Andy's Bedroom
1,894 years later and one star at least is still burning brightly. It's night. The red pinwheel turns in the breeze in the garden. Upstairs, a little red-haired boy is saying his prayers.
"Dear Santa. Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I don't wake you, but, honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not, because at night there's voices. So, please, please, could you send someone to fix it, or a policeman, or..." a strange wind whistles outside, "Back in a moment"
He runs to the window, but there is nothing there. The moon hands in a starless sky.
**********
Living Room
The nice lady psychiatrist is looking at a painting of the moon and stars, "It's a lovely painting, Andrew. And what are all these?"
"Stars" Andrew answers her.
"Oh, Andrew" Sharon sighs.
"Tell you what, shall we go outside?" the psychiatrist suggests.
**********
Outside The House
"What do you see, Andrew?" She asks him, with her hands on his shoulders.
"The moon"
"And what else?"
"Just the dark"
"But no stars. If there were stars up there, we'd be able to see them, wouldn't we? Andrew, look at me. You know this is all just a story, don't you? You know there's no such thing as stars" she tells him. Andrew doesn't answer, just turns his gaze back to the sky.
**********
Staircase
Andy listens to the adult voices downstairs, "But there's bound to be a bit of him that feels alone. Andrew's a really good person. It's quite common, actually. Throughout history, people have talked about seeing stars in the sky. God knows where it comes from"
"I just don't want him growing up and joining one of those star cults. I don't trust that Richard Dawkins" Christine and Sharon walk across the hallway from the kitchen to the living room.
Someone in a red fez puts a leaflet through the door. Andrew runs down to get it. It's titled The Anomaly and features the Pandorica at the National Museum. Someone has written on it in red ink – Come along, Pond.
**********
National Museum
Andrew drags his aunt Sharon, "Come on, Aunt Sharon"
"Oh, look at that. That's good, isn't it?"
"Not that. This way"
"But we're not looking at anything"
"This way!"
"Andrew!"
**********
Andrew stops to look at the exhibit of petrified daleks, then pushes through the people standing looking at the Pandorica. Someone snatches his original cola drink from him. Suddenly there is a post-it note on the Pandorica, saying Stick around, Pond.
"Andrew!" Sharon shouts, looking for him. Andrew runs to hide, "Andrew? Andrew?"
It's now closing time. "Andrew Pond, please go to the reception, please. Your aunt is waiting for you there. Andrew Pond, please go to reception" says the announcement.
Later still, Andrew creeps out form the penguin display, knocking some over, "Sorry"
He returns to the Pandorica and removes the post-it note. He puts his hand on the Pandorica and starts to open. Andrew backs away. The person inside speaks to him.
"Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated" It's Andy.
**********
Stonehenge
1,894 years previously...Rory has the body of Andy lying across her lap. "So the universe ended. You missed that, in 102 AD. I suppose this means you and I never get born at all. Twice, in my case. You would have laughed at that. Please laugh. The Doctor said the universe was huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there were miracles. I could do with a ridiculous miracle about now" She cries.
Suddenly the Doctor pops in from thin air, wearing a red fez and carrying a mop. "Rory! Listen, he's not dead. Well, he 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" the Doctor vanishes again.
"Doctor? Doctor!"
She reappears, without the mop, "You need to get me out of the Pandorica"
"But you're not in the Pandorica" Rory tells her confused.
"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. Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's easy to open from the outside. Just point and press" She gives Rory her sonic screwdriver, "Now go" she vanishes before returning again.
"Oh, and when you're done, leave my screwdriver in his top pocket. Good luck" She vanishes again.
"What do you mean? Done what?" Rory asks.
**********
Pandorica Chamber
Rory opens the Pandorica with the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor is released from the chair, "How did you do that?" She asks her.
"You gave me this" Rory shows her the sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor takes her screwdriver from her own pocket, "No, I didn't"
"You did. Look at it" Rory insists.
The Doctor touches her screwdriver to Rory's. They spark, "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I've got a future. That's nice. That's not" she points to the fossilized daleks.
