White light flashed again, and Daniel suddenly felt comfortable and warm. He knew he was in bed, but he wasn't alone. From the feel of her body next to his, the scent of her hair, the warmth of her breath on his chest... he knew without looking that it was his wife. Closing his eyes for a moment, he allowed himself a few seconds of joy at waking up this way again before something in the back of his brain cut the time short. He sighed an opened his eyes. Allowing them to adjust to the darkness, Daniel soon realized he was in his apartment, which he had already known on some level: the mattress, sheets, comforter... all were vastly different to the bed he and Sha're had shared on Abydos.

Daniel closed his eyes again, screwing them shut in disappointment and grief.

"This isn't real." He whispered to himself. "This isn't real."

What was most disconcerting was that it felt so real. This was different from simply watching a scene from his life... Sha're was here; he was here, holding her, touching her... he could smell her... taste her... real or not, he almost didn't care.

But reality came at Daniel hard... Sha're had been dead for years, gone for even longer... and even Abydos was destroyed now.

Daniel didn't know how long he lay there, trying to figure out what to do and trying to wrap his mind around what he was experiencing. Before he knew it, the first rays of the morning sun were shining through the curtains covering the bedroom window, and Sha're was stirring.

"Good morning, husband." She murmured, snuggling herself closer to him as she always used to do in the cold hours of early morning, before the sun had really risen and heated the blowing sands of the desert planet.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, mentally reminding himself over and over again, "This is not real! This is not real!"

"Dan'iel?" Sha're lifted her head slightly, resting her chin on his chest.

Daniel opened his eyes and almost couldn't breathe at seeing her staring up at him that way again... that look of concern and love and passion and joy and desire...

"I'm here." He whispered, wanting desperately for it to be true and wanting desperately to believe it.

---

Daniel was back in the white room so quickly his breath caught; his chest felt tight; his heart constricted. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, willing his emotions to be brought back under control.

"But how can that be?" he asked the nameless woman. "Sha're never came back through the gate with me."

"You could take it back." She repeated.

"I could change it so that she would come back to earth?"

"It is one of many options."

Daniel sighed and began pacing, trying to think rationally in spite of the flip flops that both his brain and heart were doing. "Wait, wait, wait." he stopped to face the alien woman and raised a finger. "I've done this before. Is this a game?"

The woman smiled. "It is no game."

Daniel's brow crinkled. "You're telling me I can choose to go back and do things differently?"

She nodded. "I am."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Daniel brought one hand up as he closed his eyes and wearily rubbed his forehead. "I'm not saying that I want to do it, but, if I did, would I know what I know now?" He stopped and looked back at her. "Would I know to act differently than I did then?"

The Oma look-alike stared back. "There is no guarantee."

"There is no guarantee that it wouldn't turn out exactly the same."

"That is correct."

Daniel pursed his lips. "There's no guarantee that it would turn out better and there's no guarantee it would turn out worse." he added thoughtfully.

"That is correct."