Disclaimer/Warning y'all: Obviously I don't own Firefly or else it would still be on television, I also don't own the song upon which this story is based and i frequently paraphrase through out South of Santa Fe by Brooks and Dunn. Good song. I also have never written romantical stuff before, so you've been warned, heck I've never had a boyfriend. (Mine is a sad and lonely lot, but we're not here to talk about that.) Um... more later, now it's story time
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Somewhere North of Heaven
Jayne sits alone in his bunk, staring at an old battered capture of a woman. The woman's image laughs a low laugh and tells him to shut the damn thing off. His own voice can be heard beginning to argue the point as the capture shorts out and reverts to the original image. There used to be more, but through wear and damage their argument has been lost. It doesn't matter though, because Jayne remembers it all. He picks up his old guitar, strums a couple chords and thinks back to a time before he had a captain, before he traveled the 'verse on a firefly called Serenity, when he was a freelance merc, pulling jobs when and where he could with all manner of unpardonable folk, a time when he came as close as he'd ever come to falling in love.
He was on the desert moon of Blue Mesa. Him and a bunch of boys had been hired to pull a bank job in a Podunk town called Heaven. Easy Money, they'd been told. Ride into town, hold up the bank and make out for New Santa Fe.
But Easy Money had turned to a posse on their tail faster than he could spit and they'd lit shuck for the desert. The ones the posse didn't get; the burning desert heat did, until the only one left was Jayne and he had all the money to himself. Not that the money was doing him any good in the desert with a posse some where behind him, a dead horse, no ammo to speak of and a half empty canteen.
He staggered northward. The Malicious Sun beat down and he knew he was hopelessly lost. Heat waves danced across the desert and he saw water where there was none. The fella who was supposed to guide them to water in this godforsaken desert had been shot off his horse not two miles outside of Heaven.
For two days he wandered thus, then around noon the third day he saw the buildings. At first he thought they were another mirage, just his dehydrated, heat exhausted mind playing tricks, but as he neared, they did not dance away as the visions of water had. They became the fixed point on which he focused, his guiding star in the flat empty desert.
The hated sun was short hours from setting when he reached them. To his dismay he found them boarded up, seemingly abandoned. Just what he needed, a ghost town. He wandered down the empty street looking for the well that a place like that must have had to survive even ten minutes. A weather beaten sign proclaimed this Main Street, but having glanced around a bit, he muttered, "More like Only Street."
Some of the buildings had long since given in to the oppressive heat and dust storms that Jayne had heard this rock was apt to get, but most appeared to be in ok shape given their apparent abandonment. They were still boarded up tight though, like whoever had lived in the town had intentions of returning, but for some reason never did. That thought did not bode well with Jayne.
He reached the edge of the ghost town without finding the well and he cursed in frustration. He was going to die out there.
Then he thought he heard the sound of running water and pans clattering form one of the buildings. Unlike the others not all the windows were boarded. Shades were pulled in the four plate glass windows facing the street. Sure he was going mad from heat, Jayne approached the building. He stared up at a pealing sign that tastefully stated that he had arrived at the Last Café. He mounted the steps and stood in front of the door. Wondering what he was doing, Jayne readjusted the saddlebag full of money on his shoulder. Whether it was the heat exhaustion or some other subconscious compulsion, Jayne never really knew, but something inside him made him knock.
Time seemed to slow as the door swung open. A low feminine voice said from somewhere behind it, "Sabre, you too zai zi, you know I don' open 'til sundown."
Jayne looked into the dark blue-green eyes and forgot where he was and why. All he knew was he was looking at an angel for sure. He started forward, but the colors inverted and he dropped like a hot rock.
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His return to consciousness was slow. He was first aware of something cool and wet moving across his face and then ice water on his lips. His eyes flickered open. He was on a bed in a shadowy little room. The woman from the door sat on a stool beside him, her back to him as she dipped a towel in a bucket. A long sun reddened braid fell down her back and she smiled as she turned.
