John walked down the stairs to the empty kitchen, his hair having the obvious look of an early morning and only a pair of jogging pants covering his body.

He was following a routine he already knew by heart and it was a routine that his heart was all too happy to comply with.

He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering whether a few push ups would be wise to do while the coffee maker did its job, but then his eyes caught sight of the light blue Photo Album on the kitchen table.

His memory needed no reminder, he recognized the Photo Album in an instant. After all, he had been one of the people involved in its creation.

John walked to the table and picked it up, walking back to the coffee maker so that he could get his coffee cup ready once it was done.

He opened the Photo Album with a soft smile and his eyes caught the writings on the first two pages that weren't full of pictures, but messages, from everyone in Atlantis who ever gave a damn about her.

It had been Zelenka's idea at first, Teyla and Ronon had liked it, John thought it'd be nice, though he doubted the SGC would allow an album of those pictures to ever leave Atlantis.

But leave it to Rodney to come up with an ingenious plan on how to get a Photo Album like that out (and to take pictures of them at all) without getting into a more than problematic situation.

As John passed the pages with all the farewells and kind wishes, he stopped once he saw the first picture on the Album.

It brought him a flooding memory... of course, he had taken that first picture and it had still annoyed Rodney that it had been chosen as the first picture when he swore his were better.

John heard the dripping of the coffee stop and brought down two empty cups from the cupboard, filling them both and putting more sugar in his own than the other. He made sure to cover the other cup with a small plate before leaving it on the kitchen counter as he headed for the table.

He set the Album open and blew on his coffee before taking a small sip. The memories seemed to be taking a clearer shape and slower pace now.

It was as if it had never been his past, but his present.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was leaning on the railing, looking at the midnight sky and all its stars and John thought, 'There's no picture more beautiful than this...'

John pressed the bottom of the pen and it made a certain clicking noise that didn't sound like a normal pen, making Elizabeth turn around to look at him.

"Hey," she smiled, and he took her smile as an invitation to join her.

He leaned on the railing beside her, "Hey."

They stood in silence at first. John still had trouble believing that this would be her last night. He didn't understand why she was leaving without a fight.

Everyone, including him, expected her to put up a fight to their orders, or maybe that was just what they hoped, because John knew everyone in Atlantis was more than ready to fight for their leader.

But Elizabeth had accepted the order without argument or question.

John had never seen her so calm as he did the day of the meeting, and it had both confused and angered him.

The silence didn't last long as John's thoughts were interrupted by her voice.

"Are you going to tell me what that is," Elizabeth asked nodding to the pen he was still holding in his hand and she gave him an amused glance that made him wonder if she already knew.

"Just a pen," John shrugged.

"Funny, it looks exactly like the same pen Rodney keeps pulling out of his pocket every time I'm around," she said, turning to lean on the railing on her side this time, her smile becoming wider and more... knowing.

'God, she knows,' John thought and he wasn't even looking at her to know she knew.

"That does sound funny," John said, trying to keep the lie hidden.

He was going to kill McKay. It was supposed to be a surprise.

"And you want to hear something funnier," she asked, crossing her arms and John was more than ready for the truth now.

He turned his head to look at her now, "Shoot." And in that moment, he wished someone would shoot him.

She looked beautiful.

"He never writes with it. He simply clicks it, especially when I'm talking with someone, and on one occasion, I even noticed one of the technicians posing," she mused.

John took a deep breath; looking away from her once he noticed her smile got wider with every word that left her mouth.

He hung his head in defeat, "Fine, they're cameras. We thought it'd be nice for you to have something to remember us by, but it's not like they're going to let us take pictures of a place that's not supposed to exist, so Rodney came up with these and he'll have the entire Album ready by tomorrow."

Elizabeth turned to gaze at the stars and John noticed her smile faded for a moment, "That is nice," she whispered and her smile came back again once she set her eyes on him, eyebrow cocked, "Though you do know they'll search my belongings once I'm there, don't you?

"Just to make sure I don't leave with any ancient technology I'm not supposed to bring with me."

John grinned at this, "Yeah, Rodney thought of that too. Don't worry; tomorrow morning, Teyla's going to give you an Athosian wooden table that only Rodney knows how to open, and once he tells you, you'll have your album."

Elizabeth chuckled, making John's face light up with his own smile, and she said, "He's amazing. You all are."

And once he caught the word 'You' in her sentence, he turned his face to look at her and saw her eyes burying themselves into him.

