THE NEXT EVENT - by Kolyaaa!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: THE GOODBYE
A/N: Fanfiction website! Why do you taunt me by not sending out the Automatic Alerts? Why do you refuse to alert my minions that new chapters have been added. Why do you not automatically send me my reviews so I can read them again and again, print them up, cut them out with my special shaped scissors, and savor them forever in my special scrap book? Does no one know that new chapters have been posted? Does that explain why so few people reviewed my last chapter? It isn't because I taunted and threatened you, is it? Aw, you're a bunch of pansies.
[{O}]
Elizabeth and Sheppard watched as Ronon stood with his sister on the floor of the Gateroom, the two saying their goodbyes. Ronan had approached Elizabeth a few days after the team's return from Ctesias and asked permission for Nonor to return to Manaria. Elizabeth later hoped she didn't say yes too quickly or eagerly. She certainly did not want to hurt Ronon's feelings, but the idea of his 'bull in a china shop' sibling being loose in Atlantis was not one she could accept. A part of her sensed that Ronon was relieved to see his sister go as well.
Still, Elizabeth knew...he'd also miss her.
A marine happened to walk too closely behind Nonor as she suddenly flipped her hair, nearly whipping the poor boy with her locks. Sheppard hissed in sympathy, having been standing too close to her himself once or twice when she did that.
"It's really kinda amazing," he whispered to Elizabeth, "how she can be so hyper-aware, and so hyper-oblivious at the same time."
"A person of extremes," Elizabeth nodded.
"It also amazes me," Sheppard added, "just how different the two of them are."
Elizabeth smiled slowly, then shook her head, "They're not that different. Not deep down."
He glanced at her, frowning a little. "How do you figure?"
"Because they're family," she replied. "And underneath it all, they both know that family is the most important thing." She shrugged, "Whether that family is blood...or not."
Sheppard glanced at her, absorbing that, then gave a wry smile as he turned back to the people down below. A second later he snorted a short laugh.
"Speaking of family, did Nonor tell you the names of their parents?"
Elizabeth gave him the fish eye, "Do I want to know?"
"Roann and Aronn."
Elizabeth stared at him for a moment, then pressed her lips together tightly, trying hard not to laugh. Sheppard grinned mercilessly, and leaned in closer.
"Want to hear the names of their grandparents?"
[{O}]
The glow of the event horizon wrapped Nonor in an ethereal light and bounced light off her shiny, flowing locks. She brushed a piece of hair from her eyes and looked up at her brother.
"Ronni-…" she corrected herself instantly, "Ronon, I know it's not easy for you to see me go back to Manaria, but it's for the best. I fear that you would be in my shadow if I was here and you are too great of a warrior for that."
Ronon closed his eyes and shook his head slightly in response to his sister's over-inflated ego. She, however, took it quite differently.
"No, you are. Our people will know the truth of the cruelty of Ctesias and the brutal alicorn. I will make sure there are stories for generations about the warrior who was swallowed whole by the ground and who fought his way out…and brought his fellow warriors home with him."
Ronon had only a few seconds to process the fact that she now included Dr. Beckett and quite possibly, McKay, in her definition of 'warrior'.
"My path lies with our people. Yours is here. You now have family in two places." She poked a strong, slender finger into his chest. "And I expect to see you before next year's festival."
She suddenly embraced him in a strong hug, kissed him on the cheek and bounded through the gate. She paused only an instant to toss back a wave and a dazzling, perfect-toothed smile.
Ronon sighed heavily. A bittersweet feeling made him blink away a bit of moisture in his eyes; but a sense of relief easily tempered the emotion. He slid a hand into the pocket of his pants and let his fingers wrap around a small object tucked away there. He had one more thing to do.
[{O}]
McKay shuffled into his quarters and eased himself down onto his bed. He'd argued endlessly over being released from the infirmary, but the first thing he wanted to do when he got out was lie down on his own mattress. There was just something about your own bed.
He stared up at the ceiling as his mind drifted over the events of the team's time on Ctesias. He'd only met Jerkin, Boris and Bedevere for the first time at the mission briefing, but he couldn't help but wonder about the circumstances and luck of the draw that ended their lives and saved his.
Nonor's words flitted through his mind. He couldn't remember when he heard them, just at some time when they were on the planet. The memories were like voices from a television that you fell asleep in front of.
'…it can see right to the heart of a man… favors those that are pure of heart and sure of the nobility of their deeds.'
The scientist in him knew it was rubbish. The alicorn was a predator, just like everything else on that damned planet. He absently rubbed at his shoulder and told himself none of the fairy tale language mattered. He'd believed in his friends, and that's what saved him – his friends.
When Nonor told him they were dead, that one word, that one idea, shook him to the core. The team, the people he worked closely with in Atlantis were not like the scientists he'd worked with back on Earth. These people didn't stab you in the back – they watched it.
Another voice floated through his consciousness, and the source surprised him. '…I have learned the value of my friends.'
Rodney rarely felt that he connected with the brooding Satedan, but perhaps that's why it was called friendship. You didn't associate with a person because of who they could put you in contact with or what part of their coattail you could ride. You did it because you wanted to - because you trusted them.
He shifted slightly as he became aware of a hard object pressing into his back. Moving slowly, to protect his sore shoulder and ribs, he reached a hand under his shoulder blade and pulled out something that he definitely hadn't left on the bed.
The golden sheen of the two-inch long horn tip gave it a soft glow even in the dim light of his room. A thin, leather cord ran though a hole that had been carefully drilled into the thick end of the pendant. He wondered how Ronon had gotten the lab rats to acquiesce to giving up any part of the horn. Then he realized the horn had most likely arrived at the lab already mysteriously altered. Broken off in battle, no doubt.
Rodney settled back onto his bed and held the necklace cord between two fingers, letting the warrior's charm hang freely. A small, appreciative smile morphed into a verbalized question.
"I wonder if this will get me some of those pastries with the all the sugar on top at next year's festival?"
THE END?
A/N: There, it is done! Well, probably. Shower me with your love and affection!
A/N: Will those the damn lizards ever stop squirming? They seem to be over stimulated again. Let's see what they are trying to tell me... Who's over there...Sydney, Octavius. Yes, I see you. Louie, Omar, Nancy, George - put down that giant mug! If they would only stop jumping around so much I might get this. Arthur, Norbert, Doug, what have you gotten into? Tom, Henry, Abdullah, Norah, Kyle, Sukie. Who knew there were so many of them in here. Fabio, Oscar, Raul. Really, this is getting a bit creepy you guys. Annie, Letitia, Luke. (Luke! I am your Father - ha ha! I couldn't resist that one) Thaddeus, Heather, Ed. It's hard to recognize each of them with all the frittering around. Charlie, Opal, Francis, Frances, Emeril, Eudora.
A/N: Honesty, I don't have a clue about what they want. Hey! Put down that percolator! Get back here with my French Press! Leave the espresso maker alone. NO! NO! Not the Mr. Coffee!
A/N: Leave me reviews while I chase down the reptiles! They're escaping the bunker with their ill gotten gains! NOOOO! They have my Starbucks Gift CARDS! YOU BASTARDS! Get back here...
A/N: Seriously... reviews... lots of them.
