Enjoy!

M.

Chapter Twenty

She's still not sure how she's supposed to keep track of the time, however, after Naysa's birth the chief brought her a gift. She never thought about asking about her things, the few objects she had on her when the whole mission turned out for the worst, and now, they decided that her watch and dog tags could be valuable for her to show to her daughter as a reminiscence of her mother's origins.

She noticed how time seemed to be going away faster than she was hoping. It was exactly like those months when she was working to bring Jack back from Edora, the hours escaped her grasp, and there was no outstanding progress on her end. And now, with a baby in tow, it was even more dispearing. Every day, every hour, every minute was a day, hour and minute Jack was losing with his daughter. And she could never forgive herself if Naysa grew up not knowing her father, or if Jack never got a chance to meet his daughter.

He would understand, she knew. He would be able to tell her daughter how much he had missed her and loved her, and how he tried to recover them both but couldn't manage. After spending too much time looking at the stupid watch and at her daughter. She decided that knowing the time wasn't of help, so she hid it on her night table along with her wedding rings which hang from her dog tags before.

When Fewashi deemed her ready to be out, she walked to the lab with Naysa secured around her chest. She felt funny, but no one seemed to mind which made it less uncomfortable when breastfeeding time was wailed over. It took her a while to be comfortable enough with sharing the moment out there, with taking her daughter with her everywhere. And with people grinning at her and looking at her chest to see if they could sneak a peak of the blue and brown eyed baby.

She remembered friends telling her that babies eyes always were blue at the start, and she had read it had to do with the amount of light they were exposed. Maybe that was the case with Naysa's blue. Sam was familiar with heterochromia; she had a friend at school who had a light brown eye and a green eye. There wasn't anyone in her family with such trait. She thought she probably didn't know enough about Jack's family and his side could explain it. Or, maybe, she would grow up with a set of brown since Naysa was exposed to a right amount of light daily.

But as the days passed, and Naysa's distinct coloring was being more and more visible. Sam also felt strong, fit and ready enough to walk to the mountain of the ancients. Before she left, she grabbed water, a change of protecting mud, and her watch to measure how long it took her to get there. She walked to the base, and she stood looking at it in awe. It was obviously and Ancient outpost, quite like the ones she was familiar with and worked in before.

"We might have a way home," she whispered to Naysa.

Even with the discoveries of technology inside the outpost, there were no means of going home. And her knowledge of the ancient language had improved during her days in Atlantis, but not enough to fully understand what was written in there. And there was no smart computer which translated it all for her.

"Holy Hannah, Naysa… how am I supposed to get us back home, if I can't understand half of what's written here? And they haven't left any pointing arrows to where they might have left a ship, or power to look around?" She whispered to her daughter.

She continued perusing around, trying to find something she could use or at least understand. Maybe some parts she could use to try and recall how the mini stargate Orlin had made looked like, or something to make a long range call. Everything pointed to the place being dismantled before.

"Should I accept that I won't be able to bring you to your father, Naysa?" She sighed, and leaning against a wall she slowed herself to the floor.

Carefully, Sam took Naysa out of her safety harness and made her gurgle happily before unfastening her clothes allowing her to eat. She felt depressed and happy at the same time, the darkness and the familiarity of the compound reminiscing her of the time when she had to leave Jack to be frozen to survive. Letting out another sigh, she raised Naysa to make her burp and then, the whole complex lighted up.

"What the…" She looked around and then she noticed how her daughter small hand had come in contact with the wall. "The ATA gene… you have the ATA!" She kissed her baby's forehead lovingly.

She checked her watch and knew she had to get going if she wanted to be back for the main meal. She fixed her clothes and with one last walk around she exited the compound and walked back to town.

Fewashi joined them on the table and stared at Sam. The healer knew something was going on, even if she couldn't understand what it was. The colonel tried to explain to her how she walked toward the mountain of the Ancients and Fewashi dismissed the mountain as something useless.

"Mek'oyeti menoriya," Fewashi told her and Sam gulped.

"I can't stay… this is not my home." She told Fewashi. "yelemi menoriya Fewashi."

"Rayzam.." Fewashi answered a bit disappointed. "dag antieke kifiteti na kuri."

"Yelemi Fewashi! Met'a ine dag atehere Mi'irabi rayizamama?"

"Rayzam."

And so they did, once Mi'irabi had set the two women walked towards the mountain. Once they entered the compound, Fewashi started to talk, and most of it was lost on Sam. But the joy and the hope in her newest friend eyes was everything she needed to know that Fewashi was amazed at the situation. They walked around the place, and Fewashi kept pointing to things, and once they had managed to finish their tour, the healer grabbed Sam's hand and pulled her out and walked away. Sam kept the pace, and soon she realized they were heading to the elders building.

Fewashi irupted on the building and was received by the scornful eyes of the chiefs. Until she started to speak fast. Sam understood some words: xeber, dag, mebirati, antieke negerochi. News, mountain, light, ancient stuff. She didn't need more to know Fewashi was telling them somehow the mountain had lighted up and the things of the Ancients were working. Or something like that.

"Iwineti Malachi?" Halina asked her in awe, and she couldn't but nod. "Neria Malachi …felenderim" she whispered and bowed. Then all the others one followed her example.

When Semeni set that night, Sam fell to bed a little concerned about the events of the day. She wondered what would their knowing and their excitement mean for her plans of returned home. But with the tiredness of a busy day, she felt asleep quickly.

Mi'irabi's rays filtered through sooner than she liked, but the noise outside told her she should start her day already. When she placed her feet out of her room, she found that Fewashi was packing things. The smell of the tea they took in the mornings filtering through.

"Mewisede Malachi," she told her pointing to the jar and continued working around. Naysa cried for attention just a bit after she finally had set her cup down and walked to feed her. She was about to finish when Fewashi knocked her door. "Malachi, atehere Naysa hide dag."

"Kehone."

The first thing Sam noticed when they were close to the mountain was the movement. All the people who worked with her at the lab was there. At the side of the entrance what looked like a campaign tent was set, and in there, the food was being made. Inside, the things scattered around told her they were planning on standing enough time around to need places to sleep.

Someone told them that the only issue so far was mounting bathrooms, but they were already up. On the far left of the mountain. The compound was bustling with activity, and finally, Sam felt her chances of going home had escalated. With a smile, she kissed Naysa's forehead.

"We might have a chance after all."