"Yeah. What are they?" Rory asks her. Everyone who was in the chamber when the universe ended has ben fossilized.
"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were" she explains.
"Er, what does that mean?"
"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened"
"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?" Rory asks her.
"Nothing. Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out. Andy. Where's Andy?"
**********
Rory shows her to Andy's body, "I killed him"
"Oh, Rory" the Doctor sighs in sympathy.
"Doctor, what am I?"
"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity"
"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory" Rory insists.
"That's software talking"
"Can you help him? Is there anything you can do?" Rory asks her.
"Yeah, probably, if I had the time"
"The time?" Rory asks confused.
"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your boyfriend isn't more important than the whole universe" the Doctor tells her bluntly.
Rory punches the Doctor, "He is to me!"
"Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get him downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning" the Doctor cheers.
**********
Pandorica Chamber
The Doctor places Andy in the Pandorica, "So you've got a plan, then?" Rory asks her.
"Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Andy Pond is not an ordinary boy. Grew up with a time crack in his wall. The universe pouring through his dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of him and got a but more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul" she explains to Rory.
The Doctor mind-melds with Andy, "I'm leaving him a message for when he wakes up, so he knows what's happening" She seals Andy inside the Pandorica.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Rory asks her.
"I'm saving him. This box is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive" the Doctor tells her.
"But he's already dead"
"Well, he's mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock him that way. Now, all it needs is a scan of his living DNA and it'll restore him"
"Where's it going to get that?" Rory asks her.
"In about two thousand years"
**********
Anomaly Exhibition
Andy falls out of the Pandorica, gasping. "Are you alright? Who are you?" Andrew asks him.
"I'm fine. I'm supposed to rest. Got to rest, the Doctor says"
"What Doctor?"
Andy taps his head, "She's in here. Left a message in my head like I'm an answerphone. Where am I? Hang on. National Museum, right? I was here once when I was a little..." Andy suddenly realizes that the little boy in front of him was him, "Yeah, complicated. Let's see, it's what, 1996?"
"Who are you?" Andrew asks him.
"It's a long story. Oh. A very long story" Andy gets distracted by the Pandorica seen through times on a display board.
**********
Pandorica Chamber
The Doctor takes River's vortex manipulator from his bag and straps it to her wrist. "He's going to be in that box for two thousand years?" Rory asks.
"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine" the Doctor tells her.
"So hang on. The future's still there, then. Our world"
"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look. You put your hand there. Don't worry. Should be safe" She tells her.
"That's not what I'm worried about"
"He'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box" the Doctor assures her.
"Well, you got in there" Rory reminds her.
"Well, there's only one of me. I counted"
"This box needs a guard. I killed the last one" Rory tells her.
The Doctor realizes what she wants to do, "No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it"
"He'll be all alone"
"He won't feel it"
"You bet he won't"
"Two thousand years, Rory. You won't even sleep. You'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad" the Doctor tries to get her to change her mind.
"Will he be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me he wouldn't be safer" Rory says determined.
"Rory, you—"
"Answer me!"
"Yes. Obviously" the Doctor says.
"Then how could I leave him?" Rory asks.
"Why do you have to be so human?"
"Because right now, I'm not" Rory tells her.
"Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but you're not immortal. I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for god's sake, however bored you get, stay out of—" The Doctor vanishes before she's finished.
Rory puts on her helmet, draws her sword and settles down to the longest stint of guard duty in history.
"According to legend, wherever the Pandorica was taken, throughout its long story, the Centurion would be there, guarding it"
**********
Anomaly Exhibition
An audiovisual presentation of the history of the Pandorica on a nearby screen.
"She appears as an iconic image in the artwork of many cultures, and there are several documented accounts of her appearances, and her warnings to the many who attempted to open the box before its time. Her 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 she ever existed, she perished in the fires of that night, performing one last act of devotion to the box she had pledged to protect for nearly two thousand years"
"Rory. Oh, Rory" Andy whispers sadly.
