SEVEN DAYS TO BOROS

Mal had gone someplace he almost never ventured these days: Inara's shuttle. Well, technically, he told himself, it was just Shuttle 1 now, seeing as she wasn't living there anymore. The place still smelled faintly of incense but felt dark and cold without her tapestries and delicate furniture, and he wondered for a moment what had brought him there.

Old habit, perhaps? It had always been kind of his hiding place on the ship, his little get-away, even though Inara had usually ended up throwing him out whenever he came to 'visit' her.

Still, it had always been the place he went to calm himself before a big job.

It didn't seem to do the trick now, though.

One of her crates was still standing there, hidden away in the corner. He assumed she had forgotten it, though sometimes he caught himself thinking that she'd left it there purposely, as an excuse to get in touch with him someday maybe. As one last tether connecting the two of them. But that was a fantasy and he was angry with himself for entertaining it.

He had never peered inside that crate. Never touched it. Until now.

He opened the lid and her scent whirled up from the box, engulfing him.

Not the incense. Not her perfume. Her.

And he just couldn't do it.

He closed the crate and left the shuttle.

***

Zoë was helping Kaylee look through the cargo for a missing spare part for the engine when she saw Mal exit Inara's shuttle. Kaylee had seen it too and a tiny "oh" escaped her lips.

"Don't stare," Zoë hissed at her, and they both tried to look busy as the captain descended the stairs and went past them towards the infirmary and passenger dorms.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Kaylee sighed, "He really misses her."

"I know," Zoë replied.

"Then why did he let her leave?"

Zoë shrugged. "Guess things got a little complicated."

"No, it didn't! He likes her, she likes him,