"Oh, it's good to see the two of you," Fauna said as Scully and Mulder walked into her shop. "How are you feeling? Oh, your poor face, Agent Scully."
"I feel like I should be offended by that," Scully teased, reaching up to touch her cheek and wincing when she felt the scratches on it. "But, I'll choose not to be as I've had worse injuries."
"And you're still as good looking as you are? Must have some magic in your DNA or one hell of a skin care routine."
"She has a mask that she uses," Mulder stated, gesturing to his own face. "It's green and rather gooey."
"It's not gooey," Scully said, shaking her head as she smiled at him.
"Hmm," he hummed with a shrug and Fauna laughed.
"Well, gooey or not, it's doing its job." Fauna said and it was Scully's turn to laugh.
"How are you?" she asked her and Fauna sighed with a nod.
"I'm… a mix of emotions, if I'm completely honest," she said, chuckling softly. "I've spent so much of my time thinking or learning about Sarah, wanting to know all that I could, and now she's gone. It's for the best of course, but I can't help but feel an emptiness over it. I walked in the forest early this morning and it felt… it was just different."
"I'm sure it will after all this time." Mulder agreed and Scully exhaled quietly.
"I always wondered what it would be like to see her, to know for certain that she was there, and last night was the closest I ever got," Fauna said. "I'm thankful for it, but also wish I had actually seen her, you know what I mean?"
"Maybe you never saw her," Mulder said, smiling kindly at her. "But last night was not the closest you've ever been."
"What?"
"You told us yourself. You said you felt her in the cemetery the day you reached your lowest point."
"I did, yeah," Fauna said, nodding slowly.
"When I was there yesterday afternoon, I saw things," Mulder said. "Things I don't really know how to explain without sounding completely crazy-"
"Pretty sure we've gone way past that," Scully murmured and he smiled at her.
"It's like I was in her memories, walking with her at different times in her life. Then I saw you, Fauna," he said quietly and Fauna gasped.
"You… you did?" she asked and he nodded.
"I heard someone crying and went to see who it was as Sarah was gone. Had been gone for a very long time. I don't know what happened to her after her death as she seemed to just disappear." His gaze became unfocused and Scully held her tongue so as not to say anything negative, her own recent experiences shaking her once stable ground.
"She heard you, your pain and sadness, and it pulled her from wherever she had been, wanting to help you the way no one had in her own life after losing Obadiah and her father." He smiled at Fauna as she covered her mouth and tears filled her eyes. "I saw her come and bend to embrace you."
"It felt like a breeze was surrounding me," Fauna breathed and Mulder nodded.
"She was there. You even touched her hand, though you didn't know."
"Ohh," Fauna said on an exhale.
"She spoke to you."
"What did she say?" Fauna whispered, her cheeks wet with tears.
"She said…" Mulder frowned as he thought and then he smiled. "She said that the world might always feel like it's against you, but it was your choice to give it that power."
"Oh my God, that's so beautiful," she said, crying and clapping her hands. "Tell me again so I can write it down. Fuck, where is a pen and some paper when you need them?"
Mulder laughed as he followed Fauna towards the register to tell her the words again and Scully stared after him in confusion.
He remembered all of that, but not that he had called her beautiful? No memory of discussing the moment in his hallway after two years of silence?
He could not remember kissing her?
She stepped away and let out a deep breath as she looked at the bottles of lotions and creams for sale. She heard Fauna laugh and she looked over her shoulder, watching Mulder smile and nod his head at whatever they had been discussing.
Should I tell him? she thought, looking back at the bottles and picking one up and opening it, taking a deep sniff and closing her eyes. Should I tell him what happened? Or would it be best to keep it to myself?
He has no memory of it, she thought, feeling annoyed as she put the bottle back down with a little more force than was needed, the glass clinking into its mates.
If I had no memory of it and he told me what we had done, how would it affect our relationship? Professional or otherwise? she thought, raising her eyebrows as she picked up a heavy bar of white soap, smelling it and humming approvingly at the scent.
"No," she whispered, her decision made as she shook her head and exhaled.
"No, what?" Mulder asked quietly near her ear, causing her to jump.
"Jesus," she breathed, glaring at him. "Make some noise next time."
"And not scare you? Where's the fun in that?"
"Hilarious," she said, putting the soap back and looking at him as he grinned.
"Agents?" Fauna said, coming toward them with a flat rectangular item in her hands. "I want you to have this. It's one of my most favorite painted renditions of Sarah." She handed it to Scully who took it and looked at it with a smile.
Sarah stood between the cemetery and a little white house at sunset. Her golden hair down and blowing behind her, her green eyes shining, and her mouth quirked up in a small smile, a basket held in her hands. A man stood in the doorway, smiling at her tenderly. As Scully looked a little closer, wanting to see every detail, Mulder chuckled.
"What?" she asked, turning her head to look up at him.
"It just needs a quilt on the ground for their picnic lunch and I could swear this was a photograph taken of her and Obadiah. Who painted this, do you know?"
"A woman who was passing through a few years back. She wanted to know about Sarah, asking me loads of questions. She spent a lot of time at the cemetery painting that, telling me she found the area to be peaceful and calming. She painted it and brought it to me, thanking me for knowing about Sarah and keeping her memory alive. She wouldn't take any money, just wanted me to have it."
Scully felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise up like they had in the cemetery last night and she let out a slow breath. Mulder shifting beside her led her to believe he was thinking the same thing she was, as impossible and unbelievable as it seemed.
"What was the woman's name?" Mulder asked softly.
"Oh, I think it's on the bottom there. Just her initials though." She took the painting from Scully and looked at the bottom as Mulder tapped Scully's hip three times. "Yeah, here it is… SMB. I don't recollect if she ever said her first name, just used those initials."
"Fauna…" Scully said, raising her eyebrows. "I think this was meant for you. I can't accept it."
"SMB, Fauna," Mulder said and she stared at him in confusion before her eyes widened. "Sarah Merchant Blackwell."
"You think… you think she… but that's impossible," she whispered, looking at the painting again.
"Nothing's ever impossible," Mulder said softly and Fauna nodded, tears in her eyes once again.
"Pick a lotion, or several," Fauna said, wiping her eyes and holding the painting close to her chest. "Soaps, candles, whatever you want is free of charge. I'll go put this back in my office and grab you a bag."
Scully laughed at the dramatic change as Mulder did the same, looking at her as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, and Agent Scully," Fauna said, turning around and looking at her with a big smile. "In the spring, our coven will return to celebrating Sarah with our monthly dances. You have an open invitation to join us anytime."
"Would I have to bring my own rain boots?" Scully asked as she heard Mulder make a noise somewhere between a grunt and a moan.
"I think we could supply you with a pair," Fauna said, grinning happily.
"The flowers will be back in bloom then, won't they?"
"Oh yes."
"Well, then I'm in," she said and Mulder mumbled something about looking around the shop and walking away as she and Fauna laughed heartily.