"Exterminate!" One of the daleks have come back to life.
"What's that?" Andrew asks.
"Exterminate!"
The Doctor appears, "Trouble. Oh. Ah, two of you. Complicated"
"Exterminate! Weapons systems restoring"
"Come along, Ponds" the Doctor shouts. They run to a middle eastern montage where the Doctor takes the fez from a dummy.
"What are we doing?" Andy asks her.
"Well, we are running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one" The Doctor comments.
"What's going on?" A security guard asks from the end of the hall.
"Get out of here. Go! Just run!" the Doctor shouts to her.
"Drop the device!" the dalek tells the security guard, but she only has a torch.
"It's not a weapon. Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste" the Doctor tells the dalek.
"Scans indicate intruder unarmed"
The woman drops the torch. It's Rory in a museum guard uniform, "Do you think?" She shoots it with her Auton hand weapon.
"Vision impaired! Vision" The Dalek stops.
"Andy!" Rory shouts.
"Rory" they have a joyful reunion.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened" Rory apologizes to him.
"Oh, shut up" Andy kisses her.
The Doctor runs up to them, "Yeah, shut up, because we've got to go. Come on"
But they only ignore her, "I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you" Rory tells him.
"No, still shut up" Andy brings into another kiss.
"And break. And breathe. Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years" the Doctor comments awkwardly.
Andrew pulls at the Doctors jacket, "I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?" Andrew asks her.
"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it. The light. The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the dalek" the Doctor realizes as the daleks weapon starts to move again, "Out! Out! Out!"
**********
Museum Reception
"So, two thousand years. How did you do?" the Doctor asks Rory, grabbing a mop.
"Kept out of trouble"
"Oh. How?"
"Unsuccessfully. The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic" Rory tells her.
"Ah. Well, no time to lose, then" She disappears.
**********
Stonehenge
"Rory! Listen, he's not dead. Well, he is dead, but it's not the end of the world"
**********
Museum Reception
The Doctor returns and puts the mop through the door handles to the anomaly exhibition, "Oops, sorry"
"How can she do that? Is she magic?" Andrew asks watching the Doctor disappearing.
The Doctor reappears again, "Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic. I just gave it to Rory two thousand years ago" She disappears again before reappearing. "Right then" She retrieves her screwdriver from Andy's top pocket.
"Off we go! No, hang on. How did you know to come here?" the Doctor asks Andrew. Andrew shows her the leaflet and the post-it note, "Ah, my handwriting. Okay"
She grabs a new leaflet and post-it note from the information desk and vanishes. She returns with the drink she took from Andrew earlier. "There you go. Drink up"
"What is that? How are you doing that?" Andy asks her.
"Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up"
"Where are we going?" Andy asks.
"The roof" the Doctor answers him before a second Doctor appears further up the stairs, without the fez, and falls down the stairs. Her clothes are smoking. The Doctor runs up to herself, without the others standing behind her.
"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory asks her, confused.
"Doctor, is that you?" Andy asks.
"Yeah, it's me. Me from the future" future Doctor suddenly wakes up and whispers in the Doctor's ear, then falls back again.
"Are you? I mean, is she, is she dead?" Andy asks her hesitantly.
"What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course she's dead. Right, I've got twelve minutes. That's good" the Doctor answers him distractedly.
"Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?" Andy asks her, stunned.
"Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes. Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof" She tells them.
"We can't leave you here dead" Rory says.
"Oh, good. Are you in charge now? So tell me, what are we going to do about Andrew?" the Doctor asks her.
They look back down the stairs and find Andrew missing, only the cup on the ground "Where did he go?" Andy asks.
"Andrew?"
"There is no Andrew. From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing" the Doctor explains.
"But how can I still be here if he's not?" Andy asks her confused.
"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don't do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!" the Doctor runs up the stairs.
"She won't die. Time can be rewritten. She'll find a way. I know she will" Andy insists to Rory. Rory covers the dead Doctor with her jacket.
"Move it! Come on!" the Doctor shouts after them.
