Title - The Only One 1/1
Author - Rachel West
E-mail - rachelwest1013@hotmail.com
Rating - G
Category - V
Archive - Yes
Spoilers - Sein Und Zeit, The Blessing Way, Emily, Paper Clip
Disclaimer - Everybody in here belongs to CC, 1013 and FOX
Summary - An incredibly short vignette from Teena Mulder's grave site

Author's Notes: Thank you, M, my lovely friend. I'm sure everybody is
tired of SUZ by now, but I finally got time to do something and it is
short!

***********


He thinks he's the only one left to cry for her. He stands there,
shoulders rounded, listening without hearing as women approach him and
tell stories of how much they loved his mother. Occasionally, he looks
at them with a smug expression of casual disinterest as they report
how she made their life better. How she was so talented or wise or how
she always showed up when they needed her. His hand slides into his
pocket, wanting to take out one of those ever present seeds, but he
doesn't go that far. Not here in front of these cackling old women. He
knows they would gossip about it forever.

Her casket is heavily decorated in flowers, yet no thick spray of
white roses decorate the cherry wood she will spend eternity in. No,
no one could manage to find roses. Instead, other flowers of death
hang there, flowing over the sides, reaching for the hole in the
ground that will soon be her home. For the time of year, they are
actually rather attractive and the old women fuss over them. Some even
pull one out to save in the pages of some precious book;  a pressed
floral reminder of their deceased friend. Off to the side, there are
more flowers, fashioned into a variety of shapes with ribbons waving
off them. One says 'Mother' and one says 'Friend.' The same person
ordered them both. Agent Scully.

Of course, Agent Scully has more experience with funerals than her
partner does. He couldn't even be bothered to be 'alive' for his
father's funeral. Others came and watched, even though they shouldn't
have been there. And Agent Scully was there, comforting Teena. She has
learned well about funerals and their perfunctory flowers with her
sister and then that child she thought she could save. Mulder is still
learning. One would think after attending Diana's funeral just a few
short months ago, he'd be more prepared. Yet, he stands there looking
like a forlorn little boy crying for his mommy.

Then again, burying a parent is different than burying a dead former
spouse. Or a dead former lover. Teena is being buried next to Bill.
The plots were a wedding gift back from the era where people gave such
things. Back when people found it acceptable to believe that someday
they were going to die. Now people get married and are sure that they
will live forever, that immortality is something they can buy simply
by ignoring death. Yet, immortality comes to so few.

His partner takes hold of his hand, fingers entwining into his, as he
leans over to listen to her. She finishes, and he stands straight
again, yet his expression doesn't change. It has been a bad week for
Fox Mulder and not even she can cheer him up now. All she can do is
support him and be there by his side. She is the one who smiles at the
other 'Garden Club' members as they offer their deepest condolences.
She is the one who thanks them for coming.

There is no reception of any sort after this. Perhaps the ladies will
go out for a greasy lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches at Denny's, sip
on their stale coffee while talking about Teena. They will repaint
their lips in Pinkberry Stain and get it on their teeth. Then they
will go about their lives and soon Teena Mulder will just be another
memory. Just one more flower pressed in that book.

Flowers. Memories. So little is left at the end. Some end up with
nothing. Not even the answers. Agent Mulder turns to walk away, tears
crawling slowly down his cheeks, and his partner talks to the funeral
director one last time.

Perhaps he is the only one to cry for her. I extinguish my cigarette,
grinding the embers into the asphalt of the parking lot, and look at
him off in the distance one more time. A troubled son at his mother's
grave.

Yes, perhaps he is the only one to cry, but he wasn't the only one who
loved her.

***********

The End