearts jolt with hope, but then fall when she saw no sign of the Doctor.

She stepped off of the stand she found herself on eyeing the Lady Pandorica plaque then the timeline that lined the wall. Taking in all that had happened to the Pandorica and herself through the ages, listening for a time to the audio visual.

"Rory." Stella smiled slightly placing her hand against one of the depictions of Rory saving the Pandorica and herself from a burning fire. She frowned at the assumption that he had died in the blitz, but she somehow doubted that he had. If the Pandorica and herself had survived she doubted he had just left them alone in the street, she was certain that he was alive.

It was when she returned to where she had stood that she noticed notice the cluster of flowers. It was one of her clips, of that she was sure, one of her favorites in fact. She loved the swirl of the purple and white that colored the small roses. She cautiously picked it up running her fingers along the silken flowers before placing it in her hair behind her right ear. Looking around once more she made her way out of the room and into the hall, picking up her pace when she saw someone struggling down the hall using the wall for support.

"Theta!" Stella called out upon recognizing him, sprinting toward him as fast as she could.

"Starlight!?" The Doctor rasped, falling into her arms, both of them holding each other as close as possible. "You're here! It worked!" The Doctor said in relief as he kissed her. "I thought I'd lost you…"

"Never." Stella replied right away smiling lovingly as brought her into a tender kiss, this one much slower and more lingering. "What happened to you?"

"Dalek." The Doctor said giving her a brief summary of what had happened as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Big Bang two huh? Then we need to get to work." Stella said wrapping the Doctor's arm around her neck and helping him down the hall toward the Pandorica.

-0-

The Doctor was in the Pandorica surrounded by wires, most of them connected to the manipulator. He was slumped to the side breathing softly, a rolled up cloth from the Middle East exhibit under his head.

"Doctor!" Amy rushed in.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory questioned.

"You were a diversion. As long as the Dalek was chasing you, he could work down here." Stella said as she came around the corner pulling some more wires she had acquired. "Would you mind keeping it down a bit, I'm letting him take a bit of a power nap."

"Stella!" Amy said in shock looking from where the statue had been and back to her then grabbed the cyborg in a tight hug followed by Roy, both relieved to see her. "What…?"

"The light restored me as well, just took a little more time." Stella said as they stepped back looking to River. "What? No hug Professor, or has that not happened yet?"

"Just recently in fact." River smiled as they hugged.

"Well congratulations." Stella smiled before she got back to work, moving over to kneel next to the Doctor.

"What were you doing?" River asked as the light from the Tardis was getting brighter coming in through the windows at an alarming rate.

"What's happening?" Rory asked as they all looked up.

"Reality's collapsing. It's speeding up. Look at this room." River said, the exhibits in the room and down the hall had all disappeared.

"Where'd everything go?" Amy asked.

"History's being erased. Time's running out." River replied looking to where Stella was working as fast as she could, the Doctor moving as much as he could. "Stella, what are you and the Doctor doing?"

"Big…Bang…Two." The Doctor breathed out.

"The Big Bang. That's the beginning of the universe, right?" Rory asked uncertainly.

"What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings us back? Is that what you mean?" Amy asked them.

"Oh." River said in realization.

"What?" Amy asked.

"The Tardis is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire." River said as she started to help Stella and the Doctor.

"Right you are professor." Stella nodded, holding some of the wires in her mouth as she bound others together with her sonic fingers

"Then what?" Amy asked.

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like we said." Stella replied, causing some sparks to fly and tiny fire to start that she quickly put out. "That was supposed to happen, that's fine."

"That would work? That would bring everything back?" Amy asked eyed the hodgepodge work.

"A restoration field powered by an exploding Tardis, happening at every moment in history." Stella answered without really answering.

"Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work." River said in realization as she used the Doctor's sonic to scan their work. River's face fell as she looked up from their work to Stella who was resolutely keeping from making eye contact with the Professor. "They wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?" Amy asked.

"So we can take it with us." Stella replied with a grim, but determined look as she sat on the arm rest of the Pandorica prison chair. She place her hand gently on the Doctor's face, her thumb stroking his cheek as he leaned into her touch with a sad smile. "We're going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

-0-

Amy and Rory stood starring up at the windows as River worked with Stella and the Doctor to get the Pandorica ready. Amy's face was a mask of bitterly saddened anger while Rory looked on in worry. They knew what was coming, what would happen, the Doctor and Stella were sacrificing themselves not for the Universe, but for them, for Rory and Amy.

