In memory of Elisabeth Sladen

1948-2011

R.I.P

'When the rain is blowing in your face.'

"River, how long have you been sitting there?" The Doctor asked in incredulity, trying to be heard over the almighty roar of the thunderstorm, as he marched over to the drenched woman sitting at the side of the road. Rain was hammering down repeatedly, and it smashed against his skull like a brick. He sat next to her, and held her hand. She leaned her neck and rested her head on his shoulder,

"Long enough," She replied, almost tonelessly.

"It's freezing." The Doctor said, pulling off his jacket and putting it over River Song's broad shoulders. River did not respond. He turned to her and wiped the moisture that wasn't just rain from her sparkly blue eyes and kissed her very gently on the lips. She smiled when they came apart and hugged The Doctor's middle like a little child, clutching a toy in a thunderstorm.

'And the whole world is on your case.'

"Oh give it up River, did you honestly think I would just automatically trust you?" The Doctor shouted across the TARDIS console, throwing the carefully constructed Dalek detector he had just spent an hour making, down on the floor, smashing it to pieces.

"You have to, otherwise you're going to die!" she yelled back. She threw a ring across the console at him, and collapsed against it, weeping all the while. He caught the ring, stared at it in amazement and cautiously walked over to River. Sighing, he sat down next to her and looked at her,

"Just, take it. It doesn't mean anything without trust." She said, choking through her heavy sobs.

He knew what he had to do. He fingered the ring and pulled himself onto one knee, "River Song, marry me?"

'I could offer you a warm embrace.'

"River Song, do you want a hug?" The Doctor asked, lisping mockingly, like a small child. She grinned wildly at him, chuckling softly at the totally awful timing of his question. Being in the middle of a Weeping Angel attack, where they had actually managed to force their way into the TARDIS (assembled forces of Genghis Khan, yeah right!), now was probably not the best time to have an emotional moment.

"Doctor: vortex manipulator! Quickly! Get over here!" River Song cried out urgently. He grabbed it and ran over to her.

"Thanks sweetie," she said, going to take it. He pulled it out of her reach, "Oi, give me now!" she said, fake sternly.

He raised his eyebrows, "Hug?" he asked cheerfully and hopefully.

River turned around to face him and gave him a huge bear hug. He retaliated with a force so great that, entwined together, they fell on the floor in a big heap.

"Happy?" River asked, taking her vortex manipulator from his startled hands and standing up, leaving The Doctor lying, laughing, on the floor.

'To make you feel my love.'

"Give me your hand." The Doctor said suddenly as he and River Song walked steadily along the rocky path of the planet Skylar. River gave him a questioning stare and raised her right eyebrow.

"Okay?" Nevertheless, she gave him her hand. He planted a chivalrous kiss on the back of it and continued to press his lips against each finger in turn, and then entwined his fingers in hers.

"Was there a point to that?" River asked breathlessly.

The Doctor grinned toothily, "To make you feel my love."

'When the evening shadows and the stars appear.'

The ground was hard and uncomfortable, but the pain was not even noticeable next to the beauty of the sky. Even the skies above Earth had the most incredible stars and constellations. The moon was apparently the largest it had been for over twenty years. The Doctor and River Song were bathed in its stunning and refreshing light; both of them were lying down on the same picnic blanket with the tibits of food that remained left several feet away, totally ignored.

"It's so beautiful." River Song mumbled.

"Just like you then." The Doctor replied softly. Before River could open her mouth to say 'cheesy line', he planted a very passionate kiss on it. Well, it was the only way to shut her up.

'And there is no one there to dry your tears.'

River Song could really not remember a time that she had ever cried this hard, or for this long. All the emotion: hate, anger, love, passion, sadness that had been boiling inside her for her whole life burst out. She hated how vulnerable she felt, how small and insignificant she thought she was when this sort of thing happened. She brushed her crazy curls that were slightly damp from her face and wiped her eyes unsuccessfully with the palm of her hand.

"Tissue?" came a gentle male voice. A hand fluttered in front of her face, a tissue hanging from between a thumb and an index finger. She smiled for what felt like the first time in her lifetime.

'I could hold you for a million years.'

"Cupcake?" she offered, holding out a tiny little sponge cake in her palm. It was coated in chocolate sprinkles (never the little silver balls, they were disgusting) and the paper it was encased in had lots of strange, unintelligible lettering and symbols on it. To ay other person, it would've been as easy to understand as whale, but to The Doctor, it meant something. On the wrapper it read,

'Sweetie, you don't know me properly yet, but you will soon, I promise. And then, I swear, I will love you forever. Enjoy.'

