Hi, everyone! I don't own any of the Firefly characters, they of course belong to the fabulous Joss Whedon. Everybody else who pops up is all mine, however. This is my first fan-fiction, so reviews are always appreciated but be gentle, please!

Rated for: references to sex and sexual violence, actual violence

Post OiS, pre BDM. MalOCcentric, good amount of fluff (b/c I feel like Mal deserves it :)), but there's a plot too

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaylee walked softly, the dust of the planet's surface puffing up in small clouds around her boots. The bonfire was behind her, throwing light so she could see where she was going in the darkness. She thought she'd seen the Captain go this way, and she thought he'd been looking a little blue. And no one should be blue tonight, not with the party going on. These townspeople really knew how to have a good time. The mechanic giggled as she stumbled a little bit; that wine was strong stuff, that was for sure. Seeing a glow of light flicker from behind a boulder, she tucked her strands of brown hair behind her ears and followed the hazy illumination.

As she drew closer, she heard voices. Not real voices, like there was another person besides the Captain, but recorded voices. Pausing just behind the rock, she laid her hands on its cool surface and peered around. Kaylee could just see the edge of his shoulder, and she saw the video card in his hand and the source of the recorded voices. Mesmerized, she watched the video over Mal's shoulder.

There was a girl who looked about twenty with long, dark curly hair and dancing green eyes. She was blushing, looking at the camera out of the corner of her eye and turning away. The person holding the camera continued to circle. "Mal!" she finally said. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm gonna have to have something to remember you by when I leave. Keep me warm on those lonely nights," the Captain's voice replied from off-camera.

The girl laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Well, what kind of keepsakes are we looking for?"

"Just…say how we met, how we'll be a legend for years to come."

She laughed again. "Malcolm Reynolds, how arrogant you are!" She paused, grabbing her skirts and spinning in a lazy circle. Lifting her pale face, she looked at the sky as she spun around. "We met when the Independents came to my homely little planet looking for recruits. Because it takes a bit to train soldiers, and because we needed help with a few things around here, your commanders decided to stay for a few weeks. You came up to me in the market one day, claiming to be lost-"

"Hey, I was lost!" Mal's voice roared playfully from off-camera. The image suddenly spun as he turned the camera on himself. Kaylee's eyes widened, for the Captain looked years younger. Well, of course he did; this was before the war His face was different; less guarded, more friendly. "Lost in her eyes," he added with a wink.

The video continued in that matter, the giddy couple recounting their days. The girl led the Captain around in a bit of a tour, pointing out places where they'd eaten, danced, slept, and…

"This," she said, indicating a huge weeping willow just outside of the main village, "is where you took me the first night you told me you loved me..." her eyes glittered wickedly for an instant, "…and showed me. We'll plant one at our home."

"You're gorram right we will!" the Captain shouted, laughing.

Parting the leaves of the willow, they entered the shrouded cave inside the protective circle of drooping branches. The girl walked up to the tree, and placed her hand on its bark. Her back was to the camera, and she was silent for an instant. Turning her head slowly, looking over her shoulder, she said, "I love you, Mal, and I'll wait for you always."

There was a pause, and then Mal said, "I love you, Rhoswen, and I'll count the days till I see your face again. And that's why I want to give you this." His hand reached into the screen, holding out a necklace made of flat silver links. Each link was set with a dazzling diamond that spit bright light every which way.

She gasped, her mouth open and her eyes wide. Rhoswen took the necklace from the Captain, staring at it in her hands with wonder. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"You're beautiful," he countered.

Smiling, she clasped it around her neck. "Thank you."

"I know you think I'm going to leave here and forget about you," Mal said, all tones of teasing gone from his voice.

Her look turned to one of shock. "Mal, I-"

"Now, now, no lyin', girl," he said. "I know you think it. Can't say I blame you. But that's why I gave you that. And I have another way for you to know I'm not about to forget you."

"And what's that?" she asked, fingering her new necklace, her hazel eyes downcast.

The image suddenly sank down a couple feet and tilted up, staying on the girl's face. "Will you marry me?"

She froze, eyes still fixed on the leaf-covered grass. Her fingers froze too, mid-caress of one of the diamonds. Very slowly, she looked at him, disbelief scrawled across her face. "What-?" she breathed.

"Listen, Rhoswen, I love you, and I don't want to be with nobody but you. Now I know I'm leavin', but I'll be back, I swear to you. And if I die, well then, at least you knew how I felt," he said. "So, marry me, darlin', and know that I'll come back to you if it takes my dying breath."