"You certainly gave me quite a start there, Wàikè." She said dabbing the dripping towel across his forehead. "Ya lucky I stays here t' watch the town an' fire up the grill every day."
Jayne started to sit up, but felt light headed. He sunk back down into the deep mattress. "Where?" he asked, confused.
"Town ain't rightly got a name." She said scooping out a cup of water out of her bucket and holding it to his lips. "Just a meetin' place fer all the Desert folk. Ain't got no truck with outsiders, but we helps strangers sometimes. 's our Christianly duty."
Jayne took the cup and drank greedily. It was good and cool. She smiled again and Jayne smiled back. This might be a good place to lay up awhile. Not too long, because he had a ride waiting for him in New Santa Fe, but at least until he was rested up and the heat was off a bit.
Suddenly remembering, Jayne asked gruffly, "What's ya do with my saddlebags?"
"Down't the end of the bed." She said jerking her head in the general direction. "I didn' look in'm, case ya wonderin'. Ain't none'f my business." She put her hands on her knees and watched him. She was very beautiful in Jayne's was of thinking, hour glass figure, a honest kind of face that was just endearing in it's simplicity. Her hands were calloused and her skin was tanned just nigh sunburned. This was a hardworking woman who was good looking without trying.
"Well," she said pushing off the stool. "I gotta go out t' my café 'fore the help runs off with the till. Drink lots of water, Outhouse is out back if ya need it, anythin' else just shout."
She started to go but Jayne stopped her. "What's yer name, sos I kin call it?"
She smiled. "Tiān Shǐ Sartain." Then she was out the door and into the bustle of her café.
With her gone, Jayne tried sitting up again, reaching for the saddlebag. All the money was still there. That was good. His guns were hanging right next to the saddlebag and both seemed untouched, very good. He sat back and drank a little more cool clear water. Jayne could hear the sounds of people in the café, laughing and talking indistinctly. Tiān Shǐ's voice broke through the chatter; shouting clearly at someone named Sabre to keep his grubby paws off her waitress. Someone fired up a jukebox and in listening to the music, Jayne drifted off.
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Some time around four or five in the morning Tiān Shǐ woke Jayne. "Skooch over, Wàikè."
"Whah?"
"I said skooch over. Only got one bed an' yer in it. I gotta get my twen'y winks in, now skooch." She started climbing into bed as Jayne slid over, still half asleep. He heard her yawn and felt her snuggle into the deep mattress. Jayne drifted off again feeling her warm body next to his.
Jayne's internal clock and growling stomach woke him some hours later. He was so warm and comfortable; he almost didn't want to move, but his stomach grumbled its annoyance at his neglect t feed it. He breathed deeply and noticed an unfamiliar weight on his chest. Slowly he opened his eyes and in the little light that came through the boarded up windows, he saw that Tiān Shǐ was sprawled across him.
He nudged her awake and she smiled. "Well, ain't this a pleasant way t' wake up."
"What're you doin' on top me?" Jayne asked.
"Havin' my best night's sleep in four years." She said with a wink. Then she rolled off him and out of bed. Shamelessly changing out of her night gown and into a light floral dress right in front of him, she asked, "So what do ya want fer breakfast, O mysterious stranger? How 'bout I make ya some cabeza?"
Jayne nodded staring at her body not really listening to her words. He'd no idea what cabeza was and he didn't really care. Tiān Shǐ went to the kitchen and Jayne pulled on his boots. He felt a lot better now. He was rehydrated, he was cool, he'd just seen a fine looking woman in her under things and now she was making him breakfast. There was only one more thing a man like Jayne Cobb could wish for.
