Chapter Twenty-Two

He had missed this.

After avoiding Vala the last few days they were on Earth before heading for the Ori galaxy, he had missed spending time with Alora and was relishing doing so now, but it was different watching Alora now. Since she had lost the knowledge, the conversations he used to have with her were no longer the same – obviously. While she may not have always listened to him prattle on, he always knew she understood him, he somehow always felt that side of her, and now she didn't, and it was weird. But it didn't make his time with her any less special and he wouldn't trade these moments with her for anything.

As he worked, he talked to her like he normally did, telling her all about their adventures to the Ori galaxy and how they had slayed the evil enemy, embellishing for the child's sake. She just wiggled and kicked her legs at his enthusiasm, and it never failed to make him smile.

"And just with one look into the Ark, the truth was made known and it spread throughout the galaxy in an instant, freeing everyone from the Ori's power," he finished dramatically, invoking a squeal from her, "It's over, we won, and you're safe. Now, we can focus on giving you a good childhood here on Earth without worrying about anyone trying to take you," he said, mainly to himself, and grabbed her finger, "Before we know it, you'll be all grown up," he said wistfully.

She squealed again and kicked out her legs.

Daniel smiled at her and pure love for this little girl swept over him. "I love you, you know that?" he murmured to her, "I know you don't understand me anymore, but I love you, sweetheart. You and your mom have become so important to me, more than I thought possible."

Alora reached out and snagged his finger again.

Vala sat on her bed with Alora as she talked to her. "It's too late to go see Daniel now, darling, he needs to rest," she told her daughter, "Besides, we can't count on him in that way."

Alora appeared to have shown Vala something.

"Because Daniel's not ready for that type of commitment and I don't think he'll ever be," she explained softly to the baby, "Sha're left a deep wound on him, and he probably will never get over her," she gave her daughter a bitter smile. "I know, sweetheart," she murmured softly, "I love him too, but it's not meant to be. He doesn't care for me like that, and we can't wait around forever – I can't. It's too hard, my love."

Daniel blinked after the scene ended in his mind. It took him a second to realize that Alora shouldn't have been able to show him that at all since she was supposed to have lost the knowledge and ability to communicate in that way – so how was this possible, how'd she do it, and more importantly, why was she showing him this? What was he saying, of course he knew why she did – it just caught him off guard, like always. For a child, only a few months old no less, she was quite intelligent and not to mention intuitive, and he was unnerved again by the uniqueness that was Alora Mal Doran.

He jumped up from his chair and stared down at the baby, deep in thought. "You must've been saving that for some time, huh?" he mused, "You must've held onto whatever power you had left just to show me that at the precise moment, didn't you?"

He swore he saw something happen to her eyes. They appeared to have flashed, similar to the Goa'uld, taking on a fiery orange color, before fading back into her brilliant brown eyes – eyes that no longer seemed as intelligent as they once had been. He had never noticed it before, but as he looked into them now, they really did look like they were missing something, that spark of intelligence, and maybe this meant that Alora really had lost everything for reals this time– no more surprises, just simply human now.

Then again, they had already assumed that…but it seemed final this time, especially with the whole flashing of the eyes thing.

"I know you probably don't understand me anymore, but I promise you that it won't be for nothing," he vowed, "Now, let's go find Aunt Sam, hmm?"

Daniel wasted no time in finding his friend and she was right where he suspected she'd be. "Sam, I need a favor," he blurted out the moment he stepped into her office.

o0o

He didn't know what he was going to say, he hadn't thought that far in advance. What could he say – your daughter showed me a scene in which you admitted that you love me? Yeah, he didn't think that would go over very well…

He also hadn't even had time to contemplate what that scene Alora showed him meant to him, he kind of just reacted and headed straight for Vala, but it was too late now, he had already knocked and before he could even consider bolting, Vala opened and gave him a surprised look.

"Darling," she greeted before frowning, "Where's my daughter?"

He jerked a thumb behind him. "Sam has her," he replied before hesitantly asking, "Can I come in?"

She opened the door wider. "Sure," she granted, sounding confused. She shut the door once he was in and went back to the bed where piles of clothes laid neatly folded, "Did you need something?"

Daniel didn't answer but instead, stared at what she was doing.

"Darling?" she inquired when he stayed silent, "What's wrong?"

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded instead, his voice raising as he spoke.

