Disclaimer: All of Firefly belongs to Joss Whedon

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Zoe has a lot to thank her husband for. The first would be for her rescue. After the war, people like her and the captain were pretty torn up. Torn up to a point that they became scattered reflections of the people they were before the war. Many former Browncoats simply ceased to be in a way. They fade to their vices, and withdrew until there was nothing left to anchor them to this world. Mal had found an anchor for himself; it was the ship, it was Serenity. The ship gave him that hope that even though everything had been torn from him, he had something to call his. And though Zoe joined Mal on his new-found Serenity, she couldn’t call it hers, it wasn’t her anchor. But she found it eventually, thanks to Mal. Mal was initially not too fond of Wash and Zoe. It was one of the many mysteries of Mal’s psyche that Zoe decided she wouldn’t dwell on. So she told Mal that she needed Wash in the way that Mal needed Serenity. She needed him to anchor her to this world, to show her that a life existed for her after the war. Wash had been exactly what she needed. She could picture herself without him, impossibly grave at every word and every action. With Wash, everyday was filled with laughter. Every day had a soul. Laughter was the second thing she needed to thank him for. That was a given. The most recent thing she needed to thank him for was for the dress, and she was sure she could find the appropriate way to thank him when they got back to the ship.