SG-1 stood at the Gate preparing to go back to SGC to report to Landry and for Sam to gather her equipment. They were explaining to Myir that they would return soon to continue the search for Vala.

Daniel looked unhappy and was quietly arguing with Mitchell about going back. "I really think I should stay here. Maybe I can find where Lauren got through the Wall the first time he met Vala."

"Where would you start Jackson? Do you even know where she was when she met the boy?"

"It had to be around the back of the building. I saw a hill covered in flowers and she said they picked flowers together." With a stubborn look on his face Daniel insisted "I'm going to walk along that damn Wall until I find where they went." He walked toward the path that circled the ruins. Myir quickly followed him.

Mitchell exchanged looks with Sam. She shrugged and said "It can't hurt to take a quick look before we go back."

"Indeed!"

"Okay. Wait up Jackson. Let's organize this search a little."

Sam directed them. "Everyone walk along the Wall, try and make sure it's intact. Look for any possible breach."

Myir was following the Wall as it went over a small hill. She had been kicking at the base of the Wall and suddenly her foot went under and through. She yelled "Here! Come see! There's some sort of hole down here at the bottom."

Then Daniel was on his knees pushing down into the dirt with his hands moving small rocks from the base of the Wall. Soon he could see that they'd been pushed in from the other side, probably to cover the hole so it couldn't be seen from either side. Once the opening was completely cleared of rocks and rubble they saw a small and narrow tunnel. There was a faint light coming through from the other end.

"My Lauren could have gotten through there easily. How about your friend Vala?"

"She's pretty small." Daniel asked Sam "What do you think?"

Before she could answer Mitchell offered his opinion. "If she wanted to get to the other side you can bet she could squeeze her skinny alien ass through there with no problem."

Teal'c immediately spoke up "I respectfully recommend ColonelCameronMitchell that you do not repeat your words to ValaMalDoran once she has been rescued."

"Good point, Big Guy."

Daniel and Myir were their knees pulling at rocks to widen the opening. After a few minutes it was wide enough for Daniel to shimmy through. Before Myir could follow Mitchell reached in and handed Daniel a P-90. "Just in case, pal. Phasing might not be their only ability." Then Mitchell moved back enough to allow Myir to follow Daniel.

They had crawled through the tunnel and after pushing some more rocks away at the other end were standing in a meadow. Looking back they could barely see SG-1. It was apparent that they couldn't see Daniel and Myir inside the seemingly transparent Wall.

Myir started to yell "Laur …."

Daniel put his hand over her mouth and in a loud whisper told her. "I need you to stay with me. And you have to be quiet. I have no idea what to expect and I'm not taking any chances with Vala's safety."

When Myir didn't respond he told her. "If you don't I'll push you back through that hole. Do you agree?"

The woman nodded and Daniel removed his hand. They walked slowly to the top of the hill. From there they could see a few buildings in the distance. They walked quietly towards the settlement. Getting closer they heard singing coming from a small clearing in a group of trees to their right. As they quietly approached Daniel and Myir both held their breath at the scene in front of them.

A woman with long black hair loose around her shoulders and wearing a simple pale blue dress sat on the grass. Her full skirt was spread out around her and a small boy lay with his head on her lap. The woman was stroking the hair of the sleeping child.

Daniel saw immediately that the woman was Vala. He'd never seen her look so serene, nor heard her sing. Her voice was soft and low and she smiled at the boy as she sang. Daniel didn't recognize the language of her song. For the first time since he'd known she was missing Daniel's body relaxed. All the pieces he'd been tossing around in his mind fell together. He was ready to admit he was in love and his only thought, now that he knew she was safe, was the hope that it wasn't too late for them.

Teal'c, Sam and Mitchell came up behind them. Seeing the two people on the grass they stopped saying nothing. But there must have been some small sound. Vala looked up, seeing her friends she put a finger to her mouth to shush them. Assuming that the crying woman with Daniel was Lauren's mother, Vala gestured to her to join them on the grass. As the woman sat next to her Vala pulled back enough to gently move the boy's head onto his mother's lap. Tears were pouring down the woman's face. She smiled and whispered "Thank you" to Vala.

Standing up and wiping her hands on her skirt Vala walked towards Daniel. She smiled "What took you so long, Darling?"

Daniel said nothing just put his arms around her and pulled her close against his chest.

Mitchell spoke first. "Fine. Fine. You can make your googly eyes later Jackson. Vala, what's goin' on here?"

Vala pulled herself free of Daniel and turned towards her friends. Sam gave her a quick hug and Teal'c the barest ghost of a smile and a slight nod. Mitchell just grinned at her.

