A/N Yeah, this was originally meant to be a one shot, but when "vacationing" in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, there really wasn't much else to do. Nothing against any Wisconsin-ers, but it's really not fun in winter. AU.

She was also a fighter, though for slightly different reasons. She had been fighting to get stronger, strong enough to keep her and her people safe. There was another, more personal reason too though. She had wanted to make her father proud. After he died, she wanted to be strong to honor his memory. And she succeeded.

In her quest to keep her people alive, she hadn't spent much time on herself. She had kept few friends, but among them was the elderly Charin. Charin had always worried about Teyla's social decisions. Teyla had never really dated, though many Athosians had displayed and interest in her over the years. She had had a short fling with Kanaan, but that had ended badly.

Teyla made a wry face. Badly was a mild way to put it.

Not long after she violently and bodily threw him from her life, Ronon entered it.

She had heard the women of Atlantis speak of the "whirlwind" feeling when it came to romance, but she had always chalked it up to girly puppy love. Infatuation, or something similar. Then she met him. It felt not only as if her life had been turned upside down, but inside out, backwards and sideways all at once.

She felt the pull of his like a magnet. A huge, dreadlocked magnet. He intrigued her, and, at time, infuriated her. She became away over the months of the pull she felt towards him. She could tell when he entered a room, as if a surge of warmth flowed through her body. When he was gone, that warmth was snuffed out. She could feel where he was standing in the room without even having to glance at him. She was used to being wary and on edge, but his presence soothed her. In a galaxy full of Wraith fears and violent nightmares, he was the only thing that made her feel safe.

From the start, Ronon was almost always with her. On missions or at Atlantis, he was never more than an arm's reach away. Just in case. She knew he thought of himself as a protector of sorts, even though he knew she could handle herself. It amused her slightly, and, though she would never admit it, made her ecstatic that he cared.

Considering the amount of time they spent together, and the bond they shared, no one was surprised when, after a particularly violent, gruesome and difficult mission, Ronon went looking for Teyla. From what she had heard from others, he had combed the halls, face bruised and slightly bloody from scratches, only stopping once in awhile if he saw someone he recognized, asking them if they knew where Teyla happened to be.

She hadn't known what had come over him, just that he suddenly burst into the gym where she, who had elected to stay behind, had just finished a lesson with a few Earth women. She took in his appearance, and asked if he was injured. He hadn't answered, just stepped up to her, seized herby the neck and waist and crashed his lips into hers. From that second on, they became even more inseparable than they had been before.

She certainly hadn't been concerned with love before him, and she hadn't been searching for it. But looking into Ronon's green, so alive eyes, she couldn't regret it at all. Charin would be proud.

"Do you promise, with all you are and all you have, that you will love, care for and protect her in all things and in all life?"

Teyla had not missed Ronon's raised eyebrow and slight smirk at the word, 'protect', but he answered, "I promise with all that I am."

Teyla suppressed a shiver at the sound. It still amazed her, and pleased Ronon, that the sound of his voice could send a wave of shivers through her.

"Do you promise, with all you are and all you have, that you will love, treasure, and obey him in all things and in all life?"

Now Teyla definitely saw his amused smile.

"I promise with all that I am to love, treasure and obey him," she said. "Sometimes," she added under her breath. Ronon laughed joyously, glancing and the scandalized looking official who, after a second, nodded, still looking shocked. Teyla watched as Ronon gathered her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers.

The official announced to the gathered crowd that Ronon and Teyla were now bound in life and in love, but she didn't hear him. All her heard was Ronon's breath and his heart beating.

Nope, Teyla had never been a huge dater. Not that it mattered to her now anyways.