A/N: Okay, if you can't tell, I'm anxious to wrap this story up, so here is the penultimate chapter. I'll probably post the final chapter before the week's out. I hope you enjoy.

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15

Link to prompt table

Thanks once again to Leiasky for the beta.

Everyone's comments have been so great - thanks for taking the time to write them and please, keep them coming! I crave positive reinforcement!

P.S. There's not a whole lotta fluff in these here parts, but there will be in the next!

*** The Right To Love - Chapter 16 (Prompts 91-95) ***

091. Visions

“She ain’t awake yet,” Mal told him harshly, towering over Simon as he made a few notes in Inara’s chart.

Turning to face him with a small sigh, Simon looked into his captain’s hard gaze and said, “I know, Mal. Unfortunately, it’s not an exact science. Her body might need the extra time.”

His eyes flickering quickly over to Inara and then back to Simon, he growled, “It’s been fourteen ruttin’ hours. How much time she gonna need?”

Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, Simon tried not to let his exhaustion or his own anxiety color his reaction. “I don’t know, Mal. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” the larger man bit out, advancing on Simon and giving the doctor no choice but to back up against the wall. “That’s funny, ‘cause I’m thinkin’ you should be more than sorry, seein’ as how this is yer fault!”

His eyes widening with shock, Simon’s mouth worked silently for a moment before he finally blurted out, “How?”

“If you’da done your ruttin’ job an’ left Kaylee be for a few hours ‘Nara wouldn’ta come back here alone!” Mal’s eyes burned with anger as Simon followed his logic and his cheeks flushed. “But since you can’t keep it in yer pants, ‘Nara’s sufferin’!”

“I … we … I never …” Simon had no response for the man’s accusation, knowing deep down that he was probably right. Although Simon also feared that had he not gone to find Inara and Kaylee, his fiancée could have ended up back in Niska’s clutches as well. “I’m sorry, captain,” he finally murmured, dropping his eyes to the floor.

Fisting his hands into his shirt, Mal shoved the boy roughly against the wall and whispered vehemently, “You should be.”

“Cap’n!”

Kaylee’s frightful voice startled them both and Mal dropped the doctor back to his feet as he whirled to face his mechanic. “I blame you, too,” he told her, stalking back to Inara’s side and sitting down in a huff.

“Blame me?” Kaylee’s eyes went wide, tears immediately filling them as she read the captain’s anger. “Fer what? What’d I do?”

“You left her alone,” Mal growled, his eyes now focused back on Inara. “You let her get snatched.”

As Kaylee’s eyes overflowed, Simon stepped forward, and told the man, “Mal, you’re out of line. It wasn’t Kaylee’s fault. I’m the one that went to find them. Blame me if you want, but not Kaylee.” Looking to her pained expression, Simon glared at the back of Mal’s head and ordered him, “You need to apologize.”

“Apologize?” This was rich. Standing quickly, Mal shoved the stool back and it banged against the cabinets with a thud. His angry eyes darting between Kaylee’s distraught face and Simon’s resigned one, Mal turned his fury on the doc, and said, “I ain’t apologizin’ for nothin’! She coulda died! Are you missin’ that?”

“No, Mal,” Simon told him, his own anger rising. “But if Kaylee had been with her, she could have ended up back there as well! And I’m not the one who pissed off a man like Adeli Niska in the first place!”

With no warning, Mal balled up his fist and punched Simon cleanly on the jaw, causing the younger man to stagger back a bit. Grabbing at his now throbbing face, Simon tasted blood as he realized he’d bit his tongue. Straightening back up, he felt Kaylee’s arms around his shoulders as she tried to support him, but choosing instead to stride back to the captain, Simon said sharply, “If Inara wakes up or needs anything, come and get me. I’ll be in our bunk.”

In silence, Simon walked out, reaching for Kaylee’s hand and pulling her along behind him. She went willingly, more than happy to be out from under the captain’s irate glare. He watched them go, his chest still heaving with anger and guilt. He knew Simon was right; he had caused this to happen, not the doc and certainly not lil’ Kaylee. It was him, he was the danger; always had been, always would be.

