TEYLA STARED at the wall. It was the first time Sheppard had seen her unwilling to look him in the eye. "It is the Joining, and she seeks an ani'ami." A finger of cold traced its way down Sheppard's back.
"Teyla, on my world, I'm not sure we have anything like this. I mean, we get married, sure, but—"
"The Joining is not, I think, much like your marriage." She fell silent a moment, deep in thought. "When the Wraith started to...farm our world," she said with some difficulty, "it placed a great strain on our population. Those who studied the phenomenon told our leaders that we faced a critical problem. Our breeding pool was much diminished. The Joining allows for a child to be born free of the taint of too close of a pairing. It...usually happens when there are two who would create an exceptional child."
"Kind of a souped up, psychic arranged marriage," Sheppard said. A slight frown wrinkled Teyla's forehead, but she nodded.
"In a way," she said. "But the two aren't bound to each other. There's nothing keeping them together once the child is conceived. Halling and Jinto are proof of that."
"Jinto is a product of the...of a...Joining?" She nodded; he shook his head. "What happened to his mother?"
"She was very young, and not ready to mother the boy. So she left the village and traveled to another one."
"That makes sens—Wait. Go back. Another village?"
Her eyes laughed at him. "Did you think we were all of the people of our world?"
"But—Teyla, what of the other people on your world? Won't they face the Wraith alone?"
Her face sobered. "More than likely, yes."
She started as his fist hit the wall behind him. "That's not right. We need to—"
"Do what?" she interrupted. "This city is not ready to host more than what we have already brought in. We do what we can, but it would go faster if your people would accept our offers of help."
He flinched. There was no glib response he could make to push away the truth of the accusation. But—"Possibly. But explaining everything, teaching from scratch, that would delay what we could accomplish by ourselves."
Teyla seemed to draw into herself. "Perhaps. This is a subject for discussion another day, I think. Right now your role as ani'ami is what is important."
Sheppard grimaced. He'd rather not think of that. "Teyla, why did she run away when Ford came to my door? And where can I find her to talk with her again?"
She turned surprised eyes on him. "Finding her will not be a difficult task, though it may take some time. But, run? How could she run?"
He cocked his head a bit, looking more intently at her. "What do you mean, 'could'?"
"Mahread'zhu couldn't run from you, John. She was never truly there to begin with."
He leaned back and tried to puzzle that one through. No luck. He turned to her and said, "I don't understand."
"Her physical body slumbered while she talked to you. It was her spirit that found you."
Sheppard shook his head. "Not possible. She touched me."
Teyla jerked her head back a fraction of an inch. "She...touched you?" He nodded. She looked away. "This is...unexpected. But not unheard of." Abruptly she rose. "I will think on this matter. And in the meanwhile, we will try to find Mahread'zhu."