“Coming up on Persephone, sir,” Zoe informed Mal, who was having a drink in the kitchen. “Our ETA is about 50 minutes from now. Oh, and Inara asks if she can talk to you in her shuttle before we land…” Mal nodded, immediately set his mug down and started to leave. Zoe raised an eyebrow, but Mal just shrugged and gave her an unreadable look before letting his eyes drift to the dinner table. Zoe followed his gaze and saw River sitting on the tabletop, hugging her knees and staring at Mal unblinkingly.

“Girl gives me the willies, been starin’ at me like that for the past five minutes. And since I checked and I got nothing on my face, I find that mighty creepifying…” he said. Zoe grinned, and as Mal passed her by, he distinctly heard his first mate say: “You’re frightening the captain sweetie, let’s go see if we can find that brother of yours, okay?”

“Ching yin,” Inara said when he entered the shuttle. There was a bit of an echo to her voice and when Mal opened the door, he knew why. All of the Companion’s belongings were packed away and the room was as bare as it had been the day she’d rented it. Seems like yesterday, Mal thought. Refusing to show any emotions, he just said: “So… all set then?”

“I am. Everything is squared away, and there is someone coming to pick me up on Persephone to take me back to Beaumonde. I know it’s not your favourite place to be right now, so…”

“Yeah, you ain’t wrong about that,” Mal said. For a moment he thought about whether or not he ought to speak his piece, before finally opening his mouth. “Inara…” he said softly, taking a step closer, but before he could continue she had pressed a small parcel into his hand. “Um, what’s that?”

“That… is two months’ rent for the shuttle in advance. It should give you enough time to find another tenant,” Inara explained. When Mal frowned and made no attempt at all to accept the money, her eyes took on a pleading look. “Mal, please.”

Mal's eyes softened and he took the money from her, but held on to her hand with his other hand all th