Chapter 1: The Library

The Doctor was going about his usual business, ripping apart the wires of his TARDIS and attempting to improve it. It never made any difference; it just gave him something to do while Amy and Rory were asleep. Of course, when they were awake, he got the opportunity to talk to them, one of the main highlights of his day.

That day, he and Amy were engrossed in a deep chit-chat about everything and nothing while Rory was surfing the TARDIS database.

"How's my daughter?" asked Amy after a while.

The Doctor smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "She's River." he answered.

"Wow…that helped!" Amy said, "Seriously, how is she? We haven't seen her for ages."

The Doctor sighed. "She's fine." he told her.

Amy couldn't help but notice his discomfort. She'd noticed it before. Every time he spoke of River, she could always see a hint of sadness in his eyes, guilt even. There was obviously something he wasn't telling her, something which more than likely was connected to River.

"So, can we go somewhere?" asked Amy in attempt to change the conversation.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and leapt up onto his feet. He ran up to the main console with a big smile on his face and swiftly worked around Rory who was deeply immersed in the information on the screen in front of him.

"Right." began the Doctor, "Where do you wanna go? The Third Moon of the Magnatta System? The Copper Beaches of Tsunkatie? Oh, what about the Smiling Nebula? Beautiful place!"

Amy's smile had grown during his little speech. She loved it when he began to get excited for a new adventure. He was like a child on Christmas morning.

"Tunkatie?" asked Amy.

"Close enough." stated the Doctor, "Is that where you want to go?"

Rory, who was still looking through the database, suddenly halted scrolling down the screen as something that caught his eye.

"Doctor, what's 'The Library'?" asked Rory.

The Doctor's snapped his head towards Rory. "Its nothing." he answered abruptly.

Amy frowned. "That reaction suggests otherwise." she said, "What is it Doctor?"

The Doctor danced his fingers faster over the console in attempt to look busy.

"It's a Library." he answered, "It's in the name."

The fact that he refused to make eye contact with either of them confirmed to Amy that it was something more.

"Yeah." agreed Amy, "But what is it to you?"

The Doctor quickly looked up before returning to messing with the console.

"It's a Library." he repeated, "Just a Library."

"Well," began Rory who was reading through its file, "According to this: It's the biggest Library in the Universe, so big it doesn't need a name. It was built by the Lux Family and contains any and every book in the universe. It also contains the biggest computer in the universe which is the core of the planet. Condition: Dangerous. Colour status: Mauve…"

"Enough!" cried the Doctor, "It's just a planet which is a giant Library, Happy now?!"

Amy was quite taken aback with his outburst. It wasn't like the Doctor to be so uptight when they were asking him about something.

"Doctor…" said Amy.

The Doctor sighed and flopped down onto the chair behind him.

"Sorry…" he apologised as he rubbed his head.

Rory looked over at him. Even he could see that something was wrong.

Amy slowly approached the Doctor and knelt down at his feet. When she put her hand on his knee and he lifted his head, she could have sworn he was about to cry.

"Doctor, what is it?" she asked.

"It's the Lib…" he began.

"What is it to you?" she interrupted.

The Doctor broke away from her gaze and sighed. "It's a place where I lost someone." he revealed, "Someone special."

Amy smiled weakly. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor shook his head. "It was a long time ago." he informed them before leaping to his feet once again, "So, where do you wanna go?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "Wherever." she answered.

The Doctor pulled the lever down and began to laugh as the TARDIS rattled and shook as it ripped through the Time Vortex. However, the journey became a lot more turbulent than expected and began to toss them between the console and the rails.

It came to a full stop a few seconds later. Amy and Rory were all ready for a new adventure which to be honest, so was the Doctor. However, his mood changed as soon as he saw the location of where they had landed.

"What…?" he cried.

"Doctor?" asked Amy.

"WHAT?!" he screamed once again.

"Doctor, what is it?" asked Rory.

"Oh, no no, no, no, no…" he muttered as he began to zoom around the console.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" questioned Amy, starting to get slightly worried.

He frantically began to pull on the levers yet the TARDIS remained exactly where it was.

"Doctor, where are we?" asked Rory.

"We're in the Library…" he said.

x-[]-x

It took him almost ten minutes of meddling before he finally gave in trying to leave. Whatever the reason was, the TARDIS just didn't want to move.

