Author's Notes: Thanks to Char, who said I could, and my seven-year-old nephew Seth who inspires me.

Chapter One
Breaking the Rules

Shifu scanned the ethereal plane, watching for the Others, waiting to see if they had noticed anything out of the ordinary. A careful check revealed no evidence of them. He hoped Oma's distraction would keep their focus for the time he needed. Long enough to do what he must. Long enough to break the rules in a more direct way than any of them had ever dared. Long enough to save Daniel.

        "Are you ready?" Shifu asked his co-conspirators.
        "Go, son of my daughter," Kasuf replied.  "We know what to do."
        A chorus of Abydonian voices murmured their agreement.  Shifu turned to 

the one for whom they risked all. Daniel gazed back at him, bright blue eyes trusting. They had given Daniel the physical body of a six year old, and the man who had once taught them all now looked small and fragile. Shifu wondered if Colonel O'Neill and his companions would be able to accept the change and understand the necessity.

"Remain on the threshold with Skaara until I call for you," Shifu instructed.

Daniel nodded solemnly, and his tiny fingers tightened their grip on Skaara's larger, sun-browned hand.

Shifu drew in a deep breath, a way of gathering his courage because he didn't actually breathe. With a single thought, he left the ethereal and placed himself into the physical realm of Colonel O'Neill's kitchen. Unaware of Shifu's presence, O'Neill checked his watch and gulped the last of his morning coffee. Shifu collected the scattered facets of his energy, coalesced them into a body, and made himself visible to O'Neill's reality. His emergence was not well-timed. O'Neill choked and spat out a mouthful of coffee, spraying the counter with the dark liquid.

        "Who the hell--"
        "I am Shifu."
        O'Neill's eyes narrowed.  When they had last met, Shifu had been a child, 

but for this conversation, he had chosen the appearance of a young man in his twenties. The adult form was better suited to impress upon O'Neill the seriousness of Daniel's situation. Shifu had retained the orange robes of a Zen monk, and the familiar outfit brought a grudging recognition from O'Neill.

        "Growing up fast, aren't you?"
        "Age is irrelevant."
        O'Neill held up a hand.  "Please.  No Zen voodoo crap.  Way too early in 
the morning."
        "No Zen `crap,'" Shifu agreed.  "What we must discuss requires your 
understanding, so I will speak my meaning plainly."
        "Thank God.  Look, is this going to take long?  I'm due at the Mountain 

in-- Huh. Watch stopped." O'Neill tapped his watch, glanced up at the unmoving hands of the kitchen wall clock, and then eyed Shifu suspiciously. "Your doing?"

        "Yes.  I have moved us outside time."
        O'Neill grimaced.  "Let's skip the physics crap too.  Mind if we take this 

to the living room? I get the feeling I'm going to need to sit down for this one. You want anything to drink?"

        Shifu shook his head.
        "I'd go for a beer myself if it wasn't so early."  O'Neill refilled his 

coffee cup. "I assume you're going to stick me back in time right where--er, when you took me out."

        "That is my intention, yes."
        "Definitely too early for beer then."
        Shifu followed O'Neill into the living room.  While O'Neill settled into a 

chair, Shifu redistributed his energy to provide himself with the solidity to actually connect with the sofa and not sink right through it.

"So. You the new ambassador of goodwill for the glow worm club? Usually I get visits from Oma and Daniel."

        "It is of Daniel I wish to speak."
        "Figured as much."  O'Neill shook his head.  "Higher plane of existence, 
and the kid still manages to get himself into trouble."
        Surprise drove the pre-planned speech from Shifu's mind.  "How do you know 
he's in trouble?"
        "Trouble always finds Daniel.  Unlike death, it's the one constant I've 

come to expect with Daniel." O'Neill stared pensively into his coffee. "We figured something was up. We knew on Abydos he was getting tired of the whole no-interfering thing. Daniel would have stopped Anubis if he could have, and since he didn't..." O'Neill trailed off. His lips thinned, and his face became shadowed. After a moment, he cleared his throat and continued quietly, "You tell Oma thanks. For ascending Skaara and the rest of Abydos. They didn't deserve to die like that."

A gentle nudge from Kasuf reminded Shifu that time was not as unlimited as it appeared to O'Neill. If the Others learned they had descended Daniel, the consequences for each of them would be dire. For Daniel, the consequences would be fatal. Still, Shifu could not fling Daniel into the physical without some preparation.