"Are you okay?" Rory looked to Amy.

"Are you?" Amy asked back, her voice harsh.

"No." Rory replied weakly.

"Well, shut up then!" Amy bit out. Rory brought her into a hug, Amy burying herself into his embrace.

"Amy, they want to talk to you." River came over to them.

"So, what happens here? Big Bang Two? What happens to us?" Amy demanded.

"We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it." River said softly, her voice thick with emotion.

"River, tell me they come back, too." Amy begged, tears in her eyes.

"The Doctor and Stella will be the heart of the explosion." River shook her head.

"So?" Amy pressed.

"So all the cracks in time will close, but they'll be on the wrong side, trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of them will be purged from the universe. They will never have been born." River said as if it painfully hurt her. "Now, please. They want to talk to you before they go."

"Not to you?" Amy asked, her brow furrowed.

"They don't really know me yet. Now they never will." River said softly, her voice cracking, before Amy went back to the Pandorica. The Doctor was very weak, Stella was sitting next to him with his head resting on her shoulder while she ran her fingers soothingly through his hair.

"Hi." Amy said as she took a deep shuddering breath

"Amy Pond. The girl who waited all night in your garden." The Doctor smile weakly. "Was it worth it?"

"Shut up. Of course it was." Amy said tearfully.

"You asked me why we were taking you with us and I said, no reason." The Doctor breathed out. "I was lying."

"It's not important." Amy shook her head.

"Yeah, it's one of the most important thing left in the universe. It's why we're doing this." The Doctor told her. "Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house, and just you."

"And Aunt Sharon." Amy said shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?" The Doctor asked as he eyed her.

"I lost my Mum and Dad." Amy said hesitantly.

"How? What happened to them? Where did they go?" The Doctor pressed.

"I, I don't…" Amy struggled, looking scared.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic, it's not your fault." Stella assured her reaching out with free hand taking her hand, holding it comfortingly.

"I don't even remember." Amy looked at them wide eyed, her brows furrowing as she tried to recall them.

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now." Stella explained to her as gently as she could giving Amy's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Amy Pond, all alone." The Doctor said softly. "The girl who didn't make sense. How could we resist?"

"How could I just forget?" Amy questioned, not understanding how she could lose such a huge part of her life.

"Nothing is ever forgotten." The Doctor told her reassuringly. "Not really."

"But you have to try." Stella urged her standing up, gently detangling herself from the Doctor, brining the red head into a tight hug before the light grew and the ground started to shake violently. "It's going to be ok Amelia, I promise, we both promise."

"Doctor! Stella! It's speeding up!" River said as the girls released each other, Amy pressing the Doctor's sonic into Stella's hands. Stella smiled sadly sitting back down next to the Doctor placing his sonic into his jacket pocket, smoothing down his singed lapels as he wrapped his arm back around her holding her close.

"There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there." The Doctor told Amy as he rested against Stella who laid her cheek on his shoulder wrapping her arms around him.

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Amy questioned.

"Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head." Stella told her, smiling brightly, to brightly as tears streamed down from her eyes. "You brought Rory back. You can bring them back, too. You just remember and they'll be there."

"You won't." Amy sobbed.

"You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friends anymore." Stella said, her voice cracking at the end.

"Ha! Amy Pond crying over us, eh? Guess what?" The Doctor smiled.

"What?" Amy asked.

"Gotcha." The Doctor and Stella said together before the Pandorica closed.

"Back! Get back!" River pulled Amy back with Rory, all of them watching as the Pandorica took off. They took cover against the far wall, River's comm going off.

"It's from the Doctor and Stella." River looked down at her communicator.

"What does it say?" Amy asked.

"Geronimo." River said with a said sad laugh as the Pandorica reached the Tardis. There was another explosion that swept across the universe that never way recreating it in its wake.

-0-

The Doctor sat up on the floor of the Tardis glancing around quickly and only letting out a breath of relief when he saw Stella setting up next to him a hand to her head.

"You ok?" He asked in concern, holding out his hand to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stella nodded scooting over to the Doctor who wrapped his arm around her. "What happened?"

"Oh! Okay, let me see." The Doctor glanced around. "We escaped, then. Brilliant. I love it when we do that." The Doctor grinned over at Stella pecking her on her cheek. "Let me see, Stella, check." Giving her another peck on the cheek. "Legs, yes. Bow tie, cool…."

"What happened?" Stella asked when the Doctor pat the top of his head with a sad look.

