Never a Normal Relationship…

By Lady Cleo

All Disclaimers Apply.

While setting down on Jayne's home world things go from messed up to screwed up for Jayne, River and the crew of Serenity. (Jayne River, Post Objects in Space.)

Chapter Four: The Wrong Timing

The sun had barely started setting in the distance when Jayne steered the horse to the small pool of water just on the other side of town. It was a bright clear pool of mountain spring water, nestled in small grove surrounded by lush, tall evergreens that towered above. It made a prime spot for necking or bathing, all depending on whether you were adult or hormonal youngster. Though it was by far not an unknown spot, it was also relatively avoided this time of year as most were too busy with harvest duties and the water tended to be too cold for any of the more pansy ass weaklings in town, which is exactly why Jayne had chosen to take River here.

Unfortunately the events of the night before had gotten a slight reception from the others in the house. Jayne had spent the entire day avoiding his father's knowing grin and sly comments. Course it hadn't helped when his mother gave him a secretive smile at breakfast, rather it had only ensured his departure. He'd skipped out as soon as breakfast was over, riding over to his younger brother's David's to help a bit with the harvest then over to Jamie's to watch his brother work the cattle. Course now he felt slightly bad about leaving River alone with his parents for more than half the day.

That was partially the reason why he steered the horse towards the water, River's arms wrapped securely around his waist as she rode behind him. He meant to sort of make up for his disappearance and as an added bonus have some more alone time with her in a place where no snooping ears would be in hearing distance… hopefully.

Pulling the horse to a halt Jayne reached around taking hold of River's arm and swinging the smaller girl down from the horse before sliding down himself. She stared at the small pool, watching the stream feed it cool mountain water as Jayne led the horse over to a tree, securing the animal quickly.

Leaving the animal to munch on patches of grass Jayne walked quietly over to the edge of the pool. Dropping the cowboy hat to the ground he pulled the t-shirt over his head and started removing his boots. He paused for a second when he noted that River was not following his example. "What's stopping ya? I may not recall much bout them three years, but I know we ain't had a proper one of these in a long time!"

"The source!" She whispered staring down at the calm clear water, trepidation flashing across her features. "It weaves and flows from on high, trickling down the side of earth arctic." She held out a bare foot, letting it hover over the water for a second, her eyes closed. Yet she never let water touch her foot and set it back on the relative safety of dry land, before taking several steps back away from the water. "Cold."

"Course its cold, that's the best kind of bath when you can't have a hot one!" But River only shook her head in response to his statement. Jayne scoffed, stuffing his socks into his boots he padded quietly over to her. Before she could sense his intentions he knocked her legs from underneath her with his arm and swept her into his embrace.

With a decidedly evil grin he started towards the water.

River shrieked in his arms, struggling to escape as the man waded out into the water. Jayne stopped when the water reached his waist and turned to look at his struggling wife. "You swim?"

"No!" She lied trying to get a hold on him.

Jayne grinned, "That's to bad, cause it's only waist high." That said he dropped her. River screeched as she hit the water, Jayne's laughter following after her. He barreled over with glee, so preoccupied with his own amusement he almost didn't catch the feel of two hands wrapping around his ankles as she pulled his feet from underneath him, sending the mercenary flaying backwards into the water amidst the sounds of her laughter.

Jonah Arnold frowned as he walked up the steps of the church into the preacher's domain. If there was one woman he feared, one woman whose wrath could make him tremble, it was his mothers. Otherwise he wouldn't have stepped anywhere near the small chapel. Pushing the door open he moved into the sanctuary and walked quickly towards the back, knocking on the preacher's office door.

"Come in." Pushing the door open Jonah caught the sight of the preacher sitting at his desk, locking one of the drawers. Jonah's curiosity was immediately piqued. "What can I do for you Jonah? I was just about to head on home for the night."

"Ma just wanted me to drop by and give ya a list of her plans for next Sunday, preacher." Jonah explained slipping into the chair he started to pull out the list from his pocket, when another knock disturbed the two.

