Oh, no, it's another first time poster! *gasp* Run for your lives! Now, to all of you that stayed, I have to say this is an MSR (yeah, like I write anything else). Anyone still here? Well, sorry to all anti-relationshippers. Why'd I say that? Hell, I'm not sorry! Anyway, it's just a mindless little thing I came up with when my muse decided she needed a break from my other story, which is actually an X-File (this is not). It's just a light romance really. I hope it's not too boring for you all. If it is, blame my muse. If it's not, I wrote the whole thing myself. No words worse than you'd hear on the show, nothing remotely NC-17 (hey, I'm under age). Who else could this be for but Sweet Almond? She who has written me faithfully, patiently sat through all my rants, and given me the courage to post this. Besides, she already dedicated two to me, so I owe her. And who else but her would want it? Thanks, girl, you're the best. Oh, and Roopam? I put DD in red Speedos again for you. Oh, yeah. As we all know, I don't own them. If I did, Scully and Mulder would have run away to Australia together and Cancer Man would have disappeared to hack up a lung. But no, they belong to CC, who takes great joy in yanking my emotions every week by toying with our two heroes, 1013 ("I made this!"), FOX, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah. I don't want to write it anymore than you want to read it, but my only income is a measly $5 Canadian weekly allowance, so I can't afford to be sued. Anyways, I am rambling on again, as I have a habit of doing, so on with the story! Night Swimming by Jadar Allyna. She rolled over and blinked at the clock. 11:21. With a sigh, she got up from the bed. The warm ocean breeze came in from the open balcony doors, pushing her copper locks back from her face as she slipped on a shirt. The night had been so hot she'd just fallen into bed in her swim suit. Instead of heading for her laptop and the pile of inevitable paper work that awaited, she stepped out onto the balcony. The last few days had been hard on them, the rutine murder case rapidly escalating to brutal child killings until they'd finally caught the bastard. It hadn't been anything remotely X-File-ish. She knew the only reason Mulder had taken the case when it had showed up on his desk last week was because it was in Hawaii. "Think of it, Scully." he'd told her. "Hawaii in February. We solve this thing, then get to spend a few days relaxing on the beach." It had sounded tempting. They both needed a break and an escape from the dreary D.C. weather. But the case had taken a turn for the worse immediatly after they'd gotten here. So far, they hadn't had anytime for sun, sand, and surf. She sighed when she heard him come out onto the low balcony beside hers. "Couldn't sleep either?" "Do I ever?" They were silent a while as they gazed out across the dark sea. He'd actually let her make the reservations this time, so their hotel was a simple but elegant place right on the beach. "You ok, Scully?" "I'm fine, Mulder." They both smiled into the darkness at the thought of how many times they'd exchanged those lines. She straightened suddenly. "Hey, Mulder, you still got your suit on?" She didn't think he'd been to bed yet. "Yeah, why?" Not answering, she hopped over the rail of the ground floor balcony and started across the beach. Suprised, he quickly followed her. "Scully, what are you doing?" "Going swimming." she answered, her voice muffled as she pulled her shirt off. "Swimming?" he echoed incredulously, trying to ignore the feeling he was getting from staring at his partner in her green race-cut Speedo bathing suit. "Now?" "Sure. Night swimming's the best kind. You coming or not?" He realized she was serious when she headed for the water. He gazed at the black ocean crashing on the sand, picturing sharks and rip tides and - "Mulder!" she called. "Don't be such a chicken." He looked up at her, already standing in ankle deep water. Shaking his head, he yanked off his shorts to reveal the red Speedo underneath. He cautiously poked a toe into the swirling liquid as she dove through a cresting wave. Looking back, she kicked her feet, sending a spray of warm water over him. "All right!" he told her. "I'm coming." He plunged into the water and surfaced beside her. "Hey, Scully, I'll race you." In reply, she immediatly started stroking away from him. "Hey!" he yelped. "No fair!" He quickly started after her. She was a good swimmer with neat, tidy strokes, but he'd been training a lot recently and rapidly over took her. She reached out and grabbed his ankle. "You win." she panted. "See, I needed that head start." They floated on their backs as the waves gently swelled under them. "Look, Mulder." she pointed. "There's Venus. When we were little, Melissa always used to wish on it. She got so mad at me when I told her it was a planet. She said it was the brightest prick of light up there and that made it the best. I never heard her wish on it again, though. Sometimes I think I should have let her just keep believing it was a star." Her voice trailed off. "What matter to me if their star is a world?" Mulder quoted, his photographic memory showing him the page from his high school English book. "Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it." She glanced at him, one eyebrow raised in her patented look she reserved just for him. "Robert Browning." he replied to her unasked question. He stood up, the sand squelching between his toes. A full moon was starting to rise, it's light cutting a pathway across the water to them. He spoke quietly. "Sam used to love when the moon rose over the ocean like this. She thought that if you swam towards it fast enough, staying in the trail of the light, you'd get there before it rose and you could climb right on and ride it across the sky." He felt her hand brush his underwater. He reached out and held it, not caring how she reacted. But she didn't stiffen or pull away. "Do you want to swim for the moon, Mulder?" she asked softly. "I'll come with you, if you like." He smiled and squeezed her small hand. "Not tonight. But thanks." "How often do you say that to a girl?" He couldn't help but chuckle. "Come on, Scully." They turned towards the shore and saw the moonlight reflected in front of them. He glanced at his partner beside him, then over his shoulder to the moon. The waves carried them in together. So that's it. I told you it was pretty pointless. You can let me know whether you want to worship the ground I walk on (yeah, right), or if I should be hung by my toenails and pummeled into unconciousness with my X-Files novels, by e-mailing me at 72164.2326@compuserve.com. I know all those numbers are a pain, but please write, even if it's just a note saying you read it. Oh, right. The poem Mulder quotes from is "My Star" by Robert Browning. And, just in case, Speedo belongs to Speedo and I love them dearly, no infringement intended. Please keep in mind that this was all concieved and written in about two hours. I tried to find all the typos but those little pests just sneak by. Yeah, I know, I'm babbling again. Thanks for reading. Is anyone actually still here? Jadar Allyna. X-Phile, Relationshipper, Trekker, S:AABer, Salukiphile, and freestyler forever. Hey, Roopam, I'm not underestimating the killer kiwi.