After a quick trip through the blazing sun to the outhouse, Jayne found his way to Tiān Shǐ's kitchen. It was pretty big with multiple stovetops and heavy-duty ovens, but she was just running a small one near the back, cooking up some sort of flat bread. Jayne sat at the counter and watched her cook. She flipped it over and went to a bowl on counter. She pulled some dough from the bowl, rolled it in a ball with her hands, set the perfect sphere of dough smack dab in the middle of a round metal press. She flipped the press shut, pulled the lever, pulled it back open revealing a perfect flat round circle of dough. With a practiced ease she pealed off the circle and plopped it onto her skillet. Then she took the one she already had cooking, sat it on the counter, took a big spoon full of some sort of meat she had waiting in a pot and made a line of it on the flat bread. Finally she rolled the whole thing up and sat it on a plate with three other such rolls. Then she started the whole process again.
In watching her, Jayne found there was something almost sensual about the way she cooked, like she knew something about the food that no one else could ever understand. He wanted in on that—bad.
"What's that yer makin'?" he asked, genuinely curious.
She half turned and flashed a smile. "Tacos. These," she said flipping the flat bread, "are called tortillas y este, " she tipped the bowl of meat, "es cabeza."
Jayne nodded like he knew what she was talking about. He did kind of. The flat bread were tortillas, the meat was cabeza and the whole thing was called a taco, but him food was food. He figured it was some kind of ethnic thing of these Desert folk. His stomach growled.
Tiān Shǐ heard this and laughed. "You kin 'ave one if ya want." She said gesturing to the plate of tacos.
He grabbed one up and took a big bite. It was good, kind of on the salty side but good nonetheless. Tiān Shǐ half smiled watching him. "You like it?"
He reached for a glass of water he found inexplicably sitting on the counter next to him and nodded. "Wha' kinda meat is that Ka-besa?" he asked taking a big drink.
Her half smile went full bore. "Roast cow head."
"Didn' know you could eat cow head." Jayne said speculatively, completely unfazed by this pronouncement.
For an instant Tiān Shǐ seemed crestfallen, but she perked back up quickly to answer him, "Oh yeah, you kin eat just about any part of a cow if ya try hard 'nough. Actually you kin eat just about anythin' if ya try hard enough." She laughed a soft almost self deprecating laugh. "Us Desert folk done proved that."
Jayne nodded. "So yer Desert Folk then?"
"Yalp… well half if ya wanna get technical 'bout it, but Desert Folk looks more t' attitude than blood. Actually…" she said, finishing construction of the last taco and taking a big bite out of it. "tha' reminds me. You the one that posse that's come int' the Desert's after?"
Jayne almost choked on his taco, "You know 'bout the posse?"
She laughed and leaned on the counter. "Wàikè, I run the ONLY café of the Desert folk. I know ever' thin' tha' happens in this desert. Don't worry though. Folks don' care much. So longs you don' screw with us anythin' ya did out in the 'verse is forgiven in the Desert. Most folks I talked to yesterday was tickled that ya slipped away from those bastards with their cash. We ain't likin' them outsiders overly much an' anyone who screws with them is liable t' get themselves adopted."
"I ain't interested in bein' adopted." Jayne said.
"Course ya ain't," she said, "anyways you ain't gotta worry 'bout that posse fer awhile yet. They're clean on the other side a the desert at the mo'. We'll have notice if they head this way."
They continued to eat tacos and talk about nothing in general, food, guns (surprisingly she had substantial knowledge on this topic, which really turned Jayne on), and the War (she leaned to the Independents only because the Alliance had all the Desert Folk pretty well pissed off, but none of them put any stock in any form of government). Jayne began thinking very seriously about grabbing her by the waist and just planting a big wet one on her pretty little neck.
She beat him to the punch though. While they were washing the dishes, such as they were, Tiān Shǐ just reached over and grabbed his ass. He had no other choice but to retaliate by grabbing hers. Then one thing led to another and the next thing either of them knew they were lying in bed, Tiān Shǐ humming an old song contently and drawing little circles on Jayne's bare chest.
She leaned over and whispered something in Chinese to him. Jayne laughed heartily. "Now that's dirty."
Tiān Shǐ thumped his chest lightly, "No dirtier than what we just did, Wàikè."