"Anubis will trouble your universe no more, O'Neill. He was Oma's burden, and she is...dealing with him."

        "'Bout time.  What took her so long?"
        Shifu reminded himself that O'Neill had a right to his sarcasm, though it 

hurt to hear the disrespect directed toward his mentor. "Their power is equal. They will battle for eternity, and neither will win. It is a fight Oma resisted not only because she feared it, but also because she believed she could do more if she were not locked in conflict with Anubis. I cannot say which choice was correct. In the end, she has chosen to fight because of Daniel."

O'Neill smirked. "Gave her the guilt speech, didn't he? Moral obligation, civic responsibility, and all that."

"It was not what Daniel said, but what he did. He believed so strongly that someone needed to force Anubis to a standstill he tried to do it himself."

Daniel's willingness to sacrifice himself for the physical realm had shocked Oma. She had neither known nor understood Daniel's passion for other beings. Though Daniel had released many of his perceived failures and the guilt that accompanied them, he had never fully detached from the physical. He could not leave his companions. Daniel would have faced the Others' wrath for interfering much earlier if Shifu had not taught Daniel how to circumvent their rules with less direct actions. But even Shifu had not suspected how far Daniel would go to protect a universe to which he no longer truly belonged.

"It was an action Daniel was forbidden to take," Shifu continued. "His defiance angered the Others. He was--severely punished."

Shifu had never seen an anger such as O'Neill's, not even in the few Goa'uld memories he hadn't managed to suppress. Goa'uld rage was loud and erratic. The anger O'Neill projected was quiet and focused. His unwavering gaze was full of dark menace. Balanced on the knife edge of that anger, Shifu held himself still.

O'Neill set his coffee cup on a side table. The deliberate slowness of the action sent a chill up Shifu's nonexistent spine.

        "Punished how?"
        Shifu distanced himself from the words he had to speak.  "The Others tried 

to eradicate the knowledge Daniel has gained through ascension. The method is painful and unreliable. It often destroys more than intended. We--Oma, the Abydonians, and I--did what we could to shield his mind. Daniel did much himself. But he grows weaker, and it is harder for us to hide our actions from the Others. Oma and I fear if he is forced to submit to the procedure again, he will not be strong enough to keep his energy from dispersing. He will--" Shifu stopped, struck by the look of mingled pain and fury in O'Neill's eyes.

        "Die," O'Neill finished in a flat tone.  "For good."
        "Yes," Shifu whispered.
        For a moment, Shifu wished for a physical body that could express the 

sorrow that welled up within him. Daniel had been among them for only a year, such a brief moment compared to the vastness an ascended being could live, but in that time, he had blazed like a shooting star. He was as exuberant as a child in a toy store, wanting to see and experience everything as quickly as possible. Daniel's curiosity reawakened Shifu to the possibilities of the infinite. Together, he and Daniel had explored the universe, shared confidences, and learned the rhythm of life. But for Shifu, the greatest gift was the opportunity to know the man who had fathered him in every sense but the biological. To lose Daniel now was a price he was unwilling to pay. He had to set sorrow aside and do what he had come to do.

"We used Oma's battle with Anubis as a distraction so the Others would not notice we had taken Daniel. He wanted to come home--to you. If you want him."

        "If I--of course I want him!"
        The fervor of O'Neill's response was encouraging.  Kasuf and Skaara were 

certain that leaving Daniel with O'Neill was the best decision, but Shifu did not know the man as they did. He could not trust Daniel to a hastily-spoken reply without testing O'Neill's sincerity.

"His mind is damaged. I do not know what remains. He will not be the man you knew."

O'Neill leaned forward, and his gaze was steady on Shifu. "It doesn't matter. I want him. This is his home. He belongs here with us."

        "Even if he is changed?"
        "It.  Doesn't.  Matter."
        Shifu inclined his head, acquiescing to O'Neill's resolution, and sent a 

silent call to the ethereal where Daniel waited. He felt the shifting of energy as Skaara opened the threshold and the physical realm adjusted to Daniel's entrance. A moment later, he heard the patter of Daniel's sandaled feet on the kitchen floor.