**********
Roof
"What, it's morning already? How did that happen?" Andy asks, squinting at the bright light.
"History is shrinking. Is anybody listening to me? The universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left" the Doctor sonicks a satellite receiver dish off its pole.
"What are you doing?" Rory asks her.
"Looking for the Tardis"
"But the Tardis exploded" Rory reminds her.
"Okay then, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis"
"I don't understand. So, the Tardis blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?" Andy asks her, confused
"Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?" the Doctor points to a large burning ball in the sky, "Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding Tardis"
"But that's the sun" Rory comments.
"Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now" She points the satellite to the sun and they can hear the Tardis noise, "That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the earth warm"
"Doctor, there's something else" Rory tells her, hearing something more.
"I'm sorry, my love"
"There's a voice" Rory says.
"I can't hear anything" Andy tells her.
"Trust the plastic"
The Doctor sonicks the satellite so they can hear what Rory is hearing, "I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, my love"
"Doctor, that's River. How can he be up there?" Andy asks her.
"It must be like a recording or something" Rory suggests.
"No, it's not. Of course, the emergency protocols. The Tardis has sealed off the control room and put him into a time loop to save him. He is right at the heart of the explosion" the Doctor explains.
**********
Tardis
River is forever running to the doors, opening them and seeing the rock wall, "I'm sorry, my love" scene repeats, but this time the Doctor is standing there.
"Hi, honey. I'm home"
"And what sort of time do you call this?" River smirks at her.
**********
Roof
The Doctor appears with River, "Andy! And the plastic centurion?" River greets them.
"It's okay, she's on our side" the Doctor assures him.
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh. Right then, I have questions, but number one is this. What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" River indicates to the fez the Doctor is wearing.
"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool" the Doctor says, pleased with herself.
River and Andy shares a look before Andy snatches the fez and throws it into the air, where River shoots it into pieces. "Oh!" the Doctor exclaims in horror for her fez.
Then the dalek rises up above the parapet, "Exterminate!"
"Run, run! Move, move. Go!" the Doctor ushers them inside again.
"Come on!" the Doctor uses the satellite dish as a shield and they get back into the museum.
**********
Roof Access
"Doctor, come on" River tries to usher her.
"Shush. It's moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity" the Doctor tells him.
"How do you know?"
"Because that's when it's due to kill me" she reveals to him.
"Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?"
"Oh, shut up. Never mind. How can that dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back" the Doctor wonders.
**********
Upper Corridor
"How?" the Doctor wonders.
"You said the light from the Pandorica" Rory tells her.
"It's not a light, it's a restoration field. But never mind, call it a light. That light brought Andy back, restored him, but how could it bring back a dalek when the daleks have never existed?" the Doctor asks.
"Okay, tell us" Andy says.
"When the Tardis blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except—"
"Except inside the Pandorica" Andy realizes.
"The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack" the Doctor rambles.
"No, no. Too fast. I'm not getting it" Rory tells her.
"The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that's how we're going to do it" the Doctor explains to Rory.
"Do what?" Andy asks her.
"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!"
"Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how's it going to reboot the whole of reality?" River asks her.
"What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light form the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?" the Doctor questions him.
"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible" River tells her.
"Ah no, you see, it's not. It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need"
"For what?"
"Big bang two! Now listen—" the Doctor gets cut off as she gets shot by the dalek.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Get back. River get back now!" Rory warns them, as she shoots at the dalek and it powers down again.
"Doctor? Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? what do you need?" River asks her. The Doctor activates the vortex manipulator and vanishes, "Where did she go? Damn it, she could be anywhere"
"She went downstairs, twelve minutes ago" Andy tells him, quietly.
"Show me!"
"River, she died"
"Systems restoring. You will be exterminated" the dalek says.
"We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life" Rory warns them.
"You go to the Doctor. I'll be right with you" River tells them, emotionless. Andy and Rory leaves.
"You will be exterminated!" the dalek tells River.
"Not yet. Your systems are still restoring, which means your shield density is compromised. One Alpha Mezon burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead" River tells it, adjusting his gun.
