New Melbourne. Stopover point for all the major planets that side of the system.

New Melbourne. Home to some of the most beautiful ocean views and pristine sandy beaches.

New Melbourne. Where every single inhabitant on the planet was involved in fish or fish-related activities.

And as soon as Serenity settled into her docking bay for a two day layover giving Kaylee a chance to buy and install a new – or rather secondhand – air scrubber, everyone knew why New Melbourne was a place people visited, not moved to. Not unless they had lost their sense of smell …

-x-

Jayne was bored. Everyone else, it seemed, had found something to do off-ship, but he didn't have the money to go drinking, nor the inclination any more to go whoring, so he volunteered to stay behind.

River looked at him. "I thought we could just go for a walk," she said.

Her eyes made him feel lost again. "Maybe later, darlin'," he said, pulling her into his arms as they stood in the cargo bay. "You come back for me. 'Sides, stinks of fish."

"It's New Melbourne. What did you think it would smell like?"

"You know what I think of fish." His eyes narrowed as he glanced at Hank. "And you ain't to even consider it."

The pilot gave him an aggrieved look, but didn't comment.

River smiled. "I only have a few things to do. Some pretties to buy." Her smile grew wider, and he knew exactly what pretties she was talking about. He remembered the last ones he'd virtually shredded in his haste to make love to her. He grinned.

"'Kay."

"Well, if'n you do, make sure the ship's locked up," Mal ordered. "Don't want to come back and find everything gone."

"What'd anyone want to steal on board this?" Jayne asked, waving his hand around.

Mal ignored him. He knew the big man was bored, not having had anything to shoot at for a while, so was just trying to make an argument. He clapped his hands together instead. "So, we all ready?"

Hank nodded. "Zoe'n me are taking the little one here to the beach. Let him feel real sand." He grinned down at his son lying in the sling around his chest.

"His name's Ben," Zoe pointed out. "Benjamin Malcolm Hoban Mills."

"I know. I just ain't got used to it yet."

"It's been three months."

"You sure about the Benjamin part? I mean, I'd be just as happy with –"

"No. He wouldn't. And Hoban's fine as a middle name, but I'm not saddling my son with it as a first name."

"He might like it."

"He won't get the chance to find out." Zoe stroked the dark curls away from her son's coffee-coloured forehead.

"Still don't get why you didn't give him Jayne as a middle name," the big man said, squeezing River a little more tightly. "Never did me no harm."

"I think it's time to go," Hank said quickly. "I think LW wants to go paddling." He took Zoe's hand and led her out into the New Melbourne sun.

"LW?" Mal asked Freya softly.

"Zoe said he's been calling Ben that for a week or so. I think it's the first time he's done it in public, though."

"What does it mean?"

"Little Wash."

"He's a strange man," Mal replied, shaking his head slightly.

"I think Wash would have approved."

"Don't mean he ain't strange. And I'm surprised Zoe's letting him get away with it."

"I think she's biding her time."

He put his hand on the slight thickening at her waist. "So, thought any more about the name Daisy?"

"Nope."

"No, you haven't, or no, over your dead body?"

"How about over yours?"

"What's wrong with Daisy? That was my aunt's name. She used to give me toffee when I was about four. Sometimes couldn't talk for days, my jaw seemed that wired shut." They walked out into the open air, Ethan sitting on Mal's hip, listening intently to their conversation. "Have some fond memories of that aunt."

"No."

"Then what about -"

"And not that either."

"You don't know what I'm gonna say yet."

"Want to bet?"

"Sometimes, being married to a psychic …" Their voices trailed away.

Kaylee scampered out of the common area, Simon and Bethany following, Hope in an identical sling around the young doctor's chest. "Oh, have they gone already?"

"Just left," River said. "I'm still here."

The young mechanic smiled. "Good. You coming with us? I gotta look for that filter unit."

River saw her brother's eyes roll, and hid a smile. "Only if we can go to the store too. I have some purchases to make."

