A/N
First I just want to apologize for taking so long to update. I'm a whole month later than promised. But it's here now, the conclusion to 'The girl who waited'.
I have more information in the A/N after the chapter if you want to find out my plan for future chapters.
Without further ado, here's the next chapter.
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Chapter 25 Thinking Out Loud
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
But baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are, oh
~Ed Sheeran
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"Always with the dramatics." Another voice reached Rory's ears and he turned away from Amy who was busy working on the recently decapacitated Handbot, to see a figure clad in similar armour to Amy's, walking towards them. She had a mask on but the voice came out distinctly female; and definitely familiar; no voice modifier.
"Doctor," He spoke into his earpiece. "What's happening?"
"I think the time stream lock might be a bit wobbly."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory frowned, his eyes still on the new figure.
"I think we have accessed the time-stream further into the future than anticipated."
"I couldn't resist." Amy said behind him, evidence of a grin noticeable in her voice.
"I apologise about your wife," The new figure said as she reached him. "I have tried to teach her manners but I gave up after the first fifteen years."
"Rose?"
"Hello, Rory." The figure took of her mask, revealing a grinning Rose. "I've missed you." She pulled him into a hug before he had a chance to respond. In his earpiece he could hear the disbelieving gasp of both the Doctor and Jack.
"You-you... You don't..." He spluttered.
"I know." Rose pulled away. "We started noticing around year eight."
"You said fifteen years earlier." Rory looked from Rose to his wife, who was now finished with the Handbot and was staring at him with an unreadable look. "How long..."
"How long have we waited for you?" Amy snapped. "Thirty-six years, Rory. Thirty-six."
"But... I'm..." He sighed as he averted his look. "I don't..." He drew a hand through his hair, leaving it resting at the nape of his neck. "I'm so sorry." He finally looked at them. "We never meant for it to take so long. For us it's been under an hour since we all arrived here."
"We knew it would take a while for you to get here." Rose spoke up. "We jus' never imagined it would take this long."
"You knew?" Rory frowned. "How?"
"Not important." Amy pushed him towards where her and Rose had come from. "If we stay out here any longer, more bots are gonna appear.
The three of them walked in silence as Rory's head swam with conflicting thoughts.
"Doctor!" Rory spoke into the earpiece when he couldn't take the silence any more, while doing his best to keep up with Amy's long strides. "What do we do?"
More silence
"Okay, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time-stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening?"
"We can't do that, Rory." Jack finally spoke into his earpiece. "We're already locked onto this time-stream. There's no going back."
"This is so wrong." He shook his head.
"Cause I got Old?" Amy stopped outside a white door. "What did you think was going to happen?"
"No," Rory grabbed her hand. "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. You know that."
She shook him off. "Don't touch me. Don't do that." She opened the door and walked inside. Rory followed. "Thirty-six years, three months and four days. That's how long we waited. This facility was built to give people the chance to live. We walked in here and we died. Do you have anything to say?" She looked him in the eyes. "Anything, Doctor?"
The Doctor made no attempt to speak.
"We're sorry, Amy." Jack's voice was now on speaker.
"Rory." Rose held her hand out to him. "Can I?"
"Ehm..."
"The glasses."
"Oh, yeah, sure." He quickly took them of and handed them to her.
"Put the Doctor on, please Jack."
"Sure thing, Rose." Jack answered as Rose walked away.
Rory stared at her retreating back before walking over to Amy, who was now over by a pile of mattresses.
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"Doctor?" Rose spoke into the earpiece.
"Rose?" His voice sounded so broken, but to finally being able to hear it after all this time filled her whole body with warmth she hadn't even realised she'd been missing.
"God, I've missed that voice." She half chuckled, half cried. It was difficult holding back the tears.
"You haven't aged."
"I was hoping we could skip that conversation." She sniffed.
"Rose..."
"I know." She wiped a few tears from her eyes. "God, it's just been so long, you know. I never thought I would be able to speak to you again.
"I'm sorry that you got stuck here. It's my fault. If I-"
"No, Doctor." Rose cut him off. "Amy and I should have asked which button you pressed before stepping inside. It all happened so fast, we weren't thinking."
"I will make it up to you. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that." She sniffed, a pained grin gracing her lips.
"Rose," He started. "About your-"
"My youthful appearance?" She chuckled humourlessly. "All I know, Doctor, is that I still look exactly the same as the day I stepped inside here, while Amy looks like she could be my mum."
