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“I told you we should have turned left!” River tried to sound as cross as possible as she panted and forced her legs to run faster. She looked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the Doctor stumbling after her, several paces behind.
The Doctor briefly met her gaze and then took a quick look behind him, as if fearing their pursuers were right on his back. “It’s not my fault the hunters went on their raid early!” he protested.
Gradually, the jungle became more dense, and River found herself almost constantly tripping over a root or plant of some kind. She slowed her pace a little, grateful for the chance to catch her breath. The Doctor finally caught up to her and swept his hair from his face, his cheeks red and covered in a sheen of sweat as he huffed and puffed.
“Almost there,” he breathed. He took the lead and pushed his way through masses of giant leaves. After a couple of minutes the jungle thinned out again, and the Doctor paused. “I think…”
A shrill cry interrupted his thought, and a moment later the shriek was accompanied by the appearance of a giant bird diving towards them. The Doctor let out a startled yell, grabbed River’s arm, and pulled her out of the way just as the bird swept past in a blur of colour.
“And this is your idea of a good hiding spot?” River asked as she eyed the bird. It circled around, navigating expertly around the trees, and prepared for another assault.
The Doctor jumped between the bird and River, holding out his arms. “Wait! We’re friends. We haven’t come here to hurt you. He fanned out his tweed coat and spun in a full circle. “See? Not even armed.”
The bird slowed its flight and alighted on the ground just in front of the Doctor. Now that it was still, River could appreciate the magnificence of the dangerous creature. Its feathers gleamed a bright blue, and it sported a long, rainbow coloured beak, like a toucan, only the end was sharply curved like a bird of prey.
“There we are,” the Doctor said gently, crouching down. He slowly reached out and touched the bird; the creature was so massive that the Doctor’s splayed fingers only just covered its head. “We won’t be here long; just a few minutes so we can hide,” he continued, stroking his hand down the bird’s back. Its eyes half-closed with pleasure and it ruffled its feathers. A low humming emanated from its belly, and River had to smile as she realised it was purring like a cat.
In the distance there came the sound of leaves rustling and vines snapping. The bird perked up, instantly alert, throwing off the Doctor’s hand.
“Speaking of hiding, darling, we should really get out of the open,” River said, training her gaze on where the noise was coming from.
“Yes. Right.” The Doctor jumped up and addressed the bird. “If you could tell your mates not to attack us, we’d really appreciate it.” He rummaged for something inside his pocket and River gripped his shoulder tightly as the clamour grew closer. She tried to tug him away but he decidedly ignored her, instead pulling out a jammie dodger and tossing it to the bird. It snapped the cookie up out of the air and gulped it down whole.
“Thank you. May your life be lived out in peace,” the Doctor said, as if he were quoting traditional parting words. The bird nodded its head slowly. Finally, the Doctor followed River’s pull and ran in front of her. Separate from the growing noise of the hunters was the sound of rushing water, and River realised the Doctor was leading them towards it. They came upon a small waterfall, and the Doctor stopped short. He looked up at the closest tree. “Up we go, River.” He began clambering up the tree and River immediately followed, focusing on not letting her grip slip on the smooth bark. The Doctor halted his climb on a thick branch about twenty feet up, partially hidden by the leaves around it. As River took a seat beside him, she realised that they could easily move or converse without anyone below hearing, due to the waterfall right next to them. She could even feel a few stray droplets from where she sat.
“It’s a good spot, I’ll admit,” River conceded in a whisper, just to be extra careful. She really didn’t want to become someone’s dinner tonight. “There’s just one problem. If they walk right below the tree and look up, they’ll see us.”
“They won’t expect us to hide here,” the Doctor replied at a normal volume. “The toki birds are bloodthirsty and attack anything in their territory, unless you’re nice and know how to talk to them.” He looked down and flicked a loose piece of bark from the branch. “I doubt the hunters have taken the time to learn their language.”
River hummed in agreement, finding the Doctor’s compulsion to protect every living thing rather adorable. Of course, she’d never tell him that.
In the silence that followed while they waited, River took a moment to really survey the area. She realised that she hadn’t recognised how much colour was in the forest, but now that she took the time to look, it was like a rainbow had exploded all around them. The rich shade of green that adorned the leaves faded into purple veins that stretched into the bark of the trees. Dark vines seemed to hang from the very sky itself, as their origins were somewhere far above in the treetops. Below, in the pool that the waterfall collected in, small flowers dotted the plant infested ground, pushing their dots of vibrant colour through the stagnant green.
The voices of the hunters were distinct now, and River held her breath, bringing her mind back to the present. However, just as the Doctor had predicted, their pursuers passed through the area quickly. River heard the cry of angry toki birds all around, but they didn’t disturb her and the Doctor’s tree.
The hunting party’s disturbance faded into the distance, and the jungle calmed again. The Doctor stirred. “We have a clear path back to the TARDIS now. The hunters will be distracted, thinking we’ve gone another way—”
River grabbed his arm, stopping his process of getting up. “Not yet.” She looked into his eyes, burning with the obvious unspoken question. His eyebrows knitted together.
River held back a sigh. Why was she destined to love a man who would never love her in the same way?
“Can’t we have just one moment?” She huffed a short laugh. “We barely even said hello before you got us mixed up in all of this.”
The Doctor didn’t even try to hide the fact that the statement deeply offended him. “Me? How is it all my fault?”
River put a finger to his lips. “Hush. I don’t want to argue now.”
He gently took her wrist and pulled her hand away. “Then what do you want?” Now there it was, as certain as anything. Fear. Ever present, whenever she was involved. The man who stopped gods and monsters, afraid of her.
