Angelle is mine, and the rest belongs to Whedon.

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Nerves...Damn it, why did he have to go and kiss me? It had been much easier when my little crush had just been that, a crush. Now, well, things had definitely gotten complicated. I hadn't talked to Mal much after the kiss, and I think he knew it had thrown me for a bit of a loop. Don't get me wrong, if he was any other man, I'd have shown him all kinds of fun stuff us swamp girls knew how to do, but Mal...he had been in my dreams since the day my daddy came home from the war spouting stories. He was never suppose to waltz into my life and make me want to live those dreams.

My hair fell in my face as I stared at myself in the mirror. Scars littered my slender body, most from my life as a swamp girl. One or two had been from lead, bullets sent to make sure I wouldn't make another birthday. My largest, though, ran along my spine, a long jagged line that started between my shoulder blades and ended about two inches from my backside. There have been many moments in my life that have frightened me, but only once have I been completely terrified. That day, Old Scar almost swallowed me whole. Henceforth, the scar from his large incisor dragging down my back while my father pulled me from his mouth...Over two hundred stitches and several pints of blood... Yup, got a lot of respect for that beast!!

"Stix, honey. You awake?" My father knocked lightly on my door and I grabbed the black satin robe from my chair before the door swung open. "Mal and I were wondering where you had gone off to."

I turned quickly, but realized my father was alone. "Just thinkin' on what to wear tonight."

"You ain't jealous over me hangin' out with Little Kaylee, are you?"

"No, Dad. I know why you do it and it's fine." I walked over to my closet as we stood in silence for a minute.

"You know, if you and Mal don't hit it off, I ain't gonna be mad." He shuffled his feet as I pulled out a long black dress. "You thinkin' abo