A young woman poked her head in the door, her face stained with tears, "I'm sorry for disturbing ya'll but can I have a word with ya out here Shepherd?" Jargon of course nodded, standing to follow after her.

As soon as the door closed Jonah jumped, slipping quietly over to the other side of the desk he pulled out his switch blade and easily picked the lock on the old wooden drawer. Yanking it open he picked up the topmost paper and rolled it out on the desk. Revealing the marriage certificate for Jayne Cobb and River Tam? Hell, there weren't nothing secretive or interesting about that. Probably the old man just didn't want nobody going through his paperwork and messin stuff up. Rolling the item up Jonah placed it back into the drawer and reworked the lock before quietly scooting back over to the other side of the desk. He retook his seat, tapping his fingers on the desk in impatience.

River Tam? The name struck a cord in his mind, a cord that sang out money and he wasn't sure why. Pushing the thought back he decided that he might have to look into the name and the history behind the girl. That was after he finished the business of discussing his ma's plans for the upcoming Sunday.

"What if they're dead sir?" Mal looked up at the sound of his first mates question. "They could be lying in the bushes somewhere between here and the mines. Jayne ain't one to give up without a fight sir."

"He also ain't real keen on getting himself killed!" Mal pointed out as Zoe landed the shuttle outside of a small cottage. "He's got his stupid moments, but I don't think he'd risk River's life on some fool escape plan where he'd get himself shot." Mal stood moving towards the hatch, he paused for a moment, "Wouldn't start thinking that way until we've tried all these homesteaders."

Mal stepped out into the fresh morning air and tried to keep his thoughts from Zoe's comment. He'd handle that situation when it came to it. Zoe immerged after him and the two started across the small yard.

Mal stepped towards the door, knowing from experience that most the house was probably up doing chores. He'd scarcely lifted his hand to knock when the door opened and a young man stepped out.

"Morning!" The homesteader greeted calmly, as though a stranger in his doorway was no big surprise.

"Howdy," Mal greeted; still slightly baffled he exchanged a quick glance with Zoe. "I don't suppose you could help me, see I lost two crewmembers, figured they got flashed. Don't suppose you would've happened upon them, a big intimidating like man with a little woman?"

The homesteader nodded, heading over to the pump to begin his morning duties. "Rescued me a pair of flashed souls couple days back, fit that description to a tee. A man and his wife, they was flashed in town and my brothers and I happened to witness the occasion. You friends of theirs?"

"Wife sir?" Zoe questioned quietly.

"That's right, Jayne Cobb and his wife, River." Mal answered, ignoring Zoe's comment he followed after the young homesteader. "Don't suppose you still have 'em lying around here somewhere?"

"They weren't doin too well, mighty confused by the situation and all. Would've expected a man of his background to have known better but he was pretty shook up and the drug hit his system hard. Girl weren't doin' much better either." The homesteader explained. "He managed to recall that he had some family cross world, so I sent them on over to get their heads straightened out."

"I don't suppose you remember where that might be?" Mal questioned eagerly.

"Uh, reckon if I recall right it was place called Ellsinore, bought an eight hour ride by train."

"Qingwa cao de liumang." Mal cursed under his breath sending a quick glance at Zoe he turned around and started for the shuttle, calling over his shoulder, "Thank you kindly for your troubles." The homesteader watched them go for a second before turning back to his work. "Zoe get on the horn with Wash, have him meet us in the air."

Marie looked up from her stitching on the porch as the three girls came out of the house giggling. "Where are you three going?"

"Gonna perusal striking delights and imagine all the world's a stage." River declared with a grin as she looped her arm with Becca's.

"We were gonna walk into town." Matty explained. "I wanted to show River that fabric Becca was looking over yesterday."

