Coda

They were finally ready to meet the day just as Mal's curt declaration of "Chow's on, people!" blared over the ship-wide comm.

Kaylee and Simon left the dorm hand in hand – and encountered River standing in the common room with a beaming smile on her face. Her eyes glistened with joy. Without preamble, River charged her brother and hugged him tightly, nearly smacking him against the bulkhead in her enthusiasm. "You finally found the words!" she exclaimed.

Simon let go Kaylee's hand to envelope his sister fully, but his gaze looked back to Kaylee. "Actually," he said, "they found me." He grinned at Kaylee over his sister's shoulder.

"About gorramn time," River said as she let him go, and transferred her embrace to Kaylee. River whispered so only Kaylee could hear, "It wasn't a secret I could tell you... jiě-jiě."

River had never called her Big Sister before, and Kaylee's eyes misted at the words. Kaylee had long thought of River as mèi-mèi, but even as common as the endearment was, she had always hesitated to use those words, Simon's words, to his sister. She hugged River even tighter.

When River stood back, she continued to hold Kaylee's hands, with a conspiratorial look in her eyes. She spoke over her shoulder to her brother, "Go on to breakfast, Simon. We'll catch you up." Simon gave her a snarky, but smiling, bow of obeisance, and headed up to the galley level.

As soon as he was out of earshot, River turned back to Kaylee. "Go ahead. Ask me."

"Do I really need to ask?"

River glanced looked down for a moment. "Please. It normalizes things."

"Well, then, how long have you known?"

River giggled, instantly back to her smiling delight. "Long before he did, jiě-jiě."

"And you couldn't give me half a clue?" Kaylee's question was mostly mock exasperation, but she could not keep a note of accusation from slipping in.

River just kept smiling. "Didn't need to. You already knew."

Kaylee goggled at her as if River had grown a third eye. "I most sure did not!"

River placed her hands on Kaylee's shoulders and leaned in until the younger girl's eyes were so close they blurred a bit. "Yes, you did, jiě-jiě. You always know the truth, but doubt your own powers." She abruptly pulled back and cocked her head a bit to the side. "Just needed to hear it out loud is all."

Kaylee found herself both comforted and unsettled by River's words. She chose, however, to ask another question. "Simon was upset this morning that he might not be able to protect us the way he needs to. Is there anything I can tell him to make him believe he can?"

"Probably not," River sighed and looked in the direction her brother had disappeared. "He doubts his own powers, too." She looked back to Kaylee with a sage smile and nodded several times. "But he'll be fine."

"Is that the Reader talking or the Sister?"

"Oh, it's always both."

They headed out of the common area.

"Oh, and jiě-jiě?" River said. "'Mèi-mèi' is good. He would like that."

Kaylee stopped and hugged River again. "Yes, mèi-mèi," she whispered around the lump in her throat. "So would I."

The two young women linked arms and followed the man they both loved up the stairs to breakfast.

Epilogue

After they cleaned the morning dishes, Simon left Kaylee at her engine room – with a warm kiss, one more whispered "I love you," and a promise to return to help in a couple hours – before heading down to his infirmary. As he ran through an inventory check, his mind kept wandering back to the events of the night. He marveled that such a beautiful, joyful, vibrant woman could actually love him. Finally telling her how he felt, after so many months of denial, was a priceless gift. He had said the Three Words to another woman once before, but he did not realize how perfunctory that declaration had been until he said it to Kaylee. And hearing it from her, with her genuineness and honesty – well, it made him want to hold and protect her all his life.

"Our Kaylee is quite the treasure, ain't she?"

Simon looked up to see Zoe leaning against the infirmary hatch. He tried to will the blush from his face. "How did you...?"

"Any man with a smile like that can only be thinkin' on his better half. Least, he better be."

Simon smiled wider. "True enough." He set aside his tablet and turned his professional attention to his patient. "How are you feeling, Zoe? How's the morning sickness today?"

"Actually, much better." She entered, and the conversation turned business-like until Simon completed his exam.

"Everything continues to look good," he finally declared, and Zoe slid off the table. "How is Mal taking the news now?"

"He's comin' 'round to the idea. 'Course he also knows he's got no say in it whatsoever, but he did relax considerable when I explained I was intending to stay on board after Junior arrives. He wants to speed up the search for Jayne's replacement, but he's got time enough." She started heading out.

In the two seconds it took for her to cross to the hatchway and exit to the common area, Simon settled the question that had awakened him and been plaguing the back of his mind all morning – for days, really. "Zoe," he called as he walked out of the infirmary to catch her.

She turned at the cargo hatchway with a questioning look. "I have a favor to ask." She nodded, and he continued, "I would like to learn how to shoot – or rather, how to shoot accurately."

She raised an eyebrow as his words seemed to drop to the floor and roll under the furniture. "Wouldn't that violate that doctor's oath you've taken?" she said.

"Potentially, yes."

"And...?"

"And I've learned some things require nuanced interpretation out on the Rim."

A corner of her mouth quirked up. "You've taken up arms before, Doc, and I recall it weren't something you were comfortable with."

"Quite true, and I hope I never become truly comfortable with it. But it seems to be a necessity out here, so I'd better learn to do it well." He half-smiled grimly. "I figure I could take a page from the Shepherd's book and learn to aim well enough to hit a target with, well, more-or-less controlled damage. Something," he huffed through his nose as he noted the irony, "something I could fix afterwards."

"You sure about this, Simon?"

He nodded firmly. "Jayne's left, and you will be... occupied in a few months. I figure I've got that time to get in practice. I certainly don't intend to become a replacement for Jayne, nor for you. Just a backup, if needed."

Zoe regarded him several seconds, and then finally nodded. "Alright. Next time we're planetside a spell, we can set up a shooting range for practice. Meantime, I'll show you how to breakdown and clean a weapon."

She turned to go, but Simon stopped her one more time. "Zoe, I'd like... Please don't tell Kaylee about this. The Captain is fine, but Kaylee does not need to know."

"And River?"

"I'm not planning to tell her, either, but well... At least, I don't want Kaylee to know."

Zoe's next look was unreadable, but after a moment, she lifted her chin in agreement. "As you wish, Doc." She nodded her farewell and headed out to the cargo bay.

Simon stepped back into his infirmary and took a few minutes to clean up from Zoe's exam. He looked at the list he had been working with before Zoe arrived, and decided to finish inventory later. Plenty of time before the next planetfall for that. Instead, he turned off the lights and headed up the stairs to the engine room. He had promised to help Kaylee, and he would do just that.

~~ END ~~

...

Chinese phrases and spellings taken from the Firefly RPG handbook and Google Translate.

Thank you for reading! I hope I have the character voices more-or-less right and that this story entertains somebody. Feedback is always welcome. ttfn