A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this one posted - had a big ol' plot hole in three of these prompts that had to be fixed - Thanks to Leiasky and Leighkohl1 for helping to snap me out of my writer's block funk!

Thanks to Leiasky for the beta ... and continued encouragement.

Link to Chapter 2

Link to Chapter 1

Link to prompt table.

And don't forget to comment ... I'd hate to send Reavers after ya - they're so messy! :op

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The Right To Love - Chapter 3 (Prompts 16-20)

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016. Current

Simon could not remember being on prettier planet. The sky overhead was as blue as any he’d ever seen and the expanse of ocean that stretched out before him was even bluer than that.

Lying back in the soft sand with a sigh, he closed his eyes, feeling the sun fall down on his bare chest. He could just hear the sound of Kaylee and his sister, frolicking in the water and it was with this contented sound filling his ears that he fell into a restful sleep.

“Time to wake up, sweetie.”

Kaylee’s hot breath and very wet body were molded onto Simon as he came to with a start. He brought his arms around her as she laid her wet, swimsuit-clad body on top of him and rolled over with her, bringing them both to their sides. “Well, hello,” he murmured, kissing her passionately and tasting the sea salt on her lips. “Hmm, hello,” she murmured into his mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close.

Running his hands down behind her, he flattened his palm against the small of back and pressed her to him, causing her to gasp slightly as she felt his hardening length brush against her thigh. “Why, Simon,” she murmured again, moving her mouth from his and kissing him along his cheek and ear and down his neck. “I do believe you’re happy to see me.”

His voice, husky with desire and his eyes clouded with passion, he intoned against her bare shoulder, “Always,” causing a delicious shiver to run down her spine.

Giggling slightly against him, Kaylee worked her hands over his muscled back, and into his hair, returning her lips to his and kissing him fiercely, her tongue working against his with passion and need. Simon returned her ministrations, working his hands along her back and cupping her backside to him.

Pulling his mouth from hers for just a moment, he murmured, “Not that I want to bring her up at this very moment, but where is my sister?”

Kaylee laughed even as she moved her lips to his ear. “She went back to the ship, to give us some private time.”

Smiling, Simon said quietly, “Oh, then I really owe her.”

“Me too,” Kaylee whispered, delighting in the feel of Simon’s hands as they moved along her hip.

Sliding one hand underneath her wet suit, he allowed his fingers to ghost along the curve of her inner hip, running his fingers just at the top of her apex. Gasping against his mouth at the tease, Kaylee’s head fell back a bit, as he increased the pressure against her and worked his fingers lower.

Bringing her own desire filled eyes to meet his, she asked breathlessly, “Here? Now?”

Glancing around, Simon knew they were on a private beach, that had been his one contingency for the day and he had paid dearly for it too, but he didn’t care, not if it meant he got to ravage Kaylee under the light of a bright hot sun. Raising his eyebrows mischievously, he continued to kiss along her neck as he answered, “Why not?”

Kaylee wasn’t about to argue with him, especially not as he rubbed first one finger and then another against her aching bundle of nerves, before sliding both inside her. Her hips thrust into his hand and she cried out his name softly, as he worked them inside of her, pressing more urgent kisses to her throat and collarbone.

“Wode tian, Simon,” she told him breathlessly, causing his lips to curl into a grin. “I had no idea the beach’d make you so horny,” she told him, moving restlessly against him as his motions caused her body to tremble.

“It’s not the beach, it’s the ocean,” he told her, pulling his head from her neck and watching as her face contorted with delight at the fingers he still had deep inside her. “I like the sound of the waves,” he added, bringing his mouth back to hers, and swallowing the sound of her shouted cry as he pushed her over the edge, her body clenching tightly at his thrusting fingers.

Finishing with a deep and slow kiss, Kaylee pulled back to regard him, her eyes full of satisfaction. “That was nice,” she told him, her lips curling into a sated smile.

Pouting at her, Simon pulled his fingers from her and then rubbed them against the outside of her suit, delighting as he caused a small moan to come from her again. “Just nice?” he asked, leaning down and catching her lower lip with his teeth while pulling it into his mouth.

Her eyes fluttering open, Kaylee ran her own hand down his muscled torso and cupped him through his swimsuit. “Well, it could be better,” she told him slyly, moving towards him and rubbing their hips together and getting a feral groan to rumble from deep within him.

“You’re sure River went back to the ship?” he asked, even as he ran his hands up her now sun-kissed skin and into her hair.

