Chapter 51

"Daniel, what? How?" Vala asked as Daniel practically ran from the closet to her bedside.

"Vala, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm in labor," she said practically in tears. "And I don't know what to do."

"It'll be okay," he said trying not to panic. "I'm here. I'll help you."

"You shouldn't be here," Vala cried as she was hit wit another labor pain.

"Breathe, Vala. Just breathe through it."

Vala did as Daniel asked.

Within moments the contraction had ceased and Vala turned her attention back to Daniel.

"You shouldn't be here," she cried.

"You think I'm going to miss the birth of my own child?" he said wiping away Vala's tears from her face.

"How do you know?" she asked in astonishment.

"How I found out doesn't matter. All that matters is that I know. And that I am here."

"Daniel, its awful. She's a monster. She's totally under their control. I tried to escape. I tried. But she stopped me."

"Its okay, Vala. We can change her. She's just a child. She doesn't have to be their puppet."

"But she wants to be, Daniel, she wants to k -" another contraction stopped Vala short.

Daniel helped her through her breathing.

"You're not really here, are you?" she said when the pain subsided, agony in her voice. "You're just my imagination."

"I'm here, Vala. Maybe not physically, but I am here with you, just as you were with me when you first made contact. I'm trying to get to you. I'm trying -"

"You're dying," Vala interrupted. "I know you're dying. I know your hearts failing."

Daniel's mind went back to what Kebechet had told him before he went into the chair.

"It doesn't matter."

Of course it matters, Daniel. You can't die."

"Vala, my heart may be failing but that doesn't mean I'll die. I'm doing something that is going to help me get to you. To stop The Ori. Whatever is happening to me, I will be fine. I won't die."

"You might not, but I will."

"What are you talking about?"

"We're still connected Daniel. Like the bracelets. Whatever happens to you, happens to me. Whatever you are doing right now, it reconnected that bond. So while you might have something that will save you from dying, I don't have that luxury."

"Vala, what are you saying?"

Vala took Daniel's hand and placed it on her chest, right above her heart. Daniel could feel the same irregular pounding, the same rapid-fire beating, the same rhythmic lurching - that he could feel coming from his own heart. The machine reconnected their bond, which meant whatever physically happened to him, happened to her. And while he had safety nets like the Odyssey and Lam waiting for him if something were to go wrong, there was nothing for her.

"Oh, my god! I'm killing you!" Daniel cried as the tears fell freely down his cheeks.

"You need to go, Daniel," Vala said as her attentions were finally drawn to the chamber doors. "They're coming."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Tomin is coming with the Doci and the Healer. They have heard my screams. You need to go before they realize you are hear."

"They can't see me."

"It doesn't matter. I don't want you to be here. I don't want you to see me - "

"Die? I'm not going to just abandon you. And I am sure as hell not going to let you die."

"Daniel, my mother was a midwife. I know given my present condition, I'm not going to survive."

"Don't say that. Don't ever -"

"Promise me," Vala said taking Daniel's head in her hands, her eyes welling with tears. "Promise me that you will save the child."

Daniel's mind was reeling, harkening back to a similar promise he had made to Sha're when she had given birth to Shifu. The pain and agony flowing from his words.

"I promise to save you both. That is the only promise I plan to make."

Vala was hit with another contraction. Gauging from the timing, she was going to give birth soon.

"Daniel, I'm so tired."

"I know you are, I know. But you just have to keep going, okay. For the baby. For me."

"Whatever happens," Vala said, the panic rising in her voice. "Whatever happens, promise me, that you will get her away from The Ori. Daniel, please. Promise."

"Vala, I promise."

"Now, go Daniel. They're here."

"Vala, I don't -"

"GO!"

A bright light engulfed the room and Daniel found himself back in his happy place.

"Vala?" he cried as he started up in a panic, the pain in his chest growing more and more intense as he made his way down the hallway.

The doorway to Vala was gone. An overwhelming sense of pain enveloped Daniel. He couldn't let her die. He wouldn't let her die. Despite the agony overwhelming his body, he found an inner strength and resolve to move forward. He walked straight past all of the remaining doors until he reached two doors at the end of the hallway. One was a decaying, rotten wooden door and right next to it stood a pristene mahogany door.

He knew that whatever the point of this whole journey was, it was to reach one of these two places. If he had the time he would explore the other doors, learn more about what they contained and made a more informative decision. He didn't have time for that. He need to save Vala. He didn't have the time to waste.

He looked at the mahogany door and read its inscription carefully: In qua luce amplectamur. That in which we embrace light. He took several minutes reading it over in his mind before turning to the decaying, rotten door and turning its handle. As he walked inside, it shut behind him. Back in the hallway, Indra stood, shaking and hanging his head in sorrow. His eyes never wandering from the inscription written upon the rooting door.

In qua amplectimur tenebris. That in which we embrace darkness.

"And as it is written," Indra remarked as he stared at the rotten door. "So shall it come to pass."