"I think Lauren's Peter Pan and I'm Wendy. Which sort of makes me his mother." Looking down at the woman and boy in front of her she added, "Well, surrogate mother I guess." Turning her eyes from Lauren and his mother Vala glared at her friends. "Well, Sam? Mitchell? Did you guys figure it all out yet? I have some questions …"

"You have some questions? I think you owe us some answers Princess."

"Me! I was kidnapped by a small child, an out of phase child I'll admit. And pulled through a hill into Neverland."

"Kidnapped? Really Princess? What did he threaten you with? Pouting? You should be used to that by now with Jackson. Or did he just use puppy dog eyes?"

Vala laughed. "No, he didn't scare me. But I knew Sam would want to find out about phasing children. Anyway, I'd had a bad day and I needed an adventure."

Daniel quietly asked. "So, did you have one?"

"They explained that no adult could come through the Wall and no child could go back home until they were old enough to return through the Portal. I said Lauren got under the Wall, so why didn't they all go under and return to the village. Everyone knew if they were caught and still had the ability they'd be pushed back into the Portal. Plus if they didn't stay here the village would be destroyed and it would be because of them. No one wanted to take the chance. The older ones controlled the youngest by explaining that even if they did find their parents they'd die along with everyone else."

Mitchell asked "So what have you been doing? And what did you plan on doing if we never found you or couldn't get you back?"

"I tried to help these poor children. It may sound like silly simple things, but they like to be read to, to be comforted if they fall, to be fussed over. All the little things that were taken from them. I thought I could be here for them until they were returned to their parents. I know something about having no family. I think I helped these children here now and I could help the ones that came next. So even if there was no adventure my life would have had purpose."

An obviously distressed Daniel spoke softly "You could have been stuck here. What would have happened then Vala? What would I have done?"

Vala answered angrily "Done Daniel? Done about what? I actually thought it would work out well. I'd be out of your hair, I'd have a new job and everyone would be happy!"

Daniel said nothing. He simply looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes. As usual Vala was mesmerized and found herself leaning into him as he pulled her close. As she snuggled against him he asked again. "What would I have done without you?"

Vala shook her head as if to clear her mind and stepped back away from him laughing. She turned to Sam pointing at Lauren and his mother. "Since it looks like I'm going to be fired here I'm thinking about starting a Day Care Center at SGC. What do you think? I'll have to talk to General Landry as soon as I get back. I think he'll …" She broke off her sentence as Daniel grabbed her hand and swung her around into his arms repeating his question. "What would I have done without you?"

Vala softly replied "You already said that Daniel." He let go of her hand and moved his hands to her face. Holding her head in place he kissed her. Vala responded passionately then quickly pulled back. Looking into his eyes she patted his cheek saying "I'm glad for you. I've been found and I'm going back. So now you won't have to try." She grinned at him and moved away from him. Daniel's body didn't move and his face showed surprise at her actions.

Vala smiled at the rest of her team. "Come on guys. I need to get home." She looked down at her outfit and twirled. "This dress is cute enough but hell to accessorize. And a little too reminiscent of Ver Isca for my taste." She headed back towards the breach in the Wall near the ruins.

Mitchell asked "Can't we go back through the Portal? We're all way past puberty."

"I wasn't sure about that. None of the kids know how it actually works. They'd told me the Powerful Ones had ways to punish people who broke the rules. They were terrified when I asked about going through. I figured it would be safer to wait a few years before I tried. Even now I'd be a little nervous. And since you cleared out Lauren's escape hatch we might as well make use of it."

Daniel's body came to life and he asked incredulously "Wait a few years? You were going to stay?"

Vala had been moving towards the way out when she heard his question. She stopped and moved towards him. She grabbed his shirt front with her fists. "Yes, Daniel. I was going to stay somewhere where I was wanted. Where I could do some good. Why wouldn't I stay?"

Daniel looked into her eyes and whispered. "Because …" He didn't know why he couldn't finish, why he couldn't say what he was thinking. Because I love you.

Vala sighed. "Not good enough Daniel. I'm sorry you got scared. I'm sorry you feel guilty because you told me to get out of your life and then I did. But you'll get over it soon enough. Everyone keeps telling me that I must be so strong. That I managed to live and survive being a host. But I'm just not that strong Daniel. I can't …" Tears started to fall and she wiped them off with the back of her hands. Taking a deep breath she smiled at him. "No need to rehash everything, Darling. We've been down this road too many times."

Vala turned away from Daniel and linked arms with Teal'c. "Come on Muscles. I want to see you squeeze through the exit."

Teal'c stopped and looked closely at Vala asking her. "Is this really what you want ValaMalDoran? To shut Daniel Jackson out of your life?"

"Shut him out? Shut him out? What the hell has he been …?"

Daniel interrupted her "?"

She gave him an angry look. "Yes, Daniel? What is it?"

