The leaves of memory seemed to make
A mournful rustling in the dark.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
He sits next to her at dinner, making a joke, brushing the back of his hand across her arm. She feels a jolt of something forbidden run through her. Forbidden; where has that thought come from? She senses that she's always known him but isn't even sure where they met. Mostly she is aware of a strong connection, something rare in this dark existence, struggling to survive, keep their people alive.
They begin seeking each other out at every break, at down time, meals. At first they just need companionship and human connection, but quickly casual touches become more purposeful, and quiet corners are found to explore what is growing between them with long, wonderful kisses.
The first time they make love it is fast, furious, as if it is something they had been building to for years instead of days; emotions too strong and intense for something this new. They sleep most nights wrapped around each other in the same bunk, touching beneath the blanket, wanting to be alone somewhere. But this is how it happens in this place, people looking the other way, pretending they don't know what is going on; there is no real privacy here. Thera wishes it were different, wondering why it would even matter to her. This is how her people have lived for so long; why should she care?
Later, when memory returns and they become Major Carter and Colonel O' Neill again instead of Thera and Jonah, she misses that togetherness, wants to once again be who they were just for a moment. But now, how is she going to manage to recapture those priorities, find a way to laugh, joke, and work alongside him again, when all she wants to do is hold him close to her? She feels so alone.
A/N: As always thank you to Mrs. Pollifax for betaing for me!