Chapter 1: Back to Before

If there be sorrow

let it be

for things undone …

undreamed

unrealized

unattained

to these add one:

Love withheld …

… restrained

Mari Evans (If There Be Sorrow)

Mal had to admit that they were handling it well.

It had been well over three weeks since Zoë had told him that Wash and her were over. She’d said he didn’t have to be worried about them being short with each other or otherwise causing problems now that it had ended. Mal had even offered to get a new pilot, but she said there’d be no reason too. They could still work together without problem.

And they did. Just as good as before. Maybe even better.

That might be a stretch. They didn’t so much work together as work in silence. Mal had been worried, real worried that if things had gone sour between the two of them they’d be screaming and hollering too much to mind their jobs but it hadn’t been that way. They had both remained professional which was to be expected regarding Zoë, but had surprised him a great deal considering Wash.

Whatever had happened he was just relieved it was now at an end. It had been gotten out of their systems and was thankfully over. They could all move on now with no harm done.

“Cap’n,” Kaylee called from the doorway interrupting his thoughts, “Wash says we’re fixing to land. We picking up passengers?”

Shuttling passengers was new for Serenity. They’d gotten desperate for a job about a month back and Kaylee had first brought up the idea. Mal had doubted it, seeing as most folks who could pay to travel didn’t need to be riding on a Firefly, but Kaylee persisted and had done a damn good job bringing them in. The girl not only had a knack for engines, she could also sweet talk just about anyone.

“Not this time,” Mal answered choosing to ignore the hurt look in her eyes. Kaylee loved picking up passengers.

“Okay,” she sighed, trying hard to now sound too disappointed.

“We’ll see how the job goes. Maybe you’ll get lucky and it’ll be a bust. We ma