Someday-Part 7/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

That Same Day 
Starbuck Island, Northwest of Tahiti 

Mulder stood next to his rented jeep and looked up at the
building in front of him. It was a lovely, two story
mansion, built by a French trader in 1918, with a
wrap-around verandah on the second floor. The tropical sun
beat down on the white structure, making it almost too
bright to look at. It was called the Barnet Hotel. 

He was still in a state of shock from the happenings of the
last several days. After leaving the vicinity of the burning
car, he had looked at the rest of the information in the
folder. It seemed that Ian Zweifel was a wealthy man. A New
York bank held more money in his name than Mulder knew what
to do with. He was set for life, it seemed. Mr. Zweifel had
also reserved a room in this hotel indefinitely. 

Mulder walked up to the building, feeling over-dressed in a
long-sleeved shirt and jeans; it was a tropical paradise
after all. He carried a shoulder bag that held his few
personal belongings. Just a handful of momentos from his
past life as Fox Mulder. Another important object was tucked
safely in his front jeans pocket. He had rescued it from his
safe deposit box just before leaving Washington.

Mulder checked in and was lead upstairs by a young bellboy,
a native of the island, he assumed, looking at the kids
Polynesian features. His room had French doors with a
fantastic view of the ocean. The doors opened onto the
verandah, which he guessed was shared by all the guests. He
tipped the boy, sighed, then sat on the edge of the big,
four-poster bed. He was tired. He had been on the move
constantly since leaving D.C. He had flown to L.A., with a
stop in Denver, then changed planes to fly to Hawaii. From
there, he had flown to Tahiti, and then he had hopped on a
puddle-jumper here. Starbuck Island. So, where was Starbuck? 

He had half expected to see her at any moment. Every corner
he turned, he expected to run into her. Every door he
opened, he prayed she was on the other side. He wondered if
he was being too optimistic. Neither CSM nor WMM had
confirmed that she was alive; maybe she really was dead. Or
maybe she just wasn't here. Maybe she had been hidden away
somewhere else. 

With a yawn, he began to undress. He would have to buy new
clothes...again. He smiled, remembering shopping with Scully
in Custer. After taking off his boots and socks, he stood
and walked over to the French doors, unbuttoning his shirt.
The ocean view was too much to resist, so he stepped
outside, walking to the railing and bracing his hands on it.
He closed his eyes, rolling his head around to ease his
tired neck, breathing in the warm, salty breeze coming off
the Pacific. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw her.

She was standing on the beach below, not far from where the
waves touched the white sand. She was wearing a white
sundress that left her arms bare, the skirt swirling around
her bare legs and feet in the wind. Her hair was red once
again, the blonde having finally washed out, but it was
shorter than when he had last seen her. Had that only been
six days ago? It seemed like forever. 

He walked to the far end of the verandah, where a staircase
led down to the sand. Once he reached the beach, he walked
quickly in her direction. Before he had even had a chance to
say anything, she turned to face him, smiling, as if she had
known he was there before seeing him. He stopped sharply in
front of her, letting himself drown in her blue eyes. 

"Hi." Her voice was soft. The wind, coming from her back
now, blew strands of hair against her cheek. Slowly, as if
he was afraid a sudden move would make her disappear, Mulder
reached out to tuck the hair behind her ear. 

"Hi." 

"Welcome to Starbuck Island," she continued, her eyes
glinting with amusement. "I'm Sara. Sara Wegner." She held
out her hand. 

Mulder smiled and took her hand in his. "Ian Zweifel." 

She smiled. "Ian? I like it. It's a strong, Gaelic name."

Mulder laughed, but his smile soon faded. "Your mother
knows, doesn't she?" 

Scully's smile also disappeared as 'real life' was brought
to her attention. She drew back her hand. "Not where I am,
but that I'm alive, yes. They told me I could let one person
know. My first choice was you, but they knew you would be
watched closely after my 'death', and your reaction had to
be real." She looked down. "I am so sorry for doing that to
you." 

Mulder shook his head. "It was rough for a while, but your
mother said something to me that gave me hope." When Scully
gave him that familiar questioning look, he continued. "She
said we'd be together again...someday." 

She smiled again. "Looks like 'someday' is finally here."
She glanced up and down the beach. "Here in paradise." She
looked at him again. "You know, I dreamed of this place.
When you went missing. God, was that only two weeks ago? It
seems like forever since we were in the Black Hills." 