"Alright, just don't get your heart too set on anything that you can't have, and be back with time to spare before dinner." Marie frowned for only a second as her two daughters gently kissed her on the cheek before leading River down the stairs. "If you see Jayne and your father tell them to stop foolin' around with that weapon dealer and bring the wagon on home and not to forget my list of supplies." The girls nodded, waving at the older woman before continuing on their way.

The ramp came down with a soft thud just outside of town in one of the few clearings that Wash had spotted. Mal stepped out into the fresh air and frowned. "Right, Zoe you head north, Book you and Inara head east, Kaylee and Simon take west. I'll take south, Wash you're with the ship."

Stepping down onto the hard soil Mal turned back to glance over his crew. "When you find them report back to Serenity and leave them be! Wash you radio me and Zoe, will take em' in. I ain't got no idea what flashing entails but it might be something mighty unpleasant. I don't want anymore surprises, had enough of them on this damn planet already."

River smiled as she and Jayne's two teenage sisters stepped out of the small shop. "What do you wanna do now, River hon?" Becca questioned with a typical teenager bored sigh as they walked down the store stairs into the street.

"Hey, why don't we head over to see what the boys have been doin' all day. Never much liked looking at weapons, but maybe pa will give us some coin and we can get something sweet from one of the stores." Matty declared enthusiastically, already sure that she could sweet talk at lest one coin out of her pa. River suddenly pulled the two girls to a near screeching halt in the middle of the street. "What's the matter River?"

River swung her head to the right and then to the left. "They're coming; north, south, east, west, coming on all fronts. No stopping them, they'll be here soon. They'll drown the girl and crack the rock. Things will go back to the wrong way." River pulled away from the two girls, spinning around her eyes frantically searching the street, "Jayne? Jayne?" She called out.

"River?" Matty questioned tentatively reaching out to her sister-in-law.

Using her hands to cover her head protectively, River shook her head no to something that the two girls couldn't understand, and then suddenly cried out, "Get Jayne!" The two teenagers jumped at her words, running off quickly towards the weapon shop and leaving the girl in the middle of the street.

"We'll if it ain't our little wayward soul!" Mal declared as he spotted her. Trotting over he crossed the street, coming up to the frightened girl. "You caused a whole mess of trouble, little River. Your brother has been pacing my ship like it was in need of a new hole." Reaching out he took a hold of her elbow, steering the smaller girl towards Serenity.

Pulling away River looked up at the unfamiliar man, "Don't know you, don't wanna go rest in peace. Don't want them to come back, rather stay in the light, don't want the darks back."

Mal furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but then quickly shook his thoughts off. Of course her words didn't make sense the girl was crazy. Reaching out he grabbed her arm, and started pulling her back towards Serenity, ignoring her struggling. "Simon will fix you something nice and calming soon as we get back." He assured, reaching back to grab a hold of her other arm when her struggles started slowing them down.

The methodic clicking of an automatic shotgun put a halt to all of Mal's plans. "Take your ruttin hands off my wife!" The distinctively familiar gruff voice demanded. Slowly Mal turned his head around to stare down the barrel and onto a mightily pissed off Jayne.

"What in the name of suoyou de dou shidang is going on here?" Mal questioned angrily as he turned to fully face Jayne. River squirmed in his grip, darting away quickly as she slipped free and joined Jayne, clinging to his form.

"Seems to me I should be asking you that question." Jayne growled the gun still leveled at Mal's head. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Damn right you do!" Mal yelled angrily. "You work for me!"

"Na, that ain't it!" Jayne declared wearily. Pictures formed in his head, a transport ship, hidden cargo, Marco laughing, a woman at the man's side, her eyes piercing Jayne's wearily. "I held a gun on you and some lady. Don't remember how it ended though."

The commotion had formed a small crowd around them and it parted as Daniel Cobb angrily pushed through them. Matty and Becca tagged behind William, Jamie and David, watching worriedly from a safe vantage point. "What's going on here son?" Daniel Cobb questioned as he took up a position behind with his three boys staring down at Mal from the barrels of their own guns.

