Following the performance, John tucked Elizabeth's hand through his arm as they followed an usher through the darkened corridors toward the backstage area. "We can go back if you're tired." He murmured into her ear. "It's been a long evening."

"No, I'm fine." Elizabeth smiled at him. "It's been a lovely evening, and I'd like to visit backstage since we were invited."

"Alright." He brushed a kiss across her cheek as the usher held a door open. Nodding at the young man as they passed him, John smiled. "Thank you."

"My pleasure sir." Returning the smile, he waited until they'd passed through the door before closing it behind them.

"John!" A woman, a slight hint of a French accent, moved through the group gathered backstage and approached them, her hands outstretched. "What a wonderful surprise to have you attend tonight." Grasping his hands, she kissed both his cheeks, then turned to Elizabeth and repeated the action. "And you must be his companion. We are honored to have you here tonight."

"Thank you." Surprised at the warm greeting, Elizabeth blinked down at the petite woman. "The company is wonderful, I truly enjoyed to night's performance."

"Well now that you have attended, perhaps you can convince this one to avail himself of his box more often." She frowned at John. "We do like a full house on opening night you know."

"I've been busy." He nodded his head in a brief apology. "However, be assured that we will attend on as regular a basis as our schedules allow."

"Good." Her gaze moved back to Elizabeth. "You look confused, you did not realize John is one of our most supportive patrons?"

"No," Elizabeth shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry…I've been out of touch for some time."

"And now you're not." John slid his arm around her waist. "Madame Dupont, my wife Elizabeth Sheppard."

"Your…" this time she blinked in surprise before recognition set in. "Ah…it is in her name?"

"Indeed." He smiled. "She was a dancer when she was younger, it seemed appropriate."

The director's eyes moved back to Elizabeth, scrutinizing for a moment before narrowing. "You danced? Where did you receive your training?"

Confused by the conversation and the questions, Elizabeth answered without thinking, "I didn't really have any formal training."

The woman's lips twitched. "You have always had that color hair?"

Elizabeth's confusion grew as she pressed closer to John. "My hair?"

"Madame?" John interjected with a frown, his arm tightening around Elizabeth's waist.

The other woman burst out laughing. "You were Elizabeth…something else…when you went to St. Louis. Many years ago."

Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock at the statement before she answered, caught off guard again. "Weir."

"Jonathan Sheppard," the woman finally got her laughter under control. "Do you not realize what you have done?"

"No," he shook his head, frowning. "And I don't see what Elizabeth's past has to do with it."

"Many years ago at a dance competition in St. Louis, an unknown dancer competed and won an unprecedented two categories, with a combined score that has rarely been seen since. I," she dramatically touched her chest, "had been predicted to win at least one of them. Instead, a little unknown won. I continued to dance, pushing myself harder and never taking anything for granted again, and eventually ended up as director of the ballet here. Then, when we decide to renovate, you, a benefactor with little interest in the ballet except to support out of your love for someone whom you refused to name at the time, stepped in to become one of our leading supporters. And the woman you love is the dancer I hadn't expected."

"You remember me dancing?" Elizabeth blinked again. "All those years ago, I couldn't have been more than 18?"

"Indeed I do." The woman raised an arched eyebrow. "You never danced competitively again?"

"No," shaking her head, Elizabeth tightened her grip on John's arm. "I'd only done it to help pay my college tuition that year."

"Amazing." She breathed out, "you had such a talent. I can only hope you are as good at what you are doing now as you were a dancer."

"Oh believe me, she is." John smiled. "I hadn't told her about the scholarship."

"Scholarship?" Elizabeth looked at him.

"He has not only assisted us in the renovation of the theater, but also sponsors at least one dancer from out of the country each year." Dupont smiled. "And assists with their travel plans when necessary."

"It is but a small bit of support for an artistic group that has been in existence for so many years." John dipped his head. "I'm sure you would have suggested it, had you known."

"I think it's wonderful." Elizabeth kissed him lightly then turned back to Dupont. "I think I remember you, from back then. You were so…experienced. You knew so much, seemed so much older."

"Than you small time dancers." Dupont teased. "I've since changed my opinion."

"It was so different from anything I'd ever imagined." Elizabeth smiled slightly.

"I've still got the videos somewhere in our library, if you've lost yours." The woman chuckled, "I utilize recordings from the past years as reference."

"I'd like to see them sometime." John interjected with a raised eyebrow. "In all the years I've known Elizabeth I've never actually seen her dance, not even at formal events."

"We'll set something up." Dupont smiled and laughed softly at Elizabeth's face. "Later. For now, please feel free to mingle. I believe Victoria is around here somewhere…" She glanced around then nodded. "I'll send her over."

"It was a pleasure to meet you…again." Elizabeth smiled at the woman as she glided away.

"Here," taking a glass from a tray held by a passing waiter, John handed it to Elizabeth. "Are you all right?"

"Just a bit overwhelmed." She took a sip and shivered slightly, causing him to slide an arm around her. "I'm all right. Tell me about the scholarship?"

"I wanted to do something…anything," he admitted softly, guiding her toward a cluster of people. "One day Helene mentioned something about the ballet renovating, and how they were looking to return it to one of the premier troupes on the planet. I always privately associated dance with you, so contacted the ballet, and ended up funding scholarships and occasional travel, aimed at bringing promising dancers here from around the world."

