Chapter 11

"Mommy, Daddy, are you going to tell me where my name comes from, now?" Inara whined.

"All right 'Nara, I'll tell you." Malcolm sighed, picked her up, and carried her to her bunk with Kaylee close behind.

When they were in Inara's bunk, a small brightly colored room, Malcolm sat her down on her bed and watched as Kaylee sat next to her. He looked around her bunk and was able to discern Kaylee's paintings from Inara's.

"Daddy!" Inara whined.

"All right, 'Nara, All right. There was a time when Mommy and Daddy were still not together. We had an Ambassador on the ship and she lived in the shuttle where Velia and Ethan are now in. She was very ANNOYING," Mal teased Kaylee and she responded by glaring at him and he had to swallow his laughter to continue the story. "All right, so she wasn't annoying, but she was mommy's best friend."

"Is that true, mommy?"

"Yes, 'Nara, you could've guessed we were sisters, we were very close."

"What happened to her?"

"Well, there was a Shepherd with us as well, and he and Inara fell in love."

"Did they run away to be together, Daddy?"

"You could say that."

Kaylee glared at him again, to which he clarified, "Yes, they ran away to be together."

"Can we visit them?" she pleaded them, her eyes twinkling with curiosity and excitement.

"Maybe, one day." Mal concluded, he and Kaylee didn't want to inform their five year old daughter that Inara and Shepherd died, trying to save each other, or that she was a companion. They wanted her to be a bit more adult-like before telling her the complete truth.

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They had delivered the cargo without a hitch and Mal was getting antsy as to why things were going so smooth. They had received another job but it meant that they had to dock on Osiris, and that was sure to be a galaxy of fun, not to mention the fact that Velia, Simon, and River just HAD to be the ones to get the cargo.

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Simon watched as his wife was waking up in his arms, she was softly stirring and he couldn't help but pull her closer to him. He softly kissed her before murmuring "Morning" and kissing her again. Today they were docking on Osiris, and he knew she was anxious at being within spitting distance to Alliance and Blue Gloves. Even though they had a plan as to how they were going to sneak past Alliance, he was still very nervous.

After finally getting up from the bed, they dressed and made their way towards the Infirmary, before entering the kitchen for breakfast. In the Infirmary, River sat on one of the beds while Simon was preparing his med kit to covertly hide it, in case of an emergency. River was sleepily rubbing her eyes and yawning in a lazy attempt to tell her husband to hurry up.

"Hold on, Qīn'ài de, I'm almost done." He spoke, picking up on her subtle mannerisms. He turned, saw her lying down on the bed with her eyes closed, and inched closer to kiss her before turning back to what he was doing.

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Osiris 1100

Velia walked out of the cargo bay wearing a beautiful yellow dress with a matching crown. She was surprised Ethan was able to pack it, considering they wanted to hide the fact she was royalty. She was sure that Alliance wouldn't dream of attacking her in public so she tried to stay close the crowds but far away to the point where her hunger wasn't blinding her. Simon and River were dressed like servants and he had hidden his med kit with Velia. River was able to use her hair to hide parts of her face when Alliance was near but Simon was using his marriage to River as a way to go unnoticed. When Alliance was near, he'd just kiss her and Velia would have to tell them to break it up and she was starting to get slightly annoyed by the married couple traveling with her.

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A light hair woman searched through the crowd for her long lost children. Her heart swelled when she saw the shadowed glimpse of her eldest child in the crowd. He was skinnier than she remembers and was wearing servants' gear, but it was her son and upon impulse she ran towards him.

When she approached, she sneaked a peak at the women around him, there was a beautiful teenager that led the way and she noticed that she must have been the master. The other woman next to him, who was also wearing servants' clothes, made her do a double take for the woman was her daughter.

She crashed into them both in a fierce embrace, tears falling down her face, and she apprehensively broke the hug when she felt them flinch.

"Simon, River, my darlings, you're back…" She sobbed.

Simon placed his hand on River's back, in a way to make sure she's okay. Simon and River recognized their mother and Simon was the first one to hug their mother again. River was more hesitant, but hugged her for a small moment before letting go and returning to Simon's side. Velia was staring at them curiously but decided not to interrupt the reunited family members.

"When your pictures appeared on the Cortex and Alliance labeled you both fugitives, I knew it couldn't be true." Reagan explained, "I just knew, and I was right. After the Miranda exposure, I spent every day waiting for you to come home."

River looked into her mother's eyes and tears started to form, Regan's emotions, grief, love, hope, and fear, were drowning her. Regan saw this and approached to hold her little girl but River backed away and Simon slightly positioned himself between his wife and their mother.

"River, darling, what is it?" Reagan asked.

River just shook her head and softly whispered, "It's too crowded, Simon."

Regan backed away and looked at Simon, an unspoken question glistening in her eyes and expression.

"It wasn't a game," Simon spoke a bit louder than intended, "I was right about the letters, and about The Academy… they were hurting her."

Regan just looked at her with sad and watery eyes, she couldn't believe that River, her only daughter, was in trouble and in pain yet she didn't believe her cries for help.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Mā mī, I'm better now, thanks to Simon." River smiled, a small child-like innocence that seemed to erase the years which separated them, momentarily.

"Well, you're back now, and that's all that matters." She said, taking Simon's left hand in her right, River's right hand in her left, and a soft smile spreading on her face. Regan felt the wedding band on Simon's hand but failed to notice the one on River's, for she was holding the wrong hand.

Velia decided that now was the moment to interrupt them, only because she was getting antsy about the job and passerbies were starting to notice the scene and, if they are staring, Alliance was bound to come. "Simon, River, we have to keep walking. I allowed a momentary delay, but it is crucial that we return to the job at hand."

Regan turned and stared into her eyes, she became slightly disturbed because of the uniquely red coloring in her irises but regain her composure. "I am willing to pay their debts to you and command that you relinquish your chains."

"I think you must have me confused, I don't own them, for I just work with them."

"Are you married to my son?" Regan said after she noticed Velia's ring on her finger.

"What? Gross! No!" She protested, "I'm married to somebody else."

"Well then…" Regan turned towards her children, confused, took River's hands in her own, and saw a child and woman flagging them. When the woman came, she, Kaylee, gave Velia a hug, whispered "good luck" to River and Simon, and was only able to introduce herself to Regan before having to get back to the ship.

"Hi there," She said, "I'm Kaylee Reynolds, I'm sorry but I have to go. My husband gets nervous when he can't find me. Come on, Inara, we need to get back to Serenity. Daddy might be might be looking for us."

When Kaylee and Inara left, Regan was even more confused, but when she glanced at River's hands in her own, she noticed the matching band and ring. Regan became furious at the pair, slapped River, and was about to seize River's shoulders when Simon grabbed her wrists and stopped her.

She watched as River held up her hand where her mother had slapped her and hid behind Simon. Regan looked back at Simon's eyes; they held love, anger, and disappointment. She pulled her arms from Simon's grip and couldn't restrain herself from shouting at them. River looked around at the crowd, her hand still on her cheek and the other on the back of his shoulder and couldn't stop the involuntary tightening of her grasp when she noticed Alliance and Blue Gloves integrating themselves into the swarm.