He could not believe the beautiful, sleeping woman he held in his arms. She was like the spun fairy glass he remembered from his childhood: delicate, fragile and awe inspiring all at the same time. She deserved light and lovely things, not the darkness that raged through his soul daily, but in some wild, improbable way, she chose him. Him out of the vast 'verse of mankind to be hers. He only prayed that whatever good she saw in him made him worthy in some small way. Long brown lashes fluttered open and deep, probing eyes stared into his. "Mornin' sweetheart." Mal's voice was raspy with emotion. Her brown eyes continued to stare into his. Mal felt himself begin to get uncomfortable from her penetrating and calculating stare. "Darlin'?" "Saw me as actual and whole when everyone else was afraid. Accepted as I am now, not what I once was or what you wanted me to be." "That I did darlin', that I did." Mal smiled as he leaned down to take River's lips in a tender kiss.