With another sigh, he settled back at Inara’s side. Taking her hand, he said softly, “I never envisioned nothin’ like this happenin’ to you, darlin’. I always figured I’d be the one comin’ back injured an’ you’d have to nurse me back to health.” A small grin tugging at his mouth, he confided, “’Course, you’re one hell of a nurse.”

When she gave no response, Mal let out a huge breath and murmured, “Damn it, ‘Nara, would you just wake up already.”

As her eyes remained closed, he dropped his forehead onto her hand and tried to keep the vision of her screaming and writhing form from his mind, while praying that pained sound wouldn’t be the last thing he ever heard from her lips.

***

Simon stormed down into Kaylee’s bunk and threw himself on her bed, his arm across his eyes. In silence, Kaylee followed him down, going to the sink and getting a cool washcloth. Moving to his side, she began to dab gently at his already bruising and swelling face.

Wincing a bit as she hit a particularly sensitive spot, Simon reached for her hand and whispered, “Don’t.”

Batting his hand away, Kaylee continued. “Don’t be such a baby. This is gonna be a right fine bruise.”

Sitting up, Simon rested on his elbows and looked to her. The tears she had cried minutes before had dried, leaving only stains down her cheeks. Brushing at one with his thumb, Simon told her quietly, “It wasn’t your fault, Kaylee. Mal doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

“It weren’t yours neither,” she said, inching closer and continuing to dab at his face. This time he let her. “Cap’n’s just goin’ plum mad is all, ‘Nara not wakin’.” Pausing for a minute, she met his blue eyes and asked softly, “Is that how you was? When I was hurt?”

Simon sighed heavily and fell back onto the bed, his eyes shutting against the memory. He felt the bed shift and then smiled slightly as Kaylee’s warm form cuddled up against him, her head resting on his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Simon decided to ignore her question and instead tip her face up to his and kiss her, long and deep.

Kaylee returned the kiss, only pulling away as Simon again winced from the pain in his jaw. “Damn that man can hit,” he murmured, getting a small smile from Kaylee that helped to ease his guilt.

“You din’t answer my question,” she reminded him, propping herself up on one elbow and brushing a hand through his hair.

With another sigh, Simon tried to shake the vision from his head; the vision of Kaylee’s broken, bruised and bloodied form. “I don’t remember punching anyone,” Simon told her softly, his hand resting against her cheek. “But yes, Kaylee, I was pretty much inconsolable. You were in a lot worse shape than Inara, there was a very good chance you weren’t-“

Simon abruptly stopped, wondering why they were talking about this; it was the one moment of their lives he honestly never wanted to relive. Rolling onto his side, he looked to her and asked, “What else can we talk about?”

Leaning in with a gleam in her eyes that Simon recognized all too well, she murmured against his mouth, “Why’s there gotta be talkin’?” Pressing her lips to his, Kaylee sidled up close to him, wrapping a leg over his and pulling him tight to her. Simon pulled her right back, wanting to feel her against him, wanting to know she was real and whole in his arms.

They kissed and touched and caressed for a long while, having the desire to go further, but not the energy. Finally with almost identical visions dancing through their heads, they drifted to sleep in each other’s arms.

092. Earth

Simon awoke with a painful throbbing in his jaw and his arms full of Kaylee. Smiling slightly despite the discomfort in his face, he buried his head in her sweet-smelling hair and just reveled in her warmth.

It was no secret that Simon had never and would never again know anyone like Kaylee. In his old life, he never would have had the chance to meet someone like her; someone so true, unpretentious and giving. Sometimes, Simon thought about that old life and it made him cold; there was nothing for him there anymore.

Everything was here, on Serenity, because Kaylee was here. He had thought fleetingly a few times of asking her to settle somewhere with him, get off Serenity, find a nice patch of land. They could have a big house and fill it with children, beautiful chestnut haired children with green eyes just like her. But Simon knew that they weren’t ready for that yet, because they were both still too in love with the romanticism of being free, of not being tied to one planet.

With a small sigh, Simon placed a light kiss to her cheek, not intending to wake her, but feeling her stir in his arms almost immediately. With a lazy grin plastered on her features, Kaylee blinked open her eyes and murmured, “Mornin’.”

