fic: Odysseus [G]

[tielan]

TITLE: Odysseus
SUMMARY: It's not home and can never be.
CATEGORY: Character study.
CHARACTERS: Ronon
SPOILERS: Well, kinda, sorta, not-quite spoilers for Sateda...although not technically since the ep hasn't shown...but if you don't know what happens in that ep, then don't read!
NOTES: Written forlacenire who asked for a Ronon fic where he visits the village where the Satedan survivors have settled.

Odysseus

It's not home and never can be.

Ronon sees it in their eyes, hears it in their voices, knows it in his belly. They're okay for the moment, and it's enough. But it's not the same as being on Sateda.

He hunkers down among the survivors of his people, among men and women who speak in familiar patterns and rhythms, among people who don't look askance at him, or wonder what he's like in bed. He eats a meal of traditional flavours and drinks the brewed drinks with military men and women. Their ranks roll off his tongue with fluid ease, and he is Specialist Ronon Dex, once more.

But when the moon rises, a thin crescent of light, Teyla comes looking for him.

"Colonel Sheppard asks if you wish to stay with your people overnight."

He glances back at the village, at the light-brightened windows and the smell of the paghal leaves that lie in every Satedan drawer. He hears the kaneida's jerky rumble - a distant background noise - and the rise and fall of Satedan speech patterns in the cool, quiet night.

"No." He forces the word past his lips. "I'm going back to Atlantis."

Ronon's not home and never will be.

- fin -

Comments

[r-becca.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like this a lot. It's very bittersweet, the way much of Ronon's interaction with his homeworld is on the show. Very nice.

[mikou.livejournal.com]

Aww. Beautifully written and I enjoyed the small touches that show what his people are like. That last line made me sad for him, all over again, for what he's lost.

Thanks. *sniff*

[alasse-fae.livejournal.com]

awwwwww. *hugs Ronon*

[jeyla4ever.livejournal.com]

Darn it..how many more days before Sateda?

[lacenire.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I've been missing this! You posted this the day after I left the country for a couple weeks, on a work assignment, and I just haven't been able to check-in. It's such a wonderful surprise to find this here as I was browsing your journal!

Thank you, Tielan, it's a beautifully insightful character study.

It's very believable that Ronon would feel disconnected from the Satedans and their new settlement. He must have used the thought of returning home some day as motivation to keep Running and not ever give up hope of survival. There's no way a small village, far away from Sateda, could ever replace that beacon of hope that he must have cherished all the long years of Running. He probably would view the settlement as a further insult, a further symbol of all he had lost to the Wraith.

Thanks, again for using the prompt...the results are beautiful!