"Records indicate you will show mercy. You are an associate of the Doctor's"
"I'm River Wolf. Check your records again" He tells it, pointing his gun at it.
"Mercy"
"Say it again"
"Mercy!"
"One more time"
"Mercy!"
**********
Museum Reception
The Doctor's body is not there, although Rory's jacket is. "How could she have moved? She was dead. Doctor? Doctor!" Rory shouts.
"But she was dead" Andy mutters.
"Who told you that?" River asks them, walking down the stairs to them.
"She did" Andy tells him.
"Rule one. The Doctor lies" River informs them.
"Where's the dalek?" Andy asks him.
"It died"
**********
Anomaly Exhibition
The Doctor is in the Pandorica. "Doctor!" Andy shouts, noticing her.
"Why did she tell us she was dead?" Rory asks.
"We were diversion. As long as the dalek was chasing us, she could work down here" Andy realizes.
"Doctor, can you hear me? What were you doing?" River asks her.
The light from the Tardis is getting brighter, "What's happening?" Rory asks.
"Reality's collapsing. It's speeding up. Look at this room" River tells them. All the exhibitions are gone.
"Where'd everything go?" Andy asks looking around.
"History's being erased. Time's running out. Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us. Doctor!" River tries to get her to wake up.
The Doctor mutters lowly, "Big Bang two"
"The big bang. That's the beginning of the universe, right?" Rory asks.
"What, and big bang two is the bang that brings us back? Is that what you mean?" Andy asks.
"Oh" River suddenly realizes what the Doctor was trying to do.
"What?" Andy asks him.
"The Tardis is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire" River explains.
"Then what?"
"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like she said"
"That would work? That would bring everything back?" Andy asks.
"A restoration field powered by an exploding Tardis, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work. She's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box" River explains.
"Why?" Andy asks.
"So she can take it with her. She's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion"
**********
a short time later
"Are you okay?" Rory asks Andy.
"Are you?" Andy asks back.
"No"
"Well, shut up then!"
"Andy, she wants to talk to you" River says, walking to them.
"So, what happens here? Big bang two? What happens to us?" Andy asks River.
"We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it"
"River, tell me she comes back, too" Andy pleads.
"The Doctor will be the heart of the explosion"
"So?"
"So all the cracks in time will close, but she'll be on the wrong side, trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of her will be purged from the universe. She will never have been born. Now, please. She wants to talk to you before she goes" River tells him.
"Not to you?" Andy asks him.
"She doesn't really know me yet. Now she never will"
Andy walks over to the weak Doctor in the Pandorica, "Hi"
"Andy Pond. The boy who waited all night in your garden. Was it worth it?" the Doctor asks him.
"Shut up. Of course it was" He assures her.
"You asked me why I was taking you with me and I said, no reason. I was lying"
"It's not important" Andy shakes his head.
"Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the universe. It's why I'm doing this. Andy, your house was too big. That big, empty house, and just you"
"And Aunt Sharon"
"Where were your mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?" the Doctor asks him.
"I lost my mum and dad"
"How? What happened to them? Where did they go?"
"I, I don't..." Andy stutters, not knowing what happened to his parents.
"It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic, it's not your fault"
"I don't even remember"
"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Andy Pond, all alone. The boy who didn't make sense. How could I resist?" the Doctor smiles.
"How could I just forget?" Andy asks.
"Nothing is ever forgotten. Not really. But you have to try"
"Doctor! It's speeding up!" River shouts to her.
Andy puts the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in her pocket, "There's going to be a very big bang. Big bang two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there" the Doctor tells him.
"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Andy asks her.
"Because you're special. That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back. You can bring them back, too. You just remember and they'll be there" She assures him.
"You won't" He cries.
"You'll have your family back. You won't need your imaginary friend any more. Ha! Andy Pond crying over me, eh? Guess what?"
"What?"
"Gotcha" she says before the Pandorica closes.
