Love Never Forgets

Chapter 3

Amy and Rory had tried to break into the police box several times, but it wouldn't budge. Downstairs, the Doctor tried to come up with a plan. Amy and Rory had probably already understood he was there, so he thought he could maybe talk to them. But what would he say? "Hello! This is my daughter with the same name as your daughter, which is her mother who doesn't remember any of us. We got captured by the Silence a while ago and got deeply traumatised. Also, I opened a book store!" No, that would just make things worse.
Melody had a small panic attack. She didn't really know what she felt, or what she should feel. Happy maybe, for meeting her grandparents at last? Guilt because of what had happened to her mother? Sadness because it was best if they didn't know her at all? She just felt confused.
After a while, Amy and Rory understood that the TARDIS doors wouldn't open.
"What do we do now, then?" Rory asked. Before Amy could answer, the Doctor came upstairs. He'd realized he couldn't hide this from his companions, it was such a big part of their lives and they didn't even know it yet.
"Hello Ponds! You found my TARDIS, then. Good." The Doctor said, rubbing his hands against each other.
"Who's that girl, Doctor? And don't you tell me you don't know what I'm talking about, 'cause she ran into your TARDIS. She clearly know you, doesn't she. Is she our daughter?" Amy asked, a bit stern first, but she softened at the last sentence and you could hear a hope in her voice. The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair.
"I know you want it to be Melody, your Melody. But you and I both know she had just two forms before she became River. No, that isn't you daughter." Amy's hope fell, even though she'd known it wasn't possible.
"Then who is she?" Amy asked. "Like I said before, she knows us. And when me and Rory were talking about Berlin, she said it was her favourite. What did she mean?" "I think it's better if we all take this inside. Maybe she'd like to explain." the Doctor suggested.
"What about the customers?" Rory asked. Amy had completely forgotten about them.
"They're gone. Told them we had a family crisis and closed the store." the Doctor said, and then opened the TARDIS doors, even though they'd been locked a couple of moments ago.
"Shall we?"
Inside, Melody had hid behind the console. When she heard the doors open, she tensed. Her father had told her he would bring Amy and Rory inside, but Melody still didn't feel quite ready yet.
"Hello." Melody accidentally punched her father in the face. She still had reflexes from her time at the Silence, and whispered an apologetically "Sorry".
"Nah, it's okay. Didn't mean to scare you." the Doctor said, rubbing his face where she'd hit him. "Ponds! This is Melody. So, where should we start?" He offered Melody a hand, which she took.
"What about at the beginning? Who is she, Doctor? Why did she... No offence, but ordinary people doesn't punch other people if they get surprised." Amy said, crossing her arms. Melody took a deep breath, and looked at her father. He nodded encouragingly.
"Hello. My name is Melody Pond, as you already know. When I was a little girl, I grew up as a prisoner of the Silence's." Amy and Rory gasped.
"Let her finish." The Doctor said, understanding that if he didn't, they'd bombard her with all sorts of questions.
"I lived in terror of the Silence, even though I could never remember why and who they were. Except for the human soldiers, of course. I rarely ever got to see my parents, and when I did, it was only for brief moments. If they stayed longer, it was probably because that I was going through a lot of pain, and the Silence needed me to stay awake. My parents would, at such occasions, tell me stories. They all were about the Doctor and River Song, and the adventures they had together. My favourite was the one in Berlin, were she gave him her remaining lives to save him.
"After a while, my father decided to do a stupid thing. He got an offer. Either he could die, and save his family, or he could live, and they'd get killed. So he decided to save my mother and me. We were taken to a room, and I hadn't got the faintest idea of what was going on, neither had my mum. My father looked my mum in the eye, and said he was sorry. I then realized what was going to happen, and soon enough a woman walked in. A woman with an eyepatch, just like the soldiers. She was the boss, I knew that. I'd met her a few times before.
"The woman took out a gun from her pocket, and I screamed as she shot my father. I ran to his pale body. He was most certainly dead, but I decided I refused to live without him. So, as River Song did in the story I loved, I let golden light stream from my body into his. I knew that if my mother could do it, so could I." Melody finished, a little out of breath. Amy and Rory stared at her.
"But that means..." Amy said, unable to finish the sentence.
"I'm your granddaughter." Melody finished, biting her lip. "Like my life wasn't confusing enough already." Rory said.