Author's note: It's finished! I'm not 100 percent happy with the end, but I'm NEVER satisfied.

~

River set the letter on Simon’s grave and smiled. The last several weeks had consisted of Inara asking her if she was all right and Mal trailing her relentlessly. But there was nothing wrong. Not anymore. Simon was okay, and that was what mattered. They all thought that he’d taken care of her, and in a sense he had. But the past year, she’d taken care of him. To River, death was a necessity. It wasn’t sad; it was simply something that had to happen. It was a necessity for her to kill things, just as it was a necessity for things to die. Simon had managed to be away from his love for nearly a year, and it was time for him to go. She knew she’d see him again someday, and she knew he’d be happy until then. She took one more look at the side-by-side graves, smiled, and started walking back toward the ship.

~

"I missed you." She reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead. "I missed you so much." His automatic response to having his hair toyed with was to pull her hands into his own, and she giggled. "More than you can imagine." "You were awful brave, though. An’ you waited. There was parta me that thought you wouldn’t." Simon closed his eyes. "I never thought I’d hear you again." "Silly, ya heard me every day." "It wasn’t the same. I missed you." "Ya said that already." "It’s just…what if this is just something I’ve dreamed up because I can’t find you. I couldn’t live with that, bao bei." She kissed him. "It’s real," she promised him. "I won’t leave ya again. Didn’t wanta leave ya in the first place." "I’m sorry for being such an idiot and failing to deal with your symptoms as soon as they appeared. Part of me…part of me thinks I killed you." Kaylee’s eyes widened. "No! Don’t you ever say that. Weren’t your fault anymore’n it were my fault. You’d never do anythin’ to hurt me, Simon, an’ you know it." He flattened her against his chest, silently vowing to never to let her go. "I love you," he murmured, suddenly unable to catch his breath. "Oh, Kaylee." He kissed the crown of her head, her eyelids, anywhere he could reach. "Relax, sweetie." Kaylee pulled back slightly. "We got all the time in the ‘verse." She smiled up at him. "Oh, hey! Ya ever wanna look in on someone, just concentrate real hard on somethin’ bout ‘em, an’ there they’ll be. That’s how I checked on you." She kissed his nose. "Betcha can’t guess what I thought ‘bout," she teased. Simon kissed her. "Betcha I can." Kaylee sighed. "Definitely missed this part." He laughed and kissed her again. "What did you say about having all the time in the ‘verse?" "Changed my mind."

~

River leaned back in the pilot’s chair and smiled. "It’s okay," she told Mal. "I’m sorry, li’l one." He sat down next to her. "I knew somethin’ was gonna happen on that job, somethin’ always does. I’m just sorry it had to be your brother." River rolled her eyes. "He found his light," she explained patiently, the way he’d spoken to her on more than one occasion. "You keep sayin’ that, but I ain’t too sure I know what it is ya mean." "He missed her so much he cursed himself every breath because he was able to breathe and she wasn’t. It was a relief when he died. He’s happy. He can see her and feel her and smell her and likely copulate with her." She paused, enjoying Mal’s visible shudder. "He’s happy." "What about you, li’l one?" She started flicking switches, preparing for takeoff. "You trust me with your ship, but you don’t trust me to care for myself?" Mal studied his pilot for a long moment. "Just seemed like you and your brother were real close is all." "By necessity." She was expertly programming the nav. "To Whitefall next?" He nodded. "What do you mean, by necessity?" "I was alone. Scared. Nothing made sense. Being rescued was like an awakening from a long comatose sleep. Everything was new and confusing. Simon was the only thing I knew, so I hung onto him. Tethered. You’re like family now. Captain Daddy." Mal looked over at her. “You’ll take care of me,” she explained. “Let’s go for a drive.”