Everyone had changed into their swimsuits (and boxers, as in Mal's case,) and converged at the water's edge. They charged into the water and teamed up when Zoe gave the order. She watched, laughing hysterically as everyone immediately attacked Jayne and River, trying to knock her off of Jayne's shoulders and douse him with water until he collapsed.
Inara came out swinging hard and fast with surprisingly good form as she whipped walls of water directly into Jayne's face. He jammed his eyes shut and calmly breathed through his mouth while relying on River to counter Inara's attack. What he didn't count on was Kaylee's ability to splash high enough to get water inside Rivers ears causing her to sway atop Jayne's shoulders when her equilibrium was temporarily upset. Jayne, sensing her discomfort, swung around fast so that River's foot caught Simon in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards, effectively stopping Kaylee for the moment.
Mal advanced on Jayne as Simon retreated and Inara and River found themselves face to face, neither able to lean down to sweep any water at each other without banging their heads. That left Mal and Jayne to hop around trying to knock each other off of their feet. River and Inara giggled with glee as they were bounced around on top of their men.
Simon was back in full force and behind Jayne shoving Kaylee into River's back in an attempt to topple her. Jayne dodged sideways and sprinted away from the others. The exertion was causing he and River to pant, and they needed to play keep-away now to regain their energy and plan a new strategy. "Keep them at bay Jayne," River panted out. "Yeah, yeah, that's my plan baby doll."
"We need to get behind Simon and Kaylee as I'm certain I can knock her off. We just need to get them when they are both distracted," River plotted. "Can you maneuver behind them but still try and keep out of Mal and Inara's way?"
"I can try," he grunted.
"Am I too heavy, Jayne?"
"Nah Baby, you're fine, don't weigh more than my backpack when it's all loaded up with my girls and their ammo."
"Good, your stamina will more than likely herald us as the victors."
"What's that yer sayin'?"
"You are the strongest of the men, and will more than likely out last them, making us the winners."
"Ah, I gotcha now. Yep, I can go forever Baby Doll, and you can get at Kaylee and Nara. Are ya secure up
there?"
"Yes, she is comfortable and ready to advance."
They moved in towards Simon and Kaylee. Jayne able to sneak up behind Simon while he talked with Kaylee. It was just enough time for River to pull Kaylee's arm gently, which was enough to cause her to fall backwards into the water. They were disqualified and laughed as they swam ashore.
"Gorram River, how'd you guys sneak up on us like that? We was just chatting for a second and you two
done moved in like sharks!" Kaylee wailed.
"Sneak attack Kaylee, it's all about the sneakin'!" Jayne gleefully replied. He rubbed Rivers thighs as she leaned down and kissed the side of his face while whispering into his ear, "I love playing with you, Jayne."
"Gorram girl, ya keep up that cuddly kissin' stuff and I'll fight fer ya as long as ya want. Won't let none a these folks pull ya off a me."
River glowed as Jayne spoke, everyone noting her beaming smile.
Mal and Inara were conspiring. "Time out you two, we's gonna call in for a substitution on the account that y'all are professional assassins and highly trained fightin' experts, so Nara's gonna swap out with Zoe. Now we're gonna really bring it to ya!"
River and Jayne knew Zoe would be a formidable foe and plotted their strategy while Zoe swam up to Mal and got onto his shoulders. Mal was a strong man, but his upper body strength just wasn't as strong and developed as Jayne's was. Zoe didn't have an ounce of fat on her, as she was all muscle and Jayne figured she outweighed Inara by about twenty pounds or so. He and River knew that Zoe was very dangerous but that Mal would tire quickly with her on his shoulders. Their plan was to play keep away so that Zoe couldn't get close enough to pull River off of Jayne and Mal would eventually tire out, leaving them victorious.
They dodged each other and ran around in comical circles causing the spectators to roar. Zoe kept baiting River with, "Bring it on little one, bring it on."
River kept her distance and cooly replied "She will not be coerced, she knows what you are trying to do Zoe."
"Don't know what you're talking about River, seems to me you're just avoiding us."
"She is not avoiding anything, as she and Jayne are superior in their maneuvering abilities and will "Bring It" when they are good and ready!" she playfully replied.
"That's it baby doll, ya tell her!"
Mal poked Zoe's thigh as she bent down to hear something he quickly whispered to her ear. Zoe got a huge smile on her face and nodded to him.
