Teyla stared at the dirt floor.

“Strip,” one of the drivers ordered.

She glanced up at him and pretended to modestly cast her eyes away as she reached up for one of her shoulder straps. In reality, she was glancing to the other two drivers on either side of the door, posing as guards, waiting for their turn with her. Both were relaxed and anticipatory. As she pulled down her strap and revealed her brand, the driver smirked. “Not so special, are you?”

She closed her eyes in mock humiliation, reaching for her other strap, slipping her hand in against her skin, her fingers curling around the handle of a trowel. She feigned that the strap was stuck and tugged on it. The impatient driver sighed and reached over to yank it down himself. As soon as he bent over, Teyla yanked her arm back, pulling out the trowel, and hit him in the head with the shovel end.

The driver gasped in surprise and stumbled backwards. The other two blinked out of their stupor and stepped forward. Teyla struck the first driver again, as hard as she could, and he fell to the ground, the side of his head dented and bloody. The two remaining drivers unsheathed a knife and a whip each and after a split second calculation, Teyla attacked the man with the knife first. He charged and swung so she ducked and tripped him, rising swiftly to hit him in the back of the head as he fell.

She then turned to face the last remaining driver. He cracked his whip but hesitated. When he raised his arm to strike, Teyla screamed and charged, tackling him to the ground, dropping her trowel to wrap the leather of the whip around the man’s neck, tightening it as much as she could, ignoring his bulging eyes and clawing fingers that scraped at her bare arms, using the memory of Ronon’s torture to fuel her resolve.

When he finally went limp, Teyla shakily rose then uncoiled the whip and searched him for weapons. She moved on to the first driver, stripping him of his weapons, as well, yet when she searched the second, he groaned and moved. She didn’t let herself stop to think as she viciously hit him in the head again, killing him.

She straightened, tucking their weapons away, her nostrils flaring, her veins coursing with adrenaline. She could hear shouts coming from outside and kicked open the door before exiting. Drivers were galloping up and down the fields, shouting and zapping slaves with prods, yanking some aside to beat them. The slaves had abandoned their posts in the fields and were attacking the drivers with whatever they had at hand. She noticed one man using an uprooted plant to knock a driver off his horse.

Binti screamed as she was shocked by a prod and Teyla raced over. The driver leapt off his horse and raised his prod to beat her, but Teyla slammed into him, tackling him onto the ground then turning his own prod against him. Binti scrambled to her feet as the driver writhed and screamed, her eyes wide. Teyla didn’t pull the prod away until the man stilled. She looked to Binti and her friend took a step back, unaccustomed to the wild fire in her eyes. “Are you injured?”

Binti shook her head no.

Teyla handed her a knife that she took off of the dead driver at their feet. “You will need this. Come on.”

The driver’s horse was nearby, tripping on her reins and dancing in place, nervous from all of the noise and commotion surrounding her. Teyla stepped over and grabbed her reins, tugging her face towards her and blowing into her nose for a moment to calm her down. Binti stepped over as Teyla placed a foot in the stirrup and mounted the mare then held out a hand to her sister, offering her the stirrup as a step. Once Binti was on behind her, Teyla urged the horse forward, regaining her bearings for it had been some years since she’d last ridden.

From their higher vantage point, Teyla and Binti could see just how chaotic the plantation had become. Not only were the slaves and drivers fighting, but many slaves were uprooting crops and a whole field was on fire. More drivers were galloping down a dirt road, headed for them, so Teyla spurred her mount into the fray. “Take their weapons!” She noticed several drivers wounded but still alive. She slowed and locked eyes with the slaves guarding them. “Show no quarter, for they will show you no mercy.” The slaves hesitated then turned back to the drivers who began pleading for their lives.

Ronon was helping Liliana and Bo weed their garden in the late afternoon sun. Sanura was napping and Brianna was checking the hens’ nest boxes for eggs. None heard the pounding hooves of Crutis’ mount until he was a few yards away. “I found her!” he shouted, causing them all to look over at him. “I found her!” Curtis shouted again, leaping off of his gelding before the horse had even come to a full halt, jogging over with his reins in hand.

Ronon hastily rose, forgetting to breathe.

Curtis grinned at him. “By the powers, Ronon, I found her.”

Ronon began to smile, but his lips shook with the frantic energy of his pounding heart and his smile flickered between a grin and quiet gasps of incredulous tears. “...Teyla?”

“You’re damn right.” Curtis was still grinning and Liliana let out a cry of joy, grabbing Ronon’s arm.

“What is it, mommy?” Bo asked, dusting off her knees, her hands black with soil.

“Daddy found Ronon’s friend – the woman we’ve been looking for.”

Bo grinned. “Is she coming over?”

Ronon was still too stunned to form a coherent sentence. “...Where? How?”

“I’ve been perusing the records. They’re all public – open to buyers who want to research their... well, their stock. I found an entry made several months back. Two offworld slaves, a man and a woman, and the man had a note by him that read ‘knotted hair.’”

Liliana gasped out a laugh and Bo giggled.

Ronon grinned. “So where is she? Can we get her? Is she all right?”

“I assume so. Your name was crossed out, meaning that you’re deceased.”

Ronon furrowed his brow and Liliana squeezed his arm and whispered, “I forgot to tell you... you’re dead.” Ronon smirked at her.

“But there’s no mark through her name which means she’s still alive and well. Got the name of the plantation and everything.”

Ronon was so overwhelmed that he yanked away from Liliana, took a few steps into the meadow with his hands over his mouth, then spun back to face them. “I’ll pay you back. Can we buy her?”

