Jack sat quietly, staring into the flames of the bonfire. They had been welcomed into the village like long lost friends returning home after a long journey. Right now, they were the honored guests at tonight’s feast. Normally he would give his right hand to be welcomed like this on any of the worlds they visited, welcome – no strings attached…Tonight, all he could think about was his friend.

Thea had been right. Daniel was well again, physically, but he was not the Daniel they knew. Jack closed his eyes as the memory surfaced…

Earlier, they had been led to a large round hut close to the center of the village. A beautiful woman with long dark hair and striking green eyes exited the hut. She stared at Alden for a long moment and then nodded solemnly before turning to him. “Jack, Daniel is in need of you.”

Without hesitation, SG-1 stepped forward but were stopped by Alden and Thea, “Only Jack must go.”

The woman with green eyes turned to him just before she ducked back into the hut, “I am Alana. I am the one who was Daniel.”

Jack froze. The one who was Daniel…The entity! He twisted around to look at Sam but saw only worry in her expression. Swallowing his nervousness, he ducked into the hut.

Inside he found that it was well lit and the interior was filled with plush cushions in the same pastel and muted colors that Alden and the others had all been wearing. Alana motioned him to join her on the other side of the room.

Jack cautiously approached her, fully aware that the rest of his team were waiting outside. As he neared, she knelt down and he caught a sight that he had not let himself hope to see again…”Daniel!”

Daniel shrank away from the sound of his voice. He was momentarily startled into inaction but the site of Alana rubbing hard hand up and down Daniel’s arm broke his stillness. Quietly he knelt down next to her, “Daniel…”

His friend did not look up. He just sat there, fidgeting with an edge of the long blue tunic he wore.

“Daniel, it’s Jack…” The lack of response almost broke him, and he looked down as Alana placed a hand on his arm.

“He is not with us yet, Jack.” He could hear the sadness in her voice, “He is still in the other place.”

Clearing his throat, he winced at his own question, “Will he come back?”

“Perhaps.”

Leaning forward Jack brushed Daniel’s hair away from his face. His fingers stilled as he remembered the last time his fingers had done that…In the infirmary, Daniel had been…“Daniel, it’s Jack, can you hear me?”

He held his breath as Daniel met his eyes, “Jack…?”

“Yes. Yes Daniel. It’s Jack. Come on, talk to me kid…”

But he was gone again…

Alana’s soft lilting voice broke into his racing thoughts, “He comes back, but he does not stay. Perhaps he will in time.”

The memory faded as he felt restless movement at his side. Reaching out he calmed Daniel with a comforting rub.

After leaving Daniel alone, Alana led them around the village introducing them to her people and answering their questions. They were a peaceful people. They lived in a symbiotic community, the “entities” and the native people of Jahala, as they called their planet. The entities moved about freely and “unattached” to a “host” unless they needed or wanted to interact physically. All of them shared a telepathic connection, both the entities and the native Jahalans, which explained how they learned English from Daniel. He was a part of that connection now. They lived in perfect peace and harmony with themselves as well as with nature. It was hard for SG-1 to grasp that, they lived in a world where everyone wanted something and most of the planets they visited were the same way. And none of the planets they visited were anything like Jahala.

As it turned out, Alana, which was the name of the host not the entity, who apparently did not have names as SG-1 understood them, was indeed currently host to a child entity. The entity expressed its regret at joining with Daniel against his will and its sorrow at his current situation. It had saved Daniel’s life but now it seemed that not only was Daniel trapped within the confines of his own mind, but now he was trapped alone.

Daniel was looking around, his eye resting on Sam and Teal’c who were sitting on the other side of the fire. The constant gently touch on his arm made him glance to his side. Jack was sitting there. “Jack?”

Jack’s hand stopped, “Daniel? Can you hear me?” The stifled laugh made Jack’s breath catch in his throat.

“Of course I can, Jack. What are you doing here?”

Throwing Sam and Teal’c a quick glance, he saw them tense, “Where am I Daniel? Where is here?”

Confusion clouded Daniel’s eyes, “I don’t…I don’t know. I was…You said…let go…”

Jack panicked as he saw Daniel’s eyes glaze over, “Daniel! No! Stay with me here…”

“Sam…?”

“She’s ok Daniel. She’s right over there.” Jack waved a hand at the rest of his team, motioned for them to come over.

“You said…and then I…I…” Daniel’s head snapped up, “Why are you here?! You shouldn’t be here!”

Jack tried to calm his struggling friend. Daniel was shaking his head back and forth, “No!” Daniel fought, “You shouldn’t be here!” He struggled to get away. He stilled as Sam and Teal’c kneel down next to him. “Sam? Teal’c?”

Jack wasn’t sure what to do. He heard Daniel’s voice soften as he watched Sam and Teal’c kneel down, but now he was rocking back and forth shaking his head as though he was trying to keep out some unthinkable idea.

Sam gently lay her hand on Daniel’s cheek, “Daniel, look at me Daniel…Everything’s all right now. Come back to us, Daniel.”

Taking his friends lead, Teal’c gripped Daniel’s shoulder, “Daniel Jackson, you are not dead. Please join us.”

Jack sighed as Daniel continued to rock back and forth. “I don’t think he can even hear us.”

The soft voice of Alana broke the each of them out f their distressed thoughts, “He stays longer now. I believe he will remain in time.”

Sam brushed her hand over Daniel’s cheek once more before turning to the woman, “How do you know? Has this ever happened to any of your people?”

“No,” Alana shook her head, “We are born with the joining, but it is not the joining that keeps Daniel away. He does not believe he survived his ailment.” She looked at Jack with an intensity that belayed her years, “He knows you are here.” She looked from Jack to Sam and Teal’c, “Even when he does not respond, he knows you are near.”

“How do you know that?” Jack wanted to believe her but he didn’t want to buy into hope that wasn’t real.

“Jack, he has not left your side since your return to the Wayun Room and since your arrival I have been able to feel him over the joining, his presence is getting stronger with every moment.” Alana smiled at him, a soft far away kind of smile, like she was listening to a conversation from across a crowded room and heard something amusing. “He says you are his best friend too.”

Hearing the words that he had spoken to Daniel in his final moments made Jack’s heart soar with hope. He wrapped his arms around the now still Daniel and pulled him to his chest, holding him in a tight hug he brushed the sudden dampness from his eyes.

Sam knew that Alana’s message must have had special meaning to Jack and it filled her with renewed hope. Daniel would be coming back. They hadn’t lost him.

The scene playing out before Teal’c warmed his stoic features. He was not a man for emotional displays but at times he wished that he were. He would welcome Daniel Jackson, his brother, back with open arms and until Daniel could so it for himself, Teal’c would keep the promise he had made. He would watch over each of his friends and keep them safe because they were all, each in his own way, priceless.

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