"River blew up my Fez." The Doctor pouted. "I really liked it."

"I'll buy you a fez." Stella assured him making him smile.

"Lyle beach." The Doctor's voice called out, but from above them. "The beach is the best. Automatic sand." The Doctor stood up with Stella moving around the railing to get a better look at the console, both of them frowning in confusion.

"Automatic sand? What does that mean?" Another Amy asked from where she, the Doctor, and Stella stood next to the console.

"It's automated. Totally." The past Doctor said without really explaining anything.

"Oh." The Doctor frowned in realization.

"Cleans up the lolly sticks all by itself." Stella explained to Amy as she rolled one of her own pops in her mouth.

"Very handy with Stella or you're tripping over lolli-sticks all day." The Doctor pointed out.

"I am not that..." Stella started, stopping when the Doctor held up some lollisticks she had in the cup holder of the Tardis console. "I was going to get those later…sorry."

"No, hang on. That's last week when we went to Space Florida and you were wearing…" The Doctor trailed off starring at past Stella leaning against the railing next to Amy in front of them.

She was wearing white shorts with layered fringe, a knit light pink backless string halter top that tied behind her neck and back, and a pair of white ankle length gladiator sandals. Her hair was up in a braided bun decorated with a cluster of pink flowers and her rose colored circle glasses perched on the edge of her nose.

"Are you leering at me?" Stella asked, seeing the Doctor staring intently at her legs.

"Yes…no…yes…sorry." The Doctor stuttered out.

"Didn't say I didn't like it." Stella grinned at the Doctor's reddening face, the sighed sadly. "We're rewinding aren't we?"

"Our time stream is unravelling and erasing." The Doctor nodded. "Closing." The crack in the scanner slowly closed and disappeared. "Hello, universe. Goodbye, Doctor and Stella." Amy turned around with a confused look on her face much to their surprise. "Amy." The Doctor called out. "Amy."

They disappeared and then reappeared again in front of a store front spotting Amy placing something above a stack of papers.

"Ah, three weeks ago, when she put the card in the window." Stella realized.

"Amy! I need to tell you something. She can hear me." The Doctor said as Amy looked around, once again hearing, but not seeing them. "But if she can hear me…"

Once again they disappeared and this time reappeared in the middle of the Forest in the Byzantium.

"Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes." The past Doctor called out, past Stella going with him. "Amy, later."

"River, going to need your computer." Stella informed River as they went.

"Wait here." The Doctor took his chance and went over to Amy.

"Amy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important.

"But you don't always tell me the truth." Amy replied as the Doctor took hold of her hands.

"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me." The Doctor shot back.

"Doctor, the crack in my wall. How can it be here?" Amy asked.

"I don't know yet but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?" The Doctor asked.

"What did you tell me?" Amy asked.

"No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember." The Doctor told her before letting got and running back to Stella, not wanting to be spotted.

"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?" Amy called out, but they had already disappeared and reappeared back at Amy's house. There in the garden of the small home was little Amelia asleep on her small suitcase.

"Amelia's house." The Doctor said.

"When she was seven." Stella nodded as the Doctor took hold of her hand.

"The night she waited." The Doctor kneeled down. "The girl who waited." He scooped up the little red head as Stella took up the small suitcase before heading inside. "Come here, you." They trekked up the stairs to Amelia's room, the Doctor gently placing her in bed and Stella tucking her in placing a small kiss on her forehead. "It's funny. I thought if you could hear me, we could hang on somehow. Silly me. Silly old Doctor."

"I like it when you're silly." Stella said sitting on the edge of the bed as the Doctor kneeled down beside the bed taking Stella's hand in his. "Oh Amelia, when you wake up, you'll have a mum and dad, and you won't even remember us." Stella said with a sad smile. "Well, you'll remember us a little."

"We'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best." The Doctor grinned looking up at Stella who was smiling down at him.

"The daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away." Stella sighed lovingly.

"And the beautiful star who ran away with him in his box." The Doctor held her hands to his lips kissing them.

"Did he ever tell you that he stole it?" Stella giggled.

"Well, I borrowed it." The Doctor corrected. "I was always going to take it back. Oh, that box. Amy, you'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient, and the bluest blue ever."

"And the times we had? Would have had. Never had." Stella reached out with one of her hands, keeping the other entwined with the Doctor's, and smoothed back the hair from Amelia's face. "In your dreams, they'll still be there. The Doctor, Stella, and Amy Pond, and the days that never came."

