Chapter 6

For the next hour Serenity was a bustle of activity as they prepared to leave Beylix. Their next stop would be in Persephone to pick up parts and supplies for the operation. As soon as she was no longer needed in the engine room, Kaylee hurried to Simon's side, where she remained silently until the crew gathered for their evening meal. Seeing the two this close normally made Mal irrationally angry, but the fear in Kaylee's eyes broke Mal's heart. He decided to let them be without complaint as she anxiously held on to Simon's arm as if he would be lost to her forever the moment she let go. It wasn't until Kaylee broke the silence at the dinner table, that Mal realized the entire crew had likely said nary a word in the past six hours.

"Ya know Simon, it's okay to be scared," Kaylee said nervously, "I am."

"Good." Simon said absently before he seemed to realize how that sounded. His eyes suddenly went wide in panic as he began to stumble over his words in his usual manner around Kaylee. "I-I mean no! Not good for-I mean unless-It's okay to-"

Some things will never change Mal thought with a small smile.

Kaylee giggled, squeezed Simon's hand and soothed, "Shhhh. Take a deep breath… good… Now try again."

Simon regulated his breathing, placed an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and resumed speaking, "It's… it's good that it's okay to be scared because I…I'm terrified."

Kaylee buried her face into Simon's chest and began crying. She said between muffled sobs, "I finally got ya to notice me and-and… I'm just so afraid I'm gonna lose you."

Kaylee's tears tugged at Mal's heart strings and he tried his best to assure her, "Don't worry lil' Kaylee, Inara's goin' with him and we'll all be standin' by. 'Sides, you think I'm gonna throw away the only doctor in the 'verse that'll work on my boat for the peanuts I'm payin' him?"

Kaylee stifled her sobbing and said, "You're right, Cap'n, we'll just have to make sure everything works right and they'll both be just fine."

Jayne said, "Yeah don't worry lil' Kaylee, we'll bring him back. And you can still sex the livin' daylights out of him even if he does go all moonbrained."

Kaylee buried her face in Simon's chest and began crying much louder than before.

"What? I said somethin' wrong?" Jayne asked.

Mal was about ready to kill Jayne where he sat but Zoe intervened and said, "Jayne, you want to walk away from this table."

Jayne got up and apologized to Kaylee, "Kaylee…I'm… I'm sorry." Jayne got up and turned to leave "Yall let me know if there's anythin' I can do ta help."

Simon was a nervous wreck. In the past twenty-four hours he had been beaten up, roaring drunk and sleep deprived before being informed that he was a dormant Reader and the only hope for his sister's safety as well as freedom in the 'verse. To accomplish this, he would need to use experimental drugs that trigger an unstable ability he didn't have to slightest idea how to make use of. If this morning's horrific hangover weren't fresh in his memory he might have drowned his sorrows in Kaylee's special engine brew.

Kaylee…

She held onto his arm and followed him everywhere he went, clinging to him as if she though he would disappear as soon as she let go. Simon could sympathize, he felt much the same way months ago while he was treating River. For a few blissful days she would be a normal lucid little girl, but then her body would metabolize the drugs and they would cease to benefit her. Simon knew it was irrational, but he would hold his little sister as tight he could as the drug wore off, as if his embrace could hold in her sanity and shelter her from the madness. The way Kayless held onto him now made Simon fear he wasn't going to make it back. At least not with his mind intact.

Simon stopped his aimless walk, if you could call his limping gait walking, just outside of Serenity's engine room. Kaylee hadn't smiled since they all learned about the dangerous drugs he would be using. Her smile had been his lifeline in the past. It kept him from giving in to despair when treatment after treatment failed to cure his sister. Simon desperately needed her smile now.

"Kaylee?"

Kaylee responded after a sniffle, "Yes?"

"What can I do to make you happy?"

"Simon, you already make me happy."

"I want to do the right thing, and I want you to be happy." When Kaylee didn't say anything Simon started to panic, fearing he somehow said the wrong thing again. It wouldn't be the first time… Simon took Kaylee's advice from earlier, took a few deep breaths, and continued.

"I…look…you… you know I don't belong-"

Kaylee turned on him with an angry glare, "Don't you even start with that I'm leavin' to protect you go se!"

"What! That's not why-"

"Oh that's not it is it? You gotten bored with how us simple folk? Things not good enough for ya here in the black?"

"Yes. No! Kaylee!-"

"I knew it! You was just wantin' to use this new identity to go live your fancy life in the core again!"

"No! Kaylee , I want to belong! I wish I could belong! Please-"

"You want to belong? Well ya could'a belong if you'd get that stick out of your-"

"I'm lost!" Simon screamed. The desperation in his voice silenced her. Kaylee seemed to panic as she realized she released hold of him at some point during the argument. She tackled him with an embrace that sent them both tumbling into the engine room. I guess she's still afraid I'm going to disappear,Simon thought with a groan, and she just broke River's record in giving me the most painful hug in my life. Simon found his voice and continued earnestly, "I'm lost Kaylee. I'm lost in the woods. And I-I need your light… you happy… keep me going and guide me back. I need… I-I…I could have… with you… I finally have a home… and-and…"

Simon sighed, "I just want to make you happy. I guess I'm uh… not so… with the talking…"

Kaylee smiled at him through her tears and Simon didn't think he had ever seen anything looking so beautiful. It was like having his own rainbow. She sniffled and asked, "Simon, do you really mean it?"

Simon wrapped her hands in his own and gave them a kiss. "Of course I do bao bei."

