A Long Life (But One Worth Living): Chapter Five
Title: A Long Life (But One Worth Living)
Author/Artist:
rumpelsnorcack
Rating: PG-13
Characters & Pairings: Rory/Amy
Word Count: 1133 this chapter
Summary: The story of Rory's life, from meeting Amy to death.
Notes: .Many thanks to the wonderful
a_phoenixdragon and
mollywheezy who have been extremely supportive through this whole process. I've been writing this on and off for a while. It's still not finished, but is getting there. Not sure how many chapters there will be, but each one is intended as a short one-shot in its own right so all can be read independently. However, they do all build together to give a picture of Rory's life, complicated timelines and all. It's all roughly chronological, but each piece doesn't necessarily exist in the same timeline as each other piece. So some are pre-reboot, some post, some exist in a universe which includes Mels, others don't.
Disclaimer: Sadly none of the characters are mine, I just enjoy hanging around in their sandbox.
Dressed in his customary clothes of blue shirt - ripped up - a purple tie and a pair of shredded old trousers, Rory was lying down under an apple tree in his neighbours' yard. They were away, and whenever they left the village, Amelia always dragged him into their garden to play 'raggedy doctor' - it was her favourite spot. It had all the romance of the adventure she desired, but was private enough that people seldom bothered them when they were in there. Rory was grateful. He knew that people thought he was just as mad as Amelia because he humoured her and let her dress him up like the doctor she was always dreaming about.
'Tell me again how you met the doctor?' he said.
Amelia flipped over onto her stomach next to him and squinted at him, probably to see if he was serious. She never quite believed that he believed her. Which, Rory mused, was fair enough considering that he really … kind of didn't believe her. He put on his most trustworthy expression, and smiled at her encouragingly.
'Why do you keep wanting to know?' she asked, and he could hear a hint of accusation in her voice.
'I don't know. I like hearing you talk about it.' Rory knew he shouldn't mention that what he really liked about it was Amelia's passion, the way her face lit up and she vibrated with energy when she talked about the raggedy doctor. He loved watching the way her expressive face chased one mood after another - from the grouchy Amelia who first met the weird man who couldn't walk straight, through the exasperated Amelia who couldn't find the right thing to feed the man, through excited Amelia who wanted to run away to the stars with him.
Amelia smiled at him, then rolled over onto her back. She couched her hands behind her head and started talking. Rory lay on his side, head resting on one arm so he could trace the emotions as they moved across her face. He lost himself in the moment, and was startled when she poked him. He squinted at her in confusion. She had clearly either finished her narrative while he was lost in thought, or she had stopped because she'd lost interest in her tale.
'We need to play more, Rory. The raggedy doctor hasn't saved the earth from Prisoner Zero yet!'
Rory sighed. It was always the same when they played her game. He was given certain lines to say and always, always he had to save the world from Prisoner Zero. He was bored of playing the same old game every single time. He got to his feet reluctantly and then decided to do something differently today, just to see how Amelia would react.
She directed him to his customary position behind a tree and pranced off to her spot behind a nearby shed.
'Oh! I wonder what that big blue box in my garden is,' she said in strident, unnatural tones. 'I must go out and see what it could be.'
Rory took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree. 'I am the raggedy doctor,' he said, placing his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out. 'I am here to save the universe from Earth's puny citizens.'
'No! No no no no!!' Amelia stamped her feet. 'You're not doing it right! You're supposed to be saving the earth from Prisoner Zero. Do it properly.' Her lip pouted out in a stubborn frown, and Rory's heart twisted anxiously. However he said, 'I don't want to. I want to do something different.' He caught Amelia's aghast expression and softened his words a little. 'I mean ... I want the doctor to do something different. Why does it always have to be Prisoner Zero? Why not some other alien?'
Amelia's face crumpled. 'Because it was Prisoner Zero and the weird eye that he saved me from.' She sat down in an abrupt heap and Rory, concerned, carefully sat next to her. 'I didn't tell you this before, but I was praying to Santa to help me when the raggedy doctor came. I feel like,' she squirmed a bit, and glanced at him with an uncharacteristically shy expression, 'like he was sent to help me and that means he'll be back. I need to be ready when he comes.'
