My Love Among the Stars - Chapter 2

With a cup of coffee in his hand, Colonel John Sheppard walked down the corridors of the City. As he passed by anyone else wandering the halls, he alternated between saying a simple ‘Hi’, mouthing ‘Hey’ with a slight raise of his brows, and silently nodding a ‘Good morning’. He stopped walking once he reached his room. He slid his hand over the sensor to open the door and walked through, the door sliding closed behind him.

He made his way over to his bed and slumped down the blue sheeted mattress. He lifted the white cup to his lips and sipped the hot coffee carefully to not burn his lips. He lowered the cup from his lips and lowered his arm to his lap, his eyes scanning the room lazily until he landed on the grey rectangular dresser beside the bed where he kept a few books stacked on top among a few other trinkets he brought from home to decorate his living quarters.

He couldn’t quite place it, but something was amiss. Then it hit him and he shot straight up to his feet, setting his cup down on the empty corner of the dresser. The music box Princess Aridelle gave to him was made of the delai that they could bend to their will. A low, almost growl-like tone escaped his throat, “… Rodney!” He stormed out of his room into the corridor and marched to the science lab that he knew Rodney would be at.

The moment that the hydraulics slid the door open, John barged into the science lab. He easily spotted the light brown-haired male in question and rushed over to the table he was working at. His eyes dropped to the table and exactly as he suspected, the music box sat at the center of the table. The trinket dismantled, being studied by the scientist.

He smashed his palm against the surface of the table. The metal gears scattered on the table rattled from the force of the impact.

Rodney, whose head was currently deep in thought and buried in his tablet, jumped at the sudden noise. He turned around once the mild shock factor processed through his body. He met face to face with the furious Colonel John Sheppard. “What do you want, Sheppard?”

“I think you know what I want.” John remarked in a clearly irked tone. His eyes narrowed, forcing eye contact with Rodney despite the doctor’s efforts to avoid it.

The smallest pangs of guilt upset his stomach as Rodney shifted his weight from side to side. He cleared his throat awkwardly and stammered out a reply to the Colonel. “Ah. Right… Uh…” His gaze drifted down towards the table at the dismantled music box. “I-I uh… You are probably wondering why I have the music box that Princess Aridelle gave to you when we left Kailos. And you may have a problem with how I got it.”

“Yeah...” John seethed through his teeth, annoyance clear in his tone. He pressed his fist to the table and leaned his weight on it.

“Well, you see… it wasn’t hard to ge–” The doctor said in his usual matter-of-fact tone before the Colonel interrupted him abruptly.

“You invaded my personal space, Rodney! That’s not okay! You don’t see me entering your room without permission!” John lifted his arm and slammed it against the table, causing a gear to fall to the floor with a loud rattle. “Where in your right mind do you think it was alright to do something like that?!” This violation of personal space infuriated him.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like you haven’t thought about it. I just acted on it. I-It’s been what… four months since we were even on the planet. Why are you interested in this music box all of a sudden? It’s not like you’ve even played the darn thing since you got it.” Rodney answered, his voice wavering ever so slightly in defense of himself. He tried to justify his actions and explain why he did what he did.

John rounded the corner to the other side of the table, reaching out to take the fabric of Rodney’s jacket before he could escape. He pulled him in close and pressed the doctor to the table, twisting his arm into a lock to keep him from escaping.

The door slid open and Elizabeth Weir walked in to ask Rodney about his latest experiment. “Boys! My office. Now!” She ordered sternly upon seeing Colonel Sheppard grappling Doctor McKay.

John huffed and released Rodney from his grip, taking a few steps away from the table with his hands defensively in the air.

Rodney scrambled to compose himself, took his tablet, and scurried to the civilian leader at the door. He keyed in a few commands securely locking his tablet and tucked it under his arm.

John plucked the music box from the table and bent down to pick up the gear that laid on the floor. He made his way over to Rodney and Elizabeth, following behind both of them as they marched to the office. His brown eyes dipped down to the music box and its tampered components, his jaw clenching ever so slightly in anger, but he was more disappointed that he let Rodney get to it. He wasn’t sure if he could fix the thing. Though he hoped maybe he could get the clearance to visit Kailos again to have the princess fix it.

Soon they were in Weir’s office and he stuffed the loose parts into the pockets of his cargo pants. He held the whole remnant parts of the music box close to his torso to not let Rodney get to it again.

Weir walked over to her desk and leaned against it, facing the two males. She crossed her arms over her chest, “So what exactly did I walk into in the lab?” She questioned, raising a curious dark brow towards the pair.

