Far beneath the TARDIS, in a small English town by the name of Leadworth, a young woman sat at her window watching the stars. Most people in her town prayed to God when they had problems, but not Amy Pond. She curled up in her window seat and talked to the galaxy. She had always done that, ever since she was seven.

That was the year she met the Doctor. She still remembered it like it was yesterday...

The doorbell rang. Then again. Then again. Amy turned away from the telly, cautiously walking to the door. Cracking it open an inch, she peeked out at the porch. A tall, middle aged man with funny hair and a weird looking torch smiled at her.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! Can I come in?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..."

"I'm not a stranger." He lifted a badge. "I'm with the police. I've even got a police box!"

"If you're a policeman, then why are you called the Doctor?"

"That's what they call me. I don't know why. I call me the Doctor, too. I still don't know why."

Amy furrowed her brow. "Are you here about the ghost?"

"Yes. Does it scare you?"

She gulped. "Can you get rid of it?"

He grinned. "You bet."

"Are you sure you're a policeman?"

"Not at all." His smile grew even bigger.

No one had been home that night, meaning that whenever she tried to tell someone about the wonderful Doctor, they chalked it up to an imaginary friend created in the wake of her parents disappearance. But four therapists and many dollars wasted later, Amy still talked to him. She knew he couldn't hear her, but it was comforting to imagine him up there in his blue spaceship, traveling the universe.

He had promised he'd come back, one day. She had been so excited, even packed a little suitcase for herself. She had waited the rest of the night outside, wrapped in her peacoat to keep from freezing. 11 years later, and he still hadn't come. All she had to prove that he was real, that she hadn't made him up, was a sticky note with three words written on it:

I'll be back.

Grasping the note in one hand, Amy looked up to the sky. "Hello Doctor." She started. "Today's been... Well, this whole week... No, my whole life has been so boring. Leadworth is a dead end for everything. You were the most interesting thing that ever happened to me, and you were only here for five hours!" She paused. "Doctor, if you're listening, please come back. I-"

Amy stopped. Up in the atmosphere, she could see a tiny dot moving. Craning her head out the window, she gasped. It couldn't be... She grabbed the fire exit ladder kept underneath her bed and threw it out the window. She awkwardly navigated her way down to the garden, bare feet soon covered in dirt as she raced to the materializing TARDIS. She stopped in her tracks, awed by the machine she never thought she'd see again.

As the door creaked open, Amy held her breath. Instead of the Doctor, though, a blonde woman and a 20 something man stepped out.

"Hello! Is this 1620 Greenwalt Street?"

Amy nodded, slowly. "Are you friend's of the Doctor? You'e got his ship..."

"I am the Doctor!" He said, annoyed. "Do you know Amelia Pond?"

She furrowed her brow. "You're not the Doctor! He's older than you, and that was 11 years ago! People don't age backwards. And how do you know my name? Did the Doctor tell you?"

He looked surprised, than confused. "11 years ago..." He muttered. "11... Wait! Oh! You're Amelia!" He broke out in a grin. "You grew up!"

"Who are you?"

He straightened his back, fixing his ill fitting suit jacket. "I'm the Doctor. I changed my face, but it's me. And I have been away to long, I know, and I am so sorry."

Amy looked at this man, a man completely different from the Doctor she knew as a child. He was shorter, younger, floppy haired, and a tad weird, but... "Doctor." She tilted her head. "How does one change their face?"

He laughed, pulling her in for a hug. "Long story. Do you have an apple?"

"An apple?"

The blonde woman snickered. "That was my reaction. Oh, I'm Rose, by the way." She gave a half wave. "I'm the Doctor's gir-"

"Friend. Rose is my friend. Travels with me."

"You travel with people?" Amy thought immediately of what it would be like to live with the Doctor, to explore the world outside of her tiny home.

"Yes, I do, except when I don't."

"Uh-huh." Amy frowned. "Doctor, uh, is TARDIS supposed to do that?"

Spinning around, the Doctor gasped. "Nonononononononono..." The TARDIS had started to dematerialize. "Rose! Hurry!"

The Doctor gave Amy a quick smile. "I'll be back!"

And then he disappeared. Again.