A small tear slid down Amelia's face. 'But I guess it's stupid. You think it's stupid.'
'No, I don't,' Rory said. 'I think it's fine. I just think there are other things he would do if he was from space. He's not going to want to always be saving people from Prisoner Zero. He'll want to save them from other stuff too, and maybe ... maybe a bit of difference would make you even more ready if ... I mean when, he comes.'
Amelia looked at him for a long moment. 'You don't think I'm mental then?'
'Of course I do,' Rory said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'But it's a fun mental, and anyway ... I think everyone's a bit mental. Or at least the fun and interesting ones are.'
With a watery smile on her face, Amelia lunged towards Rory. She caught him unawares with the kiss she planted on his lips, but he recovered quickly. He lost himself in the feeling of her body against his, but eventually had to pull back for air.
'I'm not complaining, but ... why?'
'Because you're you, and you're lovely and you humour me.'
She pulled him down to lie on the grass next to her, then snuggled into his side with a contented sigh. In the distance, Rory could hear the Macarena being played and raucous laughter spilling out of another neighbour’s house. Amelia stirred beside him, a blinding smile lighting her face as she pecked his lips again. ‘This’ll be our song now,’ she grinned. ‘Now you definitely need to learn how to dance properly.’ Rory smiled at her, knowing that he would be learning just because it made her happy.
Amelia sat up quickly and pulled on his arm. ‘Come on, Rory, we really should go back home. You know how your dad worries.’ The frayed fabric of his raggedy shirt ripped even further and Amelia grimaced as she looked at it, a sad smile on her face.
'I'm not going to be Amelia anymore,' she said after a few moments. 'It's a bit fairytale, don't you think? I like Amy better. That's a real name for a real person, a grown-up person.'
Rory barely heard the last words she whispered to herself as she dragged him in the direction of his house. 'Besides, he isn't coming and it's time to lose all the fairytales.'
Prologue
Author/Artist:
rumpelsnorcack
Rating: PG-13
Characters & Pairings: Rory/Amy
Word Count: 1133 this chapter
Summary: The story of Rory's life, from meeting Amy to death.
Notes: .Many thanks to the wonderful
a_phoenixdragon and
mollywheezy who have been extremely supportive through this whole process. I've been writing this on and off for a while. It's still not finished, but is getting there. Not sure how many chapters there will be, but each one is intended as a short one-shot in its own right so all can be read independently. However, they do all build together to give a picture of Rory's life, complicated timelines and all. It's all roughly chronological, but each piece doesn't necessarily exist in the same timeline as each other piece. So some are pre-reboot, some post, some exist in a universe which includes Mels, others don't.
Disclaimer: Sadly none of the characters are mine, I just enjoy hanging around in their sandbox.
Dressed in his customary clothes of blue shirt - ripped up - a purple tie and a pair of shredded old trousers, Rory was lying down under an apple tree in his neighbours' yard. They were away, and whenever they left the village, Amelia always dragged him into their garden to play 'raggedy doctor' - it was her favourite spot. It had all the romance of the adventure she desired, but was private enough that people seldom bothered them when they were in there. Rory was grateful. He knew that people thought he was just as mad as Amelia because he humoured her and let her dress him up like the doctor she was always dreaming about.
'Tell me again how you met the doctor?' he said.
Amelia flipped over onto her stomach next to him and squinted at him, probably to see if he was serious. She never quite believed that he believed her. Which, Rory mused, was fair enough considering that he really … kind of didn't believe her. He put on his most trustworthy expression, and smiled at her encouragingly.
'Why do you keep wanting to know?' she asked, and he could hear a hint of accusation in her voice.
'I don't know. I like hearing you talk about it.' Rory knew he shouldn't mention that what he really liked about it was Amelia's passion, the way her face lit up and she vibrated with energy when she talked about the raggedy doctor. He loved watching the way her expressive face chased one mood after another - from the grouchy Amelia who first met the weird man who couldn't walk straight, through the exasperated Amelia who couldn't find the right thing to feed the man, through excited Amelia who wanted to run away to the stars with him.
