'Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.' - Neil Gaiman

Just thought that this quote fit the story really well =)

the disclaimer thingy goes *here*

As he entered the gate room he risked a glance at her, he had been avoiding her eyes since they had left the locker room. She was watching the gate as it spun to life, there was a small look of wonder in her eyes, there always was when she looked at the 'gate. He hated that look. Hated her voice, hated her eyes, hated her hair, hated her techno babble and her blue Jell-o, he hated everything about her, but most of all he hated the way he loved her.

Feeling his gaze she looked up, their eyes met for a second before he pulled away and stared at the gate as it 'kawooshed'. Those eyes, those eyes he hated, those eyes he loved.

He hopped up onto the ramp, "Let's go kids," he said, focusing hard on the gate. Though it didn't help much, the shimmering blue of the wormhole only reminded him of her eyes, which reminded him of the rest of her, which is exactly what he was trying to forget.

Well, not forget so much as not focus on for a while. He sighed just before he stepped through the gate, this was going to be a really, really long mission.

She tried not to think about the pain she saw in his eyes, she didn't know what it was that was causing this, but whatever it was she wished she could stop it, hurt it as much as it was hurting him.

After stepping through the gate Samantha Carter did a double take. Everything on this planet was... pink. Yeah, really pink.

She looked around, "Uh... Carter?" she heard the voice of her CO in front of her, "Is everything a little..."

"Pink?" she supplied. She hadn't seen this much of the color since she had been five and barbie seemed cool.

"Yeah, thats the word I was looking for," he said, she continued looking around, everything from the grass to the leaves on the trees was indeed pink.

"Did anyone pay attention at the briefing?" Daniel asked exasperated.

"No," Sam and Jack... the Colonel said at the same time. They glanced at each other and fought smiles.

"I listened attentively to you during the briefing Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. They both sent glares toward the large man, whose side was he on?

Suddenly she realized that the Colonel was acting like himself again. She looked at her CO, whatever it was that was bothering him, he seemed to have forgotten it momentarily in the shock of a very pink planet. His face that had been so masked before was just like his usual self. He was fighting a smile as he looked out his friends and his eyes twinkled with laughter. She smiled, she liked when he was happy, it made her happy by default.

"Thank you Teal'c," Daniel said, "I told you all that this planet was going to be very pink. Basically this planet is like a 24/7 Valentines Day."

And then the mask was back.

Jack stiffened at Daniel's words, and suddenly he remembered why he was so sullen and annoyed all day. Great just what he needed. The two lovebirds on a romantic plant, he tried to keep his emotions off of his face, pretending not to notice the frown forming on his second's face as his mask settled into place. He frowned a little too, he liked it better when she smiled, she was always beautiful but when she smiled... on second thought, maybe its better if she didn't smile.

"The town should be about 1 mile that way," Daniel said pointing to the west again not noticing any change in his friends behavior.

"If we start walking now, we should reach it before sun down," Jack said beginning to walk in the direction Daniel pointed. His thoughts attacked him as they began walking through the very pink foilage. Daniel and Sam, Sam and Daniel. Sam and Jack didn't exist, Jack and Sam would never happen.

Sam and Jack. Daniel not Jack. Daniel and Sam.

As they walked she studied him, he seemed like he was concentrating on something, something that was really important and something that was hurting him. She wanted to just go over and ask what was wrong for the umpteenth time, but she knew he would never give anything away. He would say his was fine and brush her off. She continued to watch him, studying every angle looking for something, for any clue, trying to ignore the part of her brain that was enjoying the view.

He never looked up at her, he just kept walking, his eyes trained on the pink ground. She wanted to grab him and scream at him to let it go, to hold him until it wasn't a problem ... to kiss him until he forgot ... anything. Anything that would make him happy again.

They were almost to the town when Jack was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Hello," a soft voice said. In front of him stood a man dressed in robes. Pink robes. Very pink robes. His hair was long and white and his forehead was speckled with the wrinkles of old age. "Who are you?" the man asked. He didn't seem frightened or scared, just curious.

"I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c, who are you?" Daniel asked, seeming grateful that the man spoke english.

"I am Corin. It is nice to meet you Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c," he replied bowing his head to each in turn.

"It's nice to meet you too Corin. Do you think you could show us to your town?" Daniel said. Corin looked them all over, noticing their extreme lack of... pink.

"Of course," he said, it was a good thing that the goa'uld had never found this place, Jack thought, this guy was way too trusting. Daniel and Teal'c followed the large man in pink with himself and Sa...CARTER! his brain shouted at him, tagging along behind.

