Author's Notes:

I think there's ten. Well, nine and an epilogue, but that's closer to ten. This turned out happier than I had expected, which I chalk up to the fact that I finally recieved my Ryan Adams CD and most of the songs are amazingly upbeat. La Cienega's still my favorite though. Anyways:

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, 7, 8 if you're new to the series.

A somewhat happy ending. Weird? I think so.

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

This one takes place 24 days after part 7.

***

I was wrong. My brother has been gon an insubordinately long time, fourteen days. I was wrong about everything, so it's all my fault, technically. And since it's all my fault, it's up to me to make it right. It is going to hurt, especially if it goes wrong again, but this is what I need to do in order to have Serenity back, because without Her, I have no reason to be alive.

***

Most days now, Mal wishes he could move in reverse. If Serenity had a rewind button, Mal would push it. He would push it until back before they took on Simon and River, to when Kaylee always had a smile, to when Mal didn't have to make up a "no shipboard relationships" rule. To when "Serenity" lived up to her name.

***

Pacquin is all wrong for me, or perhaps I am all wrong for Pacquin. I have been here for fourteen days now, and none of it is even beginning to seem like home. I have taken up a job at a charity hospital--it does not pay terribly well, but it is steady, mindless, comforting work. On my third day here, I took up an affair- a nurse named Elisabeth, with soft sand-coloured hair and blue eyes- but I called her Kaylee one night and it ended as abruptly as it began. I have begun dividing my pay into thirds: a third for my rent. A third for living necessities. The rest goes to things for Kaylee: glittery pens, rainbow trim, flowered hair ribbons, a polished stone in the shape of a heart. I suppose this is why I am not shocked when I receive a wave from Serenity. "Hey, mei-mei!" "I ended it, Simon. Loosened my screws to empty holes for yours. Already cried, Simon, there's only one thing left to bring it full-circle, and that's for you to come back. Oh, and I eat all my vegetables." It may not make entirely too much sense, but I know what she means. "You didn't have to do that, mei-mei." She gives me one of her looks. "Yes, I did." She smiles a little. "So you'll come home?"

***

She's cryin' a little, tryin' her hardest not to. "But it's for the best anyway," she says. "I love you. But so does Simon. I love you because you make me free. Simon loves you because you're you. He can't live without you being his, I can't live without you being here. It's a compromise, bao bei. We'll still talk and play and cook on the fifth night and I'll fall asleep in your lap on Game Night, just like now." I breathe in, knowin' that she knows, that she's doin' what's s'posed to happen. "I'm sorry...for all of this, River." She squeezes me and smies, a real smile. "It's okay," she replies. "You'll give me lots of nieces to warp." Then she grins and takes off runnin', one of my wrenches clenched in her hand.