Haha, I'm at Starbucks again. Seems to be the only time I find to write.

You know the drill. Bow down to Joss and Mutant Enemy and proclaim your undying love. Oh, I mean, you know, they own everything. Even your soul.

***

"Look! Look! " Nandi was practically hissing from the effort of trying to whisper through all of her excitement.

"What am I looking at?" Inara asked, releasing the flower she'd been sampling the scent of and crossing to Nandi. The two were once again in one of Sihnon's many gardens.

"They're leaving!" Nandi said, pointing to the troops marching to the docks.

"So they are." Inara said, watching them go with a sigh. "How long before their return, do you think?"

"Not long at all." Nandi replied, "As far as wars go, anyway." she smiled that crooked smile that Inara liked so much. "It'll be no time before they come back and business will be booming again, because they'll be so happy we won that they'll celebrate until none of them can walk anymore."

"You seem so certain." Inara murmured.

Nandi gave Inara a strange look, tilting her head to the side and resting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "You forget, dear friend, that I was not always the princess that you met that first day of training. If my daddy hadn't struck big with Blue Sun, well, let's just say I wouldn't be standing here with you now. This is a charmed life, but it is also very sheltered. I haven't forgotten my beginnings." she sighed, "And while passion and spirit are good and all, strength, numbers, and regiment will crush them relatively quickly."

"I suppose you're right." Inara said, "But I still think that the Independents are going to make a powerful stand. We will win this war, but the costs will be high."

"That is probably true." Nandi said.

"Now, what are we to do while all of our clients are away at war?" Inara asked with a sly smile. It was an exaggeration, they still had clients here, but they had just lost about ninety-five percent of their clientele.

"What we always do.