Soft...cool...the metal beneath her feet feels inviting. Ready to envelop her if she needs it. But she doesn't. Not today. Today she's River. Not the Crazy one or the poor kid....not the troubled sister...No....today she is River.

She feels Serenity with each step. It's encouraging her. It leads her into the kitchen and she follows. Her bare feet and Serenity take her to the kitchen, where Jayne is. Everyone else is asleep, and she's glad. Their thoughts are not so loud if they're asleep. Mal and Zoe are the only ones with bad dreams. But she's gotten used to them, can tone them out for the most part.

He's cleaning his guns. He holds them gently, following a rhythmic pattern. It's soothing. She leans against the door, watching. He doesn't notice at first, and when he does he looks up startled. His thoughts race, and she's momentarily overcome with them. Fear, suprise, guilt, admiration, and care. The last two suprise her. He's always been fearful of her, but its not the same fear anymore. Not since Miranda. Not since she saved them.

That thought surfaces above all others. It's what he thinks about when he sees her. When he and Zoe and Simon and Kaylee and Inara couldn't save them....when they had given up...she saved them all. It shocked him. He had thought she would help, maybe take out a few of them in the fight. But not like she did though. She jumped in with all of those gen-ji. She was ready to sacrifice her life to save them. He thought she would die, worse then just death though. And he surprised himself when he realized he didn’t want that for her. She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t have to save them, but she did, she saved them...and didn't die. With that thought, other thoughts begin to emerge. He doesn't understand why, but he feels admiration…and something else.

"What 'cha lookin at, girl?" he said, and she realized she had been looking at his gun.

"Not looking. Listening." she replies. "they like your hands," she says and he looks down at th