John and Rodney glanced over to one another for a moment, as if deciding who was going to be telling their side of the story first. “Rodney stole this music box they gave me from the planet Kailos from my living quarters.”

“It's made from this material that the people there can manipulate with their minds. They call this material delai.” Rodney iterated, “It isn’t quite a solid or a liquid. It’s sort of meta-material that these people have a psychic link to after hundreds of years of dealing with the stuff.”

Elizabeth nodded her head slowly. “I read the report, Doctor McKay. But when I asked you to analyze the delai, I distinctly remember telling you to gather some from the planet. Not to take it from Colonel Sheppard.”

A smirk tugged on the corner of John’s lips. He turned his head towards Rodney, “Ha.” He remarked smartly.

The doctor opened his mouth to say something when the alarm and lights for an unscheduled wormhole interrupted their conversation.

Without another word; John, Rodney, and Elizabeth rushed out of her office and into the balcony of the gate room. “Is there an IDC?” She requested, glancing in the gate's direction and the person working the console.

“No. But the connecting wormhole appears to be coming from…” He typed a few keys on his laptop and on the console, “the planet Kailos.”

“I have a feeling I know who it is.” John interrupted. “Deactivate the iris.”

“Who could it be?” Rodney questioned, looking over towards the Colonel.

John rolled his eyes gently. “The only person who saw us off on the day we left Kailos. Aridelle. She was the only one who saw us punch in the gate address here. She must’ve memorized it from when we were there.”

With a few keystrokes, the Iris shield around the Stargate deactivated. A female fell through the wormhole coupled with a few laser blasts that hit the blast shield, leaving the occupants unharmed. The wormhole closed behind her and the protective shield rose.

Her light blue and white dress tattered and blood seeped from her arm. In her arms she held a beach ball sized silver ball and her knees gave out the moment she attempted to take a step towards the middle of the gate room.

John’s eyes widened, and he hastily descended the stairs, “Aridelle!” He called out. He rushed to her side, kneeling beside her. He assessed her condition. “We need a medic!” He helped her to her feet while the medics came with a floating gurney. He helped lay her down on it, letting the medical team take her to the med-bay. The colonel wasn’t far behind them. He planned on hearing about this later and the possibility of getting reprimanded for his actions.

For all he knew, there could have been an actual threat coming from the planet, baiting them to give away the location of Atlantis. Much like how the Genii tricked them and almost overtook the city if it wasn’t for him.

Doctor Keller asked a few quick questions and John answered them. He elected to stay out of the way of her and the other doctors while they worked on treating her. It took a little work, but they stopped the bleeding and cleaned her up.

John waited impatiently after being dismissed from the med-bay temporarily. He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing heavily. His mind reeled at the thoughts crashing in if he hadn’t been in the gate room at that moment. What would they have done if he hadn’t ordered them to lower the shield? Sure, they might have lowered it, but they would have had a firing squad on her and may have shot her.

Doctor Keller walked out of the med-bay with a small smile on her lips roughly an hour later. “She’s stable now. She’s still sleeping, but you are welcome to sit and wait until she wakes up.”

The colonel looked up from the part of the wall he had been staring at for the past hour that seemed like an eternity. “Thanks, Doctor Keller.” He followed her lead inside and to Aridelle’s cot.

He took an unused chair nearby and pulled it up to the cot. John set the music box underneath the chair and slumped into the seat. Once he laid his eyes on Aridelle, he couldn’t take them off of her. She looked so peaceful sleeping. “… What happened to you, Aridelle?” He muttered to himself, his eyes shifting from her sleeping face to her wrapped up arm. He leaned forward in the chair, pressing his elbow against his thigh and resting his chin in his hand. His brows furrowed together as more questions surfaced in his mind. Questions that he hoped he would get answers to when the princess woke.

Roughly an hour passed until the princess’ eyes fluttered open and John perked up immediately in his chair. “Aridelle, you’re awake. How are ya feelin’?” He questioned, concern dripping in his voice as he met her eyes.

Aridelle shook her head gently, wiping away the figurative cobwebs from her mind and looked over to the colonel. A delicate smile curling on her lips upon seeing a familiar face. “I have felt better, but I am alive. How long was I asleep for?”

John glanced up at the clock and rubbed the back of his head. “About an hour or two since you got here. We brought you here to the med-bay after you arrived here when I saw all the blood and your arm. I hope you don’t mind the change of clothes.”

The princess moved the blanket covering her over her lap and carefully sat up without using her injured arm. She looked down at the new wardrobe and studied it, tilting her head to the side curiously. Instead of her torn pale blue dress, she was wearing a similar black short-sleeved t-shirt as John Sheppard and a pair of mid-grey pants with more pockets than she knew what to do with.

