For two months, nothing had been heard from Daniel. Sam had known that he would do all he could to save Abydos, but the fact that the planet had been destroyed, meant that Daniel couldn't, for whatever reason. It wasn't said, but it was evident that Daniel may be dead or some Ascended equivalent. There was no chance of him appearing to her as Orlin had.

They had lost Daniel so many times before, but now, this could very well be the last time. It hurt. On a personal level, she began to relive her grief of his death all over again; her best friend, her unrequited love. Love. She shook her head in disbelief as she sat up in bed one night, remarking to herself,

"You really know how to choose times to realise things, don't you, Samantha?!"

She lay back down again, clutching the sheets around her as she gazed at the phone through tear-filled eyes. He wasn't coming back. This was the end. What did it matter anyway? He had been there for Jack, for Teal'c, but not for her. She had almost died too -- on Nirrti's planet, but he hadn't been there... Why? He had apologised to her on Abydos after she had inexplicably zoned out for a few seconds, but there was no reason for his absence. Well, there was. Jack and Teal'c were his best friends - she, apparently, wasn't. In that case, how could he love her, especially after how he had behaved on Abydos?

She sniffed back more tears, and shut her eyes, just wanting him to come home again, no matter what his feelings. She wanted to find him safe and well again. If there was the smallest clue that he was still alive, still breathing, still... gazing up at huge ruins somewhere, she would give up everything just to find him. She would do that... for him, just for him. The ease that she had made those assertions to herself scared her.

Her eyes closed and she eventually fell into a fitful sleep, under the watchful gaze of Oma, who stood invisible in a corner of the room. She silently approached the slumbering form of the Astrophysicist, and leant over it, her hands hovering a few inches above Sam's forehead and chest, a glowing white light emanating from her palms. She whispered,

"The Guardian will return home to you soon. Your path is far from over."

Sam found herself standing in the middle of the plains of Abydos, the suns beating down on her. She closed her eyes, turning her face to the light and found it strange how real the heat felt. She opened her eyes and found much to her amazement and fear a shimmering ring of white and yellow light spinning around her. She spun around, fear gripping her chest and she called,

"Hello?"

A figure appeared from the light, materialising in human form, a female form to be precise. Oma stood before her, and Sam frowned in confusion. She asked,

"Oma Desala?"

Oma gazed at her for a moment as though she could see right into her mind, and then she said, "The time has not come for you and Daniel to merge paths."

Sam stared at the Ancient in disbelief before her concern for her best friend overrode everything else, and she asked, her voice frantic as she walked around Oma, "What's happened to Daniel? We haven't seen him for months..."

Oma replied, her face more sad and wistful than serene, "You will not remember this conversation, Samantha. All you will be left with is an instinct that all will resolve itself."

Sam, agitated, continued her transit around the Ancient, and Oma turned, meeting her gaze as she continued, "You are the Listener, Samantha. The Listener and the Guardian are destined to bring into the world two powerful children, the Duality. This has been known since times past. Daniel will return to you, fear not. You and the Guardian are destined for such great things, such wonderful things."

Sam paused in surprise, and she asked, not wanting to believe her inner voice, "Who... who is the Guardian?"

Sam suddenly woke up with a gasp, Daniel's name on her lips as she tried albeit unsuccessfully to recall her dream, the images just moving out of her grasp when she attempted to grab them. She peered at the LED display of her bedside clock on the nightstand, and flopped back down onto the bed when she read: 03:46. She sighed, wondering what she had dreamt and why it had left her with a feeling that all will come full circle, and also why her heart beat was racing.