Title: Interlude 4 – A New View
Rating: M
Warnings: AU world, mild violence, and sexual content.
Disclaimers: I earn no money from this, I write only for pleasure. I own no part of the Stargate world, only the characters that I have created that are birthed exclusively from my brain :) I also do not own any quotes used in this fic, they are used for entertainment purposes only.
Spoilers: Set in established AU world and in equivalent time to early season 4. This story calls heavily on the events of the all previous fics in this saga and leads the way to the next big fic.

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Note: Hello all. For this latest Interlude fic, I set myself a couple of challenges:

Firstly, I wanted to set this fic over a longer time period than usual and so it will cover 40 days in 40 chapters. It will not be one day per chapter, but rather spread across various events over the time period. This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I did in the last fic, where everything happened in essentially two days. There is a lot to cover by setting this challenge for myself, but hey, why not?

Secondly, I wanted to include some new points-of-view from characters we have not heard from before, or perhaps only once before, but ultimately the fic will remain very much focused on our main favourites.

I hope you enjoy it and that everyone had a lovely summer.
Wedjatqi x

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DAY 1 – WAKING

Chapter 1 – Expectations

Teyla fluttered open her eyes to the edges of new morning sunlight cutting through the darkness.

The air was warm and still, comforting and silent.

She blinked at her view across John's room, slowly recognising the shape of the side unit stood against the wall. Small slithers of sunlight fell across the flat surfaces of the piece of furniture, thin lines of light sliding in around the edges of John's curtains.

It was morning, but the light held the earliest shades of sunrise, telling her there was no hurry to rise from the comfortable position in which she lay.

Her mattress was on two levels, the soft Atlantis mattress under her legs and hips, and the human version under the rest of her. She lay draped over John, her cheek pressed to his lower chest and her front against his belly, her skin flush against his and her arms tucked along his sides. It was not lost on her, even in the early muzziness of thoughts at such an early hour, that she had been embracing him in her sleep, holding him tightly as his heart thumped steadily beneath her.

He had been returned to her alive and unharmed, and each beat of his heart and each rising lift of his breaths reaffirmed his continuing existence.

Her body felt heavy with the weight of yesterday's exhausting events. The battle had not been one of blades and blasters in the end, but of horrendous distress in witnessing what had happened to John.

And it had taught her one of the most significant lessons of her life. Despite her attempts to distance herself from him, when faced with nearly losing him she had felt as if her heart had tried to break apart in her chest. Holding herself away from him had gained her nothing except desperate guilt and pain in realising that he might have died believing himself unloved.

That he had been returned to her not only alive, but also whole once more, was a miracle that she would not reject or ignore. The faint belief of control that she had thought useful in distancing herself from him had not been worth denying her love for him. Instead, she now embraced the truth that he was a port of calm and love in her life. She had been so foolish to think something so pure and wonderful should be thrown away.

He drew in another breath beneath her, his chest lifting her faintly, and she closed her eyes in blissful enjoyment as his out breath lowered her back down.

She spread her fingers against his sides, stroking her fingertips gently against his warm skin, the simple sensation once again confirming his survival.

Moving slowly and gently, she tilted her head against his middle to look up along his chest to his face. His handsome features were soft, relaxed entirely in his sleep. She felt deeply honoured that he trusted her, felt safe with her to let her lie over him as he slept.

She wanted to reach up to stroke his cheek and run her fingers through the little locks of his hair that touched against his forehead, but she held back.

He needed to sleep after his difficult day and their long night.

So instead, she just watched him and felt each of his breaths move his skin against her chin and breasts.

She was so lucky that he had been returned to her.

Her loving husband from another galaxy.

Her anchor in the wild, difficult terrors of the universe.

He drew in a slightly louder breath, one of his cheeks twitching a little as if something tickled against his skin, but he let out the breath and relaxed again.

Alive and well.

She could not believe how fortunate she was, considering...

The other memories from yesterday shifted to the surface out of the morning's bliss.

Oneakka.

She closed her eyes as the memories of visiting his deathbed replayed, cutting harshly through her former delight. She felt desperately grateful for John's return, but this morning's soft silence now mixed with torturous grief at Oneakka's loss.

Tears threatened her eyelids, but she kept them tightly closed, unwilling to let the tears free to drip down to John's skin and wake him.

