"Come on, you promised me a planet next!"

"Oh, damn it."

"Sorry?"

But, Anna shook her head. She had to be strategic about it. She realized then why he'd agreed to let River drag him into anything. She'd told him that he had to. But, she'd have to wait to do it until the moment River walked through the doors and he tried to lock her out.

Assuming that he still did that.

#####

It wasn't long before things had played out as they were meant to, with the exception that Amy muttered, "I thought you were his wife."

This was probably due to the fact that she'd still said the words, "He thinks he's so hot when he does that."

The "how come you can fly the Tardis" conversation happened, which meant that River had still made the comment about "It's a shame you both were busy that day."… except, he simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head annoyed. He didn't try to lock her out. In fact, he looked back at Anna with a 'can you believe her?' look on his face.

But, he was standing by the door, holding it open for her and Amy, who looked incredibly excited.

"Coming?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, um, no, actually, Amy and I have a girl's day planned."

"We do not."

"We do now."

"What?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"What?" She asked. "You had a getting to know Amy adventure. Why shouldn't I have one?"

"Do you want to get to know me?" She furrowed her brow, looking over at her.

"Of course I do."

"Of course?" She asked. "You're making it sound like you've shown the slightest bit of interest in me at all."

She glanced between her and the Doctor. "I've- things happening have been happening, I've been busy- Amy, I'm very happy that you're here, I- I want you here, I do."

"What sorts of things?" She asked. She looked back at the Doctor, who looked a little amused by the display.

"Things. Stuff. Doesn't matter, point is, I'm sorry you've felt neglected by me-"

"I really haven't," she told her. She looked over to see that the Doctor was trying not to laugh at the display, apparently amused by Anna's fumbling her way through this social interaction.

But, it wasn't funny. She liked Amy. She wanted them to be… well, maybe friends wasn't possible, considering that it appeared pieces were falling into place that she hadn't saved River. But… okay, yeah, she wanted to be friends with her. She liked Amy.

"Okay, well, how about this? I take you to any planet you want. Planet of the floating metal cities? Planet of the-"

"Oh, no, that one's- not the planet of the floating metal cities, we'll get there eventually."

"Planet where there are puppies on every corner? Planet where the sky is made of diamonds? I'm your girl."

She glanced between her and the Doctor. "Okay," she said, simply, mischief gleaming in her eye, a hint of amusement. "Funny how you seem to be running the moment that another woman prances in, flirting with your husband."

She wasn't sure how to take that comment, looking back at the Doctor. He seemed to be rolling his eyes at Amy's antics, so she didn't think she was being mean.

This Amy was different. She was sharper at the edges, though that probably had to do with the fact that Anna and the Doctor had been the ones to leave her behind to endure the cruelty of her childhood. She'd seemed to be warming to the Doctor, though, so why wasn't she warming to Anna?

"No no, that's fine, trounce off and leave me here with River. I'm sure I can handle whatever she's about to drag me into."

She rolled her eyes. "You know you love it."

His head snapped over. Apparently, he'd been unaware that she was completely aware of his little bouts with River, though it had only happened twice in his last body.

"Right," he said, apparently unaware of what to say. "Anyway, you two, head off before I drag you into whatever she's about to drag me into, and before you say I can't-"

She smiled before she looked at Amy. "Anywhere in particular?"

She shrugged, running her painted nails over the console. "Anywhere's fine with me," she told her. Anna rolled her eyes, smiling a little at Amy's antics. A moment later, she'd teleported them out.

#####

"Ooh, it's a party!" Even from the alleyway she'd landed in, she could tell that Amy was right. People were dressed in bright colors, walking towards the street and chattering excitedly. What really gave it away was the alcohol that they carried in bottles, along with other party favors. "Where are we?" Amy asked, excited. "It's a planet, right?"

She hummed her agreement, a sense of foreboding overwhelming her as she started towards the street everyone was walking towards. "Yes, it's a planet. Geranium," she told her. "Known for it's agriculture, planet of peace and prosperity because, well, they're farmers. Plus, we've come to a time before space travel has exposed them to the harsh realities of the outside world." It was a pity what would happen to it, but she wasn't focused on that. "Come on," she said. "Let's see where they're heading."

The party led to the street, though noise only erupted when they exited the corridor of the alley. People were excited, happy at whatever festival had occurred. She couldn't help but smile at the energy that was around them. Hope and happiness. "Hold on, why didn't they notice us teleporting in?" she asked.

