Part two
“Bye?”
Jack gaped at Daniel’s retreating form. Back stiff, the archaeologist moved with rapid, determined strides away from yet another heartache. Daniel was halfway up the hill before Jack could turn to trade glances with Carter and Teal’c. They too, were watching their friend try, probably in vain, to separate himself from the pain of coming face to face with his dead wife. Who was not really his wife. Yet in a way she was. She was also quite alive. And suffering equally.
A small sigh brought the three soldier’s attention back to Sha’re as she sagged to the ground. She sat in the grass, hands clenched in her lap, looking lost and vulnerable. Her eyes stayed riveted to Daniel’s back, watching the man with her husband’s face flee the unwitting hurt her thoughtless actions had caused. The all-too-brief moment in his arms, the look of despair on his face told her all she needed to know–the Daniel Jackson of this reality had loved the Sha’re of this reality–and lost her.
“I should not have done that,” she said softly. “I did not wish to cause him grief. But–I could not help myself. To see him again, so alive, I forgot for a moment where I was.”
Jack pulled his radio up to his mouth, watching as Daniel reached the summit of the hill. “Daniel, stay in visual, okay?”
Daniel halted obediently on the hill’s crest. Still as an Easter Island statue he remained there, staring off into the valley beyond, hands lax at his sides.
Jack turned his attention back to the woman at his feet, catching the surreptitious confirmation from Carter that there was no Goa’uld present in this Sha’re. Still keeping half an eye on Daniel, Jack hunkered down and took a good look at the sad woman. She was undoubtedly Sha’re–the same warm brown eyes, long curly black hair framing a sweet face. But she was very different from the laughing young woman who had offered first water and then her heart to a very out of his depth archaeologist, just a few years ago. Thinner, older, wiser and made weary by grief, this woman still had the inner fire that had helped spark a rebellion.
“Sha’re?” Jack asked quietly. “You want to tell us how you ended up here?”
Her brown eyes turned to him, lighting up momentarily at seeing another familiar, friendly face. Then her gaze moved beyond him, widening in an odd mix of sadness and happiness.
Turning his head, Jack observed Thor making his way into their little circle. Standing, he moved back to stand next to Teal’c.
“What has occurred, O’Neill?” Thor asked.
Jack looked down at the Asgard leader, catching as he did, the set-in-stone appearance of Teal’c’s face. “Oh, just another little human drama. Thor, may I present Sha’re, formerly of Abydos, daughter of Kasuf, sister of Skaara and I’m guessing wife of one Daniel Jackson.”
Sha’re reached out and clutched Thor’s hand. “I knew you would be alive here. I held his hand as he died. He was such a caring person.”
Thor’s eyes widened at her words. “The crew of the Belisknor all perished in the crash?” he asked.
Sha’re shook her head sadly. “Many did, but those who survived began to suffer terribly not two nights after the crash. Their bodies… began to break down. They could do nothing to stop it. Within a few more days they were all gone.” Her gaze drifted up to the burial site on the hill. “I could do nothing but lay them to rest and say the words for their spirits.”
“I thank you for your efforts for our counterparts,” said Thor. His long fingered hand patted Sha’re’s.
To one side, Carter grimaced. “Entropic cascade failure, sir.”
Sha’re looked up curiously. “The Asgard scientists said it was caused by our presence in a reality that is not our own. They reasoned that I did not have a counterpart in this reality. They did all they could to ensure my survival, before their deaths. They were very brave,” she whispered.
Silence fell over the gathering, their thoughts filled with visions of the Asgard crew, stranded and faced with a gruesome, shattering death.
Jack cleared his throat. “Carter, get a fire going. We could all do with something hot, I think.”
As Carter acknowledged him and began to dig into her pack, Jack turned to Teal’c. The impression of a stone face had gone, replaced by a sad mixture of guilt, grief and regret. Teal’c’s eyes never left Sha’re, seeming to drink in the sight of this small, defenceless woman; the mirror image of the woman he had killed. Wordlessly, Jack patted Teal’c’s shoulder.