How many more of those she loved, respected, and cared for would she have to visit in their last moments? How many more tears would she have to shed for those cut down in their prime? Too many had fallen in her years, whether Elite, Military or civilian. Sometimes there was time to visit them with last words, like with Oneakka, but all too often had she come across people in their final dying moments, kneeling by them to offer weak comfort in terrifying last moments.

And far too often had she arrived too late, finding only remains and broken families.

Kari' withered body on the Glisi world never left her mind's eye; she had blamed herself for Kari' end, for having been in Atlantis rather on that mission with her fellow Elite. Yet, had she not been in Atlantis yesterday, had she not become John's wife, then she could not see how they would have found John in time to save him. Even though John and the Wraith had escaped up to the upper levels of their prison, without the arrival of the Honour Guard...

John would have fallen, like Oneakka.

She still could not believe it.

Out of all the Elite, she had never expected to outlive Oneakka.

She had always expected him to outlast all of them, which was strange considering how often Oneakka appeared to abandon any concern for his own safety. Perhaps it was that she too had started to believe in the legendary status that had built up around him among the Recruits in the Facility. His ability to achieve near impossible feats and survive horrendous injuries before had created the imaginary belief that it would take something entirely inescapable like a planet-wide explosion to stop Oneakka; for anything else seemed inadequate against the formidable last son of Ugun.

Though with Oneakka's passing, it would mean that his entire people were now gone.

Ugun was now truly lost.

She squeezed her eyelids tightly shut, feeling the tears pushing past her control.

As was often the way with old and very dear friends, she could not recall the first time she had met Oneakka. He had just always seemed to have been in her life since she had become an Elite Recruit. They had not been in the same Recruit training year, but he had nearly always been in the training gyms and had always been a wonderful sparring partner for her. He was always challenging, pushing her to find her limits and push beyond them, and he had never once treated her any differently because she was shorter than most fellow Elite or because she was female. She could always trust Oneakka to speak plainly and more than once he had helped her see the truth of a matter that had escaped her.

Oneakka felt like family to her and visiting him on his deathbed last night had been one of the most difficult things she had ever done.

She just hoped he had been able to hear, or at least sense, her last words to him.

She opened her eyes and reached up to her face, wiping away the escaping tears before they could drip onto John's skin. As much as she wanted to be open and honest with John now, waking him with her tears would only worry him.

Something buzzed from the floor.

Had it been her electronic pad?

The buzz repeated.

Si.

He had planned to rise early to visit the Facility, to learn of Oneakka's fate.

It could be that Si had simply sent her a text link to let her know he was departing for the Facility.

Or had he now returned with the news she knew was coming?

As foolish as it was, she did not want to find the pad to know, as if that would somehow delay what had happened to Oneakka. For in this moment, in the dark with John, Oneakka still lived for her and tomorrow had not truly arrived into her warm space tucked up with her love.

But Oneakka would never agree with such 'silly' thoughts; he would be the first to reach for the pad and find out what he needed to know.

With a deep breath she slowly lifted herself up from John's front and promised herself that, from this day forward, she would try to live up to Oneakka's philosophy; that she would seek truth and honesty in all things.

Especially with John.

As she sat up, John started to stir, so she reached out and settled one hand on his chest, just below where the feeding mark had once been.

"Shhh," she whispered softly to him as she stroked her hand gently back and forth over his heart. "Sleep, John."

He shifted around slightly on the bed, but his eyes did not open. He was tired, if not from the difficult day before, but from their hours shared since in bed together. They had had much time to make up for, as John had remarked, but even in their lovemaking she had sensed something new. An openness between them that perhaps already reflected her promise to follow Oneakka's philosophy.

No more rules, no more lies.

"Sshhh," she whispered to John again as she watched her own hand moving over his toned chest and felt the gentle tickle of his chest hair between her fingers. His chest showed no indication of what he had gone through at the hand of the Wraith yesterday. To anyone looking in, he might seem the same as ever, but it felt like everything had changed.

Including Oneakka's loss.

John let out a heavier breath and finally settled back into deep sleep under her touch. His head was now turned the other way against his pillow and his eyes flittered slightly behind his lids. One of his hands was resting against her hip, so she moved carefully as she slid finally away from him, though paused to cover him with the sheets that had fallen away from them in the night. The instinct to keep him warm and comfortable surprised her considering the room was far from cool, but it was important to her that he slept well after his ordeal.

