Title: Tough

Rating: PG. For now, but it could bump up. Will bump up.

Characters: the whole crew, plus the Pirate Children and Alistair Caramia (the latter are mine, the rest are Joss's)

Pairings: Canon pairings. I will openly admit that I heavily, heavily favor Mal and Inara and the Reynolds Family. (Trying hard to rectify that without negatively affecting the storyline.)

Summary: Yet another Pirate Children story. Set twenty-eight years post-BDM. A not-so-fluffy (but still slightly fluffy) look at the future. Serenity's adjusting to her grown children.

Author's Note: There's been much chatter about Mal's conversation with Serra, which excites me as a writer. A very important part of Serra and Mal's relationship is that while she's still partly his "little girl", he knows exactly what she's capable of and he really respects her as (nearly) an equal. And we've all seen how terrible he can be to women he loves and respects.

Part 3

“How do ya feel about filicide?” Mal huffs, throwing himself onto the couch in their shuttle.

“Are we speaking in general or just a certain case?” Inara asks, calmly, not looking up from her reading.

“Our daughter. I’m gonna kill her. I’m gonna run out there, find her, drag her ass back here, and then kill her.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” Inara says, just as nonchalant as before. “The killing part, I mean. If you feel the need to go look for her, I won’t try to stop you.”

“You ain’t worried about her?”

“Of course, I’m worried about her, Mal,” Inara sighs, finally looking up at him. “But she’s nineteen years old and can take care of herself for an afternoon. She did well enough for six months without us.”

“Did she? I wouldn’t know, ‘cause the two of ya won’t tell just what happened while she was gone.”

“I don’t know all of it myself,” Inara objects, putting down the book. “And that’s her story to tell. You know my part of it.”

Mal feels the ache of that in his chest, of the fights that were worse than they had been in decades, the words that came o