Vala squared her shoulders, standing up straighter, and mentally prepared herself for a fight. "Packing," she answered gently, hoping to keep things calm, "Well, mainly figuring out what I should take with us, but Packing nonetheless."

"Like hell you are!" he practically shouted, "You're not going anywhere!"

Guess they were going to do this the hard way. "You have no say in this," she told him firmly, but softly, "and it's time, Daniel."

"You can't leave!"

"You can't stop!" she snapped as she started to lose her patience, "This is my decision."

"Vala – "

"No, Daniel!" she cut him off, "I told you from the beginning that once the knowledge was gone and she was safe that we would be leaving. That's happened, it's all over, we've won, and now it's time for me to leave."

"So you're just going to run away?" he challenged, "You can't keep doing that, you made a decision to stop running."

"Did I?" she shot back, "Funny, I don't remember making that decision."

He took a second before he spoke again. "Don't run, please," he pleaded, "Don't leave, this is your home."

She smiled sadly at him. "I don't have a home," she argued gently, "and I can't stay where I'm not wanted."

"You are wanted!" he insisted, "I want you here!"

"Daniel, I annoy you, I infuriate you, and you can't stand me," she refuted.

He let that sink in for a minute. "Maybe you did but that was before everything you went through in their galaxy, before Alora," he told her, "You have grown so much since then, I hardly recognize you."

"The person I was before is still me, it's a part of me, and if you can't accept that then there's nothing to say."

He paused before confessing, "I'll admit that yes, you did evoke all those things, but it didn't, doesn't, mean I don't like you. Vala, you're important to me. We've become friends and when I told you that you were my best friend, I meant it."

She wished she was more to him, she wished that was enough to stay, but it wasn't. "I wish that was enough," she whispered, "but I don't belong here."

"But you do!" he insisted, "Vala, you have to trust me on that! You belong here, you're wanted here."

Vala chuckled bitterly. "Daniel, you're the one person I've always trusted, the one person I knew I could always count on," she admitted, "which is pathetic because I don't count for you, I don't matter, not really, not in the way I need it to."

Daniel stared at her incredulously. "Vala, you matter," he told her earnestly, "in fact, you're the one person who's mattered the most to me in a really long time."

"Daniel..." she trailed off softly, trying to come up with the right words, "You don't understand."

"Then help me understand!"

"I can't!" she practically shouted, "I can't, it's too hard, and it wouldn't change anything!"

It hit him all at once at what she meant, what she was trying so hard to hide, and relief spread through him when he finally understood her, and where she was coming from. "What's this really about?" he asked gently, opening up an opportunity for her to say it.

She hesitated before speaking. "I already told you."

"No, it's more than that," he contradicted, "and I have a feeling it has something to do with what Alora shared with me not long ago."

Vala's eyes widened. "She showed you something?" she asked skeptically, "She hasn't shown anyone anything since she gave us the key to finding the Sangraal."

"Well, she was holding onto this gem until the right moment," he retorted, "and now I know why she did," he stated, motioning to her partially packed bags.

"Why?" she asked right way, quickly adding, "What did she show you?"

Daniel smirked slightly. "A conversation between the two of you," he replied nonchalantly, "I think I was recovering from the Ancient device with Merlin's consciousness inside me…"

"Oh gods," she moaned and covered her face.

"You love me," he declared softly, all playfulness leaving him.

Vala dropped her hands. "She's a baby, she misunderstood," she tried to insist, but he wasn't having it.

"Don't do that," he all but pleaded, "Why are you trying to deny it?"

She chuckled humorlessly. "Because it's too hard!" she told him, "Knowing that you don't feel the same, it hurts too much!"

"Vala…"

She sighed in defeat and decided to take Sam's advice. "Daniel, I love you," she finally admitted, "and I know that it's one sided, that you don't feel the same way, and that's fine. I don't count, and I've accepted that, so just let me go."

It wasn't the first time he heard her say that – she didn't count, which wasn't true, and he wanted to tell her that, he just didn't know how. It was ironic actually – he was a wordsmith, a linguist, someone who knew how to use words in multiple ways, but here and now, he didn't know what to say to her or how to say the words he wanted to say, the words she probably needed to hear from him or how to make certain that she believed him when he did. So, he did the only thing that felt natural to him in that moment.

Daniel kissed her.