That point Jayne was forced to concede, but after a moment of thought something occurred to him. By this time, Tiān Shǐ was sitting up wrapped in her sheet and taking her hair out of its braid.
As she set him to work brushing her hair, Jayne said, "Ya know, now tha' we know each other in the biblical sense, I figure you oughta know my name."
She laughed, turned and asked coyly, "So, what's yer name, stranger?"
"Jayne Cobb." He said proudly.
She giggled behind her hand. "Jayne's a girl's name ya know."
"Yeah, well, Jayne ain't a girl." He said shaking the hairbrush at her angrily.
She laughed again, this time low and sensual. "Oh, I have ample knowledge of that." She turned around and he went back to brushing her hair.
When he finished that, she started getting dressed and ready for work. While she sat at her vanity plaiting her hair, Jayne began rummaging through her stuff simply because he was bored. In an old truck he found a hansom antler handled Bowie knife, a few worn quilts, some old books, and an even older capture machine. After admiring the Bowie's workmanship, Jayne put his hands on the capture.
Tiān Shǐ saw him going through the trunk and said, "That stuff used t' be my daddy's. He brought it out with 'im when come to the Folk. 'Came mine when he joined the Desert five years ago."
Jayne turned the capture over in his hands looking for the on switch. "Joined the Desert?" he asked idly.
"Means died." She said going back to plaiting her hair, "Us Desert Folk take our dead out t' place we call El Cañón de Los Muertos. 's got a big dry cave system where we lay the dead t' rest."
He found the on switch finally and said, "Hey, Tiān Shǐ, look at me."
She turned laughing lowly at the way his words had rhymed and he switched on the capture. "Jayne," she said crossly when she realized what he was doing, "shut that damn thing off."
"Naw, I wanna remember t'day ferever," Jayne said.
"Well, do it without the capture."
"Why? What's wrong with havin' yer capture taken? Yer real priddy." Jayne said still holding the machine in front of him.
"The hell I am." She said with real anger in her voice. "Just turn the damn thing off. I gotta go get those grills warmed up." Jayne finally obliged and she finnished her braid.
Tiān Shǐ got up and looked at Jayne for a second. "Come on out t' th'café when ever ya figger out how t' get yer self dressed, hansom." She said a hint of teasing in her voice.
"That's low." Jayne said.
She laughed, "I'm a low kinda girl."
Jayne went about dressing himself slowly. It wasn't like he had any fresh clothes and even though Tiān Shǐ didn't seem to mind his smells, he tried to freshen up a bit. By the time he made it out, Tiān Shǐ's help had arrived out of the Desert and they were getting the Café ready to open at sundown. He stood at the door watching Tiān Shǐ mixing up tortilla dough and ordering her help about.
It took some time for Tiān Shǐ to notice Jayne standing there, but when she finally looked up from her cooking and smiled at him, he knew it was worth the wait. "Finally got dressed I see." She said. "Um… why don't you go sit at the counter and…" she turned and shouted at a dark complected girl who was wiping down tables, "Falina, dé a Señor Cobb al cristal de agua. An' anything he orders is on the house, kay."
Jayne sat on the cushioned stool and the dark skinned little waitress brought him a glass of water. He drank it, impaiently waiting for something to happen and wishing it were something alcoholic. Tiān Shǐ finnished up her work in the kitchen and came out to talk to him.
"You got anything other than water?" Jayne asked.
She smiled and winked as she refilled his glass with water. "Yeah, but you can't have any. You're still recovering from heatstroke." Jayne made a displeased sound and Tiān Shǐ laughed. "I think I oughta introduce you to my wait staff. Let's see, ya already met Falina, my waitress, she's just hangin' around here 'til she can trap herself a hansom young wrangler an' git hitched. Um… over there," she pointed to a thirteen year old boy who placing various condiment canisters on the tables, "is Cary Magoon, m'busboy and general causer of misplaced mischeif. And last but not least, in the kitchen, my strong right hand, Young Red Bodine." A flour caked, severly sunburned young man jerked his head up in greeting.
