August 1978

Annapolis, Maryland

2:30 a.m.

Dana Scully lay back on the sleeping bag she had carried to the vacant lot, two houses down from her own, to watch the meteor shower with her older sister Melissa.

She stared at her as she heard the click of the lighter Melissa always carried and then an orange glow appeared at the tip of the cigarette as she took a long drag.

"Here," Melissa said, pushing back the hair that had come loose from her long braids, offering the cigarette to Dana.

"Nah," Dana said, shaking her head. "I don't really like how it tastes."

"I guess it doesn't taste great… if you're a baby," Melissa said and Dana sat up, snatching the cigarette from her.

"I'm not a baby, Melissa."

"Prove it," Melissa said, shrugging her shoulders with a smile as she toyed with the silver fairy pendant on the chain around her neck.

"Fine. I will," Dana said, the smell of the cigarette already making her feel queasy.

"In this century, please," Melissa laughed. Dana placed it on her lips, took a long pull and immediately coughed it all out. "Jesus. Give me that, before anything happens." She took the cigarette back, clapping Dana on the back. "You're just not doing it right, little sister. Watch me." She took another drag, holding it in for a second and let it out in one smooth breath. "Like that. Try it again."

Taking it back from Melissa, Dana did it again. She could not hold it in as long as her sister, but at least this time she did not cough.

"Better," Melissa said, taking the cigarette back and smiling. "Two bad you only snuck out the one or we could try it again."

"There were only five left in the pack. Mom would definitely notice if two went missing."

"True. Although it would be me who got in trouble and not you. Not goody two-shoes Dana."

"I'm not," Dana protested and Melissa laughed. She took one last drag from the cigarette before she put it out. "I'm not that, Missy."

"Oh lighten up. It was just a joke," Melissa said, lying down and looking up at the stars. "You're better than me, that's all I mean."

"I'm not better than you," Dana said, lying down beside her, watching her sister's face as she said it. Melissa turned her head and smiled at Dana.

"Maybe I didn't mean better. Smarter. More careful. Thoughtful."

"I'm not smarter than you," Dana whispered and Melissa laughed, turning back to look up at the sky.

"We both know that's not true, Dane. You're the smartest one in our family."

"I…" Dana said, her face hot.

"You are," Melissa said, looking at her again. "You'll be out there changing the world one day."

"I don't know about that," Dana said, laughing uncomfortably. At fourteen, the future felt far away but also like it was coming at her fast.

"Mmm," Melissa hummed with a nod, looking up again. "I do."

They were quiet for a moment, the crickets chirping around them in the warm air.

"And you don't think you will?" Dana asked.

"Me? No," Melissa laughed. "I don't even know if I want to go to college."

"What?" Dana asked incredulously. "Of course you have to go to college."

"No, I don't. I know that Dad will be angry about it, but it's not my path."

"What is then?"

"I don't know. But I know it's not college. And it's also not getting married and having kids."

"You don't want to have kids?" Dana asked, shocked by her sister's revelations.

"No, I don't think so," Melissa said, shaking her head. "At least not… well, like us."

"We're alright," Dana said, feeling offended.

"Not what I meant, Day," Melissa said softly, looking at her again. "I just meant… I wouldn't want to have kids and make them move and leave their friends and school behind. I only had one year left and now I have to start my senior year as the new kid with no friends. It's really hard."

"I'll be there. If that makes you feel any better," Dana whispered and Melissa smiled. Finding her hand, she squeezed it and then let go.

"Thanks. It does help, but still…" She shook her head. "I'll miss my friends and the plans we had made. I know it's silly for a Navy man's daughter to make long term plans, but…" She looked up again and exhaled through her nose.

"I didn't think about that," Dana said, frowning as she remembered only thinking about her own feelings and how the move affected her. "I think this is the first move we've made that I've felt more than a sense of interest. Carolyn and I were going to…"

"To what?" Melissa asked and Dana shook her head, realizing how childish it would sound to say they were going to form a secret club, letting in only the people they liked the most.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter now anyway. We're here and everyone else is there."

"See?" Melissa said, with a deep sigh. "It's really fucked."

"Yeah," Dana agreed, not even saying anything about Melissa's use of the f word.

