AN: Back to Natara's POV

I was reluctant to open my eyes. I'd been dreaming, the first time since being imprisoned in this tiny room. The details were fuzzy and vague, but I remembered. I had been dreaming of being rescued. I clung to the images, trying to persuade my body to go back to sleep. I wanted to go back to my dream and feel the freedom I remembered feeling. I wanted to dream about seeing the sky again. Mal had been there. I'd forgotten how handsome he was. Strange, how dreaming of him didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

As my mind grew clearer, I heard soft murmurs of voices somewhere nearby, probably whispering. I sighed. I knew it was futile to try and go back to sleep at this point. Still, I let my mind conjure up Mal's face one more time before I had to face Miller.

"Natara?"

My eyes snapped open and almost immediately landed on Amy.

"Hey there, partner."

Mal? I frowned. What was going on? I thought I had been dreaming. Was I really free? Had I really been rescued?

I lifted my hand, trying to remember the sign language letters my sister had taught me a while back. She'd gone through a phase where she'd thought that sign language was the coolest thing ever, and tried to teach me the alphabet. Mal frowned as my hands formed the letters. Real.

"What?" he asked. "Natara, what is it?"

"She want's to know if this is real," Amy murmured. "She signed the word real."

Mal turned back to me, his eyes softening now that he understood the message. "Yeah, this is real. You're safe." I felt my face relax into a smile. I was really free then.

How long. I directed my question at Amy this time, knowing she would understand.

"You were missing for eleven days," she told me somberly. "We were so worried about you."

"You just about gave me a heart attack," Mal chimed in. "We had no idea where to start looking. Natara, why didn't you tell anyone where you were going? What were you thinking?" Mal sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you."

Sorry.

"Natara, you don't have to apologize. We were just so scared." I smiled at Amy, glad that she was there. I noticed Mal gazing intensely at me; it made me slightly uncomfortable. I wanted to know why he was looking at me like that. As I raised my hand to sign some more, Mal spoke.

"Natara, why don't you just talk?" He asked gently. "You know by now that I don't understand sign language. Besides, they're going to want you to answer some questions later, you know that. Do you think you can do that for me?"

I smiled sadly and shook my head. Ah, Mal. You ask of me the one thing I can't do. As Mal's face darkened, I pointed to my throat as an explanation. Mal and Amy leaned closer, and though I didn't know exactly what they saw, I had a pretty good idea. Bruises in the shape of fingers, rope burns... I had especially despised those sessions, and I shuddered involuntarily.

Understanding crossed both of their faces within seconds. Amy gasped and her hand flew up to her mouth.

"Natara..." she breathed. "What did he do to you?"

"Oh, I am going to SHOOT him!" Mal exclaimed, his face growing darker. "That son of a-" I grinned and reached out to keep Mal from doing something stupid. My grin grew even bigger as he muttered to himself about Miller and where he'd like to stick his gun.

"Are you- Are you enjoying this?" He asked when he caught sight of my expression. I held my thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart. A little bit. Mal cracked a small smile as well.

I didn't think I'd get to see any of you again.

"None of us were sure if we'd get to see you again either, to be honest." Mal rolled his eyes at Amy.

"Well trust me. By the end of this week, you're gonna be sick of me."

Please tell me what you think! Oh and I won't be able to post for a few days cause I'm going to visit my grandparents and they don't have Internet.