Sorry it's taken me so long to update this. School has been crazy and I have been sick. I've worked on this though, there's one more part before another long saga starts up......

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Serenity.

He wasn't there, he wasn't the captain. He wasn't standing proud, he wasn't giving orders, he wasn't there. None of them were there, she wasn't the first mate, he wasn't the doctor, she wasn't the mechanic, or the merc, or the companion. None of them were there as she walked through the hallowed halls. Her feet were noiseless as they moved, lifting up and slowly coming down on the grating. Her hands stroked the railing, the walls, they touched and connected with the mechanical beast. The mechanical beast was her friend, an entity in her dreams, and spirit that connected with her, that beckoned her like an imaginary friend to come and stay.

Up the stairs, her eyes shut as Serenity's inviting hum made her body feel electric as the ship talked to her, told her to stay. There were no words, but she knew Serenity was talking, the Firefly always used to talk to her when she was alone.

Through the corridor, her heart jumped as the bridge was wide and open, inviting. The stars winked at her, and a planet glowed in the distance. It was Sihnon, she could see the chain of mountains where the temple was, and Serenity was moving away from it. Though the ship was empty, and she stood there, gazing at the stars, there was no feeling of isolation, abandonment. There was just the rush she felt when she saw the endless sky, for it was freedom. It was nothing, yet everything at the same time, and she drank it up.

She turned around as she sensed another's presence.

It was Book, he stood there with kind eyes, looking down upon her with a sincere mix of love and knowledge of something of importance. Reaching up, he draped Mal's coat over her shoulders and gazed back out the windshield.

She too gazed back out at the stars, there were no words between them.

Coming out of slee