Author's note:

Sorry for the delay in posting this last chapter as I had a lot of loose ends to tie up, therefore there was a lot to write. Hope that the delay was worth the wait. Anyway, once again, I would like to thank all those who left feedback in my last chapter, especially, Titan5, trekbones, sherryw, drufan, PyroDragon2006, StarSkimmer, Mandy, jasminesmommy, amsilcox, reen21200, auStraliS, MacGateFan, Ditzyleo, TheNaggingCube, TangledPencils, Harm Marie & chokolaj. I loved reading your comments. You guys are the best! Here's the final chapter as promised, it monstrously long, but it should make up for those of you who wanted extra chapters.

Chap 10: Epilogue

Two days later, the Stargate came to life. Lt Colonel John Sheppard and his team stepped out from the gate to be greeted a Nonamer whom they had not met before. He was a solemn looking man, wearing a long grey tunic and dark trousers. As he approached them, he gave them a low respectful bow, then handed a note to John.

John took the note to read it. It said: "It is the tradition of our people that on the ceremonial send-off day for our dead, not a single word is spoken before the event. It is in the silence that we honour and remember the lives of those who are lost to us. After the send-off ceremony, my son Adric will have the honour of guiding you to town, where you will be refreshed with instructions on where to proceed later. For now, please follow Jolenar who will take you to the site where we await to farewell our lost ones."

Sheppard passed on the note to the rest of his team, while their guide Jolenar waited patiently for them to read it. Once everyone understood the need for silence, John smiled to their guide and nodded for the man to lead the way. It wasn't long before the Atlantian team reached what looked like the edge of a large lake. On their side of the lake, there was a large group of Nonamers, all dressed in solemn colours of grey, except for two people. On the ground at the edge of the lake were three wooden canoes, the dead lay inside them covered with clothes of royal blue. Bouquets of pretty flowers were placed on top of them.

At the arrival of Sheppard and his team, the funeral ceremony quickly began. Nobody spoke or looked at them, nor did the Nonamers look at each other - each seemed lost in their own personal thoughts. A man and a woman approached the canoes. Sheppard assumed that they were some sort of priest and priestess for they were dressed in long white robes with intricate patterns sewn on them. First, the man bend his head to say a silent prayer, his actions echoed by the woman, then all the other Nonamers there followed suit. It looked like half the villagers had turned out for the ceremony. The priest and priestess then took an incense burner each and started to bless the dead with them.

As the waft of incense smell reached Sheppard's nostrils, he looked up and saw Adric, standing a few feet away also dressed in solemn grey. His blond head was bowed, the youngster was obviously grieving at the loss of a friend. Occasionally, the young man would lift a finger to wipe angrily at a tear that escaped at the corner of his eyes.

John pursed his lips into a thin line, knowing how the boy felt as he thought back to the friends he had lost in Afghanistan. His thoughts then turned towards the boy the Nonamers were burying today, the kid, Calwen: the boy whom he had taught football to. The kid whom he had barely known. He felt the familiar sense of regret, grief and loss for one so young. It reminded him again of all those whom he had known in his military career; those who had lost their lives in Afghanistan: Mitch, Dex, Holland, the list went on; and those who had died in the Pegasus galaxy: Sumner, Grodin, Gall and others.

John closed his own eyes and bowed his head, thinking once again of Calwen and hoping that wherever the kid was, he was in a happier place now. As he stood there, he also paid his silent respects to the other two Nonamers who had been killed by the Genii. He did not personally know them, but he appreciated what they had done for him and his team. He opened his eyes again when he heard moving and splashing sounds to see Adric and a couple of other Nonamers moving the canoes into the water. There was a long rope attached to the front of each canoe and once the canoes were in the water, the small group of people waiting on the other side of the lake began pulling at the ropes. As the canoes began moving towards the other side of the lake, Sheppard stood in rigid military style mode and gave the dead Nonamers a departing soldier's salute. 'Goodbye, Calwen,' he thought sadly to himself, 'I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save you.'

As he continued to stare at the departing canoes, he didn't see the Nonamer youngsters, Adric included, note his soldier's stance and action; then each youngster solemnly imitated Sheppard's farewell salute to their dead friends.

o-O-o

They watched the canoes float in the water until they reached the other side of the lake. Once the canoes reached their destination, a lone musician started to play an instrument that sounded like a Scottish bagpipe; its woeful tune echoed sadly across the land to reach the watching on-lookers. The Nonamers on the other side then lifted up the canoes to their shoulders and carried the dead away to be buried in private else where. A couple of them carried what appeared to be small cages covered with a cloth.

When the funeral procession was no longer in sight, the Nonamers standing around Sheppard's team quickly began to depart. Adric said farewell the rest of his friends, then approached Sheppard and his team. Up close, John noticed that the young man's face glistered slightly from the tears that he had shed for Calwen. He smiled at Adric, glad to see that the youngster looked better than when he last saw him. The bruises on Adric's face were now fading, and only a small stripe of bandage remained on the boy's forehead where he had been struck by Koden.

"My lord Sheppard, it is good to see you again!" Adric greeted him, giving John a respectful bow and a smile.

Sheppard lifted an amused eyebrow. "Since when did you start calling me 'my lord', Adric?" he asked. "You've always called me Sheppard or Colonel Sheppard before and I'd rather we stayed with that. I take it, we're allowed to talk now?"

