Chapter Eight

Adria made herself scarce for a while. She didn't come over for dinner; she didn't take Vala out for lunch; she didn't leave the kitchen when anyone from SG-1 came to the commissary for meals.

But Vala's favorites still appeared on the menu with great frequency. Daniel's joined them. Cameron grumbled good-naturedly that his favorites still hadn't made it into the rotation any more often. "And I even helped that woman win at poker!"

And one morning over breakfast, with Daniel's arm wrapped comfortingly around her, Vala managed to tell Cam and Teal'c the story of her stoning and Adria's role in it. It was the first time she'd ever really told the whole sorry tale, start to finish, and she had to admit when she was done that she felt lighter, freer. Maybe the Tau'ri were on to something, with their obsession for talking everything to death. Who would have thought?

And it warmed her heart to see how irate and outraged they were on her behalf. Not quite to Daniel's level of fury, but Cameron sputtered and snarled and made all sorts of vengeful promises. Teal'c sat in silence, his face impassive, but Vala could see the burning in his eyes.

Cam finally wound down from his tirade. "Hey," he said softly, reaching across the table to give Vala's hand a quick squeeze. "Are you okay? Really okay?"

She smiled at him. "I really am. I promise."

"All right, good. You want me to talk to the general about sending her packing? She doesn't have to stay here. It was always contingent on what you wanted."

"That's not necessary. As I told Daniel, nothing has changed for me. You all are just hearing that Adria tried to help stone me, but I knew it all along. I lived it! And I still went to meet her at the Alpha Site, and I still agreed for her to come to Earth."

"We have been deeply concerned for you, Vala Mal Doran," Teal'c said. "You have seemed…unsettled since Adria Sol Radak arrived."

"I have been that," Vala admitted. "It's been hard. I didn't know if I could really forgive her or not. I didn't even know if I wanted to forgive her or not. And neither she nor I were willing to discuss it until a couple of weeks ago. It just kind of hovered in the air between us. But she's sorry about it; I know she is. I haven't forgiven her yet, but…I do think I want to."

"You sure about that, princess?" Cam's voice was gentle, laced with concern.

"I am sure, Cameron, thank you. I'll figure out how to get there."

"It is not easy," Teal'c said. "I admire you for being willing to do so."

"You all have forgiven me quite a lot," Vala said.

Teal'c smiled. "They have forgiven me much as well."

"Yeah, well, last time I checked neither of you tried to stone a family member to death," Cam muttered. "Do we have to forgive the fiance too? Can I go kick his ass?"

"Don't you think I have the greater ass-kicking privileges there?" Daniel asked.

"Eh."

Vala laughed. How she loved her boys. "No one needs to kick anyone's ass. I'm not planning on returning to my former home world anyway. Last time I checked, Mahlon is happily married and has several children."

"He doesn't deserve them," Cam said stubbornly. "And I'd still like to zat him. Or punch him. Or something."

"No argument from me," Daniel said.

Vala rolled her eyes. "You all are still ridiculous. But thank you. I appreciate the thought."

"You are most welcome, Vala Mal Doran," said Teal'c.

A couple weeks later…

Vala and Adria were back in the bakery. This time Vala had lemon chiffon cake sitting in front of her, while Adria was trying some sort of almond concoction. Neither of them quite knew how to start the conversation, so they mostly took small bites in awkward silence.

Finally it seemed that Adria could no longer bear it. "Vala…thank you for being willing to meet with me."

"Sure, no problem."

Adria huffed a laugh. "I'm certain that isn't true. I daresay your husband had a bit of a problem with it."

"No, Daniel's good. He's still not ready to see you himself, so probably no dinner invites any time soon, but he knew I was meeting you today and was fine with it."

"I see." There was a brief pause, then Adria said. "I do want to say, while I have the chance and the courage to do so, that my actions when you returned home after Qetesh were wrong. I've told myself plenty of excuses over the years, but I know none of them justify it. I'm sorry. Perhaps…perhaps if I'd refrained or if I'd tried to protect or defend you, the others would not have joined Mahlon. I don't know. But I do know that I'm not responsible for his or anyone else's behavior, only my own. And I regret my own very much."

Vala nodded slowly. "Thank you. I appreciate the apology, and I appreciate that you didn't try to excuse yourself. It's taken me a long time to get here, but I forgive you. Truly. We don't need to dwell on it any further."

Adria's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, Vala. I can't even comprehend how you can forgive me, but I am very grateful."

"I read something about forgiveness recently that helped me. It said that forgiveness wasn't saying what the person did was okay. You and I both know it wasn't. But I am choosing to let go of any anger, resentment, bitterness, or desire for vengeance. And I'm not asking for any atonement. I want both of us to be set free from the past."

"Free…I don't know if I'll ever feel free from it. I do still feel a strong urge to try to make it up to you somehow, but I realize that's impossible to do."

"It is impossible," Vala said, careful to keep her voice gentle. "You tried to kill me, Adria, to help others kill me. You can't make up for something like that. So please let's just move on from it. We'll focus on building a new relationship from here."

Adria gave her a tremulous smile. "I like the sound of that."