A/N: Decided to post a new chapter early again for y'all, since I worked on the outline for this chapter immediately after finishing the outline for the previous chapter, AND since I'm sure most of you are anxious to know whether or not Nova survives that stab from her mother.

This is a very emotional chapter. I'm not going to lie, I got a bit teary-eyed after reading this from beginning to end before posting it. I hope you have some tissues handy, especially for the second half of the chapter which is, in Eleven's words, "gonna be a whopper." You'll understand what I mean once you finish the chapter :)

Slight spoilers for "Power of the Doctor" (again, you'll understand at the end).

Chapter 45: At the End

"We're losing her!" I hear my father say as I slowly regain consciousness as he carries me through the doors of the TARDIS. "We need to get her to the Med Bay now!"

At this point, I feel significantly weaker than I was before. It is becoming much more difficult to breathe with my single heart and blood rising from the back of my throat, which I end up choking on. As my father carries me inside the comfort of the TARDIS Control Room, I wince in pain from my achy body and the grisly stab wound to my chest.

"Doctor, wait!" I hear Jenny's voice by the central console. "There's something you need to know!"

"Not now, Jenny!" Dad snaps at her. "I need to take care of my daughter! She's dying, and it's my fault! Rory, leave River here for now and come take Nova! She needs medical attention now! I have to pilot the TARDIS to fly us out of here!"

As he says this, I feel him laying my body gently onto the cold floor. My vision clears slightly as I see my grandfather do the same with my mother, laying her body gently in my grandmother's lap, before rushing to me to tend to my wound again. Once he reaches me, Dad immediately rushes to the console where Madame Vastra and Jenny are standing, and Hazel and my mother-guardian immediately rush to me in absolute panic at my condition.

"Oh, my baby girl..." my mother-guardian whimpers as she lays my head in her lap and begins stroking my hair to calm me as Rory continues working on my wound. Hazel takes one of my hands in hers and squeezes it while whispering soft words of comfort. At the same time as all of this is happening, I keep my focus on the conversation between my father and the Paternoster Gang up on the center platform, intense stress radiating off of them, especially from my father.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Doctor!" Jenny speaks again. "We can't leave!"

"What do you mean, we can't leave?" Dad says, like that's the most absurd thing he's ever heard.

"I mean exactly that!" Jenny shrugs, knowing that there's no other way to say it besides that. "We can't leave!"

"Well, we can," Vastra says, "but there's one problem."

Dad groans, his stress level increasing. "Give it to me straight, Vastra! Quickly! Nova doesn't have much time!"

Vastra glances over to Jenny as she begins explaining. "Jenny and I have recently discovered that there is only one lever that is controlled to allow people to transport in and out of the base."

"But the main problem is that it's one of those levers that doesn't stay in the same position when you move it," Jenny continues. "In order to deactivate the security setting that allows transportation in and out, one must hold the lever in place for the amount of time that it takes for said transport to enter or leave the base."

Vastra concludes with a sad sigh, "So what we're saying is that some—"

"Someone has to stay behind to keep the lever in place so the TARDIS can dematerialize properly," Dad finishes her sentence in a regretful tone as he rubs his eyes vigorously as if that would help make his stress level decrease, which, of course, doesn't.

"Yes, Doctor," Vastra nods in confirmation, "and that's why we can't leave."

"Surely there's another way than just using that little lever," Dad says in a hopeful tone; though the level at which his hope lies is incredibly low, which I can barely sense through our link.

"Unfortunately, Doctor, there is none," Vastra sighs sadly. "Trust me, Jenny and I have already checked. We thought of everything we could. Unfortunately that lever is our only ticket out of here."

Dad pauses again for a few seconds, deep in thought, before groaning again. "I'm not letting anyone stay behind! That's not happening; not on my watch! We're all getting out of here together in one way or another! We just need to think even harder! Come on, people, think! We can do this!" He says this as he snaps his fingers in their faces to keep them focused, which, under normal circumstances, would be extremely rude, but with the high level of stress he's now reached, what with everything that's happened and is currently happening, I completely understand his need to push everyone to their limits, even beyond, rather than sit around and wait for a miracle that might never come.

