Firefly, Serenity, and all related proprietary characters are the intellectual property of Joss Whedon and corporations with whom I have no affiliation. Said property does not belong to me, and the fictional story below is of my own creation. (I don’t own ‘em, just like to play with ‘em!)

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Much to River’s delight, Serenity did touch down on Persephone thirty-eight hours later, with the talented teenager at the controls. Inara was quite amused when River told her that Mal wanted to keep the landing exercise a surprise to the rest of the crew. So when Jayne and Kaylee wandered into the kitchen a moment after Serenity had landed and found Mal making coffee, the mercenary’s alarm was understandable. “Mal, how the gorram d’you get in here so quick? You just parked us like five seconds ago!”

“Who said I parked us?” Mal’s mischievous grin only intensified as Jayne tried to ponder who else could have made the landing. “Don’t hurt that brain of your’s, Jayne. Li’l Albatross wanted to try settin’ down, and she always seems more settled sittin’ in that chair than anywhere else on this boat.”

Kaylee couldn’t decide whether to be proud of her mèi mei or horrified. “Cap’n, you sure that’s a good idea? I mean…” Gŏu shĭ , ‘Nara told us not to talk ‘bout that stuff… wait a sec, shouldn’t even be thinkin’ on it, she’s a gorram reader! Oh gŏu shĭ… If not for the serious nature of the conversation, Kaylee’s facial expressions while she went through that thought process would have been almost comical.

Luckily Mal figured out what Kaylee meant and brought her out of her musing. “Don’t fret! Think I’d let her make her first try unsupervised? I was sittin’ two feet away, she wasn’t gonna crash us. ‘Sides, Lord Harrow’s estate has it’s own landin’ platform, big enough for four of Serenity , and we’re the only ones here.” Mal made his way back out of the kitchen, heading back towards the bridge, when he abruptly stopped in the hall and stuck his head back i