"I don't know pa, found this hun dun trying to haul off River." Jayne explained.

"Sir?" Zoe suddenly questioned wearily as she pushed through the crowd, pulling her own gun in defense of the Captain, Book and Inara following after her. "You mind telling us why Jayne is pointing a gun at you?"

"I'm a might bit confused about that myself!"

Simon glanced briefly around the shop, Kaylee following in after him. Seeing no sign of River he turned and headed over to the counter. "Excuse me." Simon declared, drawing the shopkeeper's attention away from his book and to the young couple. "I'm looking for a girl, she was flashed across world and we have reason to believe she was brought here."

The shopkeeper frowned, shaking his head with pity. "Sad ain't it, reduced to stealing women for their men over there. Can you describe the lass for me, son?"

"Ah, she's about…" Simon began.

A loud commotion suddenly echoed in through the open door and a flustered young man entered the shop out of breath, a shotgun resting under his arm. "Wilkes grab your gun, someone's trying to grab Jayne's wife cross town, boys got 'em pegged, but they might need back up." The shopkeeper ignored the couple's shocked and flustered looks as he reached behind him and pulled down a double barrel rifle, running out after the younger man. "Don't go nowhere boy, be right back!"

"Jayne's got a wife?" Kaylee questioned turning to Simon.

"Oh dear lord!" Was all she got from the flustered doctor as he turned and raced after the gunmen.

"Captain I think you'd better think faster." Zoe whispered watching as several men began closing in on the group, "Looks like we got a whole town full of Jaynes and they ain't looking too happy, Sir."

"I see 'em." Turning back to the mighty angry Jayne Mal cursed, "Tell me something, Zoe." The captain asked his first mate, "Am I looking at River and Jayne?"

"It looks like them, sir."

"Then what the hell is going on?"

"I was waiting for you to explain." The mercenary answered, his finger twitching over the trigger, "What would you think if you saw a man dragging your wife down the street in a hurry?"

"She ain't your wife." Mal answered, then immediately regretted it as Jayne let a bullet fly. An inch closer and it would have been bye-bye life hello afterlife.

"Say that again." Jayne demanded angrily.

"River!" Simon called out as he and Kaylee suddenly pushed through the crowd. "Captain what's going on?"

"Don't ask me, I ain't got a clue."

River slowly lifted her head, turning to gaze at her flustered brother, but unwilling to remove her arms from Jayne's waist. "Simon?"

"You know him, baby?" Jayne questioned, still unwilling to move his gaze, or gun, from Mal.

River scrunched her eyebrows and reached out, touching her mind to his gently. Simon was confused, Simon was angry. Simon didn't like that she was holding onto her rock. None of it made sense, if he was standing there why did her memories tell her that he was dead? "You're dead Simon!"

"No, River, I'm not dead." Simon whispered, starting to step forward he reached out to his sister. "I'm right here." River pulled her mind and eyes away, clinging tightly to Jayne, as the second set of memories started seeping back. She didn't want it to end, she wouldn't let it end.

"Hold it right there, boy," Jayne ordered, swinging the gun over towards the doctor. Directing his speech down to River, but keeping his eyes steady on Simon and Mal, he asked her quietly, "Simon? As in your brother Simon?"

The wheels began turning in his head, things trying to fit together and make sense. The face seemed to suddenly match the name and he remembered some of Simon. A stuck up pompous ass, thought he was better then everybody else on the ship, couldn't take care of himself, couldn't even handle a gun properly.

Lowering his weapon slightly, but not totally, Jayne let his gaze flicker between Mal and Simon. "Did he hire you or something to find my little woman here?"

"No, I hired you. And we took them on as passengers."

"You ain't makin' any sense!" Jayne declared angrily, "I rescued the little lady from a core hospital where they was messin' with her mind. I ain't never been hired by you."

"I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds…"

The voices faded as the world stopped turning on its axis, time stopped and then just as suddenly is started again.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Serenity, mid bulk transport ship, smuggling cargo, own bunk and kitchen privileges.