He was waiting for a word, a signal, a sign, anything so that he could move, but he didn't have to.

She moved for him.

His arms wrapped themselves around her waist as if they always belonged there, as if they had never left.

She kept her hands pressed on his cheeks, her lips taking from him everything he would give, and he was giving her everything.

She could have it all, he didn't care.

Then it happened, and for a moment, they both chose to ignore it, neither of them wanted to stop, until the alarm was followed by a man's voice.

"Well, hi, kids. Umm, we got us a situation, in there," General O'Neill said, pointing awkwardly behind him as he tried not to look at the couple who still had their arms around each other, but had finally stopped kissing.

John looked at Elizabeth, there were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to do, and none of them included him leaving that balcony without her.

"Go," she told him, softly and John took his arms from her waist in order to take her face in his hands and give her a soft brief kiss.

He just hoped it wouldn't be the last.

He knew that whatever awaited him outside the balcony wouldn't postpone her trip. No matter what, Elizabeth Weir was leaving at 0800 hours that very day.

As he left, he heard Colonel O'Neill say, "That was interesting."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John arrived in Atlantis at 0700 hours carrying Ronon, with Teyla's help, to the infirmary as he told Rodney to meet Zelenka so they could set up the Album with the final pictures they got.

John wanted to stay in the infirmary to make sure Ronon would be fine, but there was someone else in his mind.

"John, go to her. I will look after him," Teyla assured and John gave her an appreciative nod before leaving the infirmary.

He had one hour. Less, if he counted the minutes already lost.

She wasn't in the control room. She wasn't in her office, or what used to be her office.

She wasn't in her room or the balcony.

John felt like he was chasing a ghost for a moment, and from what he could tell she wasn't wearing her radio.

He touched his headset, "Rodney? Do you have any idea where Elizabeth is," he asked, hoping he didn't have to search the whole city to find her.

He knew he would, but he'd rather it take him less time.

"No. Why? Did she leave? Please, don't tell me she left already. We're this close to finishing. Where are you? Zelenka says you still need to sign," Rodney said in such a hurry that it reminded him of Rodney's annoying speech of 'if we get caught and sacked over a Photo Album, I'm going to self destruct.'

"I'm looking for Elizabeth," John growled.

"Well, that's obvious and completely not the answer I was looking for. Look, it's almost 30 minutes till she leaves. You need to sign it," Rodney barked.

John blinked. Had it been 30 minutes?

He sighed, "I'll be right there."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John finally found her, 15 minutes from the end, in the control room talking to Samantha Carter with General O'Neill on her side.

She wasn't wearing her usual attire, but a pair of blue jeans which complimented her nicely and a jacket to match it, John couldn't see the shirt.

O'Neill spotted him first and quickly turned his attention to the ceiling.

John approached them as quickly as he could without looking frantic.

"Colonel Sheppard," Carter addressed him first, making Elizabeth turn to look at him in what John hoped to be a look of relief.

"Hi. Umm, could I have a word with Dr. Weir? In... Private," John asked as smoothly as he could manage, making O'Neill give a soft nod to the air.

"Of course, you can use the office," Carter offered.

Elizabeth smiled courteously at her, "It's all right, Sam, it is your office now, feel free to refer it as such."

"Right, thank you," Carter acknowledged.

Elizabeth walked towards it first and John instinctively put his hand behind her back as they walked.

The door closed behind him and John had to remind himself the office was see through or else he'd seize her mouth and make good use of the 15 minutes they had left... 13 minutes.

"John," Elizabeth inquired, snapping him from his thoughts.

He sucked in his lips and Elizabeth gave him a soft smile, probably remembering the events from the night before, "Look, I just-"

Elizabeth interrupted him, "John, its fine. I understand."

John dropped his hands from his hips, "You do?"

"Yes, I do. I know it's hard for you. I mean, after all this time, you never said anything-"

"Hey," John intercepted in his defense, "neither did you."

She nodded, crossing her arms, "Yes, neither did I," and she wasn't smiling.

John was 100% sure that wasn't a smile.

"I didn't mean it that way," John offered.

"But it's the truth, isn't it," she asked, leaning on the desk as she stood looking at him, "We both had the chance to get closer to each other, but I didn't because I was your boss and... Rodney did say something about a Captain Kirk complex," she finished with a grin.

"What," John exclaimed, and the fact that it made Elizabeth smile made him feel less angry about the comment.

"But, I'll have good memories about us. Do you remember the kiss," she asked and then grinned, "Not that one, I meant the first."