“I do not mind the clothes at all. But I can safely say that I have not worn anything other than a dress even when I was training. It will take some getting used to.” She said with a small smile, lifting her head and looking at John.

John smiled a little in return to Aridelle. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened? And how did you memorize the gate address to the city?” He questioned, averting his eyes away for a few brief moments.

Her hand lifted to her chest and her fingers fiddled with the delai pendant around her neck. She took a deep breath and let out a soft sigh. “Kailos was invaded by a single Wraith. He had been feeding on the elderly. Just enough to survive I would imagine…” She closed her eyes for a minute, her eyes shifting to her lap. “…But before then… My father had me depart through the Stargate for my test to a nearby planet to see if I was fit for leading our soldiers. That planet we visited was culled and when they saw us… They followed us through the gate and the rest came on their ship, some in smaller ones. …and before I knew it… Kailos was culled… and I would have not made it through the gate if Gaida hadn’t saved my life by sacrificing his own.” Tears began to well in her eyes and a few tears fell down her cheeks. Her hands gripped the blanket tightly. Her heart felt heavy with guilt that she could not save her family, let alone the rest of the knigdom. “…We did our best to defend ourselves with the delai… But it wasn’t enough… All I could save was a small portion of the delai that my family had… I was too late to save them…” She explained through her sniffling and wiping of her eyes.

John hung onto her every word and he stood up from his chair, placing his hand on top of hers. He rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand, over her knuckles. He squeezed her hand comfortingly. “Hey hey… It’s not your fault… Never think that you are the cause for what happened.” He said, trying to console the princess over what happened. He used his other hand to wipe away her tears. He felt his heart drop seeing her cry.

The last time he had seen her all those months ago, she was so happy. Now, it broke his heart to see her sad. “I am so sorry for your loss, Ari.” He said, wrapping his arms around her in hug and pressed her head to his chest. “It’ll get better… I promise.”

She cried into his chest for several minutes until Doctor Jennifer Keller came by to ask a few questions and discharge her. She waited patiently with Aridelle’s chart in her arm until the colonel pulled away. He wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks before stepped out of the way for the doctor.

Aridelle’s face was red and puffy from the crying and she placed her fingers under her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears. She cleared her throat before looking over at the female doctor.

“Hello, princess Aridelle. I’m Doctor Jennifer Keller. I treated your wound…I just need to do some last minute assessments to make sure that you are alright.” She introduced, explaining the reason as to why she was there.

Aridelle nodded her head slowly, “Okay…” She said softly. She answered every one of the doctor’s questions and once she was done, gave her a weak smile. “Thank you, Doctor Keller. For treating my wound.”

“You are very welcome. It’s what we do around here. Take care of one another.” Jennifer jotted down a few notes on the medical chart she had made for Aridelle when she was admitted into the medical bay. She looked up and smiled softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You are clear to go whenever you are ready. I would recommend that Colonel Sheppard help you walk until you feel comfortable and get something to eat. You may feel a little lightheaded from the amount of blood you lost. I would take it easy for now until your arm gets better. Don’t go lifting anything heavy.”

“Duly noted. Thank you doctor.” Aridelle said, her eyes drifting off towards the colonel as Doctor Keller made her leave. She shifted her weight over to the side, slinging her legs off the side of the bed. She threw off the blanket gently and lifted herself from the bed onto her feet.

John walked over to her, taking her hand. “I gotcha.” His eyes shifted from her toes to her eyes, watching her carefully as she took her first couple of steps away from the bed. She was a little wobbly at first, but she seemed to get her bearings once she came face to face with him.

“Told you I had ya.” He remarked, his smirk curling on the corners of his lips. “Now, how about we get some grub? I could eat and I never got to finish the cup of coffee I had this morning.”

“Grub?” Aridelle asked, furrowing her brows together curiously.

“Grub is another word that means food.” He answered, flashing her a smile. “But first,” John let go of her hands and bent down, picking up the music box from under the chair. “I would really not want to forget this little guy before Rodney gets to it again. Do you mind holding it for me?” He asked, holding out the music box to Aridelle.

“Not at all, Colonel John Sheppard.” She said, taking the music box from him and holding it close to her chest. It felt nice to have a little piece of her home in her grasp after what happened. It made her aching heart ache just a little bit less.

“John. You can call me John. or Sheppard. Whichever you want. You don’t need to be so formal with me.” He remarked, wearing a cheeky grin on his face. “If you feel dizzy on the way to the mess hall, don’t be shy and let me know, alright?”

