Last time: Radek's is headed off for an offworld mission. Anna's trying to entertain herself and communicate to Radek how irritated she is without so many words. Which, you know, is not necessarily Radek's language. Also, she's got a present to give someone (since chapter 37)? On a Thursday?

Chapter 44. Um... Thanks?

"This… this is lovely, Anna," Elizabeth said with a huge smile. She looked up from reading Anna's paper. "Your English has improved in leaps and bounds, and your vocabulary is spreading beyond mine, I think."

Anna didn't know about that, but she liked to hear the compliment anyway. "Thank you." She scooted her chair up to the other side of Elizabeth's desk. "I thought you would like the part about the Book of the Dead."

"Referencing one of Doctor Jackson's works was unexpected."

Probably because it was a heady piece of well over fifty-thousand English words. Anna had found the time to read it and work on her bantos fighting with Lieutenant Cadman while Teyla and Ronon were away, off planet, conducting another trade mission for the Athosians. Doctor Jackson's paper in one hand and a dictionary in the other... It was a bad day.

"It was fun to read," Anna offered.

"Did you think so?" Elizabeth looked positively pleased at that.

Anna wondered if she'd accidentally sounded a bit too enthusiastic. There were only a few hundred thousand things in the database she'd rather be reading… "Well, it wasn't as boring as I thought it would be," she added.

"I see," Elizabeth said with a knowing smile. She paused to put down the tablet and pick up her mug of tea. "You're not too lonely with Radek being gone for so long, are you?"

Anna shrugged. "It's only been a week." But it was getting a little lonely. Everyone was always so busy. "Teyla and Ronon have been offworld, but I've been practicing hand-to-hand combat with Lieutenant Cadman."

"That reminds me," Elizabeth said, suddenly sitting up straighter. "A group of the American members in the expedition are getting together for dinner tonight for Thanksgiving. Nothing big. I'd be happy—and I'm sure Jennifer and Laura would, too—if you wanted to join us."

"I'm not American." Anna had lived in the country for a grand total of one month. Of course, to the rest of the world, she still lived there. She might be celebrating Thanksgiving if she were there, but she doubted it. Radek would probably be working if they were there, too.

"That's okay," Elizabeth said quickly. "Thanksgiving is more about family getting together and enjoying one another's company." She smiled. "You're family now, as part of the expedition."

Family. Anna guessed she should consider herself lucky that she was the only member of the expedition whose family was immediately within reach. Sort of. Most of the time. "I suppose Radek and the others won't be back for Thanksgiving?"

Elizabeth seemed to consider that. "No."

Anna nodded quickly. Of course, it wouldn't make sense for the team to come back for the sake of a Czech scientist attending an American holiday celebration. She didn't know why she didn't want to give the impression that she missed Radek.

Because she was fifteen years old, for goodness' sake. She could survive a few weeks on her own. In another galaxy.

Surrounded by friends and surrogate-family. "I'll come celebrate Thanksgiving," she said quietly.

Elizabeth seemed pretty pleased with that idea. "Yes. That sounds lovely."

#

"Anna!" Jennifer squealed when she found Anna at the door to Elizabeth's quarters, awkwardly holding a small loaf of bread. "I didn't know you were coming!" She didn't wait a moment before pulling Anna into a one-armed hug, probably to avoid crushing the loaf.

Anna looked around at the familiar faces. She didn't talk to most of these people, but she knew who most of them were. Not by name, but she doubted a lot of them would talk to her anyway. "And this is from Iskaan."

"Oh, that Athosian boy?" Jennifer asked, her eyebrows raised conspiratorially.

Anna chose to ignore that, though. They were just friends. "Yes."

Jennifer smiled knowingly, like she thought there was something Anna wasn't telling her. Jennifer took the loaf and set it on the table that dominated most of the room. There was a large roasted bird in the center of the table, some sort of cylindrical red gel, a salad, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of other food. It looked like just enough for all of them to have a nice meal.

"You can sit next to me, Anna," Jennifer said, motioning to a seat she was standing next to.

Everyone suddenly gathered around the table as if called there by a bell all but Anna heard. Anna stood at the chair next to Jennifer. Anna noticed most of the American science team members had joined them, too, at the end of the table. She smiled when Sheppard pulled the chair out next to her.