Everything he felt for her over the last year was unleashed, everything he held back, he let go in that kiss. A year's worth of torment, repressed feelings, and fear was released. So no, not a gentle and tender kiss, but a desperate one, filled with so much emotion that Daniel could barely stand it...but it was worth it because the main theme of the kiss was love, love that they both had denied themselves and each other came flooding out.

There was no more holding back anymore, no more repressing, no more fear, just love.

Vala only hesitated for a moment before she kissed him back, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, and with her response, the words he wanted to say, needed to say, suddenly came to him, causing him to pull back.

"You count," he told her fervently, "Vala, you've always counted, and I think I'm in love with you. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to realize it."

"Daniel – "

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you leave this planet," he stated firmly, "If you think I'm gonna let you take our daughter and walk away from me, you got another thing coming."

"Our daughter?" she repeated, baffled.

"Yes, our daughter," he reiterated, "She's been mine since the beginning, I just didn't know it, but she did, she always knew, and I'm not just gonna let my family walk away."

"Daniel…"

"Stay," he murmured, "don't leave. You are wanted, I want you here, I want a life with you, I want to be the man who loves you in a way no one has ever loved you before and I want to be Alora's father…so stay with me."

She still looked uncertain. "You love me?"

"I love you," he told her with a big grin.

"How?" she questioned, still not fully believing him, "I annoy you, I drive you wonko, I bring out the worst in you – you said so yourself, so how could you possibly love me?"

Daniel's frustration started increasing and he huffed. "You know, when a guy tells a woman they love her too, the woman normally reacts differently," he said dryly.

"But we're not normal," she pointed out, "So answer the question."

"Vala," he sighed and released her, taking a step back, "You don't bring out the worst in me, I was wrong to say that. What I should've said was that you challenge me, you have from the start."

"Challenged you how?" she asked, confused as to where this was leading.

"I have walls up, defenses if you will, that I have been using ever since my wife died, walls to protect me from getting close to someone like that again and from getting hurt like that," he tried to explain, "but you, the moment you kissed me on Prometheus, you knock down a portion of it. It wasn't a big deal, at least not then since I never thought I'd see you again, but then I did, and you continued to get past my defenses, and it caused me to lash out.

"I didn't realize what I was doing, I really didn't, I had been protecting myself for so long, it became an instinct, something I did without even thinking or realizing it. But the more time I spent with you, the more you snuck in, and I didn't realize how much until you destroyed the Supergate. You think it would've stopped after that, but it didn't. Everyone wrote you off, but I refused to believe that you were dead, I believed you found a way to survive, I had to, and I've never been more relieved to be right.

"I already told you I was wrong about you, that I missed something so vital about you. Yes, I knew you hid behind a persona of your own creation, but I never took the time to find out why and who laid behind it. It wasn't until after you destroyed the Supergate when I finally started to see what I had missed and I knew I had misjudged you. You continued to sneak in without even being there because I thought about you a lot during that time.

"Finding you aboard that ship, helping you deliver Alora, and just getting to know you on a different level pretty much sealed the deal. Over these last few months, I've come to know you on a much deeper level, I've gotten to see you be an amazing mother, a dedicated friend, and a hard-working employee of the SGC. I always knew you could be more, and you proved me right.

"But you're so much more than all of that. You're Vala Mal Doran, the first woman to have ever broken past every single defense I threw up and the craziest part is that I didn't do anything to stop it, not when you came back into my life. You're the woman who let me into her daughter's life, a child whom I love beyond comprehension, a child who is mine despite what DNA says, and I'm not going to give her or her mother up.

"So, yes, I love you, more than I ever thought possible, and I'm asking you to stay on Earth with me, to create a life with me, because I don't think I could ever let you go at this point," he finished, eyes pleading with her as closed the small distance between them, "Don't leave me – stay."

Vala swiped a tear away before slowly slinking up to him, her arms around his neck. "I don't know where my place is, or where I belong, but I hope it's with you," she told him in a shaky voice, stroking his cheek, "I love you too, so yes, I'll stay," she whispered.

The most beautiful smile broke out on his face and Vala felt her breath catch. She'd never seen him this happy and she had never felt this happy. Letting that joyous feeling over take her, she kissed him with every repressed feeling she had for him.

o0o

Author's Note: NOW Alora's officially lost her ability to communicate...I promise. Just the Epilogue left.

Thoughts? Too rushed?