Stopping, Elizabeth swung around to face him, her free hand lifting to caress his cheek. "For me?" He nodded slowly and she leaned forward and kissed him lightly. "Thank you."

"Colonel!" A petite blonde, still in a dance costume moved towards them. "You came!"

"Hello Victoria." He smiled at her as Elizabeth turned toward the girl. "You danced beautifully."

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged herself. "I still can't believe I'm here."

"You earned your position." John nodded. "Victoria, this is my wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Victoria, our scholarship recipient this year."

"Ma'am." The girl dipped her head slightly. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Elizabeth tilted her head slightly. "Where did you dance before you came here?" She hadn't quite been able to place the girl's accent.

"Tuvalu, it's a small island in the Pacific." She smiled again. "I grew up there. And now I'm here."

"So you are." John returned the smile.

Several hours later, John rolled over in bed and frowned sleepily when he didn't feel Elizabeth next to him. Lifting his head John glanced around the room, finally catching sight of Elizabeth out on the balcony. Rolling out of bed, pulling his robe on, John made his way out onto the balcony, and perched on the chaise lounge next to Elizabeth, his hand gently touching her cheek.

"Hmm?" Elizabeth sleepily blinked up at him as he smiled down at her. Moving over slightly, she reached up and caught his hand, pulling him closer to her.

"I suppose this means you want to stay out here?" Chuckling, he settled onto the cushions, smiling as she nestled into him, her fingers tightening on the collar of his robe.

"Nice out. Peaceful." She murmured into his neck. Her hand ran up around his neck as she pulled his face toward hers. After a gentle kiss, she released him with a soft sigh.

"We should get some sleep." His thumb stroked her cheekbone.

"We should get some rest." Elizabeth smiled and ran her hand along his side to the belt of his robe. "Relax some. We already slept some."

One eyebrow raised as she tugged at the tie. "So we did," John began before breaking off as she slid over him with a soft laugh.

Later, as the sun slowly rose, John opened his eyes to see Elizabeth gazing at him, her hand absently caressing his chest. Watching her, he realized that she once again had that contemplative look in her eyes that he'd noticed when she didn't realize he was watching her. One that encompassed a range of emotions varying from disbelief that she was where she was to hope, with a tinge of fear that she wasn't truly free from captivity. When she shuddered slightly, he tightened his grip on her waist. "Liz?"

"Hmm?" She blinked at him, her eyes focusing on his face. "What?"

"What were you thinking, just now." Moving his hand up her back underneath the robe he'd pulled over them after they'd made love, he gently stroked her back. When she simply shook her head slightly and dropped her eyes so he couldn't see her face, John sighed and lifted her chin with his other hand. "It's all right, you can tell me."

Elizabeth looked at him for a long moment then echoed his sigh with a soft one of her own as she rolled to stare up at the sky. "Do you know why I came out here?"

"You need the open space?" He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "The air?"

"Something like that." She lifted a hand and gestured toward the sky. "We weren't allowed to be out at night unless there was an emergency. And even at that, the lights were so bright you couldn't see anything. I'd always taken the stars for granted, even on Atlantis, no matter how bad it was, we could go outside and see, breathe…" Letting her arm drift back down over her head, she gently stroked John's cheek while she continued. "To be out here, with you…the air, the stars…" she blinked, "even the sun rising. I could never take those things for granted again. To not know if we would wake up…or if we did, to not know if we would survive to go back to sleep…"

"You're safe now." He turned his head and kissed the hand that rested against his cheek. "To see the stars, to go to sleep, to wake up…"

"I know." Elizabeth's lips moved into a slight smile. "And then I see you, and sometimes I'm afraid it's just a dream, that if I close my eyes you'll be gone and when I wake up, I'll be back there."

"And every time you think that, I'm going to reassure you that you are no longer there, that we are here together, and we will make new dreams together." John moved slightly so he could see her face. "Close your eyes." She blinked then slowly obeyed. Waiting until her eyes were shut, he gently kissed her, finishing with several light brushes of his lips against hers. "Now open them." He smiled. "I'm still here."

"So you are." She whispered, turning on her side to face him and pressing against him. "And so am I." She was silent for several minutes, "I want to go home...back to Atlantis."

"You sure?" John cupped Elizabeth's face looking her straight in the eyes.

"Yes, that's one thing I'm positive about. I'm not sure about the rest...what job I'll be doing down the road from now, but that can wait until I'm ready, right now all I care about is being home again."

"Than that's were we'll go." John pulled Elizabeth in to a loving passionate kiss, before letting her snuggle back into his side as they both watched the sun rise higher in the sky.

End?

A/N: OK honestly we don't know, we could always come back and play with this little universe we created. This just seemed like a good ending point to us, and since the Holidays are coming up and we both have big projects coming up in some of our classes when we go back to school after the holiday break, neither one of us is going to be able to seriously write anything for awhile, maybe the odd one-shot here and there, but probably nothing long term. And we didn't think it fair to leave you hanging for who knows how long before we can get back to writing again.

In the mean time if any of you feel like maybe you'd like to pick up where this story left off or do a spin off or something like that feel free to, just let us know first. We'd be interested to see where you guys would take this story.