A/N: Long time no see, sorry I haven't been around, life has been very busy, and one of my deleted stories is giving me grief so it's hard to repost it on the BSR. In better news, I have recently rescued and adopted a kitten named Kaylee (and yes, she lives up to her name), also, I was inspired.......

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They had been together for six months.

It was possibly the toughest six months of their lives. Since Miranda, since the slaughter of all of their contacts and the fight at Maidenhead, the crew had found jobs scarce. No one wanted a group of scoundrels that were connected to the deaths of so many in the seedy underground theiving circuit. No one knew the reason for the killings either, as the Alliance had been doing extensive damage control. Thus the remaining few that Mal, Zoe and Jayne knew, wouldn't even so much as send a wave back to Serenity, in fear of being targeted next.

So for the first eight weeks, Serenity was on the drift.

Mal and Kaylee ran her at minimum power to conserve energy, and the Firefly seemed mournful herself as she slowly floated about in the black, waiting for work, engine a low sorrowful whine. Finally after the two months, and many heated arguments as the lack of work meant diminishing foodstuffs and frayed nerves, Mal brought his faithful boat to rest on Shadow. With no prospect of work on the horizon, they touched down on what used to be the flourishing Reynolds cattle ranch. Flourishing was past tense, as it was sad and in need of attention. Weeds grew up in the ranch home's floorboards, fences had been broken by either the bison or delinquents, the roof needed patching, a herd of goats once tame had proliferated and taken over the rundown barn, and a very ornery bear had taken residence in the small outpost cabin at the far end of the property.

So with noting better to do, and Malcolm and Zoe having a deep discussion of how to keep their crew together, the captain gave a speech the day they touched down. They were going to fix up the ranch, and make it their base of operations. Serenity would go out on missions when they arose, however the crew would drive cattle as extra income. Though they weren't exuberant at the thought of becoming ranchers, the crew had nothing else to turn to. For even on an independent basis as Jayne threatened to leave, then shopped around for a new crew, no one wanted him. So the drive to stay together and scratch out a living on the golden plains of Shadow became the crew's conquest.

Whilst still using Serenity as a home, they worked at setting the ranch right. Simon and Kaylee went to town to become the way of receiving cashy money, as the mechanic fixed up anything that so much had a bolt in it, and the surgeon made house calls to tend to the ill. Inara also on occasion took out her shuttle to Shadow's capital city of Horus to see what few reputable clients she had there to also bring in revenue. With the three bringing in the coin, Jayne turned Fuzzy the bear into a rug and then fixed the outpost cabin, River communed with the goats before taming the lot and fixing the barn, Kaylee, Inara and Simon were quite capable repairing the interior of the house when they weren't away, and Mal and Zoe worked on roofing and fence.

In a span of three months, the house was still in the process of being mended, yet the pastures had proper fences, and the barn was ready for beasts. So as the plains sweet grass was green from spring thunderstorms, and the goats were content ruling over their own little pasturage that River had set up, Mal's counted his money down to the pennies. Then one day, he, Zoe and River went out to town on the mule. The others hanging back to carry hay up into the hayloft, pump water from the wells into the troughs and continue working on the house. Finally as the sun was dipping towards the seemingly endless prairie of the west, the three returned with more souls following. Mal and Zoe road upon two horses, a chestnut and a dapple grey, flanking the sides of the decent cattle herd they had purchased. River brought up the rear with the mule, grinning as she had aquired two sets of puppies and kittens to fill in the role of cow dogs and barn cats, along with a bamboo cage of chickens. The animals were greeted with smiles of consolation, for everyone had feared their would not be enough money to invest in sufficient livestock. However Mal had bought them from an old family friend, who gave a gracious discount as well as the pups and kittens for free as a 'housewarming' gift. So the night was spent putting the animals in their new homes. Sturdy longhorns out to pasture with a few bison that had decided not to leave and had been fenced in in the process, the jersey cows in the barn, the horses Amos and Jia in their own stalls, the chickens in the coop, the pups Churchill and Chester in Kaylee's dog house made out of recycled crates, and the kittens went to River's bunk because she found that they were very similar to her.

That was three months ago.

It was this day of auspicious days that the ranch house was finally ready for occupants. Inara had sewn curtains for the windows, Fuzzy was on the floor, the furniture in Serenity's living area was placed in the living room, a real clawed foot tub was in the bathroom, and Jayne had built some study bunk beds for the bunkroom. At noon, the ranch had been christened as Mal climbed the ladder and hooked the wooden sign that read 'New Haven Ranch' up on the entrance to their hopeful farm. As exciting as it was, it felt somewhat empty, as the witticism by Wash and the blessing done by the Book were missing. It became a silent reverie of those they had lost, most of the crew gazing out into the distance, Kaylee bowing her head and settling against Simon, River looking up at the crisp sky with hands stretched as if to welcome their spirits to the New Haven. After awhile, Jayne fidgeted and left, talking about going back to the outpost, and the others dispersed to do their chores.