John's mouth formed the perfect 'O' as he recalled the memory, "That one."

"I thought it was embarrassing at first, but I have to admit, it wasn't so bad," she confessed.

"Well, thank you. You weren't so bad either," John grinned and began to take her in better, in her civilian clothing.

She was wearing a white tank top and he almost felt like it was an invitation until he heard her say, "Didn't you wonder why she chose you?"

"Who," John asked, suddenly remembering her mouth was not on her chest.

"Phebus," she reminded him, "She could've picked anyone, but she didn't."

"Any idea why," John asked curiously.

The smile Elizabeth gave him was soft, but taunting, and how he wished he could stop time so he could at least give her a proper goodbye, not that there was anything proper about that kind of goodbye, but it was the best he could give her at such short notice.

"I have a few," Elizabeth admitted.

And as he looked at her, saw the way her lips became wider, probably softer, when she smiled and so inviting, he didn't want to let her go.

He had almost lost her so many times before and he had stopped it then, but now...

Now, he had no control.

Before he could make a move, before he could do what he wanted to do, a knock came on the door before it opened, "Dr. Weir? It's time."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John watched how the gateroom filled up with people.

They were all saying their goodbyes.

He didn't want to say goodbye.

He felt like he had just said hello, how could he ever manage a goodbye?

John then saw Teyla offering Elizabeth the Athosian 'table' which John knew had the photo album inside its boards.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye," he heard a voice ask behind him and saw it to be General O'Neill.

"I guess I should," John admitted, and his eyes met Elizabeth's, who was looking right at him and he knew she knew.

He couldn't say goodbye, so she did what he would expect no one but Elizabeth to do.

She went towards him.

"Well, Colonel. I guess this is goodbye," she whispered and eyed O'Neill, who (John imagined) had to have some kind of ache in his neck by now with all the times he kept inspecting the ceiling.

"I guess so, but I'll," he really wasn't good with words. He never had been, not on these particular situations.

"See you soon? I hope so. General O'Neill has promised me that I can come back, if the city needs me," she admitted with a soft smile and John wanted to say, 'it needs you. I need you.'

"Yeah, well, nothing bad is going to happen to the city, unless, of course, they fire me, or something," Rodney interrupted, suddenly appearing to the scene and John remembered of his little panic towards the Photo Album.

Elizabeth smiled as if to say, 'Why would they ever fire you?' and John was about to put his two cents in when Teyla touched Elizabeth's shoulder from behind her, Ronon standing by her side, his leg still wounded, but he had come from the infirmary to say goodbye to her.

At least he could say goodbye to her.

John watched as Elizabeth left and it made him feel... lost.

He hadn't even said goodbye properly.

"You know, Carter's your boss now," O'Neill noted.

John didn't even look at him and just nodded, "I know, sir."

"So, you can't date her, neither of you," he said giving Rodney a look, "but, if any of you feel like dating someone who's not your boss... more like an ex-boss... well, there's nothing anyone can say about it, I think."

Rodney looked at O'Neill, who was walking away from them, like the man had officially lost his mind.

"What does she see in him," Rodney asked, and John ignored him, as they both turned around to walk up the stairs, towards the control room.

"Hey, why- where are we going? Don't you want to see her off," asked Rodney, as if noticing for the first time he was following John.

"I'm not good at the whole goodbye thing," John said, taking a glimpse of the gateroom from the control room as he saw people still saying goodbye to her.

"What? Of course you are. You've said goodbye to hundreds of alien women after they threw themselves at you, you can't say goodbye to Eli- Oh," Rodney expressed, as he watched John looking at Elizabeth from the bridge to her office.

John didn't say anything, and he was thankful Rodney had shut up for a moment, but he knew it wasn't going to last, "So that's what he was talking about... Look, Colonel, I'm fairly certain I have no experience in this matter, not for lack of trying or lack of knowledge, I just don't have time, with trying to save the galaxy and getting a Nobel Prize-"

"-The point, McKay-"

"Right, the point, well... She's not your boss, and if she likes you, which I know she does- don't look at me like that, I wasn't supposed to say anything- you should just, you know, go for it. Carpe Diem!"

And that was all John needed to hear, even though it was from an unlikely source, but after he saw the wormhole activate, he rushed into the control room and yelled at one of the technicians, "Connect me to the gateroom."

The technician looked at him curiously, but took it as a harmless order as John touched his headset and yelled, "Marry me!"

