Chapter 2
In high school, Miko Kusanagi never went to the proms or homecoming dances. After all, nobody would ask her because she was the 'geek' of the school and, as her former classmates viewed it, who would want to dance with someone like that; especially a short, somewhat chubby, glasses-wearing nerd? So being invited to a farewell party that included lots of dancing and good music was exciting for her. In fact, Miko was so wound up about the event that she woke up at 5am because her body would no longer allow her to rest.
She made herself a cup of hot tea, and then sat down on her bed, thinking of what to do next in order to start her day. Watch a film? Check her e-mails? Go to the tech labs? Eventually, however, Kunasagi chose the latter of those options. Miko washed up, dressed herself in the usual uniform, put her hair up in a bun, and then headed for the tech lab.
Miko waved her hand over the sensor to the lab room and the door slid open, revealing an obviously tired Dr. Radek Zelenka. He was in full scientific garb- labcoat and all, sitting on a stool with his head resting on his crisscrossed arms, his glasses lying askew upon his face. Kunasagi surmised that Radek had been there all night, working on some project Rodney had requested him to investigate.
Should I wake him, Miko silently thought to herself. She decided not to, however, and made herself a cup of coffee. Kunasagi sat down on a stool and began quietly humming a Japanese lullaby as she took sips of the hot beverage, calming herself down:
satowa no hokage mo, mori no iro mo,
tanaka no komichi wo tadoru hito mo,
kawazu no naku ne mo, kane no oto mo,
sanagara kasumeru oborodzukiyo
Much to her astonishment, Radek began to stir awake. He rubbed his eyes, re-situated his glasses and groggily looked about. "Dr. Kunasagi," unsurely inquired Zelenka.
"Yes. I-I didn't wake you, did I," Miko worriedly asked. "If I did, I am greatly sorry!"
"No. No, you didn't," answered Radek. "I mean, I vaguely heard singing, but… it didn't wake me."
Kunasagi walked over to the coffee maker and poured Radek some of the beverage. Once she handed him the mug, Radek continued by asking, "Was that you humming?"
"It was- yes," quietly replied Miko, refusing to look in his direction as she sat back down.
"…a Japanese lullaby, correct?"
Slightly grinning at Radek's inquiry, Kanusagi explained, "Yes. My mother used to sing it to me every morning when I was a little girl. It keeps me calm in stressful times."
"I see. What does it mean?"
"It just talks about nature's beauty. What about you, Dr. Zelenka? Do you have any… lullabies that your parents sang to you when you were a child?"
Radek smiled reminiscently as he took a sip of his coffee, and then sat the mug back down on the desk. "Um…yes, yes I remember, although somewhat vaguely, my mother singing 'Ukolébavka' to me. The title in English means 'Lullaby.' I haven't heard the song in such a long time, but the melody, as I recall, is very soft and… er… calming, I guess you could say."
"I don't suppose you could sing it to me," Miko joked as a grin steadily grew upon her lips.
Laughing, Zelenka responded, "Oh! If I could only remember it, I would sing it to you. But then I would be worried that you would be adverse to music for life after hearing my voice."
"…as if my voice is anything delightful."
"From what I just heard, I thought you sang rather well!"
"I appreciate that- truly, but… I'm really not much of a singer," Kusanagi explained. "I only sing to myself and when I feel the need to."
"Then I suppose asking you to sing your lullaby to me once again is… out of the question," inquired Radek.
Miko didn't really know how to respond to this. She wanted to say, 'Unfortunately, that will be the scenario,' but… he appeared to really enjoy it, which made her want to sing the lullaby to him. Kusanagi began to feel a tingling sensation in her stomach, and realized soon afterward that she was nervous.
"Oh, kuso," Miko cussed. "Alright. Um… I will sing for you if you really wish."
"Are you sure? I don't want to put you through anything that you don't want to do," benevolently commented Radek.
Kusanagi waved her hand dismissively and replied, "No, no… I can do it! Just… be prepared for something dreadful."
"I hardly doubt it will be so," Zelenka remarked with a smile.
Miko returned Radek's grin, exhaled to release her tension, and then began to sing the same lullaby she had earlier. Zelenka was taken aback by Miko's soft, beautiful voice. It was rather soothing to him, and so he started to smile. However, Kusangi misinterpreted Radek's expression and abruptly stopped.
"It's horrible, I know," Miko said to Radek as she looked down at the floor in dismay.
"It's hardly that at all, Miko! I find it quite… relaxing, actually."
Lifting her head up at last, Dr. Kusanagi replied, "You think so?"
"Yes! I didn't know you had such a lovely voice!"
"Oh! Thank-you."
Miko wanted so desperately to say more, but she didn't know what. This had been a wonderful conversation and the last thing she desired was for it to end right now. However, Kusanagi needn't contemplate too much longer on the subject because as the suns rose over Atlantis, it indicated that work was to begin.