Title: Shi
Author: RocketMan >lebontrager@iname.com<
Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is
intended.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to Hong, again, because *she* helped
me out a great deal, not only with encouragement and stories, but in
getting me interested in Asian mythology.
Thanks to Christine, I'm using your name in this.
NOTES::::Shi in Chinese means song or poem (not to be confused with chi,
which is a hornless dragon...)


~~~~~
Shi
~~~~~
"I search but cannot find her,
awake, asleep, thinking of her,
endlessly, endlessly
turning, tossing, from side to side."
--'Guan! Guan! Cry the fishhawks', Zhounan
~~~~~
Chapter One
~~~~~

As always,

there was the sea

rich blues and greens that danced with the pull of universal forces

marbled crests that staked claim a kingdom of water

furious rage of lashing hands, scraping away the world.

As always,

there was her father

kind eyes behind a military man's discipline

rigid frame that bent to lift her high

rough hands that both worked the sea and stroked her cheek.

As always,

there was the pull to run to him, 

to walk across water and wave to the safety of his embrace

to the pleasure of -daddy-.

As always, 

she was a child.

But never before:

Never before:

This.

Her father could not reach out to her.

Her daddy could not save her.

The sea wanted her, and it's great hands closed down and scooped her up
high, then shoved her down, down, down. . .

Drowning in the realm that was her father's, dying in the ocean that her
daddy was master of.

Nothing could save a little girl from the need of the sea.

Nothing could save a little girl.
~~~~~
~~~~~
Briarcliffe Acres
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
~~~~~

Christina Chang walked alone down the edge of the shore, letting its
soft, playful touch tickle her feet. In July heat, it was opressively
humid, but the feel of the cool water gave welcome respite. 

Christina's sun lightened brown hair was pulled back into a hasty pony
tail and her bathing suit was already itchy with sand. Her seven year
old face was sprinkled with freckles that gave evidence to the long
summer of beach and sun.

She began thinking of the Chinese stories her mother often told her,
diluted and distorted as they were by her half ancestory and American
childhood. Her mother tried to impart heritage, as she called it, but to
Christina, whose eyes were rounded like her huge, blonde father, myths
and stories weren't all that important.

The gentle water grazed her calf, caressing her skin in a cool touch of
relief; Christina saw she had waded in a little farther than she was
allowed to go.

But it was hot, and only nine o'clock.

And the water was so cool.

So blue and sparkling with the bright sun. The Atlantic's rolling waves
and beautiful sunrises were what had prompted her out that morning
anyway.

It was so hot in the sun, cooler in the water's protection.

Christina waded a bit further, the hands of the water feeling real,
feeling solid and comforting and cool.

Cool.

She breathed in and closed her eyes, letting the waves reach her waist,
rise around her stomach, swirl across her chest.

The hands felt too real.

Too real.

She turned, the sand under her feet merely shifted, shoving her deeper
into the water.

The hands shoved, sucked her down, pulled her to her knees.

She scrambled for air, for life above the water, for anything that was
not the murky blue of ocean hands.

She screamed as she came up, thrashed as the hands pushed her under
again.

Down, down, down. . .

She breathed in, couldn't keep her lips pressed tight together.

The decaying taste of salt water filled her mouth, burned her nose,
seared her lungs.

Gazing upward with almost sightless eyes, Christina Chang saw the far
away sky . . . her father's home . . . the airplanes from the Air Base
overhead. . . the far away sky with its far away life . . .

Surrendered to the hands of the sea.
~~~~~
~~~~~
Washington, D.C.
~~~~~

The summer storm in their area that had raged the night before still
showed signs the morning after.

Long, broken limbs bent as the wind whispered the coming of more
showers, the grass was a bright green of wet blades, and the smell of
earth and burnt ozone was heavy.

Fox Mulder walked briskly up the steps of the Hoover Building amid the
rumbling of far away thunder, haggard and exhausted after another night
of less than adequate sleep.

First, the television had gone out on him, then come back on in the
middle of a nasty dream about killers in his garage (when he didn't even
*have* a garage) and woken him just in time for the worst of the storm.
The lightning had illuminated his living room and kept time to the
sounding of thunder right over him.

His apartment had *shook* and then, of course, so had he.

The walls weren't supposed to move at the whim of *sound* he had
thought, and so he had stayed up the entire night, nursing the crazy
feeling that the walls would fall in on him while he was asleep and the
rain would flood in and drown him as he dreamt.

All in all, Fox Mulder had not gotten much sleep.

His office was still locked and dark when he arrived, surprising him
because he was fifteen minutes late anyway.

He sorted through some of the case files that had been placed at his
door, shoving through the office and sinking to the chair.

It tipped precariously, Mulder jerked forward, and the silence of the
place crashed into him.

Silence.

Where was Scully?
~~~~~

The phone rang sharply five times before he heard her muffled "yeah?"
that made him smile at the thoughts she provoked.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty."

"Mulder? What time is it? Why are you calling so early in the morning?"

"Have you looked at your clock yet, Sleepyhead?"

She grunted and he heard rustling. "Mm. It's three thirty, Mulder."

"Scully?"

"Yes."

He paused for dramatic effect. "Is your clock flashing by any chance?"

"Actually, yeah- Oh crap! What *time* is it!?"

He heard her stumbling around, slamming drawers into place, her rushed
breaths as she grabbed for things.

"Slow down. It's eight thirty. Get here whenever you can. We had a huge
storm last night, it's understandable."

He smiled again, clearly able to see her through the phone, jumping
around trying to get her hose on, or even better, her leg into one of
her tailored pantsuits.

She ignored him of course.

"I'll be there in about thirty minutes."
~~~~~

When she walked in that morning, Skinner was poised on Mulder's desk,
looking down at a report and making idle comments about Mrytle Beach and
"not a vacation, Mulder" and something else that she couldn't palce.

Mulder was motioning with his hand, his face wildly expressive and she
placed her briefcase on the floor, scooting it to the side with a foot.

Skinner looked up.

"Agent Scully. I see you're okay."

At Mulder's panicked look she smoothly nodded. "Yes sir."

What had Mulder *said* to the man?

"Well, I'm finished, actually, so I'll leave Mulder to tell you the
specifics of the case. Let me just leave you with a final word. This
family is pretty influential, and solving this case is important to the
*President*, Agent Mulder, so please don't make it into an X-File."

Skinner stood and nodded to Scully, his lips tight and face in that grim
I-was-in-Nam-and-I-have-the-scars-to-prove-it face.

Mulder sighed when he left. "Great. If he doesn't want this to be an
X-File, why the hell did they ask for us?"

