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Firefly: Deleted Scenes
Ficlet 11: You Are Cordially Invited
By Gamera Obscura
"I wish I was somebody else right now, somebody not… married, not madly in love with a beautiful woman who can kill me with her pinky."
-Hoban "Wash" Washburne - Episode 6: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"
Serenity was on Bellerophon, and, knowing of the event in advance, Inara had left her schedule open this afternoon. Mal had protested to Zoe angrily, but had finally relented and diverted the ship to this planet, at the heart of the Georgia system. Inara had a nearly full schedule for the next four days while Serenity arranged to take on passengers and cargo, but in the meantime, she would be without a pilot and a first officer.
Deep in the docks, Inara, Zoe, Wash, and Kaylee stood at the foot of the ramp, waiting. The Captain closed the inner airlock doors and raised the ramp, a sour look on his face.
A taxi arrived at Serenity's berth, and the four of them got inside, the cab lifting off and heading skyward to the local Magistrate building. Once there, the cab landed and its passengers disembarked and headed inside.
Ten minutes later, Zoe and Wash were filling out paperwork at the office of the Justice of the Peace and submitted their written blood test results. Inara and Kaylee, their witnesses, sat in a pew along with dozens of other people, while the happy couple did what they had to do to get on the docket.
They all sat and joked as they waited, Wash being ever the prankster as he kept everyone entertained over the next hour.
Finally, a woman poked her head into the waiting room. "Zoe Oona Alleyne and Hoban Linus Washburne?" she asked, and the four rose, stepped over to the door and followed the young woman down a hallway and into the Magistrate's office.
Zoe was wearing a white, flowing dress, while Wash wore what passed for a suit, complete with a tie. Inara wore something relatively simple, at least simple for her, as she didn't want to outdo the bride; Kaylee wore grey coveralls and a pink shirt, and had pulled her hair into a ponytail.
"Do you have a Capture? I can shoot video of the ceremony if you like," the woman, the Magistrate's assistant, asked. Inara pulled Zoe's Capture out of her handbag and handed it to the woman, who stood in a corner of the room and began shooting. "Sir, we're ready for you," she said.
A man in black robes stood and stepped over to the podium, looking over the paperwork in front of him. "Are either of you changing your names after this ceremony?" he asked.
"I am," said Zoe. "I wish to be called Zoe Alleyne Washburne after the ceremony is complete."
The Magistrate, a man in his fifties with blonde hair that was graying at the temples, made a notation on the form with a pen before looking up. Zoe stood to the right of the podium, Wash to the left; both Inara and Kaylee stood to the right of Zoe, and all had smiles on their faces.
The Magistrate spread his hands apart, then began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of you, Hoban Linus Washburne, and you, Zoe Oona Alleyne, in the bonds of matrimony. This ceremony has largely been unchanged since long before humanity left Earth-That-Was, and the tale of two young lovers finding solace and compassion in one another's arms is a tale as old as time itself."
He turned to Wash, then to Zoe. "Do you have your own vows written, or do you wish me to recite the standard litany?"
"We've written our own vows," Zoe replied, a soft smile on her face.
"Very well, then," the Magistrate responded. "Who would like to begin?"
"I will," said Zoe, who turned to the groom. "Wash, it's been over nine months since we met. I hated you when we first encountered one another, but your kind and gentle nature, and your ability to make me laugh, no matter how hard times became, won my heart, which is no small feat. I was career military for the Independent infantry, and love was the last thing on my mind for the longest time. But as they say, we don't get to choose who we love, and as sure as the turn of the worlds, I became yours, almost from the day we first kissed. I knew for months that I loved you, but I didn't tell you because I was afraid to say it first. This is the happiest day of my life, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, walking hand in hand to our ultimate destination, wherever that might be."
A tear rolled down Wash's cheek, and he took Zoe's hand in his. "You were afraid? Of me?" he asked.
She nodded, her eyes wet. "I was. I was afraid you wouldn't have said it back."
Wash nodded, and took a deep breath as he gave her hand a squeeze. "Zoe, my beloved Zoe, I knew you disliked me from the day I first came aboard the ship. But you were strong and spry, and I was determined to win you over, despite the Captain's policy against shipboard romances. Still, I would never have made the first move. The day you kissed me in the pilot's chair was a wonderful surprise, and since then my life has been filled with wonderful surprises as we have wandered the galaxy together, hand in hand. The most recent surprise was the night you asked me to marry you, less than two weeks ago. I couldn't say 'yes' fast enough. Since that day, I've thought of our future together, growing old with you, and the beautiful children we would raise together. You complete me, and I never want to spend a single day without you, for the rest of my life," he said, then kissed her hand.
"Do you have the rings?" asked the Magistrate.
Inara stepped over to Wash, and handed him Zoe's ring, while Kaylee turned and placed Wash's band in Zoe's waiting hand.
"Hoban, place the ring upon Zoe's finger, and say, 'With this ring, I thee wed'."
