I'll say more at the end of the chapter in a proper author's note, but for now, I'll just say that the canon characters, despite the changes I'll eventually make, are not mine and never will be. And I'll also say that reviews of any kind are fantastic, and I hope you enjoy this insignificant little work of mine.

NOTES ON CONVENTION. Bolded, italicized speech (in quotes) is Gallifreyean. "Like this". Telepathic conversations are indicated by italicised bold text not in quotes. Like this.

The dates after each chapter title are there as a way of "dating" each chapter. They represent how much time has passed since Amy ran away with the Doctor on the night before her wedding (24 June 2010). For example, this date here, 22 August, means that she's been traveling on the TARDIS for about two months.

THE LAST OF THE TIME LADIES

In fear and desperation, Amy Pond accidentally turns herself into the second last of the Time Lords. Now possessing unimaginable power and intellect, she travels with the Doctor in the knowledge that with two of them, nothing could stop them, right? But neither were counting on one small thing - her past. And as time goes on, Amy will slowly learn that her humanity was a far more precious thing than she ever realised.

CHAPTER 1. The Crystal Forest: 22 August 2010

Amy Pond was used to running.

It was a good thing too, she thought, as her long legs propelled her between gleaming rows of giant violet crystals towards the cavern wall. A fair trade-off, she supposed, for seeing the sights that all of time and space had to offer.

Though giant exploding purple crystals is definitely a first, she mused.

"Run, Pond! Run! Don't touch the crystals! Just run!"

Amy rolled her eyes as she darted between two four metre tall columns of sparkling gem, narrowly avoiding a shower of shrapnel from a shattered crystal some twenty feet behind her. She spotted the Doctor ahead.

"Well, maybe if you didn't set them on fire like I told you, we'd not have this problem!" she snapped, her thick Scottish accent laced with annoyance.

"Not the time for 'I told you so', Pond! Besides which, my sonic was jammed!"

"And so you set them on fire? Plus, how can your sonic be jammed?"

"With great difficulty! Now run!"

Amy rolled her eyes again, ducking as a shard of sparkling violet sailed over where her head was not half a second previously.

For an insanely smart, alien, he can be so thick sometimes. Must be the bowtie, she decided. Maybe it was just a quirk that Time Lords had.

Ahead of her, she could see a break in the rows of crystal. Dodging another purple missile, she sprinted out of the crystal forest and joined the Doctor behind a rocky outcrop. Conveniently, it was about chest-high, so a perfect place to be taking cover.

"You OK? Nothing missing? No holes or unusual bumps?" asked the Doctor. Amy could see the adrenaline, the rush from an adventure in his eyes, and couldn't help but smile despite having come within inches of being decapitated.

"Yeah, fine. I think."

"Let me see". He grabbed her hands and examined them carefully, holding them up against the dim light within the cavern. "One, two, three, four... ten. Good. And two legs, I see-"

"-And two arms as well. Really, Doctor. Fine."

The Doctor curled the corner of his lip in amusement.

"You know what they say – better safe than sorry. Now, escape plan." He slowly lifted his head above the top of the outcrop, briefly ducking to avoid being nailed between the eyes by another crystal bullet. "The TARDIS is on the other side of the cavern, as and far as I can tell there's only one way over there."

Amy sighed.

"Let me guess. Through the crystal forest?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Why couldn't we have run for our lives towards the TARDIS?"

"Exploding crystals, Amy. Not conducive to a complete appraisal of our surroundings,"

Amy sighed again. It was never simple with the Doctor, was it?

Then again, if she wanted simple, she would have stayed the mad and scary kissogram in that blasted lifeless village, not witnessing double sunsets against a rainbow sky taken straight out of a masterpiece painting. Neither would she have gone to New York to witness New Year's celebrations for the year 10000, watching firework displays far beyond anything she could have dreamed of in her time.

