Chapter 2

"Oh, Inara, why do you do this to me?" Mal pleaded with the photo he held before him, and took another drink from the bottle of whiskey in his hand, "You tease me, spin me about, so I can't tell where I'm going. Why?"

"Goodness Mal, what is your problem?" Inara begged of her picture of Mal that sat above her monitor as she drank deeply of the wine that Kaylee had made and left to age in her shuttle, "You treat me like you care, but act like you couldn't care less. Why can't you just come right out and say it. I didn't let her kiss me, I'll tell you that right now… I kissed you… why can't you see that?"

"Maybe it is better this way, her leaving and all" Mal softly admitted, finishing the bottle of whiskey, and tossing it on the floor to join the other two bottles, "She probably did just kiss Yo-saffra-bitch… or what ever her name is…she wouldn't have kissed you, Malcolm, she's a beautiful, smart, business woman, and you're a… petty thief." He opened a bottle of Scotch and took a swig.

"Mal, I'm so sorry," Inara cried, taking another drink from her bottle, "You're not a dishonest, lowly, petty thief… you work… you do honest work… my whole life is a lie!"

"Inara… sweet, sweet Inara… I'm sorry I ever held you back…" Mal confided in his framed beloved, "I won't keep you from leaving… it should be your choice… not mine…"

"Mal…" she said tearfully, "I can't leave… so I'm coming to you."

She took one last gulp of her wine and walked out the door of her shuttle with a determined air about her, and headed for Mal's bunk. As she drew nearer to the door, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that this was the right thing to do, and never did she even ponder the possibility that it might be the alcohol in her system that was causing her to do such a thing. She came to the door and knocked. She heard glass break and cursing (in Chinese), and then Mal called that she could come in. She opened the door and entered the bunk, expecting to see a broken bottle on the floor and Mal gushing blood. Instead she saw a broken photo frame, with glass all over the floor, and a picture of herself cradled in Mal's palms lovingly. He dropped the picture and stood up when he saw it was her.

"Mal…" Inara began, her words crystal clear, her gaze truthful, thanks to a dose of Kortraphine administered by River in her wine, "I think I love you. I can't deny it anymore, you enchanted me that first day on the ship, and I can't stop thinking about you…" He put a finger to her lips, and then kissed them.

She kissed him back, and for a whole thirty seconds, which stretched on for a lifetime, all their worries disappeared. Then they separated slowly, enjoying the presence of each other.

"Inara, I'm sorry…" Mal started to say, he couldn't deny the truth that was spilling from his lips, thanks to River's little stunt with the Kortraphine in his whiskey, "I should never have held you back from your job, or your life, I've been a selfish (bastard in Chinese), and I'm sorry…"

She scoffed, "My life… no… it's not mine any more… it never was much of a life… being paid to give someone what they couldn't earn… it was all a lie…" She began sobbing into his shoulder, he held her close, comforting her, and he gently wiped the tears from her face then cupped it in his hand.

"Inara, what're we going to do?" Mal asked, "How would this ever work?"

"It wouldn't" she replied only too truthfully, Kortraphine was a cruel thing that made everything all too clear, "But we could enjoy it while it lasts."

"That would work for a while, but…" he began to say.

This time Inara silenced him by pressing her lips to his and inconspicuously working him toward the bed. By the time he noticed that they had moved, he was against the bed with Inara firmly set against his chest. He slowly sat down and leaned back, she then laid down beside him with a soft hand across his chest, her head on his shoulder. They lied there, listening to the whir of the engine and the slow and steady breathing of one another.

"You deserve better," Mal said abruptly, shattering the serene silence that had encased them in their own little world.

"No I don't," Inara replied looking up into those sad eyes that sparkled from three bottles of whiskey and half a bottle of scotch, and she knew that her eyes must have the same drunken sheen to them from her bottle of wine, but it didn't matter, because she knew that everything was as it should be.

"I don't deserve you," he retorted knowing fully that she would quickly contradict him.

"Why don't you deserve me?" she asked, her eyes pleading for him to take her then and there.

"I just… don't," he told her, realizing the plea in Inara's eyes, but he didn't feel man enough to give it to her, he turned away.

"I don't care about your qualifications, Malcolm," she said sternly, taking his face in her hands, "I choose whomever I wish to choose. Qualifications have nothing to do with it."

"You say that, but you know it's not true," Mal interjected.

"I don't think I could lie to you right now, Mal," she replied softly, knowing to be perfectly true.

"Then answer me this: do you love me?"

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Give it up to Alyxx. She has yet to give me the heads up on what to do. :) I believe I will get the ring around chapter 9, which! which, has already been written up to. If you want to get ahold of her yourself...

alyxxdugg (at) yahoo (dot) com