Freedom’s cry

Disclaimer- Ain’t mine. Note- the lateness of this update is my fault entirely. Life has a real problem with interfering with my writing. Bad life! On the other hand I do have an original work posted at fictionpress if you want to check it out. Note2- If you have any question concerning this fic please leave your email address, along with the question in the review or email one of us and we will get back to you as soon as we can. xxx

Chapter 2

Mal stared at the now blank screen and blinked. Before he could lift a finger the comm clicked on.

“Changing course for Shadow. ETA 7 hours.” There was chuckle. “Hey, Mal, I really like your mother.”

Mal sighed and rubbed hand over his forehead. “Is there anyone that weren’t listenin’?”

“Oh no, sir.” Zoë got to her feet, empty plate in hand. “We all heard just fine.”

Mal scowled fiercely.

“We get to meet your family, Captain?” Kaylee asked excitedly.

“Looks like, don’t it?” Mal drawled.

“I like your mother already,” Inara told him. “Actually it explains a lot.”

Mal scowled harder, making a vein in his forehead pop out. “Zoë, contact the Megase sisters. Tell ‘em we’ve been delayed. Their stuff ain’t going anywhere and we’ll get it to them, but for the moment we need weapons. More then even Jayne can think of.”

“Weapons?” Simon asked. “I thought you were going to talk your family out of rebelling.”

“Stubborn,” River piped up. “Won’t listen. Don’t follow plans. Needs so much taking care of.” She punched him in the arm.

“Ow! River, what was that for?”

For a second Mal could smile at River. She got it. She had said it herself after Early shot Simon. Family, they really take it out of you. “Girl’s got it in one. These folks been living with my Ma for some years. Tends to make a person ornery.”

Inara smiled. “Just like I was saying.”

Suddenly the scowl was back. Mal turned and stomped away.

“Mal?” Kaylee started after him.

Inara frowned and placed a restraining hand on her arm. “No, Kaylee, leave him. Perhaps we pushed him too far tonight.”

“But-“

“Just give him a little time, Kaylee.”

xxxxx

Furious with himself, Mal stomped down the stairs and into the cargo bay. He stomped over to the mail crate they had just picked up yesterday and wrenched it open.

Ammo.

Good. They were going to need it; especially them boys were how he remembered them.

Rowdy, trouble makers the lot of ‘em. Stubborn, heads harder than a mule’s. And reason? Didn’t have a lick of it and wouldn’t listen none neither. And that was 'fore they met his ma!

“Argh!” Mal cursed loudly as he pulled his hand out of the crate. The blade of a knife shone in the light.

There was a deep cut running down the length of his palm. “Gorrammit!”

Blood flowed freely from the cut, running between his fingers to fall onto the floor.

“Great, just what I needed.”

xxxxx

Mal walked in to the infirmary, his eyes fixed on the weeping cut on his hand, thinkin' no one else was about.

"Gorram woman'll be the death o'me, I can see it. 'Come to Shadow, son. Help brothers and sisters you don't know none to fight a war they're just gonna lose anyways!' Give her a war." Mal cursed.

He riffled through the drawers, looking for a weave.

Sheppard Book stepped up behind him, appearing, seemingly, out of thin air.

"Y'know in the Bible, God says, 'Honour thy mother and father' It's one of the Ten Commandments.”

Mal jumped and turned to face Book, weave dangling between two fingers. He snorted.

"God ain't met my Ma."

Book took the weave from Mal and smiled. He took Mal’s hand and placed the weave over it over the weeping wound.

Book smiled. “Oh, I think he has.”

Mal scowled. “Then I feel sorry for the man.”

xxxxx

Mal looked into the engine room, unsurprised to see Kaylee’s feet sticking out from under the heart of Serenity.

“She runnin’ okay?”

“Fine.” Kaylee refused to look at him.

Mal sighed. “All right, well don’t spend all night fiddlin’. Big day tomorrow, we’re all gonna need our rest.”

Mal turned to leave.

“Cap’n?”

Mal stopped. “Yes, Kaylee?”

Kaylee put down her wrench. “How come you didn’t tell us bout your ma?”

“Kaylee-“ Mal sighed. “Would you come on out from there?” He grabbed her by the legs and pulled her out.

Kaylee looked up at him, her eyes wide and moist. “Are you shamed of us?”

“No! I just- Didn’t see it was relevant, is all.”

Kaylee’s face fell. “But we’re your friends.”

“Wouldn’t call Jayne my friend,” Mal denied. Mal exhaled heavily, sagging into himself. “Look, past is past. Can’t fix it now, and talkin’ bout it won’t do no good.”

“But-“

“It ain’t nothing against you, Kaylee.”

Kaylee bit her lip. “You sure, Mal?”

Mal reached down and pulled Kaylee to her feet, wrapping his arms around her to hug her tightly. “Course.” He let her go and ruffled her hair. “Now get back to work on that engine. Don’t want Serenity to break somethin’ ‘fore we get to Shadow.”

Kaylee smiled at him. “Not to worry, Cap’n. I won’t let nothin’ stop me from meetin’ your family. It’d be a right shame to miss it.”

Mal smiled tightly and walked out of the engine room. Careful to be out of Kaylee’s earshot he muttered to himself.