“Good morning,” he murmured back, brushing some hair off her face and then resting his hand against her cheek.

They held each other’s sleepy gazes for a moment and then Kaylee asked quietly, “You think ‘Nara’s awake yet?”

Rubbing a hand down her back, Simon told her, “I’m sure someone would have come to get me if she was.”

“She is gonna wake up, right?” Kaylee asked nervously, her concerned eyes studying his face.

Pressing a gentle kiss to her mouth, he told her, “Yes, Kaylee. There’s no reason to believe she won’t. We just need to give her time.” Kaylee nodded once, but remained silent, her brow still furrowed with concern for her friend. Hoping to take her mind off it, Simon asked, “Did you sleep okay?”

Cuddling back into him, she said, “O’ course I did. I had my nice, solid Simon pillow.” Nuzzling her head into his neck, she kissed him there, getting a small shiver to shoot down his spine.

A light chuckle escaping his lips, he said, “Well, I’m glad I could be of service.”

Giggling at him, Kaylee tilted her head back up to his, grinning. “I’m thinkin’ there’s some other services you could be providin’.”

As she gently pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips, Simon could only smile wider at her. With an expression of mild confusion, he teased, “Why Miss Frye, I don’t know what you mean.”

Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his mouth while rubbing her hips suggestively against his. “Oh yes, you do, Doctor Tam,” she whispered in his ear.

And with a low moan, Simon wrapped his arms around her, content to love this perfect woman for as long as she would have him.

093. Regret

Watching Inara suffer had caused Mal to reexamine a few things. And the thing he knew with utmost certainty was that he regretted the day she’d ever met him. She should have just kept walking that morning when he was out looking for renters for his shuttles. She should have known by his standoffish demeanor and insulting manner that he was no good. Hell, Inara had been schooled in the ways of men for years, and yet she’d still fallen for his ridiculous charms. Maybe she wasn’t as good at her job as she claimed.

The thought shamed him, and Mal regretted thinking it. He regretted so many things it was actually getting difficult to keep track of them all. Maybe if he put them in categories … yeah, that should work. Okay, then: he regretted the first day he’d ever barged into her shuttle, setting up their nice little banter; the time he’d seen her doing one of her sponge baths (on accident, thanksverymuch); then there’d been that incident with Ath; and the time she’d found him naked in the desert. Of course, he really regretted the entire Nandi thing and the pain he’d seen in her face … No, wait a minute, this was about his mistake in letting her in, in allowing her to be close to him, and his belief that he could ever be good enough for her.

He was lost in thought, trying to talk himself out of loving her when she finally stirred. It was barely noticeable; the swelling in her eyes had gone down, but it was still difficult for her to see anything. With a rasp, she called out brokenly, “Mal?”

In an instant he was by her side, gazing down into her face, caressing her cheek. “Hey there, darlin’,” he said softly, his voice tender. “There you are.”

“Mal? Mal, where am I? I’m havin’ a hard time-“ She inhaled sharply and cried out a bit in pain and Mal tried to soothe her.

His hand running through her hair and against her forehead, he told her softly, “You’re okay, darlin’. We’re back on Serenity. Your eyes is a bit swollen, that’s why it’s hard to make stuff out.” Placing a gentle kiss to her forehead, he told her, “I’m gonna get the doc.”

Her hand grasping his with more strength than he expected, she told him, “No, don’t go, please.”

“All right, darlin’, I’ll just use the comm. It’ll take two seconds.” He walked over to the device and buzzed for Simon in Kaylee’s bunk, the doc and his mechanic showing up just minutes later, their hair mussed from what had obviously been an intimate morning.

Simon went to Inara’s side instantly, checking her vitals, while Kaylee moved to her friend’s other side. “Oh, ‘Nara, we was so worried,” she breathed, taking her friend’s hand in her own. “You’re gonna be okay now though. Don’tcha worry none.”

“I’m not, mei mei,” Inara assured, ever the diplomat. “I’m sure Simon’s been taking excellent care of me.”

