Title: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Summary: Vala remembers fun times with Daniel and her friends while making a scrapbook.

Rating: K-T

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing.

Picture 3: Girls' Day Out

Vala smiled as she pulled out a thin strip of photos, the kind you get from photo booths at the mall, of her and Sam being silly on their day off.

Vala was sitting with Daniel in his office when Sam found her.

"Vala, Daniel, hello." She smiled at them as she made her way into his office.

Daniel barely looked up from his work. "Hi."

Vala grinned at her blonde friend and hopped off of Daniel's desk. "Hey Sam, what's up?"

Sam was holding several ads in her hands and she held them out for Vala to take. "I was thinking that you and I could have a girls' day out tomorrow. There are several stores having sales and we haven't been able to hang out together, just us girls, lately."

Vala grabbed the ads and immediately went to the Victoria's Secret one and flipped through it. A sly smile played across her face. She peeked over at Daniel and he looked over at her and blushed when he saw the ad in her hand.

"I'd love to go. We have some definite catching up to do!"

The two made plans for the next day to go to the mall and have lunch together.

The following afternoon, Vala and Sam collapsed onto some chairs in the food court and began unwrapping their burgers.

They had already visited several stores and needed sustenance before continuing.

Vala took a big bite of her burger, overflowing with cheese and toppings. "Mmm, after that little shopping spree, this burger tastes exceptionally delicious."

Sam nodded and took another bite of her own burger.

The two at in silence for a few moments until Sam put her burger down and looked over at Vala with a wry grin on her face. "So, spill."

Vala looked down at her hot pink tank top and wiped aimlessly at it before looking at her friend in confusion. "I didn't spill anything."

Sam burst out laughing. "No, it's just an expression. I meant to ask what has been going on."

"With what?"

Sam rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "With you and Daniel silly!"

Vala felt herself blush a little. She did not blush very often and she knew that Sam had to have noticed. "Umm...nothing."

The blonde wasn't so easily fooled. "Then why are you turning red? Come on, you can tell me..."

Vala sighed. "I'm not sure what you want to know."

"I saw you two leave the base together late last night. What was that all about?"

Vala smiled at her memory. "Oh, that, right. Well, I was up helping Daniel categorize artifacts late into the night and we both got really hungry. I suggested we go down to the commissary to get some food, but Daniel wanted to go to some diner nearby instead."

Sam nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"So he took me to the diner and we ate a massive amount of food," Vala giggled before continuing. "Anyway, we just ate and talked for hours, it was really nice. When we realized how late it was, we headed back to the base."

Sam frowned. "That's it?"

Vala smirked back at her. "I'm not done yet. When we got back, Daniel walked me to the door to my quarters and when I tried to close the door he caught it and asked to come in."

Sam practically jumped up from the table. "You had sex with him!" She pointed an accusatory finger at her friend.

Vala shook her head. "No, no we didn't. I mean, it's not like I don't want to, but there is no need to rush it."

Sam settled back down. "I see. So what did happen then?"

"Well when he asked to come in I was confused. I really didn't know what was going on. When I looked over at him, he an odd look in his eyes, like he was fighting some inner turmoil or something. After a long moment, he pulled me into a strong hug and when he pulled away he, uh, kissed me."

Sam grinned at her, but then frowned a bit. "Wait, kissed you how? Like a chaste friendly kiss on the cheek? Or a real kiss on the lips?"

Vala felt her blush deepen. "A real kiss. I mean that's how I took it. It didn't last too long, but it was sweet and tender and he smiled when he broke it off."

"So, are you guys like a couple now?" Sam leaned over and looked at Vala expectantly.

"Umm, well, I don't know. After the kiss, he just smiled and said goodnight and I haven't seen him since."

"Well, it seems as if maybe he is finally coming around. I will talk to him for you if you would like."

Vala nodded. "Please do, I'm very confused as to what to think."

The two finished their burgers and went on to do several hours more of shopping.

Vala dragged Sam into Victoria's Secret. "Come on Sam, if there is possibly going to be something between me and Daniel, I need some sexy lingerie."

Sam rolled her eyes but let Vala lead her into the store.

Vala roamed around, looking for the just the right items. After trying on about five different lingerie sets, she decided on a dark crimson, lace covered one. She smiled to herself, hoping that she would be able to show it off to Daniel soon.

After she had decided, Vala forced Sam to get something nice as well. Sam finally settled on a pretty blue set, too modest for Vala's taste, but nice all the same.

Exhausted, the pair decided to head out. As they neared the exit, Vala saw the photo booth.

"Sam! Let's get some pictures taken!"

Sam laughed and agreed and they stuffed themselves into the tiny booth.

Vala and Sam had had a great time together that day. They had shopped, ate, laughed, and gossiped.

As she looked over the photo strip, Vala smiled at their pictures.

The first was the pair with nice, normal smiles on their faces. In the next one, they were making goofy faces. The third one was of the two of them holding up their purchases from Victoria's Secret and the last one was the ladies with their arms around each other in a sisterly side hug.

Vala was extremely grateful to have a good friend like Sam.

Pic 3 complete. If anyone has any ideas of a photo they would like to see me write about I appreciate all suggestions! I just might use some of them!

-J