Author's Note: sorry for the wait... I had exams to study for...

Disclaimer: I know I have completely random disclaimers, like some on some chapters and none on others, but... none of the main characters or places are mine.

It was surprisingly chilly when Serenity docked planetside, her battered flank creaking in the light wind. Inara listed to the sounds the ship made as she folded the last bit of silk, tucking it away in her elegant bag and rising from her crouch. She felt strange, being on the ship as she landed. Usually, Inara was already off in her shuttle, meeting a client. Not that she’d be meeting any of those any time soon, of course… She’d checked the weather on her monitor, and had been mildly startled when the temperature given was at least ten degrees below what she’d expected for this time of year. So Inara brought out her heavy woolen shawl, wrapping it around her shoulders as she lifted her bags (only two; it was amazing how little she actually owned, once she’d folded all the rich things away) and headed for the cargo bay. The others were already there when she arrived, Zoe and Jayne standing off to the side, Kaylee and Simon in the middle, Mal leaning faux-casually against the rail of the stair that led to her shuttle. He looked up when she descended, a small smile on his face. The sadness, most of it, was gone: they had made their peace, and Inara knew- she knew- they would see each other again. Inara let him offer his arm, and laid her hand lightly on his bicep as he escorted her the rest of the way to where the others were. Kaylee and Simon were facing each other, foreheads touching, murmuring things no one else could hear. Inara tilted her head: Kaylee looked different, somehow. Oddly happy. She was clutching Simon’s hands, and Inara caught a dull glint on one very important finger. Hmmm… she and Kaylee would definitely have to have a little girl talk soon. And, Inara thought with a wry smile, they would most certainly be getting the opportunity. She noticed, also, that Zoe did not look as grim as usual. She wasn’t smiling, but her eyes seemed to have a little more life in them, and her head wasn’t back in that hard, Amazonian tilt. She was watching Kaylee and Simon. Jayne, Inara saw, looked like he was fighting back tears. Either that, or fighting back diarrhea. “Okay, people. We ready?” Mal made for the lever to open the hatch, and everybody unconsciously took a step back. The six remaining members of Serenity’s crew, with the exception of her captain, lined up in front of the slowly rising blast door in a tableau eerily reminiscent, Inara thought, of the old netflics she and her girlfriends had coveted years before: those scenes that always leave the viewer with a sick feeling of dread as the heroes line up for execution by the evil villains. It was strange, seeing as only seconds before, she’d been filled with such calm. Now, though, watching that line of light at the bottom of the door grow taller, she wanted to run. But Inara did not run. She stood, stately and composed, in the line. Kaylee, beside her, reached for her hand. She, in turn, took Mal’s. Out of the corner of her eye, Inara saw Kaylee grab Simon’s right hand, and felt like snickering when Simon glanced down the line, saw that everyone else was linked, and then glanced to his left. Jayne. Zoe looked over, saw Simon’s plight, and stepped in between the merc and the doctor. “Come on, boys,” she said, surprising everyone, “if they can, we can.” It was something Wash might have said, though he would have said it with a lot more gusto and probably a sly jab at someone’s manhood along with it. Zoe linked Simon and Jayne, so that they all stood together. Waiting. One half of Inara was groaning. This was so… melodramatic, she wanted to say. Like her tumultuous feelings for Mal. But the other half was warming to the connection, giving in to the family that had so stubbornly claimed her for its own. Then, the door was all the way open, the ramp was down, and there was noise and bustling and people milling around outside, broad light spilling in. Hands dropped, a few coughs sounded, and Jayne muttered something that Inara chose to ignore. She lifted her bags, walked a few steps, then turned. Kaylee moved beside her, her own bags in hand. The two women stared at the four people standing there, all so fierce in their own ways. Kaylee went up and hugged each of them, giving Zoe, Jayne and Mal kisses on the cheek. She saved Simon for last, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Simon let her go with a sigh, and pressed his lips to her forehead. Kaylee returned to the older woman’s side, and it was Inara’s turn. She went to Jayne first, on the end of the line. Inara opened her mouth, then closed it, not knowing what to say. Jayne looked uncomfortable. Inara tried again. “Take care of yourself, Jayne,” she said. Jayne swallowed, and nodded. “You too,” he grunted. As she was about to move on to Zoe, the big man suddenly grabbed her and hugged her, letting her go just as quickly. Inara smiled at him. Jayne shoved his hands in his pockets and mumbled. Zoe preempted Inara’s goodbye by holding out a hand. Inara took it silently, squeezing back as Zoe shook. “Be careful,” Inara said. “Take care of her,” Zoe said. Inara nodded. “Take care of him,” Inara whispered after a moment. It was Zoe’s turn to nod. When Inara got to Simon, he took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it gently. “It’s been an honor, no matter what happens,” he said gravely. “It has been my honor as well, Simon Tam,” she returned. “You will find your sister,” she told him, just as seriously. He held her gaze, and kissed her hand one more time. Then, she was in front of Mal. For a second, neither of them spoke. Then, Inara kissed his left cheek, then his right. “I love you,” she said, just loud enough for him to hear. “I’ll come back,” he replied, equally low. His grip on her hand, which she’d only just noticed, was desperate. “I’ll come back.” “Be safe.” “You too,” he told her seriously. “You do whatever you need to do to make sure you stay safe.” And then she was with Kaylee, and they were walking out to where a small taxi ship was waiting, and they were waving, and there were tears, and Serenity was getting farther and farther away, and then there was a corner and Serenity was gone. “So that’s that,” Mal said after the taxi disappeared from view. “That’s that,” Jayne repeated. “Time to go find us a rat,” he said harshly. “Kyle Tremain,” Simon added. “I have his address printed on the map at the table.” He jogged up the stairs behind them and vanished into one of the corridors. When he returned, Jayne and Zoe had the newest mule out and ready to go, with Mal waiting by the door closing mechanism. Simon jumped onto the mule and it chugged out of the ship. Mal, with one hard yank, started the blast door sliding shut. He strode out and down the ramp, stepping onto the mule as it left the ramp. Simon handed Zoe, who was driving, a slick map with a large red dot and the words ‘Tremain’s home’ neatly printed beside it. “This it?” “Mm-hmm.” “Doc?” It was Mal. “Yes?” Simon turned to face his captain, who was watching him carefully. “When we find this guy, he’s like as not to… uh, not tell us what we want to know. So we’re gonna probably have to persuade him to cooperate. You gonna be okay with that?” “If he can lead us to my sister, then I’m okay with whatever you have to do,” Simon stated baldly. Mal remembered thinking once about how that boy had a core of steel. He was seeing that core now. “Good.”

TBC