And that she not disturb his rest with her grief.

Happy that he was comfortable, she carefully she turned on the mattress so that she could peer over its edge to the dark mass of shapes that were her and John's clothes scattered on the floor. Somewhere in the mass was her pad, still in her jacket pocket, and the news she did not want to find.

It was still too dark to be able to identify any particular piece of clothing in the mass, so she lowered her bare legs out from under the sheets and touched her toes to the noticeably cooler floor. Reaching down, she ran her hands over and through the mass of fabric, and all too soon she felt the hard edge of her pad. Digging around, she found the top of the jacket's pocket and pulled the pad up and out into the darkness.

Quickly settling back up on the edge of John's bed, she drew her legs back under the sheets and considered the pad's dark screen for a beat before she triggered it awake.

The initial page confirmed a text link received from Si.

With a shaky breath she called up the message.

"I have just returned from the Facility. Massa was on vigil when I arrived and reported that Oneakka woke up in the night. He is still critical, but is now considered stable and the scans taken last night show no indication of any brain damage from his blood loss. Once again, Oneakka defies all expectations. Colonel Carter has invited me to an early first meal with her in Atlantis' canteen. I trust Major Sheppard remains well."

Teyla closed her eyes, tears filling them again but this time she let them roll out and down her cheeks unchecked.

"Thank you," she whispered into the darkness. Though the Elite in her denied it, it felt as if the Ancestors had heard all of their prayers for Oneakka.

She sent a quick text link back to Si, the transmission passing only between their pads, telling him that she would join them in an hour. There was no requirement to rise for a certain time today following the events of yesterday, so she would stay another hour with John. On the orders of Healer Keller and Colonel Carter, he was going to be off rotation for a week, so she wanted to enjoy the time she had with him. Even if it was just to watch him sleep.

She leant forward and set her pad back down on top of the mass of clothes on the floor, and, wiping the last tears from her cheeks, she moved back up the bed to John. Moving gently, she lifted the sheets she had just covered him with and slid under them, returning to her comfortable position lying over him. Flattening her cheek to his chest, though a little higher this time so that her ear was directly over his heart, she settled her belly to his and tucked her arms back up against his sides. He responded instantly, making soft sleepy noises as his arms surrounded her, holding her tightly to him, and his chin settled against her hair.

"Y' okay?" He murmured sleepily.

"Yes," she smiled against his skin, closing her eyes tightly. "I am now."

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Halling hadn't expected to sleep well.

He wasn't sure what time he had finally left the Healing Bay to head to his bed, but it had certainly been in the very early hours in the Facility. It had been Massa who had finally chased him, and Seeal, away to take over sitting at Oneakka's bedside for the rest of the night.

Against all odds, and clearly to the great surprise of the surgical Healers, Oneakka had made the choice to live and had woken up. It had only been for a few moments, but it had been enough. Halling had been able to look into his friend's eyes once more and Oneakka had even given the faintest of smiles before his eyes had closed again.

That recognition in Oneakka's smile had told Halling almost as much as the Ancestral scanner had shown the Healers afterwards – Oneakka had been able to recognise him and Seeal. The brain scan had confirmed as much, showing no obvious brain damage from Oneakka's extensive loss of blood, but any questioning of Oneakka's memory had not been possible as he had fallen into a deep sleep. But it had been a far more natural and healing sleep.

Following the scans, the Healers had wheeled Oneakka's bed back into the Healing Bay room and Halling had explained the positive results to the waiting Massa and Seeal. It had been a significant wave of relief for them all after which Massa had insisted on them retiring to bed. With Aki already settled down and asleep in the Healing Bay's infant care unit, Massa had been ready and available to take over the bedside vigil for the rest of the night. So, they had agreed a schedule for sitting with Oneakka for the following day and Halling had said goodnight to Oneakka's sleeping form and finally left the Bay.

He couldn't quite remember walking back through the Facility to his quarters, though he was certain that he had ensured Seeal had reached her quarters first. He did recall reaching his own bed, of setting an alarm for late morning, but the last he could remember was puffing up his pillow.

He'd expected the Skerti Queen to return to him in the night, slashing out through memories into his nightmares, or to have fearfully relived those horrific long moments sat on the Hive floor with Oneakka's life slipping away. However, he had instead had a deep and surprisingly restful dreamless sleep.

