He jerks his head a little to look at her, eyes narrowing for a moment. There's only one person who would yell at him like this, perfectly like this, and the truth might just shatter his hearts.
"Amelia...Amelia Pond," he says her name softly, as though not trusting what he's seeing. "My Amy?" He questions again softly, eyes darting back and forth across her face. "You're impossible, you can't be here. How are you here? How is the universe not collapsing-" He reaches out almost to touch her, but not quite. "How."
Hearing her say her name again makes her resolve not to be emotional before him waver a little, and she has to clear her throat as she actually looks at him again for the first time, seeing his face.
"You might have known I gave birth to a genius, you idiot." But she cracks and reaches out to touch his face. "My Raggedy Doctor. Your Amy." And then she can't help herself, throwing her arms around him and hugging him for all her worth.
"Rory and I couldn't both come, so I'd better be enough."
"In every universe, every timeline, every blip of a second, you are...more than enough. You're wonderful," he breathes out, clinging to her tightly now. She was gone forever, but she's here in his arms.
After a few long moments, Amy finally pulls back and looks around the dark TARDIS before looking at him.
"What are you doing? This isn't you. Do you know how worried everyone had to be to risk breaking time to bring me? And I still have to go back, don't even know what's going to happen then."
But she tugs his hand to sit right there on the floor against the console so that they can talk, holding onto his hand.
"Oh, shut up. You know that isn't true or I wouldn't be here."
Amy's quiet for a minute then tugs at his hand. "Tell me about her and what she'd do if she found out you were sitting here like this in the dark, alone." She squeezes his hand. "What was she like?"
He can hear Claire in his head, that's the thing. If she knew, if she had any idea, she'd be furious.
"She would be...quite cross with me, to say the least," he admits openly, clinging to Amy's hand. "She was brave and kind and smart. She made me laugh. I miss her. All the time."
The Doctor looks at Amy intently, cradling her hand between both of his. "I've missed you."
More than he knows how to even say. He hasn't seen Amy for so long, and she's here somehow, for him.
"I've missed you so much, I thought this was a joke too," Amy admits.
"But we got a letter in the post and I recognized River's handwriting, so I opened it. Then Rory and I both passed out but when we woke up, we were in a strange room and there was River, a woman named Jenny, a talking potato, and a lizard woman all around the same table. They told us what happened. That you found her right after me and Rory, and she was with you a very very long time."
She rests her head on his shoulder. "What was her name?"
For just a moment, he turns his head to press his cheek close to her, breathing her in for a moment. She's here, she's alive with him for just a little while. She's more than just a memory.
When he says her name now, his voice cracks just a little, just barely, but Amy will be able to hear it.
"Claire," he tells her, and for a moment, that's the only word between them.
Amy lets that silence linger for a moment, silently thanking this woman, Claire, for not letting him be alone when she could hear in his voice how he was breaking. It wasn't easy to let him go but it was harder to face a life without Rory forever. Even knowing she was breaking her Doctor's hearts, she'd had to go.
"Not now, but someday, when you're ready, I want to hear all about her." Which implies that she'll be there for at least a little while - something she isn't telling him about actually being back in this timeline.
He's not ready, the loss still too fresh and raw in his hearts. But he will. Amy is one of the few he'd spoken to about the Time War, his absolute best friend outside of Claire. She'll always be special to him in a way he can't fully express, not in a way that would be accurate enough. He would tell her anything, always, and especially about Claire. But not yet.
Turning to look at her more fully, he touches her cheek briefly. "How are you here, Amy?" He asks again, more in wonder and awe now.
"A time vortex manipulator turned up to ten, as River put it." Amy looks at him, searching his face before telling him the rest. "But it was one way, for now." It's a bittersweet smile now; she's left Rory and they both knew the risk, but for The Doctor?
His eyes narrow a little and he tensely asks, "...One way? Amy..." He turns a little more. "Amy, why, why would you do this?" The implication is devastating now, knowing what she's sacrificed for him.
