I will go to Klorel. Perhaps he promises that you will also get a palace on Chulak;)
A new beginning
Selena
"It's raining in the Tok'ra paradise," I thought, dazed, still too weak to open my eyes. As the pain in my forehead, caused by Klorel's hand device, was fading slowly, the only thing I could do, was to call out mentally for my dear host Isabel. She didn't answer me, but then I sensed her presence in my mind and knew that she was still recuperating.
I was relieved that we were still together in the afterlife but nonetheless, I felt horribly lonely. Where were all my former hosts? Why were we all not rejoined in the afterlife? My beloved soul mates couldn't be lost to me for all eternity?
"Perhaps we are not dead?" my soul mate whispered so weakly that I almost missed her words. Maybe she was correct and there was still a chance that I would see my dear friends again one day.
"Isabel! I can hear the cargo ship's reactor. We are not dead! The injection must have killed Klorel." I yelled enthusiastically in our shared mind and was wondering how it could rain inside a cargo ship. "Er, sorry Isabel, I should not have screamed so loud."
Obviously, I was still a little bit dazed, when I felt someone take my hand and hold it. So evidently, someone else had to be alive. As my senses gradually returned, I noticed the presence of another symbiote. Klorel? No, he would have killed me instantly. Was it possible that the poison had only eliminated the Goa'uld? Maybe it was Skaara and I only sensed the remains of the dead Goa'uld in the host's body. Isabel would be very pleased that Skaara was still alive.
Despite feeling horribly sick, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at a worried Abydonian face and realized that I was lying on a blanket in the cargo ship's ring room. When he saw that I had awakened, he almost immediately smiled cheerfully and put away a wet cloth from my forehead.
"Don't move. You seem badly hurt," Skaara whispered reassuringly and he patted my hand gently. I instantly felt safe again, feeling that everything was going to be fine.
Skaara
Skaara sighed, relieved. He was still holding the hand of the beautiful woman before him. He had feared that she would never awake again, but now it seemed as if she was successfully going to recover.
When he had regained consciousness some minutes ago, he had realized almost immediately that something was different than it was usually.
He had been confused and had no idea of how he should deal with the circumstances. However, after briefly considering the situation there seemed to be no better alternative than to care for the unconscious woman he had discovered beside him and to ignore anything else.
Selena
"Isabel, finally, you are strong enough… so that one particularly eager symbiote can tell you wonderful news."
You know, it's really hard for a Tok'ra symbiote to have no other mind to talk to. We are simply not meant for that sort of life. Sometimes I even wonder what I would do if I had been born as a human and there were no Tok'ra symbiotes available. Although I tolerate people who don't wish to be blended, and I have my hosts' memories of their lives before the blending, I think that I would be totally lost without another mind.
"You will not believe what…" I began, but Isabel shamelessly rummaged in my memories and ruined the thrilling story that I had prepared especially for her. "Hey, that is not fair. You always ruin my best tales because you are too curious."
She didn't even hear my last comment because her mind was too occupied now that she knew what was happening.
"This liquid saved all our lives and Skaara is free." Isabel summarized the current situation to herself because she was too stunned to say something intelligent.
My head still hurt a little, so I was careful as I slowly stood up. Once on my feet, I turned to Skaara, gave him as slight smile, and said as pragmatically as I could, "I think that we should change our course and fly directly to the Tok'ra base. I'll be back and we can talk as soon as I have the autopilot set."
He looked at me confused, but then he nodded as if he understood. Some minutes later I came back from the cockpit and approached Skaara. The Abydonian was starring at the wall and smiling.
At least he is handling it quite well. I don't think that he will be one of the ex-hosts who never mentally recover again.
After some seconds, Skaara noticed me and I sat down in front of him.
"How are you, Skaara?" I asked, and hoped that I didn't make a mistake; maybe I should have given Isabel control. Sometimes former Goa'uld hosts do not feel comfortable in the presence of a Tok'ra.
"Er, I am sorry, but it seems that I have forgotten a lot. I only remember my name and my childhood. Occasionally I know how some technology works but nothing more."
I guess the poison had some negative side effects.
"You do remember everything, don't you? By the way, I don't even know your names," Skaara continued because I had said nothing due to the fact that I was speechless for a few seconds.
"My host's name is Isabel and I'm Selena. We are Tok'ra," I managed to stutter. Hastily I tried to give Isabel control, but she simply ignored my offer to give her control. You can handle this, she encouraged me nonetheless
"We do remember everything," I added after a second because I had almost forgotten to answer his question.
"What happened?"
"Good question. However, what should I answer him?"
What do you mean?
"He doesn't remember his time with Klorel and why should we tell him? The Tok'ra doctors can tell him if they believe that would be better. Furthermore, they know how to deal with ex-hosts properly; I don't."
Just come up with a good story.
"My stories are always excellent."
"We had gathered some artefacts on a planet. One of them contained some sort of liquid. We flew through some turbulence and when you fell some of the liquid contacted your skin. The liquid has made you forget and I bumped against the wall," I told him and then ignored the snort in the back of my head. "We will arrive at the Tok'ra home world in several hours. Come, we should go to the cockpit."
Skaara
Skaara looked at the instruments before the female Tok'ra, who was piloting the ship, and could barely remember how most of them worked. Not that he cared about it, since he didn't even remember the past several years, although he was a little bit amazed by the fact that he was travelling in space. In his childhood, he had never done anything like this. Hopefully, his friends, his father, and his sister Sha're, were still all right.
"It's quite hard not to know what has happened in your past."
"I think you are handling the situation quite well," answered Isabel reassuringly, as she looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. He didn't remember when he met her and couldn't tell what type of relationship they had, but he felt some sort of connection.
"She is correct. The situation could be far worse." Skaara considered his circumstances thoughtfully.
"Yes, at least we have each other, beloved."
I don't think I would be able to handle this situation without your kind mental assistance, Klorel.
to be continued…
Psycho Llama: Thank you very much for your really nice review. I hope that you also like this chapter. In the next chapter Klorel will appear more often than in this one. I promise;)