Nodding once, Kaylee didn’t even form an answer as she met his lips with hers, driving her tongue deep and getting another moan to sound from deep within him. Pressing herself tight against his body, Kaylee continued to explore his mouth, her hands running from his hair down his chest, stopping to pinch each nipple and then roaming lower to his muscled stomach.

As she again brought her hand to the front of his suit, she could feel his hardness already and smiled. “Well, that didn’t take long,” she teased, gasping when he unexpectedly ran a hand down her back and goosed her back side. Smiling into his mouth, she ran her fingers under the elastic band of his swim trunks, until they had just ghosted over his arousal. “Little tight in there, isn’t it, honey?” she asked him, noting the way his eyes rolled into the back of his head as her slim fingers coiled around him and pulled slowly.

“Kaylee,” he breathed, his eyes closed, his lips parted as he continued to pant her name. Working him free of his suit, Kaylee smiled wickedly as she eyed all of him and again worked her hand slowly down his length. Bringing her mouth back to his, she whispered hotly, “How’s that?”

Opening his desire-filled eyes to her, he murmured with just the hint of a smile, “Uh, nice.”

Giggling at his tease, she again crushed her lips to his while at the same time increasing the rhythm and motion of her strokes. Simon had to pull his mouth away from hers as she continued her actions, panting into her hair as her hands brought him to the edge. Dropping his head to her shoulder, he again kissed the skin there, nipping at it with his teeth. As she felt him pulse in her hand, Kaylee pressed herself tighter to him, and bringing her mouth to his ear, whispered, “Simon, I want you.”

Lifting his head to meet her gaze, he needed no further encouragement. Working his hand around from her backside, he again pressed his fingers along her suit and pushed over the wet material. As Kaylee felt his hand move against her, she moaned softly and in one swift motion, pressed her hands along his lower back, joining them.

Rolling over, so Simon was on his back and she was now lying on top of him Kaylee met each of his movements with her own, bringing them both quickly to a heady release. With cries of each other’s names that were swallowed by the sound of the waves and their mouths, Kaylee’s body tightened deliciously first, before Simon filled her and soon they were both lying in a heap of sweaty and tangled limbs.

As Kaylee panted against his chest, she lifted her head up to look at him, a wide smile playing across her features. “That was very nice,” she told him slyly, running a hand up and through his hair.

Smiling at her through heavy eyelids, Simon rolled them back onto their sides, staying within her and holding her tight. “Very, very nice,” he murmured back, reaching out to capture her already swollen lips in another deep kiss.

When they parted, Simon could only open his eyes to gaze into Kaylee’s perfect face. Running a hand down her cheek, he stared for several moments before whispering, “You are amazing.”

Her eyes, which had started to drift closed, opened quickly and her smile again filled her features. “Really?” she asked, her tone quiet, as if afraid to break the spell that had settled upon them.

Returning her grin and giving her another kiss, Simon told her, “Really. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”

Shrugging lightly, Kaylee snuggled into him and said, “I don’t know, maybe the cap’n when I fixed somethin’, but no one I’ve ever been sexin’, that’s for sure.” Looking to him again, Simon couldn’t believe that he actually saw her blush. But her cheeks turned just a bit of pink as she added, “An’ certainly nobody so swai ever tol’ me that before.”

Simon felt a great sense of pride and sadness at her comment. Pride that he could make her blush, as that was something Simon had honestly thought the forthright woman incapable of, but sad that no one, no lover, had ever told her how unbelievably incredible she was. As he kissed her again, he vowed to be sure that he never forgot to utter those words to her everyday of his life.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” Kaylee asked innocently as the silence between them grew longer.

Shaking his head quickly, Simon told her, “Just about you.”

She smiled again, in the process melting his heart. And then her eyebrows wiggled dangerously and Simon felt a small bit of trepidation creep up his spine. “Kaylee?” he asked, his tone one of warning. “What are you thinking?”

Looking up towards the water, she glanced back to him and said, “That the last one to the water’s gonna have to do my dishes for a month.” And with that, she rose, faster than Simon would have guessed, being sure to readjust her suit before she took off at a tear towards the shoreline.

Fumbling with his own swim trunks, he knew he’d never beat her. But as he ran after her, he knew he could catch her, right around the waist … and pull her into the water … and kiss her again as the waves beat around them. Increasing his run, he felt the sun beating down from overhead and heard her laughter and wondered if this wasn’t the perfect day.