"Mulder."

"I mean, I'm monster boy, right?-"

"Mulder, where did you say I'd been?"

He paused, collected his thoughts back on her. "Oh. The bathroom. He was
in here for twenty minutes and I guess he thinks you're sick or
something."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Great excuse Mulder. He wouldn't have
cared if I'd been late this once. Goodness knows, you're late enough to
have the man infuriated."

"Which is exaclty why you shouldn't make him any angrier. All he needs
is for it to show that I'm rubbing off on you, Scully."

His eyes were teasing her, his mouth worked into a kind of grimacing
smile.

She said nothing, simply took the file from his hands and opened it.

"So tell me what's going on."
~~~~~

Slides.

Again.

And he had just gotten this case twenty minutes ago.

"Okay. Briarcliffe Acres, part of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This was
Christina Chang, lived on Briarcliffe all her life. This seven year old
girl was found washed up on the same beach, dead from five liters of
water in her lungs the same day she was killed. Same day, same beach."

The slide was a school picture of a brown haired girl, wide smile,
beautifully dark eyes and just a hint of Oriental blood in her.

He paused and licked his lips, glancing to her with the eyes that said
he had a lot of things he wanted to say more, but would let her form her
own opinions.

"Salt water?" she murmured.

"Yeah. Salt water."

"How. . . we'll need to get current charts, but I'm pretty sure if she
was drowned in the ocean, she'd be swept out to sea, or at least be
found miles from where she lived."

He nodded, excited. "Exactly. That's part of the reason why we were
called in to this case."

"Keep going."

"There have been a total of nine deaths this summer, all female, all in
the ages of seven or eight, all natives of South Carolina. These girls
were experienced swimmers who knew the ocean and how things go. All
intentional drownings."

"How'd the coroner figure that?"

"Bruises found one the shoulders and neck, evident of hands holding the
girls under. There's also the mystery of how the girls came to be found
so close to where they live. All within a hundred yards, Scully. Even
less most times. Like you said, they should have been out to sea or
miles away."

"So there's a killer lose that's targetting young girls and drowning
them?"

He nodded, but his eyes were saying there was definitely more.

She waited; she would not ask.

"Christina's mother, Jesse Chang, insists she knows exaclty who killed
her daughter."

"Who?"

"The East Sea."

Scully's eyebrow rose threateningly high, her mouth falling open to
protest his revelation.

"The East *China* Sea."

"Mulder!"

"She says there's a myth that goes back thousands of years, explaining
everything. Her own mother was killed by the East China Sea, and her
father then moved the family to the United States as a defector because
he claimed that the Chinese government really executed her to threaten
him."

"Mulder, that's all fine, but to say that the China Sea came all the way
over here, the sea being an inanimate object may I remind you, and
killed a little *girl* is just plain crazy!"

"Scully. I'm not saying I agree. I'm just saying it's interesting. I'd
be willing to listen, if only to appease the mother. She's the one
that's the friend of the President."

"With everything that's going on, I wouldn't be surprised."

Mulder raised an eyebrow and clucked his tongue. "Open mind, Scully."

She sighed.

"When do we leave?"

"Two."

She gave him a tired grin. "I'll make sure my clock's not flashing."
~~~~~

~~~~~
Chapter Two
~~~~~
Continental Flight #231
2:23 p.m.
~~~~~

She watched Mulder sleep effortlessly in the seat next to her, his eyes
still and heavy, his body caved in so that he gave the frightening
appearance of being dead.

It wasn't that she was afraid to fly, not at all.

It just made her a little jumpy, excited she liked to call it, too jumpy
to ever fall asleep, too restless to ever get comfortable.

Mulder had no problems she saw.

The flight would take a mere thirty minutes, maybe less if the weather
continued to be so clear. No thunderstorms yet.

She shivered.

Prayed she would *never* encounter thunder clouds in an airplane.

Mulder shifted in his sleep and his head lolled over, in what looked to
be an incredibly uncomfortable angle.

He twitched and she gently raised his head and lowered it to a more
natural position, which happened to fall on her shoulder as she moved
her hand away.

She let his head stay there, feeling an odd sense of delight as he
sighed and curled in closer to her body heat.

A tentative hand reached forward and stroked his clammy cheek, the
mixture of dream sweat and freezing air conditioning making him seem
almost sick.

The way he slumped into her made tingling crawl along her shoulder
blades and she let her hand drop.

This was making her even more jumpy.

She relaxed, burying her chin in the thick hair of his head, closing her
eyes.

Prayed they would not encounter any thunder clouds in this airplane.
~~~~~
~~~~~

Ashley Yerk ran down the sand to the water's edge, her short hair
whipping up and catching in her mouth.

She spit it out and slid into the ocean, letting the cool waves wash
away her tears.

It wasn't fair anymore.

The baby got all of the attention, all the time.

All she wanted to do was go down to Robbie and Brandon's house, play
Nintendo with them for awhile, relieve her ears of her baby brother's
endless crying, but NO. Momma said it was too far to go this late at
night.

Late! Late!?

It was only four o'clock! They had eaten dinner thirty minutes ago and
it was summer, for Pete's sake!

Ashley let out a frustrated scream and slapped the waves with her hand,
letting her palm sting with the impact.

It felt good to hit something. She wanted to slap her baby brother until
he shut up, but she knew she couldn't do that.

She knocked over a small wave that coasted to her, feeling rebellious in
the clinging of her clothes to her body, in the dark stretch of water
made emerald in the sun's lengthening shadows.

She slammed again and again into the water, letting her rage receed with
the sting and bruises of her slaps.

It felt good.

She wanted to go to Robbie and Brandon's house and play Nintendo, beat
up a few Street Fighters and play Paperboy on their old grey machine.

But no, baby had to sleep, it was too late and when she came in baby
would wake up.

Baby, baby, baby. It was always the stupid baby.

How revolting that her normal, active, eight year old life had to be
halted and controlled by a mess of crying, drooling, pooping baby.

She slapped the water again but gasped as it rose and slapped her back.

The wave crashed into her chest and she sucked in air, without luck. It
was gone. No breath, no air in her lungs.

She could tell what was happening. It must have been her wet clothes,
weighing her down, making her slow. She had let a bigger wave than
normal smack into her, no doubt paying her back for the slaps she had
given the water, and it had knocked the breath from her.

All Ashley had to do was let her feet find the sand again, back over
there, where the shore was.

It was still light. The golden edges of the water looked pretty.

She sucked in again for air, felt nothing and panic crawl down her
throat and thrive there.

She wouldn't be a stupid *girl*, no way she'd have Robbie and Brandon
laugh at her for panicking in the water.

She slogged to the shore, feeling the sand churn under her feet, almost
like it was alive and sucking her feet into its mouths.

She felt hysteria clutch at her and she could just see Brandon's face as
he laughed at her, called her a stupid girl.

She felt hands.

She screamed, water rushed in and filled the empty spaces left by her no
breath. The water burned like fire down her throat, in her eyes, in her
nose.

She coughed, struggled to the surface, felt the hands reaching for her
again; they were dragging her down!

Ashley kicked furiously, determined not to let the man drown her, not
her, not Ashley Yerk, the best swimmer in her division, the Water Girl,
the one that could beat all the boys in the water races.

The water hadn't killed her when she was three and swimming, and not now
either.

She kicked and felt something solid connect with her foot.

She lunged up, sucking in air and gagging out seaweed and salt water.

The sea swirled back, the hands dug into her shoulders, put heavy
pressure on top of her, toppling her down like the games of Dunk she and
the guys played while their mothers watched.

She felt her knees buckling, her unknown, unseen assailant pressing down
on her hard.

She screamed again, felt the water crash around her.

And then, then . . .

Robbie.

Robbie?

Through the thick haze of trapped air and water, she saw the boy's legs
churning, saw him reaching out for her.

He grabbed her shirt, and suddenly, there were no hands. No more man
holding her under.

She coughed and sputtered and sucked in the wonderful, cool, beautiful
air, gulping it down like Coke after a baseball game.

He dragged her to the shore and let her collapse there.

"What happened to you, Ash? You almost drowned!"

She shook her head; her voice wouldn't come, her vision was weaving in
and out.

"Momma," she whispered and whimpered and felt everything go black.