"Why don't we go out?" suggested Amy, "See if whatever's stopping the TARDIS is outside?"

"No!" exclaimed the Doctor, "Absolutely not."

Rory frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"Because it's dangerous out there." the Doctor informed them.

Amy scoffed. "What's dangerous in a Library?" she asked.

"The dark." replied the Doctor.

Amy sniggered. "You're joking, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" he asked quite sternly.

Rory daren't speak after that. Whatever was out there, the Doctor definitely didn't want them to be at its mercy.

"So you're here?" asked a voice on the screen.

The Doctor ran up to it, quickly followed by Amy and Rory. They were amazed to see who they saw, but the Doctor wasn't.

"River…" he stated.

"Hello Sweetie." she greeted.

"You look well." he told her, his voice all soft and calm.

"I'm a computer program." she said, "I always look well."

Amy frowned. "Sorry, what?!" she cried, "What do you mean you're a computer program?"

River bit her lip and smiled. "Spoilers." she told them.

Her attention then returned to her husband... although, he didn't know that yet.

"The shadows are dormant." she told him, "You can come down to the core for a few minutes if you want."

The Doctor smiled. "A few minutes." he agreed, "That's all."

River smiled. "I'll be waiting." she told him before her image ended abruptly.

He darted down to the door followed by his two trusted companions. Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly stopped and spun around to them.

"Right, you have to remember this." he told them, "You're lives will depend on this. Stay in the light. Stay out of the shadows and do not let your shadows cross."

"What?" asked Amy.

"Remember that and you'll be fine." he said.

x-[]-x

It took them less than two minutes to reach the core. He released the seal he set the last time he was there for enough time to let them through before re-sealing it.

The place was just as he remembered it, all cold, spooky and old. The wood was rotting and now the metal was beginning to rust.

"What is this place?" asked Amy as she looked up to the core which looked like a small burning star.

"This is the core." he said as he opened up the unit that contained the main command node, "And this is… either CAL or River."

Rory frowned. All there was some sort of podium that had a small headrest which was slowly turning to face them.

"Oh my God!" cried Amy.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The top of the podium had turned and revealed River's face on it.

"Hello Sweetie." she greeted, "Mum, Dad."

"Okay Doctor." began Amy, not taking her eyes off River's face, "Explain, Right now."

The Doctor gulped. "River's conciseness lives in the core. Her body was destroyed the first time I met her… which was here."

River smiled. "You had a different face back then." she remembered, "And a fabulous blue suit."

"Blue?" asked Amy.

"No bowtie though." continued River.

The Doctor straightened it and smiled.

"See?" said the Doctor with a smile, "Bowties are cool."

Suddenly, River's face straightened and she began to speak as if she were a computer, well, technically she was.

"The shadows are moving. You must leave."

The Doctor gulped. "Rory, take this." he said throwing his screwdriver to him, "Get back to the TARDIS."

Rory caught the device and began to usher Amy away.

"Doctor, what about you?" asked Amy.

"I'm right behind you." said the Doctor, "Just give me a minute with River. Alone."

Once Amy and Rory had left, the Doctor looked up at her River's face on the podium.

"Look at you." he said, running his hand down her face.

"I'm a face on a statue." she said bluntly.

The Doctor smiled weakly. "How's life in there?"

River smiled. "Pretty good." she answered, "Turns out life in here isn't that bad. I've got my friends: Anita, Miss Evangelista, Dave and Other Dave…"

"I remember them." said the Doctor.

"… and my children." finished River.

The Doctor frowned but it soon faded into a small smile. "Children?" he asked.

River winked. "Well, there's Charlotte obviously." began River, "Then there's my son… John. I named him after my husband."

The Doctor frowned. "Husband?" he questioned.

River grinned. "Spoilers." she stated, "And then there's my daughter… Amelia."

The Doctor smiled slightly.

"I named her after my mother." finished River.

The Doctor's smile expanded. Although she was physically dead, River was still living in her own little paradise… living the life he had always wanted but could never have.

"It's a good life?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes." confirmed River, "It's everything I never realised I wanted."

"Good." said the Doctor, "I better get going."

"Okay… bye sweetie." she said, "Will I ever see you again?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno… maybe." he answered, "Bye River."