A/N: Thank you CynthiaSylar and T for your reviews!

Are you ready for this? Last chapter! It's exciting and sad at the same time...very bittersweet for me!

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Here it is...enjoy!

When you hear stories about dying, you hear about the bright lights and the loved ones who come to get them to bring them to the other side...I didn't get that. I had no bright lights, nor loved ones coming for me.

Instead, I was greeted by Sorun and Kurban. They smiled down at me.

Sorun said, "Ex uno disce omnes."

I asked, "What does that mean?"

Kurban smiled. "Hic qua videum."

"I don't understand what you are saying..." I stated again.

They started to fade away but I was able to hear the last faint words spoken by them. "Aveo, amacus."

As soon as the disappeared from my darkened hollow, it began to brighten. I heard muffled voices around me and things started to come into focus.

I opened my eyes slowly. I blinked a few times, trying to allow them time to adjust to the light. Once they were fully open and adjusted, I could make out the smiling faces from my friends.

Before I could ask any questions, Beckett beat me to it. "How are you feeling, my dear?"

I blinked at him. My throat felt raw. I just nodded.

He asked, "Do you know where you are?"

Again, I nodded. This time, I whispered, "Water?"

Beckett smiled. "Of course."

He walked around the side of the bed, avoiding everyone around me and handed me a cup with a straw. I took it from him, smiling slightly as I began to drink the water.

The water helped, but it tasted like blood. I figured that it was because of the blood that I was coughing up earlier.

Beckett asked, "Better?"

I nodded and whispered, "Thank you."

He kept asking questions. "Do you remember what happened?"

I sighed, trying to remember. I licked my dry lips. "I thought I died."

"You did," he stated.

"How am I alive?" I questioned.

Beckett replied, "We had to remove your stomach."

"My stomach? How am I alive?" I asked again. Without a stomach, there was hardly a chance that I'd be alive talking to him right now. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew that a stomach wound was serious and life threatening.

He asked me, "Do you remember when we discovered that you had two lungs and hearts?"

I nodded. "Yeah...?"

He explained, "It turns out that you had two of every organ. We had to remove the damaged stomach to save your life. Once it was removed, the other stomach essentially turned on."

"So, I have one stomach again?" I asked.

Beckett nodded. "Yes. It would appear so."

I asked, "Will another one grow? I mean, to replace the lost one?"

Beckett shrugged. "I don't know."

"What else?" I asked.

He smiled. "You're completely healthy. You survived a lot and we're glad to have you here with us again."

I looked around at everyone. They were pretty happy to see that I made it through surgery and was still alive. I felt awkward.

Sheppard smiled as he extended a small teddy bear towards me. "Hope you get better soon! We miss having you around."

I smiled as I took the bear from him. It was a soft brown bear with a red bow tie. I looked up at him. "Thank you for everything. And the bear."

"His name is Rodney, by the way," Sheppard stated with a smirk.

I looked down at the bear and raised an eyebrow at it. Then it hit me. I chuckled. "Because Rodney's been a bear since the incident?"

"And you didn't even have to read my mind to get that!" Sheppard smiled at me.

I asked, "What happened to everyone?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I clarified, "I assume Dr. Weir and Ayla got away okay."

He nodded and waited for me to continue.

I asked, "What happened to Kolya and Michael?"

Sheppard sat on the edge of my bed and stated, "Michael and the Wraith took Kolya. We don't know where and we haven't heard from them since. Guilly is still missing...we're not sure where he disappeared to."

"Guilly? But I thought the Wraith dog got him..." I mused out loud.

Sheppard shrugged. "We didn't find any trace of him."

I nodded as I took in this information. I realized that it still wasn't truly over. Guilly and Kolya, and even Michael were still at large, but for now...I was safe.

The rest of the team talked to me, asking me the same questions...How are you doing, are you okay...I began to drown them out.

When everyone left me alone to rest, I felt sad. Ronon hadn't come to see me.

A new voice arrived by my bedside. "I'm not going to ask you how you're doing as I can see how annoyed you are."

I looked over to see Daniel standing there. I smiled happily. "You're still here!"

He sat next to me in the bed. "I didn't want to leave without knowing if you were okay or not."

I stated, "I'm glad you stayed. It's nice to have you here."

He smiled and said, "By the way, I translated some things for you."

"Things?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

He nodded. "You were talking in your sleep when you were out of surgery. I wrote them down and looked them up. Figured they would mean something to you."

