My hands are trembling

And my eyes are on fire

This house is crumbling

Left brain, left out on the wire

They did their usual dance. They glanced at each other as they passed in the hallways. They shared an occasional smile over the dinner table.

Inara wandered the ship as much as Mal did. She had enough time on her hands now. Shortly after they left Mr. Universe’s moon, she received a wave from the house mistress, chastising her for disappearing from the training house. With ‘that pirate captain, no less’. She tried to explain what happened. She told Sheydra what they had seen on Miranda. She thought she could trust her confidence. The next morning, her guild license was revoked. She was no longer a Companion.

You make me happy

You magnify my better half

You make me certain

Though all I have today is your photograph

They hadn’t argued in weeks. They hadn’t said much of anything to each other. It weren’t for a lack of trying. They just didn’t have much to say to each other.

Mal would watch her walk the ship. He suspected she had time it to offset his usual walk. He had slipped her up a few times, caught her on the bridge, just staring out into the black. She would notice him, mumble an apology and good night, and she’d be gone. Again.

His heart stuck in his throat every time he saw her. But she was intangible, unattainable. Look, but don’t touch, just like his ma had always said. She was as the capture he kept of her in his bunk: a constant reminder of what he would never have.

She had seemed preoccupied at dinner the night before. He started his nightly walk, hoping to catch her in her wandering. But she was nowhere to be found.

My past is perilous

And each scar I bear sings

Monuments to where I have been

And melodies to where I am going

Her life as a Companion was over. The house had crumbled around her. She sat on the solid bunk in her shuttle, her bed long gone. Her life now long gone. She felt small, insignificant amongst the grande scheme of things. No