The doctor smiled weakly at her comment as he continued to work and the room fell silent. Mal backed out the door, sitting wearily on the couch across the way. His eyes stayed locked on the white room and he didn’t notice River enter until she had perched herself on the arm of the couch.

“Well, hey there, lil’ one,” Mal said, hoping that his light tone would ease any residual hurt between them from his mean behavior a day ago. “What’s the word?”

“Regret,” River told him quietly, her eyes never leaving his face.

Turning a surprised look on her, Mal asked, “What?”

Cocking her head to the side, River repeated, “Regret; remorse, compunction, contrition, to be sorry for.” Leaning towards him, River placed a hand to his face and said, “None of those words belong anywhere near her. Or you.”

“Stay outta my head, Albatross,” Mal warned her, shifting away, a scowl on his features.

With a small sigh, River knew any attempt at a less subtle approach would only be met with more resistance. Rising, she said knowingly, “She doesn’t regret it. Any of it.” And then she spun away, off to deconstruct someone else and Mal could only continue to sit and stare wishing he knew how to heed her advice.

094. Chains

“Cap’n?”

Mal looked up from the cup of whiskey he’d been nursing to see Kaylee’s wide eyes gazing back at him. Offering her the slightest of smiles, he raised the glass to his lips and let the smooth liquid burn a trail down his throat before answering her. “Hey there, lil’ Kaylee. What’s the word?”

“Insensitive,” she told him harshly, stalking over to the table and shoving him roughly on the shoulder.

Why do I keep asking the strong minded women on my boat that question? Looking to her with surprise, he asked, “Hey! What gives?”

“What’re you doin’ here, drinkin’, when ‘Nara’s in her shuttle all by her lonesome?” Kaylee asked, her eyes cold, her jaw firm. She did not understand how the captain, a man who had supposedly professed his love for her best friend, could be sitting here now, leaving her to suffer alone.

With a heavy sigh, Mal swigged back the rest of the tan colored liquid and then stood, an unreadable expression on his face. “Maybe you should be askin’ her that.”

Frowning, Kaylee watched him walk sullenly to the sink, depositing his glass. Her arms crossed over her chest and her head cocked to one side, she studied him intently as he turned back to her, grimaced and then started heading for the crew bunks.

“Oh no,” Kaylee told him, rushing to block his path. “Where you think you’re goin’?”

Giving her a skeptical look, he said hesitantly, “Bed?”

Shaking her head furiously, Kaylee actually stomped her foot. “No. This ain’t right.” Grabbing the captain firmly by the shoulders, she told him, “’Nara needs you.”

Shrugging out of her grasp, Mal backed away and said fiercely, “Then why’d she tell me to get out?” The pain in his voice was evident to Kaylee as was his attempt to hide it.

Watching as he again sat heavily in his seat at the head of the table, Kaylee asked quietly, “What happened?”

Dropping his chin to his chest, Mal said bitterly, “’Nara finally figured out I ain’t good ‘nough for her. Finally figured out I’m the chains holding her back, tying her feet, makin’ her drown. The woman finally wised up.”

Her eyes widening in horror, Kaylee rushed to his side and lifted his chin so she could see his face. “She said that?” she breathed, instant tears welling at just the thought.

Pulling from her grasp, Mal told her, “Nah, but she din’t have to. I saw it when she tol’ me to go.”

With a resigned sigh, Kaylee finally understood. Mal’s pride had been wounded and Inara was too devastated right now to nurse it back to health. Sitting in the chair closest to him, Kaylee said softly, “So, you think ‘Nara tellin’ you to go was ‘cause she din’t want you there.”

With an “Ain’t-that-what-I-just-said” expression plastered to his features, Mal ran a hand through his already mussed hair and sighed. “I’ll just hurt her more anyways.”

Taking a deep breath, Kaylee closed her eyes and counted to ten, hoping it would help to stymie some of the frustration she felt. Inara and the captain, two people she cared about like kin, and they were both dumb as a box of rocks. Opening her eyes, Kaylee spoke in a controlled tone. “Cap’n, you know I done love ya like a brother an’ ‘Nara like a sister.” As he raised his eyes to her, Kaylee plowed ahead. “But if’n the two o’ you start this dance again, I’ll space ya both!”