"No comment about my language?" Melissa asked, turning her head and smiling at Dana. "You're not going to tell me I shouldn't speak that way?"

"No. Because it is… fucked," Dana replied, a thrill going through her at the use of the word.

"Well, well, well," Melissa said, leaning up on her elbow, as she turned toward Dana. "I've never heard you swear before."

"I've never done it before."

"Well, we'll make a Sandy out of you yet, Doris Day," Melissa said and Dana pushed her, both of them laughing. "Sneaking out, smoking, swearing… next time I'll grab some of dad's liquor and we'll have you drinking too."

"No, I'll get it and two cigarettes. One for each of us," Dana said. Melissa stuck out her pinky and Dana grinned as she hooked her own with it, their thumbs then touching before they let go.

"I like this new Dana," Melissa said as they both laid down.

"Thanks, I guess," Dana said sarcastically and Melissa hummed out a laugh.

They fell silent as they watched the sky, but Dana's mind was troubled.

"Did you mean what you said?" she whispered. "About not getting married and not having kids?"

"Right now? Yes. That's not something I want. I don't want to be just a wife and mother. I want to do things. To have adventures. Go lots of places. And like I said, I wouldn't want to bring kids along with me, taking them out of their life and… no, I wouldn't want that life for them."

"Yeah," Dana whispered, though she felt differently and did not know how to say so to her sister.

"But, Dana," Melissa said, turning her head to look at her. "If you want that, if that's the life that appeals to you, then you do it. You don't let me or anyone else persuade you to do anything other than what you want to do, okay? Get married. Have a dozen babies. Or move to New York and live in a little apartment and have a fire escape landing full of plants. Or live in France and spend all day on a topless beach." They both laughed and then Melissa was reaching for her hand again, squeezing it tight. "You live the life you want to live, not the one others want for you. Even if it's me, telling you to use those brains you've been given to make a difference in the world."

"Or maybe I could do both?" Dana asked, squeezing her sister's hand. "Maybe that's where I will find my husband. Making a difference and falling in love all at the same time." They laughed again and Melissa squeezed her hand.

"Maybe, little sister. Maybe."

An owl hooted somewhere and their attention returned to the sky, watching the meteors that began to streak across it.

And as they spoke and laughed, pointing out constellations and exclaiming over the meteors, almost nine hours away on Martha's Vineyard, a lonely boy of nearly seventeen was lying on the roof of his house, watching the same meteor shower. His parents had been arguing more and more recently, their words cutting and cruel. It felt like a divorce would be imminent and the thought of it made him feel sick.

He had escaped to his room where he listened to records to drown out his parents voices. When the heat of his room became too unbearable, he climbed through his window and laid on the roof, staring up at the sky.

One bright flash filled the sky and although he knew it was not a shooting star, and it was also rather childish to do so, he closed his eyes and made a wish. Not a wish for his parents to stay together, because he knew that was out of even the hands of nature, but that somewhere out in the universe, there was someone who, when he found her, he would never leave her.

Five years later, while running in the rain to her afternoon sociology class, Dana slipped and twisted her ankle. Tears fell hard and fast as she sat on the steps, her ankle throbbing.

"Hey, are you okay? I saw you slip and it looked pretty bad," a voice said and she looked up through tear filled eyes to see a man with green eyes and dark hair, staring at her with concern. He was holding an umbrella and he handed it to her as he knelt down in front of her. "Do you think it's broken?"

"I… I don't know," she said, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. "It hurts really bad. I shouldn't have been running, but I… oh, it hurts."

"I think you need to go to the hospital."

"I need to call my mom," she cried. "I don't want to be there by myself."

"I can call her, if you give me her number," he said and she looked at him with uncertainty. "But, I should probably introduce myself first. I'm Fox Mulder. I'm in my senior year here and I live in Walker Hall. My phone number is-"

"I know you," Dana said, sniffling. "Or at least of you. My friend Mary mentioned you before. I remembered your name."

"Not many Fox's around to get us mixed up," he said with a smile.

"No. But it wasn't just your name. She said you helped her and some other women. They said you were kind."

"I try to be," he said with a small smile.

"My name is Dana," she said, sniffling again. "Dana Scully."

