Work Text:
The story of River Song isn't what one might call happy.
Ever heard of en media rez? Well, I guess you could say this is an example of that - starting in the middle of the story.
It started with a girl being taken. A good man went to war to get her back. Her, and her newborn daughter. And they'd almost succeded, but they were never meant to.
'Demons run
When a good man goes to war
Night will call and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war
Demons run, but count the cost
The battle's won, but the child is lost.'
They searched, but with all of time and space to hide, there was no way to find an exact location.
But a friend of the girl - Amy Pond - showed up one day. She was reckless and irresponsible and had grown up with Amy all her life. Little did she know that she was growing up with her own daughter right beside her.
'You named your daughter…after your daughter.'
And with a regeneration Melody Pond was made into her last form. She and the good man, the Doctor, were made enemies. He outsmarted the guns, but was killed by a kiss.
But a dying man shows his true colors, she saw, and in his final moments, he only wished to save his friends.
'Who is this River Song?'
'The Doctor? Is he worth it?'
The only water in the forest is the river.
And so Melody Pond became River Song. And she would have many adventures to come.
She started forced to kill him.
And she destroyed time to stop it.
'I can't let you die without knowing you are loved. By so many and so much. And by no one more than me.'
Of course he stopped her, died and survived. After that, their encounters were normal for the most part. Well, as normal as they could be for The Doctor and River Song.
'And Doctor song? In prison all her days.'
'Her days? Yes. Her nights…well, that's between her and me, eh?'
Each time they met, sometimes it was the future for both. But most of the time, River only went back.
'My past is his future. We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet I know him more, he knows me less. I live for the days when I see him. But I know that every time I do he'll be one step further away. The day's coming when I'll look into that man's eyes - my Doctor - and he won't have the faintest idea who I am. And I think it's going to kill me.'
She lost her parents in a way where even a miracle worker couldn't save them, and yet still stayed strong.
'Raggedy man…goodbye.'
Then the day came, where she'd meet the latest doctor she'd ever encounter. His face was impossible, and she'd never believe it was him, until he finally proved it.
'When you love the Doctor, it's like loving the stars themselves! You don't expect a sunset to admire you back! And if I happen to find myself in danger, let me tell you, the Doctor is not stupid enough, or sentimental enough, and he is certainly not in love enough to find himself standing in it with me!'
From the beginning, the Doctor knew River's fate, because his first encounter was her last. Well, sort of.
'Why would a diary be sad?'
'I don't know. It's just…you look sad.'
'It's nearly full.'
'So?'
'The man who gave me this was the sort of man who'd know exactly how long a diary you were going to need.'
He took her to the Singing Towers of Darillium even though he knew what it would mean. He gave her the screwdriver that he's been saving to give to her. He told her time ends, because after so much, he knew this was it.
'So, assuming tonight is all we have left…'
'I didn't say that.'
'How long…is a night on Darillium?'
'24 years.'
'I hate you.'
'No, you don't.'
And then she went to a library. She met her worst nightmare, a doctor who didn't know her, and she introduced him to the woman he would never forget, just as she died.
She returned to help the Doctor even in death, but in the end, River Song's story had come to an end.
So, no. The story of River Song isn't what one might call happy.
But through the ups and downs, the smiles and tears, River Song would never be forgotten.
'You are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven.'
'She'll be absolutely fine.'
'No, she won't. She will be amazing.'