~~~~~
Travel Lodge
Windy Hill Beach, Myrtle Beach South Carolina
4:54 p.m.
~~~~~

Scully watched his face in the light of the motel room, his eyes
expressive even if his face was not.

Their plan had been to get settled in to the motel, eat a comfortable
dinner, check out the premises, and review the case notes and old
history of the East China Sea before starting their investigation in
earnest.

By the way his eyes seemed to dance, it looked like their plans had been
officially changed.

When he ended the call, his eyes were positively alight with new
possibilities.

"That was Sheriff Gilless. There's been another drowning."

Her face registered shock. Mainly because he was practically glowing at
the news.

He shook his head, grabbed her elbow, then proceeded to propel her out.

"She's all right, Scully. A boy came along and fished her out."
~~~~~

Ashley Yerk was trembling under three blankets, her mother's watchful
stare, Robbie and Brandon's mother's stare, and then Robbie's possessive
arm encirlcing her shoulders.

She didn't need some dumb boy protecting her.

Although, at the moment, she felt good to be there, with anyone touching
her, even if it was Robbie.

She could have died.

The FBI agents had called for directions to her house and she was
supposed to talk to them about what happened. They believed her.

That was the scary part.

She might feel a bit better if it turned out she had been making it all
up, since it was better to think she had freaked out than to think there
was some weirdo out on the beach killing little girls.

She glanced again to Robbie, felt pride swell in her again.

"You did a good job, Robbie. You were pretty brave. Coming in after me,
when that guy was trying to kill me." she whispered.

His face frowned and she wondered what his problem was. It was almost
like he wished she would stop talking about it, like he wished he hadn't
saved her.

He simply nodded and tightened his hold on her protectively.

"You're my best friend, Ash. I couldn't let you get dead."

Just as he said this, the doorbell rang and her friend's mother strode
out quickly to get it before it woke the baby.

Agent Mulder and Agent Scully entered the living room, casting
appraising glances all around as they did so, their eyes scanning the
meager furnishings and her trembling body.

"Hello. You must be Ashley," Dana said, coming up to her and holding out
her hand. The agent could tell immediately that this was a strong girl,
much like she herself had been as a child, not willing to give up.

It was probably half of what had saved her life.

The other half was sitting right next to her and looking like he'd
murder anyone who came close to his friend.

"You're Robbie, right?"

The boy nodded and glared at her, his mouth pressed into a tight
forbidding look and his eyes flashing with child love.

Scully glanced quickly to Mulder, her one look speaking volumes to him.

"How about we leave Ashley and Agent Scully alone so they can talk?"

Ashley's mother seemed hesitant and Mulder effortlessly put on the
charm, counting on Southern hospitality more than his own looks.

"I'm thirsty, Ms. Yerk, do you mind if I could have a glass of water?"

Her face crashed. "Oh, Oh. I'm so sorry. I haven't been polite at all.
Come on to the kitchen; we can let them talk."

Everyone followed the adults out, except Robbie.

Scully remembered her own youth, how she never wanted to look weak in
front of her brothers' friends.

"Robbie, do you mind lettting us talk for a little bit? It might be
about some girl stuff," she added in a conspiratal voice.

Robbie wrinkled his nose and slid from the couch, glancing to make sure
it was okay with Ashley.

When they were alone, Ashley sighed. 

"Thanks, Agent Scully. I didn't want to tell him."

"Call me Dana, all right?"

"Ok. You can call me Ash; that's my nickname."

"Okay Ash. Can you tell me what happened?"

Ashley's face grew dark and she fidgeted on the couch, her small fingers
twisting with the sheet covering the furniture. 

"I was in the water, and then someone was pushing me down."

Scully smiled gently. "Tell me the story from the very beginning."

Ashley felt embarassed, and this was something Scully had targetted in
on when she first saw the girl sitting in midst of the adults.

"Whatever happened, it's okay. Your mom's not going to be mad, I'm not
going to be mad, neither is my friend Mulder. We're all just glad you're
okay and we want to keep it that way."

"I have to explain a little bit first."

"Okay."

"See. My mom isn't relly my mom."

Scully's eyes lifted, expecting some kind of horrible story the likes of
which she had not heard since the case with the Satanic cult members.

"She's my adoptive mom. My real mom is gone somewhere and I know this
might be bad, but I hope she never finds me, and that she never comes
looking for me. I like my adoptive mom. My real mom didn't like me."

"Oh. Okay. That's not a bad thing. It's good."

"Oh. Well, this is the bad part. My mom just adopted a little baby boy -
his name's Alex - and he cries all the time. I don't like him," she
said, her face expressive and revealing an honest guilt that touched
Dana.

"Oh. I can understand that. I had a little baby brother too. They can be
kind of loud and annoying, huh? Don't worry. When he gets bigger, you'll
have lots of fun with him. And he'll be a good friend to have."

