"Tell me again, Mama!" Melosha smiled at her daughter, all tucked up in bed for the night.
"Tell me again," the small voice insisted.
Melosha closed the drapes against the beautiful backdrop of the Land of Light.
"Please, mama? I want to hear again about how you got saved by the people in the funny clothes."
"Hush now, sweetheart." Her mother said, perching on the end of the bed. "Hush now and I'll tell you one more time."
Mayana snuggled deeper unto her soft bed and waiting to here the tale again.
"Once upon a time," her mother began, "back when I was a little girl a long, long time ago, I got very sick."
"You turned into a beastie, right, mama?"
Melosha shuddered but nodded, "Yes, sweetheart. Many people in those days got very sick and turned into beasties. I lived in the Land of Dark with all the other sick people, searching for food and hungry for company."
"And there was no cure."
"No cure," her mother agreed. "Then, one day, some strangers came to the Land of Light. They were very different from us. They didn't wear robes at all but funny things on their legs and big, heavy boots."
A giggle came from under the covers.
Melosha continued. "They wanted to be our friends and learn about our customs but first they wanted to learn about all the sick people and why they were sick. They fought many beasties as they traveled from the Ancient Circle"
"And then what?"
"And, then, my sweetest, the poor strangers decided to go back to their home but then they started getting sick too. . Their healers worked very hard to find a way to make their friends better. They discovered medicine that made all the sick people better."
"But Grandpapa didn't believe them."
"No, he didn't. He was very scared."
"What was he afraid of, mama?"
"He was afraid that he and Grandmama would become sick. He was also afraid that, if the strangers were right, he was an awful person for letting me and Grandmama's papa run off while we were sick."
"But he's not." The small voice defended her beloved grandpapa.
"No, of course not! The strangers returned and brought the new medicine for all the people who were sick. Now," Melosha continued, "in the Land of Dark, all of us sick people suddenly started to feel normal again and not like beasties after all! So, we came back into the Land of Light. My grandpapa and I came back too and there was your grandmama and grandpapa waiting for us. They were so happy to see us! Soon, all the sick people weren't beasties anymore and were home with their families. The strangers left their medicine for us to use. And we all lived happily ever after, as you know."
"Now, let's turn out the light and to sleep you go." Melosha turned the lamp down and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
"Good night, mama."
Melosha paused in the doorway as the little voice piped up once more. "The strangers must have been very brave to face Grandpapa, Mama, and very good people to help us."
"Yes, they were very brave and very good."
"Did they live happily ever after too?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. I hope so."
_________________
_________________
"Papa, Papa! Tell me again."
"Tell you what again, Keenin?"
"Tell me again how I got out of my body and into Daniel and out of him and into you and out of you and into me!"
Pharrin looked at the boy he was tucking into bed. "Keenin, you've heard this story hundreds of times."
"I want it again."
Pharrin smiled fondly.
"And you have to start with once upon a time because all the best stories start that way."
"Yes, they do. Don't they?"
The little chin nodded emphatically above the woolen blanket.
"Please, Papa?"
"If you promise to go right to sleep afterward." Pharrin tried to look sternly at the lad. "You're still recovering from moving into yourself again."
"I promise." Pharrin doubted the promise was worth the breath the boy took to make it but began anyway. After all they'd been through, he couldn't deny him the small pleasures.
"Once upon a time, not such a long time ago, the Taltheans, our people, had to leave their home and find a new one because their sun was going to get too hot."
"I don't like being too hot. Do you, Papa?"
"No. I don't. And neither did any of the Taltheans. So we built three big ships so that as many of us as possible could get away before the sun got too hot. And the three ships took off and flew away together."
"What happened to the people that got left behind?"
"I don't know, Keenin. They probably went to heaven."
"Including Mama?"
"If anyone went to heaven, my son, it was your mama." Pharrin tried to keep his son from seeing the tears forming in his eyes."
"Are you okay?"
Pharrin blinked twice. "Yes. Do you want me to go on?"
"Yes, please!"
"So, along the skies flew the three ships. Our ship, the Stromos, had a problem though and crashed into a planet it wasn't supposed to!"
The lad shuddered appropriately. "Ouch."
"Yes, ouch! When the ship crashed, it woke me up."
"But everyone else stayed frozed."
"Almost everyone. The ship lost enough power that some people were unfrozen and their minds were almost lost."
"But you were very smart and took them into you."
"Yes. Who's telling this story anyway?" He looked at his son with mock sternness.
"You are," Keenin replied meekly.
"Thank you. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Soon after I woke up, I discovered that some people had come aboard the ship. Now, I noticed that some more of our people were waking up and they wouldn't live if I couldn't find a place to put their minds. I did something that was wrong. I knocked out the visitors and put the minds of the people were waking up into one of them."
"Including me."
"Including you."
"Why was that wrong, Papa?"
"That's a discussion for another day, my son. Let's finish the story."
"Yes, sir."
"So, the visitors went back to their home and soon discovered that something was wrong with one of them."
"Daniel."
"Yes, Daniel Jackson was his name. He was acting funny because he had many minds inside his head instead of one. Now these people didn't want to lose their friend and they didn't think it was right that I did what I did and, looking back, I think they were right. But, despite that, they helped us. They helped all the minds from Daniel's head come into me. They helped us move here."
"Where's here, Papa?"
"Well, they call it P2A-347; we call it Jackson to honor the man that helped us. Do you want to hear the story or don't you?"
Keenin nodded solemnly.
"Alright then. The people from Earth, for that was where they live, gave us enough power to revive everyone on the ship. They gave us food and supplies and helped us move here. Then, they called some friends of theirs who were able to create new bodies. And these friends, who we never saw, made you a new body and everyone who was stuck in my head a new body. And then we had some very smart people who were able to get all those poor people stuck in my head into their new bodies."
