TITLE: William Long-Ears AUTHOR: Myriss EMAIL ADDRESS: myriss1013@yahoo.com This is my new email. If you have any my stories archived, can you please change the email? Thanks! DISTRIBUTION: Ephemeral: Ok. I will forward to Gossamer myself. Okay for others to archive but kept my header and email attached and please drop me a line so I know. I used to have a webpage but for some reason envy.nu.com seems to have disappeared from cyberspace. It took my website with it. I haven't decided whether or not to put one back up again. RATINGS WARNING: PG-13 CLASSIFICATION: Post-Col, AU, *CHARACTER DEATH* , Implied MSR KEYWORDS: 3 POV, Post-Colonization, Implied MSR, Future Fic, *Character Death* SPOILERS: Nothing really. SUMMARY: It was the rabbit who sacrified himself by jumping into the pot to feed the starving Buddha. THE DISCLAIMER: Any character you recognized from the t.v. series belongs to 1013 and Fox. I am just borrowing them. *AUTHOR NOTES - This is an alternative universe where William was born in 1999 and there is no Doggett, Reyes or Follmer. While Mulder did disappeared briefly, he came back (but not from the dead) and Mulder and Scully are still working the X-files. If any of these fudging bothers you, please don't read. Not beta-ed. All mistakes are my own. William Long-Ears by Myriss (myriss1013@yahoo.com) ***** "Are you Maria?" the heartfire asked me from above. I blinked, nodding, clutching Mr. Bunny tight to my chest. "My name is Fox Mulder." I nodded again. "They say you can see things?" he went on in a gentle voice. "Where is the other one?" I asked him. "What?" he asked, startled. "Your other heartfire?" I asked. Not many have two heartfires...but I knew these heartfires. They were as familiar as my own. I have seen them as long as I could remember. All the paths I have seen...all lead to the meeting of these two heartfires that were one. His heartfire skipped a beat. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly. I could see the other one coming from behind him...its soft bluish-green glow encompassing him and entwining with his. A woman's voice calling out softly, "Mulder?" I smiled. "Never mind. Here it is." ***** He asked me what I saw. How could I explain to him that I saw so many, many things--infinite amount of things. I saw doors swinging open. Doors being shut. Paths blazing forth. Paths darkening. Shifting. All depending on which path that a heartfire choose. Nothing was clear. Nothing was really set. How a split second could change a thousand heartfires' path. How now thousands of choices was rushing forward, converging into a single path. I said simply, "They're coming." Their heartfires stilled. Then blazed hot and entwined tight. I tugged at Mulder's hand. "We have to go," I said to him. "We have to protect the boy." "The boy?" Their heartfires skipped a beat. "Yes, the boy." They did not bother to ask which boy. They both knew. ***** Mrs. Young was not too pleased. "Agent Scully," she was saying in that sugarcoated voice that she used when she was irked. "This is very irregular. Maria is a special needs child. As you know, her blindness...her past history..." "Yes, I know," Heartfire Scully said briskly. "I've read her file--" "She has a long history of abuse and neglect. Her mother was a teen-aged prostitute. She was a victim of her pimp..." Scully's heartfire flared up, but her voice was calm as she repeated, "Yes, I know, Mrs. Young. I've read her file." I let their voices float over me. Sometimes, when you are blind, people think you are deaf, too. Yes, Mrs. Young always spoke very sweetly to my face but her heartfire could not lie. She was sure I had bad blood and I would come to a bad end... But it didn't really matter what she thought, because I knew the truth. No matter what my mother was or what she had done, she had loved me fiercely. "--Mrs. Young," Heartfire Scully said firmly, "We have reason to believe that Maria's life is in danger. And those around her will be, too." That gave Mrs. Young a pause. "Danger?" "Yes. So you can see why it will be best for all those concerned that Maria be placed into our protective custody--" And to get her the hell from you, her heartfire added. I had to smile to myself. ***** Seasoned travelers of the road, Mulder and Scully took turns driving, only stopping for us to eat and go to the bathroom. At a fast food place, I ate an order of French fries. "Are you sure you don't want a burger with that?" Scully asked me anxiously. I nodded my head. Both potatoes and cows have