This is the last chapter of ''Wise men say...'' and it's kind of sad. I somehow couldn't take all that fluff...
Thanks or the reviews!
Here goes:
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Wise men say…
-Like the river flows
Gone with the Goa'uld, done with the Ori, now her time on Atlantis was over… Sam was home. Jack tapped his fingers on the bench and wondered what the melody reminded him off. Tap tap. Taptap… taptaptaptap…Dumdum. Dumdum… A hand from coming from behind captured his and held it to the wooden surface, disabling him from continuing the sun reflected in the ring on one of the fingers and it made Jack smile. He felt her head move close to his face.
''It's ''Son of a preacher man''…now stop it.''
He felt Sam's warm breath against his ear just before she kissed him on the cheek. She walked around the bench and sat down next to him. Jack raised an eyebrow and she shrugged in response.
''You were humming it when you picked me up.''
''Ah…''
They sat in silence for a while and they both stared at the red and orange coloured sky. The sight was spectacular and Jack noticed how Sam let out a small sigh. She grabbed his hand and he felt the cold metal of her ring against his skin. He looked at her and waited for an endless stream of words that didn't follow. Instead the silence became somewhat loaded and Jack braced himself.
''So… what happened to Ella?''
She swallowed and bit her lower lip, but wouldn't look at him. Jack didn't know what to say.
''She's…''
He shook his head and the gesture earned him Sam's attention. He felt her hand tighten around his. The look in her eyes told him that she knew exactly which direction this conversation would take.
''They found her here early in the morning. It had been snowing that night…''
Tears had started forming in Sam's eyes and were about to fall. Jack wasn't sure how to continue. She breathed in sharply.
''Oh no…''
''I don't know what happened, Sam. I just don't…''
He put his arm around her and gave her a moment to recover from what she had heard. He never got the chance to tell her sooner. She was in another galaxy, she had been fighting of yet another enemy and still Jack felt awful for not having told her this a month ago.
He still had a clear image of her in his head, like a framed picture. He remembered her as she had been the day he had proposed to Sam. The way she smiled and clapped her hands. The way she helped him recruit bystanders to encourage Sam to say yes. He looked at Sam and found her in deep thought.
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Sam felt a tear roll down her face, but she didn't feel like wiping it away. It ended up on Jack's shoulder and she knew he didn't mind. He had supported her trough too many losses already. She counted on him to be there. She felt a heavy feeling in her stomach and it reminded her of the day she had met Ella. The strong woman with the wise words.
She was gone.
''Wise men say…''
She glanced up at Jack long enough to catch a glimpse of the wondering look in his eyes.
''Wise men say what?''
''Nothing at all.''
She watched the clouds move slowly, causing an ever changing view. Her mind wandered off to the day of her wedding.
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Vala and Cassie had literally been running around her with make up, shoes and hair accessories. And Sam had wondered where all those female friends in the room came from. She needed a break, but when everyone had left, the silence had grabbed Sam by the throat. This was it. The moment in which, in an ideal world, her mother would have come into the room with a glass of water to calm her down. She stared at the door and sighed. God, she missed her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she was thankful that Vala wasn't there to complain about mascara. Sam stared at her image in the mirror and told it to suck it up. A lock of hair fell over her eyes and she tried to blow it away, knowing that it wouldn't work. It was stupid, but entertaining.
''Oh…try blowing harder, honey.''
Sam smiled and looked at Ella's reflection in the mirror. The older woman stood in the doorway and held a cup of coffee in her hands.
''That …Vala? She told me you needed a drink, but I figured coffee would be safer. Just don't spill it. In the state she's in, Cassandra might actually kill you if you walk down the isle with a coffee stain on your dress.''
Her eyes started to twinkle.
''…Although I think Jack would find it charming, so you'd win either way.''
She walked up to Sam, put the coffee on the dresser and handed her a tissue.
''I bet he would.''
Sam dried her eyes and sighed again.
''I know it sounds like a line from a movie, sweetheart, but they'd be proud of you. Your parents, I mean.''
Sam nodded and chuckled
''I know. You would have gotten along very well.''
She thought of her dad. She was finally getting everything she wanted. And he wasn't here to tell her that he had known all along. That he had hoped she wouldn't have fallen for her CO, but that at least she had picked a man that had proven worth her love…
A fresh set of tears started to fall and Sam briefly celebrated the waterproof mascara business.
Ella stepped up and hugged her. With her arms still around Sam's body she spoke up.
''In your life, no matter how long it lasts, you will never have to go without the ones you have loved in the past, sweetie. Interacting with each and everyone of them has made your life what it is now. They are the very essence of it all.''
Sam smiled and grabbed another tissue.
''Yeah.''
''Now… go marry that man of yours. Some of the ladies who saw him proposing to you in the park are lining up outside to grab him if you say 'no'…''
She winked and walked to the door. Sam grinned and called her name.
''Has anyone ever told you how wise you are?''
Ella waved it away.
''Oh, I talk way too much to be called wise. You know, wise men… Wise men say nothing at all. That's how you recognise them. They're silent, look smart and nod a lot. I'm just little old me.''
She waved and slipped out the door. Sam turned back to the mirror and laughed out loud. It was time to marry her guy.
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Jack squeezed her shoulder and that little gesture pulled her back to reality.
''We should go. It's getting cold…''
Sam smiled, nodded and noticed that her muscles had gotten stiff from sitting still. She looked at the bench and felt sadness stab.
''She was a great person, wasn't she?''
Jack took her hand.
''Life's just too short.''
They walked away and Sam looked at the sky one more time. The sky Ella might have looked at when she died... Without making a sound, her lips formed the words 'thank you'. Ella would be a part of her life. Part of the stories she and Jack would tell their friends and family. She had helped Sam to stop running, she had helped Jack to go and take advantage of the moment. She had been a breeze in every single moment they had shared with her. The light of the sun broke through the clouds one last time before it would set and it made Sam smile.
''Let's go home…''
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I'm sorry for this ending if it's not your thing!
I thought about doing it differently, but in my mind, it made the story fall flat.
Thanks for your time! :)