Adric grinned up at him. "Yes, and if you say so, Colonel Sheppard. Are you well?" he asked, looking at John's bandaged arm and sling, frowning slightly.

Sheppard grinned back at the kid. "I'm fine. Never better," he replied. When he saw Carson shaking his head in mock despair at him, he quickly amended his words, "Well, almost fine. But I am well enough to be here."

Adric nodded, pleased to hear the reassurance.

"So, what happens now?" John asked.

"I'm to take you back to our village. If you will please follow me."

Adric led the way as they began walking through a grove beside a slow moving creek. During the journey back to the village, the youngster appeared solemn and quiet, unlike his normal cheerful self.

Telya finally spoke, breaking the silence about them. "Adric, I am unfamiliar with your people's funeral rites, but why were we not present at the burial ceremony itself?"

The boy looked up. "That is reserved for the family members only. Those people that you saw on the other side of the lake would be the family members of the three who are no longer of this world. They are the only ones allowed at the burial site where they would bury their loved ones and say their personal goodbyes. Once their spirits have been released from their bodies, their families would return and join us in the celebration that we'll have later."

"I'm sorry, I do not understand," Carson asked curiously. "How can the spirit of the dead be released?"

Adric turned to look at the Scottish doctor in puzzlement. "By releasing the birds that they brought with them of course," he said in a tone as if everyone should know this. Sheppard recalled the covered cages that he had seen the people carrying on the other side of the lake as the boy continued his explanation. "Each family will have a dove that they will release into the air once their loved ones are in the ground. It is our people's belief that these birds will carry the spirits of our loved ones to the afterlife where all our ancestors await us in death. Do you not do the same thing in your world?"

"Nay," Carson replied, shaking his head.

"So what do your people believe then?" asked the boy curiously.

"Well... er, we kinda have many different types of beliefs," Carson replied, "Some cultures believe that when a person dies, they get reincarnated again into something that's appropriate to the life they've led. Others, that they go to heaven or hell, or perhaps some where in-between like purgatory."

The youngster frowned at the use of such strange words, "Reincarnation? Heaven? Hell? Purgatory? I'm sorry, I do not understand these words. What do they mean?"

"Well reincarnation means that you are reborn again, though into what really depends on the life you've lead. For example, I've been told that if you're a man and you ..."

The Scottish doctor would have continued on with his explanation, except Sheppard cut him off when he saw the really confused look on the kid's face. Now was not the time to have theological discussions. "What Carson's trying to say Adric, is it's our belief that if you lived a good life, you'll end up in the good place and if you've lived a bad life, then you'll end up in a bad place. That's about it."

"Of course, there are others who believe that after death, there's nothing, you just cease to exist," McKay injected.

Sheppard shot the scientist an annoyed look and said, "Yeah, well personally, Rodney, I would like to think that there's some justice in the universe. You know, if you do the crime, you pay the fine?"

Adric nodded his head. "Yes, our people too believe that our deeds in this world will reflect where our souls would end up next in the afterlife. It is the reason why we buried Toga in an unmarked grave, for we do not believe that his soul would rejoin his ancestors in the afterlife. We believe that his spirit would wander in the shadowlands for all eternity."

At hearing this news, Teyla lowered her head and closed her eyes in sadness. In spite of all what he had done, Teyla felt sorry for the man who used to be her childhood friend. In her heart, she prayed to the spirits of the Ancestors that Toga would eventually find peace in the afterlife and be led back to the light.

"How about a change in topic?" This suggestion came from Ronon Dex. At the Satedan's voice, Adric suddenly looked up a little nervously at the Satedan.

"Er... Ronon? I'm really sorry about that spit that I gave you... It was meant to be a distraction, you know that, don't you?"

The tall Satedan turned back to look at the blond haired boy. "Yeah sure," he said, and before Adric knew what was happening, he found himself being pushed into the creek. With a startled cry of surprise, he tumbled into the creek with a big resounding splash.

"Now I forgive you," Ronon Dex replied giving him a smirk.

The rest of the team looked at a very wet Adric sitting in the middle of the creek then back at the Satedan in horror.

"Ronon!" Teyla chided him crossly, "That was not a nice thing to do! After all, Adric had apologised!"

"Yeah and I've accepted it," he added with a wolfish grin, before taking a careful step into the creek to pull the boy back out from the water.

Standing up from the creek, dripping wet, Adric began laughing. "That's all right Teyla," he said, his eyes twinkling with good humour. "I believe I deserved it! After all, I did give Ronon a very large spit!"

o-O-o

When Sheppard and the others arrived at the village, led by a soaking wet Adric, they were surprised to find the village mainly deserted. On one side of the street, they saw a line of poles with red flags hanging above them, gently flapping in the breeze. They seemed to lead off somewhere in one direction.

"Where is everybody?" Rodney asked, looking around curiously.

Adric turned towards them and smiled. "Most of the people took their celebration clothes with them to the gathering; they will be changing there in preparation for the welcoming ceremony that's about to begin."

"Welcoming ceremony?" Carson asked, "For whom?"

Adric broke into a grin. "Why for our newly elected ruler of course!" he said enthusiastically.

"And who might that be?" asked Sheppard, wondering whether it would be Adric's dad.

