Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe
The first time she comes to him, he isn't expecting it. "I wish to speak to you about turning my care over to Dr. Biro," she tells him, and he's aware of the hurt in his eyes. "It is nothing you have done," she assures him.
"Teyla," he frowns. "Dr. Biro... well, she's a wonderful doctor, but I prefer to handle your care personally."
"I have been made aware of an Earth regulation which says it is unethical for you to become personally involved with your patients," she says, smiling as though she has a secret.
"Aye, that's so," he agrees. "But, Teyla, love, I don't see how that--"
"There is a celebration tonight on the Mainland. It is an Athosian fire festival." She pauses. "Would you accompany me?"
The shock registers in his eyes and causes her to giggle, a sound he's never heard her make before. "Me?"
"Yes, you, Carson. Will you join me?"
"Aye, I'd love to."
She took his hand and led him toward the bonfire, around which her people danced. She was grace incarnate as she moved her body against his, showing him the steps, and though he had two left feet, her eyes were full of joy as they danced. The sky had gone from the clear blue of early evening to the rich purple that came just after sunset by the time they stopped to rest.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked, breathless.
He looked into her eyes and smiled. "I can't remember having more fun, but I'm a wee bit parched."
"Drink this," she said, handing him a turned wooden cup. He inspected it with a critical eye, and she laughed. "It is water."
He took a grateful swallow and handed the cup back to her. She drank, never taking her eyes off of him. "What?" he asked, looking at her.
"I had thought you never looked more lovely than after a crisis, when everyone was well again," she told him. "But I had not seen you in firelight at dusk."
He flushed, ducking his head. "You're far lovelier than I," he told her shyly. "I never thought you'd be interested in me."
"Because I am a warrior, and you are a healer?"
"Well, that's simplifying it a bit, but..."
"When an Athosian woman chooses her partner, she chooses not he who is most like her, but he who complements her best," she whispered. "As the sky to the earth. As a healer to a warrior."
He wasn't sure how she'd drawn so close without him noticing until her lips fell on his with a feather-light touch. "Teyla," he breathed.
"Come," she bade him, leading him further from the fire. An empty hut, built by the other Athosians for their oft-absent leader. "Be the sky to my earth."
And he is, filling her heart with the bounties of love as the sky fills the earth with life-giving rain, until the Ancestors return to the city and the fragile life they've built together is not only shaken, but rent in two. He returns to Earth and accepts a position at Stargate Command because the Stargate is the closest he can be to her, galaxies apart. She and her people are uprooted again, deposited on another planet in the Ancients' haste to regain their city, with no thought for the lives they've built or the crops they've planted and staked their survival on.
He believes that this is the end, that he will never again lie with her in the night, admiring her bronze skin against his, silver in the moonlight. That he will never kiss those lips sweet with berry wine or hear her laugh. He can't imagine loving another the way he loves his warrior woman. When the call comes from Command, it is not only curiosity and a longing for home -- because Atlantis is their home -- that causes him to rush to the mountain with the others. He is dismissed by General Landry, as though the city doesn't mean as much to him as it does to Elizabeth, to John, and to Rodney, but he persists, plotting with his friends to help retake the city from the Replicators who have taken it from the Ancients, because it means seeing the mischief in her eyes as they carry out their plan, the pride there when their task is complete. It means holding her again.
And when the city is theirs again, he swears to never leave her again.
"I came back, didn't I?" he asked, his head resting against hers on the pillow they shared.
"You did," she admitted. Her hand stroked his arm idly. "But you cannot promise you will not leave. If you are forced to go--"
"If I'm forced to go, I'll come back, Teyla. I'll always come back."
She believes him. Even as she stands in the gateroom, listening to the bagpipe mourn his passing, even as she clutches her injured side where he so carefully mended her and prays to the Ancestors for the strength to make it through the ceremony. Even as she watches his friends carry him home to the land he knew as a boy to rest with his own ancestors, she believes him. He will always come back to her.
It had been months. The battle with the Wraith still raged on despite unwitting assistance from the Replicators, and while Teyla had not forgotten his promise, she had tried to move on. It was not easy, with a tiny reminder of the man she loved growing larger every day within her womb. It was getting harder to keep their love a secret even though he was gone.
It was the fire festival, and Teyla had been unable to bow out gracefully, so she brought her team for moral support. They felt safe among the Athosians -- rightfully so -- and so Ronon, Rodney and John and all partaken liberally of Halling's berry wine. Ronon was dragged off by a young woman called Atha to 'sleep it off' though she doubted they were getting any sleep at the moment. Two other girls were attempting to show Rodney and John the steps to the fire dance as Teyla once had Carson, but John seemed more interested in Rodney than Meyna, and Rodney more interested in John than Lasha. Teyla shook her head and smiled, silently willing the girls to give up before they caused themselves further embarrassment. Somewhere deep inside she noticed that the sky had already gone from the clear blue of early evening to the rich purple that came just after sunset.
"Haven't got a belly for the drink, either of them," Carson said, and she glanced up in surprise. The village, her people, her team, everything vanished from her mind save for him and the bonfire. "Get a few into them and they can't keep their hands off each other."
"Carson," she gasped, running to him.
"I told you I'd always come back. Meanwhile you haven't even had a wee sup," he noted, taking her into his arms and holding her close. "I suppose that'll be for the baby's sake and not your own."
"How did you know?"
"I didn't know until just now, but your hips are wider, your belly rounder, your breasts heavier. I'm a doctor, Teyla, and I've eyes to see with. I know your body near as well as you do."
"You died. I saw them carry your body through the Stargate. What magic is this?"
"The best kind, love. The kind that doesn't turn back into a pumpkin at midnight," he told her.
"Why have you come to this world? Why tonight?"
He brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and whispered, "I've always loved you in firelight at dusk."