Author's Note: So, I had not planned on adding this, but you all can thank eala atnara for it. She (or he) requested "the morning after" and it got my creative juices flowing, and I wrote it down. Because of her/his role, this chapter is dedicated to eala atnara for inspiring this second-shot. Thank you eala atnara, couldn't have done it without you. I hope I don't disappoint.

Again, I know it's not my best work, but it's something. Thoughts/comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: As always, I do not own Stargate SG-1, it's characters, or anything associated with it, nor do I make any profit; I'm just letting my imagination run wild with their creation.

o0o

Lessons Learned

"So, let me get this straight; you had a dream where your dead wife told you that you loved me, all but forced you to admit your feelings for me, told you she wanted us to be together before telling you to go for it with me?" Vala recapped skeptically as they sat side by side on the bed, both leaning against the headboard with a few inches between them.

From almost the moment they both were awake, she had been relentless in her pursuit of what had gotten into him last night...well, this morning, and how it had spurred him into realizing his feelings for her. Daniel had been reluctant to share, worried about how she would react, and he his hunch had been corrected; she was skeptical at best, and he was worried it would take convincing to assure her that he was genuine. He just wished his subconscious had picked a different way to get through to him - he knew she was going to have a problem with it being Sha're.

"Yes," Daniel replied simply, "though it wasn't really Sha're; it was just a tool my subconscious used to force me to admit my feelings for you."

She shifted on the bed so her body was facing in his direction. "See, that's the problem I'm having," she said, preparing herself for a potential argument, "forced, you keep saying you were 'forced' to admit your feelings for me. Daniel, do you know how that makes me feel? You make it sound like you don't want those feelings to come to the surface, but since you were forced to face them, might as well act on them; it makes me wonder had you been given the choice, would you have chosen me or to continue to live in ignorant bliss."

"Vala, that's not fair," he immediately responded, "and I didn't mean for it to come out that way and I truly am sorry if I made you feel like that. I'm just trying to be honest with you."

She sighed. "I know, darling," she said quietly, "but it still hurts that something had to force you to be with me."

"I wasn't forced," he denied instantly, "I always knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I felt something for you; I just didn't know to what extent."

"But you were," she argued softly, not wanting to fight, but she wanted him to see things from her perspective. It wasn't a good feeling to know the man you have loved for so longed was pushed into admitting how he felt about her when he would have rather lived in denial, "You said so yourself – your subconscious had to drag it out of you until you could no longer deny it."

Daniel paused, trying to see things from where she was standing, and could understand her reservations. He had to figure out a better way to explain this to her; the last he ever wanted to do was hurt her or make her feel like she was second best or something. "Okay, I'm gonna try to explain it differently and it may not come out right, but please wait until I'm finished before butting in, okay?"

Vala had a feeling like she wasn't going to like this but nodded her consent anyways.

"When I lost my wife to the Goa'uld, that was probably one of the hardest things I have ever gone through because I really did believe I could save her and when she died in front of me from a staff blast, I fell apart," he confessed quietly, "After that, I couldn't fathom ever being that close to someone else and the idea of getting hurt like again was too much, so I buried that part of myself so deep within myself because even the thought was too much.

"But one day, it started to creep up again as I started to get close to someone else. It never went anywhere, we both danced around it for years. She had a kid and it was complicated there, we worked together and she was close with SG-1 so if things ended badly, it would've effected more than the two of us. I really thought one day we might actually go for it, but after I retook human form and gained all my memories back, she seemed to have moved on for the most part during my year among the ascended. I got glimpses here and there of something, but knew I had lost my chance," he stopped talking for a moment, swallowing hard as he remembered what came next.

"What happened?" Vala asked gently.

Daniel let out a bitter small chuckle. "She died in front of me from a staff blast," he said just as bitter, "just like Sha're."

Vala gasped softly. "Janet Fraiser."

He nodded in confirmation. "After her, I just couldn't," he confessed, "I had been protecting myself for so long up to that point that I couldn't even bring myself to try with her and I've always wondered if we had tried if things would've turned out differently. After Janet, I kind of just told myself never again, not when the women I ended up caring for end up dead from a from staff blast."

"The Goa'uld are mostly gone, darling," she said soothingly, knowing he was probably worrying about her ending up dead on their next mission, "they had been when we met, and the Jaffa were gaining their freedom, so what was the problem?"

He chuckled again. "You were," he said plainly, "When we met, when you came to Earth, never in a million years could I ever consider a relationship with you. You were this flirty, sexual woman who was just messing with me and for the longest time, I really believed it, that you were just having a laugh at my expense. But when you sacrificed yourself with the beachhead, I realized that there was so much more to you and I had missed it.