She looked dubious. "Well. Anyway, I was mad again cause he was crying
and making mom mad at me when all I wanted to do was go play Nintendo
over at Robbie and Brandon's, but I couldn't because mom was afraid the
baby would wake up when I came back in."

She rolled her eyes. "I told mom that I could just spend the night and
not have to worry about it, but she didn't seem to think it was such a
good idea. I don't know why, it would have been so much easier than
sitting around-"

"Ash."

"Oh sorry. Yeah. Well, I got mad and ran out of the house, sort of snuck
out actually." Ashley grinned sheepishly, ducking her head.

"You know better than that now, though, right?"

"Yeah. I'm not doing that again. And so, I was running down to the
ocean, cause it makes me feel better. My real mom used to live on a boat
for awhile, and would throw me in the water to see if I could swim. I'm
a great swimmer because of that and so I don't ever. . . I mean . . ."

Ashley trailed off, resting her chin in her hands. "I mean, I've never
been afraid of the water before. I can't be. I'm the best swimmer!"

Her voice rose a notch and Scully could tell she was near tears.

"In a while, when you get to feeling better, you'll like the water
again."

"No." Ashley shuddered. "I'll never go back in."

Scully put an arm around her and pulled her close, letting the girl's
face hide in her suit jacket.

Hearing a noise, Scully turned her head to see Mulder in the doorway.
She shook her head slightly at his inquiring look.

"Tell me what happened, Ashley. It might make you feel better."

"I had all my clothes on. I'm a good swimmer. I had my clothes on and I
was hitting the water with my hands, slapping it. Being angry at my
brother. Being angry with myself because he deserves all the same love I
got from Momma, deserves just as much and it's not fair to Momma for me
to be like this. And then the water hit me back."

Mulder came to stand behind the couch, a small, unobtrusive presence.

"It slapped me in chest and I couldn't breathe. The wind got knocked out
of me, I know that. So, I started moving back to the shore, but my feet
were being pulled by the water and . . . and *hands* grabbed me. I
couldn't see anything and my head was getting shoved under and I
couldn't breathe and the hands were all on my shoulders, pushing me down
under like when we play Dunk, and I couldn't breathe and everything was
so dark . . . I remember thinking that I couldn't be a stupid girl and
drown . . .I'm the best swimmer, I survived because I was the best
swimmer. But I couldn't get up and I couldn't stop it . . . I breathed
in."

Her face twisted with the rememberance of the bitter taste and fire of
salt water.

"I tried to twist away, even as I sank down, to see what was happening,
whose hands they were. I kept thinking in the back of my head that it
was Brandon playing a joke on me, until I breathed in the water. Then I
knew."

She took in a shuddering deep breath. "Then I saw Robbie and he was
grabbing my shirt and pulling me and the hands grabbed back for a
moment, then let go. I was free. Robbie pulled me all the way to shore
and I kind of blacked out."

Scully embraced her quickly, letting the proud girl hide her tears in
her jacket and regain her composure.

Mulder made a motion with his hand that told her they were ready to
leave.

Ashley pulled back and Scully stood up. "Well, thank you for talking to
me, Ash. I may see you again in the morning, okay? Right now, get some
sleep if you can, and if you remember anything, tell me, okay?"

The little girl nodded and let her mother wrap protective arms around
her.

Mulder and Scully headed outside to their car.

Strapping in her seatbelt, she was surprised when Mulder spoke.

"There's something Robbie isn't saying. You think you could talk to him
tomorrow?"

Scully eyed him. "Actually, I think he'll be more open around you. He
respects Ash as a strong friend, even if she is a girl, and sees that in
me I could tell. So he won't tell me anything; he'll expect me to take
up for Ash. I think, actually, that you would have better luck."

Mulder glanced to her quickly as he drove through the coastal towns.

"Why?"

Scully lifted her mouth into a smile. "Because he can identify with
you."

And she said nothing more.
~~~~~

~~~~~
Chapter Three
~~~~~
Travel Lodge
Dana Scully's Motel Room
12: 46 a.m.
~~~~~

There again was the sea

far far below her, its lazy crests and troughs reaching high for her,
but missing because she was flying over it.

With a bird's eyes, she saw the mad dance of the sea, she saw the
rolling, churning mass of water and sand that longed to capture her
again.

It wanted her; it reached out blue hands to smother her, to take her
back into it again. 

She had thought the ocean was cruel, a vengeful spirit aching to kill
and crush mankind. But in truth, the sea was something she loved, a part
of her that needed her in return. Needed her badly.

But she could not let it suck her down. She could not let it take her
down to its own dark madness.

It spit out a spray of salt and she spiralled higher, then dropped the
lone pebble from her claws into the hissing ocean below.

Slowly, slowly, she would fill it up.

Slowly, slowly, she would make it safe for herself. 

Slowly, slowly, the ocean could love her without fear.

~~~~~
Briarcliffe Acres
9:24 a.m.
~~~~~

Jesse Chang watched the children digging through the sand with plastic
shovels and imagination, their brightly colored swim suits making it
easier for her to keep track of them.

Her day care was the only thing that kept her going these days. Through
the horrors of having a child die, Jesse had come to depend upon the
very honest love her charges brought.

Her husband, Jack, also found solace in the day care; using his managing
abilities to help her run it, he retired to the living room each
afternoon to watch the phalanx of mainly two and three year olds fall
asleep.

It was a humbling thing; watching a huge bundle of energy and
determination suddenly collapse under the strains of lulling music and
sleepy eyes.

It made Jack appreciate more and more the strength his wife displayed
under the strains of grief and guilt.

Now, down on the beach, afraid to even sit down less he lose another
one, Jack and Jesse scoured the water for any indication of trouble.

The kids knew not to go in over their head, to stay on the very edges of
the water and sand, to never, never go into the water unless they asked
and had a buddy.

None of the kids tried to swim today.

Jesse and Jack were relieved.

They bundled everyone in towels and rubbed them dry, piled then eight
kids in the minivan, and drove down the short stretch of road to their
house. 

When they arrived, Jesse felt the blood drain from her face.

