They are standing on (her) balcony as they often do when he returns from a mission. He enjoys the quiet moment, just reveling in her presence and being home for a moment.

"John, I want to go with you."

She's holding a glass of Athosian wine, her cheeks a little pink and he wonders if this isn't her first glass of the night.

"Um, where?"

"Next time you go on a diplomatic mission, I want to go with you. I need to… get out for a bit."

"Okay…" he answers slowly. She's never asked to go off world before, so he has to admit, he's a little surprised.

"Maybe when you visit MP4-XF5." She smiles over the top of her glass and he's (as usual) unable to stop smiling in response. She has a certain smile that he has called his smile. He knows it's a bit self-involved, but he's never seen her smile this way for anyone else in all their months on Atlantis.

"I suppose." He's a little hesitant to take her off-world. More often than not they ran into trouble (wraith mostly) and he would die before letting her be hurt.

"You don't sound convinced." She quirks an eyebrow in his direction. "Why?"

"I don't want you to…" he sighs and picks up his own wine glass, taking a gulp. "No, it's good. I'll take you."

"Thank you Major." She gives him another smile before turning back to look out at the ocean. "I look forward to it."

She can't help the smile that pulls at the corners of her mouth the moment they step down from the Stargate. She wonders if the rush of going through the gate ever subsides, whether if you do it often enough the feeling just becomes mundane.

She watches as John and Teyla scout the area around the gate. John gave her strict instructions to stay put until he gave the okay, so she waits patiently, her eyes roving their surroundings.

There is a large open space in front of the gate, but everywhere else is dense forest. She knows she should feel unnerved after reading all of John's reports. In saying that, the people of MP4-XF5 sound like amazing people. Every time one of the Atlantis teams visits to trade they invite them for a meal to celebrate having allies in this rather dark galaxy of theirs.

"Okay," John calls from somewhere to her right. "Let's move on." He waits for her to catch up and touches her arm briefly, his eyes meeting hers, the unasked are you okay written all over his face. She nods and falls into step with Teyla.

He takes great pleasure in the happiness radiating from his friend. Elizabeth is clearly enjoying herself and the Corarian's had taken an immediate liking to her, unsurprisingly. Their leader, Ruperra had even organised a bonfire and feast in her honour.

"Earth to John," Teyla is nudging him. Earth to John. He chuckles, he doesn't know who taught her that one – but it's clever.

"Sorry, what is it?"

"Look," she points to Elizabeth who is currently surrounded by a rag-tag bunch of children. The woman in question looks over at him, eyes pleading.

"I better go rescue her." He chuckles and heads over to help her with the kids, they could be overwhelming at the best of times.

"Hey, Weir – I have something I want to show you." He ruffles one of the kid's hair, Tula he thinks… but he's not great with names.

"Alright," she struggles to stand, and she still has small hands clutching at her uniform when she tries to step towards him.

"Hey, kids. You can see her later – give it up." He waves his hands at them in a shooing motion and the kids scatter.

Finally free of the children, the two of them wander down the dusty track that trails between the Corarian homes. They are rather pretty houses they look like a typical log cabin by the lake that you would find back on Earth.

"Not a fan of kids?" He asks, conversationally.

"Oh, I love children, just not… that many at once." She chuckles. "A little bit too much for me. I'm not confident in my communication skills with kids."

He suddenly wants to ask her if she ever thought of having children of her own, but he doesn't know if that's crossing a line. He classes her as a friend, a very good friend… they had talked about plenty of personal things while on Atlantis – but asking about children seems a little too much. He knows for many of the people who left Earth for Atlantis it's a sore point. They all had to sacrifice having a family and it was certainly easier for some and not others. He hadn't really thought of having children, or even a settled relationship… not with his career choice.

"Penny for your thoughts," she says bumping her shoulder playfully into his.

"Did you… ever want children?"

She stops walking at his question and he feels a blush rise to his cheeks. Perhaps he had been wrong to blurt out his question. "Sorry," he mutters.

"No, no." She touches his arm and smiles at him. "It just surprised me."

They continued walking and it takes her a while to answer, they are almost to the lake when she does finally speak.

"I thought about it once or twice… but with my career choice…" he sees her shrugging out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, me too." They are almost to the lake, so he focuses on her expression as they break through the trees.

"Oh my…" she looks around in wonderment, her green eyes wide. "This is so… so beautiful."

"Lake Cora," he tells her and takes her arm to help her down the bank, so they can reach the white sandy shore.

The lake is as smooth as glass, the odd ripple from a fish rising to the surface the only disturbance. There are birds calling their last song from across the water as the sun has almost gone down. The water is a dark purple, the reflecting stars glittering on the surface. He couldn't have timed it better.

She feels totally at peace as she sits on the shore of Lake Cora, John at her side. They have both removed their shoes and socks and their feet are resting in the water. She can see John staring at her, so she turns to catch his eye.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

He licks his lips as if he wants to say something and she feels an involuntary jolt in her lower belly. She had never denied the affect he had on her, never. She also knew (as he did) that there was absolutely no way their relationship could ever leave the confines of friendship. But tonight, with serenity of being somewhere so exquisite… the self-restraint she had always prided herself on felt far away.

He shifts closer and before she can shift away his lips are on hers. She should pull away. A large part of her knows that this cannot happen – that kissing his just a slippery road down to something a lot more serious, and a lot more damaging to their leadership at Atlantis.

She can't though, instead her arms wind around his neck, she tangles her fingers in his hair and presses herself as close to him as she can possibly get. He groans into her mouth before finally pulling away, leaving her feeling cold from the loss.

"We really shouldn't have done that." She tells him, she's serious, but her fingers are against her lips, as if she can hold the kiss there.

"Sorry," he goes to stand up, but she grabs his wrist to pull him back down.

"Hey, no." She quirks an eyebrow. "You can't just kiss me, apologise, and then walk away." She tells him.

"I-" the excuse dies on his lips.

"It's the atmosphere here, I know." She brings a hand up to touch his face, but before she can say anything more Teyla's voice calls their names.

"Ah," Teyla smiles serenely, as if she hadn't just caught them in an intimate moment. "I thought I might find you two here. The feast has begun, they are awaiting your presence."

Elizabeth drops her hand with a blush and bites her lip. She supposes if anyone was going to catch her doing something against regulations, Teyla is the one she would trust most.

"We better go." John helps her to her feet, but whispers a quick are we okay? Before they had over to Teyla on the bank.

"Yes, of course." She gives him a reassuring smile. "Now let's go enjoy a good meal, and great company."

They would have to talk about this little indiscretion at some point, but tonight wasn't the night for it. This was her first night off in a very long time, and she would be sure to make the most of it.

The End.