Everyone, around 50 people, no less than that, more if you counted the ones already in the control room, had heard him say those two words.

If John knew of a hole to bury himself in, that would've been the perfect moment to do so, instead he rushed out of the control room, hearing McKay say to one of the technicians behind him, "Well, at least he didn't sing."

When John reached the gateroom everyone was grinning and more than happy to open way towards Elizabeth, whose cheeks were burning red and eyes as wide as John had ever seen them.

He didn't waste a lot of time, he took advantage of the moment, walked right to her and kissed her.

The applause in the gateroom was deafening and John felt like he had just scored a 'Hail Mary', one minute on the clock.

The Super Bowl had been won.

He had won.

Or at least, he was about to win.

Once the kiss stopped, Elizabeth took a deep breath since John had stolen most of it, and smiled, "What was the question again, Colonel? I don't think I heard you correctly."

John grinned, his arms around her waist, "Marry me?"

Elizabeth smiled again, the sweetest of smiles, or maybe John thought it was sweet because he knew the answer that would accompany it, "Of course, I'll marry you."

John picked her up from the ground, without even losing his balance, and she kissed him.

She kissed him this time and it made everything else stop mattering.

Of course, he still managed to hear a very smart comment from Colonel O'Neill, "That's the last time I give advice. People don't seem to grasp the main idea of the advice."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John stood up from the kitchen table to refill his coffee cup.

He had skipped through pictures of Atlantis.

A lot of them included pictures of Elizabeth talking with someone or teams posing so she could remember them always.

John looked at the clock on the microwave wondering how much time it'd take for her to wake, but he didn't feel like waking her yet.

There was still a very important part in the Photo Album, which he was told she added later, after the occasion occurred.

They still used the pens to take pictures of the wedding, something both Carter and O'Neill caught up on, but neither of them said a thing about it.

Vala, who had been invited to the wedding, almost let it slip on one occasion, but only because Rodney refused to let her have one.

In the end, Vala got more than one pen, and further annoyed Rodney when she proved to be a better photographer than him.

John smiled at the memories before he sat down again, a new cup of coffee in his hands and the photo album open to the most beautiful picture John had ever seen.

It was perfectly placed, on the first page of the wedding, because it almost mirrored the first picture of the entire album.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John was fixing his bowtie in front of his mirror when Rodney practically shoved him out of the way; trying to see himself and fix what John joked was 'lack of hair'.

"How do I look? Oh god, you look better than me, of course you look better than me," Rodney whined.

"Rodney, I'm the one getting married, I should look better than you," John said, attempting a joke.

"Yeah well, if the universe was fair, it would give me at least one day where I look better than you," Rodney mumbled.

"It already has."

"Really?"

"Yeah," John assured him, "You just weren't there to see it."

"Of course," Rodney said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at him.

"Come on, I don't want to be late to my own wedding," John said as they headed to the door, "Elizabeth would kill me."

"Vala would kill you," Rodney added.

"True," John admitted, all aware of the fact that the woman had become the wedding planner, the 'secret' photographer and nothing far from a dictator telling every team in Atlantis to make sure nothing interrupted this day or else she'd introduce them to the definition of unimaginable pain.

Good thing Daniel had taken her out of the mess hall before they laughed at her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The wormhole had been open for almost 15 minutes now and John was very close to panicking.

The gateroom was full of chairs, all leaving a wide space in the middle where the stargate was, and on those chairs were familiar faces, most of them staff members from both Atlantis and SGC.

John stopped pacing as he tried not to count the minutes in his mind.

He guessed it had been nearly 20 minutes now, but it sure felt like more.

He also noticed, most of the wedding guests, were carrying pens.

He wondered if they knew the pens were only good for 20 clicks.

Rodney, who was standing behind him, rolled his eyes and said, "She's not having second thoughts."

"I know," John mumbled, but it didn't convince Rodney.

"I told you not to make that bet with Mitchell; he's probably just messing with you. That, or Vala's holding the bride captive until every hair on her head is counted for."

And before John could open his mouth to respond, music came from the speakers and the first person came out of the gate wearing a soft smile. It made John realize where Elizabeth got her's.

It was Elizabeth's mother.

It had been quite a battle getting Elizabeth's mother into Atlantis, the woman signed the confidentiality agreement just fine, but certain groups, including the IOA, treated the matter ungracefully, with comments like, 'Will Atlantis be opening a wedding chapel?' To which Landry responded with a smile, 'Well, if you're willing to fund it, I don't see why not.'