Blue-green eyes flicked towards John. "Come to the ceremony and you'll find out soon enough," Adric replied. "But first, please come in."

The boy opened the door to a building and invited them in. Laid out on the table, Sheppard and his team saw light refreshments. "Please, help yourself with the fruits and drinks. The bathroom, if you wish to use it, is towards your left over that door there," Adric indicated. "Please excuse me now, I must change into some dry clothes. When you're ready, just follow the flags on the left, they will show you the way to the welcoming ceremony."

"Will you not be following us, Adric?" Teyla asked as the boy turned to leave.

The youngster shook his head. "No, Teyla. But do not worry, I will see you at the welcoming ceremony. Now, I really must go." With a wave, he was gone, shutting the door behind him.

o-O-o

They had been following the red flags for some time now. So far the flags appeared to be leading them away from the village and out into the country side. It appeared to be directing them towards a large hill.

"How long have we walking?" Rodney complained as he hobbled along with his cane. The long walk was tiring his wounded leg. The only good thing about it was the fact that the track that they appeared to be following was wide and flat.

"Are you in much pain, Rodney?" Carson asked, looking at the scientist in concern and wondering whether he should give the man anything for it.

"Huh? No, no, not.." his words were cut off as they abruptly turned a corner, where the view ahead was blocked by some thick scrub bushes, to step into the scene of loud clapping and thunderous cheering. Pretty flowers were thrown at them from all sides by the large crowd of Nonamers gathered there to greet them. Carson, Teyla and Ronon smiled, looking about in surprise at all the fanfare that was being held at the open clearing. Rodney, who was lagging behind due to his wounded leg, looked around amused but did not seem totally surprised. He darted a look at Sheppard, then whispered smugly to himself, "Huh, what do you know? We get a king's welcome..."

John felt more than a little stunned by all the ceremony and reception that they were receiving. It looked like the entire village had come out to greet them. Everyone also appeared to be dressed in their best their celebration outfits. Puzzled by all the fanfare and extravagant greeting, he tried to paste a smile on his face as he continued walking. Right and left, the Nonamers were giving him and his team deep respectful bows and curtsies as they walked past them. A small frown creased his brows and he whispered softly to his team, "Er... guys... Why are they bowing at us?... I specifically recalled no bowing when we first met these people last week..."

"They're bowing at you, Sheppard, not us," Ronon commented as he tried to brush off all the flowers petals that were falling on his hair and sticking to the sides of his dreadlocks. It was a futile effort as his hair quickly became sprinkled with more pink petals thrown by the adulating crowd. Teyla and Carson however didn't hear John's query, therefore they didn't answer his question. Both were currently wearing wide smiles on their faces at the attention they were receiving from the crowd; they appeared to be enjoying themselves.

McKay however heard Sheppard and Ronon's conversation. "Hmm, I believe Ronon's right. This little welcoming fanfare appears to be for your benefit, Sheppard, not ours."

Rodney glanced around, his blue eyes darting about and a grin formed as he spied a pair of hot Nonamer women standing in the crowd throwing flower petals at them. He gave them a wave. They giggled and waved back at him. "Although..., I wouldn't mind if all this were for me. I think I would make a good king for a day!"

"King?" John repeated the word, furrowing his brows as he shot an uncomfortable look at Rodney. Alarm bells were now going off inside him. "Okay guys, fess up. What do you know that you're not telling me?" He turned towards his team and aimed a dark scowl at them. He stopped walking and waited for an answer. He saw Carson give him a surprised shrug, so he figured that the good doc was in the dark about all of this just as he was.

"Ronon? Teyla?... Roooodney?" He decided to target his glare at McKay, emphasising the scientist's name; he knew that the astrophysicist would be the first crack.

"Hey, what are you looking at me for? I don't know anything!" Rodney squeaked. When the glare continued, McKay finally confessed, "Okay, okay! Before we left, the Nonamers kept referring to you as 'Lord Sheppard' or 'my lord'. Even that kid, Adric, called you that earlier when he first greeted you, remember? I think these people want to make you their king... but that's only my guess. That's all I know, really, Scout's honour! Not that I was ever a Boy Scout, mind you..."

"Somehow I can't ever imagined you ever being in the Boy Scouts, Rodney," Carson muttered under his breath.

Despite his soft tone, the astrophysicist's sharp ears heard the comment. "Huh? What do you mean by that, Carson? Was that meant to be an insult?" Rodney glared at the Scottish doctor, sounding a little indignant. "I think that was meant to be an insult!" the pitch of his voice got higher.

Aldwen, Adric's father approached Sheppard and his team with a group of several official looking and well-dressed Nonamer delegates. John thought that it was good timing, as their presence stopped an argument from forming between Rodney and Carson.

"My lord Sheppard," Aldwen addressed John, giving the pilot a deep, respectful bow. Rodney began nudging John as he gleefully whispered, "See? See? I told you so!"

John scowled at Rodney then turned back towards the Nonamer, forcing a friendly smile on his face.

"Just call me Sheppard, or Colonel Sheppard, if you prefer to use a title," he said to the Nonamers.

However, to his horror and annoyance, he discovered that his wishes were brazenly ignored as the group of delegates standing beside Adric's father came up to him and one by one, began echoing Aldwen's action and greeting. Uncomfortable with the reception he was receiving and unsure what to do about it, he gave the delegates an answering nod and returned a slight bow of his own. His action resulted in soft giggles from one part of the crowd.

