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Mal walked down the dusty road with his hand brushing up against his pistol, his footsteps were so heavy they made the dust rise up in little tornadoes, his left hand wanted a face to punch, and all he wanted to do was find a bar nearby in this tiny town. He stopped and turned on his heels to his right and entered the town's only bar. There wasn't any music and everyone stopped to look at him as he entered.
Everyone went back to what they were doing and Mal headed over to get a strong drink. The bartender looked up at Mal, Mal looked back with anger in his eyes and his right hand clenched just in case there was any trouble with his being here. One man walked passed him and his shoulder brushed up against his back. Mal almost pulled out his pistol but decided he wanted to take a least a small drink before getting in a fight.
"What'll it be mister?" the bartender asked. Mal looked at him. This seemed like an old fashioned bar and whiskey sounded good at the moment, after that fight on the ship he needed to have something strong.
"Whiskey," Mal said shortly. The bartender nodded and walked away to get Mal's order. Mal didn't bother looking around to decide who to fight with, for once he'd like the fight start on its own and not have him to force it upon himself. He closed his eyes for a second and thought about the argument on Serenity that he had walked away from just moments ago…
...
"I can't believe this! I can't believe you did this you idiot!" Mal shouted at the Doc. The Doc. walked up to the Captain without any fear as he pulled his sister behind him. He glared at the Captain and Mal glared right back at him.
"She's my sister, I'm sorry that it didn't suit you, but I'd do anything to protect her, every get into a fist fight with you!" Simon shouted. Mal rolled up his sleeves and glared at him. Crewmember or not, the Captain was going to punch him so hard he'd forget who he was for the next ten days.
"Mal," Inara called down. "Leave him alone, if it was one of us you would've done the same." Mal glared up at her. How dare she take his side, and he wouldn't have put everyone else in danger for them, he would've just put himself in danger. He couldn't understand how River could make Simon so mad.
"Forget it," Mal grumbled and walked off the ship. Kaylee and Inara shared a look as the Captain walked away from the ship without looking back. And he walked for a long time until he found the bar and could have this heavy drink he had been needing.
...
"Here you go sir," the bartender said breaking Mal out of his thoughts. Mal nodded a thank you and paid the man as he took a gulp of his whiskey. Mal wiped his mouthy with his sleeve and set the glass down on the table with a small thud and looked around at the men in the bar. He blinked at some in a small circle in the corner. Now what was that all about? Mal drunk the rest of his whiskey, got off his seat, and headed over to the men.
"You think you can just walk in here? I don't think so!" one of the men said harshly as he tossed a little girl out of the corner. Mal stopped in his tracks. A kid, just a little girl, that's who they were giving a hard time, and Mal felt like punching the man into next year. The little girl tried to crawl away but the man grabbed her by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?"
"With me," Mal said taking a step towards them. The little girl looked up at Mal in puzzlement, no one had ever stopped to help her before, well there was that one kid, but he backed down quickly. The man snickered as he lifted her into the arm. She winced as he rapped his arm roughly around her waist and held her against him. She tried to push herself out of his arms but ended up hurting herself even more.
"With you? What, is she your daughter or something?" the man said with a drunken laugh. Mal gave the man a sneer as he brushed his hand against his pistol. If he was lucky he may get a fight today, if he was very, very lucky he would get what he was looking for indeed.
"Something like that, now put her down," Mal said brushing his coat away from his pistol, indicating he'd shoot him if he didn't give him what he wanted, and the man understood it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to put her down. He looked Mal in the eye.
"Fine, have it your way hillbilly," the man said putting her down behind him. She held her hands in front of her and looked up at the man, to scared to pass him. "Well, go on little girl, go to your daddy." The little girl looked at the floor and her feet shifted.
"Come on, he wont touch you, I promise," he said. Mal was surprised at his tone and at the look the little girl gave him, it was a look of trust and of hope. She took a step forward but looked back at the man unsurely. Mal motioned her over to him with his right hand. "Come on." The girl ran passed the man and hid behind Mal's legs.
"Keep her, not like she was worth it anyway," the man grumbled as he left. Mal glared at him as he did so. He looked down at the little girl hiding behind him. He couldn't just leave her here, he'd come after her again, and Mal didn't think she'd stay behind, she'd most likely follow him like a dog might follow a little boy.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Mal said as he walked towards the door. The little girl jogged after him. She came up just a bit behind him before slowing down as everyone looked at her as if they wanted to rip her apart. She sped up and stopped by Mal's side. The boys playing with the chicken looked evilly at her. She looked away from them.
