Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or the characters.


Torn

Teyla smiled as she looked up at her mom. Her brown hair was flowing with the wind as he mom tried to brush it down.

She squirmed in her seat as the brush ran through her long hair. The wind was blowing it everywhere, so even as her mom tried to tame it, it flew back out, whipping around her face. Teyla took a few strands of it into her mouth, chewing on the soft locks as her mom smiled, reaching over and removing the hair. She pouted, slouching down her her chair.

She began playing with the hem of her skirt; the light brown material soft between her fingertips.

"Mommy?" Teyla spoke up.

"Yes, Teyla?"

Her blue eyes smiled softly as they stared into Teyla's.

"Mommy, when is the baby going to be ready to be born?"

Teyla had been awaiting the arrival of her new sibling for many months. The baby should have been born days ago.

"Whenever she is ready," her mom replied, going back to brushing the knots out of Teyla's hair.

"Is it going to be a girl?" Teyla asked, smiling as she started playing with her white shirt. She had asked each of these questions ten times a day for the last week, but her mom still answered patiently.

"I don't know, dear. I would like a son, a strong warrior like his father."

Teyla smiled at this. Somehow, she liked the idea of a baby brother better than a sister.

"I love you, mommy."

"I love you, too, Teyla."

Suddenly, as the wooden brush streaked through Teyla's hair, her mom winced in pain. Teyla turned around in her chair, a look of concern on her tiny face.

"Mommy? Are you alright?"

"Sweetie, I think the baby is coming. Hurry, go get your father."

Teyla ran faster than she could ever remember in her life. She ran into the fields, her light brown skirt flapping in the wind as he hair swirled around her face.

"Father! Mommy is going to have the baby!"

They ran back together, Teyla's hand gripped tightly in her fathers. They reached their home to find that Teyla's mother had already been put into a bed by one of the other village women. She was smiling, although the pain was clear on her face.

"Laura, I am here," Tagen said, dropping beside his wife. She took his hand in hers, wincing through the pain.

"Wraith!"

The loud, shrill yell came from outside. Teyla's mother began crying; screaming as the contractions hit. The woman that was helping deliver the baby helped Laura to her feet.

Laura took Teyla's hand in her own, and they ran out of the tent, Tagen kissing his wife quickly before running off to help fight the Wraith.

Teyla was scared. Her five-year-old body was shaking as each explosion was heard. The Wraith were going to tear apart their home again.

"The baby!"

Laura and the woman helping, Pia, dropped down in the tall grass. Laura was trying her best not to push, but the excitement was causing the baby to be born much faster than usual.

Soon, Teyla's baby brother was born. Pia handed the tiny baby to Teyla as she checked Laura over. She gasped, pressing her fingers up to Laura's neck. Teyla was shaking, crying, as the tiny baby in her arms did not move. Pia looked up at Teyla. She was crying, too.

"Your mother was too weak. Run, Teyla, take the child and run."

Teyla did as she was told. She wrapped the baby up in her brown coat and ran as fast as her little feet could carry her. The baby in her grasp didn't scream; didn't cry; it didn't even move.

Teyla stumbled, her tiny feet getting caught in a root. She tumbled to the ground, her arms protecting the baby as she rolled to a stop. She backed up against a tree, hugging the baby boy to her chest, the tears running faster and faster down her dirt smudged face. She wanted to scream. She wanted her father.

Her mother was gone. She had died giving birth to her baby brother.

Teyla looked down at the tiny baby. His skin had taken on a blueish tint. He wasn't breathing.

Teyla screamed, her tiny voice carrying further than ever before. Her family had been torn apart; just like her home; just like her life.

As her hair gently whipped in the wind, the explosions continued in the distance, tearing apart homes; tearing apart lives.


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