Slapping her hands onto the hard table, Kaylee rose and glared at him. “You sittin’ here is just a way for you to hide. You know ‘Nara asked you to leave ‘cause she hates anybody seein’ her in pain. An’ she prolly already knows that you feel guilty ‘bout what happened. She’s tryin’ to protect you, not hurt you, you fei fei de pi yan,” she cussed. “Now, get up there an’ help her.”

Rising, Mal tried to calm Kaylee down, seeing how much the strain in his and Inara’s relationship was bothering her. “Kaylee,” he started plaintively, only more surprised when Kaylee jabbed a finger into his chest.

“Don’t go patronizin’ me,” she bit out. “’Nara needs you right now an’ you know it. Sittin’ down here’s just takin’ the coward’s way.” Leaning into him, she whispered, “What does she gotta do to get you to stay loyal to her? Die?”

Mal reeled at her words, literally falling back into his chair. Taking only a moment to process what she’d said, he rose again to his full height and said hotly, “That was outta line, Kaylee. I ain’t gonna just disregard ‘Nara’s wishes.”

“Even though her wishes ain’t got nothin’ to do with her?” Kaylee asked, incredulous. How could the man have been sleeping with her friend for over five months, known her even longer, and not see that what she was doing was classic Inara? She always pushed away the folk she needed the most when she was in the most need. “Don’t you ‘member any of the past two years? Nandi? Miranda?” As Mal’s eyes lit with recognition, Kaylee forged ahead. “She pulls back when she’s hurtin’ so nobody can see it.” Taking his face in her hands, she told him softly, “But you need to see it, so you can stop it.”

Dropping his gaze to the floor between them it took Mal a few minutes to order his thoughts. Stepping back from him Kaylee waited and when he again raised his eyes to her face, she saw his pain. “What if I can’t stop it?” he asked quietly.

Shrugging lightly, Kaylee thought of her first few weeks back from Niska’s and how wonderful Simon had been. “Don’t matter,” she told him, pulling his mind back to the here and now. “It ain’t ‘bout you. It’s ‘bout her.”

Mal nodded once and then threw his shoulders back, standing tall before turning to leave. Kaylee watched him, surprised when he halted mid-step and came back to her, kissing her cheek. “Thank you, mei mei,” he whispered in her ear.

She nodded once and then he was gone, off in the direction of Inara’s shuttle. Feeling a bit worn from the confrontation and the past few days, Kaylee headed for her bunk, hoping Simon would be there with the bed already warm.

095. Red

Inara sat still in front of her mirror. She had tried to sit up straight as well, as her training dictated, but the large cuts in her side made it nearly impossible, and so she had resigned to sitting a bit slumped forward. But it didn’t really matter how she sat, she was only concerned with seeing, and she could see it all.

They were red still, red and angry; some small, the size of a fingernail, some large and festering, having already bubbled and oozed with puss. But they were all wrong. Inara’s eyes swept past her face, where the burn on her cheek was healing, but not fast enough. It would be a reminder for the rest of her life. The ones on her neck, too, were redder than the others, Inara wondered why. Losing interest almost immediately, she swept her eyes down her bare chest, having disrobed to the waist so she could take them all in; all the red marks, the scars, the cuts and bruises; the reminders of her time in the hands of Adeli Niska.

She turned slightly and took in her back, covered in small red slits and purple bruises from where they had shoved her against her bindings. Holding up her hands in front of her face, she looked at her wrists. The swelling had gone down a bit, but the marks were still there, the burn marks from where the rope had cut off her circulation, the bruises from where she had tried to fight.

With a shudder, Inara closed her eyes, feeling a tear slide down her no longer perfect cheek. The salt water passed from under her still swollen lid, over the burn mark and dripped off her chin into her lap.

She was glad she had sent Mal away. He didn’t deserve to see her weakness. It was bad enough he had had to come and rescue her, see her in her most vulnerable state. Inara wanted to drive that image from his mind and replace it with the beautiful, unmarred images of her; the woman he’d fallen in love with – a woman she feared no longer existed.

