I'm sorry if this is a little stupid/hard to follow/ridiculous, but I can't help myself. I just love Ford so much and I can't believe they just killed him off like that. I just can't believe it. :stews angrily:
Anywho, this came to me during a sleepover at my friends', so thank you Jenny!
Set after "Childhood's End"
Lieutenant Aidan Ford had never felt so old in his entire life. Normally he didn't feel old. He was one of the youngest members of the military on Atlantis. But among the natives of this particular planet, he felt ancient. Most of them weren't even over twenty.
"Lieutenant," the intercom in Aidan's ear crackled to life as Sheppard spoke. "It could be a while. Stay close."
"Yessir," Aidan answered. He tugged his cap lower over his eyes as he felt the curious stares of half a dozen teenage girls nearby. He gave them a polite nod as he walked past, hoping that they wouldn't follow. Taking a covert glance behind him after a few seconds, he saw that there was no such luck. One of the girls ran to catch up to him.
"Are you really twenty-five?" she asked breathlessly, her innocent brown eyes open wide.
Aidan felt the familiar awkwardness that often accompanied people of the opposite sex talking to him. "Yes," he answered succinctly.
The girl's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. "I've never met anyone older than twenty-four summers," she whispered.
"How old are you?" Aidan asked, just because he was being polite.
"Fourteen summers," the girl answered proudly. A little boy came over, sucking his thumb, and stared up at Aidan with wide brown eyes so like the girls' that they had to be related. The girl followed his gaze. "This is Dilin. He's my little brother. Dilin, don't bother him," she told her little brother fiercely when the boy reached out to touch the gun Aidan carried. Dilin promptly began to cry, huge tears falling down his chubby little cheeks.
"It's all right," Aidan answered. He knelt down, popping the magazine out and stowing it in his vest pocket, and handed the gun to the little boy after making sure that the safety was on and that there was no bullet chambered. "Be careful with it, kid," he cautioned. Dilin held the gun like it was a sacred relic, removing his thumb from his mouth in order to clutch the weapon in both hands, his tears forgotten.
"You're good with kids," the girl mused. "Come with me. Dilin, will you give the nice man his…thing back?" Dilin obligingly held out the gun and Aidan took it with a smile and a thank you for the kid. "We're one of the villages that adhere to the old ways," the girl explained as she led Aidan into a small hut. A little girl sat on a bed in the corner, tears shining in her huge hazel eyes. She didn't cry, though. In fact, she made no noise at all. "Her mother went through the ceremony four days ago, and Narra hasn't eaten since. She will barely drink." The girl looked at Aidan seriously. "Can you help her?"
Aidan shrugged. "I can try." He went over and knelt in front of the little girl. "Hey," he said softly. The girl looked at him with tears trembling in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them out or say a single word. She seemed curious, though, watching him carefully. "I'm Aidan," he added, settling onto the bed next to her. "What's your name?"
"Narra," the girl whispered, barely audibly. Her eyes were glued onto his face. The other girl looked relieved, and ducked out of the hut.
Aidan bent down to look Narra in the eye. "It's nice to meet you, Narra. Can you tell me how old you are?"
"F-four," Narra stuttered, fighting back tears.
"Four," Aidan repeated, as if it were an incredibly remarkable age. "You're so grown up." Narra smiled slightly, revealing tiny white baby teeth. "Why are you so upset, Narra?"
Narra burst into tears. "Momma's gone," she wailed. "She told me to be good for Aunt Kaera an' that she was going away. Aunt Kaera says I'll never see her again."
Biting his lip, Aidan wondered what to do next. He settled with pulling the little girl into his lap and holding her close, frowning as he felt her tiny body trembling against him as she tried not to cry. "You'll see her again," he consoled her, feeling her hot and fierce tears against his neck, where her small face was buried in his collarbone. "Your mother has gone to a better place, Narra, and she wouldn't want you to be so sad."
Narra sat up, sniffing and wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "She wouldn't?"
"She wouldn't," he assured her, putting a forefinger under her chin and marveling at how large his hand looked compared to her face. "And she would want you to eat, too." He dug around in his vest pocket, pulling out a bar of chocolate. "Here, try some of this. It's really good." He handed her a square of the sweet, and she hesitantly put it in her mouth. Her eyes grew large and round and she smiled.
"It is good," she agreed quietly. Aidan got to his feet, and Narra stood up as well. She reached her arms up expectantly, and after a second Aidan picked her up and held her like he'd seen mothers do in movies. Narra wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, promptly falling asleep. He wondered what to do now and, after a few minutes of deliberation, eventually just left the hut with Narra still in his arms.