The smell of wood smoke began to fill the air, drifting from the small fire Carter had got going to heat up canned soup for them all. Jack offered his water canteen to Sha’re, then turned to check on Daniel once more.
Daniel was still standing in the same spot. No longer motionless, his head was lowered, shaking back and forth as if arguing with himself. As Jack watched, Daniel lifted his face to gaze at the sky and then slowly, gracefully, crumpled to his knees.
“Damn.”
“Sir?” Carter stepped over to him, offering two mugs of steaming soup. Her gaze followed his to where their friend sat, suffering.
“Thanks, Carter.” Jack looked at her, noting the concern in her eyes. “I’ll go…” Turning to Sha’re, he asked, “Sha’re, do you think you’re up to telling us what happened?”
Sha’re looked up at him, the familiar face comforting in this confusing day. “I am, O’Neill.”
“Okay, I’ll just be over there.” He gestured towards Daniel with a mug of soup. “I can hear what you’re saying, so… take your time.”
Å
The wind had picked up slightly, a gentle breeze coming up over the crest of the hill, carrying the scent of warm grasses and spring flowers. Jack plodded up the hill, trying not to spill the soup, his mind an annoying blank as he tried and failed to come up with something to say to Daniel. What can a guy say to someone who has just been presented with the living incarnation of his beloved, dead, wife? The wife O’Neill had promised to find for him. And failed. Damn. The fact Sha’re was alive in another reality was probably due to some other O’Neill actually keeping his promise. Double damn.
He came up next to Daniel, biting off the quip about Daniel ruining his knees if he continued to sit on them like that. Silently, he placed the mugs on the ground and sat down next to his friend. A few minutes futzing with his weapon and radio, then searching for his sunglasses, adjusting his cap and making himself comfortable. Settled, he sighed and looked out over the valley, noting the scars on the landscape from the crashed vessel behind them.
Next to him, Daniel stirred and sat down properly, folded his legs and picked up his soup. Together they sipped in silence. Jack could hear soft mutterings from the group below, over his earpiece. Sneaking a look to his side he noticed Daniel’s earpiece dangling down the front of his vest.
Frowning, he took another sip. “Huh. Tastes like… tomato!”
Daniel peered into his mug in surprise. “Oh. I think Sam’s supplementing the rations.”
“Huh, needs a little seasoning, though,” Jack pondered.
“A few herbs would be nice.”
“A little oregano?”
“A touch of basil, perhaps?”
“Some fresh chives.”
“A sprinkling of ground black pepper.”
Daniel’s soft, sad voice belied the banality of the banter between the two. Once again stuck for words, he continued sipping the soup in silence–the enormity of the situation behind them a hovering shadow in his mind that he could not yet openly acknowledge.
Jack fished out a couple of packs of crackers and tossed one into Daniel’s lap.
Nodding to the dangling earpiece, Jack said, “She’s gonna tell us what happened. If you want to listen in…”
Daniel frowned, then nodded and replaced the earpiece.
Softly, Jack spoke into his radio, “All set, Carter.”
Like another scent carried on the warm breeze, Sha’re’s voice reached out to them.
Å
“Apophis took me. Picked me out of the crowd as he would a ripe fruit. All he saw was a vessel for the demon-spawn he called his queen. He took me from my home, my Dan’yel. Put that buk’yah in my body and in my mind. For a little more than two of our years I was a prisoner inside my own body. How I screamed and cursed. She took no notice. After awhile I found I could torment her a little, myself. It was a small victory. They gave me a child, and then took him from me. I was never even allowed to hold him. Then one day Amonet took us to Nagada and found my baby. She took my father and many of the people as hostages. She planned to use the boy to challenge the other System Lords. She sent my baby away, hidden somewhere safe. I never saw him again.