Nor, for that matter, would she have visited Krylos, home to the largest forest of super-sized amethyst crystals in the known universe. It was one of the most breathtaking sights Amy had ever seen (which, in itself, was quite a feat). A pity, then, that the crystals were distinctly partial to open flame - and nor did they take too kindly, it seemed, to combusting neighbours.

"So," she began slowly, "we have to run back through the forest of giant exploding crystals, trying not to get our heads taken off by a three foot block of purple rock-"

"-Amethyst, Amy. Well, flammable amethyst." interjected the Doctor, who had his sonic screwdriver out and was twirling it about in seemingly random patterns. Amy closed her eyes and paused before continuing.

"Trying not to get our heads taken off by a three foot block of amethyst, and reach the TARDIS? Is that the escape plan?"

"Yep!" the Doctor replied brightly. The sonic made a loud clicking noise and he gripped it. "On three, then?"

Despite the direness of the situation – not to mention the deep scepticism she had in the 'escape plan' – Amy had to smile. The Doctor's optimism was truly infectious. She linked her hand through his.

"On three," she replied. "One,"

"Two,"

"Three!"

Bursting out behind the outcrop, and again ducking under another improbably large piece of crystal moving improbably fast, they raced back through the forest. They weaved between the towering edifices, only pausing to take cover behind any crystals that had miraculously not yet joined the carnage. Using the sonic screwdriver to navigate them through the sections of the forest that had somehow remained stable, the Doctor pulled his red-headed companion through the crystal forest, racing towards the blue box sitting serenely on the other side of the cavern.

Just as they had finally exited the other side, TARDIS in sight, a huge tremor rocked the ground beneath them, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

"What on earth was that?" Amy asked quietly, blowing a stray lock of hair that had ended up in her mouth after the fall.

"What on Krylos, you mean. These crystals are only the very top of a network, stretching far underground. Like an iceberg."

"So the ground beneath us is exploding as well?"

"Basically. Now, run!"

Amy didn't need telling twice. She sprinted for the blue doors, the Doctor just ahead with his tweed jacket flapping wildly behind him.

Almost there...

She heard a horrible, soft ripping noise and felt a sharp pain shoot through her right leg – instinctively, she knew that a crystal had sliced deep into her flesh as she crumpled to the shiny black rock, crying out.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor, now at the TARDIS doors, whipped around to see her crumpled form, blood streaming from the wound in her leg and her face white with fear.

"Amelia!" Disregarding any thought of his own safety, he ran towards her with all the speed his Time Lord legs could muster.

BOOM.

An explosion ripped through the ground beneath the Doctor as he ran, steam and shards of glassy purple erupting from the ground. Amy watched in horror as he sailed into the cavern wall and tumbled to the ground, unmoving.

"No!" Dragging her wounded leg behind her, Amy crawled towards him. Shutting out her own pain, she felt for the Time Lord's pulse.

Nothing.

No. He's not dead, she told herself, filled with sudden terror. He can't be dead. My Raggedy Doctor can't possibly be dead. Tears began welling up in her eyes as she called out his name in desperation. Still nothing.

Not dead. He can't die. Won't die. She blinked away the tears. Focus. Try something. Anything. CPR. It works in the movies.

This isn't a movie, Amelia, a voice in her own head answered. She ignored it.

She had to try.

Taking a deep breath in, she parted the Time Lord's lips and forced hers onto them.

Amy's arms were going numb from the compressions but she didn't care.

You're wasting your time, that deep, dark voice told her. Even if he weren't dead, CPR can't help anyway.

No, she answered. I won't give up. I'll never give up. I waited for him. I won't watch him die. I won't. I won't. She shut her eyes, trying to squeeze the tears out of them. She crushed his lifeless lips with hers once more as a desperate sob escaped her.

Won't give up. Won't give up.

Thirty more compressions. She rested against her head against his chest.

Nothing.

Again she forced her mouth onto the Doctor's, only just managing to place her lips on his as she shook violently. One breath, two breaths...

