Author's Note: This chapter has taken a while; but it's actually almost exactly on time, since I planned to do it as a New Years Eve chapter anyways. This is the very last---which at the same time excites and devastates me---and I hope that you all enjoy it!!! =D Thank you to jtjaforever, bsctjbclb, Gater101, dispatcher652, Linyke, APFW, Lone-ranger1, Grannanatlanta, Mechia132, rmonroe, Wendy Jackson, jodz92, , The Layman, SGAFirenity, and star-light 101 for your reviews; you've all been amazing!! : )

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Circles

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John and Teyla stood on the wide porch, the latter fidgeting nervously as John reached to ring the bell. He paused when he noticed, glancing at her, and grinned.

"You have no reason to be nervous," he assured her. "We did this last year, remember? If anyone should be worrying, it should still be me." She rolled her eyes.

"I know. But I cannot help it. We were here for three days before; and things have changed so much since then. What if they do not think that we have made the right decision...?"

"Trust me, Teyla, my dad wanted this. He would never have let me give you that necklace if he didn't want me to be with you." Teyla fingered the delicate red glass pendant hanging from her neck, running it back and forth across the chain.

"Are you sure?"

"Would I tell you that if I wasn't?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he sighed. "Alright, well, maybe I would...but I'm serious about this. That necklace was the key to his proposal to my mom."

"What do you mean?"

"I never did tell you that story, did I?" John remembered, thinking back over the year since he had last been to his father's house. "You asked once; I told you that I wasn't ready."

"Are you now?" she asked, her voice soft and just a little higher than normal. John met her dark, warm eyes, and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I am." He abandoned the door, and sat Teyla down on a bench to the left of the doorway, curving one arm around her shoulders and looking up at the stars, gathering his thoughts. After a long moment, he spoke.

"My parents were absolutely in love," he started. "That was one of the reasons why things changed so much after Mom died; Dad just didn't know how to deal with her being gone. But before that...life was good." He paused. "On Earth, generally, people give rings when they ask someone to marry them..."

"My people have similar rituals," Teyla murmured, half to herself.

"...my dad didgive my mom a ring when he asked her, too; but he also gave her that necklace. He bought it for her a long time before he ever got up the courage to pop the question; but when he did, this was the first thing that he gave her. Mom used to tell the story all the time; she always said that he knelt in front of her, handed her the box, and said "You bring out the best in me." And to her, that was as much of a proposal as the actual question." He trailed off, losing the rhythm of his story, and looked for the first time since he'd begun at Teyla's face. She was still looking down and fingering the necklace, but he could see her eyes widening.

"...You said that to me," she remembered at length, looking up at him. "When you gave it to me."

"That's right."

"And then you wouldn't tell me why...is that what you meant?"

"Well...not exactly, but kinda, yeah."

"Why did you hide it from me, then?" John winced a little. So much pain and trouble could have been avoided, for both of them, if he had been honest with her from the start.

"Because I was a dumb idiot." Teyla smiled crookedly.

"I believe that Rodney would call that phrase a "double negative"," she informed him. John laughed, what little tension that he'd felt draining away.

"Yeah, probably. But Rodney's not here to correct me; so I don't see why you have to." Teyla blinked at him, looking innocent but playful.

"I said nothing."

"I think that Rodney would call that one a lie, then," he said. "And then he would go on to explain in great detail the obvious fact that someone who has just spoken can not, in fact, have said nothing; unless of course they used the wordnothing, in which case, they would not have said no words---which is one meaning of nothing---but they did technically use the word..." Teyla shoved his shoulder, but there was no real force behind it; no intent to inflict damage.

"Please, stop. As you said, he is not here; must you bring his spirit to your family's house with us?"

"Excellent point." John stood up, and took her hand as she stood, as well. For a moment they stood there and looked at each other; and then both their lips began to curve into smiles. John gave a gentle tug on her hand.

"Come on," he said, reaching for the doorbell again with his free hand. "Let's go in and show them the soon-to-be Mrs. Sheppard." Teyla caught his hand before he could touch the bell, and turned him towards her.

"I believe that they already suspect," she whispered, glancing up above them. John followed her raised eyes to a little bunch of bright green and white stuff tied above their heads with a red ribbon.

"Are you kidding me? It's not even Christmas anymore." They hadn't been able to make it back in time; instead, they had settled on New Years Eve for their annual visit that would doubtless become traditional. So it made no sense... "Why would they leave mistletoe up?" He looked back down at Teyla to see her staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Do you wish to dishonor your own tradition, John?" she asked. He took about half a second to pretend to think that over.

"Nah, that would be dumb." He leaned over and kissed her perfect, honey-sweet lips, drinking in the taste of her. The rest of his thought was ignored until they came up for air. "Why give up an excuse to kiss the most beautiful woman in two galaxies?" He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them softly, ring above where the silver and diamond ring encircled her finger, and then leaned forward and kissed her again.

Somewhere, a clock struck midnight.

Fin.

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A/N: And so, fair readers, we have come to the end. This has been one of the crazier, amazing journeys that I have taken this year in my writing; and I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate you all; your favorites, alerts, and lovely reviews. Thank you for sticking with me through this thing; and I hope that in the new year I will be able to find more stories to give to you all. Thank you so much, and God bless!! : )

...Happy New Year to all, and to all, a good night!!! : )