“Dan’yel and the Tau’ri warriors followed my father’s trail and did battle with my demon’s Jaffa. Many died. Dan’yel came after me; he wanted to free me. Amonet tried to kill him with the Ninvan’etak, the ribbon weapon. Teal’c came up behind her and used a little weapon given him by the Asgard, to stun the demon in me. My Dan’yel scooped me up and carried me to the Chappa’ai.
“He spoke to me the whole time. I was so happy to hear his voice again after so long apart. He took me to a planet protected by Thor, Cimmeria it was called. The moment he stepped out of the Chappa’ai we were swept away by a bright beam of light. We were deposited in a dark, wet cavern. The voice of Thor told my demon she would not be able to leave. Dan’yel stunned her again with the little weapon, and carried me through the caves to the end where Thor’s Hammer stood.”
The soft, emotionless voice faltered, a slight smile drifting across Sha’re’s impassive face. “Dan’yel told me I must be brave, to face one last moment of pain, and then I would be free. He held me in the Hammer’s clutches, and through my screams and the demon’s screams I could hear him, telling me over and over that he loved me and would always love me, that we would live free together, forever.
“And then it was over, I felt the demon die inside me and I could reach out and kiss my husband with my own lips, hold him in my own arms and wipe away his tears with my own fingers. O’Neill, Samantha, Teal’c and the good people of that world met us on the mountainside. They took us home, first to Abydos and our father and brother, then to Earth, Dan’yel’s world. We lived freely and so happily. But only for a short time. Two of Earth’s months later Apophis struck Abydos in retaliation for the death of his queen. He killed our father and Skaara and many, many of our people. Then he took his ships and came to Earth. He attacked many cities, in defiance of the System Lord’s treaty with the Asgard. He came to the mountain where the Chappa’ai was. Where we were.”
Sha’re’s face had returned to its unemotional façade, her tone equally repressed. “The Tau’ri warriors fought hard and well, but there were too many Jaffa to overcome. Samantha and Teal’c fell in the battle. O’Neill, my Dan’yel and myself were captured. Apophis paraded us in front of his troops and as an example to all who would defy him… he… he executed… O’Neill… and then… my Dan….”
Horrified, eyes brimming with sympathy for what Sha’re had witnessed, Sam turned away, focusing fiercely on the bright sky above them, trying to shake the images her mind was supplying from the sad narrative. Teal’c, too, turned his attention from the woman before him, grimly wishing a plague on each and every Apophis of every reality. Thor settled himself beside Sha’re and gently patted her hand, his wide eyes blinking unspoken support.
After a moment, Sha’re continued. No tears stained her face. She had cried an ocean of tears for her lost love and simply could not find the energy any more.
“The demon lord took me and promised to implant me once more, this time with a spawn who was half insane and would promise unending torture to me. But he was too self-absorbed, too confident that he had succeeded in attacking the protected planets. Not a day out from Earth, the Asgard tracked him and attacked. There was a battle in space, most terrible. Many of the demon’s ships were destroyed. During the battle the Asgard were able to use their sensors to find me in the cells and they transported me onto their ship–the Belisknor. Apophis was enraged. He used a weapon against us. I don’t know what it was but Thor said all the races outlawed it. It hit our ship and enveloped everything in a terrible white light. There was a shrieking, screaming noise and collision that threw everyone to the ground. When the light was gone we found we were in the grip of a planet’s gravity. This planet. The ship was too badly damaged to return to space, even to control our descent. Thor… Thor said after all I had suffered, he was determined I would survive. He placed me in a stasis chamber, while all the Asgard worked desperately to save the ship. It crashed. As you can see. Many were killed. Thor revived me and we worked very hard to tend to the injured.