"Didn't know you were joining us," Sheppard said as he sat down.

"I didn't either," Anna offered. "Elizabeth invited me. And I wasn't doing anything else."

"Assimilating our culture, huh?" A spark of mischief lit his eye.

Anna just shrugged to that, since she had to guess what the word meant. "I don't think so," she said finally. "Just eating the food."

Elizabeth came to the other side of the table, directly across from Colonel Sheppard. She smiled when she saw Anna. "Thank you for coming."

Anna nodded as they all sat down.

"I hope you don't mind, but it's a tradition for my family to pray before Thanksgiving dinner," Elizabeth announced.

Anna kept quiet while there were sporadic nods and a few noncommittal shrugs around the table. Sheppard didn't seem too enthused, but no one was going to object, apparently. Tradition was tradition, even in another galaxy. Maybe especially in another galaxy.

Elizabeth offered her hands to the people seated on either side of her until everyone around the whole table joined hands. Anna took Jennifer's hand and then looked to her right. Sheppard offered his hand to Anna.

Everyone seemed pleased, for the most part. Anna was surprised, considering more than half the table had to be confirmed atheists. The Czech Republic was famous over the world for its irreligiosity, and Anna considered herself no exception. But she didn't mind praying. She was celebrating an American holiday, after all.

Elizabeth bowed her head, eyes closed.

"Dear Lord," she began.

It seemed to Anna like everyone held their breaths. Most of the people around the table also bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Anna hoped the prayer wouldn't last long. She lost track of what Elizabeth was saying until the very end.

"Finally, we're thankful for our friends who've become family. We're thankful that we trust one another and defend one another. May we keep each other safe another year, together. Amen."

"Amen," was echoed around the table. Everyone let go of the hands they were holding. It was strange how reluctant some people seemed to let go of each other's hands, given how reluctant they were to take them in the first place.

Suddenly everyone started talking to one another as they passed bowls of bread stuffing and potatoes, platters of various kinds of meats, and pitchers of all kinds of sparkling beverages. Jennifer left for a few seconds only reappear with three bottles of wine.

Jennifer poured herself a glass and then leaned closer to Anna. "What's the legal drinking age in the Czech Republic?"

Anna giggled. "What's the legal drinking age on Atlantis?"

Elizabeth gave Jennifer a less-than-approving glare from across the table, but apparently found it amusing all the same. Anna handed one of the bottles to Sheppard.

"A teenager near free alcohol doesn't take any?" He marveled as the scarlet liquid chugged into his glass. He smirked. "What is the world coming to…?"

As far as Anna knew, she didn't like anything alcoholic, but she'd never been adventurous enough to try. When she was quite small, maybe five or six, she stumbled upon one of Radek's beers on the dining room table and decided to taste it. Not only was it the most disgusting thing her young tongue ever had the displeasure of coming into contact with, but it was so surprising to her that she ended up spilling the rest of the chilly beverage all over the table, one of the chairs, and the floor. It ruined the idea for her, to say the least.

Except, it was the last time she remembered Radek and her mother laughing together.

All that to say, she'd never tried it again. Besides, with her social abilities at school, it wasn't as though she was getting invited to many parties of any kind. Much less the kind where alcohol might be available. Her mother would have killed her anyway.

Anna contented herself with sparkling cider even though Colonel Sheppard told her he'd never tell if she decided she wanted wine instead.

"There's a tradition in my family to go around the table and say one thing that we're thankful for," Jennifer said after everyone had gotten well into their meals.

There was a chuckle from the far end of the table. "In mine, too."

"I'll start, and no fair copying other people's thanks," Jennifer said. She lifted her glass. "I'm thankful for the wine." Multiple other glasses lifted to touch rims.

Anna was most thankful when the person on Jennifer's other side said they were thankful for a fully-charged ZPM. Even though that was almost too easy, agreements resonated around the table. The next person was thankful for the last patch to the operating system.

Thinking frantically wasn't going to help her come up with anything that she was thankful for. She didn't know why she felt guilty that she couldn't come up with anything. She would have been thankful to have her mom back, but that was a useless thought. Still, like Elizabeth said, Thanksgiving was a time for family and she didn't have any. Not really. This, however hard Elizabeth and Jennifer tried to make her feel like she fit in, didn't count.

