TITLE: One Step at a Time
AUTHOR: DramaLexy
SUMMARY: "What was that for?" "Living. One step at a time." Teyla&Ronon
DISCLAIMER: If they were mine...we probably shouldn't go there. Me no own, you no sue.
A/N: My first attempt at a Teyla/Ronon story. Begins post-Sateda. I threw in the Athosians, too, because we don't see them enough. R&R, please – reviews make story come faster.
Ronon couldn't help lingering in the doorway of one of Atlantis's training rooms to watch the vision in front of him. As easy as it would have been to grab a stick and fluidly become the other half of the one-sided battle going on, he preferred to hang back and observe Teyla as she moved with graceful steps, her skirt fluttering about her legs. He was always paying attention to her when they fought – the alternative would probably be painful – but he never got to watch like this, to see every aspect of her abilities.
She finally stopped, facing him with her left eyebrow raised in question. "Dr. Beckett has released you from the infirmary?"
Ronon smiled. "More or less." Which meant no.
"Are you sure that this would be a safe activity to partake in?"
He grabbed a stick. "Safe for whom?"
Teyla grinned, parrying his first strike. She held back slightly in the beginning, unsure whether or not Ronon should actually have been confined in a bed instead of training with her, but he was going full-force, not even favoring his injured leg. He brought her to the ground unusually quickly.
"Convinced yet?" Ronon asked as he offered a hand to help her up. She ignored his hand, getting up on her own. He just smiled, swinging for her as soon as she was standing.
They 'danced' together, sticks clashing, knocking each other to the floor and picking themselves back up again. Ronon never would have thought he could have found an equal in someone so much smaller than himself.
"Did you really keep Sheppard from killing the Wraith?" he asked at one point. Surprised, Teyla made sure she kept herself out of arm's reach as she inquired,
"What?"
Ronon stood down, now wanting a serious answer instead of a sparring match. "Did you really think I would kill him if he took out that Wraith?"
"No. However, I was unsure if you would be able to forgive him. I understood your motivations in that battle, Ronon." He nodded once, a bit disbelieving. "I nearly went on such a quest of my own when my father was taken." That got his attention.
"What happened?" he asked, handing her a water bottle.
"I was barely old enough to be seen as an adult. I certainly did not feel ready to fill his role among our people. I wanted nothing more than to bring him back – or kill anyone who came between us. I almost left Athos, to embark on some foolish undertaking that surely would have resulted in my death."
Ronon smiled. "Who stopped you?"
"Halling. He found me in the woods, took me to his home. His son was only a yearling, and now was without a mother. All of my people had suffered losses, and together was the only way that we would survive. We took care of each other…just like the people of this city." That earned her a small nod. Ronon picked up his stick again, getting back into the game.
"If it had been Sheppard," he said as they moved to the center of the room, "I might have killed him. Or at least scared him a bit."
He enjoyed hearing Teyla laugh.
TBC...