Girl, girl in a container, fed sold them out, printed cargo, gorram reavers. Girl, crazy girl in the container, stupid gorram doctor, stupid gorram girl ruined it all, threat to Serenity.

Niska, train, "You just play at figurin' what's wrong with that moonbrained sister of yours till we call for ya. Dong ma?" Damn bullet wound to the leg. "Do you know what the chain of command is here? It's the chain I go get and beat you with to show you who's in command."

He looked bigger when I couldn't see him… I'll just sit here real intimidating like, see if gorram fed dares asks me any questions. "You saved his gorram life, he still takes the cargo. Hun dan."

Persephone… 'Nara and Mal… A duel, with swords? "I could get naked." Sad little king of a sad little hill.

Serves that gorram doctor right…"Dear Diary...today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today, we were kidnapped by hill folk never to be seen again. It was the best day ever." Life would be a whole lot simpler without a pair of fugitives on board.

"A trade? Hell, it's theft. This is the best damn gun made by man. It has extreme sentimental value. It's miles more worthy than what you got." …Why'd Mal get a wife, way better then a stupid rain stick? "See Vera, dress yourself up you get taken out somewhere fun."

Hero of Canton, I ain't no hero? Sixty thousand untraceable… "I don't know. You think we should be using my fame to hoodwink folks?" Stupid gorram boy shouldn't have done that, I ain't worth it.

Damn doc, blow out the candles already… Compression coil, Zoe down, Mal wasting oxygen, 'Nara's shuttle smells funny.

The girl… River… slashing chest with butcher's knife... Ariel, pa says anyone without a job ain't looking hard enough. Drugs, hospital, brain scans, money too good, copper for a kiss. "You shut the hell up right now or so help me, I'll shut you up."

Niska, little man and Mal gone, "You really think you can mount a two man assault on Niska's skyplex and live?" Gorram it, how come I always get shot?

Don't trust the captain's psychotic bride, loot sounds fun though…"She starts on that 'girl's name' thing, I'm gonna show her good an' all I got man parts." Also, I can kill you with my brain.

Gorram genius can't eat a snow globe, hat from Ma, "What ya'll order a dead guy for?" Stiffs, ones I ain't killed, make me uncomfortable.

Damn ugly Bordello, pretty whores, "Can I start gettin' sexed already?" Favorite guns all lined up, when I drop one you hand me the next.

"I don't leave my guns around, Mal, and I don't leave them loaded." Not Jayne's fault! She kills with mathematics don't like the sound of that, already shown a pretense for hurtin' me; don't like the idea of someone hearing what I'm thinking either.

Jayne watched the gun drop from his hand. "Right, now was just a misunderstanding, you'll all move on off." He heard his father's voice but he couldn't see him. All he could concentrate on was the breath that caught in his chest. His body trembling…

Lies… it had all been lies… marriage ceremony, first kiss, meeting on Ariel, proposal, three years of lies, of made up lies, thousands of memories all just dead.

Jayne turned slowly, looking down on River's sparkling face. His eyes started stinging, he felt like puking.

It weren't possible, couldn't be, not possible.

Her sad eyes meet his and his heart started aching, his body trembling as his throat constricted, his lungs fighting to pump air. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. Vaguely Jayne heard Matty calling his name as his legs gave out and he dropped stunned to his knees before River.

He couldn't breathe, didn't want to breathe.

He felt the tears boiling behind his eyes and buried his face in her stomach, wrapping his arms around her, his body trembling as he held tightly. Vaguely Jayne caught he sound of her sobs, feeling her tears as they fell atop his head, felt her small arms wrap around his head, holding him tightly to her.

"It ain't possible, ain't happening." He heard himself say against her stomach.

He wasn't gonna let go, wasn't ever gonna let go.

"It ain't possible, ain't happening."