As Vastra, Jenny, and Dad continue discussing their serious dilemma, I glance up at my mother-guardian and see her tentatively listening in on their conversation as well. In fact, she seems to be plotting something of her own—something terrible; or possibly something heroic. Since I'm too weak to see into her mind, I can't really be certain, but it sends shivers down my spine.

She eventually turns to Hazel and speaks softly to her with a slight choke to her voice. "Hazel... Give Nova your jacket."

"What?" Hazel asks with a frown, evidently as equally puzzled as I am, as she does what she says. "Why?"

"It's okay," she says instead of answer. "Just trust me." She then leans over me and kisses the top of my forehead, whispering, "I love you, my Nova... My brave, beautiful, bright Nova..." as she gently slides Hazel's jacket in place under my head for me to use as a pillow before rising to her feet.

"Mom..." I frown, puzzled, as she begins walking away. "What're...you...doing..." I pivot my body slightly toward her direction, but a sharp pain stabs its way up my spine in the process, piercing my remaining heart. Goddamnit, I growl involuntarily, why is it so difficult for me to breathe with only one heart? I never had this issue before. Why now? It's absolutely ridiculous!

"Uh, ma'am?" my grandfather looks up from his work, also seeming confused. "Where're you going?"

My mother-guardian still doesn't answer and instead walks over to Strax and appears to ask him to hand over something. The Sontaran questions her back, but she demands it, and he reluctantly hands her what appears to be a small rod—a trigger of some sort—with a button on the top.

"What's she doing?" Hazel asks as she watches in extreme puzzlement.

"I have absolutely no idea," Rory says in a nervous tone, "but I have a very bad feeling about it." He glances over at my father from up on the platform, seemingly unsure if he should say something, before glancing over at my grandmother, who gives a slight shrug in response, indicating that she's also unsure of what my mother-guardian is planning.

But I know exactly what she is planning; in fact, I literally just now realized the terrible truth. Strax had just handed her a trigger—the trigger that will set off all the bombs that he placed all over the base, blowing it and every Silence member inside sky-high—and she is volunteering to do it in his (rather, in my) place.

But that's not the worst part. She is also planning to help us all leave before she detonates the bombs. In other words, she is also volunteering to stay behind to hold the lever in place long enough for the TARDIS to fly us away. I realize this the moment I see her walking toward the TARDIS doors, tears building up in her eyes.

"Mom..." I speak up as I attempt to sit up and stop her from leaving, but the pain is too much to handle as it sends me back down again. "No... You...can't..."

"Whoa, Nova, you need to stay down; you're still losing blood," my grandfather says as he holds his hand gently over my chest to keep me down. At this point, I see my mother-guardian open the doors and exit the ship, the trigger gripped tightly in her hand.

Jenny must've noticed this as well, because she immediately exclaims from up on the platform, pointing toward the exit, "Whoa, what's she doing?" Vastra and Dad also turn to see what the commotion is.

"Hey, you can't go out there!" Rory calls after my mother-guardian once he realizes the situation.

"NO!" Dad screams at the top of his lungs as he immediately rushes down from the platform and to the opened doorway.

"Oh God..." Hazel cries, covering her hand over her mouth in shock at the terrible realization. "She's going to do it... She's actually going to do it..." Amy covers her own mouth in shock as well but remains by my unconscious mother's side, refusing to leave her alone.

"What the hell are you doing?!" my father screams at my mother-guardian, who has now reached the control panel with her hand hovering over the lever that they were talking about before. She must've paid close attention to it when the Paternoster Gang initially discovered the problem, I think; and somehow she discovered Strax's and my plan and decided to take up the task herself to save us—to save me—from the consequences that would follow, but she kept the secret to herself until it was the right time, that time being now.

"It's like you said, Doctor..." she calls back to them, her hand still hovering over the lever. "Someone has to stay behind."

"No..." I cry again as I attempt to get back up, but Rory holds me down harder. "Don't..."

