Disclaimer: See Prologue.

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews. As for their content, let me supply a few answers. Chulak, like every world, has many different climates. This is one of them. The Gate is in the forest, but the city is in the desert. It may not be like that on the show. I can't rightly remember. But this is AU anyway. As for Buffy's relationship with Bra'tac, he was given a bit of a push. The little Monolith character made sure that she would be all right before leaving her there. I'll be exploring that in future chapters. And I never said Dar'teal was the leader of Apophis's armies, just that Teal'c would have been given his position if he had provided information which his father had failed to provide. And Cronos may have killed his father in the series, but he didn't have Buffy to deal with and get annoyed about, did he? evil grin

Now that I've answered the nitpickers, let me say that the shippers' questions get answered in this chapter. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 3

Buffy was looking over some old texts, trying to learn how to read the language of Chulak. It looked like the script she'd seen in the movie "The Mummy", the newer one with Brendan Fraser that had only just come out before Graduation. They'd called it hieratic. So many things about the Goa'uld were Egyptian that she had to wonder if there was a connection, but there was no way to find out. She was really wishing that she had paid more attention in History class.

Suddenly, Bra'tac came in to her tent, along with Teal'c. "Bra'tac?"

"It is all right, my student. Teal'c has decided to join us."

Buffy looked at Teal'c. He had been crying, something she was sure was not the norm for him. "I have to ask. Why the change of heart?"

"Apophis has murdered my father."

Buffy gasped. "No!" Bra'tac put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, knowing she had become friends with Dar'teal. "It was because of me, wasn't it. God damn it! I told him not to go being a hero on my account! Damned stubborn son of a bitch!" She couldn't help it. She started crying, leaving Bra'tac to explain things to Teal'c.

The Training Master sighed, stroking the girl's back and letting her cry. "Your father was one of our number. He and Buffy had grown close, as warriors will. He would never have given up her identity to Apophis. He knows, knew that Apophis wants her either dead or made a host." There was steel in his voice as he continued. "He will not find her. I and many others, including your father, have sworn it."

Teal'c sighed, looking at Buffy. Such a strange name, but then she was a strange girl. Strange and extraordinary. "My father's honor would never have allowed him to betray a brother -- or sister -- at arms, even if you might have preferred that to his death. He will be avenged, Buffy. You and I will see to that." He knelt beside her. "If you will allow me to join you?"

Buffy nodded. Through her tears she said, "Welcome to the club."

Buffy looked up from the book she was reading. Should any warrior believe that their life is dead, then let them begin a new one, letting the old life pass away and beginning anew under a new name. That was her, no doubt. She thought of how Giles would have been shocked to find her reading a book, and one on philosophy at that. But so much about her had changed. War did that to a person. She looked over to where Bra'tac was looking through his strategy maps. "You know, this is my home now. I feel safer here than I ever have anywhere else, including Sunny Hell. And I'm so different now. Guess I went and grew up. But it's like this book says. I want to begin new, with a new name, something that's the me of now and not the me of then."

Bra'tac nodded, smiling. "Then we will give you a naming ceremony. What name would you like?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. How are kids around here named?"

"Usually a child's name is a mixture of their mother's and father's names."

Buffy thought about it. "Well, my Mom's middle name is Anne, and it's my middle name, too. But my Dad wasn't really all that much. He hasn't been around since they split." She looked at Bra'tac shyly. "Would you care to take the position?"

Bra'tac was shocked. She felt more for him than for her own father? "You honor me."

"You've been there for me more in two years than Hank Summers ever was in eighteen. Please?"

Bra'tac bowed lightly. "Very well. Then you shall be called Tac'an. We will celebrate tonight!" He moved closer to her. "You realize, of course, that this means I have adopted you as my daughter? It is even legal. And Teal'c will have to go through me to get to you."

The Slayer grinned, glad that her new father had noticed her attraction. "I know."

Tac'an faced Teal'c in a sparring ring. He had heard much about her skills, and he wanted to see them for himself. "You sure about this Teal'c? I mean, I wouldn't want to hurt you." She may have changed her name, but she still had the sass.

Teal'c smirked. "We shall see, Tac'an. We shall see."

She grinned back. This was going to be fun! Then she waited for him to attack.