"They don' look like much." Jayne said candidly.
Tiān Shǐ shrugged, "They do the job." She glanced at a clock on the wall, "Taikong suoyou de xingqiu saijin wo de pigu, look at the time, Falina,Abra la puerta
'fore folks think we up an' 'bandoned this place fer real. Cary, throw up the shades!"
From there the Lost Café really came alive. The first three customers were a group of fiesty old men who ordered a local brew, regailed Jayne with tales of their younger days and consistantly beat him at dominoes even after he started cheating.
Watching crowds of people in strange wide brimmed hats move up and down the boardwalk outside, Jayne commented, "Can't believe this place is a ghost town in the day."
One of the old men, Clint Lamour said, "We do it t' hide from outsiders an' keep out the heat. Been doin' it since we first settled 'ere, long 'afore I was born." The old man smiled, "Keeps ar numbers an' intentions hid. If they knew the Desert like we do, it'd all be gone in the space of ten years."
Not long after Jayne lost his eighth game to the oldtimers a rather scraggly man wandered in and sat at a booth. Tiān Shǐ was in the back with Red working diligently on the order of a young couple and Jayne was focused on trying to beat Clint, Lalo Ruzicka and Clarance Slatterwhite at dominoes. Neither noticed anything was amiss until Falina screamed, "Get your dirty hands off me!"
Jayne spun his stool around to see what was going on. The scraggly man had Falina by the arm and was making unpleasant kissy faces at her as she struggled to escape his grip.
"That ain't right." Jayne said.
"Nothin' 'bout tha' hombre is right." Slatterwhite said disdainfully.
"Been tellin' folks we oughta hang that drunkard fer years. Put him outta ar misery." Lalo added.
The kitchen door swung open and shut loudly as Tiān Shǐ stormed out. "Matt Sabre, I done tol' you, yesterday. You ain't welcome in my café no more."
"Why?" the man slurred, " Cuz this lil'hu li jing won' give me the time a day?" He shook Falina as he rose drunkenly from his booth.
"Because this is a family establishment and I can't have you feelin' up my waitress." Tiān Shǐ stated angrily. "Now git out."
Sabre threw Falina to the floor and staggered towards Tiān Shǐ. "Oh, an' who's gonna make me?"
Jayne was up off his stood without a thought. He lay the drunkard out with a blow to the head with a stool and then Jayne grabbed him by the back of the shirt and tossed him out the open door.
Turning Jayne saw Tiān Shǐ standing with her hands on her hips and a look on her face that clearly said, You didn't need to do that. I was taking care of it.
However she did not have a chance to say anything as the oldtimers began congradulating Jayne on his 'galant' defence of the 'lady'. He tried to tell them galantry had nothing to do with it, he was just…well, he didn't know why he'd done it, but they'd have none of it.
Clint clapped Jayne on the back and looked to Tiān Shǐ. " 's it all right if we take yer stranger down t' the Saloon fer a REAL drink, Miss Tiān Shǐ?"
"Knock yerselves out." She said turning to go back to the kitchen.
Helpless to resist, Jayne allowed himself to be led onto the dusty street. The town was very different from the empty ghost town Jayne had stumbled apon the day before. Doors were thrown open causing light to spill into the street. Light poured through cracks between the board covered windows. There were people too. People everywhere, talking, hawking wears, trading. What they were trading with really caught Jayne's eye. Gold. Real gold. In dust and nuggets of varying sizes and homemade bars, it was passed from hand to hand like it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Clint must have noticed Jayne's staring because he said, "We don't trust that government money none. Never uses it if we kin help it. Ya kin trust gold. 's a constant comodity. We tries not t' use it when we's dealin' with outsiders, some things cain't be helped." The old man smiled maliciously. "Sometimes prospectin' types come int' the Desert, but they don't come out."
Any thought Jayne may have consider thinking about concerning getting his hands on some of that gold went out the window. He focused, instead, on that drink he was about to have.
