TITLE: Instinct, With Better Light
AUTHOR: stellar_dust
EMAIL: stellar_dust_x@yahoo.com
WEBSITE: http://katycat.net/xfiles
SPOILERS: post-The Field Where I Died
NOTES: Written for a challenge; see elements at end
FEEDBACK: Please!
ARCHIVE:  Sure, wherever.
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Every word in here is mine, except "Mulder," 
"Scully," and "Melissa Riedal-Ephesian."  Those are Fox's.
SUMMARY:  Reincarnation is just "Monday," on a grander scale.
DATE: 2004-02-12

***

"Mulder?"

"Mulder, we're finished here, right on schedule.  Are you ready 
to go?"

"Mulder...? Are you all right?"

"What ..?  Oh, Scully.  Yeah, I'll .. I'll be right there."

"Mulder, are you sure you're okay?  ... It's just, you've had a 
lot to digest on this case, and you've been standing here alone 
in the sunshine for the past two hours.  You didn't even hear 
me calling.  You're worrying me."

"It's a monstrous cruel fate, Scully.  Violently separated, 
every lifetime, for countless ages ... and again today.  Why?  
What plan could there possibly be in this?"

"Well ... Mulder, I ... I'm not saying that I believe in this 
reincarnation story, but if it's true ... What if there's a 
reason for it?  What if ... what if you and the, the diaphanous 
soul that was Melissa Riedal-Ephesian are, are doomed to repeat 
this endless circle of love, death, rebirth, and love .. not 
because it's meant to be that way, but because it isn't meant 
to be?"

" ... What are you saying, Scully?"

"I'm saying that ... well, what if you both keep living the 
same painful, doomed story, over and over, because it isn't the 
right choice?  What if it'll continue for eternity, until in 
some lifetime, you make a drastic change, and you get it right? 
... I'm sorry, I shouldn't be ... I'll go back inside."

"No, Scully, wait!  Stay for a while.  I want to talk about 
this. ... Yes, I really do.  When I was remembering all of 
these past lives, what struck me most was the intense bond of 
love between the two of us.  There were countless more that I 
didn't talk about ... stretching back hundreds of years, Scully 
... all full of such incredible, boundless love.  But each of 
them ended with anguish just as strong."

"I could see that in your face."

"Ten years here, twenty there, then five, the next time, only a 
month.  And when it ends, as it always does, too soon, there's 
always such pain .. for awhile, the knowledge that we'd have 
that short time, those chance encounters, next time, was 
enough, but now ... my soul is tired.  So tired ... "

"Mulder .. Mulder, I don't want that for you.  You deserve some 
rest, some peace."

"I want that so badly, Scully. I think you might be right; 
about needing a big change, to break the cycle ... I think 
maybe Melissa knew it, too."

"... You weren't in love with her, in this life."

"No .. no, I wasn't.  If we'd met under different 
circumstances, ... maybe I could have been.  But you're right, 
I wasn't."

"She wasn't in love with you, either."

"No.  But she wanted to believe."

"And I'm not your father, or your sergeant."

"No ... you're my partner."

"And I always will be, Mulder."

"Scully, do you know who owns this field?"

"Now that the cultists are all dead?  Well, I, I don't know, I 
suppose the property would revert to the state.  Why?"

"I'd like to plant some roses here.  For – well, for old lives' 
sake."

"I think that can be arranged.  ... Come on, let's go home."


Fin.

xxxxxx

For the Haven's "Talk To Me in 700 words or less" Challenge

533 Words

It MUST take place during or right after:
Ice
Grotesque
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
Humbug
Tithonus
*The Field Where I Died*
Kill Switch
Young At Heart

You must use ANY FIVE of the following words:
*sunshine*
leather
congratulations
Bermuda onions
attic
*roses*
*monstrous*
*schedule*
snoring
*diaphanous*

This is my first Haven fic, and it gave me a chance to write 
the post-TFWID story that I've had in mind for awhile.  Hurray!