At first she was silent, still staring at him, seven different emotions painted on her face. "Yes," came her answer softly. "Yes."

There was an explosive exhale from off-screen. "Well, gorram it, girl, you scared me there for a minute!" The image sunk lower still and tilted off to the side as Mal dropped the camera and it fell over. All that could be seen were two pairs of feet: one in heavy combat boots, and the other in soft moccasins. The feet were very close. "Oh, Rhoswen," the Captain's voice whispered. The video stopped then, a message blinking across the video card's screen indicating that it was over.

Kaylee was stunned; the Captain was married? Well, everybody knew he was married to Saffron, but that low-down snake didn't count. That was an accident and a con. But this…this was no con.

"I know you're there, Kaylee," the Captain said.

Kaylee jumped, then blushed to the roots of her hair. Sheepishly, she came out from behind the boulder. "Sorry, Cap," she said with nervous giggle. "I wasn't meanin' no eavesdroppin', just wanted to make sure you were A-OK."

"I know," he replied, then fell silent.

"She's…real pretty," Kaylee said into the quiet, twisting her hands, not knowing what to say. The Captain nodded, and from the very deliberate way he did it, the mechanic knew he was drunk, much more drunk than her. "Where is she?" she asked quietly. "I'm not tryin' to pry, Cap, just…curious. If you don't want to answer, makes no never mind to me," she added quickly.

Mal looked up at her, eyes slightly unfocused. He gestured for her to sit next to him then. Kaylee stepped forward and plunked herself down, back against the rock, right next to her Captain. At first, she didn't think he was going to say anything, but then he started to talk. Slowly, haltingly, at first, but then it became smoother.

"After the war…I went back to her planet to find her. Turns out…while I was gone…slavers had ransacked her village, took everyone. It had been at the very start of the war, so there was no trail to follow, nothing I could do." His tone, Kaylee thought, held far too much self-accusation. Mal obviously didn't believe there had been nothing he could do. He took a deep breath and laid his head back against the boulder. "I assume she's dead, slaves never last long."

"Oh, Captain!" Kaylee said in a low voice. "I'm so sorry!"

"Nights like this," he whispered, looking up at the star-filled sky, "just miss her, is all."

"Well, of course," Kaylee said gently. She reached out and touched his arm.

"You should get back to the party," he said thickly.

"If you want some company-"

"No, I'm fine. Xièxie."

The mechanic stood up to go.

"And Kaylee?" Mal said to her back.

"Yes, Captain?" she asked, turning around.

"I'd appreciate it…if this just stayed between us, dong ma?"

Kaylee smiled sadly, and nodded her head slowly. "You got it, Cap."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She laid back against the pillows, a dreamy expression on her face. She didn't mind her the sweat slowly drying on her skin, or the fact that her curls were stuck to her face in limp strands. There was no one in the room now, they'd all left to give her time alone with her new arrival.

Glancing down into her arms, she felt herself struck by wonder once again. "I never thought I'd fall in love twice," she said to the newborn in her arms. Her finger arched out slowly and caressed one chubby cheek. Clear blue eyes stared back up at her with downy dark blond fuzz sticking up in tufts from its head. "We'll shock your poor father, that's the truth!" she told the infant, laughing a little bit.

There was a knock on the door, and a girl with blazing red hair about the same age as the new mother stuck her head in. "Hi, Rhoswen."

"Hey, Eara," she said, smiling.

"Can I come see him?"

"Sure."

The redhead quietly closed the door behind her and tip-toed her way to the bed. Her mouth fell open when she saw the baby. "Oh, Rhoswen, he's beautiful."

"Just like his father," the other girl replied, leaning down to kiss her baby's forehead.

Eara smiled sadly; no one knew more than her how Rhoswen must feel. Her lover, whom she'd known all her life, had left with the Browncoats. She understood the cause, and she supported the resistance of Unification…but that didn't make the nights any less cold and lonely. Rhoswen and her soldier had known each other for mere weeks, but their love was just as powerful as Eara and Arlen's was; Eara knew that as only one in love can see the emotion mirrored in others. "Just like his father," she echoed. "Who will be back."

"With Arlen," Rhoswen added firmly.

Eara nodded, blinking back tears at hearing her lover's name out loud. "What are you going to name him?"

Rhoswen didn't answer for a moment, she simply stared at the newborn in her arms who was slowly drifting to sleep. Smiling absently, she bent her head and kissed her son's forehead again. "I'm going to name him…Shay."