GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO BYTEMITE FOR THE BETA.

Couldn't have done it without your help and suggestions.

Walkabout Part 1: The Decision.

Simon sat staring at the Datavid Recorder sitting in front of him in the infirmary, still wondering what he was going to say, and how to say it in the best way possible. He’d never been much good at talking to people, and he’d hoped pre-recording his goodbyes would give him a chance of saying how he felt, and organize his thoughts better without all the stumbling about he knew he always did. But using the Vidscreen without anyone present wasn’t making anything easier. As if saying goodbye was ever easy. He just wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, that is to say, Kaylee’s feelings.

Simon was well aware of how the rest of the crew felt about him. They respected him enough as a medic true, but none of them outside of Kaylee really liked him. Try as he might, he hadn’t been able to make a place for himself on Serenity. His manner, always polite and respectful, had always come off as nothing more than haughty and superior…unlike River. She had been able to charm nearly the whole crew, and made a home for herself aboard the ship. She loved it here. But no matter what he did, he just couldn’t make himself fit in. Oh, his surgical skills were both needed and appreciated, he had saved everyone’s life at one time or another, but nobody outside of Kaylee liked spending their leisure time with him. Try as he might, he wasn’t able to engage any of them in simple conversation, let alone their frontier style games and activities. Inara had turned out to be the only source of social interaction available to him. At first, he’d turned to Inara because she was the only one, outside of Kaylee, who didn’t treat him with disdain. Although spending time with Kaylee had become extremely important to him, only time spent with River was as precious, Inara was a source of intellectual stimulation he sorely needed. Their debates on the arts, politics, cultu