The warmth was immense, and Sam thought how strange that today should have turned out to be so beautiful and peaceful. She had expected a cloudy overcast sky, perhaps a little rain, a slight chill in the air perhaps, something more fitting to what it had brought. Because you could never not feeling some kind of slight happiness when the sun shone, it lifted the spirit and gave the false presence of everything was going to be all right.
She should be standing here with perhaps an umbrella in one hand, shading her from rain; instead she stood with a rose in one hand and the soft embrace of fingers in another. Frowning she glanced sideways and took in Daniel's form. He seemed as oblivious to her standing by him and she had been to him. In the corner of her eyes she spied the towering form of Teal'c casting a slight shadow over the both of them as he too stood silently staring.
The crowd had dispersed, although Sam wasn't surprised it had been a large crowd, many familiar faces, a few unknowns, but all with similar looks on their faces, a mixture of shock, loss, and yet undeniably, with sense of knowing, acknowledgement and acceptance. Sam hadn't wanted to see that, not even in Daniel or Teal'c yet there it was on everyone faces, even her own as she had gazed in the mirror that same morning.
The ceremony had been the usual military affair, tinged and upheld with a uniformity of grace and pride. Sam had let herself by carried by that feeling, she felt connected to everyone present and it had helped her keep hold of her hazy and fragile senses as words had been spoken, memories had arisen and procedure had been followed. Tears had already been shed, she stayed strong throughout, closely guarded by Daniel and Teal'c.
She felt an overwhelming presence of duty towards them and others. That she needed to stay sharp and focused for the dreary occasion, perhaps that's why she found the calmness of the day so strange, because it helped her along so graciously.
She hadn't noticed people leaving, the quiet murmur of the people leaving one by one. Her mind had been on other things, how life had twisted and changed, how at solitary moments of the past years, they'd all known a day like this would come, yet this was real, so very tangibly real, and for a time Sam had not wanted to face that bitter truth.
"Sam" said Daniel, quietly beside her, almost a whisper intervening into her thoughts "We should go"
She blinked a few times, her eyes had been growing misty, and she gently squeezed Daniel's fingers in her own.
"Just give me a few minutes Daniel. I want a few moments alone"
"OK, we'll wait at the car" replied Daniel, stooping closer and giving her a soft kiss of companionship on her cheek before he left her side.
Sam caught a solitary figure of Teal'c giving one last small bow forward before he turned and followed Daniel. She shifted her focus downwards and forward to the mound of dirt before her, and felt drained of words and thought. She felt a sudden rush of emotion and her eyes misted over once more, closing them she inhaled a deep breath and looked up at the clear blue sky.
With a sigh and a soft smile she looked back down and lifted the rose to her chest.
"Would you look at that sky, a perfect clear blue. A perfect day for fishing wouldn't you say Jack?"
Her voice faltered at the name but she refused to lose her control, she'd lost it so many times in the days which had passed.
"Yeah of course you would,… perfect for fishing" she whispered "Just don't let the boys hear I said so"
With another smile of resilience she lifted the rose to her face and inhaled its sweet scent before kissing it softly on its petals. She crouched low to the ground.
"Speaking of the boys, we're all heading over to George's, to give you a proper send off. All this pomp and ceremony never was your style, don't worry, I won't let Daniel have too much beer. Teal'c intrigued to hear some of your stories, I'm sure plenty of the guys have some to tell." Sam paused as she spoke and shook her head slightly to stop from babbling to the dirt, as she made to stand, she continued for a moment "Bye Jack, we'll stop by from time to time…oh...and say hi to my dad for me"
With that she stood up, gave one more wry smile and looked up at the clear cloudless sky before turning. Standing at a distance waited Teal'c and Daniel by the car. With a deep breath, and silently once more saying goodbye forever, Sam headed towards the two men left in her life, and she knew that the months ahead would be hard for them all, but she also knew that they'd get through it together.