I won't lose my mother—even if she's not my biological mother—to something that was originally my decision. A decision that, I now realize, was a stupid decision, because she is about to not only sacrifice herself to save us by volunteering to stay behind, but she is also about to commit mass genocide to a people that were once innocent, before they had their original minds and identities wiped and replaced with false new ones. It will be exactly like what Dad did to end the Last Great Time War, and I can't let her do that. I can't let anyone do that.

"Josie! Don't do this!" Dad begs her. "Come back inside the TARDIS! We can figure something else out!"

"I can't do that," she shakes her head at him. "You and your wife made me and Jim promise we'd do whatever it takes to keep your daughter safe from that foul scum, and I have decided that this is how it's going to happen." She says this as she lifts up Strax's trigger with her free hand, holding her thumb above the button to prove her point. "I made your 'potato' friend give me his trigger, and I am going to do what I've wanted to do from the very beginning—ever since they killed my beloved, my Jim—and I am doing it to save all of you as well! To save Nova!"

"Mom... Please... No..." I beg, tears flooding my eyes.

"It's alright, sweetie," my mother-guardian sighs in an assuring tone. "I've been a part of your life for long enough. It's time you spent the rest of yours with your true family. With the Doctor and River and your grandparents."

"No..." I beg again, sobbing uncontrollably at this point.

"Look at it this way," she says, still with that calming tone. "At least I get to be with your father again. I am doing this for him as well as for you. You both want that foul scum gone, it's alright... I don't mind doing it. Your father would do the same if he was here."

"But I don't!" my biological father speaks up. "Josie, please, don't do this! Come with us! Be with the people you love; be with Nova! She needs you!"

My mother-guardian shakes her head, declining his offer. "She has you now. She doesn't need me anymore. It's okay, Doctor, this is my decision; this is what I want. You want what's best for your daughter, and I want what's best for mine. For the daughter I had..."

"She's still your daughter!" Dad says in a tone like what she said was sacrilegious. "Come back inside and help us to raise her!"

She shakes her head again. "I've raised her long enough. She's a grown woman now. It's okay. I've always known my time with her was going to be temporary, and now that time has ended. It's perfectly okay. Please, Doctor, just let me do this. For Jim...and for Nova."

I attempt to say something, but at this point I have almost completely lost the strength to do anything. Anything except to watch what I can no longer stop.

"Okay..." Dad sighs as he reluctantly agrees, which shocks me to my core. It's like he's given up, or something. How could he do this? It's not like him! "I am so sorry. For everything."

"Don't be, Doctor," my mother-guardian says this time with a smile. "Be happy for me. You gave me a daughter—something I thought I would never have. Thank you for giving me a chance to be a mother, even if it was just for a short time." She sighs sadly, glancing down at me with tears streaming down her face. "Take care of Nova for me. For us. Goodbye, Nova... I will love you always. Never ever forget that. You are seared onto our hearts always."

At this point, I begin screaming at her. "Please! No!" I do everything I can to reach her, to stop her, but my grandfather forces me to stay down, and I try fighting him, but I eventually lose my strength altogether, and everything fades to black again.

The moment I wake up again, everything is quiet except for the soft humming from the TARDIS engines. Once my vision clears, I see my father and Hazel leaning over me, seemingly having been watching over me this whole time. Also, strangely, my body doesn't feel so achy anymore; even the pain from the stab wound in my chest has significantly subsided.

"Nov?" Hazel asks as she places a concerned hand on my shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah..." I say, smiling up at her. I then look around the room, noticing that literally everyone except for she and my father are gone. "Where is everyone?" I ask with a frown. "What happened?"

"Your grandparents have gone to the Med Bay to take care of your mum and begin the painful process of removing that chip in her head," Dad explains. "A few minutes ago, I sent Madame Vastra, Strax, and Jenny back home to Victorian London; they all send you their prayers, by the way. Hopefully they'll be alright even after all the damages done to their house from all the fears coming to life." He then pauses, a mixed sense of sadness and guilt flooding both of his hearts. "And your mother-guardian..."