The alarm had woken him and, after quickly confirming that Massa had not sent a message that Oneakka had taken a downturn in the night, he had sat up in his bed and felt as if his life had been transformed.

It felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from him now that Sitayi' prediction had been averted, and with it had gone the deep burden of depression that he had been carrying for too long.

Weeks of torment and years of growing doubt in his skills and increasing injuries had been transformed into a new powerful sense of purpose.

It was almost as if, free of the curse of the prophecy, he was now set on a new path of discovering the truth of the Skerti that had so threatened his future survival.

So he had risen from his bed, washed and dressed with questions turning in his mind.

Why had there been only one Skerti on that Hive?

Why had she even been on the Hive in the first place?

Where had she come from?

Had she built the alien drive tech on the Hive or had she installed the tech into the Hive?

How had Oneakka known the truth about her to have sent Seeal to save him at the last desperate moment?

Despite the Skerti having apparently fed on at least one Wraith body on the Hive, had she been working with the Wraith or had her viciously powerful telepathic mind held control of them?

Was there more information on her and the rest of the Skerti in the Hive's databanks?

As each question arose, he recorded it in an increasingly growing list on his electronic pad. The most immediately possible answer, other than the actual recovery of the Skerti alien and the Hive ship itself, was the recording Atlantis had which stated the name of the Skerti. Halling sent a text link to Silvar, who was scheduled to lead the science team visit to the Ancestral City today, attaching his list of questions. Silvar would think of far more that would involve the drive tech, but it was a good starting point. Silvar replied almost instantly, confirming he would report to Halling the moment he returned from Atlantis.

With a requested first meal delivered to his door, Halling had hungrily wolfed down fruit, sweetgrain bread and tea as he went through and answered the long list of text link messages he had received from fellow Elite through last night, all requesting updates on Oneakka's health. Massa had already sent out an update on the Elite's text link broadcast system, letting all of their fellow warriors know that Oneakka was now stable. As Oneakka's designated 'next of warrior kin', Halling had considerable powers to control who could visit Oneakka, able to restrict the numbers and frequency of visitors, as Oneakka was far from well and an infection or his weakened system could still cause a deterioration in his health. Most fellow Elite knew that for the next few days it would be best to keep their distance, but those closest to Oneakka could visit in small numbers or ask to be included in Halling's vigil rota so that Oneakka was never left alone.

He sent out a broadcast to his fellow warriors letting them know to contact him to organise visiting Oneakka, and he also shared his list of questions about the Skerti and requested that he take Lead of the Skerti research.

As he ate the last of his fruit, numerous responses were already arriving, all agreeing to him taking Lead on the Skerti matter. With enough agreement reached, he was now officially in Lead and so he set about establishing a section in the Elite Research Database on the Skerti. He saved his list of questions into the database and all of the research that he and Oneakka had gathered following Sitayi' prediction.

Regular reports were fast coming in from the Fleet on the salvaging work on the Hive and the alien drive, but they had also confirmed the successful destruction of the identified Wraith Cruisers that had seemingly been assisting the Hive by their threatening runs on the Alliance border to divert the Fleet's attention. With their destruction, it meant that, for the first time in many months, all borders of the Alliance were currently unchallenged and fixed. It was not a quiet to be trusted, but it would perhaps give time to gather and consolidate.

He was still adding ideas into the lists via his pad as he left his quarters and started back to the Surgical Healing Bay. He had scheduled himself to sit with Oneakka until mid afternoon, at which point Seeal would take over, so he had plenty of time to think about how to approach the research and how to use the personnel available to him for the work.

Turning down the corridor towards the Surgical Healing Bay's entrance, he added a few last questions into his list before finally setting the pad to sleep and tucking it under his arm as he entered the Bay.

As he made his way through the side corridors towards Oneakka's room, he was aware that he was tensing up slightly. Massa would have contacted him if Oneakka had started deteriorating, but if it was only just happening...

The open doorway into Oneakka's room just ahead, he strained his hearing, but there was nothing but the steady quiet bleeps of stable readings and no worried medical voices. The long window set by the doorway revealed Massa sat calmly on the far side of Oneakka's bed, little Aki balanced on his knees.

Massa looked up with a smile as Halling entered. "You're awake," Massa teased. Clearly the night and morning had progressed well in here.