I asked, "You've been here the whole time, haven't you? Next to my bed, I mean..."

He nodded again. "You had all of us worried. Even Ronon stayed here for a while, letting me rest and grab a bite to eat."

I thought about why I hadn't seen Ronon yet. Here I was beginning to think that it was because Daniel was still here, but in truth, he was probably resting. I smiled as I looked over at Daniel. "So, what was I saying?"

Daniel pulled out a small notebook and said, "You said, 'ex uno disce omnes' and 'hic qua videum' and then you ended it with 'aveo amacus'. Do you know what any of this means?"

I shook my head.

He asked, "Where did you hear this?"

I replied, "Before I woke up, I saw Sorun and his wife Kurban. They were talking to me in that language, but I didn't understand what they were staying."

Daniel said, "Well, the reason you didn't understand them is because they were speaking the Ancient's tongue. Ex uno disce omnes means 'From one, all will learn'. Hic qua videum translates into 'The place of our legacy'."

"But I don't understand. I'm not their legacy, am I? How can anyone learn from me?" I asked.

Daniel replied, "I think because you have their gifts, you have become like a child of theirs. I also did a little research and discovered a legend that was buried in the Ancient databases."

"What legend?" I asked.

He explained, "They mentioned one person that possessed the ability to end whole worlds or protect them, as they wanted. They briefly talked about abilities such as yours. It could be that Sorun was this person mentioned in the legend, but because he was a target, he passed them onto you."

I thought about it. It made sense. Sorun knew everything that was going to happen before it happened. He knew that I was different enough that Hain couldn't even see what I was up to. If I possessed this ability to protect or destroy worlds, it would make sense as to why evil people wanted it. They would want it so they could control and destroy people and worlds that got in their way...and why the Wraith wanted it so badly. It made perfect sense now.

I jested, "So, I'm like the One Ring..."

Daniel chuckled before saying, "Don't let Dr. McKay hear you referencing your ability to destroy or protect worlds to the One Ring."

I laughed alongside him. It felt good to laugh again. It helped that I now understood what I was supposed to do with my life and gifts now.

I asked, "What was the last thing that they said?"

Daniel glanced at his notebook and said, "Aveo Amacus."

"Yeah, what does that mean?" I asked.

He replied, "Farewell my friends."

I felt the urge to cry. They were saying goodbye and I didn't reply. Okay, granted I didn't understand them, but still. Knowing that they were saying goodbye felt so permanent. They would be gone in my life forever, now that I knew what I was meant to do. They felt that I no longer needed them. I was afraid. I didn't know if I could do this without their help or counsel.

Daniel smiled sadly at me and said, "Speaking of goodbyes..."

I shot my gaze up to meet his. I asked, "You're leaving?"

He nodded as he stood up from the edge of my bed. "General Landry has something he needs my help with. I tried to tell him to push it back, but I've already been here too long. I wish I could stay for your sake."

I nodded. "Me too, but I understand. You have things to do."

"It's not goodbye forever, Ricky. I'm sure we can find a way to see each other again soon," he stated.

I forced a smile, sad to see him leave. He hugged me and whispered, "If you need anything, just give me a call."

I sniffled, holding back the tears. "Thank you, Daniel. I'll talk to you again soon."

He nodded and headed out of the infirmary, stopping at the door one last time to smile at me. Then he was gone.

I stared at Rodney Bear. I didn't want to say goodbye so soon, but I knew that Daniel was right. It wouldn't be forever. Something told me that we'd see each other again sooner than we thought. It was just a feeling.

I picked up the bear and turned to set it on the table next to me. My eyes caught movement across the room. I glanced over and there stood Ronon.

I watched him as he made his approach. I whispered, "Hi."

He didn't say anything. He sat down next to me where Daniel sat before and looked at me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Hi?"

He finally met my gaze, but still said nothing.

"How are you?" I asked, trying to end the awkward silences.

I stared at his face, waiting for him to speak. Then I heard his voice in my head.

I was worried.

I sighed as I realized that he was telling me things that he didn't want anyone else to hear. I couldn't blame him. There were things that I didn't want people to know either. I nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

What were you thinking?

I bit my lip. "I was thinking that I had no choice. I had to do something. I couldn't let him kill you or Dr. Weir, or Ayla...or anyone for that matter."