They entered the Saloon and sat at the bar. "Manuel, a bottle of yer best mezcal, por favor!" Clint shouted.
The bartender ambled over and set a bottle of dark golden liquid and four shot glasses on the bar in front of them. "Whatcha celebratin' t'day, Mr. Lamour?"
Slatterwhite answered, "Stranger here just threw Matt Sabre out the Lost Café."
The bartender poured out the drinks plus one for himself. "Now that really is somethin' to celebrate." The shots were thrown back with gusto and the glasses refilled. Bar patrons aproached him to offer congradulations on the Sabre incident and his 'robbing the outsiders blind'. Better still they bought him more drinks. Jayne enjoyed the mezcal and the company of the bar patrons more and more as the night progressed. At some point an old guitar found its way to Jayne's hands. He picked out an old tune on the worn strings and everyone sang along. He finnished that one and played another and another. Time passed.
Jayne looked up from his picking and saw Tiān Shǐ leaning on the door frame. She smiled at him. "Well, Wàikè, ya comin' back t' the Café or ya gonna stay here all day?"
Guitar in hand, he slid of the barstool and swaggered up to her. "Defi'ly the Café." He said sliding his arm around her waist and smelling her hair.
She laughed and whispered in his ear, "Ya looked damn sexy playin' tha' guitar."
Without further thought on the subject, Jayne held the guitar out in the general direction of Manuel the bartender. "I'm takin' this."
And Manuel's startled "What!" followed the laughing pair into the street as dawn broke in the Desert.
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The next few hours were a fuzzy blur to Jayne. He never could rightly recall what happened after they stepped into the street. He was fairly sure he was naked for part of it, but he was never sure if Tiān Shǐ was also. All he could remember was the sound of her laughter and possibly water. Then he passed out.
He woke up lying sprawled on Tiān Shǐ's bed, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts that he'd never seen before. And, he had skull splitting head ache. Jayne sat up and looked around. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the boarded up windows, making odd patterns on the floor. The old guitar was leaned up against the wall and his guns and saddlebags hung on the bedpost unmoved. Where had that woman gotten, too?
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the bedroom door openned. Tiān Shǐ paused at the door to admire Jayne, a small pile of folded clothes slung across her arm.
Jayne scowled at her. "Where you been?"
"Had me some laundry t' do." She said with a smile.
He blinked and studied the clothing in her arms. "Those mine?"
"Yeah, you was really startin' t' reek." She laughed. "I had no trouble gittin' the clothes off ya, a heck of a time gitting you in the tub. You kept tryin' t' pull me in."
Jayne grimaced as his headache hit a particular high for no apparent reason. Tiān Shǐ set the clothes at theend of the bed. "Hungover? Ain't surprisin' seein' as you musta drunk half a bottle of mezcal yerself." Jayne groaned and Tiān Shǐ sat next to him, sliding her arm across his shoulders. "Don't worry, Wàikè, I got jus' the thing t' cheer ya up."
His face brightened a moment, until he realized she was not talking about what he thought she was talking about. She bent over, dragged a large metal box from underneath her bed and flipped open the lid. Jayne's face brightened again at the sight of it's contents, though not as bright as before, but then…
He pointed. "Is that?"
Tiān Shǐ smiled. "Sure is."
"A fully automatic Steyr submachine rifle." Jayne whispered in an awed voice as he reached for the weapon.
"With laser scope." Tiān Shǐ added, astutely.
He looked up at her. "I heard stories 'bout what a man could do with one a these…" Jayne trailed off, looking into her eyes. They smiled at him.
" 's another a my daddy's old things," Tiān Shǐ said quietly. "He was with this crew a piratin' types. They hit New Santa Fe an' got shot down over th'Desert. My mama's family foun' wha' was left of'm, took'm in, an' fixed up their hurt." She sighed. "Daddy decided t' stay here, make a new start fer hisself. Married my mama, took over this café. Rest of'm… they 'ranged t' hitch a ride off this moon an' the law got wind of it… well, ya know how that goes, I imagine." She reached over and stroked the weapon fondly. "Daddy used t' tell such storied, 'bout the worlds he'd seen, adventures he had. I used t' dream about goin' t' see them places…"
Jayne smiled obscenely. "I could show all the worlds in the 'Verse."
