AN: This is an AU. It disregards the movie Serenity, and picks up a little over a year after Ojects in Space.
2519 A.D.
"No," Mal said, leaving Inara's shuttle.
"Mal…" Inara called out, following him.
"Inara, no. End of story."
Inara slowly folded her arms over her chest and gave Mal a stern look. "She's my sister, Mal. I can't just send her away…"
"Yes, you can. And you will. I'm not taking anymore gorram passengers on my boat."
"She won't be on your boat, Mal. Well, I mean, occasionally, yes, but…"
"But when a whore-monger comes knockin' on your door, and she's got no place to go, I'll have to babysit."
Inara rolled her eyes. "Mal, she's 20. She's able to look after herself."
Mal stopped on the deck, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Mal, please. I'll never ask anything of you again. Besides…she is an excellent cook. The things she can do in a kitchen, I mean…its art."
"Did someone say cook? We're getting a cook, Cap'n?" Jayne said, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Really? I didn't know we were pickin' up passengers on Persephone! Shiny!" Kaylee said suddenly, from below.
Mal sighed. He really didn't want to give into her. He knew he would, of course, because it was Inara. But the last time he took on passengers, well…
"When did this turn into a crew meeting? Don't you people have…jobs…or, whatever?" Mal grunted, then grabbed Inara by the arm, pulling her away from the gathering crowd. "Fine. But she'll be treated like a passenger, which means the standard fees apply, dong ma?"
Inara yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Of course, captain. Thank you," she said, turning back towards her shuttle. She turned around suddenly, though, and replied, "Oh, and Mal? That is the last time you will grab my arm like that. Dong ma?"
"Sad," River said pointedly. She looked at Simon, who was busy going over some notes. She turned away, then. He wouldn't understand. Not even she understood it. Just an overwhelming sense of sadness washed over her.
"What's sad, mei mei?" Simon asked, without looking up.
"The rain. The rain is sad. But doesn't know why."
"Are you sad, River?"
Frustration, now. "No! The rain, Simon! The RAIN is broken!"
"But it's not raining, River. We still have a couple of hours until we even get to Persephone."
She sighed. "You will see."
EAVESDOWN DOCKS, PERSEPHONE
The bright light of the sun shone down on the planet's cacophony of people. They mingled and meshed together, selling odds and ends, trying to get to their future places of destination. Yet, in one section of the docks, a girl looking no more than 18 seemed to be set apart from the rest.
She sat on her suitcase, containing not much more than a few odd pieces of clothing, and a book for reading. The same one she's read a thousand times. Not because it was her only one, but because every time she read it, it changed. Its mood, its atmosphere, the characters. It didn't seem strange to her, a book changing like that. But to others, it did, so she stopped trying to explain it to them.
Her dark hair was pulled unceremoniously into a pony at the nape of her neck. A smudge of dirt was seen hiding, just at her right temple. She sat undignified, with her back against a building, waiting. She watched as others like herself waited for their calling, their fate, their ship to sweep them away for a short ride, or a lasting adventure. She, however, was done with adventures.
One of the consoles in front of her changed, as it signified the ship Serenity had touched down. She sighed, afraid to get up. It was too long since she'd seen a single member of her family. She remembered her sister, just before she went off to whore school, as she called it. That very same day…
"Amaya!" a familiar voice called out, breaking her out of her memories. She looked up to see Inara, beautiful as ever, running towards her, a smile plastered on her face. She barely had time to stand up before she was crushed in an embrace.
"Oh, mei mei. It's been too long. Look at you…" Inara said, stopping to attempt to wipe the dirt from her face. Amaya managed to fake a smile. A tall man sauntered up behind them.
"Well…I can certainly see the resemblance," the man said. Inara rolled her eyes.
"Mal, this is my sister, Amaya. Amaya, this is the captain, Malcolm Reynolds."
Amaya nodded, "Thank you, captain. For taking me in."
"Not a problem, any friend of Inara's…no, wait. I take that back. Not every friend, especially the sword-wielding ones. Speaking of," Mal said, turning to Inara, "she in your line of work?"
Amaya flinched, though thankfully no one saw it.
