Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, Wash would't have died.

Chapter 1

Her limbs flailed as if fighting off invisible attackers. Simon crouched on the ground before his sister. The mercenary stood behind them trying to hide his concern for the crazy girl who had somehow crept into his heart. Simon spared a glance at Jayne.

"This is how you found her?" he asked. The bigger man nodded.

"I came into th' kitchen to clean my girls an' she was settin' on th' table an' ramblin' all crazy-like," he grunted. To himself, he muttered, "I was tryin' to make out what t'was she were sayin' when you came in." At that moment, River rolled off the table and crawled under it to hide amongst the chairs. Jayne's keen ears barely heard her incoherently mumbling around a hand now firmly pressed to her mouth.

"River," Simon said cautiously as he pried her hand away, "River, what's going on? You haven't had an episode in so long, Mei-mei." With the hand finally removed, Jayne could make out what she was repeating.

"Flying or sinking, she doesn't know, she doesn't know." Simon looked to the merc. for help.

"Do you have any idea?" He asked desperately.

Jayne shrugged, "she'd been mutterin' 'bout bein' a princess." River's snapped toward the big man so fast, Simon flinched.

"She is a princess, but she tears apart her bed and nothing can be found." Reaching up, her fingers clenched around her eyes. "She can't find it. She knows it's there, but she can't see." She reached for Jayne's hand, and to Simon's shock, the merc. crouched down and offered it to her. Before he had time to consider this, though, his sister continued her babbling, this time staring intently into Jayne's eyes. "She's flying or sinking, one or the other, or both. Up, down, around, back again. Secrets hiding in dark shadows in her mind lock her tongue behind her teeth and muffle all of her sounds, careful to guard all she feels and knows." Tears spilled down her cheeks and she began to shake. Her eyes flew from one point to the next, but, to Simon's wonderment, always returned back to Jayne. "waves crash against a ship, tossing her about. Drops fly and hit her skin. Some drops sting and others soothe, but she can't tell which is best. Wanders blindly through a field, many things to trip her. SOme do as they're supposed to and stay still, but others jump up to get in her way and try to knock her down." Simon turned to Jayne for help.

"I think I got the first part, but the rest, I don't understand." Jayne, unbeknownst to the doctor, had understood most of what the girl had said, nut to keep up his carefully constructed charade, he scratched the back of his neck and dumbly asked Simon to clearify Crazy's princess talk. As if expecting this response, the younger man nodded and began to explain, "she's referencing the ancient story of The Princess and the Pea from the Earth That Was."

At the the word, "pea," River launched herself out from under the table to hide amidst the chairs in the rest area. Her mutterings suddenly began to raise in volume until she was near shouting. Before Simon could react, Jayne had already moved to stand in front of River, holding both of her tiny wrists in his giant hands. From the outside, it looked like Jayne was trying to intimidate River. He had risen to his tallest height, squared his shoulders, and puffed out his chest. In reality, he had blocked most of the girl's field of vision, allowing her to focus on fewer things. He knew that by limiting the number of distractions, her mind would clear and she could say something that he could then work out and fix before anybody else even knew something was wrong.

"Hey, Crazy, if you don't speak yer problem out like a normal, happy little crazy person does, then I can't get to fixin' it," he growled, glaring into her eyes. She shook her head and Simon panicked.

"Jayne-" he began but was cut off by his sister.

"The pea. It's back. She had gotten rid of it, but it came back."

"River-" Simon started but was interrupted again, this time by the merc.

"What pea?" River's eyes met Jayne's as she tried to explain.

"It is hiding in her head, but it's not hers. She didn't ask for it, but it's there. It sits in her mind, it buries itself beneath layers and coils and makes her brain hurt." The big man's eyes widened, but before he had time to confirm his suspicions, Mal's shout of anger interrupted.

"What in the gorram hell is going on?"