Hi! thanks for the reviews everybody! they make me happy! here's the sequel to serenity needs a cook this is kind of like an intro. not much plot happens but, just a little taste really. hope you enjoy. if you have any suggestions, or questions or requests, i'll gladly answer them. so yeah...read!

It was kind of hard to look at a skinned rabbit, especially when it sill has its eyes in its skull, beady and black. Empty and hollow. Staring into the dark emptiness of face. Forever. God, it was creepy. The muscle was cold and the blood had frozen into little droplets on the pink meat. It was in one of the refrigerated crates from Triumph. Freaks. Sure, they had packed some nice bread and bunch of fresh vegetables and some good cheese but, in no way was Dinah gonna cook the dead thing in front of her. Kosher was one of the few rules she tried to follow strictly. Floating out in space, it was kind of hard to keep the sabbath, what with the constant change of timetables and all. But she tried to eat the Jewish way. And that meant no hare.

Dinah closed the crate with a sigh. She picked up a box and carried it into the kitchen. Dinah figured she might as well figure out dinner. She was the cook after all. Rice. Rice was always a good meal starter. She could make bao. Rice and bao. Maybe some fruit too. It would go bad soon. Bao and rice with fruit.

The kitchen was a mess. Pans and bowls were interspersed all around the kitchen. All together there were about 5 pots of varying sizes and uses, some cookware, and a really old aluminum pan. This was hardly a well stocked kitchen. But, she didn't really needed to make anything fancy. And they had salt, ground protein, nutrient packs, canned meals.

She set about preparing the food, falling into an easy rhythm. Dinah started to think about things: how long would it take to get to Artemis, how she would deal with her mum, would she even see her family?

"Hello, Dinah. River," Shepherd Book greeted. River? Dinah looked up and sure enough the girl was sitting at the table looking at a book. She must have slipped in when Dinah wasn't looking. "Do you need any help with your meal?"

"Oh, I can handle it. But, you can help if you'd like. If you could start chopping up- uhhh...the green onions, that would be great," Dinah said, removing the crate and the pots off the island, to make room for the shepherd. She gave him the onions. He gave her a friendly smile and set about chopping.

"What are you making?"

"Rice and bao. Easy meal. Chop them onions up real small, too," Dinah said, managing to navigate about five pans into a cabinet with the grace of an ostrich. As the avalanche of metal threatened to crash down, she shoved the door closed hoping it would stay there. She'd get to it later.

"And what are you up, sweetheart?" Book asked river.

"Fixing your bible." maybe they had some beef. She could cook with beef; Beef was kosher. She knelt down to reach into the cabinets, feeling around for flour or something. All she found was more protein.

"I-uh-what?" the preacher shrieked, startling Dinah. She tried to stand up but hit her head on the counter. This kitchen was too small for two people.

"Ow!"

"River what are you doing?" Book asked, racing over to River, the onions still on the counter.

"I am fixing your bible. Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logistics- doesn't make sense."

"River, honey, are you tearing up the Shepherd's book? That's not nice," Dinah said not really paying attention to the two people. She was measuring about 5 cups of rice; there were about 10 people on this boat so that would do . She set some water to boil on the stove.

"No, it'll work. We'll integrate non-progressional evolution with god's creation of Eden. eleven inherent metaphoric parallels already there... eleven, important number, prime number, one goes into the house of eleven eleven times but always comes out one-"

"River! Just stop! Give me those-"

"Noah's ark is a problem."

"Really?"

"Yes. With a minimum of 250,000 species, we can't confirm that there was a problem with seating. Eleven! Again. Not forty. Eleven days. Eleven boats with 11,000 species. One man comes out always eleven. Also, its irrational to make Mary a virgin. I came to the conclusion that if we remove the prophecy of the messiah-" at that moment River ripped a nice page out of the book. The sound seemed to echo. That long tearing sound that meant something was broken.

"Hey! Gimme that!" the shepherd said, in a very undignified way. He grabbed the book, possessively, even as River held on to it. Book was determined to keep it but, so did River. Maybe now was time to intervene.

"River! Let go! This is silly. You listen to the preacher," Dinah said, walking over and kneeling by the dinner table. River slowly relinquished it.

"River, you don't fix the bible. The bible fixes you," he sagely explained.

"But the bible's broken. Not making sense."

"No. River, It's not about making sense. It's about believing in something, and letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about 'faith'. You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you." he reached for the pages River still held. She pulled back. There was a small tug of war before Shepherd relented.

"Why don't you hang onto those?" Book announced, giving Dinah a nod before leaving. Dinah stood up and moved back into the kitchen. The rice was cooking nicely.

"It doesn't make sense," River whispered, so quietly Dinah wasn't sure she heard her. The water simmered softly as Dinah stared at River. River was staring at the table, her long brown hair dripping down, making a curtain around her face. Light poured in through the skylight, turning some strands to gold. Her shoulders sagged and she seemed frozen in time, still and untouched.

"I shouldn't have done that," River admitted, slowly and quietly.

"Yep. That was inappropriate, River. But, I think Shepherd will forgive you. I mean, he's a nice-"

"I destroyed something...precious. Girl can't take care of herself. Has to be watched. He doesn't want to."

"Whatcha talking about?"

"Forgive me."

"Book? He'll forgive you. Trust me."

"Can I trust you?" River asked, her voice eery and calm. She still hadn't picked her head up. Dinah hesitated before answering.

"Yes. River?"

River picked up her head, her dark brown eyes full of regret. Dinah gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm-"

"yeah?"

"I'm trying."

She was only a girl. No older than 16 and already on the edge of the 'verse. Sure, she was crazy but she was still a teenager. Not everything made sense then, especially religion. Religion was something complex. Something you lived by, you believed in. Something people died for, killed for and...well stole for. The food was fine. No one would be back for a few hours.

"C'mon, River. I wanna show you something."

cliffhanger! well kind of...sorta. so what do you think? this takes place during Jaynestown, if you didn't already realize that.

made a kind of lame trailer for this. its on youtube. here's the link so just copy and paste it i /watch?v=WJ4j5M3I3d0

or you can just search serenity needs a cook.

REVIEW!...please?