"I put an automatic perception filter over anybody that I teleport. It makes it easier to avoid the awkward conversation of 'where did you come from, where did you go-'"

"Hang about, Anna, isn't that… isn't that you?" She frowned, looking around. Amy was right. It was an epitaph of her, made of flowers which made it all the more impressive that Amy had recognized her at all. "Hang on, isn't that…?" Anna started to take in her surroundings more quickly, suddenly realizing that she was way out of her depth. She saw that it was more than just the flowers. Pictures of her, watercolor drawings, of her smile, looking stoic, looking wise. She furrowed her brow, feeling incredibly out of her depth.

She saw what Amy had been talking about. At the center of the action, sitting upon a throne, was River, happily soaking up the attention.

At the same time that Amy had seen her, River spotted Anna. A smile broke out on her face, though there was a glint in her eyes that she didn't quite make out. "People of Rudbeckia!" River's voice boomed over the crowd, no doubt with technology. The crowd fell silent and River's loud voice managed to instantly adjust. "On this day, the first day of the seven festivals, Your offerings have worked! The Goddess herself has appeared, Anna Monroe among you now!" Excitement rippled through the crowd. Even the increase of hope couldn't bring her anger down.

"Here she is!" She flinched against the sudden onslaught of attention as the first onlooker found her.

"I thought they couldn't see us!"

"Perception filters only work if they aren't looking for you."

"Woah." Amy wasn't "woahing" at Anna's anger. She was "woahing" the fact that the entire street had frozen, the cheers paused mid-clap.

"What the-" the anger swooped through her, taking the breath from her. "River, what in the- what in the ever loving- what do you think that you're doing? What- what posessed you to think that this was at all a good idea? Seriously?"

"Well, hello to you too, dear. Amy," River nodded at her. She clasped her hands together, trying to breathe.

"Okay," she said. "Okay, no, this? This is not. Okay. Why? Why did you do this?"

"Well, who doesn't love a party? Seven days of-"

"I will not have people worshipping me as a god," she told her. She remembered the conversation she'd had with the Doctor, in the Tardis, before they'd really gotten to know each other and things had been much more simple, her having just saved Gallifrey. "This is not how people should spend their lives, worshipping a false god!"

"Are you? False, I mean."

"What I am is incredibly angry," she told her.

"Yes, and if that actually meant something, I might be afraid. Lucky for all of us, you're all bark and no bite."

As much as she hated it, River was right. Anna couldn't do much here, either. She didn't alter people's memories, nor did she alter events unless it bettered the universe.

"This. Is not. Okay."

"Then do something about it." She waited a moment. River raised her eyebrows. "No? Okay, then. Unfreeze your faithful congregation and let the festivities commence!"

"You're sort of a rubbish all-powerful being," Amy noted. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

"Because I don't have the right," she told her.

She half-laughed. "What does that mean?"

"It means, Amy, that she will never step in unless her precious feelings tell her she's allowed to. Otherwise, she's as toothless as a kitten. And just as adorable as one, too. Shall we?"

River turned back, apparently done with the conversation. Amy turned to Anna while Anna tried to compose, breathing through her nose.

"Is she your wife? Like, is this a threesome situation going on? All the power to you, really-"

Realization created through her so hard that it hurt. She sucked in a breath. "River, tell me you haven't!" she called after her, walking up to her.

"Haven't what?" Amy asked, quickly catching up with them.

"Okay," she said. She casually sat on the throne, as if she'd never been anywhere else. "I haven't."

Anna, despite her better judgment, felt her hope sparking. "Really?"

"No," she answered her flatly. She looked over solely at Amy for the next sentence. "There, you see? I lied."

"About what?" Amy asked, confused.

"You get what you've done, don't you?" she asked, ignoring Amy's question, anger brewing within her. "A whole culture has been changed because you wanted a party," she hissed at her, saying it like the curse word it was.

She caught the look in River's eye at that. Although it wouldn't have been overtly obvious to anybody else, she could read River like a book. There was a spare amount of hurt in her eyes, just there and just barely, but it was enough. Enough that River was doing this for spoiler reasons, important reasons, and Anna had just accused her of changing the whole history of a planet by being a party girl and simply wanting to have a good time.

"I still don't understand why this is a bad thing, though," Amy said, unaware of the hurt that had surfaced for a single moment in her own daughter's eyes (assuming that was what River still was. She wore the ring proudly, so she wondered if that meant other things had changed, too).

"River-" Anna started.

"It's a bad thing, Amy, because Anna is bad at accepting praise that she deserves."

"Which means what?"

Anna frowned, stopping, staring.

