Home For Christmas

By Kyizi

For Disclaimer etc, see Part 1

Feedback: Is a gift, it's nice to give :)

E-mail: kyizifanfic

~x~x~x~x~x~

Part Seven

~x~x~x~x~x~

Aeryn sat on her bed, replaying the events of the day in her mind. She looked down at the dress she was still wearing as a sentence rang out, over and over in her mind.

"You have a good soul, Aeryn Sun"

~x~x~x~x~x~

John had just taken his shirt off and was smiling to himself as he thought of the confused look on Aeryn's face as she had tried to decipher the look on his face as he had left for Pilot's chamber. He was about to get into bed when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw Aeryn standing in his doorway. Still wearing his mother's dress.

God she looks beautiful.

"Hey."

He smiled as she greeted him and replied, "Hey."

"I couldn't sleep." This caused his small smile to spread into a large grin.

"Um, Aeryn. You haven't gotten undressed yet. You couldn't have tried very hard."

She blushed as she realized she had been sprung. "I-I um…" She stopped and smiled at him. "I wanted to be with you."

He smiled at her as they crossed the room to meet each other. He pulled her close to him so that they were literally millimetres away from each other. "Anytime baby." He closed the small gap separating them and she felt her whole body go up in flames. As he tightened his grip around her, she made a silent wish…that she would feel like this again. That she would never be alone again. That he would always be there for her, like he had promised he would.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Aeryn looked up at the sleeping form of John and smiled to herself.

He is so beautiful

She pulled herself closer to him.

"I love you, John." She whispered. And closed her eyes, oblivious to John's eyes opening as he tried not to alert her to the fact he was awake.

~x~x~x~x~x~

"WAKE UP, EVERYONE!"

Lucy's voice rang out over the comm. system.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS. COME OPEN YOUR PRESENTS!"

There were annoyed replies from everyone as John groaned. "I can't believe it. She's nineteen years old and she still gets up at the crack of dawn on Christmas." He looked down to his chest where he felt the weight of Aeryn's head.

"Morning, you."

Aeryn smiled as her eyes slowly opened. She was lying next to John. Actually she was half lying on top of John. She smiled as she remembered the night before and looked up at him. "Morning." She pulled herself up so that their heads were at the same level. They smiled at each other and Aeryn pulled herself on top of him so that she was looking down into his eyes.

She leaned in and kissed him gently as he inwardly argued with himself about whether or not he should let her know he had heard her last night. As she pulled away she saw in John's face that something was wrong.

"What is it?" she asked.

He sighed unsure of whether or not to proceed. "Aeryn…"

"What?"

"I heard you…last night…when you said…when you said that you loved me."

She looked away and then pulled herself off of him.

"I'm…I'm sorry I…I thought you were asleep."

"Did you mean it?"

"I'm sorry, I obviously took this to be something it wasn't, I'll go." She went to stand up but he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a passionate embrace that was so intense, she felt that time itself had stopped. As they pulled apart she slowly opened her eyes and when she did, she was looking straight into his. They were smiling.

"I love you too…Aeryn."

"WOULD YOU GUYS HURRY UP AND GET DOWN HERE!"

~x~x~x~x~x~

There was laughter as Rygel tried to figure out exactly what he was supposed to do with the strange stick that Lucy had given him for Christmas.

"It's a lightsaber, Sparky." Lucy said through fits of giggles.

"Well what the frell am I supposed to do with it?" This only caused Lucy and John to laugh even harder. They had been in Pilot's chamber since Lucy had woken them in the middle of their sleep. Zhaan had done quite well in creating a Christmas feel to the place and they had opened most of their presents. John and Aeryn had finally arrived and everyone had exchanged amused glances when they noticed that Aeryn was wearing another pair of John's Calvin's (not the ones that Chiana had washed and wrapped for her Christmas!) and the shirt he had been wearing the night before.