Simon thought about it as he rode Amos.

He had changed in six months, adapting more than ever before. Upon coming to Shadow, there had been plenty of ill to care for, but as he cured and healed them, there were fewer and fewer. In the end, he was only seeing one or two a week to stitch up or deliver a baby, unless a virus was going around. By the time the house was near complete, he had to make himself more useful on the ranch. The last month had been a time of growth for Simon Tam, a time when his soft surgeon hands became cracked and calloused, a time when his once fair skin became tanned by the prairie rays, and he traded in his silken vest and stethoscope for a sturdy canvas vest and spurs. He was lucky he had already known how to ride do to the equestrian lessons back on Osiris, it gave him an upper hand as Mal had gave him a crash course in being a cowpuncher.

It was literally a crash course.

After bruises, cuts, ending the day smelling like manure, shooting everything but the target, being shocked by the hot wire on the property fence, pissing off a cougar after missing and shooting it in the foot, Jayne swearing at him, Mal yelling at him after somehow being impaled in the shin with a spur, and being attacked by a ferocious billy goat he had been attempting to rope, Simon Tam conquered the way of the cowboy. It nevertheless had it's pros; he had no problem staying in shape, Kaylee thought the rugged look on him was the sexiest thing in the 'verse, and Jayne could no longer call him a prissy ass core boy. He was one of them finally, the Doc had gone through his own metamorphosis, entering as a core boy surgeon and had broken out of the proverbial cocoon a strapping rim-savvy man.

As Amos stood on a hillock, the tall grass dancing golden with a fall wind whirling the prairie, Simon drew in a lung full of the purist air he had ever had the pleasure of breathing. He was clad similarly to Mal and Zoe, with calf high boots, sturdy pants, chaps, button down work shirt, leather gauntlets to protect his wrists, faded bandana about his neck and a hat to keep out the sun. He did though have a vest, it helped keep the chill off his chest in the bitter cold mornings, whilst his coat was darker than Mal's and made of oilskin. Simon's face was clean shaven, as he was one to still try to be groomed up, yet he had further grown his hair out. It was damn near his shoulders, yet Kaylee loved it so he kept it to appease his sweetie as his keen blue eyes surveyed the land beneath the knoll. There were two hundred acres that made up New Haven, with a tributary cutting through the middle of it that flowed into the larger Switch Fork River. The headwater fed their land, and made the soil rich for good grazing, yet because of the amount of land, they had to patrol to make sure thieves or predators weren't about to take advantage of their new product. Jayne often lived in the outpost at the very edge of the land and surveyed that patch. The merc turned ranch hand had a wood stove, tons of canned goods, cheap liquor, a horse and a dog he won in a card game, guns galore including Lux and the occasional whore to keep him company. So for him life alone was pretty good, the others just had to keep an eye on the rest of the acreage. It meant three patrols a day, not including the ones what came about when the dogs barked and raced off sounding the alarm that something was amiss. Simon didn't mind though, Osiris had been the alliance utopia, yet in reality New Haven was heaven on earth. He had a family, a happy sister, blue skies with endless grassland to the west and regal mountains to the east, was able to practice his trade when needed, had the pleasure of learning about life through the eyes of a settler which satisfied his brain's passion of acquiring knowledge, and the swaiest little lady to spend his nights with.

A smile quivered on his lips as he wet them and gently spurred Amos. Clicking his tongue, Churchill, a gangly eight month old blue merle mutt, perked up his ears and trotted off to follow. They were done for the day, and Simon had a date.

A first date.

He and Kaylee had yet to have experienced a real date. There had been no opportunity for such leisure for six months; at the end of every day they would simply bathe, work out some stress with lovemaking, and then pass out until the next day. And as wonderful as the act of copulation was, Simon wanted a right and proper date. Which as why he had to get back to the ranch house, for a date had to be done right, and he needed to look as dapper as possible. Coming in smelling musty with dusty clothes would not do.

He planned to break out his shiny vest.

**** **** Warning: Hats are not evil in this; ranchfolk need hats **** **** TRANSLATION Jai: Beautiful.

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Comments are shiny whether good, bad or otherwise. This writer welcomes creative critism and honesty.

***Edited for goofy slip ups. I need sleep, I really do.