River closed her eyes. Let herself ride the rise and fall of his chest.

It felt good to be held on to. She wouldn’t fly away when he was holding her like this.

She was afraid to move. Afraid that if she did, everything would break apart again and she’d be alone.

Alone was a scary word. It tasted bitter. She wasn’t alone. Not really. She had Simon.

But Simon had Kaylee.

Kaylee.

River rolled the name around in her brain over and over again. She decided that she wasn’t mad at her. It wasn’t her fault that that woman had stolen her face.

And it wasn’t Jayne’s fault, either.

He was…

Broken. It was the only word she could think of. The equilibrium had left him behind, too.

His breath had gone deep and slow. He was sleeping.

She caught an image. Soft. Quiet. So close to being not there that she had to look out the corner of her mind at it before it went away.

She was dancing again.

She pulled away from him a little. Looked up at his face like she hadn’t seen it before.

That was why he hadn’t caught her.

He’d been falling, too.

His arms missed her. Reached for her in his sleep.

She slipped between them again and let him pull her close. And she laughed.

Because it was perfect.