Amelia Pond... he's gone.

This time she had no answer.

She lay, mouth against his, forcing her harsh, uneven breaths into his unresponsive lungs, unable to move, unable to think, convulsed by sobs that came out of her core of her being.

She didn't notice the golden mist rising from his hands.

Wracked with agony and guilt, Amy Pond had never felt less alive in her life. She wished that one of the crystals could sail into her brain and end her, as it had ended the life of her best friend. Her imaginary friend. She sobbed into his lungs, praying somehow that her breath could somehow engender his.

She felt a slight tingling sensation in her hands, still placed on the Time Lord's cheeks. Maybe you can die of grief, she thought. Maybe this is how it happens... your soul just leaves through your arms. But then, as her harsh, shallow breaths forced the way into his lungs, she received the most impossible response.

A breath. Tiny.

Can it be?

Another, this one stronger.

She opened her eyes and lifted herself off him, and immediately saw the waves of golden mist rising from his face. He's glowing... how? Could it... possibly? Trembling, she placed a hand on his chest. There it was... the familiar double heartbeat.

As she did so, the golden mist disappeared. She stared at his familiar face, the colour returning to it.

"Doc... tor?"

The Time Lord's eyes fluttered open, the gleaming blue eyes struggling to focus.

"Amy?"

Her eyes locked onto his and she began to laugh. Relief, happiness without bound coursed through her, so much so that she began to feel light headed. The pain in her leg even seemed to be dulling. He smiled tiredly up at her as his eyes strained to focus.

"Gotcha," she whispered.

He opened his mouth to reply – but stopped himself. His brow furrowed, his eyes fixing themselves on her as shock, then concern, fell across his features.

"Amy... what have you done?"

"Saved your life. OK with that, are ya?" she replied, putting on a false hint of smugness. She was struggling to think clearly, the light-headedness having morphed into a gripping headache. Relief, she decided, from saving her best friend.

Think I need a lie down. Today's been a bit much.

The Doctor sat up, ignoring his own pain and exhaustion as he grabbed her hand.

"Amy, please. This is important. What did you do?"

The redhead groaned and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "Could it wait, Doctor? Today's been a bit much, you know. Need a lie down..."

She opened her eyes and gasped. Clouds of golden dust, glowing in the darkness, were rising off her arm. She looked at her other hand and saw the exact same.

What on earth-

Without warning, an impossibly bright light exploded before her eyes and seared her brain, her skin feeling as if every inch of her was aflame. She tried to scream but she couldn't control her voice. She couldn't control her arms, her legs, her lungs, anything. The only thought her overloaded brain could muster was that she must surely be dead.

And then, as quickly as it came, the light, the pain, everything vanished, plunging her into utter darkness.

Okay. Author's note time. Some of you will have seen this before, pre-edit.

This is an open-ended AU centering on the life of Amy Pond after she becomes a - you guessed it - Time Lady, and the subsequent evolutions in both her character and her relationship with the Doctor. As you've no doubt noted, it is a big story in terms of length and scope, and it will slowly get darker and darker. It is character-centric (though certainly with action aplenty), and will take an interpretation of Amy that is heavily influenced by her behaviour (if not the events) in S6. It will have romantic elements as well, by the way, and do not assume that canon relationships remain stable - everything is up in the air.

The main divergence point is what you've just read, but there's other canon alterations I've made but I won't address directly in the story: namely, there is no Silence and no (canon) River Song. Both removals are for sanity-of-plot reasons, not because I hate them or anything. Whilst the crack in time is still there in the sense that Amy is affected by it (and this is important), it doesn't lead to the Pandorica or similar. The other major change is that the Doctor does not go to pick up Rory immediately after the end of Flesh and Stone. In a sense, therefore, you can consider this story to start some time "between" Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice.

That should be enough to get by. Once again, I love reviews, so the more the merrier, but otherwise, enjoy the story.