        "Jack?" Daniel's piping voice called.
        O'Neill had half-risen from his chair when Daniel burst into the living 

room. With another cry of "Jack!" the six year old launched himself at O'Neill, who fell back in his chair as he caught the tangle of child and orange robes. Shifu watched as O'Neill settled the wriggling weight in his lap with the practiced ease of one comfortable and familiar with children, and some of Shifu's nervousness about O'Neill's suitability dissipated.

"Hi, Jack," Daniel whispered. Wrapping his tiny arms around O'Neill's neck, Daniel pressed his face against O'Neill's shoulder.

O'Neill cupped the back of Daniel's neck and carded his fingers through Daniel's baby-fine, blonde hair. He looked up at Shifu, his eyes reflecting both the awe and confusion that struggled for supremacy.

        "This is...Daniel?"
        Shifu nodded.
        "He's--he's a kid."
        "I'm six," Daniel said, his indignation muffled in O'Neill's shirt.
        "Children do not confine their energy.  Since they are sensitive to the 

energy around them, they find others whose energy is compatible and share their own. They see no limits. Adults, however, cling to their energy. They believe they will lose what they give away. Such a concentration of energy is easier to locate. We gave Daniel this form to protect him from the Others."

The arm O'Neill had placed around Daniel's waist tightened involuntarily. Daniel protested and squirmed until O'Neill loosened his hold.

        "For how long?"
        Shifu closed his eyes briefly.  "I cannot say.  The Others rarely forget a 
transgression."
        Daniel lifted his head to whisper toward O'Neill's ear, "They hurted me."
        O'Neill's eyes snapped fire, but his hand rubbed slow, steady circles on 

Daniel's back. Daniel relaxed into the comfort, sinking back to his former position with a contented sigh. O'Neill breathed deeply to release his tension and turned his focus back to Shifu.

        "If they're looking for him, won't they look here first?"
        "Descension is an abhorrent idea to many of the Others.  We are hoping 

they will not consider it as an option. Also, because Daniel feels a connection to you and your team, his energy will bond more easily to your own. Since the Others can only pinpoint Daniel through his energy, this bonding will make it difficult for them to locate him. That is why we believed he would be safest here."

"He's human, isn't he? I mean, he feels solid enough. Can he pop in and out on me? Fly? Turn into a ball of light? Anything like that?"

"This is his physical reality." Shifu paused, remembering one of Oma's concerns. "However, no one is certain what Daniel himself managed to preserve. It is possible he has retained some knowledge from his ascension."

        "And that's going to be a problem?"
        Shifu nodded reluctantly.  "Daniel learned very quickly despite his short 

time with us. He knows--knew much. Any exercise of that knowledge will draw the Others to his energy. Unfortunately, in this form, he'll have little conscious control over it. Be assured, Colonel O'Neill, the Abydonians and I will do our best to safeguard Daniel."

        "Even if it means crossing the line with the Others?"
        Shifu smiled.  "We have already broken several rules today."
        O'Neill grinned in return.  "Well, we've broken a few rules ourselves, 
haven't we, Danny?" 
        Daniel pulled back and peered up at O'Neill.  Tiny creases distorted his 
brow.  "We have?  I don't 'member."
        A bleak look flickered over O'Neill's face as Daniel's innocent comment 

proved that the change in Daniel was more than physical. Perhaps O'Neill hadn't truly believed it until that moment.

"If we ask too much of you," Shifu said softly, "there are others willing to care for Daniel. The Nox, for example, have volunteered."

"No," O'Neill said quickly. His arm hugged Daniel closer. "He stays with us."

Daniel twisted in O'Neill's arms. Keeping one check tucked against O'Neill's chest, he turned his solemn gaze toward Shifu.

"I'll be fine," he said in an oddly mature tone, evidence that parts of the man still existed within the child. "Thank you."

Shifu reached out and touched Daniel's cheek. "Be safe," he whispered and added in his heart, "father."

O'Neill said nothing, but when he met Shifu's gaze, the promise to care for Daniel was in his eyes. Satisfied, Shifu nodded in receipt of that promise. He allowed his energy to lose its form and faded from O'Neill and Daniel's sight. Then he restored time and space, erasing the signs of his manipulation. Before he departed the physical realm completely, he watched for a moment longer.

"We better call Hammond and let him know we've got a surprise visitor for him." O'Neill stood, sliding Daniel to his hip. "This is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into."

O'Neill accompanied the mock-complaint with a tickle that left Daniel giggling helplessly. Shifu smiled and returned to the ethereal plane to guard Daniel's future.