"I will run some test when you get back. We'll figure it out, okay."
"I trust you, Doctor." She looked over to where Amy and Rory seemed to be arguing about Rory the bot. "But first we need to get us out of here."
"I have an idea."
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After a bit of arguing back and forth between Rory, Amy and the Doctor, they finally decided to go out into the garden so the Doctor could speak to the interface.
Amy demanded to speak to the Doctor one on one, so Rose stood watching as her best friend said some very hurtful, but also very true, words to the Doctor.
"You shouldn't wander of."
"Excuse me?" Rory stopped short and turned towards her.
"The Handbots." She said. "You can get caught."
"Oh," He frowned. "I didn't think... I forgot."
"Don't worry." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and a half-grimace-half-smile. "You'll only make the mistake once."
Rory chuckled darkly. "Yeah, I guess so." He glanced at her. "Amy told me some things earlier. About you and her."
"We were alone her for thirty-six years." She said defensively, her hackles rising up immediately.
"I know, I know." He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I understand. I just wanted to let you know, that I know. About what happened."
"Are you gonna tell the Doctor?"
"Not if you don't want me to."
"Good."
"I just..." He wringed his hands awkwardly. "What will happen when we get back?"
"I wouldn't worry about it." She said dismissively.
"I would... I mean, I am... Worrying about it, that is. Well, not worrying per say, but..."
"Rory," She sighed. "Let's just focus on the here and know, alright. We'll get to the other stuff once we're back on the TARDIS."
"Okay," He nodded. "Duly noted."
Rose snorted,
"What?" Rory asked.
"I just forgot what a huge nerd you are."
"Hey!"
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"Okay, so here's the plan." The Doctor spoke over the comms, the glasses once again on Rory. "Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in Twostreams it's extra wobbly. I've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy and Rose's timeline together. We're bringing them out of the then and into the now! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably... almost probably... and then, Amy Pond, I'm going to save you."
"No." Amy said and walked away.
"No?" Rory looked at Rose.
"You heard her." Rose shrugged and walked after her.
Neither said a word until they had stepped back inside their 'home'.
"You know what this means." Amy said when Rose walked up to her. "I remember this."
"Me too." Rose pulled her into a hug. "And do you remember what we promised ourselves we would do when it was out turn?"
"We promised that if we ended up in the same situation we would help our younger selves."
"Then that's what we're gonna do."
"Even if it means we have to die?" Amy pulled back, unshed tears visible in her eyes. "Everything we've been through... They will never know."
"Rory will."
"He told you?"
"Yeah," She nodded, reaching out a hand to brush away a few stray tears on Amy's cheek. "I don't mind him knowing, that just means that we will live on in a way. And all that other stuff... I don't want them to know."
Rory came inside as they pulled away from each other.
"Why won't you help yourself?"
"He wants to rescue Past Us from thirty-six years back." Amy told him coldly. "Which means We'll cease to exist. Everything we've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."
"Oh," Rory looked between the two of them. "That means..."
"Yeah," Rose cut in. "But it's okay."
"How is it okay?"
"We've talked about it before." Rose explained. "This has happened before, when we first got her. Only it was only Amy here and she refused to help us. So we decided that if history repeats itself, we would help our younger selves. So that's what we're going to do."
"Reluctantly." Amy muttered.
"If there was any other way."The Doctor spoke over the comms.
"I know, Doctor." Rose smiled. "You just make sure to tell younger me the truth, okay. You promised."
"I will."
"Good," Amy interjected. "So, how do we do this?"
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To say it was weird to see a younger version of yourself was an understatement, at least Amy's version actually looked younger. For Rose it was like looking into a mirror.
"This is so weird!" Both Roses said simultaneously making them chuckle.
"How much older are you?" Younger Rose asked her.
"Thirty-six years."
"But..."
"It's a long story." Rose sighed. "I don't know why, I just know that I haven't aged in almost four decades. Just... make sure the Doctor keeps his promise and figure out why, okay."
"I will." Young Rose nodded.
"And..." Rose drew in a deep breath. "Don't wait, hoping for a better time or convincing yourself that it's not worth it. Life is fleeting, you never know what will happen and you'll regret the choices you didn't take."
"You're talking about...?"
"Yes." Rose nodded. "You love him and he loves you. You both know it, so just... Don't waste your time, okay? Take a leap of faith."
"But what if...?"