"It isn't one way forever. Only until your new friends figure it all out. Rory and I really...really talked about it. I mean...really talked about it. And we decided an entire universe all across space and time without The Doctor there to help was something that couldn't happen."
Amy looks at him, reaching out to cradle his face with one hand.
"You are that important. So important that the rules of time were broken."
"Oh, shut up you bloody idiot," she says as she stands, walking around the console and flipping on lights again.
"You can't be alone, you've proven it. Takes a seasoned professional to deal with you, and we know River can't cross back over, not really." There's a long pause to know that her daughter is gone. She hasn't stopped to think about it, and she moves on. "So, here I am and here I'll stay until the vortex manipulator works in the opposite direction."
"There's no living with you, honestly," he sighs softly in exasperation, though they both know he's not really annoyed.
Though, he goes a bit quiet himself at the mention of River.
"River, is she - she was gone. I had to say goodbye," he admits softly. Amy will understand, surely; he had to do the thing he loathes - he had to acknowledge he would never see her again.
Amy goes quiet; rare, for her. Staring at the console, she flips a few switches before finally speaking again.
"She told me. Before I woke up from the dream, she told me." She looks at him, grief he'll know and understand there in her eyes. "I never even got to raise her and now she's dead. Well. Uploaded."
Turning, Amy crosses her arms over herself. "But it doesn't matter because to her, we'd already been gone a long, long time. Except that I could tell myself she would be fine forever." She looks back at The Doctor.
"Of course it matters. She was yours, you were hers. Hundreds of years separate you now, but that means nothing with grief." He should know. He reaches out to hug Amy for a moment.
"She was a good girl. Brave, like her mother. She saved everyone." He won't tell her much, wanting to spare Amy the details; it's the least he can do, if he couldn't save her daughter to begin with.
"She wouldn't be mine if she hadn't at least done that."
Amy says that even as she's hugging him, and she closes her eyes, turning so that she's tucked just a little bit closer. But she does finally pull back, turning and clapping her hands together.
"I saw we go to a brand new planet, something new, something far. Cause trouble."
"Amelia Pond, let's get one thing straight between us," he holds her gaze for just a moment before moving to the console. "I do not, under any circumstances-" He pauses, and anyone else might assume he's about to insist that he doesn't cause trouble, but it's quite the opposite.
With a grin, simply spins a knob and looks up at the lights. "Oh, let her choose, it doesn't matter. As long as there's something waiting for us on the other side."
It's so easy to fall back into this, a life she never truly wanted to give up, once she'd tried to balance. It's bittersweet because Rory should be here, but Amy can't deny the thrill of it all - rocketing off and never knowing what would happen. In a way, she'd been chasing that in her books, writing words of adventures for all of the children with no Doctors.
"Oh, she'll make sure of that." He looks up at the column in the middle of the console, watching it light up, shimmer and shine, before looking over at Amy and just watching her for a moment. He never thought he'd see her again, but she's right here. Maybe not for very long, but even just a day with her is gift enough.
"We could have done this forever," he murmurs softly. Traveled the universe, never stopping, just exploring forever. Until the end of him, at least.
"I know. But then there wouldn't have been me and Rory, and there wouldn't have been you and Claire," Amy points out.
"But I really would have liked that, you know? The three of us, always. I think I always thought we'd figure it out one day, that it would never really end and we could live two lives."
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"Amelia...Amelia Pond," he says her name softly, as though not trusting what he's seeing. "My Amy?" He questions again softly, eyes darting back and forth across her face. "You're impossible, you can't be here. How are you here? How is the universe not collapsing-" He reaches out almost to touch her, but not quite. "How."
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"You might have known I gave birth to a genius, you idiot." But she cracks and reaches out to touch his face. "My Raggedy Doctor. Your Amy." And then she can't help herself, throwing her arms around him and hugging him for all her worth.
"Rory and I couldn't both come, so I'd better be enough."
