*I am in no way connected to Firefly, I only wish that I was.

Mal was sitting in the kitchen gazing at a quickly cooling cup of tea. No one had been sleeping well since the incident with Early; least of all the captain. Mal wished that he could convince himself that the bounty hunter’s visit was the only thing troubling him but, as always, she was on the edge of his thoughts. Inara. Perhaps he should have followed after she announced that she was leaving, but something in the way she held herself as she walked told him that he would be even less welcome than usual. It didn’t make sense. Mal could think of plenty of reasons why Serenity wasn’t the best place for her but they were all reasons that had never seemed to concern her. She didn’t seem to be worried about her safety or the fact that they weren’t always near core worlds were she would get better business. As far as the captain had been able to tell she’d been happy. Kaylee was as much Inara’s meimei as she was Mal’s. He tried to imagine what Kaylee’s face would be like when she heard the news; it would be devastating to her. He wouldn’t let her do it. He wouldn’t let her hurt Kaylee, not after everything that happened with Early. Mal purposefully rose from the table and headed to Inara’s shuttle.

It was late but Inara couldn’t sleep. She sat in front of her mirror but she was not focused on her reflection. She kept seeing Mal’s face as he left Nandi’s room. He was embarrassed certainly, but he was happy. Inara loved to see him happy, loved his smile. The fact that she so rarely saw it made her love it even more. She couldn’t be angry at Nandi, not only for the simple reason that she was dead but because she had done nothing wrong. Nandi hadn’t known how Inara felt, how could she when Inara worked hard to hide the truth from everyone, herself included. No, she was not angry at Nandi. If anything she was jealous, jealous that Nandi got to feel everything Inara wanted. She was leaving, she knew it was the right thing to do. She