"Watching you talk about your experiences in the Ori galaxy while you were in my body made me ache in a way I hadn't felt in a long time, and when I saw you on the damn Ori ship, it intensified; for a moment, I wondered what it meant and what it could be, but then Tomin shot you in front of me…with a staff weapon, and what made it worse was that you took a shot meant for me, and that instinct to protect myself from romantic entanglements went into overdrive and shoved everything deep within myself to never be uncovered again; I knew I had to harden myself again you or else you would destroy me."

Vala scooted closer and stroked his cheek. "I'm here," she assured him, "the Ori are gone, the Goa'uld are gone, no one's going to take me away from you."

Daniel cupped her cheek as well. "You don't know that," he argued, "and loosing you would push me over the edge."

"Daniel…"

"Vala, you don't understand," he cut in, "I've been protecting myself for so long that I never let anyone in, not even Janet. I have never felt this way about someone since Sha're. After we got from the Asgards' galaxy, I felt like I could actually get close to someone again, but I never pictured that someone being you; we were too opposite, so not right for each other, and – "

"Are you seriously telling me you love while simultaneously insulting me?" she interjected, feeling hurt by his words, "When did you become Mr. Darcy?"

Daniel snorted. "Okay, one, I'm impressed you know that reference, and two, let me finish," he insisted, and waited until she settled, "You weren't safe. I recognized that instantly and decided I could only be with someone who was safe, even if it meant sacrificing something that could be so amazing, but my natural instinct to protect myself overpowered me…until my subconscious stepped in."

"Yes, yes, yes, I already know this – it forced you to love me," she interrupted again, still upset.

"It didn't force me to do anything," he said insistently again, "It showed me just how deeply I felt and how I couldn't be happy with anyone else other than you. It knew things that I didn't even know. The subconscious isn't fully aware but can still influence our actions and feelings.

"Vala, my feelings for you got too big for my subconscious to handle and my own conscious mind wouldn't accept it, so it did whatever it had to do to show me. It knew what I didn't know, and it made it known; it showed me what I wanted the most and gave me the means to get it. I'll admit I fought it when I realized just strongly I felt for you, but only because I have been protecting myself from for almost eight years and it was a natural instinct at that point.

"But the second I let those feelings wash over me, I knew I was a goner, and I knew I could never go back. Vala, I truly didn't know how much I loved you until that moment; in fact, it was so overwhelming, I had to be near you and that's why I came to your door at two in the morning. I couldn't wait anymore; I've waited long enough, I've held back long enough, and I just wanted to be with you. Life is too short and I just want to love you."

Vala blinked back tears and sniffed. "You're not the only who's scared," she admitted, "You're not a safe choice for me either."

"Yeah?" he asked softly as he gently wiped away a tear from her cheek, "How's that?"

"You made me feel things beyond my control," she told him, "things I have never felt, and I didn't know how to deal with them. Tomin was easy; I cared for him but never to the extent I care for you. He was safe and I knew he wouldn't hurt me like you could, but he would never be enough, and I could never do that to him or myself; I would always yearn for you and it wouldn't be fair to either of us, and that's why I didn't go with him. I don't know where I belong, but I hope it's here with you.

"Daniel, giving up that sort of independence is hard for me because I have never given it up for anyone, much less a man, and it's terrifying because it was for a man I thought would never reciprocate what I felt; I never done that, never wanted to give up so much for a man, and I often hated myself for being so weak, but I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life, not even my own mother, and I'm not just saying that. There's never been anyone like you and it's frightening the type of power you have over me, especially when no other man, hell person, has ever had. You're not the only one who's scared of being broken."

Daniel closed the distance and placed a short, soft kiss on her lips before pulling away. "You know I would never hurt you intentionally, right?" he murmured, resting his forehead against hers.

"I know," she mumbled back, "but it's the unintentional I'm worried about."

"I promise you I will always try my best not to hurt you, intentionally or not," he vowed, "I will try my damnedest everyday with you because you are more than worth it."

Vala chuckled smally. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

He smiled and kissed her briefly again. "Probably not," he conceded, "but the best things usually aren't. It'll work, we just gotta give it our all, but it'll be worth it in the end," he reiterated.

"More than worth it," she agreed before she kissed him hard and shoved him to the bed.

They would always bicker and fight, but they would always try, and would lead to them creating the most beautiful life together – something beyond their own expectations.

The End…for reals (I think).