Author’s Note: Welcome to what happens when I mix up a cocktail of writer’s block, Firefly and a spare afternoon off work with a cold. It struck me on my nth rerun of Trash that though Haymer’s garden had the odd Japanesque touch, the main word to describe it was “English”, and that a couple of people in that episode’s tangle deserved closure. Somehow that turned into a little story that wouldn’t clear out of my head to make way for my original fic till I wrote it down and got rid of it.

This is nowhere near my first fanfic but it’s my first foray into Firefly. Hence, I’m probably doing all sorts of things wrong, most crucially Mal’s idiolect, but as my editor’s too unimpressed to give me improvement tips, I thought I’d try you guys instead. Sorry.

Rating: PG for a couple of Chinese cusses.

Pairing: not for me to mention here, but inconsequential Mal/Inara implied.

Spoilers: major for Trash and Our Mrs Reynolds. None for the BDM, though this is set a month or so after it... well, there’s half a sentence that is kind of one, but it wouldn’t make sense or even shout “Hey! Spoiler!” if you hadn’t seen the BDM already, so I think that means it’s not really a spoiler. Is it?

Disclaimer: the characters are Joss Whedon’s and the copyright belongs to Fox, Mutant Enemy and many other people who aren’t me. This is a non-profit fanfic.

Archive: Want, Ask, Take, Have.

***

Revenant

The sky over the ten-thousand-mile sea was dull and streaked with near-navy clouds. Salty drizzle carelessly spattered over the floating estates’ lush gardens. Left to this, leaves would wither and flowers would fade before they could be pollinated. So gardeners would trudge out after the storm had passed and repair the damage with desalinated sprinklers and careful tending. It was what was required.

Everywhere but on one estate, perhaps.

The sculpted paradises were all different, each tailored to its owner’s personality while remaining as beautiful as bef