The older girl, who had to be Kaera, waited outside. "You got her to eat?" She asked worriedly.
Aidan shrugged, careful not to wake the little girl. "Sort of. She had some chocolate, which isn't technically food. When she wakes up, I'll see if I can coax her to eat something more substantial."
Kaera smiled as she looked at him. "She's never done that to anyone but her mother," she said, obviously referring to how Narra was holding onto him. "She must really like you."
"Lieutenant!" Sheppard said, and Aidan whirled, doing his best to stand to attention without waking the little girl he held. Sheppard did a double take at the sight of his lieutenant holding a child, and then he smiled. "Having fun?" Aidan refused to answer, and Sheppard smiled. "I'd say she likes you, Ford."
"Her mother underwent the ceremony four days ago," Aidan explained. "She wouldn't eat, so this young woman asked me to try to help. And look where it got me." He was kidding, of course. He rather liked the feeling of holding the little girl. It almost made him want to become a parent. Almost.
"Weir radioed. It's time to go," Sheppard informed him. Aidan nodded, and gently shook Narra awake. The little girl raised her head sleepily, blinking in the sunlight. Her eyes saw Sheppard, and she shrank against Aidan in fear.
"It's all right, Narra," Aidan reassured her. "This is my friend. His name is Sheppard. He's nice, and he won't hurt you. I promise." Sheppard looked amused again, but didn't comment. "I want you to go to your Aunt Kaera, okay? I have to go back to my home now. Be a good girl." Narra shook her head and hugged Aidan more tightly, refusing to let go. Aidan sighed, trying to loosen her arms without hurting her. "Narra, go back to Kaera."
"Don't wanna," Narra answered sulkily, pouting. Aidan successfully loosened her grasp on him and gave her back to her aunt. Narra immediately started crying. Aidan turned to follow Sheppard, only to hear Kaera curse loudly and Narra's triumphant noise before her little arms wrapped around one leg. He glanced back to see Kaera nursing a red mark on her arm that was about the size of Narra's mouth. "Wanna come wif you," Narra informed Aidan.
Aidan shot a pleading glance at Sheppard, who shrugged. "We'll see what Weir says." He tapped his earpiece. "Sheppard to Atlantis," he said.
"Yes, John?" Weir asked.
Sheppard looked at Aidan as he spoke, amusement in his voice. "There's a little girl here who's taken a liking to the good lieutenant, and she refuses to stay. Her mother's dead. Any ideas?" This wasn't quite what Aidan had been asking for, but he didn't comment.
Weir thought for a few seconds. "Well…I don't usually suggest things like this, because Atlantis is no place for a child, but go ahead and bring her back. Aidan will take care of her while he's not offworld, and I'll keep an eye on her while he is." Aidan barely heard her chuckle. "She sounds like she's very attached to you, lieutenant."
Aidan shrugged. "I don't know why." He tapped his earpiece off and picked up Narra. "Okay, you get to come with me," he told her. She grinned. "Just don't expect to always get your way in the future," he added. Narra only smiled again, sweetly nodding. Kaera looked relieved as she understood what was happening. "I'll take good care of her," Aidan told the older girl. Kaera nodded.
The team arrived back on Atlantis within minutes. Dr. Weir was waiting for them in the gate room, as usual. Narra looked around with wide eyes, holding tightly onto Aidan's hand. "Why, Aidan!" Elizabeth said, grinning, "I had no idea you had it in you."
Aidan rolled his eyes. That night, he showed Narra where she was sleeping. "See this? This is your bed, okay?"
Narra climbed into her little bed, which was currently in the large storage closet in his quarters. She snuggled down into the comforters as Aidan pulled them up to her chin. "'Night," she murmured sleepily, her eyes closing. Almost immediately her breathing evened out, and she was asleep. Aidan watched her sleeping for a few seconds then went into his own room and pulled off his shirt, climbing into his own bed. He too fell asleep in a matter of seconds.
…Only to be awakened again a few hours later when Narra burrowed into the blankets next to him, trembling. "What is it?" he demanded, half-asleep and wondering what was the matter with her.
"Scary night pictures," Narra whimpered, burying her small face in his chest.
She'd had a nightmare. Is this what all parents felt like, sort of angry that they'd been woken from a sound sleep but more worried about the little one that was crying? "It was just a dream," he reassured her, stroking her hair with one hand while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes with the other. Narra's sobs slowly ceased as she began to fall asleep again, and Aidan sighed. "You can sleep with me tonight, but don't get used to it," he told her unconscious form. She only snuggled closer in her sleep. He lay awake for nearly three hours, terrified of rolling over in his sleep and smothering the little girl. Eventually he managed to sleep, but only fitfully.
