Still Flying - Part VII

Disclaimer: Firefly, Serenity, and all related characters are copyright 2002-2005 Mutant Enemy, Inc., Universal Pictures, and 20th Century Fox. This is a work of fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This marks the end of Still Flying. There should be one or two one-shots coming up, before I delve into another multi-part story. Thank you to all who have been so patient with me.

Dinner that night broached a subject that was rarely spoken of.

It was actually Zoe’s turn to cook and she did so without complaint. She was somewhat talented in the kitchen, even though she cooked the least out of the crew, except for perhaps River. She only ever used to cook for Wash, pulling rank over the others to stay out of the rotation. Wash had loved her cooking, and he had enjoyed every one of her meals as a special treat, claiming that each one was his absolute favorite. He’d always taken her turns in the rotation and he hadn’t been a bad cook either.

After Serenity had been patched up, she’d taken his place on the rotation without saying a word to the others. She cracked a smile as she whipped the potato grains into the water, the mixture becoming thicker and fluffier by the second. Feeling extravagant, she added a bit of the precious, little real butter they had.

She sent River, who had been sitting at the back table while drawing intently, to go and gather up the crew. Zoe began moving the food over to the table, smelling her handiwork and smiling faintly. She could do wonders when she actually had real food to work with. Dinner was courtesy of the pirate ship they had raided: roast beef in brown gravy with onions and the last of the mushrooms. She’d chosen protein meant to taste like green beans to go along with her mashed potatoes and all in all, thought she had done a decent job.

The crew trickled in one by one until all were sitting and eating happily. Mal had actually moaned when he had his