"I just have one question. If you promise to tell me the truth I'll let you go if that's what you want."

Vala squinted in distrust. "All I have to do is tell the truth? I think I could make an exception just this once." She crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him.

Daniel smiled and walked over to her. He took her hands in his and pulled her towards him as he moved a few feet away from their friends.

Vala worked to keep her face expressionless as she anxiously awaited Daniel's question. She'd promised not to lie, a promise she was regretting.

Even as he'd spoken he wasn't sure what question he wanted answered. Did he want to know if she loved him? Did he want to know if she'd stay with him if he asked? Did he want to ask her to forgive him for how he'd acted? Suddenly he realized what he should ask. If she told the truth he'd go on from there.

"You do know that I love you?"

Vala didn't show her surprise at his question. She'd agreed to tell the truth so she nodded.

Daniel gave her a small tentative smile. "Do you …?"

Vala smiled inside but kept her face still. "You said one question Darling."

He took a deep breath. This was it. The most important conversation of his life. He'd never before felt at such a loss for words.

"I love you Vala. I'm terrified that you don't love me, or even if you do that you won't stay. I'm terrified that if you do stay something terrible will happen to you. You deserve so much more than I can ever give you. I've failed so many people in my life I'm terrified that I'll fail you. That I'll fail us. I'm terrified that you won't be able to forgive me for letting my fears come between us. I'm terrified …"

Vala gave him a megawatt smile and kissed him. "You can shut up now Daniel. We'll have the rest of our lives together to finish your groveling apologies. Let's go home."

Daniel returned her kiss then turned back towards their friends. "I love her! She loves me! Isn't that …"

Mitchell interrupted him. "Yes. We know. Everybody knows. Congratulations Mr. Obvious. Now let's blow this popsicle stand."

Sam laughed and Teal'c almost smiled as Daniel and Vala rejoined the group.

Back at SGC

When SG-1 had returned they weren't surprised to find Jack waiting in the Gate Room. In the past few months he'd been showing up ever few weeks to check on his friends. If most of his time was spent in Carter's lab it wasn't mentioned by anyone on base. It was unlikely that he noticed the smallest of smiles on the faces of SGC staff when they passed him in the hall on his way to her lab.

Jack walked into Daniel's office and saw his friend drinking a cup of coffee with what he thought Sam would describe as a pensive look. When he spoke his name Daniel looked over to the doorway.

"Danny Boy, you're looking a little pensive there."

Jack could tell something was troubling Daniel when he didn't react to his using the word pensive.

"Hi Jack. I'm okay." Daniel shook his head. "Actually I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

"It's Vala."

Jack started to feel anxious. All of their friends had been so happy for the two of them. Now he was terrified to ask what the problem was, afraid of the answer and what would probably be a lot of heartache and pain. Afraid to ask he simply waited.

"It's not just Vala. It's both of us." Looking at Jack as he spoke he imagined he saw fear though he had no idea why Jack would be scared. Ignoring it he continued. "She knows that I love her but she's scared. Scared that I'll tire of her, that I'll pull away or worse that I'll stay even though I no longer love her because I'd feel obligated. Part of it is that she doesn't believe she deserves to be happy. And I can certainly understand that. We both are terrified that our history of relationships that turned out badly will happen again. It's sort of funny. I was the one that thought she'd break my heart and abandon me if I ever let her in. It turns out she's more frightened then I ever was." With a sigh and a quiet sad smile he asked "Have any advice, Jack?"

"Did she tell you all of this?"

"No."

"Then how do you know what she's feeling? Maybe you're wrong and she …"

"I know Jack. I just can't figure out how to handle it. I realized that I'd come to my senses when she left. Not just because it terrified me that she'd be gone. I know that she wouldn't have gone, wouldn't have refused to put up with how I was acting unless she loved me."

A confused Jack asked "Are you sure? That sounds strange to me."

"Strange certainly describes Vala and Me. But forget that. Help me figure out how to convince her."

"Well, I have heard that women like grand romantic gestures. I've seen them in all those chick flicks Teal'c used to make us watch when he first discovered Earth movies."

'"What kind of gestures?"

"The usual. Sending hundreds of roses, proposing at sports events on the Jumbo Ron, any variety of extremely public expressions of love. That kind of crap."

As if in a cartoon Jack saw Daniel's eye open wide obviously so struck by an idea that he could almost see the light bulb above his friend's head. He put down his coffee cup, got out of his chair and walked towards the door.

"I'll catch you later Jack. I've got to see a man about tangible expression of love and commitment."

Sam and Teal'c were coming through the door together. Daniel pushed past them without acknowledging they were even there.

"Hi guys. If Daniel asks us to go with him to anything, a game, concert, the Westminster Dog Show, do not say yes. No matter what he says."