The Doctor read it and tears brimmed in the corner of his eyes,

"I do know who you are, "The Doctor said happily, taking the cupcake from River, who was staring in utter shock, her mouth wide open like a goldfish, "and I will say this. I love you, and I will hold you for a million years to prove it."

And they kissed as the fireworks exploded in the midnight sky, marking the start of a brand new year, 2013.

'I know you haven't made your mind up yet; but I would never do you wrong.'

"Doctor, you really need to choose; you have to do it now. So many people are depending and waiting on this decision." River Song said urgently, gripping The Doctor's hand and staring deep into his old but young face. Sweat was creasing his brow and he gripped River even more tightly.

"Come here sweetie" she said, pulling him closer, a hand on the back of his neck and kissing him gently on the forehead.

"Doctor, I've made my choice, I'm begging you, please, make yours." With this, The Doctor got the strength he needed. He turned around to face the angry, hate filled man and said,

"I'd like a strawberry ice cream please. Strawberry."

'I've known it from the moment that we met.'

The tinted visor that covered her sapphire eyes lightened and went from black to transparent. A muffled, metallic voice came from inside the helmet,

"Hello sweetie."

His hearts nearly leapt out from his chest. He didn't know that very soon, she would be one of the most important people in his entire life. She stared at him, a certain look in her eyes that made him realise something. And then, a wave of shock collided with his chocolate brown eyes. She called him 'sweetie'? There was a bout of confusion, but when she walked over to him and hugged him, he felt a spark, and he knew it was clichéd, but then came the connection, and he knew that she would be in his life forever. From the moment that they met, he could tell they would be together for an eternity.

'No doubt in my mind where you belong.'

The two lovers stood on the edge of the cracked cliff side, looking out over the midnight blue horizon. The Doctor stood behind River Song, his arms wrapped around her waist in a way that was supposed to be comforting and loving, and his head was next to her ear, he was whispering to her.

"River, River, River, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she murmured back, tears falling from her eyes, like snowflakes from a white winter sky, "it's just still such a…shock."

"River, I'm so sorry, there was nothing I could do." He replied regretfully, a flash of guilt surging through his body. He kissed her temple and then all the way down to her jaw bone, placing his lips on her soft skin. She turned to face him, her heavy mascara running down her cheeks and hugged him, choking through her tears. He grabbed her hand tightly and together they walked away from the cliff side, the ashes they had scattered into the sea floating out towards the beautiful horizon.

'I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue. I'd go crawling down the avenue.'

"Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to travel the stars," River Song said happily as she stood at the doors of the TARDIS, looking out of them at the incredible constellation of the Hydralaxias Cascade. Blues and purples swirled together with the red and black stars. Shafts of bright white light burst out of the stars, shining upon River's kind and serene face.

The Doctor was at the console, smiling at River and the expression on her face. It had been a tough, really rather difficult day, especially for their relationship.

"Well, now you can," The Doctor added cheerfully, "Where do you want to go now?"

"Anywhere, I really don't mind."

"Come on, let me do something for you, it's been a difficult day." The Doctor said, moaning.

River smiled, "You don't need to do anything for me, and we don't need to prove anything to each other."

"I can think of a few things I would do you for River; I would go hungry, I would go black and blue, I would go crawling down an avenue, and that wasn't supposed to rhyme at the end!" The Doctor shouted cheerfully. River smiled and she knew that he would always be her Doctor, no matter how upset or sick she got.

'No there's nothing that I wouldn't do, to make you feel my love.'

It was like in one of the old movies, their eyes met from across the room. Well, it wasn't a room as such, more like an intergalactic space park. She was sprinting away from the police, her hair tied back in a poofy ponytail, and he was sat on a bench, which was rather unusual (seeing as he was normally running away from evil bug eyed monsters), eating a chocolate fudge flavoured ice cream. She looked at him as she ran and gave him a huge wink. His mouth cracked into a huge grin. Typical River Song, always ending up being chased by space police in a park for using her disintegrator gun on some random man who had slapped her buttocks. He raised his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at one of the policemen (kind of) who was carrying a large tranquiliser gun and was pointing it directly at River's ever moving figure, and tied his shoelaces together so he tripped.

"There you go River Song."

And then, suddenly, the policeman raised his gun and pointed it at The Doctor. He was totally startled until two arms wrapped themselves around his neck and whispered,

"Thanks sweetie," Came River Song's smug voice, "Can you do me a favour?"

"There's nothing that I wouldn't do for you River."

"Give me your ice cream, I'm starving and I'm betting they won't feed us in prison."

'The storms are raging on the rolling sea.'

