She tensed her eyes slowly, not seeing the white washed walls anymore but a soft, vaguely cream color with orange paneling. Her fingers gripped sheets, her body resting in soft materials. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in something that could be called a bed.
"Thought we'd lost you." She looked over to see Mal sitting across from her, his arms folded.
She stayed silent, her pupils dilated as she stared at him.
"You slit your wrist a while back, 'nd at first I thought you'd jump the gun. But we found this instead." Mal held up the chip, the light no longer blinking.
She hid most of her face under the covers, a single, phoenix hazel eye staring at him. Mal was unnerved by her expression.
"What is this tracker? Did the Alliance plant it on you?" She stared, unblinking.
He sighed and asked the same question in Chinese, Lai silent.
"Gorrammit, don't you speak (?)!" She squeaked and hid under the covers, a muffled sound coming from the bundle of quivering blankets.
Mal sighed heavily, standing up and placing a hand on the mass. Lai's head poked out, staring up at Mal.
She was a beautiful combination of Asian and Caucasian genes. She had an oval shaped face, her skin a soft, Indian tan as bundles of dark hazel hair wavered down her head. Her eyes stood out in contrast to her cinnamon colors, shining with orange, hazel and a hint of green.
"How long was I out for?" Mal was taken aback by her voice; he expected it to be lower.
"Um, about a week. You were intravenously fed the past five days." He mentally smirked at seeing Lai squirm in reaction to his answer.
"Yes, the tracker is from the Alliance." She sat up in bed, rubbing her arm as she looked away from his gaze, "I apologize what I did to Jayne. I just needed to survive."
Mal chuckled softly.
"Hell, it's ok. I would've sat and watched if you weren't dying." She gave him a perplexed look.
"You don't care for him?"
"He IS a part of my crew, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve a beating once in a while. 'Specially from a girl." She blushed and looked at her bandaged knees.
"We're heading to Green Leaf?" Mal stiffened in surprise.
"What?"
"I had heard we were going to Green Leaf."
"Yeah, but, how did you know?"
"You left the intercom on after pulling, what was it? A Crazy Ivan?" Mal smirked.
"Yeah."
"You have an admirable pilot, captain."
"Wash would have a divorce if he heard that from you." Both of them laughed, Lai breaking into a coughing fit.
"I'm ok, just trying to heal still. When should we be there?"
"About another day or so." She fiddled with the hem of her sheets.
"What will you do with me?"
"Well, we could either dump you on Green Leaf or we could keep you as a pet." She didn't realize that he was joking until she saw his face.
Her facial features flatten, her lips pursed in skepticism. Mal laughed, walking to the door.
"We're bringing you back to Xiao, since he was the one who sent us to get you." She stared momentarily, "You ok, Lai?"
She shook her head rapidly.
"Wha wha? Oh yes, fine." She smiled, yawning.
"Well, best take a cat nap while we're off." She nodded and lay back down, Mal closing the door.
She curled a twine of her hair in-between her fingers, growing restless as she got up. Standing upright on the balls of her feet, she stared into the mirror. Her body was covered in scars, some fresh and some old. She traced out the scar on her neck, looking away as she saw the pile of clothes neatly resting on top of a chair.
Walking out of her room cautiously on all fours, Lai started to explore. She loped down into the common room, seeing the infirmary now clean from her previous mess. She looked at the stitches in her wrist and sighed. She quickly skittered up the steps that led to the cargo bay, hearing feet clatter down the stairs beside the infirmary. She gracefully leapt onto the scaffolding gate that connected both sets of stairs, losing her foot and crashing on the floor in a heap.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Kaylee came out of the common area, rushing to Lai.
She was swearing in Chinese, but Kaylee caught something else. A different language. She gently helped Lai to her feet.
"I'm alright, I just need to recover my dexterity."
"What was it you just spoke?"
"Mm?" Lai looked down her shoulder at Kaylee.
"You were swearing in Chinese, but then it switched over to something else."
"Oh," Lai smiled, "That was Spanish."
"Wha?"
"Spanish. It's an ancient language these days, apparently, what with English integrating Chinese and the Caucasian dialect."
"Were you a linguist?" Lai shook her head.
"No, my auntie was." She gave a distant smile, rubbing her sore cheek out of memory rather than pain.
Kaylee stared at Lai for a moment, noticing how she stood.
"Were you born like that?" Lai lowered to all fours, feeling more comfortable.
"My eyes and my charming personality is all that is natural of me." She sat back, her double-jointed toes flexing as she offered Kaylee a seat beside her.
Kaylee sat down, Lai resting her head against a crate.
"You take much pride in this ship, don't chu?" Kaylee innocently smiled, looking around vaguely.
"Yes, many of us here on Serenity love this ship. We've been through a lot, she and us."
"Mm." Lai gave a thoughtful look, "You're captain's a very die-harded man. He wouldn't let this ship die."
"What do you-?"
"Remember? When your ship's engine part blew a fuse and this ship was as good as a deathtrap?" Kaylee stared as Lai spoke, "He sent the rest of his crew off, leaving him to sail with his ship. Kinda reminds me of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." She smiled, "Memé used to describe movies from Earth-That-Was." She looked up, not making eye contact with Kaylee, "But your captain…he took a wound to his side. His ship demanded blood…it's not something an ordinary man would do." She looked at Kaylee.
"I've noticed how he treats you like a child. Better still, he treats you as if you were kin."