“What scares you so much, my love?” She placed a hand on his cheek.
The Doctor smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You know me too well, River.”
“And you didn’t answer my question.” River stroked her thumb over his cheek and raised her eyebrows, waiting.
“I’m always afraid of something,” he hazarded.
River rolled her eyes at his vague response. Sometimes he couldn’t stop rambling about all the things happening in his brain, and other times, like now, it was like pulling teeth just to get him to admit he was feeling anything.
“That water,” the Doctor said, shifting away from her touch and pointing to the waterfall, “is the purest water in this solar system. Some people believe if you can get past the toki birds and drink from it, you’ll live forever. Complete rubbish, of course, but it is very good water.”
River resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t getting anything out of him today and decided to make the most of this moment they had. She pressed closer to him so that they were hip to hip and leaned her head on his shoulder.
The Doctor continued pointing out and explaining things like the planet’s ecosystem and unique wildlife. River listened at first, genuinely interested, but then began to daydream about what life would be like if they had moments like this every day. She could hardly imagine a world where she didn’t crave these times that came along so rarely. In every other aspect of her life, she would never choose the slow path. But with the Doctor, if she had a choice, she’d opt for their lives to slow down, every single time.
What troubled her was that she knew, deep down, that if given that choice, the Doctor wouldn’t do the same.
River sighed. She’d thought it was silent, but the Doctor’s voice stopped and he turned his head to meet her eyes.
“Am I doing it again?”
River blinked at him, dragging her mind back from her thoughts. “Doing what?”
“Boring you.”
River smirked. “Doctor, you could never bore me.”
A small smile lit up his features. “You never told me; where are you?”
“Tell me where you are first,” she countered.
He raised his eyebrows at her. “I asked first.”
River frowned at his childish logic. She didn’t even need to look at her diary to know when the last time she had seen the Doctor was. “1969,” she said, not wanting to give away too much.
“The Silence,” he clarified. “Have we—” He stopped short. “Are you married yet?”
River smiled. “It depends on which marriage you’re talking about.”
The Doctor’s eyes widened in horror, and River laughed heartily at his distress. “Yes, I’ve done our marriage,” she said eventually. “Good thing too, because the last time I kissed you, you really needed some work.”
“Oi!” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It was the first time you kissed me. It was much better at our wedding.”
River pursed her lips and squinted, as if debating the truth of his words.
“If I’m really so terrible, it’s a wonder you married me then.”
“Did I really have a choice?” The words were meant to be playful, but she saw that they struck him. His expression went slack.
“You didn’t, did you?”
River found herself speechless for a moment as the mood shifted so suddenly. “It was my choice as much as it was yours. We weren’t forced to get married to restart time.”
He remained silent for a moment, staring off into the distance. Finally, he spoke, seeming to have recovered. “So tell me, wife, what have you been up to?”
River wanted to take away her earlier words, but she could see the damage had been done and the Doctor didn’t want to talk about it anymore. So she responded as she normally would: “Disgraceful things, naturally.”
He leaned away from her, only minutely. Would everything she say turn out to be utterly wrong today? “Sometimes I wonder what you get up to on your own.”
“I’m only teasing you, my love. Obviously, not the right day for it,” she muttered, mostly to herself. She touched his back. “Don’t you trust me?” But even as she said the words, a recent memory came back, one that would undoubtedly be burned into her mind forever.
“Trust you? Seriously?”
She’d never forget the way her heart had sunk straight down to her toes. She couldn’t really blame him; he had barely known her at that point. But for her, they had just gotten married. It had been the worst and lowest blow.
“River?” Now it was his turn to be concerned. “Of course I trust you.”
“You didn’t always.”
“You know I couldn’t help it,” he insisted with a sigh.
River pulled herself closer to him. “I don’t know if you remember it, but it just happened for me, with the Silence. I asked you to trust me, and the way you responded…” She pressed her lips together. “We had just gotten married for me. It hurt.”
The Doctor shifted his hand to the back of her head and pulled her close so he could kiss the top of her head. “I’m sorry, River,” he spoke into her hair. “I do trust you now. I always will.”
“Tell me why you’re scared then,” she countered.
He pulled away from her. At first River thought he was retreating again, but then he shifted so his upper body faced her. He didn’t meet her eyes. “I’m afraid...of our time.” The muscles in his jaw tightened. “I know, no matter how many moments like these we have, it will never be enough. River,” he said, finally looking into her eyes, “I’m scared of losing you.”
His words, coupled with the raw sincerity in his eyes, sent a shockwave through her. She closed the distance between them and kissed him, unable to hold back a sigh of relief when he immediately kissed her back, but only for a moment. He separated from her and raised his eyebrows, expecting an explanation.
“The last time I kissed you,” she said, gently stroking the hair on the back of his neck, “when it was your first time kissing me, I thought it might be the last time for me. That’s how these things seem to work.”
He swept her curls from her face and cupped her cheek. “Not this time, River. This time, fate is kind.” His free arm curled around her waist and pressed her closer as he kissed her deeply, testing River’s ability to balance and breathe all at the same time. His touches became gentle and loving, as if he was consoling her now rather than her doing the same to him. After he pulled back and simply just held her close, River spoke up.
“I’m afraid of our time too,” she admitted. “But that’s why these moments matter.”
The Doctor’s lips formed a rare, genuine, loving smile. “In that case, I think can turn one moment into all the time in the universe.”
River hummed in agreement and nestled herself into his side again. “Only you could.”
The Doctor’s hand found hers and he intertwined their fingers. And in that moment, they weren’t afraid, but making the most of that one little moment.