Fifty foot frozen waves towered above their heads. The sand on which they laid on was freezing cold, and it sent shivers up their backs when they moved even the slightest centimetre. The sun burned cold high up in the light blue sky. River was sporting a big puffball coat and a long (but not as long as The Doctor used to wear seven regenerations ago) spotty scarf, but was still shivering. The Doctor was simply wearing his normal outfit, his tweed jacket, his bowtie (which is very cool!) and his red braces.

"Can you imagine trying to surf on those waves?" River asked randomly.

The Doctor chuckled, "If you fell off then it would hurt a lot."

"So do you reckon the Cybermen will find us here?" River enquired, sitting up.

"Well, yeah…" The Doctor mused, pointing towards the metal creatures marching through solid blocks of ice waves towards them.

"We better run." River Song suggested.

"Good idea."

'And on the highway of regret.'

"Please River, please don't leave. I'm so sorry." The Doctor begged. River was storming off, leaving a trail of footprints in the horribly muddy and squelching ground. When he called her name again, she stopped and turned around, fury alive and alight on her normally calm face. Her eyes were burning like the hottest coals and her lips were formed into a thin pinkish line. She looked mutinous, her expression was wretched,

"What Doctor? What do you expect me to do?" she yelled, her hair falling into her face from the harsh vibrations in her voice.

"River, please just come back."

She smirked and shook her head, "No way. I've taken one too many insults from you."

The Doctor ran up to her, grabbed her shoulder, yanked her around and leant down and locked lips with her. She succumbed, but for only a second. She drew away and walked off again.

"Fine!" he yelled before storming back to the TARDIS, "I don't care!" he lied painfully.

He just wouldn't understand why she was being like this.

"Spoilers," River whispered to herself, daring herself not to cry.

'Though winds of change are throwing wild and free; you ain't seen nothing like me yet.'

"River Song, you are completely impossible," The Doctor shouted, laughing and grinning his head off.

"No, no, no, I'm just different to anything you've ever seen before," she yelled back, winking.

They looked around the surrounding area, their hands clamped together. Asgard was one of the most stunning places. The grass was long and soft, with large fields just full of daffodils, lilies, rhododendrons, roses and fluorescent pink bougainvillea. The four suns that shone high in the pale green sky made the temperature rocket. River wore a white vest top and three quarter length trousers; The Doctor wore a polo and knee length shorts, but still with a bowtie (this time yellow, she had forbidden him from wearing the luminous pink one saying 'Trust me, I'm The Doctor' on it).

"What I don't understand," The Doctor began explaining, "is how you managed to get the TARDIS programmed to come here and you actually landed it in the right universe. I mean I can never do that."

River Song grinned knowingly, and tapped her nose in secrecy. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, "I guess the TARDIS just prefers me."

'I could make you happy, make your dreams come true; nothing that I wouldn't do.'

The Doctor was in a mad frenzy. It was only seven minutes to go until River Song got back. Seven minutes was a long time to some people; on Metabilis Three there were Anabalistic frogs that only lived for seven minutes and they didn't even mate for life. There was a point to that, but he would get back to it later. He ran around the empty restaurant he had booked for the entire evening, placing white roses (her favourite) in purple vases that were scattered all around the room. He was staring at one rose in particular; it had one too many petals. He poured two glasses of red wine and placed them on the dinner table in the centre of the room.

"Oh, my goodness." Came a startled and breathless voice in the doorway of the room. Damn it, what was she doing here five and a half minutes early?

"River, you're early!" he exclaimed in shock, strolling over in what he hoped was a casual stroll. She glided over and met him midway.

"You really did this for me?" she asked in shock.

He smiled, "It isn't quite ready yet, but, anything to make you happy dear."

She went up on her tippy-toes and kissed him full. He responded swiftly and kissed her back hard, making both their dreams and wishes come true. All they ever wanted was someone to love them.

'Go to the ends of the Earth for you; to make you feel my love.'

"I'm nobody's taxi service; I'm not going to be there every time you feel like, like jumping out an airlock." He mumbled, pointing his finger at her threateningly.

She laughed, it was very early still in his time stream; he would always be there for her, and she for him. She loved to travel with him and sure, sometimes it would be dangerous, impossibly dangerous. And sometimes, it was painful, not only physically, like the time she got shot by a Sontaran blaster, but emotionally as well. Their relation was a rollercoaster; full of steady rises but then quick and low drops, and going round and round in circles until they finally came together at the right time in both of their lives. She loved him, more than anything, but he still had not even the faintest clue of who she was. And bu God, he was an idiot at times.

"And you are so wrong."

Because she knew, and she would do the same for him, he would go to the ends of the Earth and every other planet for her. They would run together forever.