heartfires, but only one screamed in agony and fear. "Are you a vegetarian?" Mulder asked me. I nodded. That was one of my many quirks that bothered Mrs. Young. The fact I did not cry also bothered her. She thought it was unnatural. Mulder's heartfire hummed. "How do you see, Maria?" No one has ever asked me that before. Too afraid of what I might say, I guess. "I see heartfires." His heartfire flared. "Heartfires? Like people's souls?" I could not explain what I meant. It's like explaining music to a person born deaf. "Everyone has it," I said. I braided Mr. Bunny's ears together into one long plait. "But not just people, though. Animals has it. Plants. Even rocks and dirt have it." "Does Mr. Bunny have one?" he asked. I dipped a french fry into ketchup and then nodded. "Some things do. If they're well-loved or--" I added in a sober voice, "--well-hated." ***** Here it was...the heartfire that I have been looking for. It leapt at the joy of seeing his parents, but hung back nonchalantly...After all, a fourteen year old was too old and too cool to run to his parents for hugs and kisses... "Are you okay, Will?" his mother asked anxiously. He squirmed from in her grasp. "I'm fine," he said, protesting. "Uncle Frohike wouldn't let me out of his sight for a moment." He paused. "What's going on?" That's when he saw me. The sleeping Wise One in him flickered in recognition. "Will," his mother said. "This is Maria. She will be staying with us for a while." He wandered over to me and bent down until his nose was close to mine. "I know you, Miss Nutmeg," his Wise One said to mine. I smiled, reached up and tugged happily at his ears. "Hello, Mr. William Long-Ears." ????? They were talking quietly in the other room. They did not want to disturb me and Mr. Long Ears, but walls were no barriers to see heartfires. "It's already started," said the heartfire named Langly. "There's already reports of bee swarms across the world...UFO activities increasing...people dying...violence erupting...governments becoming unstable..." "There's not much time left," Mulder said suddenly. "No, there isn't," the heartfire named Byers said sadly. "Is everything in place?" Mulder asked. "Everything is in order," the heartfire Skinner reassured him. "We knew this day would come...we were just hoping it wouldn't." ***** The others left the room, leaving Mulder and Scully alone. Mulder's heartfire flickered anxiously, then firmed as it leaned toward hers. "We need to tell Will, Scully." Her heartfire shook in denial. "Do we have to, Mulder? Couldn't we wait until later? He's so young...why burden him when there is nothing that he can do..." His heartfire reached out a soothing finger. "He needs to know, Scully," he said softly to her. "He will be in the middle of it all..." "He's just a baby, Mulder... He's *our baby,* Mulder!" "Don't you think I know that, Scully? But Maria knows. And she's only six. He needs to know, Scully. It's his right." Her heartfire gave a mournful jerk as she said sadly, "It's not fair, Mulder. It's fair at all." "I know, Scully. I know." ***** We went underground. It was once an underground military facility that was auctioned off to the highest bidder after the cold war. Some of these were converted into 'private homes.' This one belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Todd William Davis, a travel writer and a massage therapist. It has its own air, water, and power system, and stockpile of equipment that would last for several years. Also inside was a small, but well equipped medical laboratory and state of art computer system. ***** William Long Ears said to his mother, "Are you saying that I may be the cure to the virus that's killing everyone, Mom?" She nodded reluctantly. "And you need to run tests to figure out how?" Again, she nodded reluctantly. "Then what's to decide, Mom?" "Will," she said. "The tests can be very painful--" William Long Ear's heartfire squirmed a little bit, but stilled. "It may help save people?" he asked. She said slowly, "It may save the human race, Will." "Then I will do it," he said simply. ***** "Does it hurt very much?" I asked him as he laid in bed after a session of grueling tests. His heartfire skipped a beat. "A little bit." I crawled up on bed next to him and put Mr. Bunny into his arms. "Mr. Bunny says he wants to keep you company." His voice was amused as he said in a high falsetto voice, "Hello, Mr. Bunny. Glad to have you around." I curled up next to his side and put my head against his shirt. I can feel the slow