Author's Notes:

You know the drill. Feedback at kaylee@kikiroxxorz.com is appreciated. Also, for timeline purposes, I am George Lucas. I worked backwards. This takes place immediately preceding the first part. So, I suppose, you should read them:

2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 6 if you're new to the series.

Maybe sometime soon we'll pick River's brain.

Warnings, etc:

Warnings from the previous La Cienega Just Smiled stories:

Read with caution. There's some topical matter, namely who's paired with whom, that might be offensive. Feedback is always appreciated (kaylee@kikiroxxorz.com). This gorram story is growing exponentially—every time I write one chapter, another one follows it in my mind.

Any problems can be directed to my dear and fluffy muse, Ryan Adams. He sings, I write.

"Now I hold you close in the back of my mind, feels so good, but damn, it makes me hurt

I’m too scared to know how I feel about you now

La cienega just smiles and says “I’ll see you ‘round.”

Now I hold you close in the back of my mind

Raise my glass cause either way I’m dead

Neither of you really help me to sleep anymore

One breaks my body and the other breaks my soul

La cienega just smiles and waves goodbye."

~Ryan Adams, La Cienega Just Smiled

***

Simon’s brain works in very complicated ways. He still thinks that he needs her. He’s so blindly upset that he can’t see what’s right in front of him. It makes me feel sad. If I was somebody normal, if I thought he still loved me, I would hug him the way he hugs me, pet him, and say, “It’s okay, xiong, it’s going to be fine.”

*** Mal’s crew is in a state of disarray. Inara has retreated quietly to her shuttle, on the pretext of a late client. Upon realizing that River and Kaylee were, in fact, “shacking up”, Jayne disappeared to his bunk. Wash and Zoe are off god-knows-where, and Simon is standing, spluttering, still reeling from River’s retaliation to his words. Kaylee, unsure how to answer, retracts as if she’s been hit, which causes River’s arms to come around her body protectively. Mal stands in the doorway for a few moments before intervening, wondering what the hell happened to his crew.

***

You know, I never really wanted a sister. When my parents asked me how I felt about having a little sister, I told them, “I’d rather not, thank you.” But River came along anyway, and in the end, I learned to love her. I gave up everything for her, and in the end, she took everything from me.

**

I never thought of it as shackin’ up til Simon did. It ain’t like that—it’s more of a spiritual thing, like we’re one person with two bodies. But now it’s spinnin’ round in my head, over and over, a tiny dig that caused an awful big hurt. River has her arms ‘round me, strokin’ my hair. “Shhhhh, bao bei, don’t worry, It’ll be okay,” she whispers, over and over. I can see Simon through the curtain of her hair, and his face sends me a completely different message.