“The ship was damaged beyond repair. All the systems were burned out by the wave of energy that hit us. We could not even signal anyone for help. After a couple of nights the first person began to experience the cascade failure. Soon everyone was suffering from it. Except me. Thor believed we had been thrown into another universe; one very like our own and that they could not survive if their alternates already lived in this universe. Within days they had all died, most painfully. I buried them up on the hill. I said the words of my people for them; I did not know the proper words of the Asgard. I hope it was correct to do that?”
Inquiringly she looked to Thor who blinked back at her and nodded. “The souls of our people will rest easily with your blessings, dear one,” he replied.
Reassured, Sha’re took a deep breath and finished her tale.
“After a few days I began to explore this world. I walked four days out from the ship in all directions, but found no people here. I did find the Chappa’ai but it will not work. There is a broken piece of the Belisknor embedded in the symbol machine’s crystal. I came back here and made a space to live in the ship. Thor and the crew had brought all of their supplies out of storage and there is food to be found in the fields around us. That is the end of my story.”
Sha’re straightened her back and looked at the three people around her, at the reflections of her own feelings of grief and dismay at the loss of lives her tale had revealed. For herself, she no longer felt such powerful emotions. They had drained away from her many days ago, unable as she was to maintain the strength to keep them alive. Now she existed in a kind of blank acceptance. What had happened, had happened. There was only one thing that concerned her now.
Å
Daniel jerked his earpiece out almost in disgust. Frowning, he looked out over the valley before them, the visions of death, destruction and loss conjured by Sha’re’s words playing vividly in his imagination. Surely there must be at least one reality where that parasite has not ruined all our lives. Just one, where we could live the life we should have had.
Shaking his head, he looked over at Jack who appeared equally disturbed.
“Damn snakes,” Jack muttered.
“She’s lost so much, Jack. Everything, everyone,” Daniel sighed. “Skaara, Kasuf, her child, her… husband. Huh,” he gave a choked laugh. “Even her own universe. She needs help… and I have absolutely no idea how to help her. I can’t replace the man she married, even if we are identical. She lost him, grieved for him–I can no more walk into her life and assume his role than she can take the place of my… wife.” His voice trailed off, hands flapping uselessly in front of him.
Jack looked over at Daniel. “Her experiences were pretty close to what your Sha’re went through. Should give you both enough common ground if you wanted to, you know, pick up your relationship again.”
Daniel shook his head determinedly. “No. No, I couldn’t. It feels like I’d be betraying Sha’re to even think of it… to just suddenly have a wife again, it would be like I was negating everything my wife suffered. And that’s assuming that this Sha’re would consent to me. I couldn’t ask her to and I don’t think she would ask it of me–if she’s anything like my girl, that is.”
“No, I guess she wouldn’t. Well, don’t worry. We’ll take her back to base and see if we can find somewhere she’ll be happy to live. Maybe Kasuf?”
“Kasuf? God, how am I going to tell him and Skaara?” Daniel felt his grip on this reality was beginning to unravel. “Hello, Good Father. Here is your daughter, only she’s not your daughter because she died, but this one is a carbon copy from another reality. Can you take her in please, because I don’t think I can quite cope with seeing her beautiful face every day… knowing I couldn’t save our Sha’re but somewhere, in some other universe was a Daniel Jackson who did save his wife.”
Jack patted Daniel’s tense shoulder, wordless comfort the easiest to offer at the moment. He too was feeling somewhat inadequate in the face of the achievements of that other SG-1. Teal’c must be feeling pretty low, too. However, the other SG-1 was dead now, so… What was the point he was trying to make again?
Soft voices over the earpiece told Jack that Carter, Teal’c and Thor were trying their best to cheer up Sha’re. Squeezing Daniel’s shoulder he said, “Nobody expects you to take care of this, Daniel. Sha’re least of all, I’m sure. Just step back and let us handle it. No one will think any the less of you.”
Daniel was shaking his head again, fists clenching on his knees. “How did my life get so bizarre, Jack? This can’t be normal.” He lifted his face, gazing at Jack with confused and pain-filled eyes. “Was the last year real, or did I just dream it? Like that episode of Dallas? She’s gone and now she’s here–did she die or did I dream it?”