"It means that, even after all this time, she still can't accept a compliment. Watch this: Anna, it's wonderful that you aren't willing to be worshipped, despite the fact that you stopped the biggest war in all of creation and probably deserve it." At Amy's confused look, River quickly explained, "The Time War."

"Hang about, wasn't that the-the war thing what the Doctor nearly lost all of his people to? You stopped that? How?"

She felt flustered. "Look, it doesn't matter-"

Realization crept through Amy's eyes at the look in Anna's. "Oh my god, you're totally right, she can't accept a compliment!"

"I know! Try it!"

"River-"

"Erm, okay, Anna, I like your hair."

"Thanks," she muttered, looking away and suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Anna, are you an all powerful being with self-esteem issues?"

"No!" she cried. "Where did you even- why would you even say that?"

"Four psychiatrists in 12 years, bound to pick up a few tricks," she said, casually.

She frowned, realizing something she hadn't. "Why didn't they believe you after Harry Potter came out?"

"Because Harry Potter came out before I saw my first psychiatrist and they thought I had, well, was looking for an escape because of stuff at home." She frowned.

"What stuff?"

Amy smiled a huge grin. "Anna, I think it's great that you're so perceptive."

She spluttered before she waved her arm about. "Can we get back to the topic at hand? We need to fix this, in case you didn't notice."

"Nothing to fix," River countered. "This is the way things are, now."

She ground her teeth together, before her eyes lit up. "There's a tiny sliver of time where I can- oh…" she whined, seeing that a war would break out which hadn't happened in either of the realities. Even 'fixing' things sometimes left an imprint on time.

"See? All bark and no bite," River said again.

"I still don't get how people worshipping you is a bad idea."

"Because it means that they spent their lives worshipping me instead of creating art and falling in love and-"

"But why can't they do both?"

She slung her arm over Amy's shoulder. She looked at her, confused and annoyed. "Because, Amy, religion is all consuming. If you're a true believer, it means that that's all you are."

"Okay," she said, slowly, not shrugging Anna's arm off of her shoulder. "But they're happy. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Happy isn't the only thing in life, Amy, and since they're worshipping me, all they'll be is happy. They'll never be teachers or dancers or artists or hair stylists or architects or anything that they're actually supposed to be."

"Oh." Amy said, blinking. "I mean, I guess… why can't they be both? Just worship you on their day off?"

"Because, Amy," she said, for a final time, "these people don't. These people worship me five times a week, with festivals twice a year." She thought about scolding River again but bit her tongue this time, remembering the hurt that had been in her eyes.

"That seems a bit excessive," Amy said, blinking in surprise. "And all because you stopped the Time War-" she waved her arm about. "Thingy?"

Anna opened her mouth but River answered first. "Among other things, including ending a 10 year famine on a neighboring planet, hence the crowd." She smirked. "And now, she's going to unfreeze time and soak it in!"

She raised her eyebrows. "What?" She asked, even as River pulled her away from Amy.

"Yes, yes, it'll be fun! Come on, you'll see." She started to object before she had a gentle feeling coming in. It was telling her that she should do this, but time wouldn't be damaged if she didn't. She glanced over, remembering the look in River's eyes, and rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she grumbled.

"Haha, see?" She leaned in close, a tone of vindictive resting in the corner's of her voice. "All bark and no bite."

Okay, nope, screw this. River could deal with this on her own. Just to prove it, she teleported both her and Amy back to the Tardis.

Now standing alone on a street with time still frozen, River blew out a breath. "Yeah, that probably was a bit much, wasn't it?"

"You think?" When River turned, smug, she saw that it was now an older Anna standing before her. It wasn't anything in her appearance (except that her hair was a slight different, more brown color). It was mostly in the way she held herself, looking at her confidently.

"Ah, back with us, I see! Did younger you really leave me stranded in frozen time?"

"Don't feel too bad," she said, slinging an arm over River. "Younger me also left your mother at Hogwarts."

"Is she all right? Younger you?"

She non commitally shrugged.

#####

Younger her was not, in fact, all right. The Doctor was thankfully back in the console room. "River is the absolute-"

"River?" Amy asked. "But- I thought-"

Anna whirled around to see that River had also made it back to the Tardis, now standing in the console room. Apparently, the soldiers hadn't taken her back to prison. No, but wait, she hadn't been in prison, had she? Anna hadn't paid particular attention to that, purposefully avoiding the part she would have to play with Madame K. But now? Now here River was, standing in the console room, a free woman.

And one who was happy to antagonize her.

