Disclaimers: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this endeavour.

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John sat back and sighed with relief. This was the life. The ocean stretched out before him, the waves crashing below the balcony and light surf spray cooled the air around him.

It had taken him a while, but he was pretty sure this was the best spot in Atlantis. The best place to hide. He pushed that thought quickly aside, if he wanted to disappear during his off hours why shouldn't he?

He sat back into the chair and stretched his legs out, his bare feet resting on the cool metal of the balcony. Yep, this was the life, all he needed was a beer and it would be perfect. It felt good to be out of uniform and into some comfortable jeans and shirt.

It was his days off, like today, that he missed Earth the most. On Atlantis you were never really off duty. If something happened he would hear about it and he would always get involved. But, out here on the outer reaches of the pier, the furthest room and balcony from the central tower, he could sit and stare out across the ocean.

The last week had been pretty tough. Not that there had been any big crisis, or big alien attacks or even a difficult off-world mission. No this week had been difficult on a whole new level. This was the week in which he realised he…had deep feelings for Teyla. God, he couldn't even say the word in his head! He'd been in love before, but only once or twice. But this was different, this scared him more. Not, that he would EVER admit that to anyone. No, this time, she was more important. The situation was more difficult.

He reached up and touched his still tender left eye. The black eye was still slightly dark and his body was still sore in parts from Teyla's 'training sessions'. She had been pretty mad with his sparring with Mark Martin and had insisted on increasing their training drills. After two days of extra training he got the message – his skills were still basic at best. She had seemed to sense his acquiesce and the extra training stopped. In fact he had barely seen her in days. Not that he was avoiding her, he was as polite as possible around her, but she had to sense the awkwardness.

But, today was his day off, a day to pretend none of those stresses existed, to just relax and contemplate the massive stretch of ocean before him.

Through the constant crash of the sea under the balcony he heard footsteps approaching along the corridor behind him. He sighed; he couldn't even get an hour to himself. What had gone wrong now? He waited until the footsteps reached the balcony and only then did he turn his head to find…Teyla. Surprise and a mild panic spread through him.

"Teyla!" He practically yelped. "Is something wrong?"

She paused at the entrance to the balcony and smiled at him. "No, nothing is wrong, John. Well…" She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. "There is nothing wrong with Atlantis or myself, however, I feel that there is something amiss with you."

He swallowed round the panic and tried to think of something to say. She smiled once more and indicated the spare seat beside him. "May I join you?"

"Of course." He offered. She stepped up beside him and slid into the seat. She was wearing a long sleeved colourful top that indicated that she was off duty for the day as well. She slid her feet from her sandals and rested her bare feet up on the balcony rail alongside his. She had pretty feet he decided. He heard her take a deep breath.

"This is a lovely spot."

"Yeah, took me a while to find the right place."

"The right place for what?" She asked with curiosity.

To be by myself, was what he wanted to say. "To pretend I am not in Atlantis. To just stare off over the ocean, put all my worries aside for a while." Was what he did say.

"I will not disturb you for long, John. I needed to speak with you." Her tone was steady and serious. Panic, which seemed his constant companion at present, kicked up a gear. His mind ran quickly through what she might know. Had Dr Martin told her about their 'discussion'? Or was she here to tell him she was dating said smug Doctor? Was she going to call him on the awkwardness?

Pulling himself together, he reminded himself he was a Lt Colonel, who had faced who knows how many Wraiths – he could handle this as well.

"O-kay." He offered as he turned to look at her.

Her gaze was directed out across the ocean. "I wanted to apologise to you." She said.

"What? What for?"

She turned to look at him finally, her expression difficult to read. "I was angry that you and Mark sparred. I took that anger out on you in our training sessions and I apologise for that."

Relief and strangely disappointment hustled out panic finally. "That's okay, Teyla. I deserved it. I'm sorry for behaving like a jackass to Dr Martin."

"Why you and Mark sparred is between you, I am just glad that you did not injure each other further. You could have seriously have harmed him."

He tried to read her expression at that comment, but she turned away looking once more out across the water. "You think I would have beaten him?" He knew it was childish, but he couldn't help himself from asking.

She looked back at him with a smile on her lips. "I was surprised that you did not." Her graze moved to his left eye, studied the fading bruise with a knowing eye. "That must have been a strong blow you took."

He winced at the memory. "Just a bit, yes."

"You were distracted by something else." She said with a look.

Panic ran back into play. "What did Martin tell you?"

She frowned slightly, "Nothing. You are always distracted."

He opened his mouth to protest, but the sparkle in her eyes silenced him. "Are you teasing me, Teyla?"

She smiled and looked back out over the water. "That is your weakness, John and you know that. You can be distracted too easily."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You didn't tell, Martin that did you?"

"I would never do that, John." He believed her answer, but he still frowned at her for a while.

Silence descended over them as they sat and watched the massive body of water before them. He breathed in the air, now tinted slightly with Teyla's scent. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, to find her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. He watched her as she enjoyed the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair. His eyes traced the line of her profile and the long line of her neck. He rarely had the opportunity to study her so closely and unobserved. She was truly a beautiful woman both physically and in spirit.

Happy that she was going to sit here with him for a while, he in turn settled back in his chair and closed his eyes. He had been wrong before; there had been something missing besides the beer for this perfect day off. And all things considered, she was a good friend and he was happy to sit and enjoy her company.

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She had never lived near an ocean before. She had grown up playing along river banks across the Athosian hunting grounds, but never had they travelled as far as the ocean. When she had first moved to Atlantis the salty taste to the air had been strange to her, and the near constant breeze that drifted across the city carried the salty smell into every window and balcony.

At first she had missed the plains and trees of her home-world. But, over time she had begun to love the salt tainted air and the cooling sea breeze. In fact when she visited her people on the mainland she missed the sound of the ocean.

She spent evenings sitting out on the balcony nearest her quarters listening quietly to the sound of the ocean. It soothed her, helped her to forget the loss of Athos, the ever present threat of the Wraith and her separation from her people.

Now, she turned her face up towards the sun's warmth and listened to the air. She allowed her mind to wander free from this place, across the waters to her people. Dr Martin was there now, spending more time with the Athosians than she had done in the last year. She found that she envied him that.

Beside her John stirred, settling his body more comfortably in his chair. She opened her eyes and looked over at John Sheppard. She was glad that they had spoken. Things had been awkward between them this past week, but it had been her own doing. She had been angry, though she wasn't sure who she was angrier at; Dr Martin for having hit him, John for not having blocked the hit or at herself for not having taught them both properly.

It did not matter now though, she had apologised. She and John could go back to their former friendship, without the awkwardness. His reaction to this past situation had surprised her more than she had expected. He had become almost nervous around her, distancing himself. Not that he was anything other than polite, but she had felt their friendship breaking. He was too important to her to lose that, so she had sought him out to apologise. Now, things could get back to normal. Well…

"You are not going to spar with Dr Martin again are you?" She asked.

Surprised out of his relaxation he opened his eyes and turned to her. There was a pause in which he studied her and she began to worry that he perhaps did plan to spar again.

"No, Teyla. I won't be competing with Dr Martin anymore."

His tone was honest, yet strangely sad she thought, but happy with his answer she turned back to the beautiful view before them. Things could return to normal now…

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TBC