Jayne knew as he paced around his small room that it was only a matter of time before big, bad Captain Mal came down to lay down the law. Of course this was all his fault. It didn't matter if River was the one in love, who mistook his affections for more than they were. It didn't matter if Simon had insulted him. As far as Mal was concerned, Jayne was an ignorant ape. It didn't matter that his little brother was dying. The only thing that mattered was that River was crying and Simon was bleeding. And that had to have been Jayne's fault.
He slammed his fist as hard as he could against the wall and the crash echoed through the ship.
He sat on the bed and buried his face in his hands, ignoring his bleeding knuckles that may or may not have been broken. Jayne was sick of it. He was sick of always being the beast, the monster, the giant.
The big, ignorant ape.
He heard the bunk door pop open and someone climb down the ladder. He knew it was Mal so he didn't bother looking up. He couldn't stand to look at the captain. He didn't need too. The look of anger on Mal's face was etched into his memory so deeply that he could almost see it on the inside of his eyelids. It was a familiar expression, one that Mal had given him more times than he could count. In fact, it seemed to be his favorite face when talking to Jayne.
Neither of them spoke. Jayne supposed it was because they were both were too angry.
Someone sat beside him on the bed and small arms wrapped around him. Surprised, Jayne raised his head and looked. River, tears still wet on her cheeks, had fastened her arms tightly around his big frame and leaned her head against his shoulder. She looked up at him with her large eyes and said,
"Don't be sad. I still love you."
Her small expression was so innocent, so simple, that Jayne couldn't help but hug her back. Tears threatened to break through the emotional wall that he maintained and he trembled slightly with the effort of keeping them back. River sensed his powerful emotions and compensated by holding him tighter.
"I still won't kiss ya." Jayne whispered, half-jokingly.
"I know." she replied. "But I can still take care of you."
The big man smiled at the thought of someone so small taking care of him. He had been the one taking care of her until now. It seemed odd to have the positions reversed. Not bad, just odd.
"I am glad that you hit Simon." River confided after a moment. "What he said was very wrong."
"You heard all that?" Jayne asked, feeling a twinge of guilt and embarrassment.
"No." she replied. "But I could feel his anger and I could feel the way it hurt you. And that hurt me too."
"I didn't never mean fer you t'get hurt." Jayne said softly.
"I felt that too." River answered. She paused. "Simon is annoying, but he is a good brother."
Jayne nodded. If anyone had made one of his sibling cry like River had cried he would have reacted the same way.
"Would you like to play with Ming-yue in the cargo bay with me?"
Jayne smiled. "Isn't that how this whole mess got started?"
"Don't be silly." River replied, standing up and pulling on Jayne's hand, trying to drag him up with her. "I'll be good this time, I promise."
"So yer just gonna ferget it all happened?" Jayne asked.
"Not forget," River said, "just put it away for a while. For now I want to play."
Jayne smiled his lop-sided smile.
"Then you better start hidin' cause I'm gonna start countin'."
River clapped her hands like a little girl and scaled the ladder with the peculiar grace she possessed, shrieking with laughter.
"One." said Jayne. "Two… Three…"
And here we make a full circle, beginning with hide and seek and ending with hide and seek. This could make a good ending, but if people are enjoying it and want to hear about Highgate and the rest of the 'Rayne' story, I would be happy to write more. So, here's the question: is this where this particular story should end or should it continue? Please leave a review with your opinion! Hope you enjoyed the story (or the story thus far).