Continuation/New Steps/ New Beginnings

Jack was right, of course. Once they had contacted Daniel about the date of their wedding, he and Vala came through the gate not the day of the wedding, not the day before the wedding, not even a week before the wedding. No, they came through two weeks ahead of schedule to help Sam and Jack with the preparations.

IIIII

Two weeks after Vala and Daniel had returned from Atlantis the wedding took place. It was the last weekend in November and they had rented the chapel of a nearby church for the ceremony. Daniel and Teal'c were Jack's best men while Jonas was the groomsman. Vala and Janet were Sam's maids-of-honour while Cassie was the bridesmaid. Jacob walked Sam down the aisle and everyone had their eyes on the beaming blonde as she floated in her white wedding dress. From the crowd, Woolsey, General Landry, Dr. Lam and Hammond- who had politely declined to be a groomsman- were all watching with smiles as the two love-birds tied the knot….

….finally.

IIIII

The reception was a smashing success and after several dances, Daniel took Vala outside to look at the stars. It was a chilly night, and he placed his suit jacket around her bare arms to keep her warm. They stood in a comfortable silence for quite a while, Vala snug with Daniel's jacket around her and Daniel with his arms around her waist…but after a while Daniel knew that he had to tell Vala something, something that he had missed telling her among the craziness of settling into Atlantis and the panic of the last two weeks.

"That's where I met you," Daniel whispered softly looking up at the sky. "-out there…among the stars."

"On the Prometheus…" Vala continued, looking up as well. "…it's funny how you chose to be on that ship during the exact time that I needed one."

"Yeah it is funny," Daniel agreed with a small chuckle. "…though some would say it was fate, or destiny…"

"How…?"

"Well Jack didn't want me to go," Daniel began with a smile, looking down at Vala. "-even though I wanted to…it took an order from George Hammond to let me go."

"I'm glad he made that order," Vala whispered turning around to look into Daniel's eyes.

"I'm glad too…" Daniel echoed as he closed the space between her lips and kissed her. It was a normal kiss, like the hundreds of others that they had already shared over the past six weeks and once it was over she moved to his side and leaned her head on his shoulder while his arm was wrapped around hers. They stayed like that in a comfortable silence, till Daniel once again, broke the stillness.

"Vala?"

"Yes Daniel…?"

"Do you ever regret seeking me out?" Daniel asked, almost afraid of the potential answer.

"What with the tablet and the bracelets?" Vala asked curiously looking up at Daniel watching as he nodded. "No," She answered honestly, something that she had enjoyed doing since she met him. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to find the tablet that led me to Earth?" Vala looked at his face and saw that he had no idea. "Well it was a long time…"She smiled but then looked down at her shoes, asking softly. "…do you regret it?"

"I did, for a while," Daniel admitted honestly, tightening his grip on her shoulder. "But after the first supergate- when you left- I….I realised that I missed your presence around the base…more than I thought I would." Daniel paused and smiled. "You have no idea how glad I was to find you again, how glad I was to have you on SG1…..you have no idea how glad I am that you were able save me."

"You saved yourself Daniel," Vala whispered softly. "-I only helped a little."

"You helped a lot more than a little Vala," Daniel insisted wrapping her up in a hug. "…and I'm glad that you came to Atlantis with me." He continued softly, unconsciously rocking back and forth to the music that was filtering in from the reception hall. "It's more fun seeing it together."

"It is…" Vala agreed, pulling her arms into his jacket and wrapping them around his waist.

"Vala…"

"Yes…?"

"I was wondering…"

"What?"

"Well," Daniel began taking a deep breath and holding Vala out a bit so he could look at her "When I lost Shar'e, I swore to myself that I wouldn't let myself love anyone like I loved her…."

"…and? …." Vala asked quietly, getting the sense that she had heard everything before.

"…and then you came along." Daniel continued with a small smile. "…you got under my skin," He stated with a teasing smile which instantly softened. "-but you also got into my heart."

"I got into your heart?" Vala asked, her own heart touched. "Really?"

"From the very beginning," Daniel answered honestly. "From that very first kiss"

"Daniel…" Vala began slowly. "…..what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying," Daniel continued, his breathing shallow and his hands trembling slightly as he took hers in his. "-is that I want to share many more kisses with you Vala…" Daniel smiled and kissed her again, after which he whispered. "I want you to be my wife…."

"Oh Daniel…" Vala murmured her heart fluttering with joy.

"Vala Mal Doran…" Daniel began softly as he pulled a simple silver ring with a heart shaped diamond out of his pocket and slipped it onto her finger "…..will you marry me?"

The was a moment of silence as Vala registered what he was saying and the ring on her finger and then with tears in her eyes she threw her arms around his neck and half-laughed, half-cried into his shoulder.

"Of course Daniel!" She cried out, more happy and more content than she had been in a long, long time. "Of course….."

After a passionate kiss, Daniel took her into his arms and together they stared at the endless sky both wondering what the future would hold, but knowing in their hearts that they would face it together, always…

THE END…?

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A/N- Well, this IS the end...I can't believe it:D After starting this in September I had no idea that I'd get this far this quickly, and it's all because of you, my loyal and beloved readers.

Your reviews kept me going, and I knew that I HAD to stay on top of my writing because you guys were out there, waiting- and I TOTALLY know what it's like to be reading a story and then to wait an excessive amount of time for an update.

So thank you all- especially to those who reviewed chapter 29: shinki, rouguephoenix2, tyqueen64 Myosotis13, ATFan, Sokorra Lewis, Briar, Spyridon and stcobb. I also want to thank Briar, Myosotis and Nef in particular- you three have been with this story from the beginning- and have reviewed every chapter (I think)...I just want to say a special thank you to you three...your reviews always made me go squee inside. :D

Finally, I'd like to thank my Mum...she's been with this story from the beginning too and has graciously looked at most chapters before they've been put up and caught all my nasty grammatical errors...so thank you Mum.

As an end note this story worked out to be about 204 pages, 30 chapters and over 71,926 words...one of my longest stories to date. :D

Oh, and two more things...

1-I am working on a sequel. It's going to spring off from the first ending and this epilogue and it is going to be a huge adventure that Daniel and Vala have in Atlantis...I've even got a partial chapter written already- but it'll have to wait till my other Sparky stories are done (they've been on the back burnner FOREVER)

2- This story will be majorly tweaked in the near future and adapted to fit a fantasy world...when I post it up on to get reviews- you people will be the first to know- because there will be some major twists in that story, that were not in this one.

For now though, thank you, take care, and keep reading and writing those wonderful DanDoran (Daniel/Vala) fanfics...something has to fill the void till April and beyond... :D

Take care guys! I love you all for sticking with this story! TTFN- ta ta for now!