She snorted. "Wàikè, that is the oldest line in the 'verse. 'sides I stopped dreamin' those dreams years ago. I got everythin' I could ever want right here." The fiercely independent expression that had taken over her face faded slightly. "How 'bout you play me some a that guitar an' we'll see where th'rest a t'day goes."
He obliged and so did she. Between their love making and the guitar playing what was left of the day passed quickly. They took a break about half way threw and she cooked him prickly pear cactus and eggs, but, sooner than either liked, it was time for Tiān Shǐ to go out and start getting the café ready to open. Jayne dressed and followed her out quickly this time.
Bored and the sun still a good thirty minutes from setting, Jayne messed around with the jukebox. He spent a frustrating five minutes trying to get the machine to take his coin, then shouted "How do you make this gorram thing work?"
Tiān Shǐ came around the counter with a jar of blank metal disks. "Nobody uses regular money, so folks pay us fer these tokens t' make the jukebox work." Jayne dug out one and punched up his selection.
As music spilled forth, Tiān Shǐ smiled proudly. "This here jukebox is th' mos' technologically advanced thing in th' whole Desert. One a my improvements on th' joint."
Jayne held out his hand. "Ya wanna dance?"
She shrugged. "Hell, why not?" she took his hand and they swayed to the song, awkwardly at first, then close and confidant. When that song finished Tiān Shǐ stuck another token in the jukebox and they danced again. After that it was time to open up. The sun had set.
Tiān Shǐ went to work and the café filled quickly. Jayne found himself hungry and ordered a chicken fried steak. Then he was pestered for information about the outside world by a bunch of kids. He didn't mind so much because they bought him a beer. When they were gone, Jayne sat at a booth with the old timers and attempted to beat them at dominoes some more. He had trouble paying attention to the game though. He kept catching himself staring off at Tiān Shǐ as she worked the counter or in the kitchen and thinking small wistful thoughts. Most of him found this realization more than a little unsettling, but the part that was doing the staring really didn't give a good gorram.
Some time around eleven Tiān Shǐ called him over to the counter where she was talking to a man in that Desert Folk talk that Clint called, español. Jayne had noticed the man when he'd come in some ten minutes before because he'd immediately homed in on Tiān Shǐ. He wore one of those enormous wide brimmed hats and looked road weary.
"Jayne," Tiān Shǐ said, when he reached them,"this here's my cousin, Anson Molina. My mother's brother's youngest." Anson tipped his hat, which Jayne remembered was called a sombrero and Tiān Shǐ went on. "He's got word on that posse."
That tiny part of his mind that had been staring at Tiān Shǐ with wistful thoughts whispered, Bad news tends to travel fast. But the rest of him ignored it. "What's the news, man?"
Anson shifted uncomfortably. "Man I know from out Palo Alto way says he saw them outsiders down on the Sanora Stretch. Way he figures it, they'll be here come tall sun, tomorra."
Jayne looked at Tiān Shǐ. "We're gonna have t' 'bandon town again." She said. "I, uh… I just gotta know if yer come down to the aquifer with us or not. I needa make arrangements."
"Aquifer?"
" 's a big underground lake/cavern we hide in. Listen Jayne," her voice cracked. "If ya come down an' hide with us that posse's gonna keep huntin' you an' they gonna take not catchin' you out on us Desert Folk cause they'll know we're hidin' ya. We kin take it, don' git us wrong, but if you come down there never gonna be able t' leave this Desert. It'll be like my daddy's old crew mates."
"Tiān Shǐ," Jayne said slowly, "You know I ain't never had no intention a stickin' 'round."
