Author: JessicaAsc
E-mail: Ist42@cinci.rr.com -- Maybe this is as good a time as
ever...
how in the world do I go about getting the nice people at
Gossamer to
archive my other things with this address at the next update?
Disclaimer: :: dismisses this public display of not owning
Mulder nor Scully as invaluable::
Category: Plain Post-Closure...
Spoilers: Let's see.. hmm.. well none from Closure. ;) Okay,
::puts on a serious face::.. 
Closure, Ascension, and possibly Sein Und Zeit.
Archive: Here, feel free to take it off my hands! :)
Summary: My take on how Mulder tells Scully what it was he saw
on the hilltop.
Rating: G.
Notes: I haven't delved into what everyone else has been
writing about
Closure, but I *know* that there are probably 143 stories
describing
exactly what I am, but this is just my little take on it. :)

Starlight Remains (1/1)

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx


"Somehow, I think I always knew." He idly plucked grass fronds
from the
moist ground below as he let these words hang like the darkness
of the
night.

Mulder had led Scully by the hand through the lush forestry
that had
held the spot where Samantha had been. He hadn't told her that
was the
spot that fulfilled so many dreams he had had, but she didn't
need him
to. She hadn't asked a single question as he reached for her
hand and
wordlessly bid her follow.

The cold wind had blown through him as he envisioned the
children he
had seen when they had made it to the top. He had continued to
grasp
Scully's shaking hand as he closed his eyes to recapture what
he had
witnessed shortly before.

They both had sat and moved their eyes to watch the gleaming
stars.
Each waiting for the best time to begin and listen to what the
other
had to say.

He took his hand and grazed it over the freshly cut grass.
"After she
was taken, I would sit in my backyard at night and just watch."
He
thrust his head upwards to exemplify.

"I never knew why I felt the need to be outside among the
stars, but I
felt closer to her when I was. I never believed she was up
there," he
stretched his arms backwards to lie back, "but I knew she was
there."

He swallowed a bitter memory and continued, swinging his head
to look
at her. "I did the same when you were taken." He watched as she
cast
her glance downwards at the mention of her absence. "I would
watch,
with the same understanding as before. You were closer and more
vibrant
to me when I would stand under the stars."

She nodded and curled her legs under her. "Mulder..." She let
his name
drip of her mouth, telling him she had something that she
needed him to
know and understand. "I know, from what she wrote, that you
might think
all she knew was pain."

She reverted her eyes upwards, to the shimmering and winking
stars once
more. "I don't know how I know this, but her want to get back
to you...
it eased her pain, Mulder. Whatever tests were being done,
imagining
the moment of seeing you again was enough to separate herself
from what
was happening to her."

Scully silently sent a prayer to God, thanking him for keeping
her from
referring to 'her' as 'my.' In some spiritual way, she knew it
was the
same for Samantha. Just as she recognized that Samantha had had
an
amazing amount of strength. At fourteen years old, she was able
to deal
with something that Scully was not yet able to speak about.

"She was so beautiful, Scully." He let out a held breath. "I
wish you
could have seen her."

Scully smiled weakly out of the sight of Mulder. Deep down she
wished
she could have seen her as well. To see the face of the girl
that at
such a young age was robbed of her innocence and youth, but was
so
strong despite herself.

Scully unfolded her wrapped legs and moved to match the style
of
Mulder's lying body. With her voice barely above a whisper, she
asked
him what she had been waiting the whole meaningful night to
ask. "What
did you see, Mulder?"

His smile lit the darkness more so than the moon could have
ever hoped
to. He repeated the same sentiment he had reserved for his
sister. "It
was beautiful."

"There was music playing in my head. Nothing like you've ever
heard,
Scully." He paused as he tried to entangle the moment again in
his
mind's eye.

"They were everywhere. So many lives taken. They were all
happy. There
was no pain. There was no suffering. There was nothing that
they might
have been through if they would have lived." He lowered the
octave of
his voice and his wistful smile still played on his lips.

"Harold's son took me to the top of the hill. They were all
playing.
Some were twirling. Some were jumping rope. Amber Lynn came to
me.
Everything her parents had described her as was there. Her
nightgown
and her short, curly brown hair." He propelled himself forward
and
turned to face a still lying Scully.

"We went on and I watched the rest play. Then, she came running
to me.
Harold's son left and she wound herself around me." He captured
another
grass frond in his finger and lightly stroked the length of it.

His voice wavered a bit. "She was so old, Scully. Six years
older than
I remember her. Her hair was longer and straighter. It wasn't
bound in
pigtails, either. Six years older than I remember." He shook
his head
in apparent disbelief.

"I rocked her in my arms for I don't know how long. It was like
eternity." He audibly took in a breath.

"She told me that she was so glad to see my face for real. She
told me
that she knew how much I had hurt because she was taken, but
she also
said that she was safe, happy and I could live my life and not
worry
about where she was. She told me that I would see her again
when it was
time."

Scully turned her head to where he was glancing up above. "I
believe
you."

He reincarnated his smile and pulled her to him. Resting her
head on
his lap, he imprinted his words into her mind. "I don't think
I've ever
been happier than I am right here and right now."