"The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly until we're on the other side." The Doctor said gently standing to his feet and tugging Stella up with him. "We don't belong here anymore."

"I think I'd like to skip the rest of the rewind." Stella said with a frown.

"I hate repeats." The Doctor agreed. "Live well."

"Love Rory." Stella added taking the cluster of purple and white flowers from her head and placing them in Amelia's hand.

"Bye bye, Pond." The Doctor smiled.

"Sweet dreams." Stella said as the Doctor took Stella's hand in his.

"I'm sorry Stella." The Doctor looked down at her, her hands coming up to rest on his chest as his wound around her lovingly.

"I'm not, I have had the happiest life I have ever had and it all started the moment I met you. I would not give that up for anything in the whole universe." Stella smiled up at him. "I love you."

"You made my life very happy as well." The Doctor pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you to."

The Doctor pulled her up into a lingering kiss, pouring in everything that he had as Stella in turn expressed her love for him. Slowly, reluctantly, they pulled apart after a time, then hand in hand walked through the crack in the wall closing it. Little Amelia wakes up, looks around pausing in slight confusion as she held up the cluster of flowers, but then shrugged placing it on her nightstand before going back to sleep while the stars twinkle in the sky.

-0-

Amy was woken by the bright sunlight streaming in through the window of her room. She still had her Doctor and Stella dolls on the chest of drawers and her wedding dress was hanging on the open wardrobe door.

"Morning!" A woman entered the room with a trey setting it down next to Amy.

"You're my mum." Amy said in shock. "Oh, my God. You're my mum."

"Well, of course I'm your mum. What's the matter with you? And this is your breakfast, which your father made, so feel free to tip it out of the window if it's an atrocity." Amy's mom rambled on making her way out of the room. "Downstairs, ten minutes? Big day!"

"Of course she's my mum. Why is that surprising?" Amy questioned herself before throwing off her covers and heading downstairs. There in the living room was a man going over a speech as he paced about, glancing at a joke book, only stopping when he spotted Amy.

"Ah, Amelia. I fear I may have been using the same joke book as the best man." He commented.

"You're my tiny little dad!" Amy exclaimed as she rushed forward hugging her father tightly

"Amelia, why are you behaving as if you've never seen us before?" Her mother eyed her.

"I don't know. It's just..." Amy gathered herself, watching with a smile as her mother tied her father tie for him before stepping away to make a call.

"Hello!" Rory answered the phone, the sound of him brushing his teeth coming over the phone as well.

"Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important? Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?" Amy asked.

"Yep." Rory replied.

"Are you just saying yes because you're scared of me?" Amy's eyes narrowed.

"Yep." Rory replied.

"I love you." Amy said.

"Yep." Rory repeated before catching himself. "Er, I mean, I love you too!"

-0-

The wedding reception was filled with all of the guests, still talking about the lovely ceremony, what relative still wasn't married, who was pregnant, and other such monumentally important things to families of any size. Red and gold balloons matched the colors of the flowers and table accents decorating the room wonderfully.

Amy sat with Rory at the bride and groom table flanked by their parents. Amy was a beautiful dressed in a stunning white wedding gown, her hair hanging loose save for the veil and a cluster of flowers at the top of her head that she had had since childhood although she couldn't remember from where or why they were so important to her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, the father of the bride, Augustus Pond!" The master of ceremonies announced.

"Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes." Augustus shuffled through his notes. "I'm just reviewing certain aspects."

"Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me." Tabitha commented to Amy in a theatrically tired voice. "Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively."

Amy wasn't listening though, instead her eyes were drawn to a far window where she saw River walking past. River looked inside, catching Amy's eye with a knowing look and a challenging smirk. Amy stood to her feet gazing out the window intently as River disappeared from view.

"Amy? You okay?" Rory asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amy slowly sat back down looking to be in a state of shock.

"Right. Er, you're crying." Rory pointed out.

"So I am." Amy reached up touching her wet cheek. "Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're happy, probably." Rory tried. "Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy."

"No, I'm sad. I'm really, really sad." Amy said in a strained voice.

"Great." Rory grumbled as he deflated.

"Why am I sad? What's that?" Amy asked looking to the blue book on the table.

"Oh, er, someone left it for you. A woman." Rory replied.

"But what is it?" Amy pressed picking up a blue journal in one hand, the other straying to the flowers in her hair.

"It's a book." Rory said as if it were obvious.

"It's blank." Amy said flipping through it.

