Title: Out Of The Black, Into The Sun Author: Merrov (Gypsy Lupin-Black on Fanfiction.net) Disclaimer: River and all the other wonderful characters belong to the god Joss Whedon. I am making no money off this. Just trying to spread the Firefly goodness around!

This is dedicated to the strongest, most wonderful little spirit I ever knew, taken at only 4 months of age, but with me always.

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Funny, why was everything so funny for this crowd of people? This crew, brought together for different reasons, on a ship one could never really leave, and yet they all sat around the table, sharing rations and laughing. Stories with ribcages in them… What was funny about that?

River cocked her head to the side, watching them from behind the counter. Wash was beside Zoe, on her left, as usual. He was always on her left. Why? And Inara and Mal, recently seen together much more often. After the whole attack on Mr. Universe, Inara had decided to stay, and that made Mal very happy. Simon and Kaylee were noticeably absent, but that wasn’t a new occurrence lately. There was always music coming from their quarters lately.

Zoe stopped laughing first. She sighed and picked at her food, before catching herself and taking a bite. Mal hadn’t noticed. Just River. But she couldn’t understand why Zoe was sad. Jayne said it was because Wash got impaled, but River didn’t believe that. He was sitting right there. On Zoe’s left. Laughing with Mal, Inara, Book, and Jayne.

River felt the left side of her mouth quirk up. Book’s hair was put away, which was good. But no one else but Wash seemed to hear him when he talked. Maybe if he released his hair they’d notice him. Or they’d all run screaming from the room. That would be the sane option, in River’s opinion.

It was all so confusing. Places were so crowded, voices everywhere, laughing, music, heat, sweat, sadness, joy, sickness, spinning- spinning--spin!

Silence. Warm darkness, then the caress of fur. A rumbling purr filled the air, and that was it. River felt peace. Felt love. The chaos was pushed back for a few moments, and the world was mathematical. She opened her eyes. A small grey cat with white whiskers and yellow eyes was staring at her, his face inches from River’s nose. Upon seeing her look at him, he purred harder, his whole body rumbling and trembling with the force of his contentment.

The cat, barely more than a kitten, lifted his right paw and placed it on her cheek. The whiteness of his paws stood out from the rest of his little grey body. River touched his ears, his whiskers, his tail, remembering him again, her own little Serenity.

There were footsteps behind her. She didn’t turn. Jayne leaned in the doorway of her room, watching her touch the kitten. “You ran out of the kitchen pretty fast. You seeing things again?”

“I’m only seeing what’s there.” River picked the kitten up and placed it on her shoulder. He kneeded her dress straps, his little claws catching and releasing the fabric. She turned to look at Jayne, the cat’s tail curling around her face and neck.

“Do you have a name for the little guy yet? Mal keeps asking me what name he should be yelling when he finds the monster in his quarters.” Jayne turned and started walking back toward the galley. “Just make sure he don’t get out. Kaylee don’t want to find him all squished in her engine.”

She still unnerved him. After all this, all they’d been through, all the fights, she unnerved him. She’d asked him about it, but he’d never answered. He’d waved it off, or went to talk to Mal in another part of the ship. Simon had tried her on a different medicine after she started talking to Wash and Book, and Zoe wasn’t talking to her at all.

What was wrong with everyone? Mal was always asking her to fly the ship, when Wash was right there, perfectly capable of doing it himself. She’d always let him have the pilot’s chair, and listened to his directions while she flew from the copilot’s spot. Mal had finally gave up and told her to fly from wherever she wanted, as long as she didn’t crash his ship.

Speaking of flying… River watched Wash walk by her room and head up the stairs towards the bridge. It was time to make their entry into Persephone. Mal would get mad if she didn’t go up there and help Wash land. The little grey cat on her shoulders, River followed Wash up the stairs, her bare feet making almost no noise on the metal grating.

-*-*-More later!