rise and fall of his breath. Suddenly, I began to shake. I couldn't stop. He put an arm around me and gathered me and Mr. Bunny tight. I could feel his strength seeping into me. "Hey now, Miss Nutmeg, is Mr. Bunny okay?" he asked. I nodded jerkily. "Mr. Bunny said he's just a little scared, that's all." He patted me awkwardly on the back. "It'll be okay, Miss Nutmeg. You'll see. Mom and Dad won't let anyone hurt us." He spoke with firm childish conviction that his parents would make everything all right. I wished I could feel the same. "I'm scared, Long Ears," I whispered, finally putting words to my fears. "It's okay to be scared," he whispered back. "I'm scared, too." "I can't see anything--Everyone is counting on me to see...I can't see anything..." "What do they expect? You're still just a little kid. Go to sleep, Miss Nutmeg. Everything will turn out okay. You'll see." His heartfire reached out and wrapped me securely its warmth. I sank deeper into it, my cheek pressed against his shirt. His chest began to vibrate as he began to warble off key, "Little Bunny Fo-Fo, I don't want to see you..." My eyes closed. I allowed myself to sleep. ***** "They found us!" someone yelled. "Scully!" Mulder cried. "Get the kids out of here!" Her heartfire was torn. She wanted to stay, but she wanted to make sure we were out of there. "Go!" Mulder yelled. Mr. Skinner grabbed him by the shoulder. "You go, too, Mulder!" he yelled. "We will hold them off as long as we can!" "Frohike," I said to them. Their heartfires flared in surprise. "Frohike?" "He must come, too," I said. Skinner said in a determined voice, "Frohike, go with them. Mulder--" "I--" Mulder began. "You have your orders, Agent! No time for heroics. Get the kids and your wife out of here! We meet up at the rendezvous point if we can!" **** We were exhausted. Mulder, Frohike and Will were stretched out in the back, sleeping. Her heartfire flickered as she finally asked hesitantly, "Are--are the others okay, Maria?" I searched for their heartfires. "They're gone," I said sadly. Her heartfire twisted with pain with the lost of our friends. She said brokenly, "I'm glad that Frohike went with us. I wished--I wished the others..." Her voice trailed off.... She cleared her throat. Her voice was scratchy as she said, "It's not over yet, is it, Maria?" I closed my eyes...seeing millions and millions of heartfires blinking out into darkness... "No," I said. "It's not over yet." **** Not only had aliens brought a virus that was killing the human race, it had also brought something that was wrecking havoc to the earth's eco-system. Mulder said quietly, "There's a German proverb that says when the trees dies, so will man." "Man is already dying," Scully said softly. His heartfire dimmed sadly. "The world is dying. Not only us." ***** There was no where to go. We all knew that they would eventually find us. And it was no surprise when they finally did. They forced us off the road and went after Mulder and Scully first. "Mom! Dad!" William Long Ear screamed, his heartfire twisting with pain. Frohike grabbed him. William Long Ear fought his hold. "They're not dead! They're not dead!" he shrieked with pain. He was right. ...they were not. Not yet. But their heartfires were barely burning embers...winking slowly in and out.... Frohike grabbed William Long Ears by his shoulders. "Listen to me, Will," he said urgently, his voice hoarse with emotion, "I don't want to leave them, but I made them a promise! A promise that if something like this happen I would get the two of you the hell out of there!" His voice broke into a loud sob. "There's nothing we can do for them, Will. Nothing!" ????? They cornered us against a dying oak tree, its branches bared of leaves. Frohike defended us as valiantly as he could. But the odds were too great. They were too many of them to fight. For every one that went down, there were two to take its place... Then Frohike was gone, his heartfire flickering out ...and William Long Ears and I had to face our enemies alone.... ***** All of his paths had rushed to this point. With us sitting here, our back against an oak tree, with William Long Ears pulling me and Mr. Bunny close, his body hunched protectively over us. I could never see beyond this--the path that lead from this point. No doors opened. No heartfires flashed. Just darkness. The uncertainty of the unknown. All I knew...All I could say was that he was the key to it all. He knew this too, but neither of us knew what he was suppose to do. If our