AN: Companion piece/semi-prequel to "Moonshadow". Based on the Van Morrison song of the same name and inspired in part by the binge of Michelle vids I watched on Friday.
Spoilers: Season Five...ish. Minor/random reference to "A Hundred Days".
Summary: Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance...
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Moondance
The office felt suddenly and altogether too small. He needed to get out, to feel the wind and see the sky. It was full moon, and Daniel Jackson was restless.
Daniel pulled on his jacket and headed for the elevator. The lights of the SGC were dimmed, an effort to maintain the circadian rhythms of base personnel, and he felt like he was walking through a dream. He was surprised to find the elevator occupied.
"You're here late, Daniel," Janet said by way of greeting.
"Translation," he explained laconically. "You?"
"Paperwork," she admitted with a small chuckle. She squinted at him. "You're not going home, are you?"
"No, no I just needed to see the moon."
“Danny! Danny wake up."
Daniel came awake instantly and reached for his glasses so he could make sense of the blurred shapes in his tent. His mind was full of images of desert raiders, searching for long buried gold and willing to kill for it.
"Sh, Danny, it's okay," his mother whispered. "I've got something to show you."
Curious now, Daniel followed his mother out of the tent. She took his hand and led him out of the campsite and towards the temple they had spent the last three weeks excavating. Instead of following the main path, however, she took him up onto a small promontory that overlooked the dig.
There were torches lit in the temple proper and Daniel could hear the sound of drums. The moon was bright and full and high in the sky and it lit the white sand of the Egyptian desert, casting a surreal glow across the landscape.
"It's beautiful," Daniel whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly.
"Yes it is," his mother agreed, "But that's not why I brought you here. Do you know what they're doing down there, Danny?"
"Well, the moon is full," Daniel scrunched up his small face in thought. "So are they worshipping Osiris?"
"They are," she confirmed. "Every full moon they dance."
There were a few moments of awed silence as Daniel surveyed the scene before him. The drums thundered in his blood and he found himself moving unconsciously.
"Would you like to learn the steps?”
To her credit and his surprise, Janet only raised an eyebrow. It was, however, a very eloquent eyebrow, and Daniel felt strangely compelled to explain what he meant.
"The moon is full tonight," he pointed out. "There will be enough light to go up the mountain a little bit. Clear my head."
"Pesky alien dialect?"
"Yeah, that's part of it," Daniel paused before elaborating. "Full moons bring memories. My mother always loved them, and Sha're..."
Janet gave him a small smile and looked at her feet. She seemed to do that a lot whenever his past came up. The last remaining floors clicked by in silence and the doors slid open.
"You want some company?"
Sha're had been quiet for almost a week now and Daniel had no idea why. Most of the people in the city were preparing for the planting festival, the first they would celebrate as a free people. Though the Abydonian growing season was short, it seldom failed. Still, a little help was never turned away.
Daniel was fascinated by every aspect of the festival, from the selection of the ritual mastiff to the preparation of the specially spiced flat bread served at the feast. He had no time to himself, let alone any to spend privately with his wife, but resolved that as soon as everything calmed down, he would get to the bottom of it.
The feast had gone one for hours before the music, which had been playing in the background while they ate, suddenly became louder. Grinning widely, Skaara pulled his sister out onto the beaten earth surface in the centre of the courtyard, and the to of them began to dance. More and more of the Abydonians left their plates, stepped over the feasting benches and joined them, and Daniel watched as the dance progressed.
Then, all at once, Sha’re was beside him again. She took his hand and drew him up, not to the dance, but away into the dark streets which surrounded the public square. In a few moments, they were clear of the of city altogether. She led him along the bank of the stream which supplied the town with water, until they reached its source. There, a spring emerged from the cliff face and leapt happily down the rocks beneath it. The full moon made the water glisten and the sand sparkle while the rocks cast mysterious shadows in all directions.
“It’s beautiful,” Daniel whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly.
Sha’re said nothing, but she smiled half-heartedly in his direction.
“What is it, Sha’re?”
“Nothing, my Dan’yel,” she replied immediately. Then, “I just – every year we have prayed to Ra to bless the crops. But now we know that Ra did not help them grow, and the festival seems empty.”
“I talked to your father about it,” Daniel replied. “On Earth, we have a celebration called Christmas. Children believe that on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas will slide down their chimney and leave them presents if they’ve been good. They grow up and stop believing. But every year, there are presents on Christmas morning. It’s the celebration that is important, love, not who is worshipped at it.”
Sha’re remained silent, and Daniel stared out across the desert. He could hear the drums and pipes faintly from the city. The sound mingled with that of the spring and he suddenly felt a very old sense of nature.
“Why do they dance?”
“Fathers dance so that the crops will grow. Mothers dance so that their sons and daughters will be healthy. Young men dance for strength and joy,” Sha’re paused. “And young women for the children they hope to give their husbands.”
Daniel looked sharply at her. Her head was down and her hair fell about her face making her look impossibly young and innocent. When she looked up at him though, it was with a kind of pleading determination that instantly and completely held him in her thrall.
“Dance with me?”
Daniel picked his way up the mostly overgrown path. The moonlight made it slightly better than treacherous, but it knew the lay of it well enough to keep half an eye on his companion and not fear miss-stepping himself.
For her part, Janet proved extraordinarily sure footed, though she was grateful not to be making the trek in full darkness. She knew where Daniel was going though she had only been there once, to talk with Sam almost two years ago away from curious scientists with big ears and bigger mouths. She did not really remember what the view was like; it had been sunset on her last trip and the glare had been in her eyes.
Daniel half turned and held out his hand to help her over the last few rocks. She took it gladly and did not release it while they walked across the clearing to the edge of the small drop-off.
Now that they were out of the trees, the whole valley spread out beneath them. Moon-dappled trees stretched away in every direction as far as the eye could see, save where a town intruded upon the forest or at the top of the surrounding mountains where the snow capped peaks glittered in the light.
“It’s beautiful,” Janet whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly.
Daniel shot her a very odd look and she had a sudden flash of what his memories of other nights like this were. This was important to him, she knew, as she was flattered, honoured and more than a little excited that he had showed her.
Daniel looked over the valley and smiled.
“What?” Janet asked after warring with herself over whether or not to break the silence.
“I was just thinking,” said Daniel. “It’s a marvelous night for a moon dance.”
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finis
gravitynotincluded, March 19th, 2005.