"I know," Mulder agreed. "You dreamed? A premonition?" 

"Maybe." 

"I didn't think Agent Scully believed in premonitions." 

Scully watched him for a while. "No, she didn't. But Sara is
willing to believe."

"Sara." Mulder tested the name out. He shook his head. "How
am I gonna do this? You're Scully. You'll always be Scully." 

"Your calm, rational Scully, as I recall." 

He nodded. "Yeah." 

"We'll make do, Mul-...Ian" 
They laughed. Then Mulder asked, serious, "What do we do
now, Scully?" 

"That's easy," she replied. "We have the whole future ahead
of us, Mulder. So let's start living it!" 

"Okay." That was just the opening he needed. He reached into
his front jeans pocket. "Let's start with this. I need to
ask you a question." He pulled out a tiny object. "I got
this a couple of years ago, just before you left for
Spokane. I bought it in New York, but it's an original." 

He held the object up for Scully to see. It was a ring. A
diamond solitaire bordered by tiny, gold grape leaves dusted
in shades of pink and green. "Black Hills Gold," Scully
whispered. 

"Dana." Scully looked up at him, her eyes flooding with
tears. "Scully. Will you marry me?" 

Scully bit her lip, then asked, "As Scully or as Sara?" 

"Both. Either. I don't care, as long as it's you." 

She nodded, blinking rapidly to keep her tears from falling.

He reached for her left hand and slid the ring on her
finger, breathing a sigh of relief when it fit perfectly.
"Scully, I love you." 

She smiled, unable to keep the tears from falling. "I love
you, too, Mulder." She wrapped her arms around his neck and
brought her lips to his. 

He took them like a starving man, drinking greedily from her
mouth, tongue delving deep. She moaned into his kiss and
rocked her hips against his. His jeans were already
uncomfortably tight. He pulled away slightly. "As much as
I'd like to make love to you on the beach, it is a bit
public." 

Her answering laughter was incredibly erotic. She moved her
hips against his once more. "We better take this inside,
then. We can always come back here after dark." 

Mulder took a sharp breath. "Oh, yeah!" 

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the verandah stairs
at a run. Laughing, she followed without hesitation. They
tripped up the stairs, ran across the porch, and slipped
into the still open doors to Mulder's room. After quickly
locking them, he turned and grabbed her up in his arms. They
never made it to the bed. They didn't even bother to undress
completely. Mulder simply dropped his jeans and lifted
Scully's skirt up, removing her underwear with deft fingers.
He lifted her and pressed her against the wall. There was no
foreplay. There was no need. Both were more than ready for
each other. 

With her legs wrapped tightly around his waist and her hands
gripping his shoulders, fingernails digging into him, Mulder
was able concentrate on their pleasure. He shoved her
against the wall, over and over, knowing he was probably
going too fast, being too rough, but her responses refused
to let him slow down. He contemplated using his hand to help
her along, knowing he was going to explode any second now,
but then he felt her internal muscles tightening and knew
she was with him.

It was quite possibly the quickest coupling Mulder had ever
experienced, yet completely satisfying at the same time.
When Scully gasped out "Fox!", Mulder felt his own explosion
come with a force that stunned him. His knees gave out, and
he sank down to the floor, Scully's legs still firmly
clasped around him, her head on his shoulder. Soon, their
breathing returned to normal. Scully lifted her head and
smiled at him. "I love reunions."
 
************************************************************

Later, finally unclothed and in bed, Mulder watched Scully
as she admired her ring. "It's perfect, Mulder." 

He was silent for a while. "When I held that vaccine in my
hand for the first time, I thought to myself, 'Here is the
future'." He looked at her. "I'm glad the vaccine's safe,
and I'm glad we have the upper hand in this 'war', but I was
wrong when I thought that." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I'm holding the future in my arms right now," he whispered.
He felt slightly embarrassed to find tears in his eyes.
Scully had seen him cry before, but not from happiness. 

Scully smiled though her own tears of happiness. "It's not
going to be easy, this future. Even if we're not directly
involved anymore, we still are a part of the X Files. I
think we always will be." 

"I agree," he nodded. "But, as we have proved plenty of
times in the past, we can do anything as long as we stay
together." 

She nodded back. "Anything. I love you, Fox Mulder." 

"I love you, Dana Scully." 

Let the future begin. 

THE END

How do you define normal?