"She's gone, Nov," Hazel speaks up apologetically. "She stayed behind to save us. To save you. It was her decision."

I sigh, a mixed sense of sadness and guilt flooding both of my hearts as well. "Yeah... I saw..."

I then pause. Wait... Both of my hearts are beating? Since when did my other heart—the one that was stabbed right through—begin beating again? What the hell is happening?!

That's when I suddenly get a painful headache, and I immediately reach up to press at the spot where it hurts the most, and that's when I see the familiar golden glow emanating from my hands. "Whoa!" I gasp in shock. "Why're my hands glowing? I swear, I'm not doing this; they're doing this by themselves!"

"I know," Dad smiles sadly. "They've been doing that for a while. It's starting..."

"What is?" I frown in confusion. I then pause, suddenly realizing, now beginning to get that familiar feeling I felt when I was four, not long after I got sick from the aspirin. "Oh, no... Oh, no, no, no... I'm not about to do that again, am I? Please, no!"

"I'm afraid so," he sighs apologetically.

"No!" I sob, burying my face in my glowing hands. "No, I don't want to! Not again! I'm not ready!"

"It's alright, Nova," Dad says, rubbing my shoulder. "Most Time Lords aren't. But it has to be done sometimes...and unfortunately, it's time for you."

"Is there any way to stop it?" I ask as I begin shaking my hands like how people do when they can't find a towel to dry them on, like the energy will just splash right off like normal water. However, the energy won't be coming off, since it's coming from inside my body, inside every cell that makes up my entire being.

"Unfortunately, there is not," he says calmly as he holds my hands to stop me flinging them around and prevent me from hurting myself (not that I would). "You can hold it back for some time, but even then it has to be released eventually. I've tried multiple times, and I was never successful, and now look where I am. I've used them all up. No more Doctors. But you... You have so many more lives ahead of you. Literally. You're about to live another one right now."

"But...what about me?" I ask nervously. "I mean, this me? What's going to happen to 'her?'" I fear I'll end up feeling the exact same as I felt when I found out I wasn't human. The moment that 'Sydney Marie Elise'—the girl I used to be and refused to be anybody else—died and 'Nova Susan Song'—the girl I became and believed, at the time, to be a complete stranger—was born. Who knows what type of girl I'll be next, but I dread to find out.

"Nothing," Dad shakes his head. "Well, you won't be living 'her' life anymore, but 'she' will still live inside you..." He then places his hand gently over my chest, right between my hearts, including the one that stopped beating before that has miraculously resumed beating again. "In here. All of my other lives are still living inside me, in here." He places his other hand over his own chest as he says those last words.

I sigh, still feeling unsure. "So...I'll still be me? 'Me' as in 'Nova?'"

"And 'Sydney,'" Dad adds with a nod. "No matter what incarnation you become, you will always be Nova Susan Song and Sydney Marie Elise. And you will always be my daughter."

"And you will always be my best friend," Hazel adds with a smile. "''til death do us part,' remember?" She then pauses, thinking better. "Er...I guess ''til Regeneration do us part.' Even then, you'll still be my best friend."

I chuckle at her. It's nice to know she's still willing to be my friend, even after knowing my secret all this time. "Thanks, Haze. You're still 'the greatest friend anyone—human or non-human—could ask for,' and nothing is going to change that."

Dad speaks up again. "Speaking of 'change,' I think it's now time for you to prepare for that change. Come with me." He gently leans over and gathers me in his arms, lifting me up. "Hazel, you can come too, if you'd like."

She glances at him with uncertainty. "Um... I dunno where we're going, but sure."

"I will warn you, it's not for the faint-hearted," Dad says in a concerned tone to Hazel as he carries me toward the TARDIS's exit. "Most of my companions who have seen it have had mixed feelings about it afterward. Some took it very well—at least better than I often anticipated—and others didn't take it well at all. I'm not sure where you will stand once you see it."