They kept up with the avoidance tactics and kept circling each other. Mal and Zoe were now directly in back of River and Jayne when suddenly Zoe gasped and clutched her chest. "Oh...oh wait a sec, my bikini top is coming off."
That was enough of a distraction to cause Jayne to stop thinking momentarily, his jaw slightly falling open before he realized it was a ploy.
Quick as lightening, Mal seized the opportunity and kicked Jayne in the back of his knees, causing him to stumble forward, pitching River into the water. The look on Jayne's face was priceless. He looked completely shocked. Normally, Jayne would have roared in anger and probably would have torn Mal a new one, or tossed him to the other side of the lake, so Mal backed up a bit just as a precaution. Then he heard it, a deep, rumbling belly laugh coming from the deadly merc. Jayne was laughing, roaring to be exact, and so was River! Mal figured maybe she was gonna go mental and he should be more concerned with her, but here they were, laughing and enjoying themselves. Would wonders never cease, he thought?
"Gorramit Zoe! Ya tricked me with yer feminine wiles." He had a huge grin on his face as he bent down to pull River up from the water. She had mud and sand from the lake bottom in her hair and all over her face. She looked like a muddy mermaid. Jayne smiled at her and dipped her low into the water, holding her waist securely as she rinsed her hair and face with her hands. He gazed down at her lovely wet body and felt himself stir. Thankfully, he was standing in the water. She was just the shiniest little water nymph he'd ever done seen.
Everyone stood laughing as Mal preened around with his hands clasped together, waiving them above his head in a victory dance.
"Zoe, ya should a seen the look on his face when you said yer top was coming off, it was just priceless! his jaw fell open like he was catchin' flies" Kaylee giggled out.
"That was a brilliant strategy Zoe, using your opponent's weaknesses against him," River replied.
"Ah, I'm sorry Baby Doll, I didn't even realize I'd done it. Gorram conniving Zoe!" Jayne was floating on his back in the cool water and River swam up to him and took him into her arms, holding him bride style and began spinning in circles. She giggled and cooed at him and bent her head to kiss him
softly and lightly kissed him on his lips.
"What are ya doing to my merc lil' albatross? You're gonna make him dizzy with all that spinning and cuddly stuff."
"Not your merc! my merc!" she grinned out. "Simon, can I keep him, please? Look how cute he is!" she purred.
"Yeah, look how cute he is, all itty-bitty and fluffy like a little bitty HORSE" Mal guffawed.
"Mei, Mei, what have I told you about pets. I'll be the one who will end up taking care of him" Simon joked. "You can keep him on these conditions: you have to feed him and you have to clean up after him. You can't just play with him for a few minutes and then forget about him the rest of the time."
"Yeah, ya gotta play with me all the time Baby Doll. Feed me, wash me an' let me sleep on yer bed with ya," Jayne replied with a wink. "Gotta take me out fer walks regularly too."
"Yeah, he can sleep at yer feet little one, just like a big old smelly watch dog," Zoe added.
By now, everyone had clamored into the water and were cooling off before calling it a night. They swam and floated lazily until they were water logged as one of Wash's old discs played Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.
"Well, we're going to call it a night folks. We had ourselves a right nice shindig. I bet old Wash would've liked this. Come on 'Nara, let's get to bed so we're good and ready for some water skiing tomorrow. Night y'all" he said as he and Inara walked away, arm in arm.
"Kaylee, will you take a quick look at the mule? I want to make sure everything checks out before we use it tomorrow to pull y'all around on."
"Sure thing Zoe, let's go have a look see. We gotta find some rope ta use and we gotta get 'Nara's raft inflated and ready." Zoe and Kaylee walked off together, happily planning the next day's adventures.
Simon gathered up he and Kaylee's things and spotted Jayne and River sitting next to each other in the dry sand, watching the moon rise. He walked over and sat down next to them. "That sure was fun wasn't it?" he stated to them both.
"Oh yes Simon" River gushed, "I haven't..I haven't had this much fun since... since before I went to the..." she suddenly stopped speaking as tears flooded her eyes and she leaned over and tightly hugged Simon as emotion washed over her. She didn't have to finish her sentence. Simon hugged her tightly as his voice slightly quavered as he replied, "I know Mei Mei, I know. You're finally happy and you deserve it."
He rocked her gently as Jayne sat next to them, unable to speak at that moment as he had a lump in his throat the size of a baseball. Finally, he quietly spoke. "It was a right nice evenin' it was," and placed a hand on her thigh patting it gently as she clung to Simon.