Passages

Author’s Notes:

This fic takes place after two other brief fanfics I wrote, “Anniversary” and “Rich and Full-Bodied”. However, you do not need to have read the other two in order to make sense of this one.

Thank you to my beta testers, Thegranddewru and Invisibleshrew.

***

“I’m so sorry, mother,” Zoe murmurs, mournfully. “Sorry we weren’t here earlier for you.” A cool wind moves through the evening, rustling the trees in the cemetery. Zoe knows she will regret missing her father’s passing and funeral all the way to her own grave.

Zoe’s mother, Saikara, returns the hug fiercely and Zoe is not surprised at the strength in Saikara’s grasp. “I understand, dear. You got a tough line of work.”

When the hug is finished, Zoe returns her grim gaze to the tombstone. She reads her father’s name – Arthur Johnston Alleyne – and the years of his birth and death, checking to ensure that all the information is accurate and correctly spelled. The tombstone is small and sparse, and Zoe is glad that there had been money to pay for it. There was not, however, room on the marker to mention that he had been a husband, father, and one-time space captain before the illness struck him down.

Wash gingerly approaches his mother-in-law and hugs her. “My condolences, ma’am,” he says quietly as he shivers in the cool wind.

A bit of life returns to Saikara’s face, if not an actual smile. “I told you last time you were here, young man, not to call me ‘ma’am’! Saikara is my name.”

Wash whispers a sincere apology. Zoe had received the wave that her father had passed unexpectedly, and it took over three weeks for a trip to this planet to fit into Serenity’s itinerary. Her father had been ill for years with the slowly degenerative Milner’s disease. Everyone had known that he would not live a long life, but Zoe still had been shocked at his death; last time they had talked he had seemed well.

The sun is starting to set and Wash picks up the lantern, bugs swirling around the light. The trio slowly plods