The FBI agents were there, looking incredibly peeved.
~~~~~

"I'm so sorry, Agent Mulder, Scully. We didn't know you were even here,
and Tuesday is the kids day to play on the beach," Jesse began.

"It's all right, Mrs. Chang. We understand," Scully interrupted, placing
a hand on her arm and leading the woman to a chair.

Mulder remained standing, easily slipping into the role as interrogator,
investigator, while Scully remained the sympathetic one, the one the
woman could confide in, trust in.

"Mrs. Chang, I'd like you to tell us what happened that day, when
Christina was killed," Mulder began, using words that perhaps were not
as blunting as they could be, making the woman immediately look to
Scully for support.

It was the old, good cop, bad cop routine, and it never failed to pan
out.

"Go on, Mrs. Chang," Scully said softly, nodding at the woman.

Jesse seemed to waver, her lips worked and her eyes dashed back and
forth from Scully to Mulder.

"We'd had a fight. Me and Chrissy. We always fight about things . . .
always did, I mean."

Jesse's face sort of crumpled, but she glanced to the doorway and found
strength in the yells and laughs of the children in her day care.

"It was early in the morning, almost nine, and she just ran off. Ran
down to the beach like she usually did when she wanted to be alone. I
let her go; I always respected her privacy. Privacy is a really
important thing to me; I never got that when I was a kid. I let her go.
. . I should have realized. I should have known something was wrong when
she never came back."

"What do you mean, Mrs. Chang?" Scully asked, patting the older woman's
hands.

"Chrissy could never stay mad. She would go down to the beach and within
twenty minutes, be back up here, apologizing, wanting to help out in
some way to kind of make up for whatever she had said. Chrissy has a hot
temper . . . had a hot temper, but she never stayed mad long. When she
didn't come back, I didn't think anything of it and I should have. I
started worrying at about eleven o'clock, when I realized that she
wasn't there to help me make the kids lunch."

"The kids? Meaning your day care program?" Mulder said.

"Yeah. The kids. Jack went looking for her. He . . . he found her."

Scully glanced to Mulder and shook her head. "Thank you, Mrs. Chang. If
we have more questions, we'll let you know. We're sorry to trouble you."

Mrs. Chang reached up and grabbed Scully's jacket as she stood.

"You haven't heard everything, Agent Scully."

Mulder was still waiting; he hadn't made a move to leave. Scully may not
have wanted to hear what the woman had to say in regards to the myths,
but Mulder did.

"What else is there, Mrs. Chang?"

Jesse sighed and stood up, making her way to a chest of drawers.

"My father was American, my mother Chinese, and they got married so that
she could escape the country. They actually quite enjoyed each other,
and they adored all their children, but father always hated it when
mother would bring up the stories. I can see Agent Scully is much like
my father. I can see she does not want to hear how the East Sea reclaims
its own."

Scully glanced to Mulder with a frown, but instead remained silent at
the look of interest on Mulder's face.

"Go on, Mrs. Chang," Mulder said.

"Well, Jack, my husband, is also part Chinese, his father being Chinese,
mother British. He does not believe in any of the stories because he did
not have a mother to tell them to him. But I told my Chrissy these
stories, and I will tell them to you."

She paused and sat back down, inviting Mulder and Scully to do the same.

"In the times before, there was an Emperor Yandi who ruled China under
one law; his kingdom stretching from the East China Sea to the West
Mountains. His youngest daughter loved to play in the Sea, and she would
be there all day, to return to the Emperor's side at night. Once, she
did not come back and her body was never found. The spirit of the Sea
came to the Emperor in a dream and told him he would never recover his
daughter because he was bad to the sea, filling it with harmful things
and letting its fish rot in the water. The spirit told the Emperor that
he would take the daughters of the men of China for as long as the water
was polluted. Every year, every time, a daughter of China is taken by
the sea."

Scully stared at the woman with uncovered pity.

To actaully believe in such things, to actually give credence to such
stories, was beyond her.

It was merely a device used to make little girls be careful while they
swam, nothing more.

Mulder was nodding and shaking her hand and promising to look into the
idea, and she could tell he actually would.

He actually would.
~~~~~
~~~~~
Travel Lodge
12:01 p.m.
~~~~~

Her sandwich was soggy, and the tomato was dripping out, but it tasted
fresh and delicious, and so Dana Scully put up with the minor mess.

Mulder's hot dog had long gone cold when he came back into the room.

"Okay, here are those books I was telling you about."

That morning, after talking to Mrs. Chang, Mulder had insisted on doing
some research at the library while Scully reviewed the autopsy of
Christina and searched her body for more evidence.

Evidence of what, she had asked.

Evidence of the paranormal, was what his face had said.

"What's in them?" she murmured through a mouthful of turkey and cheese
and bread and lettuce.

"The same story Mrs. Chang told us, only with a few more details added
on."

"Okay, tell me."

"Well, this myth is called Jingwei Fills Up the East Sea, and it's about
this bird who used to be the Emperor's daughter before she got changed,
that flies all the way from the Western Mountains to the East Sea with
pieces of rock or stone or grass to fill up the sea."

< Flying

flying

high above

and the pebble

falls from her claws, disappearing into the keening wail of the ocean,

the ocean that needs her.>

"Scully?"

She jerked from her reverie, the imaged from almost forgotten dreams
swirling like the ocean currents.

"Scully?"

"Yeah. Go on."

"Well, this girl/bird's name was Nu Wa and she was always by the Sea's
edge, swimming in it, sunbathing, all that kind of thing."

"What does this bird have to do with the story Mrs. Chang told us?"

Mulder cast her a frustrated glance. "What do all these little girls
have in common? They're between seven and eight. They are all good
swimmers. They're all *natives* here. Not one of the drownings has been
a tourist. These girls know the water; they grew up around it. It's a
part of them."

< a part of her that needed her in return

the sea

casting longing hands for her

but it was too dangerous, too deep and dark

she could not go to it.

not until she filled the hole in it, not until she filled the sea>

"Scully? Are you listening to me? Or do you just want to forget this and
persue more mundane, yet unlaughable avenues?"

She jerked back again, watching the unveiled fury on his face, the
churning of anger behind his eyes like the churning of the ocean in her
dream.

"No. No. I . . . I can't seem to focus today. Why don't you follow that
up and talk to me later, Mulder."

She stood in a daze of disbelieving stupor, walking from his motel room
and into her own, falling to the bed and closing her eyes.

She felt very, very strange.
~~~~~

After she left, Mulder picked up her sandwich and sniffed it.

He grabbed a plastic bag and dumped her lunch inside, then picked up the
phone.

"Danny? Yeah, it's Mulder. I have something here I'd like you to check
for posioning, if you could."
~~~~~

There was the ocean

the beautiful, lonely sea with no one to love it.

She loved it. She did.

But if she went to the sea, if she threw herself in and surrendered to
it, it would destory her.

She could not let it do that.

So she brought the change on herself, and she was flying, soaring like
the dancing waves, yet untethered to the sky.

One pebble dropped from her claws, slipped into the water and
disappeared forever.

She was filling it up, changing the sea's nature so that it could not
reach out and drown others.