017. Illness

How could he have been so stupid? He was a doctor, wasn’t he? And fairly smart? So as Simon gingerly put one arm into his suddenly very rough shirt and then the other, he wondered how he could be so dumb.

“Not dumb, just manly.” River’s voice from his doorway only brought an even bigger grimace to his features. Turning towards the sound, he saw her eyes as they peeked around the half-open screen door.

“Not now, River,” he said tiredly, working as slowly as he could to button his shirt. Each pull of the material over his impressively red shoulders and chest only caused him to wince in pain and he had to fight the very real urge to cry out.

“You should have put lotion on,” she told him, leaning against the door frame. “Just like when you were ten and you wore those really tiny trunks and –“

“Enough, River,” Simon told her, moving towards the door and breezing past her towards the infirmary. Skipping after him, she said, “I bet Kaylee putting on lotion will be better than mother.”

Turning to her with a glare in his eyes that could have melted steel, he pointed a finger past her and said, “Out.”

With a sigh, she gave him her best “you are such a boob” look and flitted away. With a sigh of his own, Simon turned back to the infirmary, finding any movement particularly painful at the moment. As he was stooping to look for some aloe lotion he was sure he’d stocked, he felt a pair of very nimble hands run along his lower back and around to the front of him.

Straightening quickly, he felt Kaylee’s hot breath as she whispered against his neck, “Mornin’, sweetie.”

“Good morning,” he said trying desperately to keep the pain from his voice. Kaylee worked her hands up the front of him, sliding them towards his heart, and each pass of her fingers lit his skin on fire, and not in the good way. His shirt felt like sandpaper against his skin.

Finally, unable to take it, Simon stepped away from her and turned to face her, meeting her pout. “What s’matter, sweetie?” she asked him, advancing on him again and forcing Simon to take another step back, his already hurting shoulders hitting the wall.

Noting his distress, Kaylee stopped abruptly, a bit of concern clouding her features. “Simon, you okay?”

Grinning sheepishly, Simon told her, “Yes, Kaylee, I’m fine. Just a bit too much sun from yesterday, that’s all.”

With her hands on her hips, Kaylee asked, “You got burnt, din’t ya?”

Rolling his eyes, Simon waved her off, even as he took the tube of aloe he’d found and placed it in his pocket. “Burned? No, nothing that bad. Just a little sensitive.”

“Red like a lobster,” River called, her voice floating into the room, and causing Simon to groan, his chin falling to his chest.

Kaylee looked towards the door as River again came into view and asked her, “What, sweetie?”

“Red, like a lobster,” she repeated, going to Kaylee’s side and threading her arm through the mechanic’s. Leaning in, she whispered, loud enough for Simon to hear, “He has very sensitive skin.”

Grinning widely, Kaylee looked back to him, her eyes dancing up and down his body even as her tongue licked her lips. “Oh, trust me, honey, I know that.”

Rolling her eyes at the overly-sexed young woman, River said as she again wandered away, “He needs help, but he won’t ask.” And then she was gone.

Moving towards him with her own mischievous grin on her features, Kaylee reached out a light hand to his arm and asked, “Is that true? You need some help?”

Looking to her, Simon could not help but smile at her himself, despite the pain in his shoulders and chest. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Holding up her forefinger and thumb so they were barely an inch a part, she told him, “Just a lil’ bit.”

“Yeah, well, don’t be, because it hurts,” he finally whined, dropping onto a stool.

Feeling his pain, as Kaylee had lived through a few wicked sunburns in her day, she moved towards him and pulled him to his feet. “Well, then, let me help you sweetie. You got the cream?”

As she asked the question, they stepped from the infirmary and ran smack into Jayne, who of course, heard Kaylee’s inquiry. Raising a callous eyebrow, he sneered at Simon and asked, “Cream, doc? That don’t sound good.”

Looking to Jayne with pure menace, Simon growled, “For a sunburn, Jayne. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“He’s comfortable there.” River’s voice again sailed down to them from whichever perch she was hiding on now.

Simon and Kaylee could only smirk, as Jayne turned his head upward, looking for River and shouting, “Hey!”

Wandering away quickly, they made it back to Simon’s bunk. In such a rush to get out of his overly scratchy shirt, Simon already had his buttons undone by the time Kaylee had shut the door and joined him on the bed. However, as he tried to pull his arm back out, he winced, letting out a low groan and Kaylee immediately moved to help him. “Let me do it, sweetie,” she told him, moving behind him on the bed, and pulling out first one arm and then the other. As she exposed his heavily burnt shoulders, Kaylee hissed in a breath between her clenched teeth.