"It's a present." Rory said.

"But why?" Amy asked taking the cluster of flowers from her hair, starring down at them and the journal.

"Well, you know the old saying. The old wedding thing." Rory said then noticed her stricken look. "Huh? Amy starred off forlornly into space, her face a mask of concentration, trying to remember, but not even knowing what she was trying to remember. "Amy, what? Hey."

"Ready now." Augustus said as he stood up, speech in hand. "Sorry about that. Last minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year since…" Amy looked to one of the guests wearing a bow tie, and another with braces. She took in the floral arrangements and the lace patterns the table cloths. Another tear escaped her eye falling down onto the book with a muffled spalsh. "At the age of six and announced that the new head teacher wasn't real because she looked like a cartoon."

"Shut up, Dad!" Amy exploded to the astonishment of the wedding party.

"Amy?" Rory questioned.

"Amelia?" Augustus gaped at his daughter.

"Sorry, but shut up, please. There's someone, two someone's missing, two important someone's, so, so important." Amy struggled as she fisted her hand in her hair.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked.

"Sorry. Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid, I had two imaginary friends." Amy told them standing up straight.

"Oh no, not this again." Her mother moaned.

"The Raggedy Doctor and Bohemian Stella. My Raggedy Doctor and Bohemian Stella. But they were not imaginary, they were real." Amy said.

"The psychiatrists we sent her to." Her mother went on.

"I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy Man, Bohemian Lady, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!" Amy called out as the glasses started rattling, very gently. "I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would. That's why you told me the story the brand new, ancient blue box." A strong wind kicked up blowing the balloons around. "Oh, clever. Very clever."

"Amy, what is it?" Rory asked as he stood up next to Amy.

"Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue." Amy grinned as the Tardis materialized in the middle of the room, Amy running up to it.

"It's the Doctor and Stella. How did we forget the Doctor and Stella? I was plastic. He was the stripper at my stag." Rory noticed some of the looks he got at that comment. "Long story."

"Okay, Doctor, Stella." Amy walked over the table and straight up to the Tardis knocking on the door. "Did I surprise you this time?"

The Doctor appeared in top hat, smart black suit with tails, white tie, shirt, and vest. Stella was next to him in a blush colored dress that had a floral lace off the shoulder top with quarter length fitted sleeves, the back of the dress was dipped down under the middle of her back, from the middle of her back down it was laced tied at the base of her back with a gold bow that had long tails, a full tulle tea length skirt, a pair of gold strappy heels with flowers going up the sides, a pearl necklace, pearl stud earrings, and her hair was in a loose low bun made up at of smooth waves with a cluster of pink and white roses clipped to the side of her bun.

"Er, yeah. Completely astonished." The Doctor answered.

"Never expected that." Stella agreed.

"How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing and Stella was all dressed up with nowhere to go." The Doctor said twirling Stella as they stepped out of the Tarids. "Hello, everyone. We're Amy's imaginary friends."

"But we came anyway." Stella said shaking hands with Amy's astonished father.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride." Amy charged up to them, the Doctor stopping her with a finger to her lips.

"Amelia, from now on I shall be leaving the kissing duties to the brand new Mister Pond." The Doctor said as Rory walked up, the Doctor wiping his finger on Rory's suit before shaking the groom's hand.

"Not like that, I learned my lesson." Amy rolled her eyes pulling the time travelers into a tight hug kissing them both on their cheeks.

"And I'm not Mister Pond. That's not how it works." Rory argued.

"Yeah, it is." The Doctor and Stella nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Rory relented.

"Right then, everyone. We'll move our box." Stella said taking the cluster of purple and white roses placing them back and Amy's hair before moving back over with the Doctor.

"You're going to need the space. We only came for the dancing." The Doctor said dancing Stella back into the Tardis and parking it outside.

-0-

Later, in the disco phase of the party, the Doctor was moving to the rhythm of Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen with Amy while Stella and Rory dance around the floor together. Stella laughed as she watched the Doctor's exaggerated moves, knowing he was a much dancer than that. Stella looked back up to Rory who was also smiling at the Doctor and Amy.

"I never had the chance to thank you Rory." Stella said gaining his attention.

"Thank me?" Rory echoed.

"You didn't just keep Amy safe for two thousand years, you watched after me as well and for that I am very grateful." Stella gave him a friendly peck on the cheek making him smile as he ducked his head.

"I'm glad I could help." Rory nodded before their attention was taken by Amy and the Doctor again.