“I will let you know…John.” The name felt a little weird on her tongue without saying his rank or surname, but Aridelle was sure that in time that she would get used to it.

With that, they left the medical bay and made their way towards the mess hall to acquire some sustenance. It didn’t take them long to get there and they struck up some casual conversation on the way.

John helped Aridelle by ordering her food, thinking that spaghetti and meatballs would be something she may like from their menu for the day. He carried both of their trays and led her over to an empty table. He set the trays on the table before pulling out her chair for her after she placed the music box above her tray of food.

He pushed the chair in for her before sitting across from her. His eyes drifted to the music box. “You think you can fix that?”

She nodded her head as she picked up the fork from the tray. “I am certain that I can fix the music box. It is made from delai after all. It shouldn’t take very long at all as long as you have the other parts.”

“In my pocket. I grabbed what I could before I got called to the principal’s office.” John remarked proudly, chuckling a bit at his own joke.

“Principal’s office?” She questioned, tipping her head to the side.

“In our school system on the planet where I’m from, Earth, the person who is in charge of the school is called the principal. Aka I may have got in a bit of trouble after I found out that Rodney took the music box from my room. Stormed the lab and held him to the table when Elizabeth Weir came in to check up on him and his experiment with that music box.” He explained, taking up his fork in hand and stabbed a meatball on the lump of noodles.

“From the sounds of it, John… you have a propensity for trouble.” Aridelle remarked with a small chuckle, her lips curling into a small smile.

“Well…you wouldn’t be wrong.” John chuckled a little and met her gaze, studying the look in her eyes. She seemed like she was feeling a bit better. That spark of life that he saw the first time he met the princess, lightly sparkled in her eyes.

The princess appeared to be confused on how to eat the food on her tray. She hadn’t seen anything like this before. Most of what they ate on her planet were fruit and vegetables that they grew. Some grains to make bread and a few animals for protein. Something like this was foreign to her as she made the conclusion that most things would be to her in Atlantis.

“Here, like this.” John easily noticed how confused she looked and showed her how to eat the spaghetti and meatballs. “See? Not so hard.”

It took her a few tries to get it, but Aridelle managed to twirl some noodles on her fork. She lifted the fork to her mouth and closed her lips around the noodles. The tomato sauce filled her mouth and she chewed, a soft moan leaving her lips. She swallowed what was in her mouth and cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks blush in embarrassment from the sound she made. “I apologize. I don’t know why I made such a noise.”

John grinned and waved his hand dismissively. “It’s alright. Spaghetti and meatballs around here are one of the better meals that we get to have. It is a treat.”

“Spaghetti and meatballs, I see. How ‘Lady and the Tramp’ of you.” Rodney interrupted, taking a seat next to Aridelle and placed his tray in front of himself. “Excuse me… The Princess and the Tramp.”

“Hey! That’s not nice…” John sneered, glaring in Rodney’s direction as he pointed the prongs of his fork at him.

Aridelle swallowed the food in her mouth and asked, “What is this ‘Lady and the Tramp’ or ‘the Princess and the Tram’ that you are referring to?”

Rodney ignored John’s glare and turned his head towards the princess. “Lady and the Tramp is an animated movie produced by a company called Disney. A movie is like a…series of moving pictures that tell a story. You see…Lady is a pampered cocker spaniel and due to circumstances at home…finds herself on the streets and befriends a stray mutt, Tramp, and they fall in love after sharing a plate of spaghetti.” He explained intermittently between bites of food.

“Right… Thanks Rodney.” John rolled his eyes dramatically and turned his gaze over to Aridelle, flashing her the briefest of smiles as their eyes locked for a moment.

“I will have to make a point of watching this…series of moving pictures. After all, I may be staying here for the foreseeable future, if you will have me.” Aridelle sounded almost a little hopeful at starting a new life here after all that she had lost. Though she may have just been denying and avoiding the grief she hid behind her smile.

“Of course we’ll have you. I’m pretty sure that Weir will let you live in the city if that is what you want. There is also a mainland where Teyla’s people reside if you wish to live somewhere that may seem a bit closer to your living arrangements on Kailos… minus the castle part.” the doctor said, almost sounding a bit hopeful that there was a small chance that the living quarters across the hall from him would be occupied by the princess.

“We can talk to Weir after we finish eating, Ari. See what we can do about getting you a place to see and tomorrow I can give you a tour of this place if you are feeling up to it after breakfast.” the colonel said, locking eyes with her and raised his brows.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Colonel Sheppard. Thank you…for all your help.”