"Don't think about the ifs. Everything can happen so why worry about it until you need to. Think about yourself. Be selfish. Be loved."
"I... This is so weird." Younger Rose shook her head. "But..." She looked up at her eyes. "I will do my best. But you know the Doctor."
"Yeah," Older Rose grinned. "I do."
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"Okay, we need to go. Now!" Old Amy grabbed Old Rose's arm. "We have twenty minutes before the TARDIS dematerialises and there are bots on their way."
"Alright, you take the lead and I'll follow up. Make sure that no one gets left behind."
"Rory! Younger Rose and Amy. God that's weird." Amy grimaced. "Come on. We need to get to the TARDIS. And don't break of."
"Go!" Rose yelled and the five of them started running towards the gallery where the TARDIS was waiting.
They got inside the gallery just as the bots arrived and Old Amy quickly barricaded the door while Old Rose, Rory and their younger selves ran towards the TARDIS. Jack stepped out just as they reached the doors.
"Jack." Old Rose threw herself into Jack's arms.
"Just like old times." He chuckled as he held her tightly.
"Don't I know it." She grinned as she pulled back.
Jack turned towards their younger versions and Rory.
"You better get inside; we don't have much time left."
"Okay," Rory nodded. "Come on." He ushered young Amy and Rose inside leaving Jack alone with Rose.
"You're gonna stay." It wasn't a question, just a statement.
Rose regarded Jack for few moments before answering. "You know why we can't come."
"Yeah, I do."
"Being stuck here, it changes you. And not for the better. I want her...me... to have a happy life. For both of their sakes. And I know that Amy wants it too."
"You will die."
"I know. But we will die together."
Jack followed her gaze to older Amy who was watching the barricaded door.'
"Something happened between you to, didn't it?" Jack locked down at her but she kept her gaze on Amy. "I can tell."
"Yeah, it was inevitable. After the first decade we decided to stop fighting it."
"I'm sorry that is has to end like this."
"Don't." Rose shook her head. "This is for the best. We would never survive outside of here anyway."
"I think you're wrong." Jack shrugged. "But also right. Not as long as Rory and the Doctor are around."
"Yeah."
"Jack!" The Doctor called out from the TARDIS. "We need to leave."
"Just a second." Jack called back and then gave Rose one last hug. "I'm gonna miss you."
"You'll still have me." She said into his shoulder.
"Not this you."
"How does it feel?" She whispered but she knew he heard. "To die?"
"Quicker than falling asleep.
"Thank you." She let go and quickly backed away from him. "Now go. And make sure the Doctor keeps his promise."
"I will." He saluted her as he closed the door behind him.
"It won't hold for much longer!" Amy called out.
"Doesn't matter." Rose turned away from the TARDIS and looked over at her.
"They will come through soon." Amy regarded her tensely while sneaking glances at the TARDIS as its familiar dematerialising sound started up.
"We will be long gone before then." Rose took one last look at the TARDIS as it disappeared and then started walking towards her.
Amy took one last look at the door before meeting her in the middle.
"At least we're together." Amy whispered as she cupped her cheeks.
"Together." Rose closed her eyes as she leaned her forehead against Amy's.
"Forever." Amy finished and closed the gap between them.
They disappeared into the empty space, locked in a kiss.
Erased from the world but forever together in memories.
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A/N
I hope you liked it.
Due to personal reasons, I just don't have the motivation to write as much as i used to. But I want to finish this.
So instead of writing all the way through season 7 and 'The time of the Doctor' which was my plan from the start, I will finish it after 'The wedding of River Song' and the minisode 'First night'.
If I decide to do season 7 in the future then I will set this story as part 1 and that one as part 2 of the same series. But it will probably take a while before I decide to continue. I want to focus on other fandoms before that.
But, after this chapter there will be between 4-6 more chapters before it's finished, depending on if i need to break up the episode chapters in two or not. The next chapter will be a direct continuation of this one and will deal with the aftermath.
After that I will make a chapter consisting of time-jumps starting with 'The God complex' and will mostly deal with all the adventures that River mentions like 'Easter Island', 'Jim the fish' and 'Winter frost fair'. So It will be about the Doctor's and Rose's travels with River and without the Ponds.
Then the chapter/s after that will be 'Closing time' and the one/s after will be 'The wedding of River Song'.
My goal is to have it finished before the year is over.
If you have any questions just DM me on my Tumblr, Teekalin.
Leave a Review if you liked it =)