Disclaimers : Everything belongs to Joss, except for one character of my creation.

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The time to go was almost upon Alex. Mal was up and out of his bunk early, saying he needed to get to the bridge and prepare for their imminent arrival on Zargon. She would be off the ship before the crew even sat down to breakfast.

Alex made her way back to the passenger dorm and showered, dressed and gathered what few belongings she had into her worn canvas pack. Then she left her room to take a walk and say goodbye to Serenity , her old friend.

She said farewell to Simon first, as he had been instructed to take River and disappear. She had not seen River since her meltdown the day before. Whether she had calmed on her own or Simon had her sedated somewhere Alex didn’t know, and did not want to.

She strolled through the ship, taking it all in. She walked the catwalks in the cargo bay. She stroked the walls in the dining room, smiling at the stenciling Kaylee had done. She stood gazing into the lounge, where she and Mal had talked late into the night. She walked through the cockpit, where she had been with Wash when they saw the trouble going down at the post station. She looked into the engine room, where Kaylee performed her magic that kept them in the sky.

She saved the infirmary for last. She spent long moments taking in the place she knew so well, the place where her past met the present. She put a hand on the exam table where Mal had first kissed her, and closed her eyes, reliving the moment.

She let the stretcher down from the wall and opened her hidey-hole. She thumbed through her notes one last time, then put them back in and closed it up again.

Then she went back to her room and sat down on the bed to wait for the ship to dock. The bed still smelled of Mal and her from the one night they had spent together there. She stretched out, resting her head on the pillow where he had slept.

“Miss?