Sam laughed as Teal'c asked, using air quotes. "Is DanielJackson planning a 'Grand Gesture' for ValaMalDoran?"

Jack just shook his head replying. "Yep, you betcha!"

It was just past noon and the Commissary was at its most crowded. Vala, Teal'c, Mitchell, Sam, Jack and General Landry were standing together right inside the doorway.

Mitchell asked. "Does anyone know why Jackson asked us to meet him here? All he told me was to be here at noon and to not be late."

Everyone shook their head no.

"Has anyone seen him today? Vala?"

Looking as confused as her friends she answered. "He left our room this morning before breakfast. He didn't even have coffee. Then made me promise to be here at twelve. He was very agitated and anxious. I was worried but he took off before I was able to ask him anything."

Sam said. "He stopped in to say hi, asked me to be here and to make sure that Jack was with me."

"He called me and left a message. How about the rest of you?"

General Landry and Jack spoke at the same time. "Me, too."

"Indeed. DanielJackson did the same to me."

Vala looked around the room searching for Daniel in the crowded room. She spotted Walter and yelled a question at him.

"Walter. Hey, Walter. Have you seen Daniel?"

"I saw him going into Dr. Lee's lab a few minutes ago."

Vala nodded her thanks and turned to the others. "This is a little odd. Even for my Daniel. Do you think …?"

Before she could finish Daniel walked in. He had his hands in his pockets and a wide smile on his face.

"Hi guys. Glad you all made it." They all gave him questioning looks which he ignored. After looking around the room he said. "It's pretty crowded here. Maybe we could meet in the Briefing Room?" Nodding at Landry "If that would be okay General."

"Of course Dr. Jackson. Do you want to give us an idea of what you want to meet about?"

"Sure, let's just move out of the way." As the group walked towards the door Daniel stopped them. "Wait a minute. Vala?"

Looking nervous she asked. "Yes, Daniel?"

"I think I'd do this while everyone's here." He took his hands out of his pockets and reached for her arm. In seconds he'd slapped a bracelet around her wrist and a second one on his own. He smiled at her confusion.

He laughed at her face when she figured it out. Then she was kissing him and laughing herself.

General Landry looked at the rest of them. "Grand Gesture I take it?"

"Indeed!"

"So far my theory is that the Unknown Ones were involved in an experiment to create humans with the ability to phase in and out at will. At the moment I couldn't even venture a guess as to their method. Perhaps they were using genetic manipulation, rapid evolution, drug therapy, or technology to which we have no frame of reference."

Looking to see if her audience was still with her Sam continued. "It appears their first step was to terrify the inhabitants so they would obey them without question and then take all of the children for test subjects. I'm thinking that they set up the walled enclosure as a holding pen or perhaps a breeding facility for the human Guinea Pigs. The force field they called the Wall kept the parents out and their work hidden."

Except for a nod from Landry there was no reaction from the group. "They seemed to have been successful, after who knows how much time, in developing the phasing ability in small children. However the ability disappeared when they hit puberty. I suspect the children were then returned to their families. Maybe they considered themselves benevolent and moral scientists. They didn't simply kill the children when they were no longer of scientific interest."

At this point Mitchell scowled and muttered curses under his breath.

"Soon the people on the planet believed that their children developed into spirits who could walk through solid matter at which time they needed to be sent through the Portal. Once they were normal humans they could return. This gave them a fresh supply of test subjects. I'd love to find out how they made the force field recognize children who could and could not phase. A lot of their science is fascinating."

Landry asked "How about after they left?"

"Once the project was terminated, for whatever reasons, they didn't care if they abandoned the subjects. They may have enjoyed playing the roles of all powerful beings. For now we have no understanding of their motives. It may have been simply scientific curiosity."

Landry continued to question Sam. "What about the power source for this Wall?"

"That's a very interesting question. There is some evidence that it's based on the geothermal activity of the planet. Obviously there is sophisticated technology involved in generating a power source that created such a complicated force field that lasted for hundreds of years. I don't have to tell anyone the enormous potential benefits."

"May I suggest that a team headed up by Dr. Lee be assigned to investigate?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "Of course, General."

Vala and Daniel weren't at the meeting. Five days after they'd returned they were married in front of the Star Gate. General Landry had officiated; Jack was the Best Man and Sam the Maid of Honor. Teal'c and Mitchell, together, had given her away. Rumor was that Walter cried. The Jacksons had been beamed to a small villa in Tuscany and wouldn't be returning for three weeks. Unknown to Daniel they would be joined for the last week by Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Mitchell. It was Jack's idea. He said he wanted to make sure that Daniel hadn't screwed things up yet. Everyone pretended they didn't know that Jack & Sam had planned a surprise wedding of their own. Except Daniel who didn't have to pretend as he was clueless.