The following morning she helped him outside and he sat watching as she began to work with the hide of the deer she had brought back two days before. She had stretched it tightly across a crude wooden rack and he watched as she scraped away the hairs and membrane that clung to the inner side. As he sat enjoying the warming sunshine he found himself thinking for the second time, what it would be like to just give it all up and stay here with her. He felt himself at peace for the first time in as long as he could remember, and her way of life certainly appealed to an old solider like him. Her laughter brought him out of his thoughts and he looked at her quizzically.

"What?" he asked.

"You would grow bored. You have seen many wars, but your fight is not finished, you know that."

He sighed, as tempting as it was, she was right. Aside from that his team would certainly be looking for him. She laughed again.

"Where will they look?"

He looked out over the valley below them, again she was right; there must be more than ten thousand acres of deep forest between them and the Stargate. Where would SG1 even begin to look?

"Do not worry" she said, looking up "When you are well enough I will help you reach your Stargate"

"Why don't you come with me?"

She shook her head sadly.

"I think your elders would not be as understanding as you. They would put me in a cage"

She shuddered even though the sun was warming the ledge and he knew that that was what she feared most, this beautiful wild woman. He knew it was true, if the joint chiefs and the NID got a hold of her they would put her in a cage and throw away the key. But something deep inside him couldn't bear to leave her behind. He sighed and leant back on the flat stone, enjoying the sunshine, the days were getting warmer.

_________________________________________________

He must have dozed because when he finally opened his eyes, the sun was setting painting the sky beautiful colors. Lalia appeared from inside the cave, an old leather bag strung over her shoulder.

"Come. I have something to show you"

He took her hand and she helped him towards the sloping path that led upwards from the ledge. The path led to a large green meadow that finished at a sheer cliff face some two hundred meters away. As they drew closer to the imposing wall of rock, he could make out the sound of water and soon a medium sized pool came into view, constantly filled by a trickle of water bubbling from the rock face. The water steamed and he could tell that it was warm, it was a beautiful spot. Movement to his left drew his eyes and he watched as Lalia pulled her tunic over her head and dropped her leggings before slipping gracefully into the pool. The view of her firm behind as she dropped into the water was very provocative, but she had small idea of the effect her body had on him. She turned to look at him the water just covering her breasts and beckoned for him to join him. Without a thought he stripped of his t-shirt and pants, being careful to leave his boxers intact, his desire would be too obvious without them.

"I was about due for a bath anyway" he quipped and enjoyed her smile.

The water was warmer than he had thought and he felt the tightness in his shoulder slip away as the ripples enveloped him. The weightlessness eased some of the pain in his broken limbs and he barely even felt the ache in his ribs. She swam away from him and dipped her head under the trickle of water that flowed from the cliff face, sighing as the warm water flowed over her face. He found that the far side of the pool was shallower and there was a rough ledge; warn away by thousands of years of flowing water, that he could sit on. He leaned back against the edge of the pool feeling the water lap around his chest, and watched as the stars began to rise. As always he recognized some of the constellation from home but some were different. His gaze was drawn as Lalia joined him on the ledge, and he had to fight to keep his eyes from looking down at her naked body engulfed in water as it was. She sat next to him and like him looked up at the stars. He started to point out the constellation he knew, telling her the names one by one.

It was late when she finally reached for the bag she had left discarded at the side of pool. From inside she drew two lengths of soft absorbent leather; she stepped from the water and wrapped one around her body before turning and helping him out and handing him the other. He was powerless to rip his eyes away as she dried herself, rubbing the supple material over her tanned, firm body. He dried himself quickly and pulled on his pants, hoping it would do something to hide his obvious arousal. She blushed so he guessed it didn't. He could feel her confusion over his reaction to her, she could feel it but she didn't understand it. He remembered that she had lived alone for a long time and had probably had little or no experience with men before she had been run out of her village. His money was on none.