A/N: I finally convinced my lazzy ass to revise this story I put on here years ago, even though I cringed every time I read these chapters, punctuation and such, but it was good too to see how far I've become in writing English over the years. So I'm just polishing the technical stuff, even though my storytelling obviously was sucking tremendously in those times. Ah, progress, how do I love thee.

And, how lame is it naming your story after a soap opera! I'm definitely a Vala shipper, that's a fact.

These days, my passion for those two has started to rekindle in the means of fanfiction, especially after I listened the last audio book, fantastic by the way, and I'm finding myself wanting to continue to tell their stories. Perhaps I'd even start to polish my other old stories, or bring them back from graveyards.

Disclaimer: All usual disclaimers stand. Don't belong to me.

(Second Year)

Vala hummed happily as she put the last letter 'E' on the Scrabble board and moved her right hand to take the pencil to write the score down, but only to be stopped by Daniel, who was scowling at the word on the board.

"It isn't a word."

"Yes, it's," she countered.

"No, not."

"Yes. I've seen it on the forums so many times before."

He moved his left hand over to his temple, massaging it to ease the oncoming headache. She started fidgeting where she sat on bed, in a perfect Indian-style mediation position, making the boards and letters on it shook with her movements. "Vala, I don't care how many times you've seen it on the Net before. Adorkable is not a word."

"Yes, it's," she curled her lips back at him. "It means 'adorably dorky'."

"I'm a linguist with three PhDs. I think I'd know better than you if it were. It's just a thing people made up from their collective asses." He snorted with disdain. "But that doesn't mean it's legitimate."

She pulled her hand from his grip, taking the little paper along. "Well, so sorry to hear you feel that way, but it's a very legitimate word and as I said before it means 'adorably dorky'." She marked nine points to herself on the paper and threw it down aside. "In fact, it means 'The pompous, three PhDs, dumb ass whose company I'm in right now might get his pompous ass kicked if he doesn't shut up." She faltered for a moment, took a breath, then added. "It also means 'I love you.'"

"Well, my dear humpty dumpty I'm sure-"He started but cut himself off. "What?" He blinked. "What?"

"I said it also means I love you," she repeated.

"You do?" he asked in amazement.

"Of course, I do." She shook her head, smiling. She moved her legs under her bottom, and skipped forward on the bed until she sat on the edge of bed, right beside him.

"Since when?" he asked, the game and bickering was forgotten.

She arched her left eyebrow. "Is it important?"

He shrugged idly. "No, I guess not."

She tilted her head to her side, slightly troubled by his lack of returning confession. It wasn't really a big deal. She had already said those three words without meaning so many times before; they had already lost their meaning. She actually didn't quite believe in being in love anymore, but again the feelings she felt for Daniel only could be conveyed with the word love by lack of a better expression.

"Well, I've been feeling it from some time. I've been this close to saying it so many times after sex with you." She admitted, moving her thumb over to her index finger, demonstrating. "But it's pitifully clichéd, saying them after sex. Then I considered saying it with a romantic event, candles etc... But that's also terribly cliché that didn't seem right. So, I've figured that I had to just get over it and say it, you know. It's not like that it's a big deal anyways."

"What?" he asked in confusion, knitting his brows. "Why isn't a big deal?"

"The feelings…"She trailed off, and then shook her head. "When we say things many times, they lose their meaning. If they had ever have anyway." She reached his cheek, caressing the flesh with her fingertips in their familiar gesture. "You are the one who is linguist. Tell me, how can you describe happiness? Or love?"

"Vala—"He started but her finger on his lips stopped him.

"No. I know what I'm feeling. Deep down I think I always knew, even when I don't understand it." Her fingers moved over to his chin, turning his head completely to her. "I love every damn second I spend with you, whatever we do. When we talk, when watch TV, when listen to music, when we laugh, when we fight, when we do nothing but sit quietly, stargazing. I love all of them, just because you're with me."

"I love when you're furious, when you're angry at me, frustrated, bothered. I love when you show your passion. Just because I'm the only person that brings them out of you, the only person can see that side of you." She dropped her hands, moving them over to his upper arms.

She swallowed and gave out a throaty laugh. "But I love when you comfort me, when you take care of me, when you take me into your embrace, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. Because you're the only person who can make me believe them."

"I love when you're all dark and moody, staring gloomily at space, when your brows are knitting in a frown, when you're talking about life, about the unfairness of all things until they make you scream. I love when you scared, when you're unreachable, when you hide behind your invisible walls, inside your own because when you occasionally let me in, it makes me feel special, makes me feel important, makes me feel needed, makes me feel loved."

"So for the sake of briefness, I just love you,"she finished, smiling shyly.

He pulled her against his chest, embracing her tightly. "I just love you too." He managed, swallowing through a lump in his tight throat. She sighed in relief, letting out a deep breath she wasn't aware that she was holding. He moved his hand over her chin, lifted her face up to him as he leaned into a passionate kiss. "I just love you too,"he repeated when they separated, his forehead resting against hers, breathing deeply.

"Since when?" she asked with a throaty voice.

Since when, he thought. He didn't really have an answer for that question. Weird things happened all the time in life. And He, Daniel Jackson, loving Vala Mal Doran was definitely one of them. Yeah, for lack of better expression he loved Vala, but since when…

"From the beginning until this moment, and somewhere along the way,"he said, pulling her into the second kiss.