Opening her eyes, she blinked, and then she again studied her features, her wounds, with a detached interest. She was so lost in thought she did not hear the shuttle door open, did not even see Mal until he was literally standing behind her, his body heat radiating into her back.

Whirling and wincing from the pain of the sudden movement, Inara quickly gathered her robe around herself and stood on shaky legs. “Mal, what are you doing here?” she asked viciously, trying to move around him, but finding that he had blocked her path. “I told you to go.”

“I know, darlin’,” he said softly, taking another step towards her even as she continued to shrink back against the mirror. “But I’m thinkin’ maybe you shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“Oh, so it’s pity then?” Inara’s chest was heaving with anger.

“No, ‘Nara,” he said, his voice as soft as she had ever heard it. “It’s love, you know that.”

More tears welling in her eyes, Inara told him, “Just go, Mal. Please. Just this once, do as I ask.”

Shaking his head, Mal told her sadly, “Sorry, ‘Nara, but I can’t do that. For one thing, I’d hate to break my streak, but for another, I can’t leave you alone. I wanna help, any way I can.”

Biting her lip in an effort to keep her tears from falling, Inara was not surprised when they ran down her cheeks anyway. Faltering a bit as her still weak legs gave out, she sank onto the vanity table, Mal moving to her instantly, trying to help her back to bed. Pushing him away, Inara said quietly, “Mal, you can’t help. It’s really sweet that you want to, but the best thing for me right now is just to heal. When I’m better …”

“What?” he asked, finally allowing a bit of his anger to show. “What? When you’re healed then I’m allowed to love you ‘gain, is that it? Then I can touch you or hold ya, but not until. Is that how it works?”

Raising her tear-filled eyes to him, she said succinctly, “Yes.”

“Well that’s a load of horse shit, ‘Nara an’ you know it.” He was mad now and he stalked away from her, pacing to the other side of the shuttle. Inara took his momentary distraction to move shakily towards the bed, sinking into the soft mattress. “You ‘member when I was in the hospital?” he asked, whirling to face her and taking a minute to find her across the room, perched on top of her red sheeted bed.

With those same pained eyes on his face, she breathed, “Yes.”

“An’ ‘member when I tol’ ya to get out an’ you said no?” he asked, a smug expression falling across his face.

Lowering her chin to her chest, Inara let out a small sigh. “Yes.”

“Well, then,” he said triumphantly, sitting down on her couch and propping his booted feet onto a small table. “Consider this me returnin’ the favor.”

Inara sighed again, and kept her eyes away from him. He really wasn’t going to leave and she did not have the strength to physically throw him out. Exhausted, Inara simply curled into the smallest ball she could manage, the pain in her sides causing more tears to pool on her pillow as she fell asleep.

***

Kaylee had come to bed an hour ago, barely said a word, barely kissed him and then flopped onto her side, sighing heavily. Simon had thought about asking her what was wrong, had thought about trying to go to sleep, but in the end, he’d simply just stared at the back of her head, wondering what had her bothered.

Finally as she sighed again and this time rolled over to face him, Simon smiled at her, her eyes blinking in shock as she realized he was still awake. “Did I wake ya?” she asked, her eyes studying his face for annoyance or sleepiness.

Shaking his head, he held her gaze for a moment and then asked, “You want to talk about it?”

Furrowing her brow at him, she asked, “Talk ‘bout what?”

“Whatever it is that’s making it impossible for you to sleep,” he elaborated, watching as her eyes flashed with … something, Simon couldn’t quite make it out in the dimness of their bunk.

Deciding to ignore his question, Kaylee tipped his face up a bit and got a glimpse of his still bruised cheek. “Yikes, does that still hurt?”

Taking her hand from his face and holding it to his chest, he told her, “A bit.” As she again fell silent, Simon tugged on the hand he held and coaxed her, “Come on, Kaylee, spill it.”

“We ain’t never gonna get married, are we?” she asked, her voice a hushed whisper.

Confused, Simon scooted towards her and asked, “Why not? Don’t you want to?”