Aidan woke again to find himself on his back, with Narra kneeling on his chest and staring intently into his face. He barely suppressed a shout of surprise when he opened his eyes to see her face a mere six inches away. She smiled brightly when he groaned, and she sat up. "I had a scary night picture last night," she announced.
"I know," Aidan grunted, grabbing a pillow to put over his face.
"I'm hungry!" Narra said, climbing off his chest (at last!) and bouncing on the bed next to him. "Wake up, wake up!"
"I'm awake," he said as he reluctantly sat up and put the pillow to the side. Aidan got out of bed, pulling his shirt over his head and stepping into his boots. After tugging his baseball cap onto his head, he offered his hand to Narra. "Let's get you some breakfast, kiddo," he said. Narra slipped her tiny hand into his, and he led the way to the mess hall.
Teyla was the only one of SGA-1 up at this god-forsaken hour, and she smiled as Narra immediately went for the sugary breakfast foods. Aidan impatiently let her choose one sweet item, then insisted that she eat more healthy food and chose an apple-type thing from the mainland. Narra then ran over to where Teyla sat, climbing into the chair next to her and waiting for Aidan to arrive with their breakfast. "Good morning, Aidan," Teyla said with a smile. Aidan merely grunted, setting Narra's breakfast in front of her. "Didn't you sleep well?"
"No," he answered, taking a drink of his extra-strong coffee. "She had a nightmare and woke me up. I don't suppose you've ever slept with a kid, but she kept me awake all night. I was afraid I'd kill her by rolling over or something."
Teyla smiled and put her hand on his arm. "I have never had a child, Aidan, but I am told that they are rewarding. You've had parenthood thrust upon you before you were quite ready."
"I'm not her parent," Aidan protested.
"Perhaps not, but you are the closest thing she has to a father now," Teyla replied. They both looked at where Narra was looking at the apple-thing dubiously, obviously unsure of how to go about eating it.
"I'll cut that for you," Aidan said, grabbing the knife from his leg and slicing the fruit into little, Narra-size bites. "There you go, kiddo," he said, smiling as Narra nervously put a piece in her mouth, then made a delighted sound and started shoveling it in. "I hope you're right," he added to Teyla, who merely smiled once more.
"Ford!" Sheppard said, entering the dining hall. "What are you doing up at this ungodly hour?"
Aidan merely grunted once more. "Narra had a nightmare and kept him awake all night," Teyla explained.
"Ah," Sheppard said, wincing sympathetically. "Them's the dumps, eh?" He looked at Narra, who smiled in her adorable way. Sheppard seemed to melt. "She's so cute, though. You can't be mad at her?"
"Nah," Aidan replied, wiping a drop of apple-thing juice from Narra's chin.
People around Atlantis quickly grew used to seeing Narra following Aidan around, and he found, to his amusement, that she seemed to attract women wherever she went. He didn't care for any of them, so they were more of a nuisance than people he wanted to attract, but he had to smile every time someone came up and gushed about how cute she was. The year passed slowly. Aidan made sure that Narra never referred to him as her father. He didn't want her to forget her real parents. But he was flattered that she preferred him to everyone else on Atlantis, including the other members of his team and Elizabeth, not to mention that technician with the English accent that Aidan could never remember the name of that she liked second best. Peter Something-or-other.
Despite Aidan's words about not sleeping with him every night, Narra crawled into his bed around five days a week, either after having a nightmare or because she was afraid of the dark. Aidan quickly grew used to her presence, and got the hang of sleeping with a child even more quickly out of necessity. She was also terrified of storms, he found one day when a large one rolled through and Narra refused to let go of him. She trembled until it was over.
But soon after the year had passed, the Wraith attacked Atlantis. Narra was immediately confined to her quarters, which were still Aidan's closet. And when Aidan got the overdose of Wraith enzyme and disappeared, the other people on Atlantis were left to the raise the once-more-heartbroken girl without him. Narra didn't speak for nearly two years after he left, and when she did she was no longer the happy, carefree little girl that she had once been.
Twenty years passed. Atlantis made its spectacular return to Earth, and then returned to the Pegasus galaxy where it belonged. Narra stayed on Atlantis, her memory of the man that had cared for her faint but still there. Sometimes, she could remember tidbits of things she'd seen as a child. She saw a face that loved her, heard a voice that she could hear the fondness in. She never forgot Aidan Ford, and was content to live with mere memories of him.
But one day, all that changed.
End Part 1