"Yes," Halling replied unnecessarily as he smiled at his friend and little Aki looked round with a dribble-coated grin.

"You could have slept longer, I'm off rotation today," Massa explained as Halling headed around the end of Oneakka's bed.

Halling ran his eyes over the monitors set around and behind Oneakka's shaved head, pleased to see that they all looked stable. Some were still low, but not dangerously so.

"How is he?" Halling asked as he reached Massa's side. There was an empty chair beside him, so Halling settled down onto it, setting his pad on the floor by his boot.

"His blood pressure dropped a little, so they put him on a fluid drip and it's picked back up," Massa explained as he gentled bounced the gurgling Aki.

Halling nodded having spied the fresh fluid line attached to Oneakka's right arm. "Has he woken up again?" He checked hopefully.

"Briefly when they moved him a little on the bed," Massa replied as Halling reached out to catch one of Aki' little hands. Aki gripped Halling's fingers with a bright grin.

"There was even a complaining frown," Massa reported.

If Oneakka was already complaining, even if only via a frown, it had to be a good sign.

"They've started him on the first stage of his medication plan, so he's pretty sedated," Massa added.

Halling nodded as he gently pulled his fingers free from Aki' surprisingly strong grip.

"Meiyo is on rotation this morning and has already visited," Massa added. "She promised to come in and brief you once she's finished her morning assessments."

Halling nodded, pleased to hear that the Healer was here to oversee Oneakka's care. Meiyo had been a Healer in the Facility since Halling had been a Recruit himself, and she was now one of the Lead Personal Healers for active Elite staff. But more importantly, she was Oneakka's designated primary Healer and had seen Oneakka through all his recoveries since his days as a Recruit. Oneakka had great respect for the female Healer and she was one of only a few people outside of Elite ranks that Oneakka listened to...mostly.

"Good," Halling nodded.

"Did you see the last report out from the Arkinian system?" Massa looked round as he started bouncing Aki on his knees again.

"That they're severing the drive tech out of the Hive?" Halling checked, in case something else had come in while he had been on his way here.

Massa nodded. "The Fleet are moving in a retrofitted space dock to house it once they cut it free. Hopefully they'll find a way to study it without the radiation being a problem."

Halling nodded as he reached down for his pad, tapping it awake again to check on the latest report on the space dock. He had had several more text links. "Nalla has messaged me from the Sythus," he reported to Massa. "Silvar has requested that Lead Engineer Ru join the initial research team once the drive is in the space dock."

"How are the Sythus repairs?" Massa asked as he bounced Aki, using his hands to lift the babe up with each bounce so that Aki was going higher into the air each time. Aki giggled happily.

"Nalla says the main structural work is almost complete and they can spare Ru in a few days time," Halling read out from the text link and tapped in a quick reply to her. "She's planning to visit Oneakka later today."

"Si was here about an hour ago," Massa reported. "And you just missed Pampata by minutes."

Halling looked round from his pad. "Pampata was here?" He had not seen her in some time, though had kept up-to-date on her life through Oneakka. "Is she well?"

Massa nodded as he settled Aki back onto his lap and used a soft cloth to wipe dribble from Aki' chin. "Yes, though she was upset at seeing Oneakka like this," he added.

Halling nodded. Pampata and Oneakka had been close, still were, though they were no longer lovers.

Halling had to wonder at the timing of that now.

He shifted his gaze back to Oneakka's still features. The gash running back over Oneakka's scalp looked more swollen this morning, his body working to heal around the stitches the Healers had used to pull the wound closed. It would no doubt be another scar for Oneakka to wear with pride.

"It was probably a good thing Seeal wasn't here at the time," Massa looked up from Aki with a pointed smile.

Halling met Massa's dark eyes and let out a breath. He had not had much time to dwell on that particular element of yesterday's dramatic events, but the reality was clear to him now that Massa had seen what Halling had missed.

There was a strong affection between Oneakka and Seeal.

Oneakka had only recently shared that he and Pampata were no longer casual lovers and it could have been that Oneakka had just forgotten until recently to share such a gossip ready piece of information, but Halling had to wonder if the timing was significant now that Seeal was living and working in the Facility.