Wash slipped the titanium band upon Zoe's finger, a tiny diamond at the top. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"Now Zoe, place the ring upon Hoban's finger, and say, 'With this ring, I thee wed'."
Zoe slipped the titanium band upon Wash's finger. This ring contrasted nicely with his pale skin, and had no diamond upon it. "With this ring, I thee wed."
The Magistrate smiled. "With the power vested in me by the Union of Allied Planets, I hereby pronounce you man and wife. Zhuhe! You may now kiss the bride."
Wash dipped Zoe and kissed her sweetly, then lifted her back to an upright, standing position. Kaylee clapped her hands with delight. "Zhuhe! The vows were beautiful, you two."
"Zhuhe," repeated Inara, smiling. "It was a lovely ceremony."
The assistant turned off the Capture and handed it back to Inara, who deposited it back into her bag.
Wash and Zoe thanked the Magistrate, both shaking his hand, and then the four filed out of the building and into a waiting taxi, which ferried them first to a restaurant, where they had a lovely meal at Inara's expense, and then they headed back to Serenity. Once inside, Inara handed the Capture over to Zoe. "You're going to need this, I suspect," she said.
Wash and Zoe made their way to Shuttle 2, their bags already packed, and flew out to Ocean City, a lovely little hamlet for tourists and sunbathers, whereupon they set up a tent on the beach. Zoe put on a bikini that Inara had bought her for the occasion as a wedding gift, and she showed it off to Wash before he chased her into the sea.
It was going to be a lovely four days.
O-O-O
Inara immediately took off for her evening's appointment in Shuttle 1, leaving Kaylee and Mal alone on the ship. She fixed dinner for the two of them, and sat down, placing a plate in front of her Captain as she did so.
"Thank you," Mal said grimly as he tucked into his meal.
"You're still mad about them getting married, aren't you, Cap?" Kaylee asked, concern etched upon her face.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "It'll be fine."
You know, there's a saying in the Bible. "Love is patient, love is kind-"
"I know," Mal said. "First Corinthians 13:4-8. And don't ever quote scripture to me again, Kaylee. That's rule number one on my boat."
Kaylee looked chastened. "I'm sorry, sir."
The pair ate in silence.
O-O-O
Meanwhile, on Persephone, Shepherd Derrial Book addressed the congregation for the first time in the meeting hall adjacent to the Southdown Abby. "Please turn to First Corinthians 13, verse 4," Book began. He waited for the congregation, three hundred people strong, to find the correct verse in their Bibles. After a few long moments, he continued.
"Love is patient," he said, "love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."
Shepherd book cleared his throat. "I am relatively new to Christ's love, compared to the length and breadth of my sinful life," he said. "I was not a good man before He took me in His arms and forgave me for all the sins I had committed in the past. It is only by His grace and divine providence that I am standing before you today, delivering my first sermon, instead of roasting for all eternity in the fiery pits of hell itself. But it is not fear of damnation that binds us together as brothers and sisters in Christ, nor is it the promise of an eternity in paradise that draws us to God. Instead, it is the absolute love and total brotherhood that binds us together, and gives us new life, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb."
Book paused, then continued. "Our works are as filthy rags before God the Father," he said, "but it is only by our works that we prove our repentance and our acceptance of salvation. Our works are our statement to a sinful, rotten world that we alone are saved. Let Christ guide your hearts and hands, my children, and He will never steer you wrong."
O-O-O
That night, on Santos, Jayne Cobb signed on to his new ship, The Black Rider. He had to share a bunk with Robbins, another fighter on the ship, but he was earning seven percent of the take, and Marco had promised him bonuses if his tracking skills proved to be of value to the crew. Once his belongings, including an arsenal of weapons, were unpacked and set to rights, he sat down at the dinner table with his new shipmates.
His Captain, Marco Jester, turned to him. "Jayne, since you're new to the table and to the ship, it falls to you to say grace before dinner."
Jayne nodded and clasped his hands together, lowering his head and closing his eyes before he spoke:
"Blessed be the worlds for providing us this food. Blessed be the suns for helping it to grow. Blessed be the winds and birds for carrying its seed. Blessed be the rain for the water's loving flow. Blessed be the hands that helped prepare this meal, may those hands and our hands, bodies too, be well and quick to heal. Blessed be my shipmates, may Christ protect them from all that would seek to do them harm. Blessed be our friends, our families, and all of our loved ones. And lastly, blessed be the turn of our mother worlds, our father skies, and the suns that burn with a blinding light, overshadowed only by the face of God Himself."
(Author's Note: While I myself am an atheist, I know that many of my readers are believers, and am well aware that Firefly has an underlying theme of faith and belief, personified by Shepherd Book's absolute faith and Mal's rejection of God, following the end of the Unification War. As such, one must at least occasionally address the issues of faith that the series embraces in order to tell the tale of Serenity and her crew properly.)
(Next Time: Crybaby Cry - Mal and Kaylee create a new invention together so that Mal can raid a destroyed ship loaded with illegal salvage.)