A/N: Sorry for the slight delay - life got in the way of fic - the horror!

The angst keeps building, so enjoy the ride. Thanks again to Leiasky for the initial beta. And thanks to all of you, dear readers, who keep commenting! *Hugs*

Simon sat on the couch across from the infirmary, his expression blank as he gazed at the capture in his hand. He had already cycled through the dozen or so images contained on its memory chip and, deciding on his favorite, he had frozen the image to one in particular.

Inara found him like this, a bit despondent and forlorn and her heart ached for the younger man. Her own guilt was already eating away at her – she had been selfish in the past few weeks allowing her own problems to get in the way of Simon and Kaylee, two dear friends who obviously needed her. Secretly, Inara had been glad when Simon had devised this plan and determined she could be of use. At this point, she figured it was the least she could do.

Entering the room on her silent feet, she moved to Simon’s side and sat down. Glancing over his shoulder, she caught sight of the image that had him mesmerized: Kaylee was front and center, a grin as big as the ‘verse on her face, while surrounding her were at least twenty people, all with matching smiles and laughing eyes.

“She looks so happy here,” Simon murmured wistfully after a time. Settling back into the couch, Inara turned her knees towards him and listened as he continued. “Look at that smile. She just can’t contain her joy.” Sighing heavily, Simon dropped the image into his lap and rubbed his hands over his face. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

Frowning slightly, Inara gingerly took the capture from his lap, thumbing through the images. There were more of the same people, all with Kaylee, and Inara recognized them for the family members they were. But there were a few, towards the end, of Kaylee with her new family – the crew – and just a couple w