Daniel sat by her bed, head in hands, waiting. What am I waiting for? What am I expecting from her? Why am I doing this? Frustrated with his confused emotions and frustrated with inaction, Daniel stood; ready to leave when he noticed that her breathing had changed.
As he turned back toward her bed, she weakly reached out for him. "It's you. You are to be the one."
"Yes, I know. You already told me that I'm one of the Chosen Ones." Some of Daniel's frustration was detectable in his tone of voice.
"No. Yes, you are a Chosen One, but you also have been chosen to become the father to the next Guardian of Asara. Vishnu has come to me." Chandani's voice was muted from pain and weakness, but her conviction was strong.
Daniel was stunned. There was no way he would willingly father a child he couldn't raise. He knew that Chandani's child was destined to be raised by her, alone, in the temple.
"Look, let me get Dr. Fraiser. She'll need to see you now that you're awake." Daniel left to get Janet, glad to escape the priestess's knowing eyes.
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That afternoon, Sam found Daniel working in his lab on the notes he'd brought back from the Temple of Asara.
"Daniel, I thought I'd find you in the infirmary with Chandani. She's awake." Sam's curious eyes searched Daniel's face for evidence of trouble. It was completely unlike him to not hover over an injured friend.
"Yeah. I was there when she woke up. Haven't been back. Been busy." Daniel gave Sam a quick glance, and then returned his attention to his notes, hoping she'd get the hint and leave.
"Janet says she should be able to leave the infirmary in a couple of days. I'm working on getting her quarters here on base. She'll probably have to stay for a few weeks until Janet's sure about her recovery." Sam walked closer to Daniel, looking over his shoulder at his notes. "Find anything interesting?"
"Maybe. I have an idea about where we might find clues to the missing stars." Turning toward Sam, Daniel put his hand on her arm. "Sam, I'm glad to hear Chandani's doing better, but I was there when she woke up and that's all I wanted. For her not to wake up alone in a strange place. I'll go see her tomorrow, when she's a little better."
"OK. Whatever you say." Sam remained unconvinced that Daniel knew what he was feeling.
Watching Sam leave, Daniel's shoulders slumped a little. He did not want to face Chandani after what she had said this morning. There was no way he would ever father a child and leave it to grow up without him.
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The next morning found Daniel walking quickly toward the infirmary. Head down, fists shoved in his pockets, he figured he might as well get this over with.
Janet was just leaving Chandani's bed when she looked up to see a sulky Daniel entering the infirmary. Her eyebrows rose a bit as she wondered what was up with him. Daniel was usually much cheerier when he visited injured or sick friends.
"Janet. How's she doing today?" Now that he was here, he tried to delay speaking to her as long as possible.
"Much better. We did some tests yesterday afternoon and it looks like Jacob was able to completely reverse the damage done to her arteries and digestive system. We won't know about her ability to have children until she actually tries." Janet shifted her weight to one foot as she studied her second most frequent patient – Siler had Daniel beaten for sheer number of injuries.
Daniel frowned and nodded at Janet. "You know it's her responsibility to become the mother to the next priestess. I don't know what would happen to her or the temple if she can't. Have you told her yet?"
"No, I wanted to wait until I was sure before I said anything. We'll do everything we can before she leaves, but the ability to become pregnant is very complicated and we'll never know for sure until she tries to have a baby."
"I think she has a right to know now." Daniel folded his arms across his chest and looked down at his shoes. "I'll tell her. You can fill her in on the medical details later."
Janet nodded and gave Daniel a slight squeeze on the shoulder and headed for her office.
Chandani was sitting up when Daniel finally approached her bed. She raised her knowing blue eyes to meet his as he stood next to her.
"How are you feeling today?" Daniel's voice was neutral and cautious.
Chandani sat up a little straighter. This was not the friendly, open man she had met before. He had closed himself off, protecting himself from her.
"I am feeling much better. Dr. Fraiser says I should be able to leave day after tomorrow." Chandani chewed on her lip wondering how she could pierce the wall he had suddenly raised between the two of them. "I am sorry if my statement yesterday has concerned you. I had just awakened and was still quite drugged. I never should have blurted something like that out. Please, accept my apology." She held her hand out to him.
