disclaimer: not mine, don't sue

at last...

There was sun streaming through the stained glass windows. White everywhere. Her family and friends smiling when they saw how pretty she looked. How much she deserved this. The flowers in her hair. The dress she wore.

Scully was wearing shoes, and the man she loved did not know that she couldn't have gone barefoot.

Her wedding day. The day she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl. The day she never thought she would get to see.

"Dana, it's almost time to get started. Are you ready?" her mom asked. They were at the church, in a small room designed just so that brides-to-be could get ready. Scully was at the vanity, making finishing touches on herself. Nothing was not going to be perfect today. But she knew that if she did what she planned to do, there was no way it couldn't be perfect. Even if everything else went wrong.

"Mom? Do you think I can do this?" she asked, wheeling herself away from the mirror and meeting her mom after she shut the door.

"You can do anything, baby. I've never doubted you once."

"But this, Mom… do you really think I'd be a good wife?"

Maggie laughed.

"Fox thinks so."

"He loves me, though. He loves me so much he wouldn't be able to see if I weren't good for him. He wouldn't be able to tell how much we'd drive each other crazy."

"You two already drive each other crazy. That's how I know it'll work."

"I don't want to let him down," Scully whispered, almost crying. She let her head fall so that her mother wouldn't see the tears that we about to come.

"Dana," Maggie started, tilting her daughter's chin upward, "you could never, ever, ever let that man down. I was there, sweetheart, when you were gone and when you were sick. And when you got hurt… there have been times, Dana, when he was sure that you weren't going to make it. But you did. Every time. And he's so proud of you. You've already proven yourself to him. There is nothing you could do that would make him think any less of you."

"What if… today, when I'm coming down the aisle…?"

"He'll be right there waiting for you."

A sudden calm washed over Scully. Mulder was her's. For life. She knew that the second he proposed. Actually, she knew the second she walked into the basement. He couldn't have said it any more clearly than he did that day at the rest stop all those months ago. She was the other half of his soul. And he was her's. And that's just the way it would be forever.

She didn't even have a hard time believing that he would want to spend the rest of his life with someone in a wheelchair anymore. Their relationship didn't need legs, just like it didn't need clothes.

"Come on, let's not make them wait any longer."

Mulder stood at the altar, his heart racing. He knew Scully wouldn't leave him, but irrational fears were taking over at this point. To him, she had changed her mind. She didn't want to get married anymore. She wanted to be with someone who hadn't heard her scream and swerved and carried her from an upside-down car so that she could die then live then die again. He was scared that she wanted to be with someone who hadn't taken her legs from her.

But then the music started. Tara helped Matthew, the ring-bearer, down the aisle. Charlie's little girl, Caitlyn, was the flower girl. And the bridesmaids came. All four of them, and he turned to smile at the Gunmen and Charlie. Then came Maggie, escorted by Skinner.

It hurt when the wedding march started playing and everyone stood up. It was a mockery to Mulder. It was an insult to Scully. But they stood, and Mulder could barely see the woman he loved being pushed down the aisle by her big brother through his tears. She was so beautiful. Her hair was pinned up and the veil hung down to her shoulders. Her dress was strapless and studded with crystals at the bottom. All in white, she was an angel, and Mulder didn't know how he had subsisted before he met her. It was as if then, at that very moment, his life only started to have meaning. Take thee Dana Katherine Scully, to love and to honor, to have and to hold, for richer or for poor, in sickness and in health, 'til death. do. they. part. That was his purpose. That was his calling.

Everyone became confused as Bill started to walk slower. And they turned to look at each other when he came to a halt halfway down the aisle. The music kept playing, and a select few people's smiles became even bigger. Mulder's heart almost stopped in his chest. They were slowing down. Scully had changed her mind at the last second.

Bill offered his arm to his baby sister. And she took it, pulling herself up with the most grace anyone could ever perform that task with. She was expecting to collapse from all the adrenaline. Mulder's heart wasn't the only one acting strange. Instead, with Bill's guidance, Scully lifted up the end of her dress, looking at her feet, which were on the floor. After a sudden tilt, she regained her balance. She looked at Mulder, who could not believe what he was seeing. His face made her serene expression grow into one of sheer joy. And she looked down at her feet again. They would not betray her this time.

She took a step. And another. And another.

