Rating: Possibly will become M

Warnings: It's gonna be a fluffy kind of fic….

Spoilers: Mild spoilers for Season 4 are possible, but nothing significant.

Disclaimers: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour. I only love this world so much I wish to play in it.

It was a bright sunny day on New Athos and Teyla had thoroughly enjoyed the past two days with her people. The harvest had been very successful and every able bodied person in the camp had taken to the fields. And since a large proportion of the harvest was going to Atlantis, several of the teams and scientists who could be spared had joined in to help as well.

It had been a good two days, hard work, but she had been out in the fresh air, once again falling back into the skills she had learnt as a child. And her team had come along to help, which only added to her pleasure. Of course Rodney hadn't been able to stay very long as he cut himself very early on with the semi-blunt small hand scythe they used to harvest the grains. In contrast Ronon had cut his way through several lines of the field in record time in the first morning, earning him considerable respect and drinks from her people. They had long enjoyed Ronon's company from when he had lived with them for several months when Atlantis had been abandoned, and she thought he had appeared to enjoy the challenge of the harvesting.

However, it was John Sheppard's company she enjoyed the most. He had seemed very relaxed these past two days, working away on the line next to Teyla through the field. He shared stories of when he was young, and she in turn told him of her life. And so they had worked happily beside one another sometimes joking around and at other times happy in their silences. Last night they had all sat down to eat together and Teyla had felt so very complete sitting there with both her people and most of her team.

But, it was almost time to leave and she found herself unwilling to depart, not only in having to leave her people, but to end the quiet personal time with John.

Most of the Atlantis harvest had already been delivered through the Stargate and John and Teyla were the last to leave the camp. Teyla said her goodbyes and picked up the last sack of grain and joined John, who was standing with a long piece of straw twirling between his lips, as he had insisted on doing the past two days. When she had asked about it, he had only replied that it was traditional. But, she recognised the sparkle in his eyes that meant there was a whole wealth of Earth history and humour behind the statement. As she approached him now, she noticed he was frowning at a teenage boy who had brushed past with a bright white flower clutched in his youthful hand.

"What's that all about?" John asked as she stepped up next to him.

Teyla smiled as they watched the boy as he hurried over to a young pretty girl about his age and presented the flower. The girl went from rather cold and aloof to blushing and smiling as she accepted the flower.

"Oh, I see." John said. "But she was totally brushing him off before."

Teyla smiled as they headed off towards the Stargate. "In Athosian tradition a man who is interested in entering into a relationship must present the white Vera flower to the woman he hopes to charm. She must always wait for him to 'make the first move' as you would say. Though the Vera flower only grew on Athos, now any white flower given in such a manner is referred to as a Vera Flower."

"On Earth we have a similar tradition. Men give women red roses, a particularly pretty and expensive type of flower, though it is usually only on special occasions or if he is in trouble for some reason. Then chocolates are often included as well."

Teyla could not help smiling, having leant the importance of that delicacy on Earth. It was a strong trading commodity on Atlantis. John looked back over his shoulder and she did as well, to see the new young couple walking arm in arm towards the trees.

"Wow. The Vera flower; it works wonders." John said with a knowing smile.

"I have it on good authority that that young man has been very interested in her for quite a while. The Vera flower is never frivolously given; only when a serious long term relationship is sought should he present the flower."

"Does a woman give a man a Vera flower as well?" John asked.

"No. It is all up to him to make his interest obvious." Teyla replied as she looked back down the path to where the couple had disappeared. "Though with those two, it has been quite obvious to everyone else for quite some time."

"Ahhh, young love." John commented.

They walked the rest of the way talking about traditions and first loves and then he tried to example the importance of chewing a piece of straw to farmers.

Once back in Atlantis they reported for duty and set about getting back into the routine of Atlantis. Teyla could not help feeling rather home sick for several hours. Some part of her had reawakened in those fields. Life had been simple and full of focused hard work. She had not worried, planned or struggled. Instead she had been able to enjoy both John's company and her people, out in the fresh air and bright sunlight.

But by the end of the day she had pretty much returned to her former routine; back to the planning and worrying over Wraith, Replicators and politics. But, the day was done and she was headed back to her quarters to rest. Her body ached delightfully from all the hard manual work over the past two days and she looked forward to a warm shower and a good nights rest.

As she turned the last corner towards her quarters she almost physically ran into John coming the other way. He appeared more shocked than was entirely necessary, so she apologised more than was necessary. Normally they would stand and talk and she looked up at him expecting some joke or comment about how she had scared him. However, he was walking backwards away from her.

"Sorry, Teyla, got to run. I'll see you tomorrow at the briefing?" He said as he headed down the corridor away from her.

"Is everything alright?" She asked worried that she had not heard of this new crisis.

"No, it's nothing big, don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes. Tomorrow." She answered.

"Great. Sleep well, Teyla." He said as he disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

"Good night, John." She replied to the empty corridor. She felt oddly sad. She had so enjoyed the closeness they had shared over the past days, but it appeared that was now gone. Back to the usual standard way things had always been between them. Good friends.

She headed towards her door, trying not to feel the disappointment. She was always hoping with John Sheppard.

Then as she reached up to activate the door she noticed the long stemmed white flower standing in a tall thin vase at the foot of her door. She looked back over her shoulder to where he had disappeared, but he was not waiting behind her. He had left it there, knowing she would know he had left it, and that he knew fully well the significance of the gift.

As she reached down and slid her fingers over the soft petals and inhaled the beautiful scent, her heart raced and grew in her chest. She walked into her quarters and once the doors slid shut behind her, she buried her nose in the petals and allowed the smile to spread over her lips. A Vera flower from John Sheppard for her.

TBC