"Yes, I do, that's why I'm tellin' ya this now. I had t' make sure." She said her tone turning level, "I already sent Cary t' my other cousin Victor t' git you a good horse." Jayne nodded and she continued, "Anson here'll take ya as far as the north edge of th'Desert and from there you kin t'where ever ya need t' go."
For what seemed an eternity, they stared into each other's eyes. They'd both known what they had couldn't last. There was nothing either could say to change any of it and somehow that ranckled with every part of Jayne. Finally, Tiān Shǐ went back to her room to get his things and Jayne sat trying to think of something, anything to say to her.
"Tiān Shǐ's a fine woman." Anson said unexpectedly.
"Yeah," Jayne said mired in his thoughts, "A damn fine woman."
"I think she cares fer deeply ya." Anson said almost musingly. "An' I imagine, somewhere deep, deep under that…" he made an ineffectual gesture with his hands and then let it go. "Ya feel similarly 'bout 'er."
"Might be." Jayne said gruffly not liking Anson's tone. "Where you goin' with this?"
Anson leaned back against the counter and stared at the wall, "No wheres I suppose."
Tiān Shǐ returned with his saddlebags and guns. Jayne didn't bother to check them. He trusted her. She turned to go without speaking, but the words Jayne had been searching for finally came to him and he grabbed her arm.
"Come with me." He whispered harshly.
That fiercely independent expression from before returned. "I can't. Somebody's gotta run the Lost Café. My place is here, Jayne. Yers is somewhere out in the 'verse. I a'ways knew tha' an' you do, too."
Jayne grunted. She was right, there.
Cary, the busboy, burst in the door, huffing and puffing. "Yer cousin…got the…'orse 'n sp'llies, Miss Tiān Shǐ."
Jayne looked at Tiān Shǐ and she smiled faintly. "How 'bout a good bye kiss, Wàikè?"
"That might work." Jayne said and did what he'd been thinking about since breakfast the day before. He grabbed her by the waist, pulled her close and planted a big wet one on her neck.
Then vaguely aware that further speaking would only hurt her more, Jayne walked out her front door and into the dark, dusty street.
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It wasn't until two days later, when Anson left him on the edge of the Desert, that Jayne bother to check his saddlebags. Inside along with all the money were Tiān Shǐ's daddy's Bowie and an envelope. He opened the envelope slowly and struggled to read the words.
Stranger,
I noticed you admiring my daddy's knife and I figgered you might as well have it. Consider it a parting gift. I'm never gonna forget you. That Capture you made's in here too, so you don't never forget me. If you're ever on Blue Mesa again, stop by the Lost Café. I'll have Tacos waiting.
Love,
Tiān Shǐ Sartain
As Jayne reads the note again, he wonders if he will ever go back there. It would be nice even if it were to see her face and touch her skin one last time. No woman Jayne had met since that time had ever been quite like her. There were none as strong, as independent, as patient. Maybe there never would be.
"Jayne get up here. We got work to do!" Mal's voice intrudes his thoughts and Jayne puts away Tiān Shǐ's memory one more time. She'll be waiting there for later.
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Fun Chinese and Spanish Translations (Because everybody loves Spanish)
Too zai zi-son of a rabbit
Tiān Shǐ- angel
Wàikè- stranger, visitor; foreign visitor
Taikong suoyou de xingqiu saijin wo de pigu-Stuff all the planets in the universe up my butt!
Hu li jing- bitch (a flirtatious woman)
De a Señor Cobb al cristal de agua- give Mr. Cobb a class of water.
Abra la puerta- open the door
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Still here are ya? Well, a I mentioned before this is based on the song South of Santa fe. I heard it and I thought, is Jayne is gonna have a romance with some random woman this would so be the way, and then I got hit with my stunningly hansom slightly abusive muse and I HAD to write it. Please tell me you like it. I need some one to tell me you like it. I'm leaving for college this week and I want your reveiws to keep me company. PLEASE? There might be a sequel in tit for you. If i can come up with a plot that I think that's good enough that is.