She froze as his words bounced around in her mind. Marry me? Marry me? Marry me? She touched them. Tasted them. Analyzed them for any hint of a joke or alternate meaning. Was there some sort of problem and he was speaking in code? But no. His voice had been serious, but calm. She turned her head slowly to stare at him, her mouth partially open in surprise.
He looked her in the eyes...and dropped his mental shields. No, not dropped them so much as, made her the exception. He incorporated her into them in such a way that they did not even register her presence. For everyone else, they were as strong as ever. But for her and her alone he allowed himself to be vulnerable. He looked at her, mental arms outstretched in welcome. How could she refuse?
She slid forward, mentally and physically, nestling into him. It was so much more than coming home. They'd fought and struggled so much to get where they were now. But even now she wouldn't have traded it for the world. She was still frightened of the future -
Enveloped in his mind as she was, he could easily follow the trail of her thoughts. He caught the tail end of it and smoothed it down, telling her wordlessly that she should live in the moment and let tomorrow take care of itself.
She sighed, and he hugged her tighter, his mind sliding along hers in a caress. She sighed again and he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her hair. ::I'll take that as a yes.::
"Wha-?" She tried to remember what he'd asked her through the bliss. "Oh!" She hadn't answered him! ::Yes! Of course, absolutely yes!::
He cupped her jaw, tilting her head so he could kiss her. His tongue flicked out along the seam of her lips and she opened for him, incorporating him into her own shields as he shuddered in her arms.
He kissed her deeply before pulling back, panting slightly. "Shameless, River Song," he said, his voice husky, and she thrilled at the sound. "Let's go before we scandalize anyone further."
It was only at his words that she became aware of the disapproval and embarrassment being aimed their way by the other patrons. Their displeasure pricked her shields as the Doctor dropped money on the table and gently guided her back to the TARDIS.
She should be ashamed, she knew that. What he'd done was a verbal proposal of marriage, paired with a mental vow of devotion. Her response had been more than a little extreme. Sliding into him like that was wanton, but excusable given the circumstances. But incorporating him into her shields after he had just done so was akin to ripping his clothes off and having her way with him then and there. The reciprocity had joined them intimately - and to do so in public! Well. She should be embarrassed. But all she felt was overwhelming joy.
"How do you..." she made vague hand gestures. "Time Lords, I mean. Seems like you had a ceremony for everything."
"Mm. Pretty much. Give me a hand?"
She stepped up to the console and helped him pilot the TARDIS through the vortex, though he kept their destination hidden from her. At the end of the trip he did...something. There were a series of levers that should have caused them to drop out of the vortex into nothingness.
"Doctor?" she asked with a slight amount of alarm. "Where are we?"
He gave her his mad grin and dashed past her, down the ramp to stand, back to the doors, with his hands behind his back.
"Doctor..." she walked slowly down the ramp towards him, not trusting that look in his eyes.
"Welcome, River Song," he said, pulling the doors open as he stepped away from them, his eyes on her to catch her reaction. "Welcome, to Gallifrey."
He stepped completely out of the way and her hands flew to her mouth as she took in the sight beyond the doors of the TARDIS.
Calf high red grass swayed in the soft morning breeze of a rising sun, birdsong filtered in through the silver branches of the trees in a nearby forest, and beyond the white cliffs the TARDIS sat on, the ocean shone the most remarkable blue.
She stepped carefully out onto this amazing world, one hand gripping the doorway tightly as if to be sure of something real. River was barely aware of the sound of laces through eyelets as behind her the Doctor shucked his shoes and socks.
He exited in bare feet and knelt, gently urged her to shift her weight so he could slip her shoes off and drop them inside the doors. Standing, he caught up her free hand, laced their fingers, and led her gently out of the shadow of the TARDIS to stand in the open under the burnt orange sky.
"Doctor..." her mouth worked as she tried and failed to find words to describe what she saw. Rapturous, exquisite, perfect, sublime. Her mind babbled, each word inspected and then dismissed for not being...having...enough muchness. She was making no sense and she didn't care. She turned to the Doctor to find him gazing at her with the same sense of awe and wonder with which she viewed his homeworld. "How?" she asked, when she finally found her voice.
"Parallel world."
And she understood. This was the Gallifrey of Pete's World. The home of the Time Lords, but empty of his people. She stepped up to him and he wrapped her in his arms, holding her tightly. "I always wanted to show you this place," he whispered.
"Well then," she said, stepping back and lacing their fingers with a cheeky smile that brought up memories of their time together long ago. "Lead on, Mr. Impressive."
ooOO00OOoo
They stood together under the shining silver leaves of an ancient annielo tree and exchanged vows. It was just the two of them. No family or friends to stand with them and wish them well, but that was how they wanted it. Just the two of them against the universe, as it always had been.
Their toes dug into the red, red grass and around their wrists in a complicated know that seemed to exist in more than the typical three dimensions a brilliantly embroidered cloth was wound. The ends of the cloth folded over their hands, obscuring their fingers. Over his, the name Bad Wolf was written in circular script while over hers, was his true name. For all her mastery of his tongue, she could not read it. The meaning behind the intricate curves eluded her. But, he promised that she would know it soon enough.
"River Song," he began, his voice solemn. "I stand before you with my hearts and mind open. I know that I am not worthy of you, but I offer myself just the same. To bind our houses, to bind our hearts. I offer you a hand to hold and a home to share. And if you accept, I offer you the last secret I have: my name."
"Doctor," she said, barely able to speak for the joy bubbling over. "I stand before you with my heart and mind open. I give them freely, knowing that they are safe within your keeping. I offer myself, to bind our houses and our hearts. I will hold your hand and run with you through the stars. I accept the gift of your name, and offer mine in exchange."
He quirked a smile at her and took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do. He leaned forward, his lips close to her ear, and whispered a word in his ancient chiming language.
The word, she found, was not that important. She'd heard its translation before in the course of his technobabble. No, what was important was the meaning, the weight given to the word when said in his language.
There was a force, a power, an invisible energy threaded throughout the universe. It was unaffected by gravity; light couldn't touch it. Untamable, untouchable, undetectable except for the few who knew how and when and where to look, the force nevertheless existed. It was the invisible strings that tied the universe together; it spun the galaxies and burned in the heart of every star. More than light, more than heat and air, more than water and gravity itself; this was the force that held it all together, that allowed life to bloom and thrive.
And it was him.
She shivered with the enormity of the revelation that was no revelation at all. For hadn't she always known these things about him? She looked into his eyes and saw the utter truth of his name in them. But she saw something else there, as well. For all his unfathomable knowledge and power, for all the lives he held in the palm of his hand, vulnerable to his will, he was also - always and forever - a Doctor. Her Doctor.
He leaned forward, put her lips to his ear, and whispered her true name to him. «Bad Wolf.»
Much as she had done, he shivered as the force of her words hit him. He already knew her name. Knew and understood the meaning of it. Even so, he was awed all over again that the Goddess of Time loved him.
They kissed, once more incorporating each other into their shields; this time in a much more permanent way.
«Bad Wolf, I love you.» he breathed as he pulled away.
For the first time in her life, she was able to respond in kind. She said that word, the one that was so intrinsically him. Then, «I love you.»
His smile was more brilliant than the suns above them.