Everyone aside from the captain was on board with the idea of celebrating Christmas. The fact they were making a stop on a planet for one of their more legal transactions only enthused them further; after all, this would be a chance to pick up any items they needed for the celebration.
"You've made the crew happy," Zoe commented as she and Mal waited onboard Serenity at the port.
"Wasn't me that had anything to do with it," he replied.
"Come on," Zoe gave a small smile. "With the line of work we're in, it's good to find reasons to celebrate,"
"Only thing I'm celebrating is that we were able to accomplish this job without anyone getting shot at,"
"See?" Zoe said. "That's a start,"
"Thank you for helping me decorate," Kaylee said as she and the Shepherd carried boxes of decorations into the cargo bay.
"My pleasure" Book replied. "I'm glad someone else is eager to do so,"
"The nice thing is we didn't have to purchase much in the way of decorations," Kaylee said, gesturing to the large sycamore branch in the corner. "I mean, it's no evergreen, but it's a plant that can still be decorated with lights and shiny objects,"
"Sometimes we have to make do with the best we have," Book said, "Like on the first Christmas,"
"Yeah," Kaylee nodded earnestly. "Plus I think Jayne enjoyed climbing up that tree to get such a large branch,"
"That man does enjoy a good physical challenge," Book agreed.
"Blinking lights all lined in a row," River said behind them, running her fingers through the strands of extra white lights Kaylee had brought from her quarters. Then, looking up at the two of them with a content smile, said "All roads lit by lights lead to home,"
"We probably won't have these up exactly in in straight lines," Kaylee said, "But I think they would look good draped along the metal walkways and rails,"
"To light the way home," River said.
Kaylee thought about what River said for a moment and said "Yeah, to light the way home,"