Finding the Ponds

My Doctor

"Doctor, you're lonely." River sits down in front of the Doctor, and he looks up into her face. Her very kind, very concerned face. The Doctor quietly examines every curl that springs from her beautiful head, calculating his response.

"Not lonely, River. Just lost." The woman purses her lips and sets her hand gently on her lap, her black dress rustling slightly.

"You're lonely, and you need someone here. Listen to me." She says the last part harshly, and the Doctor finally meets her gaze.

"What would you like me to do? If I brought anybody with me, if I chose a new companion... I would resent them. Resent them, River, do you understand? Because they aren't Amy and Rory."

"Don't you think that I, of all people, would understand that?" The Doctor falters.

"I know they were your parents. I know, I know, and you're right. I just... I've been thinking."

"Well, that's dangerous," River remarks, smirking and standing up. The TARDIS feels alive, the walls reverberating and the faint droaning sound coming from the heart. River approaches the console, and the Doctor jumps up, not wanting to leave the woman alone.

"Yes, it is dangerous. But I've thought about it a lot-"

"You know that it doesn't matter how long you think about it, right?"

"-a lot," the Doctor emphasizes. "And I think it could work."

"What could work?"

"My plan."

"What's your plan?"

"To see Amy and Rory, of course." River stops and slowly turns to the Doctor.

"You know you can't."

"But I think I can."

"Doctor-"

"Don't discourage me, River!" the Doctor insists as he goes at the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers. "I'm going to do it, no matter what you say."

"I just don't want to see you disappointed." She stands there, and her heart pours for the Doctor. Her Doctor. The one she loves. The Doctor looks up at her briefly.

"I won't. Trust me." River huffs.

"What good will it do?" The Doctor shrugs.

"I dunno, closure, perhaps." She sighs deeply.

"You're going to drop me off now, aren't you?" The Doctor raises his eyebrows.

"Well, yes, of course. Unless you wanted to come along." River's hands go to her hips, and the Doctor grins. It might even be one of the first genuine smiles that have flashed across his features since the incident with the Ponds.

"I think you know the answer to that." The Doctor presses a few more buttons, and the TARDIS lurches, forcing River and the Doctor to hold onto a nearby railing. The Doctor's hand clutches River's, and she looks from her hand to his face, his silly little face, and he smiles.

"I knew you'd say yes," he whispers as he brings her hand to his lips and kisses it briefly. "Time to redirect our course!"

The Doctor goes back to maniacally pressing buttons and rushing about his space ship, but River remains rooted to the spot, the place where the Doctor kissed her hand still burning. She smiles faintly, and her heart flips in spite of herself.

The Doctor always makes me giddy, she thinks. I wish that my emotions weren't so easily manipulated while he's around.

Still, River enjoys the happy, glowing feeling the floods her as she soaks in the feel of traveling in the TARDIS once more with her Doctor.