"Once In A Blue Moon" by Aquila

Title: Once in a Blue Moon

Author: Aquila

Summary: What if Sam and Jack met while she was in highschool? Response to 1999 High School Challenge.

Category: Sam and Jack

Spoilers: none

Rating: PG

Status: Finished

Season: Season 3

Archive: Heliopolis, Sam and Jack Relationship Archive, others Ask.

Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only no profit is being made off this story. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

Author's notes: Hope you like this folks. I love feed back, but No flames please. Thx. Happy reading!

***

It was a rainy March 6th and Samantha Carter, Sam to her friends, was taking this time to clean out her bedroom closet. The team had gotten a rare five days of downtime after Daniel had, yet again, managed to touch something the Colonel had specifically told him not to. Her floor was littered with socks, shirts, mismatched pairs of shoes and the odd pair of pantyhose. She backed out of her closet on her hands and knees, triumphantly dragging out a pair of silver high-heeled sandals. She held them up in her hands and looked at them thoughtfully for a few minutes. Finally, she set them down and looked back to the closet.

Her brow furrowed. "You have to be in there somewhere!" she said exasperated. She dug back into the mess and brought out a white box, clearly and neatly labeled "SAM'S." As she opened the box her eyes twinkled. She lifted out the most beautiful blue dress. It was long and sleeveless with a low back.

It was her prom dress from so many years before. Sam had never been much for the social scene or for those kind of gatherings, but when the prom came around she had to go. She had felt that if she missed it, it would be like missing a part of your life. She had never really liked being treated like a girl, but on this night she had wanted to dress up and be the princess her dad had always told her she was.

A small gasp came from her lips as she lifted the dress up to its full length. It had been her mother's gown. Simple but elegant. Her father had shown it to her one summer a few years after her mother had died. They had been up in the attic cleaning and had come across the box. When she was wondering what to wear it was the first thing that came into her mind. She begged Jacob to let her wear it, and after a 3 day "whining session" (as he so kindly called it) he gave in to her wishes.

Samantha stood up and hugged the dress to her chest. She spun herself around in front of the mirror. Blue had always been her favorite color. When she was a child she had painted her room blue. Mark had bugged her endlessly about it being a boy's color, but she shut him up by threatening to tell Dad about the parties he held when Dad was away. The dress was her favorite shade of blue: the blue that you see when you go out on a bright spring day and look straight up into the sky. She held the dress up to herself and noticed how the light coming from the streetlight outside accented the small sequined area near the neck of the dress. The colors made her blue eyes stand out and her blond hair look incredibly vibrant.

Sam took one last look in the mirror and carried the dress and the sandals out into her living room. Just as she was about to re-label her collection of Kate Hepburn movies the power decided to go out. She quietly swore at the Colorado Springs Electric Company and their "We promise to always provide electrifying electricity" logo. That would be the day. She slowly walked into the kitchen and made hot chocolate with cocoa and hot water, putting a marshmallow in just like her father had always done. She smiled as she remembered the talk they had had after she came home from the prom. He had let her change and when she came back downstairs he had handed her a cup of hot chocolate. Then they had sat down on the couch and talked, something which they hadn't done in a long time.

She grabbed a few candles from one of her kitchen drawers and took them into the living room. She put two on the table and two more on either side of the couch. She set her mug down and picked up the shoes and dress, settling them in her lap. Sam closed her eyes and started to remember that day.

15 years ago

Sam had just finished getting dressed. The dress was perfect. It clung slightly in the right areas and was loose in the others. She put on her blue sapphire earrings along with the matching necklace. These were also her mothers. She had found them in another box in the attic. On her lips she applied a thin layer of burgundy lipstick. She sprayed just a hint of perfume on her neck, not that she planned for anyone to actually be smelling it, but she liked it. Her date was named Toby. He was not overly academic or athletic, but she didn't plan on spending all her time with him anyway. He was more of a friend than anything. He was of medium height with green eyes and dark brown hair. Not of her physical preference either, but you do what you can. The doorbell had rang and she was just getting her sandals on.

"Damn!" she swore aloud. The shoes were taking her years to get on and her father had already yelled to tell her that her date was here about three times. Just as he was bellowing the forth, her shoe had slipped on. Sam looked herself over in the mirror admiringly. She looked good. "The shoe fits Cinderella" she thought to herself. She quickly grabbed her jacket and matching hand bag from her bed and hurried downstairs, worried that if her dad called one more time he would give himself a coronary.

Toby looked handsome, for him. He greeted her with a small peck on the cheek. Dad hadn't given him that big boring Father-Date intimidation talk. Toby had been over to her house before, to study for calculus. Jacob knew he was a friend. Sam bid her father goodbye and walked with Toby to his car. He slipped a rose corset on her hand and opened the door for her. She climbed in. They talked about the physics exam on the way to the school gym, where the dance was being held.

Sam had danced with Toby once when they had come, and then she had circled the tables and talked to each of her friends. She had also danced a few times with the odd boy, some she knew, some she didn't. It was getting late now and she was getting tired. It was May 30th and she had to go to her little cousin's 5th birthday party the next afternoon. Toby was by the punch bowl , which she was sure had been spiked by more than a few people. He was talking to three girls that were crowded around him, oblivious to Sam. Actually, he had met one girl from a neighboring school about twenty minutes into the dance and had been ignoring her since. She knew it wasn't really necessary, but she would like to dance at least once more this night. She sighed and put her head in her hands, rubbing the temples and trying to keep down the migraine that threatened. The prom king and queen had long since been announced and were sitting on the stage talking. The head cheerleader and the football team's quarter back - who would've guessed?