"Mal! Not that it's any of your business, but no. Come on, Maya. Let's get you settled in."
"Oh! I'll help! I'm Kaylee, by the way," a bubbly girl behind Mal said, as she easily picked up the light suitcase. "Is this it? There ain't much to it."
"Don't have much," Amaya said quietly.
"That's okay. Ever been in a Firefly before…"
After meeting the rest of the crew, sans River and Simon, Amaya sat in Inara's shuttle, quietly sipping her tea, her sister sitting close next to her on the luscious couch. She took in her surroundings with a careful eye.
"How did you come to be on Persephone?" Inara asked, curiously.
Amaya held her cup with both hands, staring intently at its contents. She shrugged at Inara's questioned. "Just did. 'S where they took me."
Inara placed her hand gently on Amaya's knee, though could not help but notice an otherwise unnoticeable flinch. "Mother and father took you to Persephone? What for?"
Amaya just shook her head. "Not them."
"Amaya, please. Tell me what happened. I cannot help you if you keep secrets from me."
Inara took the cup from Amaya's shaking hands, just before the timid girl crumpled into a heap of sobs. Inara gathered her in her arms, whispering words on comfort and solace to her crying sister.
Inara quietly closed her shuttle door behind her as she walked out onto the scaffold. She sighed, looking over onto the dock area. She never once regretted leaving Sihnon after her training was done. Her mother and father had wished her well, and she left Amaya thinking they would do right by her. She never once regretted leaving…until now.
"So, whoring doesn't run in the family, then?" Mal said suddenly from behind her.
"What is your problem, Mal? No, she's not a companion, okay? I haven't taught her my wicked ways, or whatever it is you think. And right now, she's resting, after crying herself to sleep…" Inara stopped, realizing she's said too much. She closed her eyes, cursing herself. Inara sighed, and then looked up at Mal. "Excuse me, captain," she said, brushing past him. "I have matters to attend to."
Mal watched her leave, arms folded over his chest.
"So, does little sister live up to big sister's standards?" a voice said behind him. Mal turned around to see Jayne, waggling his eyebrows.
"No," Mal said, "She's not. And stay away from here, Jayne. If Inara catches you snoopin' around, well…" Mal shrugged and walked away.
Amaya awoke suddenly to find a strange girl hovering over her. She sat up, dazed and disoriented.
"Who…who are you?" Amaya asked.
"You are like me. Only not. It isn't your mind they took from you," River said, shaking her head sadly. "It's something else. Deeper."
"How do you…?"
"They hurt you."
Amaya let out a choked sob. She nodded, and then understood.
"You're a reader?" Amaya asked.
River cocked her head to the side. "Captain said that once. Do you like apples?" River held one out to her. Amaya was amazed. It'd been so long since she'd seen one, much less had one to eat. She took it cautiously.
"Thank you," Amaya said.
"River! What are you doing in here?" A shout came from the doorway, as Inara and Simon came in. Simon rushed over and studied the two girls before assessing that nothing had happened.
"She's fine. We were just…talking," Amaya offered.
"Come on, River," Inara offered. "Let's go see what Kaylee's making for supper." Inara started to lead River to the door, but stopped before leaving. "I'll be back in a bit, Maya. This is Simon." The shuttle door closed behind her.
Amaya looked nearly terrified, Simon thought. Inara wasn't kidding when she said she'd been through some sort of trauma.
"River?" Amaya asked.
Simon smiled. "She's my sister. She's not…very lucid sometimes."
"It's okay. She gave me an apple," she said holding it up, and half smiling.
"Inara said that something happened to you, but you didn't want to talk about it," Simon started. He didn't really have all that much experience in psychology, but at least he could assess if something was physically wrong and help her in that department. "I'm a doctor, Amaya. I'm here to help
Amaya looked down at the apple in her hands. "'s not much to say."
"I know it may seem like…there isn't any hope, or that talking about it would make it real again, but it helps. Maybe if I ask you some questions then you can answer what you want to answer? Does that sound okay?"
Amaya thought about it for a moment. She didn't want to be difficult. But she didn't exactly want to share her experiences with a complete stranger, either.
"Okay."