En-Route to Shadow

Inara Serra stepped out of her shuttle and onto the catwalk, noticing not for the first time the subtle differences between her former home and her new one. Sure, Destiny was a Firefly-class transport, and sure the layout was the same as Serenity, but there were the differences. It was clean, for one thing, cleaner than Mal had ever bothered keeping Serenity. Not that it had ever bothered her before, but now, holding a metal railing that wasn’t covered in dust and staring out into a cargo bay that reeked of cleaning solvent, she fought the impulse to run out of the cargo bay doors, grab a handful of dirt and spread it around the ship, if only to give it that lived-in look. Make it look like home.

Serenity’s not home anymore. This is home now.

She shook her head and tried to smile. She hadn’t explained to Captain Kurdian exactly why she left Serenity, and she didn’t plan on it. It was a part of her life that she needed to put behind her, even if her heart told her that she had made the wrong choice. Well, what had following her heart got her? She fell in love with a broken man who so obviously had feelings for her, but all her training told her stay away. So she never told him how she felt. When Saffron sabotaged the ship and Inara had found Mal unconscious in his bunk, she had kissed him, throwing aside everything for the man she loved. Then why, after she woke up from the “Goodnight Kiss” that Saffron had left on Mal’s lips, why did she deny kissing him?

In the end, it had been her fault. Mal slept with Nandi. That single incident had torn Inara apart more than she would ever admit. She had pushed him into the arms of someone else, and the worst part was that she wasn’t even mad at Mal, or even Nandi for it. She was mad at herself.

So she left Serenity, left her family. Saying goodbye was a heart wrenching experience. Kaylee cried, asking why she had to go. Wash, for once, had no jokes to say, instead clinging to his wife. Simon comforted Kaylee, and Jayne…well, big Jayne