Mal blinked and looked down as she put her small hand in his large one in fear of those around her. Mal found himself engulfing her hand in his as they walked away from the town. Mal know knew he had no choice, he'd have to take her back to Serenity, and he didn't think she'd mind, she'd mostly like the old girl.
…
Mal stopped and looked down at the little girl. She had been dragging her feet for a while now and Mal had been pretty much dragging her for a few minutes. He kneeled down in front of her and saw her eyes half shut as she tried to stay awake. They had been walking for awhile now and it was getting late as well.
"Tired?" he asked simply. The girl nodded and let out a yawn that made Mal think she could've snapped her whole head in half. She shook her head, still trying to stay awake without to much success. Mal picked her up from where she stood. She rapped her arms around the back of his neck as he continued to walk. Mal had never really cared for kids, but for her he'd make an exception.
…
Mal walked onto the ship and kicked the lever up to make the door shut. He shifted his arms as to hold the little girl better. No one was in the cargo hold at the moment but he heard footsteps. The little girl shook her head a bit and pushed herself up as she let out a long yawn. Mal stared at her a bit.
"What?" she said. Mal blinked twice. Her voice was so small and soft, it made him think of when he was around her age, it reminded him a bit of his mother's voice but younger of course.
"You looked funny is all," Mal said. She tilted her head to the side. Her hair was long, black, and put into a braid. Her eyes were a bright blue and she had on brown traveler's wear made for her size. "What's your name by the way?" Mal had never asked her what her name was before now.
"Nafalis," she answered. He nodded. The was a very nice name, he liked it. He smiled at her. It was at the moment he realized he hadn't smiled, unless it was at a joke or someone he didn't like in pain, in a long while.
"That's a very nice name," he said. She giggled a little bit and looked around the cargo hold. "Ever been on a ship before?" She shook her head as she continued to examine her surroundings. "Her name's Serenity." Nafalis looked at him.
"Her?" she asked.
"The ship, that's her name, everyone names ships don't you know that?" he said setting her down. She shook her head again. It wasn't right that a this kid didn't know anything about ships, every kid should know about ships, everyone he ever knew as a kid did, and he always loved ships.
"Captain, you're back!" Kaylee said jogging down the stairs. She was followed by Zoe and Inara. Jayne joined them and walked over. Nafalis turned around. One look at Jayne made her yelp and hide behind Mal's legs. The all stared at her.
"Who's this?" Inara said kneeling down. "What's your name honey?" Nafalis peeked around the Captain's legs and looked at Inara. Mal looked down at her as she did so. She was just so small and cautions.
"Nafalis," she answered. She looked up at Jayne and went back behind Mal's legs. Inara looked up at him. Jayne raised an eyebrow and grunted. She looked up at him. "You're not going to beat me up like the others, are you?" she asked in a small, scared voice peeking around Mal's legs at him. The look at Jayne's face was pure anger as he kneeled down.
"What others?" he asked.
"The men back at the town," she answered. Jayne shook his head.
"Nah, I ain't gonna beat you up, might beat them up though, what town was that Captain?" Mal chuckled. Nafalis came out from her hiding spot. She smiled at Jayne and walked over to him. "So, Nafalis huh?" She nodded. "Nice name," he said. Nafalis smiled and pointed to Mal.
"That's what he said," she said. Everyone laughed at that.
"She's a keeper," Jayne said. Nafalis got a huge smile on her face and she jumped up and down excitedly.
"I can stay? I can stay?" she shouted. Jayne nodded.
"Of course, right Captain?" he said looking up at Mal. Nafalis looked at him in hope. Mal found himself unable to say no. He smiled.
"Of course you're staying kiddo, why else would I have brought you here?" he said. Nafalis let out a happy squeal and jumped into the air. Jayne laughed at the noise. Mal looked up at Simon and River joined them. Simon didn't look at Mal.
"Sorry about nearly getting everyone killed Captain, it-it would happen again," he said. Mal walked over and clasped a hand on his shoulder.
"Forget about it Simon," he said. Simon stared at him. Mal looked back at Nafalis as Jayne lifted her onto his shoulders. "Why don't you go welcome Nafalis to the ship?" Simon nodded with a smile and walked over. River was already over there of course smiling up at her. Mal smiled as well, for once in his life he didn't know what to say or think.