Teal'c didn't make her wait long. He came in with a fast punch, which she blocked easily and then the blows passed between them with blinding speed. Teal'c was no slouch himself, so it was quite a fight, but Tac'an was the more imaginative of the pair. She made him do the work, running all over the ring and testing his footwork, then swiftly changing directions and forcing him into a direct defense. When he inevitably lost track of her for a moment, she had leapt into the air and landed a side-kick square on his chest. He went flying, landing on his back fifteen feet away as she landed lightly on her feet. She walked over to make sure he was okay, but she wasn't caught unawares when he jumped up, easily blocking his punches and kicks.

Teal'c didn't win the match, but he did stay upright for the most part, which was more than most could do. Tac'an stood catching her breath and trying not to laugh at the disgruntled expression on his face. "Hey, not bad! Most guys don't last very long. You actually winded me!"

An eyebrow rose across his tattooed forehead. "And this is a preferred result?"

Bra'tac, who had been watching the fight, laughed. "No one else has lasted even half as long, including me."

"How is it that you are so much stronger than a Jaffa? It is the symbiote that gives us our strength."

She just shrugged. "I am the Slayer. In my old universe, demons weren't just a legend. They were a nasty little fact of life, kind of like the Goa'uld are in this one. Somewhere along the line, a defense was created. I don't know how or by who. The saying went, 'In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.' When one dies, the next is called, and their life expectancy wasn't exactly very long once they'd been called. I think the records were six years and five minutes."

Teal'c frowned. "Then this strength was necessary for your survival?"

"Still is."

Teal'c had been swiftly rising among Apophis's ranks ever since his father's death. Apophis suspected nothing, and Teal'c was getting closer and closer to him. He was best left where he was by the rebellion, as most were, though it forced him to commit the atrocities he wished to prevent. He would have revealed himself and fought openly long ago, probably getting himself killed in the process, if it had not been for the unflagging support of Tac'an. He came to her after every horrible thing he was forced to do and she let him cry on her shoulder or take out his frustrations with her in the ring. After all, she could handle him.

Tac'an knew that she was falling for Teal'c, and she was wary of telling him. She didn't want to become his weakness. She worried that one of his men would find out about them and out him to Apophis. And what if she were captured? She could be used against him, and that wasn't something she could allow. His father had died to protect her. She wouldn't let Teal'c die as well.

Teal'c knew that she was thinking like that, so he didn't push, but he wanted to be with her. He wanted to give her that normal life she had always talked about. It wouldn't be easy, and they would still face a great deal of danger, but they would be together. He didn't know how much longer he could wait before he asked her. He wasn't just smitten. He was very much in love with her.

"Tac'an, please. You are the only person I could ever feel this for."

"Teal'c you know how much Apophis wants me dead! I can't put you in danger like that!"

"Then why do we fight!?" Tac'an rocked back on her heals. Teal'c so rarely raised his voice that it was a shock. "If it is not so that we and everyone else may follow our hearts without fear then why else!? Or do the Goa'uld win this battle and control our very lives without even firing a single weapon?" Teal'c took a deep breath. "I do not wish to fight with you, Tac'an. I only wish to love you. You are the strongest human who has ever lived, and you use that strength to protect everyone but yourself. Please, Tac'an. I want nothing in this life more than freedom and you."

Tac'an just stared at him. He was offering everything she wanted, and he was right. She was letting fear rule her life. She walked that small distance that she'd left between them, and kissed him soundly. He returned the kiss with equal fervor, setting her nerves on fire. No one had kissed her like this since Angel, and this was so much stronger a feeling. She pulled back to look in his eyes. "I love you, Teal'c. And you're right. They don't win."

Teal'c smiled broadly. "It is I who wins."

The wedding was held five years to the day from her arrival on Chulak. Tac'an had been dressed in the traditional wedding gown of a Chulaki maid, which was in the deep green of new leaves from the distant forests that held the Stargate. Teal's wedding robe was also green, in a lighter shade. The two young warriors exchanged wedding rings, as they used on Earth, but they also used the more traditional beaded necklace and pendant. They vowed to protect each other and to be faithful, and they lit the flame on a torch to symbolized their love's fire.

The entire rebel cell was present for the wedding and pelted them with the petals of lotus blossoms as they left for the wedding tent. Then they all left, returning to their normal duties, save for Bra'tac. He went back to his own tent and found a flask of wine that he had never opened and poured some into a glass, celebrating in his own way the marriage of his adopted daughter and his student. They were well matched, and he only wished that it had not taken them so long to see it.

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