She'll be with You for the Rest of Your Life
At first she was just another boat to them.
For Mal, Serenity was a way to escape the Alliance;
To live in freedom out in the Black even after he'd lost the war and his faith.
For Zoe, Serenity was a small rebellion, and loyalty. Since she, Mal, and the Browncoats had lost the war, she knew that one of the only things she had in the world was her friendship with Mal - her Sarge, her captain.
For Wash, Serenity was a job. After all, pilots didn't get many chances to fly classic fireflies like Serenity anymore.
For Kaylee, Serenity was alive. She was a companion to see the world with, and Kaylee felt Serenity's heart beat the moment she fixed her engine.
For Jayne, Serenity was a business arrangement. He got a good cut of the profits of their smuggling jobs and his own room where he could store his guns.
For Book, Serenity was a chance to start over. He'd done so much and seen so much, he felt it was time to take what he'd learned in the monastery and apply it to real folk in real life, to try to make amends.
For Simon, Serenity was a means to an end. He had to keep River safe and try to help her, and Serenity took them away from the Alliance as often as possible.
For Inara, Serenity was safe passage. She needed to continue working as a companion, but to do it in a new way where she could see what else the Verse had to offer.
For River, Serenity was home. She listened to River when everyone else got too loud, and she gave River and Simon a new family, even though not everyone realized this.
Somewhere along the way, she became a part of all of them.
She brought Zoe and Wash together for some of the happiest years of their lives.
She taught Book how average folk lived, and how to be steady and calm for his new friends.
She gave Jayne people who cared about him, even though he'd sell them out.
She gave Inara Mal, as well as exploration and adventure and danger.
She gave Kaylee her first real trip away from home while the cheerful girl took care of her on their journey.
She gave Simon a way to help River get better.
She gave River her self back.
She gave all those innocent people who died on Miranda a chance to have a voice.
And she gave Mal the sky, the only thing he had left, something no one could take from him.
Serenity was love. She was freedom and togetherness, a haven for the lost. She was a smuggling ship and a bond and a hope for another day of flying in the Black. She was peace.
She was Serenity.