The black belongs to Josh...as do the rest of the colorful crayons and characters in the pack. Thank you for sharing the world of Firefly with us, Mr. Whedon, sir.

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Mal sat in the cockpit looking out at the black. For the first time in months, he knew where he was going…and that was exactly…well, nowhere at the moment. But that was all right. He felt strangely content. They were back in the black, where they belonged. And for the first time in months, he didn’t feel lost.

They were only seven now. Mal had made some peace with himself over Wash and Book. He’d known death before but that hadn’t made it any easier. He knew the raw wounds would ache for some time. Best not to forget them though. Best to keep guard on them, less they fester.

He stole a glance at River. Her anguish gone, she watched over Serenity’s controls like a proud mother hen. Kaylee and Simon, last he’d seen, were frittering around in the kitchen, prob’ly finding something wonderful and amazing about every protein pack they stowed. Jayne was subdued, …for now. Mal would have to figure out if that were a good thing or not. Well, keep him fed and that’ll keep him from shootin’ off his mouth…or his guns. Zoe was tore up plenty but she’d come through. Inara…

“Are you ready to get off this heap and back to a civilized life?” “I don’t know”

Inara.

When she had left before, he hadn’t said, “Don’t go” or “Stay” or “Please”. He hadn’t said a gorram thing. Damned pride. Gorram coward.

And then she had gone and he and the rest of the crew had gone into a tailspin. The jobs had mostly gone south and what jobs they had, well, most of them were downright petty.

“Why did you leave?” “Why didn’t you ask me not to?”

Mal couldn’t make that mistake again. He wouldn’t. He checked the time, still an hour or so ‘til chow. With a nod to River, he set off towards the cargo bay…and the shuttle. He would knock first. Good. He would say, “Don’t go.” Maybe “Please don’t go”…no, too much like begging. Hell, he’d get down on his knees if he had to. What if she said “No”? No. No, he wasn’t going to think about that. He was breathing faster than the two flights of stairs warranted. His boots clanged across the metal grating of the catwalk. Maybe he could talk to her tomorrow. Yup, that would be better. He could figure out just what to…

And there she was. Right there in front of him. God, she was beautiful. He felt his stomach drop all the way down to the cargo bay floor. He swallowed – runtse de fwotzoo.

“Mal, I was just coming to see you. I wanted to tell you-“

“No, Inara, I-“

“What?”

“What? Oh, I, uh,... I just wanted to tell you that we’ll be sittin’ down to eat in about an hour”. He turned back to go down the stairs. Gorram coward. And then, the words came out in a rush. Head down, avoiding her eyes, he said it all.

“It’s like I said, Inara, I got no rudder.” His hand played nervously over the railing. He took a deep breath, the breath before the icy plunge. “…but I got a compass, and you’re my north. Hell, ‘Nara, you’re my south, east, and west. You show me the way. When you were gone…it just warn’t right… We…no, I got lost… It just warn’t right.”

He licked his upper lip and bit his thumb. Inara kept staring at the metal grating. She had sucked in her lower lip to keep it from trembling. From where he stood, Mal saw the down turn of her mouth and thought she was frowning. He passed a worried hand across his chin.

“Why did you leave?” “Why didn’t you ask me not to?”

“I know I got no claim on you, so’s I can’t tell you to stay…but I just want to say, I hope you stay, Inara. I truly hope you do.”

All pretense gone, Inara pressed a hand against her trembling lips. Her lower lids filled with tears and threatened to overflow. She could raise her eyes only to the top of Mal’s boots. Worn, weathered, and patched up…just like the coat…just like Serenity…just like him. She nodded her head four times, tiny nods, practically imperceptible…but not to him.

The fog lifted and like the sun, a smile broke out across Mal’s face. He reached out his hand and took her free one, her other hand still fighting for control with her mutinous lips.

“C’mon, Weepy. How’s about a cup ‘o tea?”

Inara started and Mal froze, his hand still lightly in hers. Ai-yah tyen-ah, why did he always say the wrong thing? Three seconds passed – the void was opening again. No, no, no! Then she curled her fingers around his and raised her head with a Mona Lisa smile.

“Well then, Captain, why don’t you show me the way?”

------------------------------------ runtse de fwotzoo - merciful Buddha ai-yah tyen-ah – merciless hell