She looked at the bubbles in her cider. But even if they weren't family, they were still very nice. And without them, Anna would be pretty lonely. That was the only thing she could think of, and it sounded awfully cliché. She had to come up with something else.

Was there anything she was particularly happy about right now?

She frowned seriously at her plate and the picked over bird leg. The thanks came closer and closer, making it even more difficult to come up with anything. What was she thankful for? Not school. She couldn't say she was thankful for Elizabeth and Jennifer…

Sheppard seemed pretty pleased when it was his turn. "I'm thankful for lemons."

Elizabeth tried to hide her laugh.

Sheppard looked at Anna as though to goad her into finishing up the round so they could be done. "I'm thankful for… I'm thankful for family."

Anna was surprised no one else had said family, probably because theirs were not present. But out of sight did not mean out of mind. Anna's family was only a Stargate away, and she felt lonely. What about everyone else, whose family was in another galaxy entirely?

Maybe it was the other half of her family she was missing so acutely. The half she would never see again.

Everyone got back to talking pretty quickly after that, so Anna didn't think much of it.

Sheppard and Elizabeth started talking about golf.

Jennifer turned to Anna. "Arcturus keeping your dad busy?" Her tone sounded sad.

"It could be important." It was all Anna could think to say. She couldn't imagine there wasn't anyone here who didn't hope for a good defense against the Wraith that didn't involve going invisible. "But this is an American holiday. I doubt he even knows about it."

"That's true." Jennifer swished the green bean casserole around on her plate before scooping up a mouthful. "I'm glad you got to celebrate with us, anyway. It's sort of what Thanksgiving is about."

"What?"

"I don't know." Jennifer shrugged. "Putting aside differences and bringing what we have together for something better."

Anna nodded, even though she couldn't really speak to the merits of Thanksgiving one way or another. "Kind of like Atlantis."

"Exactly like Atlantis." Jennifer looked pleased. "People make mistakes, but, no matter what anyone says, what's at the heart is what matters."

#

Anna leaned into the doorway of the gym. Ronan was in the middle of beating a punching bag like it had betrayed him. Anna was sure it deserved it.

He paused for just a moment when she walked in. He didn't stop for long though.

She dropped her gym bag beneath the window seat and retrieved her two bantos sticks. She stood to one side of the room to practice the set that Teyla gave her before leaving. Teyla and Ronon were leaving again tomorrow morning to conclude their trading mission. Ronon was acting like things hadn't gone well, though.

Anna went through the set twice when Ronon stopped. He started unwrapping the straps on his knuckles as he sat down on the bench underneath the window.

"How was offworld?" Anna asked.

Ronon glanced at her. Shrugged. "Fine."

A growled response was the first indication that it did not, in fact, go fine. Anna cleared her throat and edged closer to the window bench. She knew not to press it though. It was tough enough to get him to talk about the correct way to punch things. She knelt at her duffel and unzipped it.

"I traded for some throwing knives," Anna said. She pulled out the three knives and showed them to Ronon. "Will you still teach me how to throw them?"

"Sure," Ronon said. He picked up one of the knives and turned it in his fingers. He glanced over his shoulder at a rubber man standing on a pole and, with hurricane movement, hurled the knife. It stuck in the quivering head. "Nice."

Anna smiled and rummaged around in her bag. Might as well give him the knife now. She pulled out the bent knife and looked at it. Ronon still admired his handiwork, looking only a little bit concerned about the thin slit in the dummy's forehead.

When he turned around and saw the huge knife held awkwardly in Anna's hands, he looked incredibly amused. "When you get into something, you really get into it."

Anna held the knife out to him. She was most certainly not this into knives. Hopefully she never would be. She wasn't even sure how to hold this bent knife correctly without slicing her hands open. "I don't—actually, she gave it to me. The girl selling the knives. I don't want it."

Ronon took the knife, twirling it in his hand. He pantomimed cutting off the rubber man's head.

"Do you want it?" Anna asked quickly. She leaned against the wall and picked up one of the throwing knives.

Ronon shrugged. "Sure?"

Anna smiled. "It's a gift, then."

"Um. Thanks."

Next time: I always wanted to go to another planet. But I never wanted to go to another planet.