"You're terrible. That is embarrassing!" Amy laughed stepping back as the Doctor got worse.

"Then you won't mind if we switch partners." Stella twirled Rory over to Amy, Stella guiding the Doctor into a proper dance form. They danced perfectly around the room performing a quick step dance amazing the guests that thought he was a hopeless case. A few songs later found the Doctor once again throwing out his crazy moves, this time in front of a group of children, while Stella got something to drink watching him in fond amusement.

"That's it. That's good. Keep it loose." The Doctor coached the laughing children, all of them loving the bride's imaginary friend. When the songs started to slow down and the children returned to their parents Stella took to the stage.

"I hope none of you mind, but I have a rather special song I'd like to sing for the happy couple." Stella said as she held up her guitar and started to strum out the opening for 'A Thousand Years'.

The happy couple smiled as they listened for a time before waltzing back onto the dance floor soon being joined by more couples. Stella smiled as she sang, watching her friends dancing close together with their foreheads resting against one another. Her eyes drifted to the Doctor who was watching her with that soft gaze of his. It never failed to send a wave of warm love through her combined with a sort of melting feeling.

When the song was over Stella set the guitar aside as Amy and Rory enveloped her in a hug followed by the Doctor pulling her into a loving kiss while everyone applauded. As the party wore down the Doctor and Stella stepped back observing the couple holding each other close as they slowly moved to the music.

"Two thousand years. The boy who waited." The Doctor said softly. "Good on you, mate."

The couple smiled at the Ponds one last time before they stepped outside hand in hand moving toward the Tardis. There waiting for them was the illustrious River Song wearing a stunning dress and an even more stunning smile.

"Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" River smiled fondly at them both.

"You tell us." The Doctor replied.

"Spoilers." River smirked. The Doctor handed her the book her vortex manipulator back to her.

"The writing's all back, but we didn't peek." The Doctor told her.

"He wouldn't let me." Stella pouted.

"Thank you." River smiled taking the precious items back.

"Are you married, River?" The Doctor asked.

"Are you asking?" River asked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." The Doctor replied

"No." River replied.

"No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, or….or…or asking if you were married?" The Doctor asked taking hold of Stella's hand pulling her in front of himself. Stella had lost count of how many times he had used her as a body shield against more amorous people they had encountered.

"Yes." River smiled.

"No, but was that yes, or yes?" The Doctor floundered in confusion.

"No." River said simply.

"River, who are you?" Stella asked, getting to the point.

"You're going to find out very soon now." River said with a small frown. "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

River strapped on her manipulator and vanished leaving behind the couple before they could ask for clarification, both sporting thoughtful looks.

"Nah." They said together as Amy came out of the reception hall.

"Oi! Where are you two off to? We haven't even had a snog in the shrubbery yet." Amy said teasingly.

"Amy!" Rory came after her exasperated.

"Shut up. It's my wedding." Amy said, winking at Stella so she knew that she was just teasing Rory.

"Our wedding." Rory corrected her.

"You keep this up Pond and I'll make out with Rory." Stella told the red head playfully.

"No you won't." The Doctor pulled her against his chest wrapping his arms around her protectively.

"She started it." Stella said as she pointed to Amy with a pout.

"Well I'm ending it, we will keep our lips to our respected significant others from now on. Agreed?" The Doctor looked at them all sternly.

"Agreed." They all said together.

"Now that we have that out of the way, sorry about slipping out, shouldn't have done that." The Doctor told them. "Bit busy, you know?"

"You just saved the whole of space and time? Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow." Rory offered.

"Space and time isn't safe yet. The Tardis exploded for a reason." The Doctor told them.

"Something drew the Tardis to this particular date, and blew it up." Stella added on. "Why?"

"And why now?" The Doctor questioned as the phone in the Tardis started to ring. "The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to….excuse me a moment." The Doctor stepped inside answering the telephone. "Hello? Oh, hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line…..No, no, no, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the seventh Obelisk. Stella and I were at the prayer meeting…..Well, no, I get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express, in space. Give us a mo." The Doctor pocked his head out to talk to Amy and Rory. "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye."

"Yeah, I think it's goodbye. Do you think it's goodbye?" Amy looked to Rory.

"Definitely goodbye." Rory nodded as Amy went to the door and shouts to Leadworth.

"Goodbye! Goodbye." Amy called out as Stella took the phone from the Doctor.

"Don't worry about a thing, your Majesty." Stella grinned in excitement. "We're on our way."