“Oh, honey,” Kaylee murmured, moving around to the front of him and looking even more sad for him as she noticed the same angry color on his normally pale chest. “River wasn’t kiddin’.”

“No, unfortunately not,” he told her, feeling tired from the minor case of sun stroke he was also no doubt suffering from.

Kissing him lightly, Kaylee told him, “Well, you just let nurse Kaylee take care of you.”

Smiling wickedly at her, Simon reached into his pocket and handed her the tube of lotion. “You know, normally, I would probably find this incredibly sexy.” Looking to her again as her eyes widened at his admission, he told her, “But at the moment, it’s the farthest thing from my mind.”

Pouting again, Kaylee squeezed out some of the cool gel and rubbed it into her hands. Moving to do his shoulders first, she began to apply the salve, noting the way Simon’s head leaned back against her as his burning skin got some relief.

Leaning her head down to his ear, she whispered, “Yeah, well, I’ll just be sure to keep it in mind for the future.”

Simon could only chuckle at her, finding that as Kaylee tended to him, he felt the pain from his sunburn receding at an alarming rate.

018. Health

Simon awoke to an empty bed and felt a pout forming on his lips. When exactly he’d started pouting he wasn’t sure, but he knew that waking up with no Kaylee beside him was more than enough of a reason to feel disappointed.

They’d already been distant enough from one another this week and Simon was ready to remedy that. His sunburn had finally faded to a nice tan and his skin no longer burned with every touch of fabric or fingers. Kaylee had pouted a great deal in the last few days as well, hating to see Simon’s face contort with pain every time she tried to touch him. For the first time since Miranda, they’d been forced to sleep apart and Simon was amazed at the effect her absence had on him.

Rolling out of bed, he took his alone time to shower and dress, meticulously smoothing his hair and fastidiously fixing his clothes. Such things rarely seemed important anymore – especially when his arms were full of a certain voluptuous mechanic whose goal in life, it appeared, was divesting him of his clothing as fast as possible. But he was healthy now, and that meant an evening of wining and dining his beautiful girlfriend, who had been more than patient.

Smiling softly at the mere thought of Kaylee, Simon headed out of his bunk and towards the stairs to the galley, hoping to grab something to eat before seeking her out. Pausing on the first stair, he heard the distinct sound of someone inside his infirmary and felt the smile slide off his features. If Jayne had decided to go tearing through his things …

Rounding the corner, he paused in the doorway, uncertain what to make of the sight before him. It was so uncommon now – or at least since Miranda. But there again was River, his precocious little sister, frantically pawing through his medicine cabinet, muttering all the while in a crazed tone that set him on edge.

Moving towards her quickly, Simon reached for her hands, stilling them as she started at his touch. “River,” he intoned quietly, feeling her frantic heartbeat under his hand as he wrapped his arms around hers from behind and held them tightly to her chest.

“Mei mei, what are you looking for?” Simon’s own heart was racing at her unexpected and vaguely reminiscent behavior.

“Pain,” she murmured, her body trembling as she turned in his arms. Gripping tightly at his shirt, River’s liquid eyes lifted to his face and Simon felt his breath catch at the paleness of her features. “So much pain.”

“Where, mei mei?” He questioned hurriedly, hands roving over her arms and shoulders, while his eyes studied her intently. “Where does it hurt?”

Shaking her head once, River’s hair swung past her face in an opaque curtain. “Not me,” she told him. Again meeting his gaze, she stared for a moment, large brown eyes locked with his. Lifting a shaky hand to his cheek, she murmured, “You.”

Releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Simon shook his head. Reaching for the hand she held to his face, he kissed it gently, before giving it a light squeeze. “River, I’m fine. My sunburn is gone.” Pulling down on the collar of his shirt, he exposed the top of his now brown chest. “See?”

River’s fingers ghosted lightly over the tanned skin, her eyes intently studying the small patch of his neck. “It doesn’t hurt?” she whispered, raising her gaze back to his.

Smiling softly, Simon told her, “No, mei mei. It doesn’t hurt. I’m okay.”

River kept staring, trying to determine the source of the pain she’d felt so acutely no more than seconds before. It had been a stab of something, something visceral and harsh and River had been convinced it had come from her brother. But as he stood before her now, his face full of a hope and youthfulness she had not seen for months, she could feel none of that trepidation.

