5. Light a Single Candle and Remember Me

Title: Light a Single Candle and Remember Me
Author: Ladyholder
Series Order: None
Banner Art: None
Pairings: None
Word Count: 375
Rating: PG
Betas: None
Warnings: Mentions of Deaths
Summary: It happened every year in Atlantis. The date changed slightly from year to year, but on the shortest day of the year, as day changed to night, her population gathered in the Gateroom and the PuddleJumper Bay.

It happened every year in Atlantis. The date changed slightly from year to year, but on the shortest day of the year, as day changed to night, her population gathered in the Gateroom and the PuddleJumper Bay. In every hand there was a candle and all of them were lit. No one spoke as each person watched the light dim outside her stained glass windows and the room fade until only the light of the candles pierced the gloom.

Over four hundred people stood together in silence. And then the first voice spoke:

“Colonel Marshall Sumner, USMC.” Lt. Colonel John Sheppard said. His voice was quiet with years of regret and acceptance colored the words. This gathering was the only time anyone ever heard him acknowledge how much he still felt about his actions.

“Corporal Michael Henderson, USMC. Private Andrew Wheeler, USMC.” The names were quietly said by Dr. Elizabeth Weir. They had been the first of her personnel to fall to the Genii, but not unfortunately, the last.

“Dr. Paul Abrams, PhD. Dr. Brandon Gaul, PhD. Atlantis science team.” Bitter anger and unshed grief filled the voice of Dr. Rodney McKay and the memory of their deaths always seemed to sit heavily upon him. But then, the death of any of his minions bothered the scientist.

Voices are lifted one by one as each member of the gathering each lists Atlantis’s dead. Johnson, Wagner, Hays, Ford, Charin, Griffin. The list marched on. There was no rhyme or reason as to who spoke up or even when, but over the course of the night, all of the dead were named. And each, mourned.

As the last name was spoken, the members of the Expedition fell silent. No one left the room, and all of them turned their eyes back to the stained glass windows at the top of the Gateroom stairs. The night had passed, the dead were honored once more. And with the rising sun, each person, each member of the extended family that Atlantis had become, blew out their candle and moved to meet the new day. For while there were people living in their Ancient city, they would remember, because no one was forgotten here, no one was forever lost to time.