He swiveled his head to look in that direction and saw Adric standing a little distant away with a group of Nonamer youngsters who were obviously his friends. Like the rest of his people, the youngster was dressed in colourful, bright celebration attire. At the sight of the familiar face, John flashed the young man a grin and a mock salute. While another delegate was bowing at him, he silently mouthed the words 'What the heck is going on here?' The kid grinned back at him and mouthed 'You'll see', giving him a cheerful wave. Seeing the silent communication going on between Adric and Sheppard, Adric's friends started to nudge him, giving the youngster playful shoves and pats on the back. A few teenage girls standing nearby giggled and squealed with delight when John happened to look in their direction.

Standing in front of John, Adric's father turned his head to see who Sheppard was silently communicating with. When he saw his son waving back at the colonel, he frowned in disapproval at his son's lack of decorum. Aldwen cleared his throat and shot all the young Nonamers a warning glare. The youngsters immediately recognised the look and stopped pushing and shoving each other as they tried to wipe the silly grins from their faces.

Aldwen sighed and turned back towards John. "My lord Sheppard," he greeted the pilot again, his blue-grey eyes were warm and welcoming. "Welcome back to our land. We are pleased indeed to see you looking well again." However, at his words, the Nonamer's gaze lingered on the bandages and sling around John's left arm and at his wounded shoulder.

At the repeat of the honourific title, John's frown deepened, he heard sniggers behind him again. He swung around and darted McKay a death glare. The scientist shut up immediately, but there was still a twinkle of amusement in those intelligent blue eyes that he could not wipe off. From the corner of his eye, John also saw Ronon, Teyla and even Carson trying to suppress the amused grins from forming at the corner of their lips.

Sheppard sighed, rolled his eyes and was just about to speak again when strange noises suddenly came out from Rodney. He turned to look at Rodney, who blushed and mumbled apologetically, "Er... something stuck in my throat."

The pilot turned back towards the Nonamers only to hear a second later more throat clearing sounds. It took a moment for John to realise that the scientist was actually trying to repress his laughter. However to Sheppard's ears, it sounded more like a cat trying to hack out a fur ball.

John shot his friend another glaring look before turning back towards Aldwen and the other official looking delegates. He forced another smile on his face and tried to put on the Sheppard charm. "Thank you, Aldwen. Please, call me Sheppard, or Colonel, or Colonel Sheppard, or even John. I don't mind any of those, but please, no more of this 'my lord' business... Save that for your own Nonamer folk."

At his words, he saw the Nonamers give each other pointed looks. Some subtle non-verbal communication passed between the delegates. John felt that they knew something that he didn't and it seemed as if they were wondering how to tell him about it. Finally, Aldwen cleared his throat and spoke. "There have been many changes since you and your team last visited us, my lor... er... Colonel Sheppard. First and foremost, we are called Nonamers no longer."

John and the rest of his team looked up surprised at this news. "Oh?" said Rodney.

"You see, our people were named after the Nonamer line, which was of Lord Toga Nonamer's ancestry," Aldwen continued. "His family ruled us for many generations. However, Toga's recent actions have put all Nonamers to shame, and our people do not wish to be known by this name any longer. On the pretense of friendship and a trade alliance, Lord Toga had led you and your team to our world, where he betrayed you to the Genii, who in turn shot you and Dr McKay. If it were not for your words and actions, Colonel Sheppard, we would have never found the strength and the courage to do what was in our hearts. You gave our people back our sense of pride and independence, Colonel Sheppard. I had asked Lord Toga to save my son, practically pleaded with him, but he had not been willing to risk his life for Adric's. You on the other hand, had risked your life, and spilled your blood, to save my son Adric from the Genii. And the greatest wonder of all, when the Genii shot you, our ancestors were watching over you, protecting you from Koden's bullet. They have favoured you, Colonel Sheppard. And by your actions, you have shown us that you are truly a better man than Lord Toga. Our people owe you a debt of gratitude that we cannot repay."

As Aldwen paused to take a breath from the long speech that he had just given, McKay stuck his nose into the conversation and asked curiously, "So what do you call yourselves now?"

Aldwen and the rest of his delegates smiled. "We are now called Shepparders, and we have nominated you, Colonel Sheppard, to be our leader, our ruler, our king. We want you to guide us and show us the way."

John stared at the men speechless, not knowing what to say. Rodney barked out a loud laugh, and whispered softly into the shocked pilot's ear. "Shepparder, huh? Hehe! Looks like now you really do have your own flock of sheep to guide and lead the way! Oh, this has got to go in the record books! King Sheppard, leading his sheep of Shepparders! I would love to read your mission report on this one, Sheppard!"

John shot Rodney an annoyed sideways glance. "Actually, Rodney, I think it would be quite cool to be made King Sheppard. Does have a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Really?" Rodney's jaw dropped open as shocked blue eyes turned back to stare at the pilot.

"Noooo... Geez, do you really think I want that?" Sheppard replied sarcastically. "Just shut it, Rodney and not another word out from you!"

John was unimpressed by his friend's amusement, but at least he managed to get one over the scientist as he tried to think a way out of this dilemma. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to come up with a solution. He turned back towards Aldwen and gave the man an easy smile. "I'm honoured, Aldwen, but I'm a soldier; I have responsibilities to my own people. You don't need me here."

