Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning the Stargate franchise. As I said before: if I had, things would have turned out differently.
Author's notes: This is the third story in my series. The first story is "I am Atlantis,' where we meet Sitnalta. The second story is 'Spite and Malice,' where the characters reflect on the time during the fourth and fifth seasons, and how Sitnalta's presence had changed things. That story ends with Todd's call about the Super Hive. After the story, just accept that Atlantis comes to earth the way we see in the series.
By the way, perhaps it is time I named my series.
'The Last Petal' now continues the story a month after Atlantis has landed on earth. What had seemed like such a nice thing at the end of the series, now seemed like a bad idea to the Atlanteans.
The name of the story is taken from the lyrics of the Nightwish song 'Beauty and the Beast.' The complete phrase is: 'I know my dreams are made of you, of you and only for you. Your ocean pulls me under; your voice tears me asunder. Love me before the last petal falls.' It seemed to fit.
Chapter 1
Sitnalta stood at the window, looking out over the bay. To one side were the city and the bridge they called the Golden Gate Bridge – even though it wasn't golden but red. They had been on earth for nearly a month now. That month had been a whirlwind of parties (one of which had been a total disaster), functions and activities. Rodney had taken her to see some of this world's most amazing sights and wonders. She has made a number of friends and spent a great deal of time studying the diverse cultures of this world. It was a truly amazing and wonderful world.
She hated it.
Sighing, she turned away from the scene and went in search of her friend. Slowly she walked the corridors, wondering at how empty the city seemed. Once Atlantis had been filled with millions of people. Then, these past years, only a few hundred have populated it. Yet it had been alive. Now there were only a few people in the city, and she could feel Atlantis' energy shutting down into hibernation. The city was going to sleep, and she along with it. She had not realised how closely she and Atlantis were connected. She had thought she was a completely separate entity, yet it seemed that somehow – seeing as she was part of the consciousness of Atlantis – she was still connected with the city on some elemental level.
Finally she reached the gate-room. Instantly her attention was drawn to the stargate. Although the gate was only lit up when there was either an incoming or outgoing wormhole, it had always seemed alive with possibility. All one had to do was dial an address and it would live. But now the gate was dead. She could feel it. The Atlantis gate had interfered with the gate-activity of the earth gate, so Atlantis' had been completely shut down. It was now just an awkward stone ring in the middle of an empty room.
Slowly she climbed the steps leading to the control room. It, too, was empty. With no stargate and Atlantis in low-power mode, there was no reason to man it. Only a single person still roamed the room.
"Doctor Elisabeth?" Sitnalta called. She walked around the corner and found her friend at the desk in the office, working on a lap-top. Elisabeth Weir looked up.
"Hello," she greeted. She looked around. "I thought you had gone to the dinner with Rodney."
"I think I've had enough of earth for today," Sitnalta answered. She really wished there was something she could do for Elisabeth. The IOA still would not allow her on earth, even though Atlantis was parked in the ocean just a few miles off shore of one of the big continents. Sitnalta was not exactly sure how the IOA thought, but their logic seemed very illogical.
Elisabeth smiled. "I'm beginning to feel like a ghost, haunting the city." Then her smile turned wry. "A synonym for 'ghost' is 'wraith.'"
"Then we are two Wraiths they have missed," Sitnalta smiled. But a part of her thought that in some fashion Elisabeth Weir had been haunting Atlantis for ten millennia. No wonder Sitnalta had always felt drawn to the older woman: in a way the two of them had known each other for a very long time.
"Tell me, have you made any plans for the future?" Elisabeth asked.
"I don't know. All I know and love is right here, on Atlantis," Sitnalta replied.
"I thought Rodney was planning on moving back to the city," Elisabeth said, frowning. Sitnalta was aware of what the woman was really asking: how long will it be before Atlantis was abandoned?
"He had thought about it. But I don't think I can leave Atlantis." Idly Sitnalta stirred the bowl of beads on the desk. From the start Woolsey had preferred the conference room, so Elisabeth had moved back into the small office on the control-room level. The beads were those that had been braided into her hair the day before they had left the Pegasus galaxy; the day of Torren's party. Each of the six women had theirs tucked away safely somewhere.
Weir sat forward, hands folded together. "What do you mean, you can't leave Atlantis?"
Sitnalta let the beads run through her fingers before looking up at her friend. "I think I am not as separate from the city as I had thought. Even now I can feel Atlantis; slowly shutting down." She sighed and sat back in her seat. "I am afraid. Something is about to happen, and I don't know what."