John gave her a nod as if saying ‘you’re welcome’ before he dived into eating the rest of the food on his tray.

Rodney and Aridelle did the same, all of them pausing for a few moments to chat between one another. It felt as though it was all natural to the princess. Like she was meant to be here, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that all of this could be a dream. That she was simply fabricating all of this. Her eyes drifted over to the music box and her fingers traced along the edges. She couldn’t shake the feeling of something missing, like a hole in her heart that ached.

Soon they finished their meal, disposed of their trays, and the colonel and princess headed on their way to Weir’s office after taking the music box with them . Luckily, she was there when they arrived. “Sorry for walking out on you earlier, Elizabeth… But Aridelle, here, would like to stay in Atlantis with us since her planet was culled by the Wraith. She has no where else to go and I believe that she would make a great asset to my team and the rest of us here.”

Elizabeth looked her over and smiled softly. “We would love to have you. Let me see where we have some living quarters and Colonel Sheppard can help you get settled in.” She looked to John, “After she is settled, we still need to talk about your earlier incident with Doctor McKay and a few other matters.”

“Right…of course.” John said, wincing a little. He had hoped that he would have been saved by the gate from any punishment from his personal quarrel with Rodney.

Elizabeth grabbed her laptop, keying in her password, then navigating to the living quarters assignments. “Looks like there is a room across from Colonel Sheppard if you wish to have it. Otherwise it looks like there is one across from Doctor McKay. It’s your choice. Which one would you like?”

“Uh…Across from Colonel Sheppard’s please. I feel the most comfortable with him.” Aridelle answered with a small smile, glancing towards John.

Elizabeth nodded her head and assigned her to those living quarters. “Done. You are dismissed Colonel.”

John nodded his goodbye and placed a hand behind Aridelle’s back, leading her out of Weir’s office and to the living quarter’s sector of the city.

The stroll there was peaceful and when they were there, John showed her how to open the doors around the place by opening up her living quarters to her. “Go on,” He urged.

Aridelle took a slow breath in and exhaled out before stepping into the neatly put together room. The oom since it hadn’t held a previous occupant before, was a clean slate. The bed was made and there was a lack of decorations. But the view of the city that she was was remarkable. She could see the rest of the tall towers as well as the ocean surrounding the city. “…Wow…this place really is breathtaking.”

“Definitely wasn’t something I was expecting when we first got here. This place is actually in a different galaxy from where I come from. This is the Pegasus galaxy and Earth is in the Milky Way galaxy.” John explained as he walked up to her, wearing a smile on his lips. “But Rodney is probably going to over explain it to you the next time you see him.”

Aridelle giggled softly, turning her head towards him and holding out her hand for the music box. “Allow me to fix the music box for you. That way you can listen to the lullaby that is on it tonight.”

He handed the music box over to her and watched her set it on the bed. He reached into his pockets and removed the parts from them, placing them next to the box on the bed. “Here you go. That should be everything.”

She placed her hands over the music box and lone parts, closing her as to concentrate. The gears levitated and a line in the music box appeared, opening up to reveal the inner workings of the musical trinket. The gears and other parts flew into their proper places. The lid closed after everything was in place and she mended a few knicks and scratches that had been made to pry it open. “There.” She opened her eyes and picked up the music box, pushing it towards John.

He held up his hand. “Keep it. As a little piece of home while you get comfortable here. I’m sure that you’ll need the lullaby more then me.” He said, pushing the music box back to her.

She felt herself tearing up at the sentiment and wiped the stray tear from her eye. “Thank you John.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just being a nice guy. I figured that you may want a little something from home 'cause of what happened and all…” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked around the room.

“I appreciate the gesture.” She said with a slight chuckle and a brighter smile then she had the whole day since coming to Atlantis.

“If you need anything, I’m just across the hall.” John said, flashing her a smile as he walked backwards towards the door. “I’ve been told that I give an awesome tour.”

“I am sure that you do, John. Good night…or afternoon…I am not sure what time it is here.”

John glanced at his watch, “Late afternoon technically, but it’ll be getting dark soon.” He looked up. “Come and get me when you get up tomorrow, will ya?” He told her, receiving a nod from her. With a smile, he spoke one more thing before leaving. “Good night, princess.”

Aridelle’s eyes watched the door as it closed behind him and her eyes softened. She lowered her head to the music box in her hands and wound the small crank on the side. The moment she released the crank, a familiar lullaby tinged to life. She slowly made her way over to the large window in her living quarters while listening contently to the song, hoping that her heart would heal sooner rather than later. That this place could become her home like Kailos was.

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