"This seat taken?" A deep, but comforting voice asked from beside her. She shook her head and motioned for him to sit down. "I brought you a glass of water from the fountain," the man continued. Then he leaned in towards her, "I hear the punch may be spiked."

Sam looked up and the man in front of her, a smile on her face. His sarcasm was light and timed good. "Thanks" she said as she took the cup of water from him. He took a sip out of his own and Sam realized that she didn't know the guy. He wasn't in any of her classes.

"Where you from?" she asked a bit shyly.

"I'm living at the Air Force base 2 towns over. You know where it is?" The brown eyed beauty replied.

Sam smiled at him. "Yeah, my dad's a General. He works at the Base here but he knows some people there." Sam knew he was older than her. 24 or 23 she put him at. She was 16 and had just gotten her driver's licence 3 months ago. He had the most beautiful chocolate colored eyes. His hair was a light brown and was slightly mussed. His features were very defined and all in all he was extremely handsome. She wondered what he was doing talking to her. He started to smile, showing a set of perfect white teeth, then he started to laugh. Sam followed his eyes to where one of the supervising staff was attempting a ill prepared two-step with the prom queen to Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower." She soon joined him in laughing.

"Looks like Mr. Brotheres has had a little too much of that punch that might be spiked" I quip. He nods his head in agreement and whips a tear from his eye. We both look back at the sloppy attempt at standing up and burst out laughing.

We sit in a compatible silence for a few minutes.

"Where's your date?" he asks me.

"Over there by the slut-o-matic" I reply, pointing to the old jukebox that had been placed in the gym and was the main attraction for bubbly-headed girls.

"Ahh, right by mine." he states with a rather annoyed tone of voice. He must see the surprise on my face and gives me a questioning look.

"I...um....well" I stumble, "It's just that, even though I don't know you and don't pretend to, you, um... don't look like that kind of guy." I rush out and have to take a deep breath. I'm blushing feircely now and I lower my head. He chuckles from beside me and I look up into those sparkling brown eyes.

"Well, you're right." he says. "Me and my buddies down at base had a poker bet on as to who would take Ronnie's sister to this dance. As you've probably already guessed, I lost."

I can't help but chuckle myself and we both look back to the tall brunette that is shamelessly flirting with Toby. When I turn around he has came to my side. He bends down, extending his hand to me and lowering his head.

"Would you do me the pleasure of giving me this dance?" he asks.

I fell myself blushing, but at the same time I answer yes and take his hand. He leads me out into the middle of the floor and pulls me to him. The song is slow and we sway to it. I lie my head on his shoulder and he rests his on the top of mine. I decide then and there that this had been one of the best nights of my life and I'll always remember it. The song ends and we reluctantly part, looking into each other's eyes. His hands lay lightly on my elbows as brown meets blue. We hear a chorus of 'ahems' from across the room. Toby and the brunette stand there, both tapping their watches. The man pulls me once more into his muscular figure.

"I guess this is goodbye." I say. I don't want to leave this stranger's arms. He looks down at me and tips my head up to his using his hand.

"I guess so." he sighs and looks me up and down once, and meets my eyes once again. "A beauty like yours only comes once in a Blue Moon." I hardly have time to react to the poetic and possibly most romantic thing ever said to me in my life before he kisses me. Its a soft kiss. I respond to him naturally. His lips taste slightly salty but sweet at the same time. We break apart and he gives me another tender kiss on the cheek. Then he looks up and smiles at me. I'm not quite sure how to react and I'm a little shocked, but I smile back. We look into each other's eyes for the last time and he turns to the brunette and they walk out the door. I stand in the middle of the dance floor for several more minutes recovering from what just happened and then I walk over to Toby and he takes me home.

Toby drove me home and told me he'd see me on Monday in physics class. I told him he didn't need to walk me to my door. When he drove off I found myself unable to move but my eyes were caught on a bright object in the dark night sky. A full moon, the second this month. I stand there, smiling like an idiot for about ten minutes before the night air starts to chill me. I walk inside happier than I had been for quite a while.

I told my dad I met a nice guy but we'd probably never see each other again. I told him we danced once. I skipped on the age part, the kiss part and the part where he told me he was Air Force. I didn't even want to imagine what dad would do if I told him that! It wasn't until I was falling asleep that night that I realized I didn't even know his name, and for that matter, he didn't know mine. I fell asleep thinking: Once in a blue moon...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam smiles at the memory. She had been purposely cleaning her closet to look for these things because she wanted to see if her memory was correct. It had all started 2 missions ago when the team had been departing from the base and the Colonel had looked up into the sky and told us to look up. Daniel mumbled something about it being the moon but Jack just kept looking up and mused to himself, "Once in a blue moon, Daniel, once in a blue moon."

The power chose that moment to switch back on. "Well Jack O'Neill." Sam states out loud. "You closet romantic you. I think on Monday morning you have a little remembering to do." She laughed out loud at the picture of what Jack's face will be like when she recites all the details of that night to him.

"Tomorrow." she mumbles and then picks herself up from the couch and heads to the bedroom. Curled up in her sheets and blanket, her last thought before she's lost to the land of dreams is: Once in a blue moon....

The End.

*Author's notes*

Hope you liked it! Thx for reading.

~Aquila~