Title : Afterlife Parts IX & X (Conclusion)

Not Mine : All the characters and little plot references belong to Joss & Co...

Setting : Takes place after the movie. (Some spoilers). Everyone tries to move on. This part picks up where part VIII left off....

IX

Hours later Mal woke and shrugged away the fog of sleep as he watched Inara breathe, still fast asleep at his side. Her hair had fallen across her cheek, and her perfect lips slightly parted were a powerful inviting sight. He needed to think, and he found that increasingly difficult with the beautiful Companion warm and naked beside him.

He carefully slipped out of his bunk without waking her and retreated to the thought provoking sanctuary of a hot shower. He turned his back to the cascade of warm water as he pondered the state of their situation. True enough, he was grateful to the vicious Operative for two reasons. He’d repaired their ship to the fullest extent, and he’d possibly bought them a reprieve from the Alliance seeking the Tams.

He was not optimistic that arrangement would be anything but temporary. He thought it best to disappear back into civilization for a while, and put some distance between where they’d been and where they were headed. The massaging heat of the water washed over him from his scarred cheek and bruised shoulders to the small black tattoo at his hip. He stood still in the steamy waterfall for uncounted minutes before he bent over to turn the water off as he found his resolve. They needed to move on, he thought, as he ran a towel roughly over his face and his hair. Each in their own way, but also as one. And they needed to hear him say it.

When he descended back down into his bunk he found Inara waiting for him, standing in the center of the room, breathtaking, wearing only the sheet from his bed. Her ebony hair lay draped over her bare shoulders and her porcelain skin possessed an undeniable glow. Her lips curved into a seductive smile, “ I was tempted to come and find you,” she told him as she h