The Cathedral was every bit as magnificent on the inside as the outside promised it would be. The tall stained glass windows reflected the light of the settling sun, and scattered a mottled assortment of colours across every surface in the nave. The bronze and gold finishings of the railings and candle holders shone in the refracted light, and even the wooden beams that supported the great vaulted ceiling seemed to emit an aura.

The light paled in comparison, however, to that which radiated from the face of Esser Aeronnsdaughter as she walked proudly down the aisle on the arm of her equally joyous father. Indeed, there was no shortage of radiant faces in the Cathedral. Almost every family had regained a family member and all rejoiced in this, the first wedding since The Healing.

There had been, from what Jack understood, a bit of a kafuffle earlier as Aeronn wanted to both give his daughter away and officiate her marriage. He had been concerned that the two duties overlapped, and that he might be required to have a conversation with himself in public. Maram had merely rolled her eyes, and handed over the scroll on which she and Esser had written exactly what Aeronn was to say in place of the traditional ceremony.

Aeronn and Esser finally reached the front of the Cathedral and turned to face the congregation. Eprem and his mother joined them.

"This is my daughter, Esser Aeronnsdaughter," Aeronn began. "She has chosen to marry, and my heart rejoices for her."

Eprem's mother, a woman Teal'c had met only once, but remembered well for her words of thanks and offers of help, stepped forward.

"This is my son, Eprem Devdson. He had chosen to marry, and my heart rejoices for him."

Aeronn stepped up onto the raised platform and stood between his daughter and her beloved and the altar in the apse. Eprem and Esser turned to face each other, and Aeronn spoke to them, and to the congregation between their heads.

"For centuries past, our ancestors have been married in this building. Thousands of young people have looked into each other's eyes, standing right where you are standing now, and pledged to spend eternity together."

The drive home had been silent. He had driven with his left hand. She had linked her fingers with his claiming his right hand as her own for the duration of the trip. She hadn't moved, but looked out at the stars and lightly ran her thumb across the bite marks on his wrist.

"But this wedding is special. This wedding is the first since we have been Healed. This wedding is the first where you can know that all of your children will grow up wholly Sandiem. And most importantly, this wedding, this day, this night and all of those to follow, is yours. My daughter, my son, may God watch over your house, that you might watch over your hearts."

Jack, Sam and Teal'c were seated near a candelabra, but it was not the smoke that had their eyes glistening.

They sat in the driveway for just a little bit too long before she realized that the reason neither of them had moved was because she hadn't yet relinquished his hand. She looked up to find him regarding her with a very familiar look of amusement on his face. Fighting back her own smile, she threw his hand back at him and opened her door.

At some unspoken signal, the occupants began to file out of the Cathedral and into the court. In the silence that Sam had come to expect of Sandiem religion, the townspeople assembled around the unlit bonfire. There was palpable excitement in the air as excitement and pure joy ran rampant through the crowd.

She was still laughing when he pinned her against the front door. It had been a mad dash across the lawn. He'd recaptured her hand and fumbled for the keys. Somehow, she'd got caught between him and his target, although when his mouth sealed against hers, she wondered if that hadn't been his intention all along. She sighed into his mouth and felt him smile. Over the pounding of both their hearts, she heard the latch click, and then felt the door give way behind her. She was never entirely sure which one of them it was that kicked it shut again.

The sun was almost gone now. Only a few lingering rays of smoky orange were left, pushing their way determinedly over the horizon. The Cathedral's shadow and silhouette enveloped the courtyard, and it was not until Eprem and Esser spoke that Sam even realized that they and their parents were standing on the steps. The words they spoke were familiar, and Sam knew that she was not the only one in the square who found their face split with an uncontrollable grin.

He carried her up the stairs because he could. Due to their recent medical adventures, he was a little more out of breath than usual by the time he reached the top, but to be completely honest, he didn't notice. They were home and they were safe. He had called her 'love' in front of half the SGC and no one had cared. The lighting in the bed room was faint, just the orange glow of the street light outside his window, but he could still see the lines on her face and body. He traced them with fingers and mouth, and kissed her until he saw spots for lack of oxygen.

"Et dummodo est lux, timebit nullam tenebras!" the newlyweds intoned together, their voices full of love and joy and hope.

She whispered his name when he touched her, hot fingers banishing away the lingering cold and darkness of the Sanoctem infection. He'd set her on the bed as though she were made of spun sugar, but that was just who he was. When he'd moved away to undress, she'd flashed suddenly to the cave, where firelight and madness had overwhelmed her, but then he'd come back, and kissed her again, and all fear was driven from her mind.

The torch in their hands flared to life suddenly as the last rays of the sun disappeared from the sky. And just before they lit the fire, Esser paused, the firelight casting no shadows upon her smiling face.

She remembered the power of his blood running through her veins, the sick, needy joy of the blood lust. This was much better. This was real. This was life. This was making her gasp and moan beneath him as they both hungered for more.

"For Janet Fraiser!" Esser cried, and she and her husband threw the torch atop the piled wood.

Her name rang in her ears when the world exploded and he kissed her until they were both firmly back on Earth.

And the stars and moon looked down upon them, and the flames and the voices and the music reached up, fearing neither light nor darkness.

------

Finis

AN: This story has undergone a great many changes since that sunny day in the park when I first began to turn the plan into the tale. One thing I love about writing is how seemingly random decisions come back to be meaningful at the end of the story. I never meant for the Blood Lust to be so bad, and yet as I was writing it, I couldn't even remember how I had first intended it to be. The best decision I made, though, was to make it Daniel/Janet. It's weird, the decision was completely arbitrary, and it has literally changed my life. I met some fantastic people during the writing of Blood Night, and that made it all the more worth while.

I hope you had as much fun as I did.

gravitynotincluded April to November, 2004