TITLE: The Discovery Trip AUTHOR: Erin M. Blair E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net FEEDBACK: Yes, please. DISTRIBUTION: OK to Gossamer, Ephemeral, After the Fact, etc. RATING: PG CATEGORIES: VA --- Vignette, Angst KEYWORDS: Missing scene. Melissa Scully/Dana Scully friendship. SPOILERS: One Breath DATE: Completed February 1, 2005. DISCLAIMER: Melissa Scully isn't mine; she belongs to Chris Carter. SUMMARY: Melissa discovers where she needs to be. NOTES: I would like to thank my beta reader, Jen, for helping me with this story. It was fun breaking out and exploring Melissa Scully. She had so much potential to be explored on the show. :) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Melissa was bored. She had spent months trying to find herself. She saw beautiful scenery along the way until she stopped at the beach at her old stomping grounds in San Diego. Looking at the tides rolling up to the shore always relaxed her - it made her feel so alive, so happy. She had been having problems with her family, especially with her mother, for years. They never understood her, unlike with Dana. She smiled sadly, slowly, feeling as though she had disappointed them. She knew that she needed some breathing room from all the anger, the hurt, and the pain from all the arguments they'd had over her future. She felt as though she would choke from the heartache that her parents had caused her. They wanted her to settle down, to find a job, and to get married. They wanted her to have a boring, stable life away from the auras and the feelings of being part of the New Age way of thinking. This trip felt right to her - it made her forget the pain of being away from her family, especially Dana. When she thought of her, she felt tense, that something wasn't quite right. She couldn't put a finger on it, but something told her that she was needed back in DC. Dana needed her now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~