Halling certainly felt his own new appreciation for Seeal after what had happened yesterday. She had not only helped save his life from the Skerti, but she had also stayed with him through the long torturous hours at Oneakka's apparent deathbed. Halling would never forget the shared grief that he and Seeal had experienced together. Never forget how she had helped him talk to Oneakka through the long night, working together to convince Oneakka to live.

Yet, his own new appreciation for Seeal brought with it unease for her.

"You agree with me now then?" Massa smiled as he returned his attention to drying Aki' chin.

"Yes," Halling agreed, "not that I'm agreeing to the term 'smitten'," he clarified in regards to Massa's former description of Oneakka's affection for Seeal.

Massa rolled his eyes at that caveat, but his attention was focused on wiping away the seeming unending supply of dribble pouring out of Aki' mouth. Aki tried to pull his head away, frowning now in place of his former smiles. Halling noticed that Aki' cheeks had round patches of red flushed skin, perhaps telling of baby teeth pushing through sooner than expected. Massa had started weaning Aki a little earlier than normal since the babe had developed an insatiable appetite. However, it was possible that, like his biological mother Iketani, Aki might be developing faster than a normal babe. If so, it meant that Massa's nights were going to become even more broken in the days ahead.

Halling's eyes slid away from Aki to Oneakka. Oneakka had been the same, a child growing with remarkable speed and strength with above normal hand-eye coordination, which was what had drawn the interest of an Elite warrior visiting Ugun. Oneakka had told Halling how he had been an unusually small babe at the start of his life, but had quickly caught up and then surpassed all the other children in his home village on Ugun. It seemed that Oneakka had lived all of his life in the same way: with determination, without compromise, and at full speed. Though the days of recovery ahead would be challenging for Oneakka, Halling knew that his friend could also heal very quickly.

However, it was from emotional wounds that Oneakka struggled to recover. Though from the outside Oneakka appeared unbroken and uncaring to most, Halling and those closest to Oneakka, knew that emotional wounds cut him deeply, most likely because they echoed the old pain of losing his people. It was perhaps because of that emotional sensitivity that Oneakka had bred a hard exterior, against which many women had become unintentional emotional victims. The only woman to have survived the emotional damage Oneakka could cause from his seeming indifference was Pampata, and Halling suspected that was mostly because Pampata had herself preferred a very casual relationship over anything deeper.

Seeal's tears and determination not to leave Oneakka's side yesterday had been anything but casual.

As such, Halling foresaw a rough road ahead for Seeal. He'd seen other fine and apparently strong women attempt to win Oneakka's heart before, but none had been able to win that battle. Half of the time, Oneakka hadn't even seemed to notice their attempt, and when he had noticed any affair had been very short lived. As much as Oneakka had left a trail of dead Wraith in his life, so had he also left a trail of heartbreak.

As amused as Massa might find the current situation for Oneakka in regards to Seeal, the reality of what would come next was far from amusing.

Halling shifted his gaze back to Massa. "We have seen how this type of situation plays out with Oneakka," he reminded Massa. "He won't change."

Massa frowned. "Seeal is different."

Halling shook his head reluctantly, hoping Massa might be right, but experience told him otherwise. "You are always the romantic at heart, my friend, but this is Oneakka. We know what he is like and there's no reason to believe that this will be any different than before."

Massa glanced away to Oneakka as he shifted Aki up into his arms, the babe frowning unhappily as new dribble flowed over his lower lip.

"We'll see," Massa decided, but there was a touch of something new in his voice. It sounded a little like doubt and Halling wished he hadn't had to bring Massa's hopes crashing down.

Halling considered Oneakka's still features once again, reaching out and touching his hand to his friend's arm. As much as he too would wish for a day when Oneakka might find something that made him truly happy, the fact of experience and knowing his friend so well told him otherwise.

The problem now was that Halling felt concerned for Seeal.

"I feel I should warn her," Halling shared quietly to Massa. He wasn't sure that Seeal would welcome such advice, and might even take offence, but he felt he owed her the warning.

Massa shifted in his seat, Aki grizzling now despite Massa's rocking embrace. "I don't think Seeal needs to be warned about how people can hurt each other, Halling."

That was true enough, considering that Seeal had faced considerable hardship from even her own family and people, those who should have cared for her, loved her, the most. He just didn't want her to have to go through that kind of rejection again, for though Oneakka would clearly not wish her ill, in his mind pushing her away would be logical.

For Oneakka saw no logic in love, only pain and loss.

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TBC