Even she did this, she knew in her heart that when she was finished, it
would not be the same sea she loved, and she would not be the same woman
it longed for.
~~~~~

Mulder slid into her room with quiet feet, his eyes roving the dim
outlines of her body on the motel bed. She was asleep he saw.

It was only one o'clock in the afternoon and she had stopped their lunch
so she could sleep?

He wondered if she was sick, if she really had been drugged, or if maybe
the cancer was coming back.

She would tell him, right? She would let him know. He needed her, she
would let him know.

Mulder sank down beside her and ran a hand along her forehead. She was
sweating, soaking her shirt in some places.

He pulled the comforter from her body and smoothed her pants out,
letting his hand rest on her thigh.

"Scully?"

She was dreaming. He could tell that now. Her eyes moved and her mouth
twitched and her hands curled and uncurled.

"Scully, time to wake up. We've got to meet Ashley and Robbie. . ."

She seemed to open her eyes and her body twitched.

"Scully?"

She yelled and jerked up in the bed, heaving in lungfuls of air like. .
. like she'd been drowning.

She blinked.

"Scully, we have to go to the Yerk's house now."

She took a deep breath. "Thank you."

He frowned. "What for?"

"Waking me up."
~~~~~

~~~~~
Chapter Four
~~~~~
Yerk's residence
12:45 p.m.
~~~~~

Ashley was shivering in her bed when they arrived, her face pale and
drawn and her body clammy to the touch.

Her mother looked stretched tight when they rang the doorbell and she
let them in without a word and led them to Ashley's room.

She turned to Scully with pleading eyes. "Can't you make her stop? Isn't
there something you can do?"

Scully drew up next to the bed, touching the girl's forehead and
checking her eyes. "Did you call her docotor?"

"Yes. Twice."

"What did he say to do?"

Ms. Yerk made a bitter noise in the back of her throat. "He says to let
her sleep it off, that it's just a delayed shock to almost being
drowned. I don't think that's it at all, Ms. Scully. Ashley is tough and
worse than this has happened to her. Besides, it . . . it doesn't look
like shock."

Scully had to generally agree with the woman.

"Is Robbie here?"

"He was. I think I sent him outside, if you'd like to go talk with him
now, Agent Mulder."

Mulder glanced once to Scully, who gave him a brief nod, then he turned
and left, heading for the door again.

Scully gently pulled back the covers, checking her body for signs of
prolonged fever, and touching the tips of her fingers to the girl's
flushed skin.

"How long has she been like this?"

"I'm not sure. I woke up and came in here and she was shivering, all
hunched up like that. . ."

Ms. Yerk collapsed next to the bed, taking her daughter's hand tightly
in her own and placing a small kiss there.

"I should have been checking up on her. After all that. . . I should
have made sure she was okay."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ms. Yerk. She's not in shock, you're
right."

"What is it then?"

"It looks like an allergic reaction."

"Allergies? But she's not allergic to anything."

"She is now."
~~~~~

"Hey, Robbie. You want to talk for a little bit?"

Robbie glanced over his shoulder, causing his swing to drift a bit in
the air, the lost little boy look firmly entrenched.

"Not really. But talking is better than nothing."

Robbie stayed firmly planted in the swing, so Mulder took the one next
to him, struggling to keep his body in the seat and balance at the same
time.

"So, Robbie. How old are you?"

"I'm eight."

He gave Mulder the look that said 'you wanna make something of it?'

"Eight. I remember being eight."

"That's great."

Mulder gave the boy a quick sharp look. "You did a great thing last
night."

"What?"

"Saving her like that. She would have died."

Now he looked embarassed. Even a bit uncomfortable.

"I mean, with the guy holding her down right there and all. Must have
taken some kind of guts to do that."

Robbie was squirming now, fiddling with his fingers and looking to the
ground.

He made a noise and said, "Well, wouldn't you do that?"

"Only for my partner."

Robbie glanced quickly at him, then nodded. "Yeah. Ashley's my best
friend. I don't care what the guys say about having a girl be your best
friend. She is and I had to do it."

"Yeah. She's your best friend, you feel like you got to protect her,
right? Even if she's faster or can beat you up, she's still a girl,
right?"

"Yeah. I got to protect her."

"You sure saved her last night. With that guy holding her under. . ."

"Yeah. . ."

But this affirmative seemed even less unsure.

Robbie tugged on Mulder's sleeve for a second then spoke.

"Look, you know she's my best friend. You understand. I don't want to
say this cause it makes her look bad, but you're like a cop and
everything. Last night, it just looked to me like she got a cramp and
couldn't swim. Nothing else. I didn't see anyone at all. She says
someone was holding her down, and well, I kind of thought maybe she was
right, cause when I pulled her up, hauled her up out of the water, it
felt like something pulled back. That's why I didn't say anything. I
thought maybe I just hadn't been looking for it and it was dark and so I
just let it go."

It was the longest thing Mulder had ever heard the kid say.

"You did right telling me, Robbie. And don't worry, it won't hurt
Ashley. Because I think someone was out there last night. . .just in a
form no one has thought of before."
~~~~~

Mulder walked casually back to the house, slipping his lanky frame
inside and wiping his feet as he called out for Scully.

"Mulder, watch for the ambulance."

"What?" he yelled, running back to Ashley's room.

Scully turned and gave him a look. "I called the paramedics; go watch
for them."

Mulder took one glance at Ashley, then strode back outside.

She looked like death warmed over.