“Are you kiddin’?” she questioned him, moving closer to him as well so their bare legs were now touching, their heads sharing the same pillow. “I wanna be your wife so bad, I can taste it.”

Smiling at her, Simon again felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her and he did. When they parted, he asked, “Then what’s to stop us?”

Cocking an eyebrow at him, she asked dryly, “You ain’t really askin’ me that, are ya?” When Simon smiled, a small chuckle escaping from his mouth, Kaylee pouted and said, “Simon, I’m serious. There’s always somethin’ happenin’, some job, some madman kidnappin’ our friends, some-“

Kaylee’s tirade was cut off as Simon again leaned in to kiss her, this time wrapping his hand around the back of her head and pulling her against him. His lips gently caressed hers, his teeth nipping at them a bit before their tongues met. Kaylee, her momentary panic forgotten, sighed into him, her arms around his neck, her thoughts only consumed with kissing him.

Panting a bit, their cheeks flushed as they parted for air, Kaylee leaned her forehead against Simon’s and murmured, “You are so good at makin’ me forget.”

Smiling, Simon kissed her forehead and said, “Yes, well there’s one thing that I don’t want you to forget,” he told her. And before she could question him further, he had slid out of bed, leaving her to stare at his beautifully naked form as he padded over to her dresser and pulled something from one of his drawers.

Eyeing him with desire as he came back to bed and got in under the covers, Kaylee immediately reached for him, her hand sliding under the sheets and down his muscled stomach. “Hey now, wait a second,” Simon told her, grabbing her wandering hand in his and causing another pout to form on her lips. “There’s something I have to give you, as a reminder.”

“Give me?” she asked, completely puzzled. Her eyes lighting a second later she said, “You got me a present?”

“Sort of,” Simon told her, blushing a bit. “Actually, I think this is more something that I owe you.”

Frowning at him, Kaylee told him, “You don’t owe me nothin’, sweetie.” Her eyes locked on his, she said, “It ain’t like we’re keepin’ a tally. Are we?” she asked, her face momentarily clouding. “’Cause if’n we are, it’s gonna take me a while to even out that score.” She continued to babble, completely missing the fact that Simon had taken her left hand in his and was singling out her ring finger.

“Kaylee,” he said softly, but insistently.

Dropping her eyes to him, they lit with excitement as she watched him place an engagement ring on her finger, sliding it about halfway. “This is what I got you. It’s a reminder that I promised to marry you and I will make good on that promise.”

“Oh, Simon,” Kaylee breathed, her eyes pooling with tears, as she slid the ring the rest of the way and held up her newly bedecked hand. “It’s so beautiful,” she told him, her happy eyes dancing to his face. “When’d you get it?”

“On Greenleaf,” he told her, delighting in her happiness and the glow that it cast upon him. “I was going to ask you in the garden, but we got a bit – distracted,” he said diplomatically, not at all surprised when Kaylee giggled. “And then everything happened with Inara and I … well, I guess now just seemed like the time.”

“Oh, it was,” Kaylee assured him. Staring at the shiny bauble for just another minute, Kaylee again snuggled in really close to him and murmured, “So you’re really gonna take me for your wife?”

“You name the time and place and I’m there,” he told her honestly. As Simon gazed into her big green eyes, he really didn’t give a damn if they got married on the lip of a volcano or a sandy beach; just as long as at the end of the day, they were man and wife.

“Hmmm,” Kaylee murmured thoughtfully, arching her neck a bit as Simon began to suck on the skin there. “I like this idea of bein’ in control.”

Simon’s lips turned up against her skin and with a suddenness Kaylee hadn’t expected he flipped her onto her back and hovered above her. “How about we split the whole control issue?” he asked, his eyes burning with a desire that had already reached his groin.

Feeling his hardening length pressing against her, Kaylee arched her hips towards him and murmured, “Sounds like a plan.”

Grinning again, Simon leaned down to capture her mouth in a kiss and then they were lost in the bliss of their love for one another and the red, hot passion it created.

***

Inara had drifted off to sleep, Mal still in her shuttle, staring at her although she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of as much as a nod. And so now, after she had fallen to sleep, he was asleep too, and it was from that dreamless state that Inara’s cries awakened him.

