Mal decided to head to the mess for some tea before he got another ghostly visitation. He found Inara already there, absently stirring her cup of tea. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Inara."

She looked up, startled. "Oh, hello Mal. Couldn't sleep either?"

His mouth twisted into a half-smile. "Ghosts that haunt us, I guess."

"Mal, I've got something to tell you..."

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm captain of this here boat, which means that I get to say my piece first. Assumin' I had a piece to say."

She smiled a bit sadly. "Do you? Have a piece to say, I mean?"

"I do, but ya gotta promise me somethin' first. Promise you'll hear me out in full and not run away like last time."

"Mal, I..."

He made his best attempt at a Stern Captain-y Face. "Promise?"

Inara couldn't resist the Stern Captain-y Face. "Alright, I promise."

Mal took a sip of his tea. "Did I ever tell you what happened to Shadow?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Got fried from orbit by the Alliance. Killed everything and everyone that ever lived there. My Ma. Molly. Everyone."

"Molly? You never mentioned having a sister."

The half-smile again. "Not my sister. Girl I swore I'd come back from the war for. We was gonna get hitched, have our own piece of land, raise some kids. Had it all planned out, simple and easy. Ain't it somethin' how life didn't turn out any of those? I didn't win the war, or get to come home, or get myself hitched."

Inara recalled Book's words from earlier. "Well, I was supposed to stay on Sihnon and become the high priestss for House Madrassa. And we both know how that turned out."

"Guess neither of us is terrible good at doin' what we was supposed to."

"I suppose not."

Mal leaned forward and gently took both of Inara's hands. "Yanno, a wise man told me that I can either get busy livin' or get busy dyin'. Seems to me I've done myself far too much of the latter and not enough of the former. I mean to rectify that."

A genuine smile started to play around the corners of Inara's mouth. "And ju