"Sure," Kaylee nodded. "Wouldn't mind taking a look at some bits for Bethany myself. And get Hope something pretty." She smiled at her baby girls.

"Can't we just go to the park?" Simon asked.

"After." She led the way out of the cargo bay.

Simon sighed and followed, Bethany skipping along next to him, Fiddler on his lead.

"Bye, Uncle Jayne," she called.

"See ya later, short stub." Jayne looked into River's eyes. "Sure you wanna go? We got the whole ship to ourselves."

She kissed him, her tongue slipping between his lips to touch and fence with his. As she drew back she smiled. "I won't be long." One last kiss and she hurried after the others.

Jayne sighed. "Might as well go clean Vera," he said to himself, squeezing the bridge of his nose, trying to clear the headache he'd had for a week now.

---

"That's pretty," Freya said, holding onto Ethan's hand and looking into a store window.

"What?" Mal came close behind her, his body heat touching hers.

"That."

"The ring?"

"The brooch. The one with the amber and silver mount."

"Oh." Mal tried to look impressed. "Yeah. Pretty."

She elbowed him gently in the stomach. "Well, I think it is."

"You want it?" He looked down at her. "Didn't think you were into such fripperies."

"I'm not." She smiled at him. "Unless it's the charm bracelet you gave me. Or my necklace." She fingered the silver Firefly at her throat. "No, I was thinking about Inara's birthday."

"Frey, that woman's got more jewellery than I can shake a stick at."

"Now you know that's not entirely true anymore. She sold a lot of it when she was going looking for her son, and I don't think she's replaced hardly any." She leaned into him a little. "I just thought it would be rather nice."

He sighed. "Am I going to be buying it?"

"I just said it looked pretty."

"And that means …?"

"That it's pretty. And something to bear in mind."

"Then I don't get to be poor today?"

"Maybe later."

"Daddy?"

"What, big feller?" Mal looked down at his son.

"Ethan hungry."

Mal laughed and went down onto his heels. "It's not that long since breakfast."

"Hungry."

Mal glanced up at his wife. "You sure he's not Simon's? Only I seem to recall Bethany being hungry all the time."

"He's a growing boy, and Simon and I were careful."

He grinned, standing up. "One day I might be believing you about things like that."

"Oh? And when would that be?" She stepped closer to him, inhaling his scent of soap and leather and finding it soothing.

"When hell freezes over."

"Well, it is getting a little cold –"

Mal pulled her into him and kissed her just to shut her up. Well, maybe not just for that.

"Daddy?" Ethan said, tugging on his pants leg. "Hungry."

Mal looked down at his son. "When's he gonna get a bit more … talky? You know, using verbs and the like? I mean, I know he understands most of what we say, but shouldn't he be making up proper sentences?"

Freya laughed. Up until recently it had been her worrying Ethan was advancing quickly enough, and now Mal was guilty of it too. "I think he gets his message across okay."

"Oh, I wasn't saying that. Just –"

"Daddy! Hungry!"

---

Ben's eyes were wide. He still couldn't see that well, but it was enough to know that in front of him was an expanse of water so much bigger than his bath, and beneath his bottom was something gritty that smelled odd. He patted experimentally. Seemed to give a bit, too. This could take some getting used to.

"So are you going to marry me?" Hank asked, leaning back onto one elbow.

"Why do you want to get married?" Zoe asked, wiping at the drool on Ben's chin. "Aren't we okay as we are?" She shifted her son a little so he was leaning in the crook of her leg and unable to roll over backwards.

"Well, Mal's been giving me those looks again, and Jayne made some comment about us living in sin and never getting into heaven and … I just want to marry you. I want to be able to say that you're my wife."

"Okay."

He stared at her. "Okay?"

"Okay. Only you'd better do something about it now, or I might change my mind."

He jumped to his feet. "Well, I did happen to see a chapel on our way here …"

She lay back, her dark hair a magnificent contrast to the yellow sand. "Don't you want the whole crew to be there?"

