Okay, slightly different style from the last couple of ficlets I've written, and I haven't done dialogue in years so please forgive me if it seems a bit stilted.

SPOILERS for Ripple Effect.

Let me know what you think. :)

Daniel allowed his mind to wander back through the short time they had spent together. The conversation clear in his mind.

She had found him working, hiding, in his office. He knew that she would come, the unspoken question had been in her eyes and he had simply nodded, knowing instinctively what she was asking.

The coffee she handed him was too hot, her automatic 'doctor' reflex's took over, when he distractedly scorched his lips on the liquid. Grabbing a cloth and wetting it with cool water, smiling gently at him

He tried not to look directly at her, tried not to remember happier times with the same person, the memories stronger than ever. Only he knew it wasn't her, she looked the same, spoke the same, laughed and even walked the same way, but she wasn't the person he had lost.

The silence that followed was uneasy, each of them wanting to ask the questions they had avoided whilst surrounded by the others, neither wanting to be the first to speak.

Slowly she walked around the cluttered room, picking up small items, turning them over in her hands. She stopped in front of the shelving eyes resting on the photo of her identical counterpart before turning to him.

"You miss her, Don't you?"

The question was plain, simple and he knew there was only one answer.

"Yes, everyday. Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to everyone, but I am her, I know you, well, my version of you at least."

The smile was identical, and his heart broke as he turned to face her.

"I couldn't save her. I should have told her...I never got the chance to tell her..." The words were whispered, the unspoken one's an admittance he had never allowed out loud.

Daniel turned away, powerless to halt the images running through his mind of that one day, helpless to stop the tears tracking down his face.

"Maybe not here, not everywhere but somewhere you did, I'm here because you saved me. And just because you never told her, doesn't mean she didn't know, that she didn't feel the same way."

Daniel span around, allowing her to see the emotions flowing from him, searching her face for the deception he thought should be there. Reluctantly he had looked away, unwilling to face the answer to his next question.

"Did I tell you?"

"Eventually...You struggled to forgive yourself that I had been so badly hurt."

Looking up, he found she had stepped closer, was less than reaching distance from him. He knew that the surprise he felt was evident on his face, but he allowed her to pull him to his feet and wrap his arms around her small frame. Burying his face into her hair he permitted the tears to come.

"I couldn't save her... I couldn't save you..."

He repeated his earlier statement, knowing now that she understood.

She lifted her head and stared at him until he had caught her eye. Lifting her arms and pulling his head towards her she gently whispered in his ear.

"I forgive you."

Feeling his body relax she had watched his face to make sure he had understood, then gently brushed her lips against his, letting him know he didn't have to say it for her to know.

Daniel held her now, so tight that neither of them could breath, he realised for the first time in a long while he no longer felt guilty, that he felt free.

He still didn't want to let her go again and saying goodbye seemed like an impossible task but she wasn't his to keep, she had her own life, her own Daniel, they were happy.

And finally so was he.