Title: Deltas

Author: Ana Sedai

Rating: PG

Character(s): Mal, River, Simon

Prompt: 064 - Ocean

Word Count: 830

A/N: I swore to myself I wouldn’t do this! Does it still count as a songfic if you went looking for a song to match your story, instead of writing the story to fit the song?

In any case, this is the tenth story in my incessantly-delayed Mal/River Joss100 series.

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Like a flower that has blossomed

In this dry and barren sand

We are born and born again most gracefully

Plus the winds of time will take us

With a sure and steady hand

When the river meets the sea

In school, River had learned that there were places called deltas that formed when a river had run its course and met the ocean. The silt that the river had carried along with it spread out and made new land. This new land, originally only mud that dirtied up a river, was now a fertile place for things to live on. The ocean had given it space to grow, and had allowed ugliness to become a source of beauty and life. It was a fragile source, of course. Storms could rage and blow, washing away the life that had been created. But if the river was persistent, it could retain its peaceful haven.

She needed that haven now.

“So what you’re tellin’ me Doc, is that there’s nothing you can do?” Mal’s question came out a bit more irate than he’d intended, and River felt him gather the somewhat frayed edges of his temper closer together.

She, Mal, and Simon were gathered in the infirmary. After the previous night’s incident, Mal had insisted that she talk to Simon first thing. He was more incensed over this new intrusion into her head than she was. His concern warmed and steadied her. The voices were quieter now, but she could still feel their malice buzzing at the back of her brain. She drew her knees up to her chest on the exam chair.

Simon raised his eyebrows at Mal’s outburst, then sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. “I can give her a smoother, o