"On Serenity we see ourselves as family." Lai shook her head.
"It's something more than that. You have an innocence so pure, so, unsullied, that defies the nature of this world." Lai looked at her stitched hands, "Your kindness, your gentleness, some would call it benevolence, even." Kaylee blushed, "Never once has anyone seen you lift a finger to strike someone down, and I doubt you could shoot." Kaylee looked down at her knees.
"I was once…the captain was taken hostage by some psycho, Niska. Zoë came onto his skysite and tried to buy the captain and Wash back-"
"But she was forced to make a choice." Kaylee looked up at her with surprise.
"Yeah…She chose Wash."
"Of course, between your closest friend and your husband, which would you choose?" Kaylee fumbled with the hem of her overalls.
"We went to go save the captain from Niska, and I was left to defend the ship. I was so scared; I couldn't, I mean, I-" Lai hushed her, a bandaged hand resting on her shoulder.
"There is no need to apologize for your virtues. You are strong in your own way." Lai's desert eyes stared into Kaylee's, "Do no blame yourself for what is wholly human of you."
"But what about you? I mean, I barely know ya and I can guess you're 'fraid of nothin'." Lai smirked and chuckled.
"On the contrary, I'm afraid of many things. Heights, tight spaces, Alliance, especially Alliance." She grinned, Kaylee slowly showing a smile, "I'm afraid of many things, like most humans. Whether I show it is the difference."
"What about when you were up on that scaffolding gate?"
"I was testing myself. For my balance, and for the will to control and handle my fears." She smiled, "It was something I learned when Xiao took me in. 'If you want true strength, you first must master yourself '. It's hard for me to do, I've went as far as bungee jumping off the Dragon's Maw."
"Dragon's Maw?"
"It's a canyon on Blueshore, wider, deeper, and sharper than the Grand Canyon of Earth-That-Was. Just a peek into the depths would make you faint." Kaylee smirked, "It made me faint a few times." Kaylee's eyes lit up in surprise.
"You? Faintin'?" Lai nodded sheepishly.
"Like I said, chica, I get scared too, though, I must say," She put on a diplomatic face, "Fainting has it's share of scaring the shit outta ya." Both girls laughed, Lai massaging her side as she sat up.
"You're a nice girl, Kaylee." She looked up to see Lai smile, "And don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." She loped out of the cargo bay, leaving Kaylee stunned.
"So you wanna bet she'll come slittin' your pants off the next shot she gits?" Jayne was sharpening the blade of his bowie knife, looking antsy.
"S'not like she castrated you, Jayne. Though…" Mal looked thoughtful as Jayne banged his fist into the table.
"Gorrammit, she was trying tah kill me!"
"Oh, C'mon, Jayne, you've been through many death-defying whirlwinds before a 110 pound girl slashed your pants off." Zoë smirked, Wash trying his best not to laugh.
"Like I said, Jayne, we're not giving her back to Xiao yet until she heals. He wouldn't want the goods damaged anyway." Mal took another sip of his water, not noticing that Lai had bypassed the whole group in the dining area, and now was on her way to the helm.
She squeezed past the door, keeping to the side of the hallway to not be seen. She looked at the bar handles against the wall, and realized they were the main crew's bunks. She quietly loped on up the cockpit stairs and into the bridge.
"I better get back to the helm to see how close we are to Green Leaf." Wash picked up the last crumb on his plate, walking out of the dining area and up into the bridge.
"Ohayo."
"GAH! What're you doing up here (?)!" Lai was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, her arms wrapped around her legs.
"I wanted to see the stars, being blind ain't fun." Wash got his heart rate under control as Jayne, Zoë and Mal raced up to see what Wash's exclamation was all about, "Ohayo, Mal-san." She looked to Jayne and gave a mischievous wiggle of her fingers.
"What was that?" Lai looked up, smiling at Mal.
"Japanese." Zoë came alongside Wash.
"Honey, what's going on? Did she swap courses or something?" Wash shook his head, sitting down in his chair to ease himself.
"I just didn't expect her to be here."
"I didn't expect her to be moving this quick either." Mal frowned, Lai slowly backing out of her chair.
"Ya see? This is whu I mean when we'z hold ontah cargo like her." She snarled, showing her fangs.
Jayne backed away, Lai hiding behind her chair to avoid Mal's glare.
"I just wanted to see the stars, what's the harm in that?"
"We've had history about young ladies such as yourself sending us into death traps. Just makin' sure you ain't one of them."
"Why would I? You saved me." Mal smirked.
"That's something I'd expect from a two faced jackal." She hissed behind her chair, her eyes burning.
"If you wish to speak of treachery, your man, Jayne would fetch a finer price." She leapt over the chair, bounding out of the bridge before Mal could draw his pistol.
She hissed at him in the shadows of the hallway, her irises luminescent before she scampered down the stairs and back to the common room.
Mal blinked.
"…Moving on."
Lai trotted down the stairs, brooding as she walked back to her bunk. She slid the door open, standing up on her legs to see River sitting on her bed. She swallowed.
"Kitty's come home." Lai had trouble breathing, her eyes wide as River turned to see her.
"You…" River's dark, vacant eyes bore into hers, staring, prying, digging into her.
A loud ringing started to buzz in Lai's ears, the edges of her sight fuzzing like static on a TV screen. Everything suddenly went black as she lost feeling in her fingers.