~x~x~x~x~x~

John looked at Aeryn, who was sitting in front of him, leaning back into him. The others were all laughing and talking as Lucy tried to explain the concept of lightsabers to them.

"Merry Christmas, baby." He said to her as he produced the small package that his father had given him. She smiled back at him as she opened it. Inside was a small gold heart on the end of a fine golden chain.

"It's a locket," he explained and opened it. "You put pictures in it of the people you love. It was my mom's. She had a picture of herself in one side and my dad in the other. But he took them out and kept them. He wanted me to give it to you."

There was a pause before Aeryn looked at him again and smiled. "Where do we get these pictures from then? And when can we get them taken?"

They smiled at each other as John felt at home for the first time in months. He was happy. Lucy had given him a small piece of his home and brought it to Moya for him and he made a mental note to thank her. John smiled as he helped Aeryn put on the necklace.

Everything's perfect. For the first time in ages, I feel content, happy even.

"NO!" John looked over at Lucy in alarm. She looked white.

"What is it, Luce?"

"We're going in the wrong direction."

"What do you mean, Miss Crichton?" Pilot looked confused. "We have no destination."

"No. I-I have to leave." Everyone looked around at each other as Lucy stood. With tears in her eyes, she looked at John. "I'm sorry Johnny, but I have to go."

~x~x~x~x~x~

They were all in the docking bay as Lucy prepared to leave. She had just finished her goodbye to Pilot and looked around awkwardly at the others, unsure of what to do next.

"Oh I almost forgot. Here you go, Johnny." She reached down the ground and picked up a large cardboard box and handed it to him.

"What is it?"

"Some of your stuff. You know books, some clean clothes, underwear." She looked pointedly at Aeryn who blushed. "Oh, and your Clint Eastwood poster. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

She turned to Rygel and Chiana.

"Well Sparky, don't over do things with your new toy and Chiana, I hope it wasn't too hard to get used to yet another one of us Crichton's"

"Yeah well, you're easier to get along with than him."

"You mean she's as tactless as you."

"Hey." They both shot a glare his way.

"Oh and D'Argo." Lucy turned to him. "I forgot to give you your present. Here you go."

She handed him a small data chip.

"What is it?"

"I didn't realize right away, that's why I'm only giving it to you now." He looked at her in confusion. "Don't ask me now. Just look at it later." She turned to Zhaan and the others all took a step away. "I wish I could have gotten to know you better."

Zhaan smiled at her. "As do I."

Lucy held her breath as Zhaan leaned towards her and gently kissed her on the lips.

"Ew, gross"

"Chiana!"

As Zhaan made her way to D'Argo, Aeryn and John walked, hand in hand towards her.

"It was nice to meat you, Lucy."

"You too, Airin." They hugged and Lucy said, "Oh and keep an eye on Johnny for me. I'm surprised he's lived this long. He has a knack for pissing people off!"

"Hey, frell you!"

"Wait a minute we speak the same language and these translators still block out the swear words! Jeez this is like listnin' to a film on the BBC!"

"I won't pretend to have a clue what she's going on about." Aeryn smiled. "Goodbye, Lucy" She walked to the others, squeezing John's hand as she went.

"I like her."

"Hey she's mine!"

Lucy swiped him on the arm and then smiled at him. "I guess this is goodbye then, Johnny."

"I guess so." They smiled at each other. "Come here gorgeous." He picked her up and hugged her, just like he had done when they had first seen each other in the bar down on the planet.

"Thanks, Luce."

"What for?" They pulled apart.

He looked back at Aeryn and smiled.

"For bringing me home…for Christmas."

~x~x~x~x~x~

THE END

This may have a sequel, so look out for "Strange Coincidences" should I get around to it!

Feedback is a precious gift, but bear in mind that this was the first fanfic I ever wrote! Wow, just realised I wrote this about 3 or 4 years ago and hey, look at me now, haven't stopped since! ;p