"Back! Get back!" River drags them back, away from the Pandorica. The Pandorica takes off. River gets a message, "It's from the Doctor"
"What does it say?" Andy asks him.
"Geronimo"
The Pandorica reaches the Tardis. There is another explosion then everything reverses back to the start.
**********
Tardis
The Doctor sits up on the floor of the Tardis, "Oh! Okay. I escaped, then. Brilliant. I love it when I do that. Legs, yes. Bow tie, cool. I can buy a fez"
"Lyle beach. The beach is the best. Automatic sand" the Doctor hears herself say from the controls.
"Automatic sand? What does that mean?" Andy asks.
"It's automated. Totally"
"Oh" the Doctor realizes.
"Cleans up the lolly sticks all by itself"
"No, hang on. That's last week when we went to space Florida. I'm rewinding. My, my time stream unravelling, erasing. Closing" the crack in the scanner slowly closes and disappears. "Hello, universe. Goodbye, Doctor. Andy" She says and sees that Andy reacted when she said his name.
**********
Aickman Street
"Ah, three weeks ago, when he put the card in the window" the Doctor sees Andy petting a cat on the sidewalk, "Andy! I need to tell you something" Andy reacts but not enough as he continues to walk.
"He can hear me. But if he can hear me" there is a crack in the road.
**********
Maze Of The Dead
"Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that boy open his eyes. Andy, later. River, going to need your computer" the old Doctor says before running away.
The Doctor runs up to Andy who has his eyes closed, grabbing his hands, "Andy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important" she whispers to him.
"But you don't always tell me the truth" Andy whispers back.
"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me"
"Doctor, that crack in my wall. How can it be here?" Andy asks her, scared.
"I don't know yet but I'm working it out." She looks behind her at the old her before staring at Andy again, "Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?" the Doctor asks him.
"What did you tell me?"
The Doctor rests her forehead against his, "No. No, that's not the point. You have to remember" she kisses him on the head before leaving.
"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?"
**********
Andy's House
And back to the start, where it all began, "Andrew's house. When he was seven. The night he waited"
Little Andrew has fallen asleep outside, lying on his suitcase, "The boy who waited. Come here, you" the Doctor leans down and picks him up.
She puts him to bed, "It's funny. I thought if you could hear me, I could hang on somehow. Silly me. Silly old Doctor. When you wake up, you'll have a mum and dad, and you won't even remember me. Well, you'll remember me a little. I'll be a story in your head. But that's okay. We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? Because it was, you know. It was the best"
"The daft old woman who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I was always going to take it back. Oh, that box. Andy, you'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Bit and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient, and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Would have had. Never had. In your dreams, they'll still be there"
"The Doctor and Andy Pond, and the days that never came. The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly until I'm on the other side. I don't belong here anymore. I think I'll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats. Live well. Love Rory. Bye bye, Pond" she kisses his head before she goes through the crack in the wall and it closes behind her.
Andrew wakes up, looks around and goes back to sleep while the stars twinkle in the sky.
**********
Wedding Reception
"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, the father of the groom, Augustus Pond!"
Augustus rises, "Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects" he says before sitting back down.
"Your father, Andrew, will be the absolute death of me. Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively" Tabetha, Andy's mom, complains.
Andy sees River walking past the windows and he stands up looking at him. "Andy? You okay?" Rory asks him.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Andy says, sitting back down.
"Right. You're crying" She tells him.
Andy wipes a tear away, "So I am. Why am I doing that?" he asks.
"Because you're happy, probably. Happy Mr. Andy. Happy, happy, happy" Rory says.
"No, I'm sad. I'm really, really sad" Andy tells her.
"Great"
"Why am I sad? What's that?" Andy asks looking at a book on the table.
"Oh, someone left it for you. A man" Rory tells him.
"But what is it?"
"It's a book"
It's a book with a Tardis design cover, it's River's diary, "It's blank" Andy says looking through it.
"It's a present"
"But why?"
"Well, you know the old saying. The old wedding thing. Huh? Andy, what? Hey" Rory tries to get his attention.
