Chapter 7

Kaylee hurries into the engine room, quick to get it up and running , still berating herself as she works quickly to get them in the sky.

"Way to go Kaylee, make her run off like that..."

The mechanic grumbles to herself as she gets their home ready for takeoff. She sighs as she feels the space ship surge off the ground, it'd just be a few minutes more then they'd break atmo and be back in space again after weeks of being earth bound.

"Maybe this mess'll leave us down there on the ground. Maybe things will be normal again now, like they used to be."

The thought cheers her up a bit, giving her a glimmer of hope, though deep down she knows things have changed to much since Rivers injuries. They could never go back to that live now. All they could do now was make the best of this new situation they'd been handed.

River watches the hustle and bustle of the crew from her hidey hole in Serenity, thinking them like ants trying to rebuild their home that’s been kicked in by some bad child. She lifts her head faintly, hearing the ships engine kick on. She shifts, laying her head against the cool metal of the ship wall, listening to the hum of the engine. Slowly, images drift through her mind, the familiar sound of the engine causing memories to drift up through the fog of her mind. Kaylee in the engine room, Kaylee elbow deep in grease and lubricant as she repairs the ATV or a busted engine part. Kaylee in the infirmary, the first time she heard her voice...

"...She called me a beauty."

The young reader whispers to Serenity quietly, eyes coming up again slowly, though her vision was still unclear, she reaches up to her face, fingers coming away wet. Tears? Why? She bites her lip, feeling a deep ache in her chest, and the sting of tears in her eyes, but didn't understand it. She still couldn't remember enough.

"What is this...?? the equations don't add up to a whole, still a broken girl.."

She shakes her head again, hugging her knees to her chest, resting her forehea