The Family You Choose, by Chocolatekettle (G)
Rec Category: Cassandra Frasier
Pairing: none
Categories: Cassandra, Janet, team, gen, character study, episode related, futurefic
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: chocolatekettle
Author's Website: unknown
Link: The Family You Choose
Why This Must Be Read: Chocolatekettle gives us three birthdays that Cassie celebrated on Earth: her first one after Hanka, the first one after Heroes, and her twenty-first, which coincides with another momentous occasion. And throughout the moments of uncertainty and heartache and triumph, her adopted family - Janet and SG-1 - are there for her.
Lovely snapshots with deft characterization and tender maturity make The Family You Choose an absolute pleasure and a wonderful tribute to Cassie.
It wasn't until the next day, when Jack was sweeping her up in his usual bear hug, with Daniel and Sam grinning from behind him and all three of them chorusing, "Happy birthday, Cassie!" that she remembered that the fifteenth of June was her birthday, here.
"But we don't celebrate birthdays," she said blankly.
Voice very gentle, Jack said, "We, Cass?"
She realised, with a sudden rush of guilt and grief, that she hadn't said "we" and meant her own people in months. She hadn't thought "home" and meant "Hanka" in months. She wriggled until Jack put her down, and pushed past Janet to get outside. Teal'c stepped out of her way, then he caught the door as it swung back and followed her out to the porch.
"Are you well, Cassandra?"
Cassie sat scrunched up on the first step. "We don't celebrate birthdays. What's the point? You're alive before you're born and you don't remember being born so it's just another day. And why would you use it to say how old you are? I'm not a year older today than I was yesterday. It doesn't make sense. We celebrate life at the turn of the season and I know how old I am because of how many seasons I've lived. And the seasons are different here but I should remember because I'm the only one left and I have to remember!"
Teal'c sat down cross-legged beside her. "On Chulak, we do not celebrate the day of our birth either. The Tau'ri have strange customs, Cassandra, they are a strange people. Sometimes we do not understand them and sometimes they do not understand us. But I have found a home and a family here. We wish only to provide the same for you."
She blinked back tears. "But I should remember."
"Yes. We do not wish you to forget your parents. But we are here and they are not. I believe O'Neill would call it 'Plan B'."
Cassie leaned against Teal'c and thought about this for a while. "Yeah," she said eventually, "ok. Plan B."
Pairing: none
Categories: Cassandra, Janet, team, gen, character study, episode related, futurefic
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: chocolatekettle
Author's Website: unknown
Link: The Family You Choose
Why This Must Be Read: Chocolatekettle gives us three birthdays that Cassie celebrated on Earth: her first one after Hanka, the first one after Heroes, and her twenty-first, which coincides with another momentous occasion. And throughout the moments of uncertainty and heartache and triumph, her adopted family - Janet and SG-1 - are there for her.
Lovely snapshots with deft characterization and tender maturity make The Family You Choose an absolute pleasure and a wonderful tribute to Cassie.
It wasn't until the next day, when Jack was sweeping her up in his usual bear hug, with Daniel and Sam grinning from behind him and all three of them chorusing, "Happy birthday, Cassie!" that she remembered that the fifteenth of June was her birthday, here.
"But we don't celebrate birthdays," she said blankly.
Voice very gentle, Jack said, "We, Cass?"
She realised, with a sudden rush of guilt and grief, that she hadn't said "we" and meant her own people in months. She hadn't thought "home" and meant "Hanka" in months. She wriggled until Jack put her down, and pushed past Janet to get outside. Teal'c stepped out of her way, then he caught the door as it swung back and followed her out to the porch.
"Are you well, Cassandra?"
Cassie sat scrunched up on the first step. "We don't celebrate birthdays. What's the point? You're alive before you're born and you don't remember being born so it's just another day. And why would you use it to say how old you are? I'm not a year older today than I was yesterday. It doesn't make sense. We celebrate life at the turn of the season and I know how old I am because of how many seasons I've lived. And the seasons are different here but I should remember because I'm the only one left and I have to remember!"
Teal'c sat down cross-legged beside her. "On Chulak, we do not celebrate the day of our birth either. The Tau'ri have strange customs, Cassandra, they are a strange people. Sometimes we do not understand them and sometimes they do not understand us. But I have found a home and a family here. We wish only to provide the same for you."
She blinked back tears. "But I should remember."
"Yes. We do not wish you to forget your parents. But we are here and they are not. I believe O'Neill would call it 'Plan B'."
Cassie leaned against Teal'c and thought about this for a while. "Yeah," she said eventually, "ok. Plan B."