Fandom: Stargate SG-1
AU: Born a Queen
Word Count: 543
Characters: Baal, Bra’tac, Daniel Jackson, Lilith (OC)
Lilith leaves Earth to return to her father one final time.
Lilith stands straight as she can, watching the chappa’ai spin, the coordinates familiar as her own name. Not home, but a safe enough place to pass from the hands of the tau’ri to those of her father. A last exchange, a last goodbye to those she has come to count as family, though she still finds Earth wanting compared to home.
“What are you thinking about?” Dan’yel is kind enough to speak goa’uld with her, though he is the only one to do so even now. He’s also taught her other languages, a tactic of diplomacy she has come to appreciate.
“That I will not return to Earth again as hostage.” Lilith tilts her chin up as the wormhole flares before stabilizing in the center of the chappa’ai, a blue welcome that beckons on to home. “If I return, it will be as a Queen treating with allies.”
She pauses, turning to look over her shoulder at the window above the control center. General Hammond, standing at the center among others who have come to see her off on this last journey. Waiting a long moment, words caught in her throat before she manages to speak, voice steadier than she’d expected it to be. “I will miss you.”
Turning back to face the chappa’ai, Lilith takes a deep breath, waiting for the marines who always accompany them to send back the all-clear before she steps onto the ramp, counting the seconds to keep from running like an undignified child to the path to home.
On the other side, her father waits with his own entourage, and the leaders of the planet make a third party to this exchange. J’affa, who have a vested interest in the continuing circumspection by her father, and in what ceremony might accompany this last fraught visit here.
Meeting the gaze of the old man who is the leader of the j’affa, she tilts her head in a greeting of equals. “Master Bra’tac. You have my thanks for offering this place as neutral ground between my father and the tau’ri. I shall not forget your kindness, nor the generosity of the j’affa who opened their home to a great risk in allowing this.”
Bra’tac smiles a little, though it holds no more warmth than is diplomatic. He could act the indulgent uncle when she was younger, and the tau’ri had come before her father arrived. She will miss that closeness, even as she uses the lessons that it had taught her. A sacrifice to the role she had been created to fill, and has looked forward to even as a child.
“You are welcome for the place and the time, Lady Lilith. May our paths never cross in battle.” His smile widens a little at the end, and Lilith nods in silent assent. She hopes it is a promise she can fill, to never bring war to the doorstep of the free j’affa.
Turning away from Bra’tac, she smiles widely, though she keeps her steps measured, counting silently once more. “Father.”
Baal is watching her with pride, his hands clasped behind him as he waits for her to stop in front of him. Taking her hands when she offers them, studying her for a long moment. “Welcome home.”
There's a Mirror on the Wall 