It didn't take long to reach the city limits, they were almost there by themselves anyway. The entrance to the city was interesting, more like an archway in the walls surrounding the city, the very pink walls. At the top of the archway was a large flower, it was the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. The petals, unlike the rest of the planet, were a pale blue and they flowed together with a color he had never seen before and could not name even if he tried. The color at first glance was almost black but when you looked closely it exploded into all the colors you could think of, it was amazing and impossible and brilliant. And it reminded him a lot of the blonde standing in front of him.

She stared at the colorful flower, she had never seen anything like it, it was fantastic. That color, that confusing color was one she had never seen before. Just like her Colonel... THE Colonel, he wasn't hers... not yet anyway. She mentally smacked herself, she wasn't allowed to have thoughts like this but staring at the beautiful flower she couldn't stop those thoughts she had locked up for so long.

She had never met anyone quite like him, and all cliches aside, she didn't want anyone else. Not now, not ever. She snuck a glance at him, at first glance you saw a dull black, but when you looked closely you saw all those little amazing traits, all those colors, that made him who he was.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

But there was something wrong now, looking at the mask he wore, the mask that hid the Colonel away, hid her Colonel away, all she saw was the black.

He was so busy studying the beautiful flower that he just barely heard Daniels call from the other side of the wall, "Jack? Sam? You guys coming?" he shook his head and looked around. He saw his second standing there sheepishly, he guessed that she had been looking at the flower too.

'Though she probably thought of Daniel the whole time,' he thought bitterly. "Go on," he said motioning with his P-90 for her to go first. She began walking through the archway but froze when the townspeople started screaming at her.

"STOP!" "WAIT!" they all shouted. She stopped so abruptly that he walked right into and he had to grab her arm to steady her.

"What's going on?" he distantly heard Daniel ask Corin, he was trying very hard to ignore the tingles that their contact was sending up and down his arm. Feeling the warmth of her skin through the BDU jacket was driving him crazy. His hand lingered on her arm, he didn't want to let go.

Corin looked at him as though the answer were obvious, "They have to kiss!" he said, this Jack heard. His hand tightened on her arm.

"WHAT?" he heard himself shout at the same time as Carter and Daniel.

"It is tradition!" Corin said happily, "When a man and woman walk under the Leaf of Amor they must kiss."

"Daniel!" Jack shouted, not that he didn't want to kiss her, he really did. But he didn't think his best friend would be too happy if he started kissing Sam...Carter.

"That's interesting, it's like the cultural equivolent of mistltoe," Daniel said before he began mumbling to himself. Jack was stunned, 'I'm being asked to kiss his girlfriend and all he can think about is cultural equivolents!'

"Daniel!" Jack shouted again.

"Just do it Jack!" he shouted back, Jack's eyes widened in shock. 'He's asking me to kiss Sam. TO KISS HIS GIRLFRIEND!'

"But Daniel!" he said, he realized he was almost whining. He wanted so badly to do this and if they kept testing his self control like this, he would give in.

"Jack... it's tradition," Jack sighed, 'In other words, let's not piss off the locals,' he thought bitterly.

"Sir," Sam said turning to him, something had changed. He looked into those eyes, those eyes he hated and loved, and there was something new there. There was want, there was need.

"Carter?" he asked softly. She brought his hand up to his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, her touch sending tingles all through his skin.

She brushed thumb across his cheek and he tried to contain a shiver, "Jack," she whispered.

It was her saying his name that did it, his mask faded away.

His eyes fluttered open, the logical part of her was screaming at her not to do this but she couldn't stop, not now. Hell she knew that something like this was going to happen eventually, she just didn't expect it to be so... public. Or pink for that matter.

She looked into his eyes and saw his mask dissolve away, she saw the pain and the want and the desire. She saw it all, every last color.

Though he held the commanding position she was in charge now, she could make the decision. She pulled his face down to hers so that their breaths mingled in the space between their lips. She was dimly aware of the many onlookers they had but she didn't care. She wanted this, wanted his lips on hers, wanted it to be him that she was kissing.

She closed the distance between them slowly, painfully slow, giving him a chance to back down or walk away, to tell her that he doesn't want her like this and that this was wrong. All those chances and he didn't take them. Their lips touched lightly, sweetly and it set of a fire, wanting more of this, more of him. His hand, still on her arm, slid up to her neck, not pulling her closer, not pushing her away. She pulled him closer and he didn't stop her, she was kissing him hard with years of pent up desire and then all too soon he pulled away, walking into the town and not looking back. Leaving her standing in the middle of the archway, with her fingers on her lips, where his had just been, watching him walk away.

A/N: Ta-da. hope you all liked this. I used this chapter as a means to completely procrastinate my english essay. I really hate writing essays. So if I get a bad grade you only have yourselves to blame.

please do not ask where the pink planet and the flower came from, even i don't know.

so please review! i am not above begging.