"Then I will!" Kaylee exclaimed happily as she nearly suffocated him with a long and passionate kiss.

Simon took a few labored breaths when their lips parted and said, "I'm glad!" with a smile.

"I will be your home!" Kaylee shouted in glee before smothering him with more kisses. What does that mean? Simon thought but was afraid to ask. Everything was going so well now and he really didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"I can't wait to tell Inara!" Kaylee shouted. Simon began to feel very uneasy about all of this. Kaylee lifted herself up and off of Simon and ran to Inara's shuttle door and began pounding on it excitedly. Simon followed her, helpless and confused, as he witnessed his future changing dramatically before him.

Inara opened the door, appearing very worried, and asked, "Kaylee! What happened? Are you alright?"

Kaylee was positively glowing as she answered, "Shiney! Absolutely Shiney! Everything is so shiney! You won't believe what just happened!"

Inara relaxed visibly and asked "What happened Kaylee?"

"Simon just proposed to me! We're engaged!"

What? Simon thought in silent panic. He grabbed the catwalk railing, suddenly needing the extra support. What have I done? What have I gotten myself into? Can we really be ready for that kind of a commitment? Simon smiled nervously at the excited ladies in front of him because he didn't know what else to do. Well, Simon sighed as he thought to himself, at least I brought the sunshine back.

"He did what?" Mal shouted in disbelief.

It was morning, or at least what was mutually agreed upon as 'morning time' in deep space and the entire crew was gathered around the table for breakfast. Kaylee sat in Simon's lap as she excitedly told everybody the good news. Mal thought Simon looked happy too, but also looked nervous and scared out of his mind.

"He proposed to me! And it was right inside the engine room too!" Kaylee said with a contented sigh, "It was so romantic."

"I don't see a ring!" Mal retorted a little more harshly than he meant, which earned him the angry stares of every female member of the crew.

Kaylee said in an irritated voice "I'd be an old maid if I waited till he could afford a ring on what you're payin' him." She had a point Mal admitted to himself. He paid his doctor well as all of them, which was well as he could, but most of Simon's cut had always gone into River's medicine.

Kaylee patted Simon's hand affectionately and continued her story, "But that's okay. I don't need a ring to tell me how much he loves me." Mad is Mal was at his doctor, he had to admit it warmed his heart to see Kaylee smiling again.

"There a bun in your oven lil Kaylee?" Mal asked. That would explain why the doc looks so worried he thought.

"No, I don't think so anyway," Kaylee laughed and then turned around to face Simon, who fidgeted uneasily beneath her as she asked, "What do you think about makin' little ones. I always wanted to become a ma."

"Easy there sugar" Zoey warned playfully. "Wait till you have him safely trapped within your marriage. You don't want to scare him away."

"What brought this on anyway?" Mal asked. He was still having a hard time believing this was actually happening.

Kaylee turned to Simon and asked in an adorably infuriating manner "You want to tell him honey or should I?"

Simon began "Well I-"

Kaylee faced the others and cut him off, perhaps not even aware that he was speaking, as she began excitedly, "It was so romantic. He said he wanted to do what's right and wanted to make me happy, but he kept trippin' over his words like he usually does. I almost beat him cause I thought he was 'bout to be a martyr. Ya know, go an' leave me fer my own good' tryin' to be some kinda big damn hero."

Kaylee turned back to Simon and sighed. He smiled shyly and she wrapped him in a loving embrace before continuing. "And then he told the sweetest thing. Said he was lost in the woods without me and that he was finally ready to build our home together!" All of the women let out a chorus of 'awes' that made Mal's skin crawl.

Mal stared down the nervous looking doctor and asked "Is that a fact?"

"It's true" Simon confirmed. To Mal it almost sounded like the boy was having trouble believing it himself. "That's exactly how it happened" Simon continued as his voice waivered, "I, uh, I wasn't sure I had it in me."

His voice breaking brought about another infuriating chorus of 'awes' from his female crew members. Based off of the boy's voice tone and body language, Mal figured there was about a 50% chance the boy was actually in love and a 50% chance that he was or felt forced into it.

"It's both" River whispered behind Mal, startling him. "Better this way." She continued. "Otherwise Simon would have screwed it up. He is such a boob."

Mal turned to face River. "It's not polite to sneak up on folk and eavesdrop in their minds."

"You think too loud."

Mal watched most of his crew excitedly talking to the newly engaged. Mal noted with some amusement that Kaylee was doing most all of the talking, which was probably not unusual with these kind of occasions. Every now and then Simon would stutter out a few words before Kaylee obliviously and excitedly cut him off to answer for him. Boy almost looks like a prisoner Mal mused.

"I take it you're okay with this lil' albatross?" Mal asked River.

"Better this way. Higher morale will improve crew performance.," River stated as she looked at Mal disapprovingly, "You're a captain, you should know these things."

"Well, if you're okay with it pilot-doctor-captain, so am I." Mal leaned back smugly in his chair. "You know I hate shipboard romances, but if there's one sure fire way to kill a romance, it's a marriage."

"How long do you think it will take before I'm an aunt?"

Mal fell over backwards. River giggled and skipped away to join the other women as they left galley discussing details of the engagement. Without even bothering to get up, Mal shouted at Simon "Doc, you mind explainin' to us menfolk just how all the hell this all came to be?"

"Two days ago I was still trying to make it through an entire date without making Kaylee angry. Now I'm an undercover operative and I've become engaged to a beautiful woman that I don't know how to talk to. Captain, I believe I may be insane."