Category: Romance Jonas/Other
Spoilers: Season 6 especially Frozen, Shadowplay and Abyss
Rating: G/U
Summary: A short Christmas piece.
Notes: This is a stand-alone story but it does feature my original character Antonia who has appeared in my other stories.
This Story is dedicated to the following people:
My fellow Jonas fan Meesh, for her excellent taste. :-)
Mac, for all his friendship and support.
And my wonderful Son David, for putting up with his weird mother ;-)
Friendship is a precious gift. To give at Christmas time. A Cherished gift, a treasured gift that lasts through all time. ~ Source Unknown
"Last Christmas I gave you my heart…."
"Damn you Daniel Jackson, " Antonia muttered as she reached over with her hand and silenced the radio. Yeah, last Christmas she had given her heart, and she didn't need George Michaels' seasonal song to remind her. It would be easier to listen to it if this year she had given it to someone better, but she was alone.
Doctor Antonia Richards, Archaeologist and member of Stargate Command was driving to her home in Colorado Springs; she swung the car round the final intersection and pulled up outside her apartment block.
The empty apartment increased her sense of loneliness and she shivered in the cold. The timer for the heating was set for three hours later, she was supposed to be spending the evening with Teal'c and Jonas eating pizza and watching the DVD of the latest Star Wars film. But SG-1 were delayed off world, so she ate a solitary meal in the SGC commissary and headed home.
Though this bare apartment was hardly home just a place to crash and sleep. She checked her mail, two bits of junk and something for the previous tenant. While she waited for coffee to filter through the machine, she booted up her PC and checked her email, more junk and an online history newsletter she subscribed to, nothing personal.
Antonia surfed the web for awhile idly glancing at airline tickets, would she be able to book a flight to London this close to Christmas? Not that London felt any more like home, it was simply a place that wouldn't remind her of Daniel.
Why on earth, had she come back to the SGC? Antonia sighed; she knew the answer to her own question, because nothing else would ever compare to the experiences she had there.
She should have been working on the huge new Roman dig in Wiltshire, she was all set to go when Sam called her and told her of the body in the ice in Antarctica, Antonia didn't hesitate she returned to the SGC immediately. The work was fascinating always had been, yet the loneliness the aching longing for Daniel still got to her at times. She was cross with him, he'd left her, ascended and if Jack was to be believed he wasn't coming back, ever. Did Jack really see Daniel in that cell or was it a by-product of the awful experience he had?
Well whatever The Colonel had witnessed, Daniel certainly wasn't around anymore and another Christmas song echoed in her head, "It'll be lonely this Christmas…"
The coffee was ready so she poured herself a cup and switched on the TV; idling flicking the controls on the remote, but nothing caught her interest. As despondent apathy began to take hold the doorbell rang.
Behind the door, almost completely hidden behind a six foot pine tree was Jonas. Antonia simply stared at the incongruous sight, until his warm smile made her smile too. She held the door open and he carried the foliage to a corner of the room, leaving a trail of pine needles in his wake, then returned and retrieved a box from the landing.
"Jonas, What?…"
"I've been reading about Christmas and you didn't have a tree so…."
He rummaged in the box and produced a stand, opened the legs and then set the tree upright in it.
"There…now we can decorate it, I purchased a selection of ornaments," he pulled out a pack of gold Christmas balls and hung one on the nearest branch.
Antonia began to laugh, the whole situation was so amusing, an alien from another planet, another time and culture wanted to decorate her Christmas tree.
It was Jonas' turn to look puzzled, "Toni?"
"I'm sorry, it's just…"
"…Just that I knew you were down and not going to bother with what is one of the major Holidays, and so when we got back early from the mission after all… " He looked in the box and pulled out a small Santa toy, the red hat was decorated with a bell. Jonas shook the toy and the bell rang, " This stuff is so much fun!"
She nodded, Christmas was fun, and Jonas was fun, he found delight in every new experience. She reached out and stopped his hand as he started to hang another bauble. " We have to do this properly. Fairy lights first."
"Fairy lights?"
She knelt down and looked in the box, " Here we are," she said handing him the box of coloured tree lights. "They go on first, then we can hang the ornaments so they catch the light!"
Some time later the tree was trimmed, Jonas really had brought something of everything and unlike the colour matched symmetrical design she had put up the previous year it was unique and original, just like him.
Only one thing remained to add the topmost decoration, there was a large gold star or an angel doll.
Jonas held one in each hand, silently asking Antonia to choose. The Angel was pretty, a baby-faced doll with a white embroidered dress, but looking into Jonas' eyes she knew which one to choose.
"The star please", she told him.
He climbed up the stepladder and added the finishing touch.
Antonia turned off the main light and they stood silently for a second admiring their handiwork as the lights flashed on and off in random patterns, reflecting off the shimmering baubles. She turned toward him, smiling " Thank you! That was fun."
His look said " I told you so" but he didn't voice it, "Why did you choose the star?" he asked.
" Do you know the Tarot?"
" Yes I've read about it."
" The Star is a card of hope, means that there could be new possibilities. A new beginning." She explained.
"I understand."
The next part was going to be hard, Antonia thought, what if she hadn't read the situation correctly? However, she knew she'd regret it if she didn't act. Jonas was a good friend, over the last few months, they worked together, they had laughed together and always seemed to be eating together. And tonight when she was at her lowest, he was here, his warm eyes smiling at her with something more than friendship?
She took his hand in hers, her voice was a little wobbly as she spoke but she managed to get the words out, "I want that new beginning to be with you."
Jonas' reply seemed to take forever, she braced herself for rejection; nothing was lost they would still be friends. His free hand stroked her cheek, "I could have gone back to Kelowna, Valis offered me a full pardon and my old position at the academy. Apart from the fact that I no longer have any faith in my government, there were two very important things here on Earth that I didn't want to give up. My place on SG-1 and…" he paused and placed his hands on her shoulders, " you Toni."
She tried to speak but no words came and it didn't matter because she was in Jonas' embrace and surrendering herself to his kiss.
The song that irritated her so much earlier was now a joyful anthem…
"Last Christmas
I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special"
© Katana 2002