~~~~~
Briarcliffe Methodist Hospital
2:39 p.m.
~~~~~

Mulder had insisted that they let Robbie come along. Insisted.

Scully didn't understand why, but she agreed, if only to get them over
to the hospital faster. Ashley and her mother had ridden on ahead of
them to leave Scully to greet the sitter who would look after the baby.

Hearing the sirens, Robbie had come running up, tears streaming down his
cheeks as he watched his best friend get loaded onto the ambulance.

Mulder had insisted.

They all sat in the ICU waiting room, on edge because Ms. Yerk hadn't
even made an appearance, which to Scully, meant she couldn't leave her
daughter's side.

Robbie was sitting stiffly in the chair, his hands in his lap and his
lips bleeding from biting them so hard.

He wasn't going to let himself cry again.

Mulder occasionally reached down and patted the boy's leg, winning a
slight smile of thanks from him.

Scully was giving him a long hard look that fairly screamed 'what
happened?' but he perversely enjoyed sitting there and pretending he
couldn't tell she wanted to know.

Suddenly she stood and motioned him to follow her; he got up quickly and
let her lead them out of the tiny room and into another.

"So you want to tell me what's going on with Robbie? How come you're all
big buddies now?"

He gave her a grin. "Cause we're guys."

Scully rolled her eyes. 

He shook his head with an honest expression. "No seriously. We're guys
with best friends who are girls, and we both understand what that
means."

Scully narrowed her eyes. "What exactly does that mean?"

Mulder smiled and shook his head. "Nope. If I told you, then everything
would be ruined."

She stared at him for a long moment then sighed, shrugging her
shoulders. "So what *can* you tell me?"

"Robbie said he didn't see a single person out there last night. No men
holding her under. He said he pulled her up out of the water, and he
felt something pull back, but that was it."

"He felt something pull back? That's sort of unsubstantial, isn't it?
Could have been anything."

"Except that it was sharp and strong enough of a pull for him to
remember, enough for him not to say anything about a man being out there
when he didn't see anyone. It's enough of a tug to make him think, maybe
there was a guy out there. See what I mean?"

She frowned then slowly nodded her head.

He could tell something else was bothering her.

"You really want me to tell you what we talked about?" he sighed,
dramatically rolling his eyes.

"What?"

"You look pretty upset."

She shook her head. "Not about that."

He waited but she didn't explain any further.

"Okay, come on. Spill it. I told my story, you tell me yours."

She smiled softly at him then shook her head. "There's nothing to tell.
We called the paramedics."

Mulder watched her walk back into the room, noticed the way her body
seemed to be defeated, drowning in the tides of despair.
~~~~~

Robbie was alseep on the hard chairs, his cheek pressed against Mulder's
leg and his fingers curled against his thigh.

Scully had come and sat next to him, using his shoulder in much the same
manner, giving him an impish smile as she laid her head down.

He had grumbled about being the human pillow, but smiled secretly when
she closed her eyes.

Mulder was a bit worried though. He could understand Robbie's tiredness;
the boy probably hadn't gotten to sleep till it was late and it was
summer, so he wasn't used to being up as early as it was.

But Scully had taken a nap after lunch. In no way should she be tired
right then.

It made him feel uneasy, like there was something about it all that was
missing.

He still was captivated by the Chinese myth. He reviewed the details in
his mind, one by one.

The East Sea swallowing up the Emperor's daughter.

He shivered. That was pretty tragic. All the girls now, getting
swallowed up, but their bodies were found where they shouldn't have been
found.

Turning into a bird to rest in the farthest away place from the Sea. But
the daughter's eternal need for it, eternal love of the water driving
her back again and again, each time with a branch or stone to try and
fill it up. 

The daughter wanted to help the East Sea, she wanted to make it all
right again.

Didn't she know that filling up the sea would make it change, would make
it into something she didn't love?

~~~~~
Chang Residence
3:04 p.m.
~~~~~

Jesse ran into the living room as she heard her last two charges
shrieking, laughing, and screaming.

A huge, bright bird was flapping its wings and sqwuaking at them, then
taking off to fly in the cramped confines of the living room.

Jesse stopped dead in her tracks and stared.

The bird.

The daughter returns to fill up the sea.

She ran for the bird, held out her arm like a perch.

It settled there and quieted; Jesse led it up the stairs, her hand
fingering it's brightly colored neck feathers.

They were pink.
~~~~~

"Scully?"

She moved, groaned.

"Scully, can you get my phone?"

She came into awareness, recognized the shrill sound of his cellular,
and slipped her fingers into his pocket to fish it out.

She handed it to him and closed her eyes again, faintly realizing that
she seemed awfully tired.

"Mulder," he said into the phone.

"Yes, yes."

"You found a what?"

"Are you sure of that, Mrs. Chang?"

Scully jerked up, out of the warmth of his encircling arm and into the
brightness of hospital lights.

He hung up the phone and looked at her for a long time.

"Mrs. Chang said she found a bird flying around her living room this
afternoon. She said she looked it up in their encyclopedia. It was a
pink-necked fruit dove. Twelve inches. Bright feathers. Also a native to
China."
~~~~~

Ms. Yerk looked exhausted when she arrived.

She sank down in a chair even as Mulder and Scully rose to greet her.

"They think it's a reaction to the salt in the water. They think she
ingested so much of it that it's wreaking havoc with her body's systems
and so her immune system is starting to treat it like an infection."

Scully looked horrified. Mulder didn't quite understand.

"They're trying everything they can, filling her with a saline solution
even to counteract what her body is doing."

Scully took Mulder's hand, silencing his question before he even
realized he was going to ask.

"The sea. It's taking my little girl away. It may not be drowning her,
but it's killing her."

Ms. Yerk blinked and stood again. "You can come see her. All of you. I
made them let me bring you. I want her to make it, and I truly believe
that if she hears Robbie, her friend, it'll help."

Robbie jumped up and took Ms. Yerk's hand; Mulder and Scully stood
slowly.

They shuffled from the room.

~~~~~
Briarcliffe Methodist Hospital
5:15 p.m.
~~~~~

Scully slipped back in the room, nodding to Ms. Yerk with a tired smile
and coming to squat next to Mulder who had taken her chair when she'd
left.

She tapped the phone against her lower lip and chin.

"That was the police station. They picked up a transient who has already
confessed to three of the drownings and they say it's just a matter of
time before he owns up to the others."

Mulder let the news sink in slowly, Scully watching his face to make
sure he understood what she was indirectly saying.

This is not some Chinese myth anymore.

He nodded. "He's confessed to three? That's a lot for a man to admit to.
Enough to get him killed. Why not the rest?"

Scully shrugged. "His name is something like Thalassan. I can't quite-"

"Wait. Thalassan?"

"Yeah, why?"

"In Greek, Thalassan means. . . means Sea."

Scully stopped breathing for a moment, finally hitching in her breath
when a noise from Ashley's moniter grounded her again.

She sank to the floor and leaned her head against the seat, touching
Mulder's thigh.

He wasn't paying attention though. He was watching Ashley's moniter.

"Do that again." he said softly.

Scully glanced up at him. "What?"

"When I said that, you held your breath for a second. Do it again."

She was confused. It was an odd request. "Why?"

He turned to her forcefully. "Just trust me, Scully."

She lowered her eyes and then held her breath.

He put a hand to her lips and made her keep it in.

Within seconds, Ashley's monitor went off and a nurse came rushing in,
checking things, jiggling the face mask.

Scully blew out her breath and sucked in another, rapidly.

Ashley's readings went back to normal.

Mulder was staring at her.

"No. No Mulder. Coincidence is all. No."