Sadly, Jack said, “No, it wasn’t a dream. Wish it were. Besides, your life isn’t bizarre–it’s just a little… above normal.”
“Above normal?” Daniel laughed. “Jack, we spend our days travelling to other planets. My relatives by marriage live on another planet. We’re fighting an enemy the entire population of our planet knows nothing about. We’re uncovering untold wealth in linguist, historic, cultural and scientific fields and we can’t tell anyone. That’s bizarre, Jack, by anyone’s standards.”
“Why, Stanley, I do believe you’re right,” Jack found a smile creeping up his cheeks. “Seriously, though Daniel, just step away from this.”
Daniel’s reply was so soft Jack almost missed hearing it. “She’s pregnant, Jack.”
“What?” Jack’s face was almost comic with astonishment. “How can you possibly know that?”
Daniel opened his mouth to answer and found himself asking the same question. “I, I don’t know, actually. It’s just something I knew, as soon as I held her.” He scowled at himself. “Some instinctive feeling? Or, maybe a sense memory. I had a flashback to my Sha’re, when I found her in Kasuf’s tent, just before Shifu was born.” He looked at Jack, haplessly foundering in a confusion of emotions. “It’s very intangible, but at the same time it feels completely irrefutable.”
Daniel looked away from Jack and fixed his gaze on the horizon, failing completely to register the beauty of the landscape bathed in golden afternoon sun. His first instinct was to run and gather Sha’re up in his arms and never let her go and at the same time run as far and fast as he could in the opposite direction and never have to face this situation. He wanted to pretend this was his wife and the life they dreamed of could actually resume its course. He wanted to be able to continue on with the new path his life was now taking; finally coming to terms with his grief and moving on towards a productive and fulfilling, if lonely, life. He wanted someone else to shoulder this burden and he wanted no one else to have a say in the lives of Daniel and Sha’re. He wanted an aspirin. A big one.
Jack realized he was gaping at Daniel like the village idiot. He closed his jaw and for the lack of a better idea, dialled up the volume of his radio, trying to think of a diplomatic way to have Carter and Teal’c check for news on the baby front.
Sha’re’s soft accent filled his ear. “… somewhere quiet to live. I would not ask your Dan’yel to take responsibility for me. He has suffered enough, I am sure. All I ask is a quiet little place to live and raise my child in peace.”
Huh. Well. There you go.
“Your child?” Teal’c could be heard asking quietly.
Carter managed to sound delighted and horrified at the same time. “Sha’re, you’re pregnant?”
“Yes, Samantha. I bear my husband’s child. We did not even know when… when he died. The demon denied us even that small pleasure.” Sha’re’s voice held the same flat, worn out emotion Jack had heard in Daniel’s, the first couple of months after his wife’s death.
“I shall go and arrange for a more comfortable method of conducting you to our transportation site, Sha’re of Nagada,” Thor’s quiet voice offered.
“Thank you, Thor. You have been most kind.”
Carter’s voice filled Jack’s ear. “Ah, sir? We seem to have another aspect to the situation.”
Jack flicked the send switch on his radio. “Yeah, Carter. I read you. Why don’t you and Teal’c see if you can help Sha’re gather up anything she wants to take with her. I’m guessing Thor will be happy to return us to base now and then they can come back and play with the wreck later?”
“Yes, sir. Thor has already indicated as much.”
Teal’c’s soft baritone joined the open channel. “O’Neill, is Daniel Jackson aware of Sha’re’s condition?”
“Yeah, Teal’c. He is.” A swift glance to the side showed Daniel was now sitting with his eyes closed, brow furrowed enough to plant crops in, focusing on nothing and thinking about everything. “He already guessed, actually.”
“Indeed?” Teal’c sounded hardly surprised, his faith in Daniel’s abilities and intelligence apparently extending even to the realms of precognition.