He saw Aldwen and the other delegates open their mouths to object, however, he didn't give them a chance as he continued. "What you need is one of your own people to lead you. In fact...," he now drawled, a twinkle in his eye formed as the idea caught on, "you already have one amongst you. He may be young, and he may need some guidance in dealing with matters of the State, but he'll be most suited for the task."

Aldwen and the rest of the newly named Shepparders frowned and looked at each other. "Who?" they asked.

John's hazel eyes turned towards the blond haired boy standing next to his friends in the crowd. "Adric," he replied. "He has already proven himself capable of leadership by leading the fight against the Genii."

Young Adric who was standing with his friends and eavesdropping on the conversation looked stunned at Sheppard's words. The proud look and grin that the youngster had a moment ago when he heard his father ask Sheppard to be their leader now faded to an embarrassed, shocked look. John's smile now widened into a grin, a smug look appeared on his face. Yep, there was nothing better than a modest leader - one who didn't strive for popularity, one who was willing to make difficult and unpopular decisions when required because it was the right thing to do. One who could make personal sacrifices at the cost of their own life if it were for the good of others. Adric had already proven that he was capable of doing all that. He might be a little green still in the art of leadership, but John knew that Adric would make a great leader.

At John's suggestion, the Shepparders murmured among themselves regarding this new development. They glanced at Adric's stunned young features, then gathered together to confer softly amongst themselves. John smiled, his right hand going towards his wounded limb to slightly rub at it. His shoulder and arm were beginning to throb slightly. The pain meds must be wearing off, but it wasn't so bad yet. He still had a smug smile pasted on his lips when he felt Rodney whisper softly in his ear, "I can't believe that you just handed over your kingship to a seventeen year old kid!"

"In case you've forgotten, Rodney, that seventeen year old kid saved our butts from a burning," Sheppard drawled back a reply. Besides, he had no intentions for any kind of 'kingship' as Rodney phrased it.

After a while, the Shepparders separated, looked at John and nodded their heads. Then Aldwen stood and addressed John again. "You speak wise words, Colonel Sheppard. We will take this as your first and last official act as our ruler. Adric shall now be our newly elected leader."

"And there goes the shortest reignship in history," McKay muttered under this breath.

Sheppard pretended not to hear him but spoke to Aldwen instead. "And the name? You might one to change your people's name to one of your own."

At this Aldwen and the others shook their heads. "No, Colonel Sheppard, we are the Shepparders now. We will always be the known as Shepparders in honour and remembrance of what you did for our people. It takes a great man indeed to be willing to exchange his life for another. Our former ruler, Lord Toga was not willing to do that, while you, practically a stranger in our world, you put your life on the line for one ours. And the words that you spoke to us while you were tied to the burning stake, those words were the words of a true leader. You, who barely knew us, managed to read into our hearts. That night, all our people heard the voice of wisdom and truth: We did not want the Genii in our village; we had a right to decide who lives and who dies; we are better than the Genii. You saw beyond us, John Sheppard, you recognised our spirit. That was something that Lord Toga could never do; something that we lost along the way until you pointed us back to the true path that we were meant to walk. For this, we are a proud people again. Besides, Colonel Sheppard, without you willing to trade your life for Adric, we would not have Adric with us now. Which means that we won't have a leader to elect. For all these reasons, we are now called Shepparders."

Ronon and Teyla both beamed with pride and delight at hearing these words spoken about Colonel Sheppard while Rodney simply snickered. Carson looked at a loss for words. John felt embarrassed and did not know what to say. Fortunately Teyla sensed this and she saved the day by stepping up, looking at Aldwen and giving him a little head bow. "Thank you Aldwen, Colonel Sheppard is very much honoured by your people's gesture and he will always remember your people fondly."

John cleared his throat, "Yes, that is true. I am honoured, Aldwen."

The Shepparders returned a beam of delight at hearing his words. "Come now," Aldwen said, "We have a feast waiting for you and your team in celebration of our new name and our new ruler, Adric!"

At the mention of food, Rodney and Ronon eyes lighted up in anticipation of the feast.

"Er... in this wonderful feast that you mentioned, you didn't happen to put any lemons in it, did you? Cos you know, I'm allergic to citrus," Rodney said, looking around. "And where are we having this feast again? I don't see any food set up here."

Aldwen smiled and pointed up towards the hill. "Up there."

McKay looked at where Aldwen pointed. "Are we going to have to walk up there?" he asked, looking a little worried. He didn't think that he would be able to handle the journey with his wounded leg. Squinting up at the hill, he thought he saw a shadow of something towering on top of it. He wondered what it was but couldn't really make it out from where they were.

Dr Carson Beckett also took a glance at the hill and then shot John a look of concern. He doubted that the Colonel would be able to handle the trip. He might be all right now, but he knew that Sheppard's strength was limited. Already he noted that the Colonel had been rubbing his wounded arm slightly and he also looked a little paler than usual.

Aldwen also looked at the Atlantians, at Rodney's wounded foot and John's pale and tired features. "No, we have horses for you to ride and a path that will take you comfortably there. Do you ride, Colonel?"

Sheppard nodded and smiled. "It's been a while, but yes."

It turned out that everyone else knew how to ride except for Rodney. John looked at Rodney and a gave him a grin.