John had marked it as one of the best days of his life, since it was he who insisted that Elizabeth's mother be present at the wedding.

The one to marry them was actually Teal'C, who had taken a class so that he could be licensed to do this, but in truth, John had already been married to Elizabeth a day ago legally.

This... this was just, beyond laws and anything else that followed.

He just had to give her this.

Teyla emerged right after Elizabeth's mom found her chair in the front row. She looked beautiful in her bridesmaid gown that was either blue or purple, John wasn't sure, that Vala had the impeccable taste to choose, led by Ronon who simply led her to her place as the Maid of Honor and gave a grin to Rodney before he took his chair with the rest of the guests.

John felt good enough to bother Rodney now, "So, why didn't you walk down the aisle with Teyla?"

"I told you, if anything happened and I wasn't here, this whole wedding would end in a near apocalyptic event," Rodney hissed.

John grinned, "Right."

But he knew the truth. A few weeks ago Rodney had gotten the small hope that perhaps Teyla was seeing him in something other than a friendly light; until he found Ronon in her room on the night he was going to invite her to dinner.

John had never seen so many things go wrong for a guy in one day.

His thoughts were silenced when Vala appeared, wearing the same dress Teyla was wearing, but hers seemed to be modified with the whole purpose of leaving very little to the imagination, and she was being led by Daniel who had a trace of lipstick on his lower lip, the exact color Vala was wearing.

John looked back and gave Rodney a grin.

Seconds later, Samantha followed, her dress fitting her as beautifully as Teyla's, led by General O'Neill and John noticed, thanks to his extensive experience with lip gloss, that the General had something glittering on his lip that matched the glitter on Samantha's lips.

Rodney also noticed, "Oh god."

This was it. She was next. It could've been shorter, if Vala hadn't taken over as the wedding planner, they only needed one Best Man and one Maid of Honor, but Vala had said if she was going to plan the wedding, she was going to control the people.

Two small girls followed the bridesmaids, each carrying a basket of white and red rose petals, looking absolutely adorable and giving all the right smiles as they left trails of flowers behind them.

They were both Athosians because they didn't need to sign any sort of agreement, though John wondered if they had still been threatened to.

Once the music changed, to the all too familiar sound of the 'Wedding March', John straightened his posture as much as he could and tried to ignore Daniel and O'Neill as they both pointed out their interesting choice of make up.

It all stopped mattering once she stepped in through the gate, being led by General Landry and after he locked eyes with her, everything else seemed to fade away.

Vala had helped her pick the dress. He had seen it on a magazine and it did look beautiful, but now it looked like the most beautiful dress he had ever seen on a woman, only because she was wearing it.

It was a white dress, the straps meant to look like they were falling off her shoulder and John wondered if it was wrong to want to take it off her as soon as he saw her in it.

Once John saw her smile, directed only to him, all of his doubts, his concerns, his worries, seemed to fade away.

He didn't even wonder whether she'd step back at the last moment, because in her face, he saw the answer she'd have to give Teal'C.

He could read the 'I do' from her eyes.

Once General Landry gave her hand to him, he felt like everything he had thought as insane, including her (after all, she did agree to marry him), ceased to matter.

It wasn't about what was insane, what was wrong, what was right, what was stupid, what had the words 'bad idea' written all over it, but about this moment.

The one memory they would never forget and would carry with them always, the one moment when they both shared one identical thought and focused on one particular feeling.

The room seemed to fade away to John with guests from both SGC and Atlantis.

Nothing and no one mattered, just Elizabeth and him, and the time when it was his turn to say the words, 'I do.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The reception had been hosted in the mess hall, which didn't have much space for everyone, but they did all right.

Rodney was managing to drive Mitchell crazy, arguing with Zelenka next to him, making the man witness to a conversation that made little to no sense to him, but John didn't really think about saving him.

After all, if Rodney had been right, the late arrival of his bride had been his fault.

John watched as Elizabeth danced with General Landry. She looked as beautiful as John had ever seen her and what he appreciated the most, she was laughing.

"You make her happy, you know," he heard a voice say, and noticed it was her mother, who had just taken a seat behind him.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, turning so that he wouldn't be giving her his back.

"Elizabeth has always taken her job so seriously. Of course, I imagine when she had this particular job, she had no choice but to take it seriously," she said with a smile, which John mirrored, "but I can't imagine how hard it's been for her to want one thing without wanting to give up the other."

