AN: Sorry for the lack of update over the past few days but I couldn't get logged in. This is the end for this fic but there will be an epilogue up later today.

Thanks to everyone that's reviewed and read this, if you did both even better.

Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: As a wise man once said "If wishes where horses we'd all be eating stake" but as well as that I would also own SG1.

***

Vala cursed herself as she walked out of Sam's lab. That was not the way things where meant to go. She headed to Daniels office purely on instinct, her mind going over all the things she should have said instead of chewing Sam out like that. She was several thousand years old; she hadn't counted exactly yet for fear of how high the number would be. She should know better.

The moment she entered Daniels lab he could tell there was something wrong.

"How did things go with Sam?" He asked gently.

"I did my usual and screwed it up!" She plonked herself down on one of the stools. "I bit her head off when I shouldn't have, and then got so annoyed at myself for doing it that I stormed off…again!" She buried her head in her hands and let out an aggravated sigh. "One of these days I'm going to learn that doing that solves nothing."

Daniel smiled to himself, while Vala's instinct to run may have decreased he doubted she would be able to over come it completely, it had been her way of life for too long. He walked over behind her and rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to relieve some of the tension he knew was there. She surprised him by turning round in her seat and placing both her hands on either side of his face.

"You know when I run… I'll always come back to you my Daniel. You know that don't you?" her voice was barley above a whisper and the look in her eyes so desperate.

He leaned forward and placed his forehead against hers, looking straight into her eyes and trying to convey all the love he felt for this truly amazing woman. "I know, I'll always chase you when you run, I'll always be here for you to come back to. Always."

She didn't reply with words but leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him.

Daniel didn't think that kissing Vala would ever get old. Just when he thought that there was no way she could surprise him with a kiss she did just that. This was tender and chaste, yet none of their passion filled exchanges had ever conveyed so much emotion. This was more than a kiss this was a promise.

When Vala pulled back she once again rested her forehead against Daniels. They stood like that until there was a knock on the door.

***

Sam sat in her lab and watched Vala leave.

She was just about to leave when she heard the TARDIS materialise in the corner of her lab. The doctor opened the door for her and then walked back to the main console, clearly expecting her to follow. Sam quickly jotted down a note saying she was with the Doctor, she didn't know what he had planed but had heard several stories about his 'adventures' and wasn't going to risk trouble on the base if she was missing, then she followed him inside.

The TARDIS never ceased to amaze Sam, she bet she could spend the rest of her life trying to learn how it worked about wouldn't even have covered a tenth of it. She felt the ship hum, in what she supposed was a greeting, at her. The doctor motioned to the spot next to him on the captain's chair and Sam sat down beside him.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere." He gave her a roguish grin. "For one thing the doors still open and that tends to cause a draft in the Vortex."

"So why are you here then? If you're looking for Vala she's probably with Daniel." Sam couldn't work out what the Doctor would possibly be wanting with her.

"Nope" he said, popping the 'P' in his own characteristic way "I'm here to see, well talk, to you. Celesia… Vala" He stumbled over her name. "Told me to go do something fantastic and I think helping out around here might just qualify."

Sam sighed "I messed it all up, I know I shouldn't have asked her what I did but I couldn't help it, the words just came out and then I couldn't take them back, you know?"

He gave her a knowledgeable smile "A classic case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. This incarnation seems to suffer from a permanent case of it."

Sam gave him a weak smile at that, from what she had heard it was a pretty bad case of it.

"You know" he continued "When we were… younger… she had all these marbles, thousands of them, from all the different planets one of our cousins had gone to. She had never left our planet but even so she still had a curiosity that wouldn't be stopped, it's why she became a teacher I suppose." He paused and reached into his pocket and produced two large marbles. "Go find her, give her these." He handed them over. When Sam didn't immediately move he gave her a pointed look. "Go…" She got up and he called after her "And shut the door behind you!"

When Sam had closed the door and was safely back in her lab the TARDIS disappeared and she was left standing with the marbles still clutched in her hand.

Sam made a decision and set off to find Vala.

When she got to Daniels office she knocked on the door then entered.

***

Vala and Daniel looked over from there position at the work bench in the middle of the room.