Squatting down he gazed into her eyes. "I want to marry you. Now. This minute. We can do something later for everyone else, but … please?"

"I'm not dressed for a wedding."

"You look beautiful," he assured her, looking her up and down, the soft brown top, her pants and boots. "Perfect wedding apparel."

She laughed. "You're crazy."

"For you. Crazy for you." He touched her cheek. "Well? What do you say?"

"The captain'll be mad if we don't invite him."

Hank looked around the beach. "Is he here? I mean, if we come across him on the way, he can be a witness, but … Zoe, I don't want you to change your mind."

She sat up, her hand cupping his face. "I won't. I've said yes. I will marry you. Not here, not in a place that smells so much of fish that I want to throw up half the time. But I will marry you. Soon."

"Then I can make arrangements?" He sat back down again, scuttling as close as he could.

"Somewhere nice. Green."

"Not fishy."

"Definitely not fishy."

"Boros, maybe? Like Mal and Freya?"

"Maybe. Although somewhere different could be nice too."

"Have to tell Inara. Make Mal swing by and pick her up. She'd be livid if she wasn't there."

"And if we'd gone with your original plan she wouldn't have been."

"That's different. It would have been our secret."

"And you'd've like it that way?"

Hank managed to look like a little boy. "Well, it might have been fun."

"It will be. With our family there."

"I guess." He reached down and tugged off his boot, pulling the sock with it.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, in celebration of this remarkable day, I'm going paddling." The other boot followed, and he rolled the legs of his pants up.

Zoe laughed. "Paddling?"

"With my son."

"And what happens if you fall in?"

"Then you'll come and rescue me, like always." He grinned and stood up, lifting Ben into his arms. "Come on, LW. Time for you to see what the ocean feels like."

Zoe watched as they walked down to the water's edge, and her fiancé dipped a toe in. Apparently finding it satisfactory, he waded in until the water was above his ankles.

"No," she said to herself. "You're the one who rescued me."

---

Kaylee jumped up the ramp and ran through the bay towards their quarters. Hurrying into Bethany's room she grabbed a clean pair of panties and a little dress.

"What're you doing back here?" Jayne asked, leaning in the doorway.

Kaylee turned to stare at him. "Oh, you made me jump."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya. Thought you were out."

"We were. We are," Kaylee amended quickly. "Only Bethany had a slight accident."

"What'd she do?"

"We were having a break after buying the new filter, and Bethie knocked a whole jug of orange squash over herself."

Jayne smiled. "Messy?"

"Very. Simon's trying to clean her up a little, but I said I'd come back, get a change of clothes." She looked at the big man. "You okay?" He had faint lines across his forehead, and a dent between his eyebrows.

"Just a headache," he said, waving it away. "Ain't nothing."

"You should get Simon to look at it. Give you something." She smiled at him as she walked past, back towards the cargo bay.

He followed her. "Ain't that bad."

"Is that why you didn't want to come with us?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Bit." He looked at her, how she'd become a really lovely woman in the years since they'd first met. It reminded him of what he'd wanted to talk to her about. "Kaylee …"

Her pocket began to buzz. "Hang on," she said, pulling a small square out of her coverall.

"What's that?" Jayne asked.

"Rigged it so we'd know if there was an urgent wave." She shrugged and smiled. "Just an idea I had, but it never …"

"You gonna see who it is?"

She bit her lip. "Maybe I should. I mean, this was set to pick up really important stuff, you know, marked as top priority, and with the Cap not here …"

He smiled, despite the ache in his head. "Better go see then."

She grinned and scampered up the stairs. He followed at a slower pace, and as he reached the bridge she had already activated the vid. It flared into life.

"Kaylee?" Inara's face was white, even on the screen.

"'Nara? What is it?"

"Oh, thank Buddha. Where's Mal?"

"He's out. We're on New Melbourne, and it's –"

"You need to find him. Now."

"What is it?" Kaylee asked again, getting more than just concerned.

"It's Hermione. She's disappeared."