A/N: Post-Serenity. So there may be spoilers. Just a little thing about River. She's such an interesting character, and just plain fun. :D
ENJOY!
Like A Dream
Sometimes River's like mercury, sliding her way through Serenity like a dream. Carresses cool metal walls, dancing with memories of ghosts. And she trips easy through the halls with all the grace in the 'verse. When she takes the controls, and she and Serenity take to the sky, it's like they're connected. Because they are, and she feels like she's channeling Wash. Because Wash was part of this wonderful boat, and she thinks he never really 'left'. Pushes buttons, flicks switches, thinks of Wash. Like a leaf on the wind. She wants to make him proud.
And sometimes River's like a bomb, exploding fiery in the black. Like when they need to have fun, because the loss is closing in. Icy hands gripping freezing hearts. And she starts up the music in her feet, and her dancing is like life. Warms up everything, even the captain. And when things go bad, she's fire too. She has to protect her family, and that's when she's deadly grace with poison thoughts. It's like a bad dream for a good cause, and they fall before her. She thinks maybe that's when she glows.
But all the time River is like her name. She has an underneath, with cold places that swirl in their darkness. But everybody has a little dark. There are rapids, pulling and pushing. But you can't have the rough without the calm. She twists and she tumbles, rushing forward. Always forward. Rises and falls, and rises again, sweeping up those in her path. Takes them along for the ride.