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"What are you doing? This isn't you. Do you know how worried everyone had to be to risk breaking time to bring me? And I still have to go back, don't even know what's going to happen then."
But she tugs his hand to sit right there on the floor against the console so that they can talk, holding onto his hand.
"You never turn your back on helping. Ever."
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"The universe can carry on well enough without me," he tries to insist, futilely, he already knows.
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Amy's quiet for a minute then tugs at his hand. "Tell me about her and what she'd do if she found out you were sitting here like this in the dark, alone." She squeezes his hand. "What was she like?"
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"She would be...quite cross with me, to say the least," he admits openly, clinging to Amy's hand. "She was brave and kind and smart. She made me laugh. I miss her. All the time."
The Doctor looks at Amy intently, cradling her hand between both of his. "I've missed you."
More than he knows how to even say. He hasn't seen Amy for so long, and she's here somehow, for him.
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"But we got a letter in the post and I recognized River's handwriting, so I opened it. Then Rory and I both passed out but when we woke up, we were in a strange room and there was River, a woman named Jenny, a talking potato, and a lizard woman all around the same table. They told us what happened. That you found her right after me and Rory, and she was with you a very very long time."
She rests her head on his shoulder. "What was her name?"
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When he says her name now, his voice cracks just a little, just barely, but Amy will be able to hear it.
"Claire," he tells her, and for a moment, that's the only word between them.
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"Not now, but someday, when you're ready, I want to hear all about her." Which implies that she'll be there for at least a little while - something she isn't telling him about actually being back in this timeline.
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Turning to look at her more fully, he touches her cheek briefly. "How are you here, Amy?" He asks again, more in wonder and awe now.
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"A time vortex manipulator turned up to ten, as River put it." Amy looks at him, searching his face before telling him the rest. "But it was one way, for now." It's a bittersweet smile now; she's left Rory and they both knew the risk, but for The Doctor?
Anything.
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Amy looks at him, reaching out to cradle his face with one hand.
"You are that important. So important that the rules of time were broken."
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"You can't be alone, you've proven it. Takes a seasoned professional to deal with you, and we know River can't cross back over, not really." There's a long pause to know that her daughter is gone. She hasn't stopped to think about it, and she moves on. "So, here I am and here I'll stay until the vortex manipulator works in the opposite direction."
Which could take a very long time, she knows.
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Though, he goes a bit quiet himself at the mention of River.
"River, is she - she was gone. I had to say goodbye," he admits softly. Amy will understand, surely; he had to do the thing he loathes - he had to acknowledge he would never see her again.
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"She told me. Before I woke up from the dream, she told me." She looks at him, grief he'll know and understand there in her eyes. "I never even got to raise her and now she's dead. Well. Uploaded."
Turning, Amy crosses her arms over herself. "But it doesn't matter because to her, we'd already been gone a long, long time. Except that I could tell myself she would be fine forever." She looks back at The Doctor.
"Fairytales."
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"She was a good girl. Brave, like her mother. She saved everyone." He won't tell her much, wanting to spare Amy the details; it's the least he can do, if he couldn't save her daughter to begin with.
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Amy says that even as she's hugging him, and she closes her eyes, turning so that she's tucked just a little bit closer. But she does finally pull back, turning and clapping her hands together.
"I saw we go to a brand new planet, something new, something far. Cause trouble."
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"-stop causing trouble. Now. Where should we go?"
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It's so easy to fall back into this, a life she never truly wanted to give up, once she'd tried to balance. It's bittersweet because Rory should be here, but Amy can't deny the thrill of it all - rocketing off and never knowing what would happen. In a way, she'd been chasing that in her books, writing words of adventures for all of the children with no Doctors.
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"We could have done this forever," he murmurs softly. Traveled the universe, never stopping, just exploring forever. Until the end of him, at least.
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"But I really would have liked that, you know? The three of us, always. I think I always thought we'd figure it out one day, that it would never really end and we could live two lives."