The crew of Serenity stood shocked and stunned into silence, listening quietly to the sobs of River, to Jayne as he kept repeating the same words over and over again. Tears gathered in the corners of Kaylee's eyes and she didn't know why. Inara reached out unconsciously towards Mal.

Matty burst into tears, throwing her arms around her nearest brother, she buried her face in his chest, blocking out the sight of her eldest brother and his wife.

"River?" Simon whispered, torn to pieces by the sound of her sobs he started to step forward, but suddenly found Mal's arms pulling him back.

"Leave them be, for now." He whispered, afraid to break into the silence of the air. "Something happened while we were gone. Until we find out, I think its best you let her be."

"Jamie, Matty, Becca, go bring the wagon round." Daniel Cobb ordered, quickly taking charge of the scene. He turned slowly approaching his eldest son and River like they were dangerous, yet fragile creatures.

Daniel directed his attention to his daughter-in-law first, reaching out to pull the hair from her face and lift her chin. "River, darling, I know it hurts, but we can't fix anything here, you gotta let go of him for a second, I promise it won't be for long. We'll fix everything if you just let go for a second."

"Can't understand, can't comprehended, the girl is drowning, the river's chipping away her rock. There nothing left to cling too, can't let go."

Dropping down to his son's level Daniel rested on the balls of his feet, trying to see his boy's face, "Jayne boy, I need you to listen to me." Daniel looked up for a second as the wagon clattered noisily around the corner and reached out to touch his son's shoulder. "Jayne boy, I need you to show me that you can understand what I'm saying."

Slowly pulling his head back, Jayne turned to look at his father and nearly broke the man's heart. Daniel had seen his son through the worst of scrapes and bruises and had never seen him cry. But now the elder man gazed onto a broken and battered soul whose eyes were filled with tears.

"You don't gotta let go of her, Jayne, just need you to stand up for me. Can you do that for me son?" Jayne nodded slowly, pulling himself to his feet I n a manner more befitting of an old broken man then the little energetic boy Daniel remembered. Without being told Jayne swept the smaller girl into his arms, clinging tightly to her, burying his face in the long locks.

He let his father and brother's led him over to the wagon, but he wouldn't let go of her and he climbed into the wagon on his own. "Take them home, Jamie. We'll be along shortly."

Daniel stood for a second, watching his children drive off before he turned to Serenity's dead silent crew and quietly walked over to them, "Captain Reynolds." He declared quietly, "Jayne talked a lot bout you, respected you a bunch." Then looking at each of the crewmember in turn he spoke their name. "Kaylee, Inara, Book, Zoe." And finally he turned to Simon with a sad smile, "I reckon you must be the Gorram Doctor. I'm Daniel Cobb, Jayne's pa if you haven't guessed it by now."

"I know ya'll got a bunch of questions and ya'll are looking' a might bit worried about my boy." Daniel frowned in thought, "Told him never to get flashed." He whispered more to himself then turned back to the six crewmembers. "Anyway, I can answer all your questions, if you'll just follow me. Ya might wanna have you ship meet ya nearer to the house, plenty of room to park it there. Be a might bit safer too."

Marie Cobb slowly descended the stairs into the living room. She gave a weak smile to the group that gathered there, tears clouding her eyes, "They're sleeping now." She whispered, "Probably won't wake until morning." Her voice cracked and she quickly wiped away a tear that slipped down her cheek. "Ya'll hungry? Probably starving I'll go fix something." She didn't wait for an answer but moved off to the kitchen to cry some more.

Daniel Cobb watched her go for a second before sending Matty after her with a shake of his head and turning to face off with the crew of Serenity. "I reckon ya'll don't know much about being flashed."

"Only what Jayne once told me." Kaylee volunteered, "That they used a bright light to paralyze men and then dragged them off to work in the mines."

"That ain't all it does." Daniel sighed. "It causes a memory loss, anywhere from six months up to fifteen or twenty years, all depending on the circumstances. It ain't permanent; eventually they figure everything out for themselves, who they are and where they belong and all. I ain't no doctor or scientist, and I can't explain how it works, but that's what happened to Jayne and River, had their memories wiped back three years."

