Chapter 3: Gifts and Gravity
Skaara did in fact sleep soundly the rest of the night. When she woke at dawn, like always, she felt the distance between her memories and her conscious mind had grown enough for her to go out into the village for her day.
She trained for an hour outside her home, Ari'ii watching and correcting her as needed, then went down to the river to wash her hair of the sweat and dirt her daily training always brought. She liked the river for it's calming noise and the cool, leafy trees overhead. It had been her sanctuary for many years, ever since she struggled to learn Kel-no-Reem and found it much easier with the tumbling waters nearby.
Letting the cold waters wash over her hair and trickle down her neck made Skaara shiver a bit, but was still pleasant. She stood from the waters, wringing the excess water from her hair before grabbing the small towel she'd brought with her.
The sun was reaching it's zenith when she was coming down the hill towards her village. Skaara smiled, spotting her Ari'ii near the market. Her smile grew even wider when she realized who he was talking to: a slim raven haired woman and a man dressed in the clothing of an Abydosian. Uncle Daniel. And Aunt Vala.
"Kel Shak, Daniel?! Vala!" She called, breaking into a run as they turned towards her. She practically flew into Daniel's arms. He laughed and held her tight for a moment before letting her go, keeping a grip on her arms.
"Wow. Look at you!"
She quirked an eyebrow, taking in his weather beaten face, scars, and the way his poor glasses were slightly cracked around the edges, "I could say the same for you, Uncle. Tell me, what Satra Pit spit you out?," she replied. Daniel laughed again, shaking his head.
"Spoken like a Jaffa," he said, before his wife shoved him out of the way and took both Skaara's hands in hers.
"Missed you, darling," she kissed Skaara's cheeks," you're mother would love how strong you've become."
"I too have missed you, Vala," Skaara said with a small smile. She really had missed them both. For a long time she'd wondered if they were even alive. But other than the rough look to both of them, plus Vala's abnormally frazzled hair, they were real and alive before her. Skaara looked at her Ari'ii, who had not let more than a smirk cross his lips, but whose face was brighter than it had been in years.
"We were just telling Teal'c about the state of things out there," she jerked her thumb up to the sky.
"Again, Aunt Vala, Kel shek? How?"
"Innocuous cargo ship. Ba'al wants to be a different sort of Goa'uld warlord, so he's not blowing up without probable cause. Which reminds me, I got you presents!"
Skaara had to laugh again, joined by Daniel's hefty sigh.
"Vala, what did I say about stealing?"
"What?" Vala asked, looking up at him while she dug through the pack at her feet," They're Goa'uld, Daniel, what do they need gold and jewels for? Or silk?" She pulled a long silk robe from the drab woven pack and put it over Skaara's shoulder. It was a gorgeous deep blue color, dotted with golden thread and tiny bits of glimmering red stones. Skaara fingered the material, obligingly putting her arms through both sleeves and adjusting the attached green sash. Vala stood back a moment to see how it looked near her and clapped her hands.
"Perfect. Knew the color was spot on. And you say I have no sense, Daniel."
Daniel sighed. He was always sighing at his wife for one thing or another in the memories Skaara could recall without pain, memories from their life here.
"I don't doubt you're fashion sense, Vala, I doubt your common sense."
Vala pouted, so Skaara rushed to thank her. It was really nothing a Jaffa would enjoy, but there was still a part of Skaara that liked to imitate Taur'i girls. In the few years Vala and Daniel had been with them daily, the former had shown her the dazzling collection of gold, silver, and unidentifiable jewelry her own father had brought as gifts between his schemes, gifting them and subsequent treasures to her whenever they met. Taur'i women wore similar things, she'd told Skaara.
"Skaara Sha're, it is nearing time for your Kel No Reem. We will meet you for afternoon meal when we are done discussing news," Ari'ii said, breaking her train of thought. She bristled inwardly, knowing a dismissal when she saw one, but kept her face carefully molded into an expression of pleasant serenity.
"Very well. See you all later," she replied to both Daniel and Vala's suddenly grave faces.
Walking away, it took all she had not to angrily return and demand to hear news of the wider universe. Of all the things in her life that were barred by rules and rituals, the one that gave parents, or in her case godfather, the right to control their children's actions until seventeen chaffed the most. It would be three months until that day for her, but it did not stop her from resenting it. After a moment, however, she smiled. She had barely convinced her Ari'ii to allow her the tattoo of the free Jaffa, once used as the mark of Apophis.
She rubbed over the tattoo on her forehead, so much a part of her. A mark she'd never have had if the very man her family had most likely began discussing once she left not conquered the Taur'i.
Skaara lifted the pot of water onto the fire, listening as the hiss of steam from the pot's bottom filled her ears. Quickly, she added the herbs that would need to boil with the water in order to ensure it's purity.
Ari'ii, and her aunt and uncle should be there soon, having discussed what was necessary to the Resistance of the now universal SGC. The small tent home was calm, the afternoon wind gently fluttering the door flaps as it would it's was through the openings that served as windows. It was one of the nicer afternoons she'd experienced on the planet, the weather often being so erratic that Daniel had jokingly called the planet "California" and insisted that "with aliens'' was an entirely unnecessary addition.
She stood from the fire, stretching her legs. Grabbing a piece of cloth from the wire hanging over the hearth, she made her way outside to gather up some of the tomatoes whose seeds Daniel had brought and Ari'ii had tended into plants. They would taste good with the pheasant-like meat Ari'ii had procured the day before and smoked outside.
A shadow flicked overhead, in the form of a diving bird, as Skaara bent down over the tomato plants that grew along the front of their dwelling. It was not until the shockwave knocked her onto her back that she realized a bird was not the only thing that would make a crescent . Rolling onto her side, her breath caught in her throat as dust kicked up from the Glider made her choke.
Above, the silver Goa'uld ship pounded a few more shots into the center of the village. Ten years of hiding were over.
All Skaara could do was stare.
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kel shak / kel shek An interrogative greeting; no direct translation, but along the lines of "How are you here?" or "What are you doing