“Mal!” She screamed his name and it was a piercing wail, shooting straight into his heart. In an instant, he was up, blinking a bit to get his bearings. But as she again wailed his name, Mal simply moved in the direction of her bed, his only wish to silence her anguish.

Reaching her, Inara was thrashing about, something he was fairly certain was not good for the still healing wounds on her sides. Trying to steady her with his hands to her shoulders, he pulled back suddenly as she started talking in her sleep, her voice much more coherent than he would have guessed.

“He won’t come. He knows it’s you.”

As she spoke her body stilled and Mal let the dream play out, listening intently. “Mal, don’t come for me,” she murmured, her head turning to the side as a few silent tears fell from beneath her lids. Then in a whisper, “He’ll kill you.”

A lump building in his throat, Mal felt the very real urge to vomit, but his love for Inara kept him glued to her side. As she again began to sob, this time she moaned, “Mal, help me. Mal!”

With another scream of his name, she was awake, her body shaking, her hair plastered to her forehead and face as sweat soaked through her night clothes and ran down her body. Staring at the ceiling with wide and unknowing eyes, Mal watched her for a moment, before gently laying a hand to the side of her face.

She jerked away at his touch, scrambling across the bed and literally falling off the edge, her body still too weak and disoriented to support her. Mal rounded the bed in seconds, and knelt beside her. She had curled up against it, her head buried into the side of the mattress. She was crying again, but Mal could hear her as plain as day. “Go, Mal please. I can’t have you see me like this.”

Reaching out a hand to her face, Mal asked softly, “Like what?”

As she met his gaze, Inara felt her last shred of resolve fade. Seeing it in her eyes, Mal moved closer, his arms outstretched to hold her close. Even though she wanted to push him away, Inara let him. She fell into his chest as his arms wrapped around her. She didn’t fight him as he lifted her up and carried her to bed, laying her down and then going to get a cool rag to wipe away some of her tears.

As he tended to her, she found herself calming a bit and with a few hiccups, she watched him through blurry eyes as he ran the cloth over her forehead and cheeks, being mindful of her burn. Feeling suddenly ashamed of her red, blemish covered body, Inara lifted one hand to her face, covering the mark, while her other hand reached for the front of her gown and clasped it shut.

Puzzled by her sudden movement, Mal placed the cloth on the table at his side and tried to take her hand in his, but she would not move it from where it rested against her face. “What’s this about?” he asked quietly, running the pads of his fingers against the back of her hand.

“They’re awful,” she breathed, her eyes again welling with tears. “You shouldn’t have to see them, shouldn’t have to be reminded of what that …” she trailed off as her breath hitched in her throat, and she turned her head to the side, trying to avoid his gaze.

Leaning down towards her, Mal turned her face back to his and murmured, “’Nara, I don’t see anythin’ but you. An’ you are beautiful.” Without waiting another second he pressed his mouth to hers. She tensed for a moment but then quickly fisted her hand in the front of his shirt, pulling him on top of her. She needed him, even though she’d been trying so hard to tell herself otherwise.

When they parted, more tears in Inara’s eyes, Mal simply laid down beside her and told her, “I don’t wanna hurt ya, but if’n you wanna-“

His invitation to hold her was cut off as she automatically rolled into him, clinging to him for dear life. Releasing a silent sigh of relief, he wrapped his arms around her, a bit more loosely than he wanted to, but trying to be mindful of her wounds and buried his face in her hair.

As the silence stretched between them, he finally murmured, “Them scars’ll fade, ‘Nara. An’ them memories will too.”

She nodded once against him, and then said in a broken voice, “But you’ll always remember them. I don’t want you to carry that burden, Mal.”

Pressing another kiss to her forehead, he murmured, “Ain’t a burden, ‘Nara. Ain’t nothin’ ‘bout you burdensome.” As she lifted her eyes to his face, he held her gaze and told her, “I love you, get it? That means your burdens are mine whether you want ‘em to be or not.”

With a tearful gaze, Inara nodded once and then just snuggled back against him, waiting for sleep to take her.

***

One more chapter to go ...

Chapter 17 - The End