"Well, perhaps we can get you to ride a donkey."

If looks were dangerous, John would have found himself back in the infirmary again.

o-O-o

In the end, Rodney didn't need to ride a donkey as the Shepparders got him a gentle spotted mare, that was led up the hill track by one of the natives. True to his word, the path that led up to the hill top was wide enough for the horses to walk comfortably.

They soon arrived at the top and as they turned around the last hill bend, John got another shock of his life. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sight that greeted them. It looked like the newly named Shepparders were not finished with their surprises. Behind him, he heard the sounds of gasping before they quickly turned to snickering.

"Oh my, I'll say it's a very heroic pose," Carson said, cocking his head to one side.

"What's with the kid?" Ronon asked folding his arms and looking at it.

"Playing with the hair! That's a nice touch," Rodney giggled.

"Well, the Colonel is good with kids," Teyla replied.

"Aldwen, what is that?" John finally managed to squeak out although he already knew the answer to it.

"Why, it's a statue of you, Colonel Sheppard. It took twenty of our best sculptures, carvers and artists to construct it. They completed it within four days, working both day and night at it. We are most pleased with the outcome; we feel that it captures a true representation of you, and the heart of the Shepparder spirit," Aldwen replied proudly. The sniggers next to John Sheppard increased in volume.

"Yeah, spiked hair and all, very Shepparder!" This outburst came from Rodney.

What made it worse was the fact that John also even heard giggling sounds coming from Teyla, Ronon and Carson. He swung around and gave them all his best death glare, which he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. It silenced them all temporarily.

He looked at the marble statue again, scrutinising it closer. Somehow, the natives managed to recreate a striking resemblance of him and what Carson said was true, the statue of him was set in a heroic action pose. It held a handgun in one hand, pointing it at some unknown enemy with a determined look on its features. However, in the other arm, the statue of the man carried the statue of a young child protectively. The little girl lay curled up happily on the soldier's shoulder, playing with the strands of familiar spiked hair.

"It is not grand? Our artists, stone makers and sculptures have done themselves proud to get it ready in time for your arrival," Aldwen beamed with pride.

"What's with the kid?" Ronon asked again as the Satedan admired the handywork of the statue. John wondered whether it was the artist in him.

Aldwen turned back towards the rest of Sheppard's team. "Oh, didn't Colonel Sheppard tell you about it?" Seeing the shake of heads, the older man nodded in understanding. "Of course not, not only is he a great warrior, but he is a modest one at that. Although Colonel Sheppard was injured, he still managed to save the life of one of our village girls, a young girl called Tellina."

Tellina, so that's her name, John thought silently to himself, recalling the blond headed little girl with large brown eyes and tiny fingers who could certainly pull painfully at the strands of his hair. He never did find out the child's name that night.

"The woman whom you handed the child to, Colonel Sheppard," Aldwen continued, "informed us how the child had been playing with your hair when you handed the girl to her. She also told us how she had kicked your leg, when you grabbed her hand, to which she is now most sorry for. See, not only did you give our people back their spirit and sense of pride, but you also saved two young lives that night. The statue here represents the spirit of the warrior and protector, the heart and the soul of what it is to be a Shepparder. It reminds us that sometimes we must have courage to fight for what is right, that we must only do so to save the lives of innocents, not for greed or for power."

Feeling embarrassed and flattered at the same time by Aldwen's speech, John heard Rodney softly say, "They made a statue of us. And put it on a mountain top."

"You mean a statue of Sheppard, don't you?" Teyla corrected.

"Isn't that the lyrics of a song, Rodney? I think I've heard of it before," Carson observed.

"Huh? Oh yes, it just sort of popped into my head," Rodney replied. "Which brings me to the question, why didn't they make a statue of us, huh?"

o-O-o

The crowning ceremony of young Adric turned out to be a simple and brief affair. It was held on the hill top beside the statue of John Sheppard. Aldwen had asked John whether he would do the honours of placing the plain silver coronet, a symbol of rulership on Adric's head, to which he had gladly agreed.

The little girl whose life John had saved, came up to him carrying the plain silver coronet on a small red cushion. She had a string of flowers on her hair and was wearing a pretty pink dress. She curtsied shyly at him and lifted up the small cushion with the silver coronet towards him. Obviously, she had been given instructions from her elders on what to do and she had been practicing. As John bend down to take the coronet from the child he felt Tellina suddenly reach out a hand to pull at his hair once again. Sheppard winced when he felt a few hair strands being pulled from its roots. Tellina may be little but she had strong tiny fingers that obviously loved pulling his hair. The small girl giggled softly while laughter erupted from crowd. Little Tellina's horrified mother quickly came up towards her daughter, apologised to Sheppard profusely, and led the child swiftly away back to her place in the crowd. John heard the young mother chiding the child softly while Tellina clutched a strand or two of his plucked hair.

John turned back to face Adric to see a wide grin on the boy's face at what had happened. He sighed, ran a hand across his head and rubbed at the abused spot. Then holding up the coronet, he looked at Adric and grinned back at the young man who was about to be made ruler of his people. As he placed the coronet on Adric's head, he gave the kid a wink, wished him good luck and told him not to get into too much trouble.