Wise Ones knew, they kept it hidden from us. They were coming closer, surrounding us, moving warily as if they were afraid. They were clothed in human forms, but their heartfires blazed cold and dark. Their coldness threatened to consume me. I hid my face deep in William Long-Ears' shirt, feeling the running beat of his heart. He hugged me tighter, his body tense. His cheek pressed against my hair. His tears wet against my cheek. I could hear him whispering a prayer--his heartfire dimming with fear and despair.... It was over. The invaders will won. The world will die.... **** Suddenly, his heartfire flared up high and pure.... All at once, the future was clear...I understood...the price that had to paid. I began to scream his name but it was too late. The ordinary boy in him had finally understood what the Wise One in him had always understood. He made his decision... Regret tinged his heartfire for the pain he knew that his decision will cause to those who had loved him...his mother...his father...to those who had protected him...those who may never really understand what he had to do... I felt his heartfire reached out to touch mine...a bittersweet farewell.. Then, his heartfire flared up--so blindingly--so high--that that it consumed him whole... ...his ashes were cast to the winds... Flung into the faces of the invaders....they began to die...falling...crumbling to dust...the virus they carried now beign...they became part of the world they sought to destroy. The oak tree that had sheltered us beneath its bare branches shook off its dead bark, its buds began to unfurl.... It is said for any disease that exist, there is a cure.... Both we and the aliens knew that William Fox Mulder was somehow the key to the cure... We just did not understand how. But we did now... ...under the waning moon ...under the oak tree, for the first time in my life, I began to cry. ... ***** I woke up in total darkness. I couldn't see. Panicked I began to thrash around, but a cool hand touched me and familiar voice murmured soothingly, "It's okay, Maria. It's okay." I said shakily, "William Long Ears--" Her voice trembled. "Don't you remember? You told us when we found you." I shook my head. I couldn't see. I reached up to touch the cloth over my eyes. "You were complaining your eyes were hurting, " she said gently. I could feel the bed give as she sat on the bed next to me, and she began to stroke back my hair. There was a catch in her voice as she murmured soothingly, "Go back to sleep, Miss Nutmeg." No one had called me that but William Long Ears. I could not help but cry. I missed him so. She pulled me close and began to rubbed my back. I could hear the echo of William Long Ears in her voice as she whispered, . "It's okay, Nutmeg. It's okay. Everything will be okay. You'll see." I could feel her heartbeat against my cheek. Deep down, in the darkness, I saw a flash of light. A spark spinning...a heartfire forming... William Long Ears had done more than heal his parents, he had given them a last gift as well. One who I will sing "Little Bunny Fo-Fo" off key to. One who I give my cherished Mr. Bunny to. One who I will watch, take care, and protect as William Long Ears did for me. Soon we will have a little brother...Long Ears and I.... **** Epilogue: I could feel the sun warm on top of my head. My toes dug happily into the rich loam of the earth. "Hold still," she said as she carefully peeled the binding from my eyes. "Let me take off the bandages--" I blinked and wobbled unsteadily on my feet. Mulder reached out a hand to steady me. "Nutmeg? You okay?" he asked in a concerned voice. William Long Ears had given another gift. A wonderful gift to me. I whispered, awed and amazed, "The grass is green." ****** Fini Author's Notes* For those who were disturbed by the characters deaths and the death of a young child, I am sorry. I would like you to know I carefully thought the story through. I just hope that it came out in the writing and that I did not use William's death as a mere plot device. For those who wondering what Will looked like, there is a picture of a young David Duchovny floating around the internet. Imagine him with dark auburn hair and blue eyes and that is Will. For those who think Maria sounded too old...well, she was old. She saw too many things to be otherwise... And I hope you do not hate her for living while Will died. Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Constructive feedback is always welcome, of course. Please send to: myriss1013@yahoo.com