A/N: Sorry for the double post - had a little guffaw.
One Year Later:
There was no harm in letting the crew, all the crew take a bit of rest after the job they'd just finished. It had been a dirty one. A simple one, that was it's draw, but dirty and hard and not a one of them had left without grime stuck in their fingernails and a ruddy shade added to their skin. They were refueling and relaxing on a planet closer to the core than Mal liked, but so far, they'd escaped incident. So he'd finally okayed the shore leave... for one night. There was no harm in it, was what he kept telling himself. But she stuck out like a sore thumb was what his brain kept retorting back to him.
Jayne had found himself a seat at a gambling table while Simon and Kaylee cuddled up in a corner. Mal, Inara and Zoe shared a table nearby. Mal liked to keep close. Which is why River was causing him just enough anxiety to make his teeth itch but not enough to order her back to him. Mal sighed, keeping an inconspicuous eye on her as he drank. She had walked in right beside him, had surely intended to join his table but then she had caught the music in the air and stopped right in the middle of the room; Transfixed by some ancient fiddler with his piano-playing ancient partner. Mal had purposely let her be - if this is how she relaxed, then he wasn't going to stop her... Even though, as she slowly eased closer, the old man noticed her, watched her reaction to his music.
It wasn't a problem. Mal wasn't going to act like they were in wartime, wasn't going to insist that she heel like a mutt. Mal closed his eyes firmly for a moment and tried to listen to what Zoe and Inara were talking about.
But then the old fiddler had nodded his head at River and, with a conspiratorial wink, nodded toward his extra instrument. Mal felt a twitch start to develop under his eye. River, of course, seemed drawn to the violin like a bug to the sun. She stepped onto the stage.
Mal stood up, almost unconsciously. Simon's back had been to the proceedings thus far but his eyes darted to Mal's as soon as he heard the first ethereal whine of the strings. He'd known without even looking... Mal thought he would have too. She just had to do everything just a little bit too... uncommon. Mal looked down at the others for a moment and mumbled something about heading to the bar.
Inara made some remark about over protective birds that didn't penetrate Mal's consciousness right away. When he caught her implication Mal didn't bother to respond. He gave her a sharp, disappointed look and concentrated on moving away from the table - to create a two front defense in case it was needed - in case someone in the crowd heard it too: that quality to her playing that set her apart and distinguished her as superior from the rest of these gnarled crooks... from the rest of humanity in general.
River wasn't acknowledging him, though Mal knew quite well his thoughts were loud enough and to the point enough for her to sense. But she was lost in the complexity of some dance piece - feverishly dueling with the old man even as her face betrayed nothing but joy. Mal swore and ordered another drink.
That was how the music had started. Simple enough; quick cheery things. But the mood changed as the night wore on and Mal had yet to move from his position. Mal's frequent visual sweeps of the room had reassured him that no one was paying much attention to the entertainment. This made Mal happy. Every time someone glanced toward the slim virtuoso on the stage, Mal didn't relax until they'd looked away again. But as the music changed, Mal found it difficult not to stare at the musicians himself. All three of them cared, all three of them enjoyed the music. But it was River that Mal's eyes were drawn to. The melody seemed to weep from her fingers and trickle through the air. It caught at Mal's throat and sent his mind to the past - to a home he'd long since forgotten to picture and dreams he'd long since given up. He tore his eyes away and took a deep breath.
He leaned back against the bar and, took a drink from the beer he kept forgetting and waited.
Nothing happened. River was up with the band until the old man bowed his exhaustion with an embarrassed smile. She surrendered the instrument and stepped off of the stage toward Mal, throwing a reassuring smile toward Simon on the way.
"You look fine but you send out worry like great ocean swells," she said as she came up beside him.
"Make me sound like a nattering nursemaid."
River frowned, "I didn't mean it as a critisim."
"Sometimes you can't control how it's taken. I suppose you'll be saving up for one of those stringed machines now - Jayne's going to have a fit."
"I'm not sure the music would be true in space."
Mal looked down at her, the glow of the music still there in her skin was fading fast, weighed down by his attitude, by his worry, by silence.
"Your decision." He felt River's eyes on him and he turned to face her, wiping his face and mind clear, "Gather the others, I want to get back to the ship."
Mal's humor and peace of mind returned as soon as they'd left the bar. And, of course, that was when everything went to hell.
Back to the night of Simon's Wedding:
Mal pulled on his long brown coat like a reptile might stretch into new skin and looked pointedly at the girl in his bed - curled up like a child, "So I don't have to actually sing..."
River shook her head so that she rested deeper into the pillow, "No, only wait the time it would take to sing the first two lines of the song."
Mal rolled his eyes, "But this is only if the man with the hat..."
"The bowler hat."
"Right, the man in the bowler hat - passes me in the stairs." Mal waited, but River only stretched in answer, looking content in her stolen nest. Mal took a step toward the door and changed his mind, turned back to her, "And if I do that, you're sure I won't be interrupting ... nothing..."
River opened her eyes, looking nothing like a child, "You can't trust me half way."
Mal sighed, walked to the door, "But if there's no hat..."
River turned over and cuddled with the blankets, "Then no singing."