Disclaimer: For fun, not for profit. Joss is boss.

It had happened so fast that it could never have been prevented. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. The day Serenity fell from the sky was the first day she had noticed him and she refused to believe that one had anything to do with the other.

****

They had come back to Haven. Though they had said their goodbyes to Shepherd Book back in those bad months after Miranda, it had seemed the fitting thing to do. To say a proper goodbye to the place that had sheltered them through many a storm. It was a short visit and bittersweet. The memories she plucked from the air were good ones, but the devastation before her colored them black. The preacher and his flock had loved here, created a mighty fortress with that love, but those walls had fallen to the ground. It all tasted like ashes in her mouth and she was choking on it.

Jayne had noticed her distress, before even Simon had, and she was thankful for that. If there was one thing she didn’t need it was his critical eye watching her every move and deciding which smoothers she needed to get through the day. She loved her ge ge, and was glad for everything he had done for her, for all that he had sacrificed, but her mind was healing and all his doctoring did was remind her of the weapon they had tried to forge within her skin.

She had been standing on a hill, overlooking Haven, chest heaving with unshed tears, when he came upon her. She turned towards him, and could see that, for a moment, he had come to cause mischief. To dance the dance which was most comfortable to him: Warfare. When he saw her, however, the light around him changed; brightened with his good intentions and he placed a large hand on her small head.

“Weren’t your fault, girl,” he said softly “Weren’t never your fault and don’t ever go thinkin’ it was.”

“It was,” she answered “But thank you.”

His hand slid down from the top of her head and rested at the base of her skull, where her head met her ne