"I like my new body." Keenin looked over what he could see of himself, "it looks just like my old body."
His father smiled. "Yes, it does. And now it's time to sleep, son."
"Wait! You didn't finish the story the right way." "Oh, of course! And we all lived happily ever after. The end."
"The people from earth must have been very brave and very good to help us so, Papa."
Pharrin ruffled the hair on his son's new head.
"Yes, Keenin. They were very brave and very good."
"Did they live happily ever after too?"
"I don't know, son. I hope so."
_________________
_________________ "Tell me again," the wavering voice struggled to form the words. "Wanna hear da story."
"Very good, Tomin - you said that very well indeed!" Kalan was pleased at his son's progress.
"Tell me."
Kalan pulled the covers up to his 18 year old son's chin and sighed. Not out of frustration, as one might think, but of joy that his son had come this far.
"Once upon a time," he began, "several years ago, some strangers came to Orban. Do you remember what Orban is, Tomin?"
"Where we live?" The boy's voice was hesitant.
"Exactly! One of the strangers, Daniel Jackson, spent much time among us. He helped the people from Earth and people from Orban share information. As we went along, we decided to trade our plans to build a naquadah reactor for some of the knowledge of the Earth people. You helped with that."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, you did. Before your avarium."
"Don' `member."
"I know, son, but you did well and I am proud of you. At any rate, Teal'c from the strangers came here to teach about the Goa'uld and Merrin went to earth to teach Samantha Carter about the generator."
"Then what?"
"Then Merrin learned about teaching. And when she came back and went through her Avarium, we all learned about teaching. So, now, we can teach each other. And we are living happily ever after."
"I teached now."
"Taught, Tomin." His father gently corrected, "Yes, you do."
"Dey good."
"Yes, they were very brave and very good."
"Dey happy?"
"I don't know, Tomin. I hope so."
_____________ _____________
"Tell me again, Thor."
"Of the replicators and the humans?"
"Yes." One of the first Asgard children to be born in nearly 1,100 years stared back at the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet as he handed the child a blanket and assisted her onto the sleeping space.
"Once upon a time," Thor began for, as he knew from the humans, that is how all proper stories began, "the Asgard found a replicator and sought to study it. But the replicator soon learned how to escape the Asgard and began to ingest the Asgard facility it was held in. It generated more replicators and soon the Asgard were plagued with replicators and fought with them for many years."
"Then came Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter."
"That is correct, Gudrun."
"And they helped us."
Thor nodded. "They assisted us several times in our battles with the replicators. Their projectile weapons were more effective against replicators than any Asgard weapons had been. Then, they helped us place and detonate a device to contain the human form replicators. When the time dilation proved inadequate, Samantha Carter came to our assistance. She was captured by the human form replicator called Fifth and tortured."
The Asgard child shivered and pulled the blanket up over her nasal passage.
"Do not be frightened, Gudrun. Samantha Carter survived. Jack O'Neill was again able to utilize the knowledge of the Ancients to build a," Thor paused, his voice seeming unable to bring forth the term, " `big honkin' space gun' to render each replicator block inert. And the weapon saved Orilla so that we were able to continue our development here."
"Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill also helped make me happen."
"Yes, they did. By assisting Heimdall escape with her research intact, we were able to bring forth a new generation of Asgard, of which you are one."
"They must be very brave."
"They are indeed very brave and very good."
"And we are happy because of them."
"Yes, Gudrun. They have given us the chance to live as we once did."
"Are they happy now?"
"I am unaware of their emotional status but let us hope so."
________________
________________
"Tell me again, Mommy!"
"No, it's my turn!!"
How could two children sound like so many more, Sam wondered.
"You are going to bed now," she said firmly, "It's Grace's turn to pick the story, Jake."
Jake looked at his twin sister with pleading blue eyes. "Please, Grace?"
Her brown ones looked back at him in irritation, "But I want the Light story!"
"No!" Jake protested, "The one about the Asgard or the lifeboat."
Sam put her hands on her hips and stared at the children.
Just then a tall figure leaned into the twins' bedroom. "You two have been arguing for the past twenty minutes. No one gets a story tonight."
Sam stepped into the hallway, "Jack, don't you think that's a little strong?"
"Come on, Sam. They've been obnoxious all day!"
"Daniel did get them pretty sugared up earlier."
"Well, let Daniel tell `em a bedtime story, then!"
Sam smiled suddenly and reached out to brush his cheek gently with her hand. "I don't think you want them up that late, flyboy." She winked at him. "I'll be quick, I promise."
Reentering the now-quiet bedroom, she glanced at her twins. "Ok, here's the scoop. It's late and Mom and Dad are awfully tired. I need you two little monsters to be as smart and as brave and as good as Melosha, Keenin, and Tomin."
"And Thor too, Mommy?" Grace's little voice emerged sleepily from her pillow.
"And Thor too, sweetheart."
Sam kissed each of the children gently on their foreheads, tucking their blankets up under their chins.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Jake?"
"You and daddy are very brave and very good, aren't you?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. We try to be."
Jack's voice interrupted from the doorway, "And we try to do the right thing and hope it makes people's lives better so they can live happily ever after."
"Which," he said, entering the room and bending to kiss the twins himself, "you should too. And you can start by going to sleep riiiiiiight now."
"Night, Daddy." The mini-chorus of children's voices floated upward. "Night, Mommy."
"Good night, Gracie. Good night, Jake. Sleep well."
The end.
Story Notes: MUCH THANKS: To CSue, the world's kindest beta, and to Arduinna's Stargate SG-1 Handbook
FEEDBACK: Please! kelleysquared@snet.net
FEEDBACK: Please! kelleysquared@snet.net
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]