belle, doctor who

forty-six

"I'm going to find the Doctor," Belle announces, interrupting Rory who was talking to a dead Amy. She had needed a moment alone to herself to think about all that's happened so far. She jumps after Rory finishes what he wanted to say to Dead Amy.

"Rory! 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. Hang on. Where's Belle? Oh! There you are," the Doctor kisses her forcefully and desperately as he has a broom in his hand and a fez on top. He slips something in her hand and whispers in her ear.

"Open this before past me arrives," she hears him say as Rory groans.

"So you two are officially together then?" Rory asks, looking at the two as the Doctor wraps an arm around her waist.

"Yup," Belle says. "There's a lot you missed, Rory Williams. How come you weren't surprised to see me in a different form?"

The Doctor lets go of Belle as his vortex manipulator takes him back to where he was, scaring them, and he appears again.

"Enough chat. You need to get me out of the Pandorica," the Doctor tells Rory.

"But you're not in the Pandorica," Rory stated the obvious. Belle rolls her eyes.

"Time travel, Rory," Belle explains.

"Yes, I am. 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. Like Belle said. Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's easy to open from the outside. Just point and press."

Belle scoffs as the Doctor gives Rory his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor smirks, not looking at her.

"Now go," the Doctor says. He turns to Belle.

"You're coming with me," he says, then turns to Rory, "Oh, and when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket. Good luck."

"Where are we going?" Belle asks as he brings them to a future Pandora box. She holds herself against a wall as that vortex manipulator was a little much for her.

"Open it," he whispers before he vanishes. She gets the note out of her pocket. She opens it as future Amy comes around the corner with her other, younger self. They see her and future Amy comes over to give Belle a hug as she has tears in her eyes. She had read the note.

"I'm really glad you're okay," Belle tells her, "but I'm crying because of something else."

"Why are you crying?" Little Amelia asks as she stares up at her.

"You two look awfully alike," Belle exclaims.

"Same person," Amy explains. "Why were — or are — you crying?"

"He..." Belle started, wiping a tear away, "just asked me to marry him."

•••

"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 was stored was destroyed by incendiary bombs, but the box itself was 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. 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 he had pledged to protect for nearly two thousand years," says the tv as Amy, her past self, and Belle listen.