Adric smiled and nodded nervously back at John. The kid didn't really want the role, but as he was given no choice in the matter, he decided to lead his people to the best of his abilities and use what he had learnt from Sheppard to guide him. He also intended to listen to the council of his father and the older delegates especially in matters that he wasn't familiar with. But at the end of the day, he would try to use his own good judgment to make up his mind on what would best serve his people. This was what he promised to all the villagers gathered there. The Shepparders seemed pleased with his short speech and everyone clapped resoundingly and cheered for their new ruler. The kid looked a little embarrassed by all the attention, but he graciously smiled back at his people nonetheless. From where Sheppard stood, he saw Adric's father beaming proudly at the boy, and John smiled, feeling proud of the kid himself.

After the ceremony, it was feasting time, to which Rodney and Ronon were very much looking forward to. The Shepparders assured Rodney that there were no citrus in all the food that they had prepared, for they already knew all about the scientist's food allergies. Several large tents and dozens of long tables and chairs had been set up to accommodate the entire village on the large hill top. Cooking utensils, food, wine, drinks and gear had also been carried to the hill top. Clearly, a lot of effort and energy had gone into the preparation of the feast. Fortunately, a fine day marked the occasion.

Sheppard and his team were directed to take their seats at a long table situated next to the newly erected statue of John Sheppard. The only good thing that John saw about his assigned seat was that his back would be facing the statue, which meant that he wouldn't have the embarrassment of having to look at it everytime he looked up. Yet, he also knew that he had been strategically placed there so that the villagers could compare the living flesh of the man himself to that the statue that was behind him. He knew that it couldn't be helped; he just had to bear-up and grin with the hero-worshipping looks directed at him from almost all the Shepparders whom he met. Inwardly, he was rather uncomfortable with all the attention showered upon him, but outwardly he didn't show it. He wasn't about to give Rodney the satisfaction of knowing how uncomfortable he felt about the entire thing. Already he knew that he would be receiving a lot of teasing from his team when they got back to Atlantis. Nevertheless, despite his best efforts, the scientist kept sniggering everytime one of the villagers shot Sheppard an awed look.

Currently, John sat beside Rodney and Ronon, while Teyla sat next to Ronon and Carson. Young Adric sat directly opposite Sheppard, facing the team on the other side of the long table with his father and other Shepparders. Before the feast began, Aldwen, who was sitting next to his son Adric, stood up and waved to one of the serving girls to approach them. She arrived bearing a single plate of delicious looking dessert. She placed it before John, bowed and left.

"This, Colonel Sheppard, is a rare delicacy, a dessert reserved only for the most honoured among us. While this would have normally gone to the ruler of our people, Lord Adric wanted you to have it on this occasion," Aldwen explained. It sounded strange to the Atlantians' ears to hear young Adric being referred to as 'Lord' this time.

"What's it made of?" John asked, looking down curiously at the dessert before him. He thought it an odd custom to be offered a sweet dessert before the meal but did not say anything about it. After all he was on an alien world with an alien race, who was he to argue that dessert was only meant to be eaten after the main meal?

Aldwen smiled and informed him that it was made from the rarest of fruits that was very difficult to get on the planet. The preparation of the dessert itself also took several days to complete. The taste was meant to be exquisite and delightful. John thanked the man and had to admit that it was one of the most delicious looking piece of dessert that he had seen in his entire life. His mouth watered just looking at it. "What's it called?" he asked.

"It's called 'Scrumptiously Delicious YumYum Delight'," Aldwen mouthed out the extremely long name. "As our honour guest, you should take the first bite out of it before we can begin the feast. It's meant to bring good fortune to all who eat it."

"Well, I could do with some good fortune," John quipped, smiling at the superstitious beliefs of these people. Then again, he would have never believed there were such things as life-sucking wraiths until he came to the Pegasus galaxy.

"Well, bon appetit!" John said as he dipped his spoon into the dessert and scoped up a generous portion of it, before giving his onlookers a small salute with his dessert spoon. From the corner of his eye, he saw both Ronon and Rodney eying his dessert with saliva dropping from the corner of their mouths. Smiling, he took the first bite of the dessert. The taste did not disappoint and Scrumptiously Delicious YumYum Delight lived up to its reputation. Even though it was only a spoonful that he had, he savoured every single delicious moment of it by closing his eyes and letting his taste buds enjoy the moment. He now looked forward to eating up the rest of it in no time. When he opened his eyes, he saw that everyone was staring at him in eager anticipation on what he thought of it. He nodded at them and said, "It's the most delicious thing I've tasted in my life."

Cheering and clapping erupted with smiles all round. People now began talking to one another and getting ready for the feast. John grinned. He turned back to his dessert again and was just about to take another scoop out of it when a hand suddenly reached across from his side and took his entire dessert plate away.

"Hey!" he protested as a bit of drool dropped from his mouth to land on the spot where his plate had been a moment ago. He saw Ronon dig his spoon into the dessert, raise it up and gave him an inquiring look. "I am claiming what you owe me, Sheppard, that is, one Scrumptiously Delicious YumYum Delight," he smirked.

There was an uncomfortable silence at the table now as all the Shepparders wondered what John would do. A few villagers even looked angry at the Satedan for doing what he did; they looked ready to get up from their seats and do battle with Ronon when John saw Adric lift his hand and shake his head 'No'. Good, he thought to himself. The kid showed wisdom in knowing when it was time to fight and when it wasn't. He would make a good leader as he knew when to stand down.

