I'm not going to lie, this was supposed to be the fluffiest fluffy fic in the history of fluffy fics… but no.. weird mind took over and here we are… Anyway…thank you for the reviews! ❤

Enjoy !

M.

Chapter Six

He found her in the garden, if it wasn't for the dress he wouldn't have noticed her, but the red fabric dancing with the wind caught his attention. Soon, the gasping sounds gave her away too. She was doubled over, fighting with her lungs for a sole moment of breathing peace. He had seen her so many times doing that before, but always had something wrong about it. There was always a sand storm, or mining, or a run for their lives. But now…

His heart started to beat faster, 'this might be it', he thought.

Yes, he had imagined the moment in which against all odds, she would come back to him, but certainly it didn't look this way. She was supposed to walk down the gate ramp a little worse for wear, but with a bright smile and a knowing look and salute him, because it was the thing to do. And he would have said something along the lines of 'it's about darn time you returned, Carter… you had Daniel worried,' and then she would give him that bright grin she reserved for him only and say something about aliens failing to ask directions or electrical issues with the gate, or even a long techno babbling speech with something akin to amusement written all over her face. Later, he would have ordered her to go to her checkup and finally, he would have taken her home, whichever one it was, and just stay glued to her to make sure she was real.

Or….his mind provided him; and he gulped; it could be worse than this, and she could've found in pieces in some backwater planet and that KIA status would be real and not something he decided to accept, after fighting for months to postpone it, because the general consensus what that 'it make sense', and even then he had decided not to believe in it, because to him not all the sense of the world would be able to convince him that she was fully gone. And once again, his guts had been proven right.

Oh! He wanted to know…

And he didn't.

He took a step in her direction, and she straightened as if she had felt him near or heard him approach. 'Probably both,' he thought.

She was so close. And yet, it has been so long since the last time he had seen her, since the last time she wasn't anything, but a figment of her imagination. He gulped, she was there. She wasn't MIA, she wasn't KIA… she just was there, and that would be a hell of a lot paperwork to bring her back from the death, but he wouldn't care. He only wanted to hold her in his arms and breath her in. Because truth was, she was the air he needed to feel alive again.

He shook his head and walked two steps closer, and it hit him, she was crying. Not in the sobbing, wailing from someone would expect from a disheartened woman, but a silent one. The one he had heard so few times, the one she didn't allow anyone, but him to watch over. A sense of pride went through his body. He knew there would be a lot to talk, and even more to overcome… but she was back, as he had wished, prayed and hoped for.

He stood up behind her, not knowing quite well if she would allow him to touch her. If she wouldn't freak out at something more than an arm offering. But then, she sighed and slowly, she leaned into him, as if nothing had happened, as if it has been just earlier that day that they've seen each other. And suddenly, it was his turn of gasp for air.

She smelled quite like he remembered, she felt like he remembered. She was still crying quietly when he surrounded her waist from behind, he knew that much because a single tear had found a way to his hand. He too was silently crying, she knew that, because she could feel as one lone tear, slowly gave space to another one, and they all fell in the crook of her neck where he currently was hiding his face.

Her right hand found his joined hands and gave them a strong press, as if she wanted him to feel she was there, alive. The other one, sneaked towards his head where it found his hair. They stood silently for a while, just holding to each other for their dear life.

And then, it just became a bit awkward. He cleared his throat, raising his head from her neck and she took a step forward, giving them some space. A long time ago, she would have given him time to clear up his face, but they weren't it that CO-2IC situation any longer; so she turned around, she reached and cleaned the remains of tears out of his eyes and cheeks, while he slowly did the same. She smiled at him, a watery smile and even with the black marks of her make up marrying her face, she looked angelic to him.

"Sam…" he managed to say, and she closed her eyes, savoring the way her name came out of him.

"You have no idea, how much I wanted to hear you calling me that," she smiled sadly, "how much I wanted to take a step back and find your body so close to mine, and know whatever it happened, we would be together, we would be okay…" her eyes filled up with new tears, she licked her lips, and then she sucked the lower one, not quite able to voice her thoughts yet. "And yet, you weren't there, Jack… you were never there. And I'm not blaming you, I know you don't have any fault in my … experience… to call it somehow, but I missed you, I needed you… and every day, I had to remind me, you weren't there, because I kept seeing you around"

"Sam…" he whispered again, his eyes were tortured by the feelings she was sharing with him. He opened his arms and she fell easily into them, she clung onto him, her hand over his chest.

"And I was so worried, the days kept passing and I saw nothing that could point me that I was being searched for…and I thought, that no matter what happened, I would find a way back, because I knew you would be waiting for me. I could imagine you, I had this mind recreation of getting to the SGC and walking down the ramp just to find you there, and that I was going to run down and jump into your arms and kiss you senseless." He gasped for air, she took a step back, she needed him close to her, but she also needed to see him.

"When I finally got to the SGC, I hoped I would see you there, you know? But you weren't there… I was placed into quarantine, and they told me they were working on my situation. I asked, 'what situation is that?' And they didn't answer. It was Daniel who finally had the courage to tell me… he was so freaking nervous, I hadn't seen him like that… ever… and he came to me, he sat beside me, grabbed my hands in his, and I was pretty sure he was going to tell me you were seeing someone else, remarried or worse, death. And I laughed, and asked him 'you aren't going to tell me he's dead, right? After all the effort I made to return?' and his eyes widened, and my heart skipped a few beats. And then he added, 'No, Sam… it's you who was declared dead.' And it dawned on me, that logic pointed that I was probably gone for good. And even if I was MIA for a while… it didn't make that much sense to keep me like that. Chances were really low… that was three days ago."

"I'm sorry, we had to declare you MIA, Sam," he explained moving a hand to caress her hair and low until he found her hand and grabbed it.

"I know, by definition, that's exactly what I was…" she scratched her cheek, "the KIA thing did cost me more to understand, but how was I any different from the man and women we've lost like that before? All in all, it could've been so much worse than it was. But I can't start to imagine how it felt for you. I know I missed you, I know you missed me… but I knew you were here, 'safe' … you didn't… you didn't really know if I was alive, and I had three days to process it, and I can't come up with words to describe what I would feel in your shoes, Jack… and yet, you weren't there, I thought you would rush to my side"

"I didn't know"

"I know that now… for some reason the whole thing was managed in a weird way. I don't really want to talk about all the details yet… there's," she closed her eyes and shook her head, "there are many things you need to know. But right now, the only one that matters is … I love you, Jack O'Neill. I'm back… and if you will have me, whenever they sort the papers… I would love to go back to our home and sleep in your arms," she finished, raising her hand and slowly caressed his lips with the tips of her fingers. He closed his eyes at her actions and took a deep breath. He lowered his head, and she raised hers… and they both tasted the salty intrusion of two tears that had decided to join them on the first kiss they've shared in a long while.