Jack heard Sha’re asking a question in the background. Teal’c relayed the query. “Sha’re asks if Daniel Jackson fares well, O’Neill.”
Another side-glance; nope, no clue there. “Think so, Teal’c. We’ll join you in ten. O’Neill out.”
Setting the radio back to receive, Jack picked up the empty soup mugs and stowed the cracker packages in his BDU pockets. “Daniel? You good to go?”
Daniel shook his head, eyes still closed, brow still creased. “Jack, I don’t think I can do this.”
Slightly surprised at Daniel’s apparent unwillingness to even face this Sha’re again, Jack thought about shuttling Daniel back on board the Belisknor before the rest of them. It was a big ship–plenty of room to avoid someone for a few days voyage back to Earth. There was no way he was leaving him here on this planet with the Asgard. Hammond would pop a gasket for sure.
“Okay. Well, how about you head on over to Thor and get him to take you back to the rendezvous point while we pack things up here?”
“No.”
“No?”
Daniel turned to look Jack squarely in the face. He felt as if he were being torn in two; one side seething with emotions, both elation and terror, the other side a complete numb blankness that refused to even consider the situation properly. How could he even contemplate another relationship with this Sha’re? Yes, it could be so wonderful, but if he lost her again he would surely lose his mind. The mere thought of suffering that kind of loss again made him want to crawl into the nearest tomb and never come out again. And yet, the thought that she was now alive and so near made him want to crush her to him, love her forever and never let go.
“Jack, I can’t… I can’t…” Can’t form a coherent sentence.
The look of sympathetic understanding on Jack’s face was touching. Jack patted him on the shoulder and rose to his feet.
“I know. It’s okay. We’ll work something out.”
Daniel reached out and grabbed Jack’s forearm. Pinning his friend with his gaze, Daniel stood up.
“Jack. I can’t walk away.” The moment the words left his lips Daniel knew his path was chosen, and it was the right one. For better or worse, he would make some sort of overture to Sha’re, then leave the decision to her. To do nothing would be a regret that would follow him his entire life, and there were already too many of those in his heart.
Jack arched his eyebrows at him, plainly asking: are you sure?
Daniel replied with a scrunch of his face and tilt of his head while a hand began to flap about of its own accord: no, but this is something I have to do.
Jack acquiesced with a shrug of his own and made a shooing motion with his weapon. Together they headed down the hill; Daniel hoping this decision would not bring more heartache for Sha’re and splintered pieces of his psyche for Jack to pick up–Jack hoping that maybe once, just once, the fates of this or whatever universe that mattered would provide a happy ending for his friend.
Å
Teal’c met them at the gash in the ship’s side that served as entryway to the area where Sha’re had lived for the past four months. Gently clutching the tied shawl that held Sha’re’s meagre belongings, he greeted his teammates.
“O’Neill, Daniel Jackson.”
“Teal’c. Everything okay in there?” Jack asked, quickly assessing the Jaffa’s mood. Teal’c seemed to be handling his emotions with his usual equanimity, but Jack made a mental note to have a chat with him when they got back to base. It couldn’t be easy–even for a Jaffa–to come face to face with a living replica of someone whom you had killed.
“It is,” Teal’c replied. “Major Carter is assisting Sha’re within. I do believe she will be glad to depart this place.”
Jack wrinkled his nose at the dark, forbidding corridors leading into the vessel. “I’ll bet.”
Daniel spoke up quietly from behind Jack. “Teal’c, could you show us to where Sha’re is, please? I need to speak with her before we go.”
Teal’c nodded in quiet understanding, turned and led the way through the hull plating. Switching on their mag-lights the three men moved carefully along a narrow path that wound through the debris, into a wider hallway. A short distance along the hallway they stopped at the open door to one of the rooms. Reflections of flickering light and muted voices indicated this was where Sha’re had endured her isolation.