“Yes. That would be a shame.”

xxxxx

Mal stumbled into the dinning area, one hand rubbing at his eyes. He fell into his chair and yawned loudly.

“So, you couldn’t sleep either?”

Mal jerked and looked into the kitchen. Inara grinned at him over the kettle. She eyed his disheveled appearance. Unconsciously, Mal grasped his unbuttoned shirt closed and shrugged into his braces.

Inara smirked at this. “I’ll make you some tea.”

Mal ran a hand through his hair. “Could do with something a lil’ stronger than that.”

“There’s always the wine Kaylee made,” Inara suggested innocently.

Mal grimaced. “Tea’ll be fine.”

Inara poured the tea into two cups and carefully carried them around to the table. “I’m sorry for teasing you like that earlier. I should have realized your family would be a touchy subject for you. The very fact that you’ve never told us anything should have been enough of a warning.”

Mal scowled. “They teach you that in whore academy?”

Inara bristled. “I was trying to apologize, but if you’re going to act that way then never mind.”

She slammed his cup of tea onto the table, causing the tea to splash up over the rim and cover the table.

Mal sighed. “’Nara.”

She stiffened at the shortening of her name. “What?”

Mal gestured at the table. “Sit. Drink your tea before it gets cold.”

Seeing this was the closest to an apology she was going to get, Inara sat down. For several minutes they drank their tea in silence.

Inara cleared her throat. “So-“

Mal tensed.

“What’s Shadow like? I can’t say that I have ever been there.”

Mal relaxed and allowed himself a small grin. “Ain’t a more beautiful place in this here galaxy than Shadow. All the planets I’ve been to and there ain’t been one with a sunset like them on Shadow. Ain’t no cities on Shadow, not like on a core planet. Biggest village is near the ranch. It ain’t nothing more than a few stores, a bar and a whorehouse.” Mal cleared his throat and looked over at Inara.

She raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to comment.

Mal ducked his head. “Shadow’s a ranchin’ and farmin’ planet. Ain’t much pollution; sky’s so clear at night. Stars seem to go on forever. Ma used to tell me how my pa would take her out and name all the stars for her.” He smiled nostalgically.

Inara placed a hand over Mal’s. “You must love your mother very much.”

Mal suddenly jerked back from her, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “You’re usin’ them feminine wiles on me!”

Inara leaned back in her chair. “No, I just listened. It’s amazing what you can hear, if you just learn to listen. Sometimes people just need to talk, and they need someone to hear.”

“Oh.” Mal studied the bottom of his teacup. “Inara?”

“Yes, Mal?”

“I’m glad you didn’t leave.”

Inara smiled. “Me too. Well, the desire to gut sturgeon not withstanding, I figured you could use my help a little longer."

"Yes, where would we be without our beloved ambassador?"

Inara shrugged. "You'd have one less ear."

xxxxx

It was a pleasant enough day on Shadow when Serenity landed. Mal stood on the ramp with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the land he left so long ago.

Green grass covered the slight hills and the sun glinted off a pristine lake. Cattle strolled around the meadows, mooing occasionally and bending their necks down to chomp on a mouthful of grass. Ranch hands mounted on horses rode out to meet them, sending up clouds of dust as they rode along the dirt track that separated the fields.

“Wow!” Kaylee stopped beside Mal. “Your ma owns all this?”

“Yep,” Mal said with pride. “Best cattle ranch in all of Shadow.”

“You were right.”

Mal turned back to see Inara walking towards them.

She smiled at him. “Shadow is a very beautiful planet. I can understand the desire to protect it, especially if it all looks like this.”

“I may be a mite biased, but this is prettiest piece of land this planet has to offer.”

Jayne sniffed dismissively. “Least it’s got grass.”

“Mal! Malcolm Reynolds!” A figure on horseback separated from the group and galloped up to the ship. The person threw themselves off the horse and ran over to Mal, crushing him into an embrace.

“Hey, Ma.”

Mal’s mother pulled back. It was clear that she had been an exceptional beauty in her younger years, not that time and hardships that ravaged her beauty, but they had softened its effects. Time, and laughter, had worn lines around her eyes and mouth and the sun had left her skin with a permanent dark tan.

“Don’t you ‘hey, Ma’ me. Is that any way to greet your mother after having not seen hide nor hair of ya for years now?”

Wash wrapped an arm around Zoë and grinned. “Yes, Mal. You’ve been most remiss. We’re always telling him he should write you more often.”

Rae Reynolds studied Wash. “You must that pilot, Hoban Washburne.”

Wash nodded at her. “Yes, I am, Mrs. Reynolds. You can call me Wash.”

“You got a smart mouth, Wash. I like that in a person. And call me Rae.”

Rae’s gaze swept over Serenity’s crew. It stopped rather abruptly on Shepard Book. “Well, either you’ve paid my son a lot of money or there’s somethin’ he’s forgettin’ to tell his poor mother.”

Mal glared. “Nothin’s changed, Ma.”

Rae sighed. “Well, a mother can hope. By the by, there’s someone wantin’ to talk to you.” She nodded past him.

Mal turned.

A woman bout his age stood with her arms crossed, staring him down.

“Never thought I’d see the day that Malcolm Reynolds would dare show his face on Shadow. Guess I was wrong, huh?”

xxx

And now I pass the ball to Lucas Harper…