She's walking! Mulder told himself. His mind was screaming. Scully's walking down the aisle!

"Let go, Bill, let go," Scully told her brother after she had taken five tiny steps. She needed to walk to Mulder herself. This is what she had been working toward.

Tears started streaming down Mulder's face when Bill let her continue walking on her own. The entire crowd was in absolute awe. Most of them had never witnessed a miracle before.

She's walking! She can walk! Mulder was still in shock. But he snapped out of it quickly when his brain said, She's walking to you!

Mulder had been running before. But this was different. Running down the stairs to the woman who would walk for him… it was the most beautiful thought his mind could process.

Scully hadn't been walking long on her own when Mulder met up with her. But that was okay. She knew she'd do it again. She had proven that she could do it.

The second he could reach her, Mulder grabbed Scully and pulled her into his arms. Her feet weren't even touching the ground anymore, and his arms were wrapped as tightly around her waist as her's were around his neck.

The church suddenly emitted a loud cheer from the witnesses who had come to watch. Family and friends. No enemies. No danger. Everything was perfect when the halves of the one soul came together. As one. Scully's lips crashed down on Mulder's. See? I did it. I did it all for you.

Maggie Scully had seen Fox Mulder beam with pride at her daughter. But all of those times failed to compare with this one. This was the most special thing she had ever witnessed.

They put their foreheads together, only Scully able to wipe Mulder's tears away. He wouldn't let her go. He probably couldn't if someone had asked him to.

"How long?" he asked. Nobody could hear them. Everyone was still cheering.

"A few weeks. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Believe me, Scully, this was the best surprise I've ever gotten."

"Me too. Well, right after your surprise proposal."

"Is this for real?"

"Yes it is. Why do you ask that now?"

"Because this can't be real, Scully. It's too good to be real. I must be dreaming."

"It has to be real, Mulder. Dreams aren't this good."

He kissed her again. She was right. She was always right, his Scully.

Later that night, Mulder and Scully came through the doors of the reception hall, hand in hand, shoulder to neck-area. He walked as slow as she wanted; he was her cane.

Scully couldn't stop dancing that night. She wouldn't sit down for anything, even insisting that Mulder hold her up to take the garter off. Anything. She did not want to leave the ground. And she lasted on the dance floor much longer than anyone else did. Even Mulder tuckered out before she did, and while he was sitting, his eyes couldn't help but follow her. His beautiful angel who had her legs back. She was glowing. She glowed while she danced with her nephews, her drunk uncles, Mulder's drunk uncles…

His heart was filled with happiness when he realized that he got to see that glow for the rest of his life.

And, because he was Mulder, his mind flashed back to that night. When he swerved to avoid hitting the maybe-deer and ended up flipping the car onto her back. He thought about how he thought he'd lost her. He thought about what it felt like to have her back.

Legless, but back.

He thought about their home, which they would soon be leaving. He thought about the bars at the smelly physical therapy place where her legs first betrayed her. He thought about the aisle in the church that afternoon, where her legs kept her upright. She did that all for him.

Tears came flooding back. This was too much for one person in one day. To go from thinking that the love of your life will never walk again to seeing her walk down the aisle to you, to marrying her and watching her dance and glow all night long.

It gave him more than enough energy to get back up and scoop up his new wife, careful that her legs stayed on the ground. And they started dancing, for maybe the 30th song that night. It felt like the first, though.

"I can't believe this Scully. Do you know how beautiful you are?"

"Mulder," Scully giggled. He could see her blush, and that made him want to kiss her more.

"You'll never know how much I love you."

"I think I will, Mulder. I think I do."

"I just want to explode. I feel like I'm going to."

"Well, when the tiny parts of your body all land on the ground, I'll be here to pick them up and glue them back together."

"That's why I married a doctor."

That's why I married my best friend.

"I love you Mulder. For a long time I tried to keep myself from saying that, but I'm glad we finally did. I'm glad I love you."

"I'm glad a smart, beautiful, radiant woman like yourself could love a piece of work like me."

"Mulder!"

"Shhhh, Scully, this is my favorite part of the song…"

I found a dream that I could speak to

A dream that I can call my own

I found a thrill to rest my cheek to

A thrill that I have never known

Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile

Oh, and then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven

For you are mine

At. Last.

at last