No, she realized with a jolt. She hadn't been antagonizing her. She'd been teasing. Because that's what people did when they had friends. She vaguely remembered it with Donna, them hanging up on the Doctor (and her heart ached a little for Pinstripes in that moment, though she realized a moment later it was more about her missing the days when they were traveling with Donna. Nostalgia, she thought it was called. It wasn't good for the two of them to be traveling by themselves. Mostly because it meant that she, apparently, forgot what it was like to have friends).

"What about me?" River asked.

"Oh, just- you're, you're here. Hi," she said, meekly. River smirked.

"Hello. Glad to see you in one-"

"Anna, can I talk to you?" She raised her eyebrows, looking at the Doctor. Was he really not okay with her and Amy having a day out? Was this about trust?

"Actually, before we do anything else, can we swing by home? My home? I need to talk to Rory."

"Sure," the Doctor said. "Right after I talk to Anna."

"You can talk to her at the same time I'm talking to Rory," she argued, and Anna rolled her eyes before the Tardis was safely parked in front of her house.

"There. Sorted. Let us know when you need us."

"But we haven't landed," the Doctor objected. She frowned, looking over at him.

"Really?"

#####

They were standing in an empty room a moment later, the Doctor with his hands in his pockets. Guilt covered his face. "… what?" she asked. He searched her, a spark of confusion resting on his face.

"You… knew where we were, I- well I guess I assumed I did because you took Amy away because you'd lived it that way, or so I- I thought, you know where we were?" She raised her eyebrows before she furrowed them.

"The… Byzantium?"

"That was right before the angels took you," he reminded her. "That's when everything started." She furrowed her brows. "And I could've- you're paradox proof so I could've made it so that you wouldn't had to have suffered through the angels… doing what they did to you."

"… and you didn't because that would've- I wouldn't have been rewritten but you would've stopped existing," she reminded him, as if he didn't know.

"I could've told you that you had to preserve the timeline to a point." She frowned, searching him.

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Because I want to know that I- because I want you to tell me that I was right in not doing it, not rewriting time and saving you-"

"Oh…" she suddenly understood. "No, yeah, that's fine. I'm fine. Besides, I've no idea how I would've preserved the timeline, and, I mean, Rose got her happy ending, so."

"Okay, okay, good, good," he said, his entire body relaxing, pulling her in for a hug. "Okay, eh, all worked out in the end." He pulled back from her. "Did you and Amy- oh, wait there's something else. Erm, it seems… do you remember Octavian- which, by the way, amazing job saving everyone, Octavian sends his regards."

She smiled, her center getting warmer. "Good," she said. He pulled her in, kissed her, and for a long moment, they were so distracted that she thought they were about to have a bit of fun.

He pulled back at the last second, "Mm, no, wait, River is- is having you worshipped as a god on-on multiple planets and it's too seeded in time to do anything about."

She frowned. "How'd you know about that?"

"How'd I…" he frowned.

In the next moment, time shifted. She felt it shift so drastically that she wanted to puke. She held the urge to vomit in, mostly because the Doctor looked like he hadn't felt a thing.

"Did you already know about this, Anna? Encourage it? Sneak away so that you and River could have a bit of a laugh at the lower occupants, those who worshipped you as a being of incredible power?"

Lightning struck. She got it. She understood exactly how much damage had been done when she'd nearly rewritten the universe. "So you don't trust me at all now to not be an asshole all-powerful being, then?" She asked. Anger has crept into her tone, but she was angry. How dare he? She'd understood everything he'd said, about holding her to a higher standard, but she wasn't even grieving anymore. For him to think that she would do that, after she herself had been so angry that River had done it, felt like the ultimate betrayal.

He shrugged.

It was obvious that he was angry, too, but he was also hurt, tucked away in the corner of his eyes. Worst of all, there was the start of calculation, being born in his eyes. He was turning into the man who stopped the monsters, right before her very eyes. "How else could you have known about this, Anna, before me?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe Amy and I appeared at the place that-"

A look like 'Really, Anna?' appeared on his face.

"What?" she asked.

"You just happened to appear at one of the planets that happens to worship you as a god? I am many things, Anna, but I am not stupid. How long have you been doing this? Who's idea was it, yours or Rivers?"

"You have known me for sixty years, Doctor. Sixty years. In the face of all of that history, you're going to throw it away for what? Because I did one thing-"

"You rewrote the universe!"

"And I would have written it back!" She shouted at him.

"We don't know that!" He shouted at her. "We'll never know that-"

"Wanna bet?"