"I told her a little bit about it when I healed her arm that one time," I say with a shrug, "so she at least knows the basics...I think." I suddenly wince in pain, the achiness in my body unexpectedly returning. Also, the Regeneration Energy's tinge in my hands brightens momentarily before dimming back to a soft glow once again.

"It's alright, Nova," my father says, seeming like he also senses my energy slightly intensifying. "We'll get you someplace safe. I've brought us to the perfect place where you can regenerate safely and peacefully. You'll absolutely love it! It's where I take your mother sometimes just to chill." He then asks politely, turning to Hazel, "Hazel, can you get the door for me, please?"

"Got it," she nods as she twists the little latch that keeps the doors in place. She swings both doors open, allowing Dad and me both to fit through.

"I remember you mentioning something about parking at the top of a hill before," Dad chuckles as he steps out through the doors with me held tightly in his arms, "so I hope this meets your expectations. Sure, it's not a proper hill, but it's close enough."

He smiles and nods toward a beautiful scenery of a tall cliff overlooking a vast sea beyond, a bright sun setting on the horizon, illuminating the landscape with many shades of reds, yellows, and oranges.

"Wow..." I gasp in awe. "It's beautiful."

"Wow!" Hazel exclaims, just as impressed with the scenery as I am. "That's amazing. Oh, I wish I had a view like this at home."

"So many colors..." I say as I raise one of my hands up to the light, and I smile at the way the Regeneration Energy mixes with the light from the setting sun, how they look almost the exact same. "Even the sky looks like it's 'regenerating,'" I chuckle jokingly.

"Yeah, it kinda does, doesn't it?" Dad chuckles as well as he sets me down on a rock almost at the very edge of the cliff. Hazel takes a seat beside me, basking in the majestic view. "You should be safe here. We're all alone up here."

"You won't leave me alone, will you?" I ask, suddenly feeling concerned. "I don't want to do this alone."

"No, of course not," he assures me, rubbing my back lovingly. "That's why I asked Hazel to come as well. We'll both be here with you. One thing you should never do is regenerate alone. I made that very mistake last time, and I regret it immensely."

"Thanks, Dad," I sigh in relief. I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly sensing the sadness and loneliness he felt when he last regenerated. He kisses me on my forehead in response to show that he's okay and that it doesn't bother him as much now as it did back then.

"Just in case this regeneration may be violent," he says, standing up from his spot on the rock next to me, "we'll stay close to the TARDIS. That way, you won't end up hurting anyone. Not that that's happened to me before, but I'm just saying it could happen to you, what with being Deviant."

"'Deviant?'" Hazel frowns, puzzled.

"Long story for another time and place," Dad shrugs at her in response. She shrugs back in defeat.

I then say, suddenly thinking back on Kovarian's words about the experiments she and the Silence performed on me to weaponize my Regeneration Energy, "Um... Actually, Dad... I would rather you guys went back inside the TARDIS anyway. When I talked with Kovarian before, she briefly talked about the experiments that she and the Silence did on me when I was born. She said she used the excess energy from a supernova to weaponize my Regeneration Energy to use against you when I next regenerate; basically, what I'm about to do now. I even remember Mom saying that when I regenerated the first time when I was four, that awakened my powers to the fullest; and now that they are fully awakened, I'm not sure how powerful this regeneration will be, or even how powerful I am in general now." The very thought still frightens me to my core.

"Don't worry about it, Nova," Dad assures me, "we'll worry about it another time. Right now, focus on your regeneration. If it makes you feel better, Hazel and I will go back inside the TARDIS and watch from inside."

I nod. "Yeah, I would actually prefer that. You know...just in case..." Ever since I first found out about the experiments, I always feared about my future regenerations exploding and harming, maybe even killing, my family, and I'd be damned if it were to happen in real life.

"Very well," Dad nods sincerely. "Come along, Hazel; let's go back inside." He gestures for her to follow him, but she holds onto my arm, refusing to leave my side. Aw, Haze, I love you, I think, smiling back at her in response.

"But I want to be with Nov," she says, squeezing my arm tightly. "Like you said, she shouldn't be alone."