Hugging him suddenly, River told him, “Sorry. Sorry I made a mess.”

Holding her back, he sighed. “That’s all right. I’m used to it.”

“Don’t be mean,” she scolded, stepping back and swatting playfully at his arm. “You’re healthy now, Kaylee will let me be a brat again.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Simon eyed his younger sister warily. “What are you talking about?” As River clasped her hands behind her back and swayed back and forth, her face broke into the widest grin, sending Simon’s heart into his throat. “River? What did you do?”

Shrugging easily, she floated back towards the door and teased, “Made Kaylee a promise.”

“What kind of promise?” Simon was torn between fearing a pact between his girlfriend and his sister and enjoying the fact that they were so close.

Rolling her eyes at his uncalled for anxiety, she reported, “Kaylee said I couldn’t be my normal bratty self while you were sick.” Nodding towards him, she smiled wide again and added, “Not sick anymore.”

Sighing heavily, Simon felt his fear leave him in a rush, replaced instead with understanding. “So that’s why you were being so nice?”

Nodding, River told him, “Kaylee said.”

Approaching her, Simon decided he could give as good as he got. “So, does that mean that if I want you to do something I only have to get Kaylee to ask?”

Again hitting at his arm, River fixed him with her best little sister look and stated, “Don’t be a boob.”

Simon could only chuckle as she twirled out of the room, her previous odd behavior forgotten in light of her current happiness.

019. Fight

“Malcolm Reynolds, you are the most … Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou!” Inara’s shout echoed through the cargo bay. Chucking Mal’s brown coat to him as he stood dumbfounded on the catwalk, she slammed the shuttle door shut, the sharp noise reverberating through the cavernous space.

Mal stared at the shut door for a long minute before stooping to pick up the crumpled coat at his feet. “Huh,” he murmured absently before turning to leave. How exactly he’d gotten in so much trouble, he wasn’t rightly sure. He’d just asked about her Companion status, hadn’t he? Asked about the Guild and whether or not she’d be looking for clients during their next job. It was a fair question … even if his motives for asking hadn’t exactly been pure.

“Problem, sir?” Zoe questioned, meeting his confused expression with a cocked eyebrow.

He turned sharply to find her standing against the railing, one of those unreadable expressions on her smooth features. Pointing a finger towards the shuttle, he told her, “That woman is infuriatin’. I din’t even do nothing.”

Zoe’s only response was to simply continue to stare at him, her features conveying her utter disbelief that he’d done nothing to elicit the Companion’s behavior.

Sighing again, Mal pulled his coat on, shrugging into the worn leather as if it might shield him from the scolding he knew he was in for. Not meeting his first mate’s gaze, he continued in a mutter, “All right, well, maybe I might o’ implied somethin’.”

Rubbing a hand over her weary eyes, Zoe sighed and asked, “Are you really that stupid, sir?”

“Hey!” He shouted indignantly, turning and heading down the nearest set of stairs, more than anxious to leave this conversation behind. “Now I resent what you’re implyin’.”

“Don’t make it less true,” Zoe retorted, following close on his heels. Since Miranda, the Captain and Inara had been ridiculously close to something more than their normal antagonistic relationship, but it seemed at every turn, Mal was determined to ruin it. And Zoe was lonely enough for them all. She refused to watch her best friend suffer simply because he could be an idiot.

Whirling as he hit the cargo bay floor, Mal’s eyes held a hint of warning as he bit out, “I don’t recall me an’ ‘Nara fightin’ bein’ anyone’s business but our own.”

Zoe swallowed and then barreled ahead. She’d been on the receiving end of Mal’s anger before and lived to tell the tale. “It is when you’re bein’ stupid.” Mal’s mouth gaped open searching for a retort to her unexpected behavior. Zoe simply took his minute of indecision to continue. “Look, Mal, I ain’t sayin’ relationships are easy an’ I ain’t sayin’ you an’ ‘Nara are gonna have an easy go of it, but don’t you think you at least try not to be a fei fei de pi yan?”

Mal stared for a minute longer, his steely blue eyes conveying a level of conflict Zoe had only seen a handful of times before. Finally, dropping his eyes to the decking, he murmured, “Zoe, you know as well as me I ain’t got nothin’ to give Inara.”