Augustus stands, now ready to say his speech. Andy sees one of the guests wearing a bow tie, and another with braces. A tear falls onto the book. "Shut up, dad!"
"Andy?" Rory says, shocked.
"Andrew?" Augusts questions his son.
"Sorry, but shut up, please. There's someone missing. Someone important. Someone so, so important" Andy says, standing up.
"Andy, what's wrong?" Rory asks him, concerned.
"Sorry. Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid. I had an imaginary friend" he begins.
"Oh no, not this again" Tabetha complains.
"The raggedy Doctor. My raggedy Doctor. But she wasn't imaginary, she was real"
"The psychiatrists we sent him to"
Andy speaks louder, "I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy Doctor, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!" the glasses start rattling, very gently, "I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would. That's why you told me the story the brand new, ancient blue box"
A strong wind blows the balloons around, "Oh, clever. Very clever"
"Andy, what is it?" Rory asks again.
"Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue" He says as the Tardis starts appearing in the middle of the room.
"It's the Doctor. How did we forget the Doctor? I was plastic. She was the stripper at my bachelorette party. Long story" Rory remembers.
Andy knocks on the Tardis door, "Okay, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?"
The Doctor appears in the door, dressed in a black dress clearly ready for the wedding, "Yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing" She steps out of the Tardis, "Hello, everyone. I'm Andy's imaginary friend. But I came anyway"
"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the groom" Andy says, strutting to the Doctor.
The Doctor stops, "Andrew, from now on I shall be leaving the kissing duties to the brand-new Mrs. Pond. Right then, everyone. I'll move my box. You're going to need the space. I only came for the dancing"
**********
Later, in the disco phase of the party, the Doctor is moving to the rhythm of crazy little thing called love by Queen.
"You're terrible. That's embarrassing!" Andy laughs at her.
"That's it. that's good. Keep it loose" the Doctor is showing the dance moves to some children who loves her.
Later, when the tempo is slowed for the couples. The Doctor watches Andy and Rory slow dancing, "Two thousand years. The girl who waited. Good on you, mate"
**********
Outside Andy's House
The Tardis is parked in the garden, the Doctor walks over to it. "Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" River asks from behind her.
"You tell me" the Doctor turns around to look at him.
"Spoilers" He smiles.
The Doctor returns the diary and vortex manipulator to River, "The writings all back, but I didn't peek"
"Thank you"
"Are you married, River?" She asks him.
"Are you asking?" River smirks.
"Yes"
"Yes"
"No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, or or or asking if you were married?" the Doctor asks confused.
"Yes" River repeats.
"No, but was that yes, or yes"
"Yes"
"River, who are you?" the Doctor asks, even though she knows he won't answer.
River's smile slips from his face, "You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes" he warns her before vanishing.
"Nah" the Doctor enters the Tardis.
**********
Tardis
The Doctor stands by the controls when Andy and Rory walk in the Tardis, "Oi! Where are you off to? We haven't even had a snog in the shrubbery yet"
"Andy!"
"Shut up. It's my wedding"
"Our wedding" Rory reminds him.
"Sorry, you two. Shouldn't have slipped away. Bit busy, you know?" the Doctor tells them.
"You just saved the whole of space and time? Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow" Rory tells her.
"Space and time aren't safe yet. The Tardis exploded for a reason. Something drew the Tardis to this particular date and blew it up. Why? And why now?" the Doctor asks. The phone starts ringing, "The silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to. Excuse me a moment"
She answers the telephone, "Hello? Oh, hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line. No, no, no, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the seventh Obelisk. I was at the prayer meeting. Well, no, I get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express, in space. Give us a mo" She turns to Andy and Rory.
"Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye"
"Yeah, I think it's goodbye. Do you think it's goodbye?" Andy asks Rory.
"Definitely goodbye" Rory agrees.
Andy goes to the door and shouts to Leadworth, "Goodbye! Goodbye"
The Doctor grins and speaks into the phone again, "Don't worry about a thing, your Majesty. We're on our way"