The next morning, Daniel awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. He groggily put his sweat pants on, and pulled on a T-shirt, then made his way to the kitchen. He walked slowly in, and gaped at what he saw. There was Vala, placing a plate of bacon and eggs onto the table. She glanced up at him and smiled.

"Here Daniel, sit down. I just have to grab the toast. Help yourself."

He sat down in one of the chairs, as she put the toast on a plate and set in on the table. There was a mug of steaming coffee already there for him, and she had a glass of orange juice for herself. He just sat there, staring in wonder at it all. He couldn't believe that Vala would get up early just to do this.

"Well, don't just sit there; your eggs will get cold." Vala scolded.

"Vala… w-why did you do this?"

"Well," she stated, "I figured it was our first morning of break, and that we should have a good breakfast for once. I mean, I've been eating commissary food for god knows how long."

Daniel nodded, still amazed and started on his eggs.

"Vala, these are really good! I didn't know you could cook."

"Well, when you're on your own, you have to learn how to feed yourself…"

He smiled to himself. She just kept surprising him.

"So, what's on the agenda for our first day off?" Vala asked cheerfully.

"Well, I have to go to the library to do some research," He saw Vala inwardly groan, "but, that won't take all day, so I figure if I get it done quickly, we could possibly go out to dinner," He glanced up at her, "or something."

Vala smiled at him before replying, "Ok. We can finally finish that date…"

"It wasn't a date!"

"Daniel." It was.

"Vala." It was not!

"Daniel."

He sighed in resignation. "Fine, but were not singing karaoke."

Vala smiled at her win, and while he should have been annoyed, he actually smiled to himself. She had really grown on him, and he had noticed, ever since Teal'c had come back fifty years older than the rest of them, that he suddenly cared, far more than he'd like to admit, about her.

Later, in the local library, Daniel was happily immersed in his work while Vala was on the verge of insanity.

"Daniel," she wined, "We've been here all day! It's 5 o'clock already. If we're gonna go out to dinner, I have to have a little time to get ready!"

He looked over at her; she was lying on her stomach on the table in front of him, fashion magazine in hand. An odd feeling of Déjà vu overcame him. He thought back to when their first encounter with the Ori. He couldn't stand her then, now, well, his feelings had changed significantly, and so had she. A year, even up to a month ago, he probably wouldn't have even been able to admit that to himself, but after the Ori, the last stand, and what happened last night, well, he was pretty sure she wasn't just toying with him anymore, and he wanted her to know that he was ready to take the step, to finally get close to someone like he hadn't since his wife's death.

Suddenly, there was a hand waving across his face.

"Hello. Earth to Daniel." His eyes met hers suddenly and she smiled at him. "You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He replied, "You're right, we've been here far too long. Let go home."

"Home?"

"Sorry, I meant my apartment."

"mm-hmm." Vala said as she followed Daniel from the library.

Daniel knocked on Vala's door for the fourth time.

"Vala! Come on, our reservation's for eight and it's seven forty now!" he called.

Just then the door opened, and there she stood. She was wearing a black halter dress, cut just above the knee, with strappy black heels. Her hair was down, held back by a familiar gemmed clip. He stood there and blinked a couple times before letting a "wow" accidentally escape his lips, at which she broke into a smile.

"Sorry for taking so long, but it took me forever to figure out what to wear. This isn't too dressy, is it?" she asked.

"No, no you, you look great."

She smiled again and put her arm through his. She was surprised that he didn't pull away, but hid it well.

"Let's go." She said brightly, and Daniel led her out the door.

"Wow, Daniel, this is fancier than the last place!" Vala exclaimed in a half whisper.

The restaurant was large, there were a lot of tables, all situated around a dance floor, their table was made of a dark wood, as were their chairs; A lone candle lit the table. There was a band on a stage in front of the dance floor playing soothing music. There were already some couples out dancing. Vala looked wistfully at them. Daniel didn't miss the look.

Vala, glanced back at her menu and sighed, "Daniel, I have no clue what to order…"

Just then the waitress came up. A tiny blond, who Vala noted was eyeing Daniel a bit too much for her liking. "Hi, my name's Sandy. I'll be taking care of you today. Can I start you off with any drinks?"

Daniel looked pointedly at Vala. She looked at Sandy and stated "I'll just have a diet coke."

Daniel looked a bit surprised.

"And for you, sir?" Sandy inquired.

"I'll just have the bottled water." He replied.

Sandy walked away, leaving them alone again.

"Wow, I was expecting you to order something a bit more potent." Daniel teased.

"Well, I want to make sure I'm on my best behavior. I'd hate to be kicked out on only the second night of break."

"I'd never kick you out."

In answer to his reply, Vala merely lifted her eyebrow in a very Teal'c–ish way.

Vala had finished eating, and was now staring wistfully at the dancing couples again. Daniel finished and stared at her. She was so beautiful, why had it taken him so long…

She sighed and it caught his attention. She was still looking at the dancers.

"Vala," she turned and looked at him and he continued, "Would you like to dance with me?"

She blinked twice, "really?"

He nodded; she smiled, and he got up and offered her his hand.

He twirled her around him and drew her close. She let out a soft laugh.

"Why are you being so nice to me, Daniel?"

He turned his head to look at her and smiled, "maybe I'm making up for how much of an ass I've been of late."

That had her laughing again. They swayed back and forth for a little while before Vala spoke again.

"Well, I have to admit, this music is much better than the stuff they played at Cam's reunion."

"Yeah, well, the 80's weren't known for their good taste." He chuckled.

They danced for a couple more songs before Daniel looked at his watch and saw that it was eleven thirty already.

"Vala, we'd better go, it's getting late."

She sighed, "Ok."

It was five minutes until twelve when they got back to Daniel's apartment. Vala stopped him outside of her room. She took his hands and looked up into his eyes.

"Daniel, I just wanted to tell you, that tonight was the most fun I've had in a long time."

He smiled down at her, "Well, I'm glad, but it's late, I think it's time you went to bed."

She smiled back, and fought a yawn, "I think you're right. Goodnight Daniel."

"Night Vala."

She went into her room, and he into his. After getting changed, he lay down and had one last thought before drifting off, 'yep, she's defiantly changed.'