Fic: "I Love You, Daddy"
Title: I Love You, Daddy
Rating: FRT (PG-13)
Beta:
jhumor
Fandom: Doctor Who
Character(s): River Song, Rory Williams
Spoilers: Episode 6x7 - "A Good Man Goes to War"
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is owned by the BBC. I'm just playing.
Author's Notes: I did this for the "Guns and Curls" ficathon over at spoiler_song. This is an AU of the scene in “A Good Man Goes to War” where Rory went to get River.
Summary: She first met him when she killed him. Yet when she met him again, it would be the first time she saw him.
The last time she saw him is when he jumped in the way of her shot. She almost had the Doctor and was set to kill him when his companion made that brave move. And as he laid there dying, his wife crying hysterically, he looked at Melody and smiled. “Goodbye, sweetheart,” he told her. He then went limp.
She was arrested then and there. It was after that that she found out that the man she killed was her father. The Doctor came and told her that her father stopped her from killing him so that the Time Lord could save an entire planet from blowing itself up. When she heard this, she just sat there shell-shocked. The man was her father.
She had always wanted a father and a mother. As she was growing up, she was told that her parents abandoned her and that the Church rescued her and gave her a better life. They gave her a purpose. But deep inside, she wished that she had parents to care for her, to love her, to encourage her. She just wanted to be loved. But instead, there was only the church.
In the end, the organization was proven wrong. The Doctor told her that she was taken from her parents, to be used against them and himself. Now, years of doctrine was being wiped away just from this small simple act. She was determined then and there to fight against the Church, to correct any wrongs she may have committed against others. But she knew that she could not save him.
She changed her name to “River Song”, the name she was known by in the Gamma Forests. She accepted her punishment, even though she was not above escaping now and then to explore with the Doctor. Yet, she always returned to serve her time, to serve her penance.
So, when on her birthday celebration with the Doctor, she was shocked to see a younger version of her father appear before her. She could not even get out the words to say anything. She heard him ask her to help them rescue Amy from the Church. It was then she knew what was about to happen. She told him that she could not come until the very end, that the events had to play out as they were supposed to. She even smiled and said that it was her birthday.
Hearing this, her father rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a picture of himself and her mother. For the lonely nights, he said. She took it and stared at it. She saw them smiling up at her. And something deep inside her broke. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about the life she could have had with them. The life she should have had with them. Yet, some events in her life she would not trade in the world. Time had to continue on as it should.
However, she did hug him. She could tell that it shocked him at first but he returned it. “You have no idea what this means to me,” she told him. “You were the best man I have ever known.”
He just stared at her for a moment before saying, “You’re welcome.”
When he left, she stared down at the picture. “I love you, Daddy,” she whispered as the tears flowed more freely.
***
It was not until after River told them who she really was that Rory finally realized what the picture really meant to her. She grew up without them, he realized. She was not coming home to them.
But knowing that he gave her the most precious gift he could give to her made him feel better. And that was all that mattered.