They were going as fast as Serenity could possibly go, without the Feds getting curious. Meanwhile, she walked around the ship on edge, and nobody could console her. Simon had tried his best. She knew it. She didn’t really mean to snap at him. She was just trying to deal with the news. After all, they were the best of friends growing up. They always hung around together. She didn’t have any real friends, just her family. All the kids at the school used to pick on them, and Kaylee would beat the living snot out of them when they messed with Sara. She didn’t care if they picked on her. But don’t EVER mess with her cousin.

She remembered when they were about ten or so, and they used to sneak into Old Man Cowley’s apple orchard to pick apples. One day they were over there grabbing some of the juiciest apples of the season when Tommy, Cowley’s grandson, sneaked up and grabbed the apples from Sara and pushed her down. He didn’t see her, and when she said, ‘Hi Tommy’, he spun around and she landed a good kick right between his legs. He never pushed her or Sara around again. Sara couldn’t believe she did that to Old Man Cowley’s grandson. He was the richest man in the city, and who knows what could’ve happened to them. But Tommy never said a word. ‘Why would he say anything?’ Kaylee told her. ‘He just got beat up by a girl!’ They both laughed and picked up the apples to take home to their parents.

Tears started to stream from Kaylee’s face as she remembered that. She hadn’t seen Sara since they both got out of school. Sara was very smart, especially in astronomy, and she got a scholarship to go to one of them big schools on Osiris. So, she had left their little planet, and Kaylee all by her lonesome. Wasn’t too long after that Kaylee took the job on Serenity, and she swore then that if they ever went near Osiris, that she’d stop by and say hello. That was about three years ago.

She started crying, really letting the tears flow. She hadn’t accepted it yet, but she kn