Daniel took her hand in his and gave it a small squeeze. "I have to admit you really scared me. To be told that I'm going to father a child with a woman I've just met, was more than a little scary." Daniel was feeling much better now, believing the vision to be a drug induced hallucination.
Daniel slid a nearby chair closer to her bedside and sat. He pulled off his glasses and pinched his nose, pondering how he was going to approach this personal subject with her.
"Chandani, Dr. Fraiser has told me that she expects that you will make an almost complete recovery from this injury. However, " Daniel closed his eyes briefly and sighed, "she's not sure you'll ever be able to have a child."
Chandani just blinked at him and he thought she hadn't understood what he'd said.
"Do you understand what I've said? You may not be the mother to the next priestess."
"I heard. I do not believe. Vishnu will find a way. It is what I must do as the priestess. He would never have chosen me if I could not fulfill my duties." Chandani studied this man she believed would father her child. He was a good choice and she began to look forward to conceiving their child. "We will have a beautiful daughter."
"Well, we'll see." Daniel saw that she was getting tired and didn't want to put any more stress on her by refusing again.
"Thank you for coming, but I am tired now." Chandani pulled her hand from Daniel's and turned away from him. I must be more careful what I say to this man. He is very perceptive and I need his cooperation. Mother did always say that my mouth would get me in serious trouble. With a sigh, she drifted off to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
Several days later, SG1, Jacob, and Chandani were waiting in the briefing room for General Hammond. Daniel was eager to present his ideas on where they might find clues to the whereabouts of the three stars.
Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill stood when the general entered the room. "At ease people. Be seated. Now what information do you have for me?"
"Well, General, Chandani showed Sam and I around the temple the last afternoon we were there and we were both able to get quite a bit of raw data that we have since had time to analyze." Daniel waved toward Sam. "Major Carter and I think that the Three Stars may be a power source for a planetary shield. I believe that the objects the statue of Vishnu holds are clues as to where the Three Stars are hidden. We'd like permission to go back as soon as Chandani is well enough and begin searching. If this is a shield system, it might be something we could adapt here on Earth."
"Miss Prema, is there anything you can tell us about how the Three Stars disappeared?" General Hammond's southern manners and soft voice were evident as he spoke to the petite woman.
"The line of priestesses, my mothers, goes back at least three thousand years. We are told that the goa'uld goddess Kali took our people from a beautiful garden planet and moved us to where we are now." She stood and began pacing around the conference table – sitting was still uncomfortable. "She enslaved our people for a thousand years, until Vishnu brought us the Three Stars and gave my ancestress directions on maintaining the stars and the statue. We were safe and happy for another thousand years until one of Kali's minions took the Three Stars from the temple and hid them around the planet. That was one thousand years ago."
Looking at Sam and Daniel, she continued, "It has since been the duty of the priestess to continue to wait for the Chosen Ones to come. Dr. Jackson and Major Carter, along withmyself, are the Chosen Ones. Only we can find and unite the Three Stars and prevent Kali from enslaving my people any longer."
"I see. Colonel O'Neill, just how do you propose your team does this?" General Hammond asked as his fingers tapped the table in thought.
"Sir, I would like to split into three groups. Major Carter and her father, who has volunteered to help, will be one team. Teal'c and Chandani another, and Daniel and I the third. That gives each 'Chosen One' a guard and by breaking up we can find them faster."
"Does everyone agree?" Hammond glanced at each person around the table in turn, looking for disagreement. "Yes? You leave as soon as Dr. Fraiser releases the priestess." He stood. "Dismissed."
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Sam and Daniel made good use of the next three weeks of Chandani's recovery for their research. Daniel had a pretty good idea about where to find clues to the missing blue diamonds and Sam had been investigating any possible uses of shield technology, from personal to planetary.
Chandani spent the time planning how she could approach Daniel. They would be separated during the mission on her planet and she needed to earn his trust. It had been a serious mistake to inform him of his role as father to her child, but the men on her planet would have been honored to become the father to the next priestess and she didn't understand his reluctance.
She kept her distance from Daniel, always watching him.
A/N: This chapter is really just a set-up for the action to come, not as interesting, but necessary.