Dad sighs. "I know, but this is what she wants."

"I don't want to hurt you, Haze," I tell her. "Not again. It's okay, I'll be fine. Go back inside. I can do this alone; it's fine."

After a few seconds, she sighs, finally giving in. "Okay. Good luck, Nov," she says as she gets up from her perch and joins Dad by the TARDIS as he begins going back inside.

"We'll be right inside," he assures me once again. "Once you're done, I'll come right back out for you. I promise."

"It's okay, Dad," I nod back at him. "I got this. It's not the first time, and it's not gonna be the last either."

"Good luck," he says as he reluctantly reenters the TARDIS with Hazel and closes the door behind them, leaving me alone at the edge of the cliff.

I sigh sadly as I turn back to the vast scene before me, staring out over the water hundreds of feet below. "Well... Here I am... At the end of my life. Well, this life. But on the plus side, I'm about to begin a new one. The beginning of a new life. The beginning of a better life."

I allow myself to have a small cry, thinking of my guardians—how they died risking their lives for me. Despite it all, I tell myself that they died honorably, and I greatly admire that.

"I miss you," I whisper as I allow the tears to spill from my eyes. "God, I miss you so much!"

I then think about how they stayed with me through my previous regeneration and how upset I am that they are not with me this time, and how much I wish they were. At least I know that Dad and Hazel are watching from the safety of the TARDIS, but a small part of me regrets asking them to leave me alone.

I immediately shake my head at this, thinking better. "No. I must face this alone. I can do this! I can do this!"

With newfound strength, I rise from the rock and stand almost at the very edge of the cliff as the energy in my hands intensifies; in fact, I can now feel it emanating from my face as well, as the world appears to glow brighter.

I sigh. "Oh, I so wish I could've done better in this body. After everything that's happened..." I then shake my head again, staring forward. "But no. I can't think about that anymore. I know I can't change anything that's already happened, but I can learn from them. More than that, I can make up for all those rookie mistakes in my next life...whatever that life is gonna look like." I sigh again as I raise my arms out toward each side of my body, extending outward. "I guess I'm about to find out. Okay... Let's do this! Time to woman up!"

I immediately exclaim as the Regeneration process begins.

It feels much like it felt last time, except this time it's much more intense, now that my powers are fully awakened. Unlike last time, when I felt like my body was being dipped in molten lava, this time I feel as if I'm being electrocuted from the inside out; in fact, long wisps of energy seem to shoot out of me like a firecracker, even electrifying the air around me. At the same time, I can feel my body slowly changing and growing, but the energy is so intense that I can't see the physical changes being made.

Just as the energy seems to intensify to its maximum point, I could swear, just for a brief moment, that I saw the blurred silhouettes of my guardians walking hand-in-hand away from me and toward the light of the sun. I immediately attempt to call out to them, but the glow eventually fades to black, and I begin to feel myself falling...

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

How about that regeneration, huh? And yes, it mimics Jodie Whittaker's Doctor's regeneration. In fact, that's what I based Nova's regeneration off of. Though, if you were to think of it in-universe, you could imagine Jodie's Doctor deciding to return to that cliffside to regenerate like she did in "Power of the Doctor" after seeing how beautiful Nova's regeneration was at the same spot.

Also, I recently realized that I literally have approximately THREE more chapters left of Part 1. I can't believe I've been working on this thing for 2 years and am now almost finished with it. But don't worry, there are 2 more "books" that will be written after this one, plus a prequel story. I've already started writing outlines for the first few chapters of Part 2, and I can't wait to get started on them :)

Friendly reminder to also check out my other story "Arising: A Nova Sue Prequel" if you haven't already, which is about the events leading up to Nova's birth. So far I've only got a few chapters written on that, but they are still worth the read.

Also, friendly reminder that kudos, comments, and favs are appreciated and will keep me motivated to post more often. I see that many of you are reading this story but not subscribing, favoriting, or commenting on it. I always encourage feedback from my readers and enjoy reading about my readers' favorite moments. I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite moment. Please, please, please share them! I would love to talk about them :)