"Well, while the circumstances are less than ideal, I'm glad to meet you, Dana," he said and she started to cry again as she moved her foot and pain shot through her ankle. "Let's get you to the hospital."

For six weeks, he walked with her to class, carrying her books and making her laugh as she used crutches, her fractured ankle in a cast.

They studied together, went out to eat, and to the movies.

Every night when he helped her to her dorm room, on the opposite end of the campus than his own room, he would say goodnight, but never kiss her or give any indication that he wanted to do so. She grew frustrated, wondering if he had only been hanging out with her because of her ankle and because he felt he needed to take care of her.

"Do you like me?" she asked him as he started to leave one night and he turned around quickly, staring at her in confusion.

"Do I like you? Of course I do."

"But you… you don't ever try to kiss me or… seem like you want to."

"Oh, I do. Trust me," he said, stepping closer, but still too far away for her liking.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because," he said, letting out a deep breath. "I want to wait until your cast is off and you're healed. I don't want you to think I'm here because I feel any obligation to be. So, I'm waiting. Is that okay?"

"Ye… yeah," she breathed and he smiled, taking one step back and then another.

"Then I will say goodnight once again. See you tomorrow to escort you to European Studies, Dana."

"Goodnight, Fox," she said, watching until he was gone, her heart racing.

Two weeks later, when she got her cast off, as soon as the doctor left the room, she grabbed Fox and kissed him, much to his surprise.

"I had a plan for this," he whispered, kissing her again. "I made reservations at Luanna's. I was going to tell you…"

"Tell me what?" she asked, smiling happily as she stared at his beautiful face.

"That I've fallen in love with you."

"Well, isn't that coincidental. I was going to tell you that the same thing has happened to me."

"I never thought I'd be happy that someone got injured, but I'm really glad you broke your ankle," he said and she laughed.

"As painful and as much of an annoyance as it's been, I'm extremely glad too."

Four years later, she stood in a hotel suite with Melissa, holding very still as she zipped and buttoned her wedding dress, nervous excitement coursing through her.

"This dress is absolutely gorgeous, Dana," Melissa said. "I know I've told you before, but it needs to be said again. It was meant for you."

"Thanks, Mel," Dana said, looking at her reflection and then quickly averting her eyes as the sight of herself in the white lacy dress made her want to burst into tears. "I can't believe it's finally the day. I feel so nervous. And then excited. And then I'm nervous again."

"Sure you're not pregnant?" Melissa teased and Dana laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, all done. Let's see, turn around." Dana turned and watched Melissa's face as she looked at her.

"Good?"

"Almost. It just needs something," Melissa said with a smile and reached behind her neck to unclasp one of the necklaces she was wearing.

"Mel," Dana said tearfully as she saw it was the silver fairy pendant she had bought with her own money before they had moved to Annapolis. It was Melissa's favorite necklace and she was very rarely without it.

"For your something borrowed, if you'll have it," Melissa whispered and Dana nodded, blinking back tears as the necklace was placed around her neck. "There, now you look perfect."

"I know how much this necklace means to you," Dana said, touching the fairy pendant as she looked at Melissa. "Thank you."

"I had that on when we watched the meteor shower and talked about our future paths, do you remember?"

"I remember the meteor shower, but not the necklace specifically. But I do know you wore it exclusively that summer, so you would have had it on then."

"I was thinking about my speech the other day and what I wanted to say. I started fiddling with my necklace, which I do all the time, and it clicked. I wanted to say how our paths-"

"Mel… I can't hear that right now because it will ruin my makeup when I start crying. I can't have that happening right now. Let me get married first." They both laughed and Melissa adjusted the necklace.

"After the wedding is fine because you won't cry then?" she teased and Dana shook her head.

"No," Dana said. "But after we're married, the promise to love me in all capacities will have been made. So when he sees the mascara running down my face, he can't change his mind." Melissa laughed and Dana smiled.

"Well then, let's reapply your lipstick and get you married. You've got a promise to make and a path to start taking."

"Melissa, I swear to God," Dana said, grabbing a tissue and dabbing her eyes.

"Oh, you're definitely going to need to bring your makeup to the reception. I'm gonna get you so good."

Melissa stuck out her pinky and Dana laughed out a sob as she hooked her pinky with hers, their thumbs meeting above.

"Come on, little sister. Let's go."