Even more annoyed at his defeatist attitude, Zoe took a handful of steps forward, invading his personal space. “Sir, we’ve been friends for a long while now, but I hear you talk like that again an’ I will be forced to hit you.”

Searching eyes studied her face and Zoe waited for Mal to say something. She was really waiting for him to laugh, make a joke and tell her to not be so serious – that of course, he was teasing and had only wanted to rile Inara like so many times before. But the smile never came, his features still set in a grim mask of resignation and suffering. “Zo, it ain’t … A man like me don’t got a chance of makin’ someone like her happy.”

“An’ how do you know?” Zoe stared right back, unwilling to give in to his pity party. “I never quite figured you for a coward, sir.”

Clenching his fists at his sides, Mal fought the overwhelming urge to punch his first mate. He and Zoe had been through too much together for him to end it now and only because she was telling the truth. “It ain’t about that,” he ground out, wishing he believed it.

Taking a step back, Zoe swept her eyes up and down his tense form appraisingly. “O’ course it ain’t,” she murmured, and then turned, leaving the bay.

Leaving Mal to stare off after her, even more conflicted than he’d been before. Leaving Inara, unseen in the shadow of the shuttle’s doorway to wonder just what was next for her and Serenity’s Captain.

020. Still

The ship was silent. It was nighttime, at least according to Serenity’s internal time, and the decks were empty, everyone secreted away in their bunks. Or, in the case of Simon and Kaylee, sharing one.

River padded through the ship, her feet bare once again, the cold grating seeping into the soles of her feet and sending goose bumps along her pale skin. She knew if anyone should catch her she’d be scolded for having no boots, not even socks, to insulate her delicate digits from the cold, but she didn’t care. Wandering Serenity with bare feet was the only way to ensure she heard everything – that she didn’t miss something vital.

She knew her behavior earlier that day in the infirmary had been irrational, but not uncalled for, although the lack of worry from Simon had thrown her. When she’d felt Inara and the Captain’s pain a few hours later, she’d considered that maybe she’d been wrong – it was their discomfort and isolation, not Simon’s that she had to be concerned with. But as it faded into an ache that both of the stubborn adults had grown accustomed to, River dismissed that idea. It had to be something else.

Reaching for the bridge, River found it empty, relieved that Zoe had decided to sleep in her own bunk for the night. Sitting on the bridge, staring at the stars was the only place River could feel any kind of connection to the ‘verse at large. Those twinkling bits of light smiled to her and whispered in her ear, telling her their secrets, intoning their warnings.

Curling into the pilot’s seat, she focused on them again, watching as they winked in a random pattern, burnt out bulbs that still radiated light across the light years. River closed her eyes, letting out and taking in one slow breath after the other, hoping to still the fear she felt welling in her heart. But despite her best attempts, she could not get the stars to sing to her and she was only left with a vague feeling of disappointment as the silent night stretched on.

***

Simon jolted awake, surprised to find his heart racing in the middle of what had been a pleasant dream. Glancing down, he made out the top of Kaylee’s head, her honey-gold hair splayed across his bare chest as she slept with one arm wrapped possessively around his waist. The ghost of a smile on his lips, Simon tightened the arm he had around her shoulders just a bit, settling his cheek back against the top of her hair and letting out a contented sigh.

He tried to drift off, using the stillness of the surrounding ship to slow his heart rate. Of course, then his stomach began protesting … he and Kaylee had missed dinner, both so intent in making up for the “lost time” his sunburn had caused. Simon felt a wider smile tug at his lips as he remembered finding Kaylee in the engine room and all but tackling her to the ground. As he’d suspected, getting dressed that morning had been a waste of time.

“Is not.”

Kaylee’s sleepy mumble forced Simon’s eyes open. In the dim light filtering through the shut screen to his room, he could just make out her features. Her forehead was furrowed, the small crinkle just above her nose indicating that she was dreaming. As she rubbed her cheek against his chest, further snuggling into his side, he heard her mutter, “S’renity’s beautiful.”

His heart swelling with more love for this precious woman lying beside him, Simon kissed her forehead lightly and murmured, “You’re beautiful.”

Still asleep, Kaylee’s features smoothed at the sound of his voice. “Mmm, Simon,” she purred back, the arm around his waist tightening.

Kaylee settled after that and while Simon found sleep would not come, he was more than content to stay awake, his hand gently running up and down her bare arm as the quiet night stretched on.

***

Coming up: Chapter 4 - and the start of some severe angst ... c'mon, it couldn't stay fluffy forever!