"I don't understand what this has to do with the scene they made in town." Simon whispered. His entire body ached and screamed to go check on his sister, to see with both his eyes and his medicinal knowledge that she was perfectly fine.

Daniel rubbed his forehead slowly, "We'll I ain't sure myself. What I reckon happened was they were pretended to be married when they got flashed. The young homesteaders that rescued them must have told them that they were married." Daniel sighed again, still disoriented by the events, still trying to figure it out himself. "Probably would have been okay otherwise, probably would have sorted out the incoming memories into the right places and all. But that ain't the way it happened."

Mal didn't like the way this conversation was headed, didn't like the softer side of Jayne he'd seen in town, the way River's sobs had sounded so heartbroken. He needed clarity on the event, a way he could fix everything, and Daniel was taking too long, "Tell it to us straight, what happened?"

Daniel wrinkled his forehead, trying to find the words to fit the situation, "They had a three year blank that needed to be filled. And the facts; they was on a planet they shouldn't have been on and they was married to each other, and they believed it, didn't have no reason not to. So when the memories started coming, their mind frames started adapting what they were remembering to what they'd been told."

"Oh God." Inara whispered, drawing confused looks from the crew.

"They must've created whole new lives for the past three years; lives that centered round each other." Daniel took a shaky breath but he continued, "Memories were grouped different. Things, events, actions were shifted or changed to fit the circumstances. You all just triggered the key to the old memories. Now they got two different lives running around their heads."

"So then, the problem is them trying to sort out which one is the right one?" Simon speculated. "That shouldn't be too hard."

"No, son, that ain't the problem, they know which ones are the real and which ones are the fake."

Simon sighed, desperately trying to understand, to formulate a cure for whatever plagued his sister, "I don't understand what the problem is then? Why did they act like that in town, what caused the emotional breakdown that we witnessed?"

"Son, you ain't very smart for a doctor," Daniel declared quietly.

"I've heard about this before." Inara whispered, "I knew a companion whose sister had something similar happen to her, except they called it flaring on her planet. Her sister was flared or flashed and taken to a work camp, told that she was the mother of some orphan children and the wife of another man who'd also been flashed. She created memories centered on those lies, lived that way for several months before her father and brothers rescued her and she got her own memories back." Inara frowned, looking down at her hands to avoid meeting the eyes of the group. "According to Sultana she was a broken shell of the woman that used to be, mourning the memories that she'd made as though she'd died when they were exposed as lies."

"That's what's happening to Jayne and River, something's dying within them. Only thing we can do is give them time and hope their strong enough to recover." Daniel explained.

It was dark and cold; she lay floating in the river, clinging to her rock as it started crumbling, cracking beneath her finger tips.

The girl was scared and frightened, confused by the events of today. Her thoughts were plagued with double events, two different lives that mirrored each other, matched in some places, but never quiet fit together. It was a distorted view of her life and confusing. She knew which ones were real, which ones weren't, but that didn't make it any easier because she knew which ones were better, which ones she wanted to believe were the right ones, but they weren't.

The river tugged at the girl, trying to pull her down into the mainstream, trying to wash away the happier memories, the lies that she'd been telling herself for the past few days. 'Simon has come, you must let go of the rock.' The river laughed and the girl tightened her grip on the rock.

And then suddenly the rock sank from her fingers and the girl found herself slipping beneath the waters, fighting the waves as the weight of her dress pulled her down.

River screamed, wrenching herself from the dream disoriented and confused. It was dark and he was gone, she couldn't feel his mind. Pulling herself around she felt for his physical form, her hand reaching out she touched the cold hand and screamed, "JAYNE!"

Chinese Translations

"Qingwa cao de liumang" means "Frog-humping son of a bitch"

"suoyou de dou shidang" means "all that's proper"

"hun dan" means "jerk"