Takes place well after the events of Serenity. SPOILER alert if you haven't seen the movie.

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The silence was the strangest thing.

No running.

No laughter.

No moans of pleasure or whispers of delight.

No music.

Zoe walked the empty corridors, her fingertips running along the cool metal with the heat of a lover's caress. Her own footsteps were loud in the silence, but all she could hear was the whisper of Serenity, the building anticipation. This moment had to be perfect, had to be all she had to give.

Her first stop was Inara's shuttle, a womb of silk and incense, of wonder and caught breath. Nothing had changed in the scarlet rooms since Inara's death, not a sheet moved or a tea cup turned. Mal and Inara's wedding picture looked back from its place on the night stand, their smiles easy and their eyes full of a finding that Zoe had wondered if they'd ever take for themselves. For so long little things had kept them apart, and when they'd finally pushed it all aside it'd been as natural as breathing. Zoe had been happy for them, and sad all at once, the ghostly echoes of Wash stronger in the wake of the happy couple. She walked the rooms silently, making sure that all was set to rights before leaving, the door closing with a quiet finality behind her.

A walk through the cargo hold and she restacked the weights that had so often held the attention of Jayne and Book. The preacher's bible lay on a small table off to one side, metal bars holding it in place against the movement of the ship. It was opened with a red ribbon laying across the center of pages which were covered with River's angular scribbles, carefully taped back in place. One verse seemed to catch the eye and Zoe stopped, her fingers pressing against the worn pages. ~Peace I give unto you...~ The words were a stony contrast to the gun that was propped up against the table. Vera's final resting place. Jayne had left her there before he'd gone planetside, like a benediction on what was to come. Someh