Amelia smiled at him, then rolled over onto her back. She couched her hands behind her head and started talking. Rory lay on his side, head resting on one arm so he could trace the emotions as they moved across her face. He lost himself in the moment, and was startled when she poked him. He squinted at her in confusion. She had clearly either finished her narrative while he was lost in thought, or she had stopped because she'd lost interest in her tale.
'We need to play more, Rory. The raggedy doctor hasn't saved the earth from Prisoner Zero yet!'
Rory sighed. It was always the same when they played her game. He was given certain lines to say and always, always he had to save the world from Prisoner Zero. He was bored of playing the same old game every single time. He got to his feet reluctantly and then decided to do something differently today, just to see how Amelia would react.
She directed him to his customary position behind a tree and pranced off to her spot behind a nearby shed.
'Oh! I wonder what that big blue box in my garden is,' she said in strident, unnatural tones. 'I must go out and see what it could be.'
Rory took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree. 'I am the raggedy doctor,' he said, placing his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out. 'I am here to save the universe from Earth's puny citizens.'
'No! No no no no!!' Amelia stamped her feet. 'You're not doing it right! You're supposed to be saving the earth from Prisoner Zero. Do it properly.' Her lip pouted out in a stubborn frown, and Rory's heart twisted anxiously. However he said, 'I don't want to. I want to do something different.' He caught Amelia's aghast expression and softened his words a little. 'I mean ... I want the doctor to do something different. Why does it always have to be Prisoner Zero? Why not some other alien?'
Amelia's face crumpled. 'Because it was Prisoner Zero and the weird eye that he saved me from.' She sat down in an abrupt heap and Rory, concerned, carefully sat next to her. 'I didn't tell you this before, but I was praying to Santa to help me when the raggedy doctor came. I feel like,' she squirmed a bit, and glanced at him with an uncharacteristically shy expression, 'like he was sent to help me and that means he'll be back. I need to be ready when he comes.'
A small tear slid down Amelia's face. 'But I guess it's stupid. You think it's stupid.'
'No, I don't,' Rory said. 'I think it's fine. I just think there are other things he would do if he was from space. He's not going to want to always be saving people from Prisoner Zero. He'll want to save them from other stuff too, and maybe ... maybe a bit of difference would make you even more ready if ... I mean when, he comes.'
Amelia looked at him for a long moment. 'You don't think I'm mental then?'
'Of course I do,' Rory said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'But it's a fun mental, and anyway ... I think everyone's a bit mental. Or at least the fun and interesting ones are.'
With a watery smile on her face, Amelia lunged towards Rory. She caught him unawares with the kiss she planted on his lips, but he recovered quickly. He lost himself in the feeling of her body against his, but eventually had to pull back for air.
'I'm not complaining, but ... why?'
'Because you're you, and you're lovely and you humour me.'
She pulled him down to lie on the grass next to her, then snuggled into his side with a contented sigh. In the distance, Rory could hear the Macarena being played and raucous laughter spilling out of another neighbour’s house. Amelia stirred beside him, a blinding smile lighting her face as she pecked his lips again. ‘This’ll be our song now,’ she grinned. ‘Now you definitely need to learn how to dance properly.’ Rory smiled at her, knowing that he would be learning just because it made her happy.
Amelia sat up quickly and pulled on his arm. ‘Come on, Rory, we really should go back home. You know how your dad worries.’ The frayed fabric of his raggedy shirt ripped even further and Amelia grimaced as she looked at it, a sad smile on her face.
'I'm not going to be Amelia anymore,' she said after a few moments. 'It's a bit fairytale, don't you think? I like Amy better. That's a real name for a real person, a grown-up person.'
Rory barely heard the last words she whispered to herself as she dragged him in the direction of his house. 'Besides, he isn't coming and it's time to lose all the fairytales.'
Prologue