Sunsets
By Dana Quell
    
     The woman slammed the car door with all the force her
little body could generate.  Standing about five feet, three
inches, the redhead walked staight, back poised primly, but
it was obvious that she was mad at someome.
     She walked straight to the edge of the cliffs, looking
out at the ocean and the setting sun.  Her fiery red hair
bobbed up and down as she strode to the brink of the cliff
and sat down.
     The cries of the sea gulls lessened her anger as she
watched the waves crash on the rocks below.  A southernly
breeze blew and ruffled her hair.  The gulls pecked at eah
other as they played.
     Looking out to the sea, she couldn't help but be calmed
down, despite what had happened in the course of the day.
Her whole body relaxed, and she lost herself in the memories
of her past.
     So lost was she in these memories that she didn't hear
the car pull up next to hers, nor the car door slam shut.
She didn't even hear the crunch of footsteps on the gravel
behind her.
     The man stood behind the woman, watching her and trying
to discern whether he should say something or not.  Finally
he resigned himself to just watching for a few minutes.
     The sun started setting, turning the sky the same color
of the woman's hair.  The man couldn't help but speak out.
     "Scully?" he inquired softly.
     The woman turned around slowly, She was no longer filled
with the anger that had driven her here, and she placed her
hand to the spot next to her and gestured for him to sit.
     "Mulder.  Sit down.  We need to talk," Scully replied.
He took a seat where she gestured silently and was thanking
any god that would listen that he was still alive.
     "When things got rough at home, with stress, or school,
or family, I would always come to the ocean.  There used to
be a cliff just like this one in one of the cities, and it
used to soothe me.  I know it must sound silly, but it
worked."
     Mulder shook his head.  "It doesn't sound silly at all,"
he replied.
     Scully smiled at him.  "I thought you might understand.
Anyway, I've been thinking."
     "About?" he prompted, placing a hand on her shoulder and
gently squeezing it.
     "About everything.  Life.  Death.  The X-Files.  The
argument we had before.  But most importantly, us."
     Hazel eyes gazed questioningly into blue ones.  "Us?
What about us?"
     "About where we're going.  And how we're going to get
there.  Mulder, where do we stand?"
     "We're co-workers, best friends. . ." Mulder hesitated
to voice his last thought.  He didn't need to say them,
however, for her to know.
     "And soul mates?  I feel the same way.  But we are
partners, and the Bureau frowns on this sort of thing."
     "Scully, the Bureau be damned.  Don't use protocol as an
excuse.  For once, let your heart run your decisions, and
give that super-brain of yours a rest.  You know how I feel,
you feel the same way, but I'm not going to rush you into
something that you're not ready for."
     Scully sighed, then leaned closer to him.  He in
response put his arms around her, and they sat, she leaning
into his chest for a few minutes in silence.
     "Maybe," she said, ending the silence.  "Maybe when all
of this is over, and we're finally able to be normal. . ."
     She drifted off as the last rays of the sun went down
below the horizon.
     "Don't you know, Scully?  We can never be normal,"
Mulder said, grinning.  She turned her face towards his, and
smiled back.
     "I know," was all the reply as dusk set in.