John cocked an eyebrow and he was about to ask, when Mrs. Weir, continued, "Do you really think my daughter would've given up this place without a fight," she asked with an amused expression, "My daughter has always been one to fight for what she believes in and what she wants."

"But in this particular case, she wanted this to be her home, but she also wanted someone else to be a part of it, the way only love would make him part of it."

It took John a moment to process the words, but once he did, everything fell into place for him.

The reason she didn't fight. The reason she kissed him. The reason she said yes. The reason she had finally shown him the truth, it all made sense now.

"Are you saying Elizabeth gave up Atlantis for me," John asked, pausing with every three words he said, grasping the concept, but not really wanting to accept it just yet.

"Don't look so surprised, son. From the looks of it, you didn't make the choice very difficult, now did you?" And just like that, she stepped away from the table, with a smile for John before she met her daughter on the dance floor for an embrace.

John saw General Landry offer her a dance so he took it as his chance to take Elizabeth away from there.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He didn't take her far, but to the one place that started it all.

Elizabeth leaned on the railings again, giving John a déjà vu he was all too happy to relive.

"So, Mrs. Sheppard, I hear P09-1387 is wonderful this time of year," John said leaning on the railing next to her.

"I'm sure General Landry won't mind using one of the allied planets as a honeymoon resort, given that they're considering turning Atlantis into a wedding chapel now," she smiled.

"You heard that," John asked with a grin, and she chuckling nod, "Well, they should. The way things are going, we're not going to be the last ones getting married."

"I'm sure we're not. So, about those honeymoon plans," she said, turning to look at him and once he stood upright, she put her arms around his neck as he met her gesture with his own arms around her waist.

"What about them," he asked tauntingly.

"Well, I want to go rock climbing on that planet and then we'll find a cave, settle down and never leave," she joked.

John laughed, "Sounds like a good idea to me; we'll be M.I.A., for the rest of our lives."

And that's when Elizabeth gave John the widest smile he had seen her give to anyone, ever, and for once, he was thankful to Vala, who interrupted the moment by saying, "Say cheese!" and captured it on picture.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John didn't finish his coffee, but he was now staring at the last picture on the album, one that he took himself with one of those Polaroid cameras.

He was surprised to see it at the end of the album since it had been taken merely hours ago.

Well, around 18 hours ago, when he had finally arrived from Atlantis for good.

No more, 'one week' stays. This time it'd be forever.

Five years after his wedding, John had one thing on his mind, to raise a family with Elizabeth Weir.

He wondered when she had left their bed to put the picture there, but his thoughts didn't last long after he looked at the back of the book, where his team's messages were written on.

'You are a true leader, never let anyone tell you any different.' - Ronon Dex

'We shall miss you greatly and we hope you like our gift! It was our idea, though Rodney opposed it at first, we are sure it will bring you great joy whenever you need it.' - Dr. Radek Zelenka

'It's going to be weird not having you around. I promise not to give Carter a hard time... only if she doesn't give me a hard time. Thank you for always being so understanding and, you know, for being there.' - Dr. Rodney McKay

'On behalf of me and my people, you will be greatly missed, for Atlantis would have never risen without you nor would it have stayed afloat for so long. You give your people hope and comfort with the littlest of efforts, for this, I shall remember you and respect you, always.' - Teyla Emmagan

'I hope when you read this, you're sitting somewhere comfortable and quiet. I hope wherever you go now won't make you forget about us too soon. I guess I'm hoping a lot, but what I mean to say is that I'll miss you, Elizabeth. I think I'll miss you the most.' - John

John closed the Photo Album once he felt the familiar warmth of her breathing on his neck.

"Morning," he muttered and he could feel the soft cotton of her robe wrapped around his neck.

"Good morning," she countered, with a soft smile as she kissed his cheek.

John turned his head and his lips met hers, a kiss of peace and love, like no one had ever seen or felt, but should.

When the kiss was broken, John let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"What is it," Elizabeth asked, sensing something was wrong.

"Nothing, I," he smiled, resting his cheek on hers as she remained behind him, his hand on the closed photo album.

"I still can't believe you said yes," he confessed.

He felt Elizabeth press a kiss to his temple.

"I did say yes, I do say yes, and I will always say yes, to a question involving that at least."

John laughed as he pulled her from behind him so she could sit on his lap and he covered her with his arms, holding her, as the knowledge of it all rested on every inch of her body, the taste of her lips and the feel of her hair.

She was his because she said, 'I do.'