Around six years later …..

Ronon stood at the gate and waited. He was expecting the visitors around this time, and wanted to be there to greet them. Enough sunlight to get them back to town, and a beautiful sunset to take in on the way.

Teyla and Torren arrived on schedule, and Ronon's smile was immediate. He greeted Teyla with affection saved for family on Sateda, and Torren jumped into Ronon's arms. With tremendous balance, Torren maneuvered his six year old body up onto Ronon's strong shoulders, and held on for a ride as they walked back to town.

Ronon and Jennifer had left the Herald's Respite for a regular home in town only months after arriving on Keltiga. Respite was a beautiful house; a mansion, really. But it required a staff to run, and despite all of the love that Ronon and Jennifer filled the house with, it still wasn't the home they wanted for Allaria.

Allaria was only two when Ronon and Jennifer left Atlantis.

Too much had changed. There were too many friends heading to Earth for good. Too many new people in positions of authority. The agreements that had allowed them to be married and together and in Atlantis had been made with people who were moving on. They wouldn't put their future in the hands of strangers. There was too much at stake.

And not long after they came to Keltiga, and then not long after they moved to town, their family grew again. A son. A beautiful baby boy, who at six months old was safely asleep in his mother's arms when Teyla, Torren and Ronon returned from the gate.

Allaria began to cheer as soon as she saw them, and then whispered her cheer after being reminded that her brother was asleep. She threw herself into Teyla's arms, hugging her second mother and laughing. She ran to Torren and took hold of his hand.

"Let's go play," she encouraged.

Torren was eighteen months older, but incredibly patient and affectionate. They could be siblings from the outside looking in. They leaned into each other and whispered. They were up to something. They were always up to something.

Jennifer had a tray of food and some drinks out for the grownups, and the children squirrelled themselves away to Allaria's room.

"So how are you?" Jennifer asked.

"Well. Happy. It has been an adjustment, but a good one."

There was a hint of sadness behind her eyes, but most noticeable was an aura of contentment.

Teyla was no longer the leader of the Athosians. She had handed off that responsibility when Kanaan died. She wanted to be there for Torren, and needed time for herself. And with the specter of the Wraith receding more every day, she allowed herself the time she needed to step back and heal. And enjoy her son. And then, most unexpectedly, to find love again.

"When does John get back?" Jen asked with a smile.

"Soon. A few weeks."

"You should think about our suggestion again. It would be so great to have you and John and Torren here on Keltiga with us."

Just then they heard an eruption of unrelated giggles from the bedroom.

"And clearly Allaria thinks it is a good idea."

"We still have some decisions to make. We haven't ruled it out."

The door from the bedroom flew open and two smiling faces appeared.

"Grownup talk in here right now. Can you play in the bedroom for a while?" Jen asked the children.

"Kid talk in the bedroom. Can you guys talk out here for a while?" Allaria said doing her best impersonation of a grown up while smiling and giggling.

"Well, ok then," Jennifer said.

Allaria bounded over to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. Then she put the most gentle kiss imaginable on the forehead of her baby brother. She climbed up on her dad's lap and rubbed her nose against his, and then jumped to the couch where she put her forehead to Teyla's forehead and held that position for a few seconds.

She was so filled with love and joy. And not just that day. Every day.

Then she crossed to a small table against a wall that displayed a small orb. Her hands behind her back, she looked at it. Smooth, except for the pattern etched on it, and the perfectly fit creases where the panels that comprised it came together.

Her eyes got wide and she looked without touching until she had asked.

"Can we play with orb, mama?"

"Of course, sweet pea," Jennifer answered.

The parents continued talking as the children disappeared once again into Allaria's bedroom. The door closed behind them, they sat on either end of a small rug and rolled the orb back and forth between them on the ground, each taking it, holding it, looking at it, and placing it back before rolling it again.

"Can we do the star show?" Allaria asked Torren.

"Yeah, I'll get the light."

Torren turned the light out in the room while Allaria pulled her curtains closed as they made it as dark as they could. Then Allaria put the orb on the ground in the middle of the rug, and the two children came to opposite sides of in. Laying down, propping their small bodies up on their elbows, they looked at each other.

"Ready?" Torren asked.

Allaria nodded her head, and each of them reached out. They gently contacted the orb from either side, and the orb emitted a soft hum. The creases that were so well fitted began to reorganize, until a blue light emanated towards the ceiling. Then the twosome rolled onto their backs and looked up at the projection.

A ring. A ring of shadow in a field of blue light. It was made up of nine segments, and where two segments came together, there was a symbol. Each symbol represented a constellation. Torren had seen some of them in the sky.

"The ring we use to come here only has seven symbols," Torren told her.

"I know. And mama told me once she saw a ring with eight, but I never have," she replied.

Allaria's face was grinning ear to ear. She stared at the symbols as if she was committing them to memory. It was one of her favorite things about Torren coming to play. This game only worked when they were together.

She had been through a ring a few times, but not many. She didn't travel off-world much. But every time she did she was awestruck – the magic of a whole new world existing on the other side of the ring. A way to meet people and adventure and explore.

"I wonder how far a ring with nine symbols would take us," he wondered. "Promise me one day when we're older that you and I will go find out."

"Don't worry," Allaria assured him. "We will."

The End

And that, beautiful people, is a wrap! Please take a sec to review and let me know you were here and what you thought. I still get the occasional review for the first story in the trilogy seven years later, and they all make me smile.

Thank you all for taking the time. I know this fandom gets smaller with time, but there are some really dedicated people out there, and I appreciate you giving the fic a chance. Feels good to have finally put the whole trilogy down, and am so grateful for your patience, feedback, and support (bailey.1ak, I am looking at you).

And THANK YOU all for giving my words a safe place to take flight. Appreciate the PMs, the questions, the corrections, the conjecture, and the energy you all brought to the story to keep me getting through. And a special thanks to hifield. You are one of a kind. I got to create this journey, and make a friend along the way. -Kalli