Curtis laughed. “What the hell do you think I came back here for? I’m gonna head on over and pretend to be a buyer.”

Ronon dashed to the horse. “It’s getting late, c’mon!”

Liliana laughed and Curtis stopped him. “It’s a few hours away yet and it’ll be suspicious if I show up in the middle of the night. We’ll leave a few hours before dawn.”

Ronon swallowed hard, frustration in his eyes. “I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t,” Liliana said. “If they recognize you then they’ll take you back.”

“They think I’m dead.”

“And we best keep it that way.”

Ronon growled and threw the nearest rock he could find. Curtis stepped towards him. “Just a few more hours, kiddo. Just a few more hours.”

Ronon stiffened, his shoulders heaving for a moment before he turned back to look at the family, reining himself back in. Brianna exited the coop and hurried over, having heard shouts. Curtis was smiling at Ronon. “Come this time tomorrow, she’ll be in your arms again.”

Ronon was embarrassed by just how hugely he grinned, unable to stop. He yanked Curtis to him in a monster of a hug, making the older man chuckle then worry when he couldn’t breathe anymore.

Brianna stood beside her mother and sister, holding a basket of eggs. Bo grinned at her. “Pa found Teyla and she’s coming over tomorrow!”

Brianna stared at Bo for a moment, swallowing, then dropped the basket of eggs and ran into the house, slamming the door. Liliana could hear a muffled wail as her daughter ran to her room and her heart dipped, not having suspected that her eldest had cared for Ronon enough to be jealous.

Ronon had been too busy hugging Curtis and murmuring “thank you,” and Curtis had been too busy trying to breathe, to notice the drama behind them. “Thank you so much,” Ronon said again as he finally let Curtis go, tears in his eyes.

Curtis squeezed his shoulder. “Of course.” He started to take a deep breath of much-needed air when suddenly Ronon was squeezing it out of him again.

Liliana stepped into the house while Bo cleaned up the cracked eggs. She paused outside of Brianna’s door, hearing sobs. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, hating her daughter’s pain, but reminding herself that it would pass and that it was part of growing up. She knocked on the door. “Brianna, can I come in?”

“Go away!”

She hesitated. “Sweetie, I know why you’re upset...” Brianna didn’t answer so she eased the door open then quietly shut it behind her before going inside. Brianna was stretched out on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. Liliana sat down next to her and for a moment just ran her fingers through her hair.

“It’s not fair,” Brianna eventually choked out.

Liliana sighed. “No, it isn’t.”

“I hate her.” Brianna sat up a little, turning her red, tear-stained face to her mother. “I wish she had died!”

“Brianna! That’s a terrible thing to say! Shame on you – you don’t even know this woman!”

“I don’t care! She’s taking Ronon from me. I love him!”

Liliana was silent, stumbling over how to respond, shocked by her daughter’s mood swings. “...We all love him, Brianna. That’s not going to change.”

“You don’t understand! I love him and he loves me and we’re going to get married!”

Liliana bit the inside of her lip, letting her daughter cry for a few more heartbeats before attempting a response. “Sweetheart, sometimes we think that we’re in love when we’re really not... sometimes we just really, really like a person. Love takes a long time to grow.”

Brianna’s eyes suddenly looked hopeful. “So he doesn’t really love Teyla? He just really, really likes her?”

“No, sweetie... I think that you don’t really love him.”

“Yes, I do!” Brianna screamed and Liliana knew she’d said the wrong thing. “You don’t know how I feel!”

“Ronon loves you, Bri. But...” she searched for a way to explain this to her daughter without further hurting her feelings. “He’s not from our world. His customs are different...”

“I don’t care. He’s perfect. And he loves me, you said it yourself.”

Brianna sighed, knowing that the only one who could convince Brianna was Ronon, but given that the poor sod had only recently figured out her daughter’s crush on him, she’d have to coach him in what to say first. “Well, what do you like about him?”

“Everything.” She sniffled, wiping at her tears. “He helps me with my chores and says funny things. He calls me Pretty Lady. He smiles...” She trailed off, blushing. “I love it when he smiles at me. He has the beautifulest eyes in the world.”

Liliana smiled, tucking some of Bri’s hair behind her ear, proud of her daughter for citing Ronon’s personality traits before his looks, but worried over the maturity of feeling that entailed. Brianna really did love him as much as her twelve-year-old heart knew how to. “He does have very pretty eyes.”

“They look even prettier because they’re so different from his skin.”

Liliana nodded and pulled her daughter into a hug. “I love you so much, Brianna.”

Brianna sniffled, hugging her back. “I love you, too.”

Liliana rubbed her back. “I know that what you feel right now makes it seem like the world will never be the same again, but you’re gonna have to trust me that it will.”

“Can you tell Pa not to bring Teyla back? She can live somewhere else.”

“Brianna,” Liliana kept her voice firm. “You know I won’t do that. That’s very rude and Ronon loves her.”

“I don’t care.”

“If you really loved him then you would care. You’d want him to be happy.”

Brianna sounded offended. “But he would be happy with me. I make him laugh all the time.”

Liliana sighed and pulled away, knowing that only age and experience would teach her daughter what she needed to learn. “You two will always have a special place in your hearts for each other, Bri.”

Brianna let out a shaky sigh and eventually nodded. Liliana hated how miserable she still looked.

Outside, Ronon was helping Bo finish up her chores, grinning at the sinking sun. When they finished he scooped her up and tickled her, placing her on his shoulders for a head ride back to the house, his heart soaring at not only the anticipation of seeing Teyla again, but of sharing this beautiful family that he’d come to think of as his own.

Branded Heart

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