That was rec-

I cut him off, "Reckless, I know. Seems to be my middle name." Ricky Reckless...has an interesting ring to it.

He stared at me, clearly unhappy with how I was behaving in regard to the seriousness of the situation.

I sighed, "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to be there."

What do you mean?

I explained, "I had a vision. It showed everything from Pertius coming to help us, Sheppard and the rest of you swooping in at the right time, and Weir and Ayla getting to safety...and my death. I didn't see you."

He sighed, trying to keep his calm. Finally he spoke, "That doesn't mean that you can be stupid."

My eyes grew wide at his choice of words. "Excuse me?"

He growled, "You are the most vexing woman I have ever met! You don't understand when you're in danger-"

I cut him off again, "First of all, I did know that I was in danger. Ask Sheppard. I'm sure he could tell you that I was updating him on everything-"

This time, Ronon cut me off. "Yes, he was informing us all about your plan."

"So, you're mad at me that I took matters into my own hands?" I questioned him. I was trying to figure out why he was so angry. Was it because I wasn't the damsel in distress for him to save so he could give me the 'I told you so' speech about being weak? Was he mad at me for saving his life? I didn't understand him.

He replied, "I'm not used to someone like you going around messing up everything."

"What are you talking about? What did I mess up this time?" I asked.

"Everything! You shouldn't have gone to that planet!" he hissed at me.

I stayed calm. I explained, "If I didn't go, he would have killed Ayla, our ally. Besides, if it meant saving everyone, I would have done the same thing."

He glared at me. "Saving everyone?"

I repeated, "Yes. Everyone. No one was killed-"

"Except you!" he growled.

I blinked away tears that started to form. "You weren't."

His face softened slightly. Is that what this is about?

I nodded. In the beginning it wasn't about him because I didn't see him in my vision. I was prepared to sacrifice myself to save everyone, but he showed up and I couldn't allow him to die on account of me.

I looked back into his dark eyes. "I couldn't let him kill you...I wouldn't have been able to live with myself had he killed you. So you see now? I did what I did for you."

Why?

I replied quietly, "Same reason you do what you do for me."

He nodded but looked away.

"Ronon?" I asked.

He turned back to me.

I whispered, "I love you."

And I love you.

With those words spoken...well, not really spoken, as he didn't actually say them...he thought them...regardless, with those words out there, he stood up and walked out, leaving me alone to rest.

A few days later and I was up and out of the infirmary. Beckett cleared me with a bill of full health. I felt good, energized to be out and about once more. I was told more about what happened that day that Kolya shot me. Turns out the reason I couldn't exactly describe what happened when I saved Ronon was because I moved so quickly, that no one knew what happened. They said that I was in one spot and in a blink of an eye, I was in front of Ronon. I guess I need to practice that ability to see if I am moving faster or slowing time down...either way, it's a handy skill to have.

Also during my time in the infirmary, Ayla had given me the tablet with Sorun's message to me. He had left me another message before giving the tablet to Ayla which explained to me what that legend Daniel had found was all about. Turns out that Daniel was right. Sorun was indeed the person in the legend who had devoted his life to protecting the universe.

Sorun was a target on several worlds because his abilities were so powerful that they could either wipe out entire worlds or they could be used to help protect them. He chose to protect, while his enemies wanted those gifts to use in their own selfish ways.

Sorun had seen a vision of me being mistaken for someone else, and knew the exact place and time when I would be in the gate room at the SGC. He explained that one of his abilities, which I may or may not get, was to activate gates by thought. He did that when he traveled to the SGC. He knew about the Iris and still was able to walk through it, again, another gift that I may or may not get.

So it would come down to me in the end. Simple, plain old me...guardian of the universe. It's kind of funny to think of me, as uncoordinated and weak as Ronon would say, to be such a huge part of the galaxy, but I think I understand what to do.

As I stand on my favorite balcony, gazing out into the vast open ocean of Atlantis, I know that I won't be alone in my quest to protect those worlds around me. There is still the dangers of the Wraith, Michael and Kolya, not to mention Guilly, so I know that my story here isn't over. But at least this chapter of my life is and I can move forward, looking for the next big adventure. I won't be alone. I have friends here and back on Earth who are going to help me through it all.

And I have Ronon...my silent protector, forever by my side. Who knew that fate or destiny would have picked me for this. Guess they have a sense of humor after all.

I guess I'll see you in the future, wherever that may be. Aveo Amacus.