"I'll leave you two to it." Daniel gave Vala another quick kiss and headed out the door, giving Sam a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as he passed.

"I'm sorry." They both said at once, and then smiled slightly at each other.

Sam crossed the room to stand next to her friend and they stood in silence for a moment; Vala fidgeting with her hair and Sam rolling the marbles around in her hands. When Vala noticed her friend had something in her hand she covered Sam's hands with her own and then opened them up. She let out an audible gasp at what she saw there.

"The Doctor came to see me; he gave me these to give to you." Sam explained. "What are they? Or should that be where?"

Vala picked the large red one out of her friend's hand. As she looked at it a smile came to her face but tears welled up in her eyes. Sam looked at the marble properly for the first time and she noticed that the cloud formations on it seemed to move and reveal different 'land' masses underneath.

"This is Gallifrey, it's is… was… my home." Vala swiped at the tears that had escaped her eyes "Theta must have made it for me, no where but the TARDIS has the technology to do this anymore" She ran a delicate finger over what looked like a city covered in some kind of glass dome. "It was an amazing place; there'll never be any where like it again." She tore her eyes from the painful reminder of what she had lost and wondered why the Doctor would give her such a gift.

Sam held the other one up for inspection and smiled when she realised what the Doctor had done.

"I think he's trying to tell you something." She stated as she handed over a perfect replica of the Earth.

Vala held a marble in each hand; they fit perfectly in her palms each being about the size of a golf ball. "Home." She said with a tone of finality in her voice. She simply gazed at them and Sam didn't think she was going to speak again so was surprised when she did.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you earlier Samantha. What I did… you should never be a part of that, never have to dirty yourself with it. You should never have to know the difference between sex and…rape." She turned and focused herself on Sam. "You're so young Samantha, so pure, I was… I guess I was angry that you would want to know about that."

Sam could hear the motherly tone in her voice. It wasn't often that she felt the age gap between herself and Vala but right now it seemed wider than ever. All Vala had been trying to do was protect her from a world she didn't know.

"I just wanted to understand. You drop this bomb on us and you run out then you act like you don't care… I just wanted to understand."

"I do care Samantha; I just forget that you haven't had the time to deal with it that I have. It's a time of my life that reminds me to fight just that little bit more for what I have, because it could all so easily be taken away again."

"But after Qetesh? After all that…" Sam still couldn't understand how after spending thousands of years as host to a sex goddess Vala could take this path, even with no other options.

Vala let out a long breath "The truth?" Sam nodded her head, afraid that if she spoke Vala would bolt. "Qetesh just made it that little bit easier." At Sam's shocked look she explained a little more. "My body wasn't my own for so long, it being used by others for their own pleasure was all I could remember, all I had ever known. When people treat you like an object for long enough you start to believe it yourself." Her sad smile melted into as cheeky grin and she held out her hand for the other woman to take. "Come on, lunch is waiting and I just might die if I don't eat soon."

Sam rolled her eyes, seems Vala had decided that the subject was closed for any more discussion today. She knew there would be other conversations and other times down the road when Vala would let her see a little more, let her understand a little more.

As they walked to the mess she thought on what the Doctor had said about Vala being a teacher, she had known before today about it but had never really taken the time to think about it. Now that she did though she wondered how it had never occurred to her before. Vala had a certain way in which she was able to shape peoples minds to a different way of thinking, a way of always making you ask that one question more, take a look from the other side of the line. The wealth of knowledge the woman had on just about every subject Sam could think of only reinforced this new thought.

They found the guys sitting once again at the table in the corner. Sam and Vala shared a look at that, the look that only woman can give that simply says: 'Men, they think there so smart don't they?' When they had gotten their lunch and went over to the table Vala was once again sequestered into the corner but this time Sam was sat beside her and Teal'c took the spot at the end of the table.

After a few false starts the conversation began to flow freely and Daniel realised that they had started the long road to healing. It wouldn't be easy and there would be plenty of hic-ups along the way but they would get there eventually. They had to; not only for the sake of the SGC or for Earth or even for the Galaxy but for Vala.

The blue Tiffany & Co box that was burning a hole in his desk drawer was a pretty good incentive too…