Hovering in the doorway, Jack called to his 2IC. “Carter? You want to step outside for a moment, please?”
Sam looked up from where she had been sitting on the bed next to Sha’re, embarrassed to feel relief at the interruption. Sha’re had been showing her the items she had scavenged from the wreckage to use as utensils, both of them awkwardly chatting about the weather and cooking and trying not to stray into emotional topics.
Sam patted Sha’re on the knee and moved out into the hallway. As she passed Daniel she gave him a reassuring nod and briefly touched his arm before following the colonel and Teal’c.
Hesitantly, Daniel walked into Sha’re’s room, the gentle light from several braziers dotted about giving the place a warm, homey feel. Sha’re was sitting on the bed in the centre of the room, resolutely watching him. For a moment both were silent, eyes drinking in the once-lost features of their loved ones. Sha’re smiled that shy half-smile that had captivated him when he had first met his wife and patted the bed beside her, asking him to sit.
As he settled beside her, silence lying heavily between them, he noticed the colours of her robes were almost the same shades as the ones his nervously determined bride had worn on the evening she had been presented to him.
“Seekhm?” Her voice, so familiar yet so strange to his ears, made him jump.
The child? Shifu…
Replying in Abydonian he said, “Shifu is safe. He’s living with a very wonderful, very powerful being called Oma Desala. She will protect him from the Goa’uld.”
Sha’re frowned. “Shifu? I would have named him Seni.”
“He who smiles? That’s a nice name.” Daniel smiled, memories of chubby fingers grasping his t-shirt flooding to the surface.
Silence descended once more. The wind moaned through the empty ship, almost as if it were declaring this place belonged to the ghosts of the dead, that they should leave their past lives here and move on.
“Dan’yel, this is most difficult,” Sha’re sighed. Looking him in the eye, she gently stroked his cheek. “You are not him, are you? He is gone. What has happened, has happened.”
Daniel caught her fingers in his, smiling sadly at her. “No, no I’m not him. And you’re not her. We’ve both lived separate lives, and what has passed, has passed. Where we go from here… I don’t know, but I do know that neither of us can make-believe that what they suffered through, what we have suffered through didn’t happen. It did happen. That time is gone. This is our time, now.” He stared intently at her, wondering if his confusing words were conveying what he was feeling inside.
Sha’re straightened a little, her chin coming up, determination showing in her face that she would not be held down by misery any more. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, “It is time to start living.”
“Yes! Exactly!” Daniel was suddenly delighted. This Sha’re, like his dear wife, seemed to know how to pick the meaning out of his disconnected ramblings. An odd feeling fluttered through him, something like hope? Expectation? He wasn’t sure, but it felt good. Gently placing her hand in her lap, he rose to his feet and strode over to the open door. Catching a brief glimpse of his team loitering a good fifty feet down the hall, he turned and looked at the woman before him.
The soft firelight shone in her dark curls. Her small, pixie face was bemused, brown eyes glinting with a touch of humour at him. His heart caught for a moment as he recalled how it had been so easy to fall in love the first time. He moved a few paces, then dropped to one knee in front of her.
Reverting to English, he introduced himself, “Hello. I’m Daniel.” He brought one hand up to his chest and tapped his breast. “Daniel.” He enunciated carefully, mimicking his first meeting so long ago with a beautiful, scared young woman.
Sha’re’s smile rose across her face like the dawning sun. The shadows of the past fell away as Daniel’s offer of a new beginning brought joy to her heart. Shaking, she raised her hand to her own breast, tapped her heart and replied, “Sh… Sha’uri.”
Daniel’s eyes widened at the gift of her maiden name. In one word she told him that the past was indeed the past, that no substitutes would be allowed and from this moment on two splintered hearts had a chance to mend.
~*~
Had we never loved so kindly,
Had we never loved so blindly,
Never met or never parted,
We had ne’er been broken hearted.
Robert Burns.
Ae Fond Kiss.
~~~~~*~~~~~