Author's Note: Just a quicky, 'cause I need something light and fluffy and happy after writing so much in "Lose It All" and "Feed Me". A sequel to "Dancer" (my first fic EVER online; so please read that one too! :D It would make me so happy!).
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Dryad Dance
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It was a night of celebration for the Athosians; and the Atlantis personnel had been invited to join them for it. Teyla's people seemed eager to share themselves with her friends; possibly her sake. But, Ronon saw as he stood on the fringes of everything, observing the party, she was the one figure that was noticeably absent.
No one else seemed bothered by it, but he was; it was so rare that she got any time to relax and spend time with her people; she should be here. She should be enjoying this festival or whatever it was. He wondered if one of her people had pulled her away over some menial quarrel with a neighbor, and he frowned. Couldn't something like that have waited for one night?
Suddenly, he saw a whisper of movement, disappearing into the forest to his left, and he grinned. That was her; even in the shadows of the deepest night, he would have recognized her graceful form. And he thought that he knew where she was going, too. He grinned, and headed out into the woods as well laughing silently at the memories. He didn't want to miss her tonight.
As he had suspected, he found her in a little glade, dancing. But this time there had been no arguments, nothing hard to cloud her feelings and change her steps. She was dancing with playful excitement, purely happy. He leaned against a tree, still well in the shadows and out of her view, and watched her.
Much like the last time he had watched her do this, her dance involved a lot of spinning and twirling; but the steps were much more intricate and less sweeping, and less like she was fighting something. He loved watching her like this, seeing one of those rare, true smiles mold her lips, her eyes sparkling bright with joy or love or whatever it was that she was feeling. The way that her skirt swirled around her ankles, the flow of her hands that reminded him of nothing so much as a water spirit or a wood nymph.
Last time he had seen her anger, and he had not interrupted her in her dance; but this time he was not afraid for her to know. He stepped out into the clearing right beside her, and caught her hands, making her gasp. He just grinned and pulled on her lightly, joining in her dance and moving with her. He could feel her nervousness, but he merely gave another gentle tug on her hands, and followed her steps.
Dancing with Teyla was like nothing else that he had ever done before. Each movement was light, yet full of anything, and while similar to their sparring moves even more graceful and flowing. It was more like he was dancing with a wood or wind spirit than a woman at all. He never wanted to stop.
Finally, they ended their dance, and he drew her close, wrapping her in his arms against the cool night breeze. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, grateful for his warmth.
"I've only seen you dance that way once before," he murmured into her hair. She stiffened. "That time I just watched; but this was so much better." She didn't ask him when, but he knew that she knew.
"I did not know that you could dance," she said softly, relaxing against him again. He smiled, burying his face deeper into her sweet-smelling hair.
"Only for you," he murmured. "Only for you." They stood like that for what seemed like a long time, although neither of them could have said how long it lasted. Eventually, Teyla spoke.
"The last time that I danced, I remember that I kissed you," she said softly. Ronon pulled back, and tipped her head up, moving her hair back so that he could look in her eyes.
"Well, we can't break tradition, can we?" he whispered, before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers.
Fin.
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A/N: A bit fluffier than I'd originally planned, but I like it ;). And this was exactly what I needed right now...