Drifting

The unexpected speed at which he'd obtained his answer left Daniel with nothing to do but think it over until the Odyssey returned to Atlantis. Somehow, the appeal of the Ancient city � "Daniel Disneyland," Mitchell called it � had lost its shine somewhere along the way.

Not so for Vala, though. She'd dragged him down to the edge of the south pier as soon as the sun rose, allegedly fascinated by the enormous ocean, her chattering oddly comforting. He barely raised an eyebrow when she shed her boots and jacket, slipping into the water. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"I'm swimming, darling, what's it look like?" she retorted, floating on her back to look up at him. "Come on in, it's nice and warm."

He sat down, dangling his boots over the edge where the waves couldn't quite reach the soles. "I'm not really in the mood."

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that," she muttered, kicking just enough so she could reach over and tug lightly at his foot. "You'll feel better, trust me."

In hindsight, he wondered why he didn't put up more of a fight. Before he could think too hard about it, he set his boots and jacket on top of hers, tucking his glasses into a pocket, and jumped off the pier. She was right; the water was quite warm. He treaded water for a few moments, ignoring Vala's idle chatter. It suddenly dawned on him that he was floating in the middle of an alien ocean, in water thousands of feet deep, someplace that no human had any business being. He shivered and moved back towards the pier.

A hand on his back startled him. He'd forgotten all about Vala being there. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He glanced back at the ladder that would take him back onto the city, back to the safe known world. On the other side, Vala looked at him patiently, fearlessly drifting over the deep unknown.

He pushed away from the pier. "Yeah, I'm okay."