"Anna, no-"He flinched when the screen appeared, and that broke her heart more than anything else. He looked around before his eyes landed on the screen, startling before he held his hands up in karate chop formation.

She didn't know why it hit her, why she suddenly understood. She got it. He was so nervous because they didn't have the connection, so he had no way to stop her, if need be. She understood it so well that time slotted nearly back into place.

"Oh…" she said, quietly. She worried her bottom lip before she held out a button.

"What is that?" He asked, cautiously.

"It's a button that'll knock me out if I try to rewrite the universe again. Sort of like the connection, but nothing like that," she told him. He searched her, breathing hard, frowning. "Go on," she said. There was something in his eyes. He was terrified. She saw the way it lit up the corners of his eyes, the way he stared at the button. He was making a decision as he reached for the button, but she didn't know what it was.

He grabbed it, and she raised her eyebrows, about to speak, when she felt confusion creating through her. "Wait, what're-"

He pressed the button and she was sucked to darkness, the colors bleeding away like watercolors around the edges. She gasped awake, frowning as she looked around. The Doctor was sitting in front of her, the button in his hand, looking defeated. "Doctor?"

"I'm so sorry, Anna." He looked away. "I never should've accused you of trying to implant yourself as a god anywhere. I know you better than that, I do, I'm a bloody moron." He shook his head. "I just-" he shook his head again, rubbing his eyes. "When I married you, I deluded myself into thinking that I would never have to stop you, that you'd never have a lapse in judgment or that something like grief would rightfully overtake you. I'm a bloody moron, but more than that, I was selfish for thinking that I would never have to be there, to support you in your darkest hour like you were there for me in mine." At the look of confusion on her face, he spoke. "I nearly destroyed my people, Anna-"

"You never would've done it," she quickly reminded him.

"In one version of reality I didn't, but there are plenty others where I did. Granted, there are a lot fewer because you, in the early stages of your grief, wielded it and turned it into something better, something beautiful, saving as many of me as you could. My mistake has been in treating you like the enemy when I should've been treating you like someone who needs help getting on the right path-"

"You're mistake has been thinking that I'm not already there," she told him, and he looked away, pursing his lips. "I fully know and acknowledge that what I did was wrong, and I'll never do it again. Think about what it took for me to get there. I had to lose my entire dimension before I lost my way." She barely flinched, though the grief was barely there, a dull knife, a simple reminder because she'd already thrown the rest of it at Rassilon. "And nothing like that will happen again-"

"What if this dimension dies, in the same way?" He asked. "What if you're the only one left standing, again?" She felt the ache in her chest so fiercely that she turned off to the side, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Then I'll know better than to tarnish your memory by rewriting the universe in my image," she told him, quietly.

He searched her, sadly. "And what if you're so far gone that you can't remember that promise?"

She sighed before she showed him what she had originally intended to. What would've happened if he'd given her a chance to come back to herself.

They would've stayed on the base. She wanted to see things play out, see her beautiful little universe be born. But, time went on and she started to see the cracks in her foundation, especially when Adelaide Brooks told her directly that it was wrong, what she had done. "You aren't god," the person with the face that represented her lost home told her. "You don't have the right."

It wasn't just Adelaide that made her realize. It was the promise that she'd made to herself. The perfect solution. And this? This wasn't a solution at all. It was the death of trillions of lives to save a handful. She put the universe back the way that it was meant to be before she cried in the Doctor's arms, and he held her and comforted her and told her that it was okay, he loved her, he was here for her.

They sat in silence for a moment, but she imagined it further still. Them not entering the console room, the children not getting a jump on them, Anna fixing the situation (which meant taking out Rassilon with her grief in the same way). He wouldn't have regenerated, though he wouldn't have gotten the hundred more lives. The point was, they would've been whole. He looked down at his lap. "Anna, I won't apologize for what I did. I did what I did in the name of saving the universe-"

"I'm not asking you to apologize," she told him. "I'm just asking you not to be afraid of me anymore, and maybe for enough trust that you know that I wouldn't put myself as a god, to be worshipped as a god. That was one of the first things I told you, remember?"

He looked down. "I do," he said. He sighed. "Things were much simpler back then," he told her. "But they can't ever be that simple again. This has changed too much."

"What does that-"

There was a knock on the door in that exact moment.

"Yeah!" The Doctor called, before she had a chance to object and ask what he meant.

"Hey- I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Perfect timing," he said, smiling, despite the fact that it really wasn't.

"Great," she said. "I need to talk to both of you."

"About?"

"I want Rory to travel with us."

They frowned before they looked at each other.