But damn! He so wanted to have that desert now that he had tasted it. It was so much better than turkey sandwiches. "Aaw Ronon, do you really have to claim it now?" John whined, knowing that he sounded like a kid but he didn't care, he really wanted to eat that delicious dessert all for himself.

"Yep," the Satedan replied curtly.

John sighed, his mouth still watering over the taste of it. "Okay then, you can have it," he finally conceded, feeling utterly disappointed as he watched the Satedan grin and started to dig in. However, after taking a bite, and savouring over the taste of it, he saw Ronon dart another look at him before giving out a big sigh. The Satedan then sliced the dessert into half, placed the half portion on a clean plate and shoved it back at Sheppard.

John looked up surprised at the Satedan. Ronon rolled his eyes at him and noted, "The pathetic look does not suit you, Sheppard."

Sheppard grinned back at the Satedan, not caring how pathetic he looked as long as he got his half share of dessert back. He took his spoon and was just about to dig in when he caught Rodney looking at the dessert on his plate with longing in his eyes. If he had looked like how Rodney looked now, drooling pathetically where he sat, he knew how the Satedan felt. Sighing, he cut his share into another half, turning it into a quarter and tumbled that piece into McKay's empty plate. Ronon in the meantime had done the same to his dessert to give a small piece to Teyla, who for once, was also looking quite pathetic as she eyed the Satedan's plate. It was quite frightening actually, after all, none of the team had seen Teyla drool before, but for some reason she was doing just that as she eyed the scrumptious dessert. Both Teyla and Rodney now grinned in delight at their share of the desert. All the Shepparders sitting there looked at the team's antics with amusement in their faces.

Suddenly a voice spoke up with a Scottish brogue, "Hey, what about me? Don't I get a piece?" Carson asked in a hurt tone. John looked at his teammates and all of them sighed as each one of them cut out a small piece of their dessert and placed it on the good doctor's plate. After all, that was what families do, they took care of one another and shared things, even if was only a piece of Scrumptiously Delicious YumYum Delight; an alien dessert that was usually given to the ruler of a people called the Shepparders.

It wasn't long before everyone was enjoying themselves and the celebratory feast was soon into full swing. Although the ache in John's shoulder and arm was now throbbing painfully, and he knew that he was due for another shot of Carson's pain meds, John was too happy to let the pain of his injuries concern him. Later perhaps, he would regret his decision, but for now John sat back, smiled and relaxed as he looked at his team and the Shepparders laughing and enjoying themselves. He had to admit, when he first got his blackmark and sent to Antarctica to serve his tour of duty, he thought that his career was over; that he would spend the rest of his days being a military transport pilot with no friends or family who cared about him. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would activate an Ancient chair, come to the Pegasus galaxy, be part of a new family and meet an alien people who would name themselves after him. Sometimes the universe was full of ironies.

THE END

o-O-o

Author's note:

Sorry, no sequel planned for this. I just left the door open in case something popped into my head in the future. If it does, I may write a sequel, if it doesn't just think of this story as an in-between episode before Common Ground. (After all, Koyla did capture John in a most unusual way and did make him suffer.) Alternatively, I may write something about the Shepparders needing Sheppard's help again, who knows. I had originally called the Shepparders coincidently as the 'Sheppardsters' as I thought it sounded almost like a super-hero kind of name, until I realised that there is a reviewer/writer here with this really cool name already, so I had to change it (and I didn't want to 'steal' her name! LOL!). Also, the verse of "They made a statue of us. And put it on a mountain top." is taken from the song "Us", used without permission. I kept hearing this song on the radio, which was what inspired the scene in this last chap.

Oh, and special thanks and acknowledgment goes to TangledPencils for allowing me to borrow her idea of Ronon pushing Adric into the creek!

Hope that all of you enjoyed this story as I worked hard at it, especially this last chapter trying to fill in all the gaps and suddenly realising that it turned out extremely long! (I can't believe that it ended up more than 9000 words, so more like a chapter rather than an epilogue which is meant to be short... yikes!) Anyway, I do hope everyone enjoyed it. It has been a blast to write. Funny thing was, I didn't know how it would end until I wrote it! LOL. Thank you everybody who reviewed (and who are going to review)! This tale has an ending because of you. :D

For those who haven't reviewed, but have been reading this, now that it has ended, do you think you could spare a moment to tell me what you thought of it? If you enjoyed it, one little review is not asking too much, is it? As a writer, it would be nice to hear from all the readers reading this. Even if everyone in the alert story list wrote one comment - that would certainly make my day! One can only hope, right? And also all you other silent readers out there, what did you think about it?

If you have been following this story to the end, I hope you will take the time to leave feedback. After all, it's the reason why I wrote it in the first place, without feedback, there's really no purpose in writing it. (Yeah, I'm funny that way, LOL!)

Once again thank you everyone who has left feedback so far (especially my regular reviewers). It is very encouraging and appreciated. You guys are the best, big HUGS to all of you!

Also, thank you all who are going to review this final chapter. (After all, I can't leave you with anymore cliff-hangers which I learnt get more reviews when you leave a chapter hanging! LOL!) All I can say is may you all receive lots of Christmas blessings from Santa this year:D.

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas everyone!

Autumn leaves
xoxoxo