Title: New Old People
Author: Winkingannie
Rating: G
Pairing: Rayne
Disclaimer: I own nothing here. Please don't sue.
Spoilers: Post Serenity
A/N: As Lady Cleo has obviously gone round the bend, I decided to follow along. Sailor Moon/Firefly Crossover.

When Mal returned to Serenity to find a grinning Kaylee, he didn't panic. When he walked aboard his home to find six strangers gazing around the cargo bay, he felt slightly worried.
"Kaylee!" he bellowed.
"They can pay! And we have room. And I think it'd be fun!"
Mal frowned, but let them stay.

When the strangers met River, she'd looked at them in her 'I'm reading you' way and then said, "You've been doing this for far too long. When do you get to rest?" The still slightly crazy girl had gone on and on about lost civilizations and some dead planets and ancient evil, but Mal just tuned it out. (He totally missed his cue to start panicking.)

Five days had passed since then, and Mal knew he'd never let another passenger aboard. The six of them were just weird, even their names felt foreign to him.

The girl with the short dark hair called herself Mercury. Obviously bright, she spent her time talking to Simon about medicine.

Venus, the girl with long blond hair, hung out in Inara's shuttle. The girl's hair fascinated Inara; naturally blond hair had not been seen in over two generations.

Jupiter freaked Zoe out. Zoe kept catching the girl staring at her ass. Now, Mal could understand where the girl was coming from, Zoe possessed a fine ass, but you didn't stare unless you were prepared to risk your life.

The bossy girl, Mars, made the mistake of getting too close to Jayne during a work out. River had stepped in front of her man (which still grossed Mall out to think on) and told Mars that next time, she'd lose whatever appendage had touched Jayne.

That prissy fellow (what kinda name was Tuxedo Mask?) obviously hadn't been paying attention. After dinner one night, the whole group went to the bay for some fun - dancing. River's impromptu ballet apparently earned Mask's appreciation, as he presented her with a rose (and where in Buddha's name did the twerp even find a rose out in the black?). Jayne growled and would've trounced Prissy, had the five girls not surrounded him and swept him back to their dorms.

Now the other blond, Mal couldn't figure out at all. He enjoyed her name, Moon, if for no other reason than it confused Jayne, what with the merc calling River 'Moony'. Moon, a petite girl, ate more than Jayne at meals, then complained about how hungry she was all time. And her whining would've driven Book to drink; Mal thought Moon achieved high pitches previously unheard by human-kind. One day, he was sure she'd burst his eardrums.

Almost everything Mal saw and heard of Moon and the rest of her group (for they were hers , despite the attitude of Mars) spoke of fun, fighting, and a slight air-headedness. But every now and again, if he paid attention, Mal caught sight of the deep friendship running among them and an even deeper sense of sorrow and fatigue in their eyes.

Mal decided to go talk to River a bit more about this 'Ancient Evil'.