DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters mentioned in this story, nor Stargate Atlantis. I am not affiliated with MGM, the Science Fiction Channel, or any of the actors and actresses in the show. I owned nothing but the writing. Do not sue. I am a poor student.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written from a topic at a Stargate-related message board I was on. I happened to be writing a minor love-story one-shot for two personal characters when I was reading a post pertaining to Teyla and Major Sheppard's relationship. I jokingly commented on making a fanfiction out of it, and was encouraged to do so. Dedicated to the owner of said forum. Also, the latter bit is slightly un-Teyla-like. I'm pulling the artistic license excuse because I couldn't think of a Teyla-like response that would suit the story.
Small Moments
There was a sharp 'thunk' as the long staff was brought to the backs of the knees of one, Major Sheppard. It was a move he had fallen prey to many times in his sparring matches with Teyla, her signature way of ending the little battles, a small yet bitter reminder of I'm better than you.
Beaten by a girl. To top it all off, a pretty one. It was a child's taunt nagging Sheppard in the back of his mind. Beaten by a girl. Not only beaten, but seemingly outsmarted. How many times had he fallen for that move? Although, maybe it didn't count. Teyla wasn't a normal girl, she was an alien girl. Probably the descendant of some war-mongering race of man-hating Amazonians.
Did they have Amazons in the Pegasus galaxy?
But they knew about Atlantis on Earth, right? Maybe there were actual Amazons charging around somewhere out there, butchering men, cutting off their right breasts, killing and slaughtering and giving praise to some falsified god and becoming Wraith-snacks every few months. No thanks to us.
"Major…?" Teyla looked down curiously at her… friend, was it? Companion. The woman was far from positive about what Major John Sheppard should be to her. They seemed to trust each other, but there were moments, small, beautiful moments where it seemed like more. It was selfish to wish those moments could last awhile longer, however. Atlantis was in danger. Both Sheppard and she needed no interferences with such menial things as relationships. But it was only natural, was it not?
Sheppard said nothing as Teyla passed into her own realm of silence. He stood, trying not to flinch as her knees ached with already-blooming bruises from not only where the staff had struck, but from falling so harshly to his knees. "Damn it, Teyla."
"I'm sorry," was her only response before bringing her gaze up to look him into the eye.
"No, no. It's my fault for letting you take that damned piece of wood to my legs," he groaned, adding an emphasized "again!" to his statement.
The women's eyes moved from Sheppard's, examining the yellow-orange glow of the room. "If you would prefer I beat you in some other manner…"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Than what did you mean?" Teyla once again looked to Sheppard, eyes searching him in curiosity, and maybe a hint of something else.
"N-nothing." He had stuttered. Major John Sheppard did not stutter. But the way she stared him down. Not only would he lose in battle to her, but in a full-fledged stare-a-thon. Did they train aliens to be so proficient with their eyes or was it simply a trait most descendants of Earth lacked?
Almost by instinct Teyla stepped forward. Sheppard raised his own staff in a minor form of defense.
"You want a second chance?"
She raised her own staff and they danced. Switching blows and parries, moving throughout the orange-painted room with the ease of jungle cats. Beautiful, but more-so, deadly. Two lions moving around each other, each waiting to inflict the other with a painful wound.
The dance continued for many minutes, a swift rap here, and a sharper jab there. A block, a twist, a dodge. Finally Teyla flicked for own staff in such a way Sheppard's flung from his hand, thrown against the wall before skipping to the other side of the fairly large room.
His hands raised in a form of surrender, as Teyla proceeded to move closer, perhaps for a finishing blow. Once again his shame would be made evident by the hands of a girl. The childish joking resumed in the back of his mind. Beaten. By. A. Girl.
Almost as swift as Telya had disarmed him, Sheppard reacted. It was less of a lunge than a quick step forward, and less of a move to pin her arms down than to make sure she didn't get away. What followed next was achingly pure, causing Teyla to drop her own weapon, letting it fall to the ground with a small shudder. Their eyes closed, lips pressed together in a bitter-sweet kiss. The perfect moment where nothing mattered and only they existed.
Sheppard let her go and watched when she stumbled back, eyes wide with shock. He smiled.
"I win."