As they were driving to the restaurant, neither Mulder nor Scully spoke a word. Both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Mulder was staring straight ahead, his eyes never veering from the road. He kept telling himself that he would get through this night. That he must finish what he had started. Taking a quick glance, he could see Scully staring out the window. He was observing her as the city lights reflected off of her, casting a faint image on the window. He could see the small smile that was forming on her face. He was beginning to wonder just what it was she was thinking of and it was the same thing that he was. How beautiful she looked and how much he loved her. He was secretly hoping that after tonight, he would not push her away from him forever. As she was glancing out the window, Scully gently moved the heart on the necklace back and forth. She still couldn't believe that she was going with Mulder to the restaurant. That he had bought her the gown and the earrings. She had wanted something like this to happen for so long and now that it had, she was afraid. Afraid that her happiness would be taken away from her. Just as it had in the past. All she wanted in her life now was William and Mulder. Nothing else mattered to her. Turning off the road, he pulled up to the front of the restaurant. Placing his foot on the brake he waited in a line with other cars. "Guess this must be the right place huh?" He asked looking towards Scully. "I would say yes. Unless of course there is another restaurant called the "La Tattoria." "Ha, ha." Mulder suddenly jumped as he heard a tapping on his window. "Whoa! What the?" He looked to see a young man standing just outside the door, motioning with his hand. "Uh, Mulder, I think he is asking you to get out." "What? Hey, I didn't do anything." "He's a valet, Mulder. He's asking you to get out so that he can park the car." Her look took on a puzzling expression. "Don't tell me you have never seen a valet before?" "What? Well of course I have. " He replied shifting uneasily in his seat. "What do you think I was born in the cave man age or something?" "Then, why are you still sitting in the car?" She asked raising her eyebrows. "Why? Because I was uh mesmerized by your beautiful eyes. And I just couldn't tear myself away from them." "Uh-huh. Well, why don't you get out of the car and tear yourself away from my bewitching eyes before we lose our place in line." She answered whispering. "Huh? Oh yeah, right." Mulder opened his door, standing in front of the young man. "Sorry about that. I was just talking with my date." He gave a smile while nudging the man in the ribs. "You know how it is, right?" He said winking. "Yes, Sir." Mulder watched as another man went over to Scully's side, opening her door. "Sir?" The young man said motioning Mulder to move to the side. "Oh, sorry." Mulder quickly moved to the side, letting the young man through. Leaning on the window he looked inside. "Hey, listen be careful with that ok? It's the only car I got." "Don't worry, Sir. I'll treat it as if it were my own." The man started up the car and began driving away. "Yeah, that's exactly what I am afraid of." Mulder replied muttering as he watched the car being driven off. Scully made her way over to Mulder. "Mulder, you did give him a tip right?" "Tip? I was supposed to give him a tip?" She looked up at Mulder with a sigh. "Well, never mind now. Just don't be surprised if your car comes back in a heap." "Yeah, well it won't matter after tonight, anyway." He said looking away. "What?" "Nothing." He held out his hand to her. "Shall we?" She cocked her head, taking his hand. Walking up towards the restaurant, she observed the rest of the people making their way inside. She could hardly believe that she was actually a part of this entourage. Stepping up to the door, Mulder walked in front of her holding it open. Giving him a smile, she stepped inside. Her eyes widened as she was looking around. There were huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The entire room appeared to sparkle as the light reflected off of the crystals. Her ears began to pick up the faint sound of classical music being played. Peering into a large room, she could see couples wrapped in each other's arms waltzing. It looked just like a scene from a movie or perhaps a page in history. "Have I impressed you yet?" Mulder asked coming up behind her and whispering in her ear. "I would say you have over surpassed impressing me." She answered still glancing towards the couples. "And the night hasn't even begun yet." He said taking her hand and pulling it up to him, kissing it. Looking back into her eyes, he could see the light in them, the excitement she was feeling from watching the couples. He could almost picture her out there dancing with them. Twirling around in her long gown, smiling at him and laughing. "Sir?" Came a voice from behind him. "Excuse me for interrupting, Sir but your table is ready." "Oh. Yes of course." Gently grabbing Scully's hand, he interlocked it into his arm. "Our table awaits your highness." Walking next to Mulder, she followed the waiter as he led them through the vast room and over to a table. Stepping over to a chair, the waiter pulled it out, motioning to Scully. Letting go of Mulder, she made her way over to the chair sitting down. A man came up behind them and produced a long match, lighting the candle that was on the table. "Perhaps I can interest you both in some wine to start things off?" Glancing back at Scully, Mulder gave her a confused look. "Uh." "Maybe I should order for us." Scully said looking back at the waiter. "Do you have any Cabaret Sauvignon? Or perhaps another red wine that is not quite so dry?" "I think that we have a wine that fits that category. I'll be right back." Bowing the waiter turned away, heading back towards the kitchen. "Thanks, Scully. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know anything about wine." Mulder said lowering his head. Lifting his head, Scully looked into his eyes. "Mulder, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Just you bringing me here was enough. Besides, now is the chance for me to give you a cultural edicate lesson." Mulder opened his menu and began glancing at it. As he looked at the words, his stomach clenched. First he hadn't known anything about the wine and now everything on the menu was in Italian. He began to wonder if coming here was such a good idea after all. "You uh, wouldn't happen to know any Italian, would ya?" "Well, actually I do know a little, why?" "Good. Cause you are going to need it when you look at the menu." "What?" Picking up her menu, she opened it. "Oh, I uh see what you mean. Well, nothing like having my little knowledge of Italian language to come in handy." She let out a sigh. "Ok, first things first. Do you want something with meat? Chicken? Seafood?" "Well, I guess something with meat." "Meat? Ok. Now what kind of pasta noodles? Angel hair? Fettuccine? Linguine?" "Whatever happened to plain old spaghetti?" Asked Mulder shaking his head. "Well, if you want something like spaghetti noodles, I guess the closest to that would be Angel Hair?" She began glancing at the menu again. "Ok, do you want marinara, meat or something with alfredo?" "Whatever the ingredient is in spaghetti. Never thought ordering a meal could be so difficult. When they talk about having to work for your meal, they aren't kidding at this place." "Ok, I think I have your meal picked out. Now to see what I can find for myself." Looking up she saw the waiter returning with a wine bottle and two glasses. "Here we are." The waiter said uncorking the bottle. "I think you will find this to your liking." He began pouring it into the two glasses. "If for some reason, you do not like it just let me know and we can bring you something else. Now are we ready to order or do you need more time?" "I think we are ready actually." Scully answered putting down her menu. She read off the two meals in Italian consisting of Mulder's meat dish with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce as well as the chicken dish with creamy alfredo sauce. "Very good choices." The waiter replied writing on his pad. "I will go place the orders now." Scully picked up her wineglass, looking towards Mulder. "Well, that wasn't so hard." She took a sip of her wine. "Mmmm..it's quite good. Try it." Staring down at the red substance in the glass, he picked it up and brought it close to his nose. "Definitely not beer." He quickly took a swig of it and began coughing. "Yep, definitely not beer." Looking around, Scully could feel all the eyes on them. She leaned in towards Mulder, speaking softly. "Mulder, you don't drink wine like that." "You don't?" He asked clearing his throat. "No, you sip it, like this." Bringing up her glass to her lips, she sipped it again. She slowly set the wineglass down again. "You see, Mulder, wine is something that you drink slowly. To..savor the taste in your mouth if you will. This particular wine from a place like this was aged a lot more than likely. The older the wine is the better the taste. And wine is also used to help give more taste to a meal. It can actually make food taste differently." "I had no idea you were such a conneseuir of wine, Scully." "Well, I'm not actually. It's just some things I have picked up here and there. I do like the occasional glass of wine." "How about a toast?" Mulder asked raising his wineglass. "To..a wonderful night and eight years together." Picking up her glass she clinked with Mulder's. "I think I can drink to that." After taking a sip, he lowered his glass and stood up. "And now, I want to teach you something, Ms. Scully." He said extending his hand out to her. Raising up from her chair, she grabbed onto his hand. "Mulder, what are you talking about?" He began leading her to the dance floor. "May I have this waltz Ms. Scully?" He asked bowing to her. "You know how to waltz?" Grabbing onto her hand, he placed his other around her waist. "I may not know Italian or anything about wine but I do know how to waltz." He slowly began to lead her around the dance floor. Never losing a step and never taking his eyes off of her. Scully had picked up the side of her gown so she wouldn't trip over it. She couldn't believe just how smoothly they were moving together. Like two figures lost in time. This couldn't be the same Fox Mulder that she had seen drink beer and read the "Adult Video News", could it? Looking down at Scully, Mulder couldn't help but smile. He didn't know if she had ever waltzed before but she was moving with him, never faltering. She was dancing with him almost like an ice skater skimming with her partner. Like a ballerina, graceful and smooth. It seemed as if they had both done this before, that they were aware of each other's movements, almost as if they could predict them by instinct. He suddenly realized just how close they really were. He could feel her body trembling as he touched her bare back and shoulders. Suddenly the music stopped and they were left in the middle of the dance floor staring at each other. Looking back at Mulder, Scully could feel her heart beating. He looked so dashing in his tuxedo. Not at all like the Agent Fox Mulder that she had worked with in the past. She was seeing an entirely different side of Mulder tonight. One that she hoped she would see again. Reaching down with his hand, Mulder gently lifted the heart on the necklace that Scully was wearing. Giving her a smile, he began to lean his head closer to hers. Gently cupping her face in his hands, he moved his lips to hers kissing them gently. Feeling his lips on hers, Scully returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. If only he knew just how long she had dreamed of a night like this. She could feel his hands beginning to massage her back. Pulling back, Mulder released his hold on her. "Mulder? Is something wrong?" "The..the music stopped." "Oh, yes, I.I guess it did." Looking around the room she saw that they were the only remaining couple on the floor. "I..I guess we'd better head back to our table." Nodding, Mulder took her hand, leading her back to their table.