She was shaking her head, emphatically denying it, but in the back of
her mind, she was watching a lone pebble drop into the sea, one by one
filling it up.

He shot his arm around her and clamped his hand over her mouth, then
pinched her nose.

She began wriggling, unable to breathe, frightened more than anything
because lack of oxygen to a person like Ashley was dangerous, if it were
true of course.

She glared at Mulder and bit on his hand, hard, drawing blood.

The alarms were going off again, the nurses back inside, checking
things, the doctor was coming in now, Scully's movements grew less and
less as things turned hazy.

Just when she felt ready to collapse, he let go.

Wheezing, she sucked in her breath, weakly supporting herself on the
floor, ignoring the hands he offered to help her.

Ashley's rhythm was back before the doctors even had a chance to order
CPR.

Mulder sank to the floor and pulled her shaking body into his arms,
making her lay still against him even as she pushed him away.

"See."

She shook her head, angry at him for doing something like that, but part
of her screaming that yes, she did see.

But it couldn't be true.

"Scully. Why don't you rest? Get some sleep. That should be a good, safe
thing."

Scully shook her head. She refused to believe in this random set of
coincidences. It just couldn't be true. She was *not* linked with some
girl because of some silly dreams she'd had.

And she told Mulder this too.

"Wait. You've been having dreams? What about?"

"That stupid myth." she said and described her dreams.

"I never told you all of it." he said quietly. "What you just told me, I
didn't even know some of it."

She stilled, felt her heart beat too rapidly.

On the monitor, Ashley's heart struggled to speed up, something her body
just couldn't do.

"Stop, Scully. Calm down."

She took in deep breaths, regained some balance.

"I have to get out of here," she whispered.

Mulder was afraid to leave her alone. What if this effect worked in
reverse? If Ashley died, could Scully too?

"I'll take you back to the motel."

She shivered. "No, no. Truth is, I'm a little afraid to be so close to
the ocean. I'll just go in the waiting room."

Mulder rose and gave Ms. Yerk a plausible excuse for their departure,
then followed Scully to the waiting room again.

It was empty and he looked around in panic.

Where had Scully gone?

The thing was, what he hadn't told her, was he was having dreams to.

He dreamed he was the sea.
~~~~~

~~~~~
Chapter Five
~~~~~
Briarcliffe Acres
7:18 p.m.
~~~~~

He had searched the entire floor, checking into the bathrooms and even
into patients rooms, but he hadn't seen her.

He walked to the parking lot and found their car gone, so he knew she
had taken it, driven off, and yet he had no idea why.

Hitching a ride with a taxi cab taking an outpatient back home, Mulder
eventually wound up at the beach, trailing his tie and shoes as he
slogged through a terrible downpour.

He fell into the motel gate as thunder crashed down around him, and
stumbled into his motel room, slinging his wet things into the bathroom
and quickly changing.

He knocked on Scully's door, then slipped it open, thinking she was
probably asleep, explaining her not answering when he had phoned.

But the room was empty.

Standing there, rain slanting into the room, his hair soaked and little
droplets running into his eyes, he realized that he had no idea where
she was.

But for some reason, he was drawn to the Sea. The East Sea.

He broke into a run and splashed his way to the shore, dodging cars and
others dashing out of the rain.

His lungs ached when he finally pulled up short, panting as the rain cut
into his vision.

But out there, he could feel her, calling to him.

Something was going wrong.

Something was happening.

It was too dark and it was too eery.
~~~~~

She woke suddenly and found herself drenched, standing up to her thighs
in the ocean, shivering.

Fear grabbed her tight and she felt its claws struggle up her throat.

Slipping through the mixture of rain and wave, she stumbled back to the
receeding shore, in a blind panic as it seemed to grow farther and
farther away.

She felt hands.

Hands grabbing at her, pulling at her soaked clothes, dargging her down
below because they needed her so much, needed her safe under the water.

She fought a rising whimper and pressed harder towards the shore,
knowing that even if she made it there, she wasn't safe.

Where was Mulder? Wasn't Mulder right behind her? 

She was walking too slow, getting nowhere as the current simply dragged
her back. The chill was working into her bones and it felt like ice had
gripped her body.

She shuddered and closed her eyes, fighting with the very force of
nature itself to make it to the sand.

To the dark, wind lashed sand that beckoned freedom even as it
threatened death.
~~~~~

He couldn't believe he'd found her.

Out in the ocean, swimming in, but being sucked back out by the
undertow. He could see her tire, see her limbs hang heavy in the water,
see the very eyelids as they slipped shut.

He ran down the sand dune and sprayed sand as he made his way to her,
shedding his shirt and shoes in the process.

His tie came off then, and his undershirt and he spent precious seconds
yanking his socks off at the edge of the water, before diving in and
stroking towards her.

Once his body hit the water, it seemed to be an extension of himself, a
part of him that welcomed him back, invited him to stay forever.

For one moment, he was tempted to yield to its soft caress and slip into
the darkness of the waves.

And then he saw Scully, her wild eyes focused only on him, her strokes
becoming slower and slower, her chest heaving as she tried to stay
afloat in the deepening water.

He couldn't heed the water's Siren call; he shot toward her furiously,
drawing strength from the panic in her glance.

When he reached her, the waves slammed into his body, suddenly
recognizing his intent to save her, knowing he would take her from the
ocean's clutches.

He gripped her upper arm hard, and began moving towards the shore.

It fought relentlessly against him, but in the end, Mulder was part of
the sea, and it could do nothing to stop him.

Nothing.
~~~~~

There was a vast stretch of calm water.

Not an ocean. Just a gentle, peaceful body of water that radiated warmth
and calm.

Scully stood before it, letting her toes dip in the water, and yet not
distorting its image.

She peered forward, felt the serenity of the place comforting her, and
looked into the mirror like surface.

She saw her face reflected back, and then, faintly, Mulder's.

He was smiling.

He was waiting for her to smile back.

She glanced to her hand, found the tiny rock there.

She smiled and let the pebble slip from her hand.

The sea had ceased to war against her.

She could love it without remorse.
~~~~~

Mulder glanced at his partner once more, then smiled as she caught him
looking.

"I'm really fine, Mulder."

"I know. I'm glad."

"I'm still not sure what happened."

He paused in his packing, then settled onto the bed next to her. All of
her things were put in the trunk.

"I don't know that I want to question it."

She nodded carefully at his statement, then bit her lip.

"I think the drowning have stopped. The sea has gotten its peace."

Mulder felt the strange sense of calm residing in him.

"Yes."

She picked up his travel case and tossed it to him.

"Let's get out of here, huh?"
~~~~~

end
adios
RM