"Time passes in moments... moments which, rushing past define the path of a life just as surely as they lead towards its end. How rarely do we stop to examine that path, to see the reasons why all things happen, to consider whether the path we take in life is our own making or simply one into which we drift with eyes closed."

It is 1971. He is 9 and she is 7.

Scully's father moved them, not for the first time, or the last time, to a small house in in Maryland. Dana didn't mind the house, really, but she was once again alone, and it's the middle of the summer. Sure, the neighborhood is nice enough, but most kids were off at summer camp and the neighborhood was weirdly empty. And her siblings? Bill was being bossy, Charlie was being annoying, and Missy cared about some dumb band that Dana didn't like.

Fox Mulder was with his father- William Mulder was outside of D.C. for a series of meetings, or conferences, or whatever, Fox didn't really care. All he knew was that he was stuck staying with his Dad and his Dad's colleague who smoked cigarettes. Plus, the guy creeped him out a bit and his son was freakin' annoying. And most kids were off at summer camp and the neighborhood was weirdly empty.

Dana read a few books- the new book Dragonquest was out, but that was only ok, and she had already finished it. Charlie was too happy about the new Asterix comic book coming out- "they go to ROME, Dana!" Charlie emphasized, but Dana didn't care. She wasn't interested in comic books and she didn't really like fantasy books, but it was the summer and she didn't have much else to do. One night, though, as the sky was onyx coloured and she was supposed to be in bed, she spotted a small figure across the street.

Well, that was new.

The small figure was carrying a bundle larger than him. It teetered and tottered, but the figure clearly kept a good grip on it. Eventually, he found a spot he seemed to like, and unwrapped it- it was a large telescope. The fabric looked like a big woven blanket, decorated with what looked like a large native pattern on it. The figure stopped and looked up. Clearly he saw her. Dana froze. The figure froze. They stood like this for a minute until the figure waved. Dana smiled widely and waved back- at least there was another kid here who didn't answer to Ahab. Suddenly, there is an explosion of noise- Dana turns it around and it's Missy with the record player. She's putting on more of that dumb music.

"Missy, turn it OFF!" Dana whined.

"Dream on, Dana!" Melissa shot back.

"I don't wanna listen to this! I don't like this music!" Dana responded.

"Doesn't matter, does it? I'm 11 and you're 9 and I wanna listen to the Bee Gees! It's not my fault you're such a cheese eater who likes crummy music." Melissa sneered in that condescending voice of hers.

"Mom!" Dana called. She heard stomps coming up the stairs- much too loud and heavy for their mother.

"Ugh, now look what you've done, now we both get in trouble 'cause he's coming.

Mr. Scully had a very, very hard day, and he was not interested in settling his young daughters' fight; and needless to say he was not interested in dealing with this. Before they both knew it, they were both in their beds with the lights off, and, to Dana's relief, no music.

"Thanks a lot, Dana! Now I don't get to listen to my music!" Melissa hissed from her side of the room.

"Thanks a lot, Melissa, now I don't get to see the person across the street!" Dana hissed back.

"There's a person across the street?" Melissa asked, sitting up.

"Yeah there is- and whoever was, it looked like they were doing something cool!" Dana told her.

"You think we can go see?" Melissa asked her.

"Do you wanna make him mad?" Dana asked her.

"Good point." Melissa said.

So, despite how badly Dana wanted to find out what he was doing (she was a very curious girl after all) she didn't. She simply lay awake, looking at the ceiling of her new house, thinking about the lawn across from her.

And the figure, Fox Mulder, wondered why a man showed up at the window in a huff, closing the blinds to block his view of the little figure he saw in the window.

It was the next day and the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and William Scully was out of the house, and Melissa Scully was still playing those dumb records. Charlie took over the living room with his comics everywhere- and Dana would be yelled at if any of them got stepped on, and it was just generally a good idea to avoid Billy. So Dana decided to go outside, maybe rollerskate or something.

Fox Mulder was thinking along the same lines. His Father and his Father's Colleague, who liked cigarettes, were at the damn conference. The colleague's son was annoying Fox, so it took Fox a while, but he finally found something to do that the other kid wouldn't try to do too. That was basketball. Jeffrey, the other kid, hated basketball, but that was because Jeffrey hated anything he wasn't good at, and he was bad at basketball because he was short. So Fox went out into the neighborhood park, which was no bigger than a backyard really, but had a basketball hoop. He was shooting hoops when he saw another kid, a girl, with bright red hair, who was rollerskating,. She looked at him. He looked at her. They both froze. Suddenly, a flash of realization went over the girl's face.

"Hey!" She called out. "Aren't you the kid in the yellow house who has that telescope?" She asked.

"Yeah." He responded. "The telescope's mine, but the house isn't. I'm just stuck here because my dad's working with some other guy and I got pulled along. My stupid sister got to go to summer camp."

"I think everyone else in this neighborhood got to go to summer camp." The girl with strawberry hair responded.

"Then why are you here?" He asked.

"We just moved" The girl said. "I suppose my parents thought it was going to take to longer."

"Huh. What's your name, kid?" He asked her.

"Dana." she responded curtly. "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Fox." He spoke faster than he could think. Why did he say Fox? It was a stupid name, and everyone knew it. He supposed it might be because he was only here for a week, or because he was sick of Jeffrey following him around calling him Mulder and maybe he was a bit sick of hearing that name.

"Fox?" She asked, skeptically. "Is that some sort of nickname?" He grinned- he just came up with an excuse for him!

"Yeah, it is. Clever as a fox, ya know?" Silence then fell between them that could only be described as, well, awkward.

"So what do you look at with your telescope?" She asked quietly. Mulder's ears perked immediately.

"Yeah! I mean, uh, the stars, mostly. I like the constellations. Plus, my dad used to tell me stories about the constellations and stuff, before he got promoted, and got real busy." He stuttered. "Ya know, all the constellations have a story behind 'em." He offered it up. Mulder wouldn't have been able to admit it, or even realized he was feeling this way, but somehow offering this up to her felt oddly… personal. He felt vulnerable. He didn't have to feel vulnerable for long, though, because she smiled widely and nodded.

"I think my mother wants me home for lunch, but what if I come by tonight to see the stars and maybe hear a story or two?" Her smile could only be matched by Mulder's. His face was starting to turn the colour of her hair.

"Sure!" He responded, almost *too* excited.

"I'll see you then!" She leaned over and started skating away, her long red hair flowing and bobbing off of her back.

Fox Mulder could not shake the feeling that he had met someone special.

A/N: Hey guys! This AU is called "starman". It's written, intentionally, a bit childishly, but it's because it's seen from the point of view of 7/9 year olds... This should have another part to this AU, and then I have another one in the works. Have a good one!