A/N: Hey, sorry this one took longer to get to than the other chapters. I'm also sorry that this one is a little short. But I hope you enjoy it all the same.
Chapter 6:
Serenity landed on the planet Ariel to pick up a familiar passenger. Inara Serra stepped board, holding herself with an air of regality that graced her with every movement. She alone brought respectability to this ship of misfits.
"Inara," said Kaylee, as she stood waiting to greet her in the cargo bay.
"Hello, Kaylee," said Inara.
"How did your license renewal go?" Kaylee asked.
"Just fine," she said. "Anything happen while I was away?"
Though Inara spoke as nonchalantly as possible, she asked this knowing perfectly well what the plan had been. Her companion's license still had another month to it, but she told her friends that she had to leave sooner; she couldn't stand to be there when he returned. She couldn't show emotion, couldn't break down in front of him. She never could, and she wouldn't now.
Which was why she was completely taken aback when Kaylee said in a sad tone, "He didn't want to come back."
"What?" Inara said.
"He just... said no."
"And we're going to respect his decision," said Zoe, coming down the stairs.
Kaylee frowned, but was silent. Inara was also silent, but because words escaped her.
"Inara!"
The shouting of children's voices brought her back from her reverie. Two boys ran up to her with a small girl trailing behind them.
"What a welcome!" Inara said in a playful tone to Kaylee's children.
"Did you get us anything?" asked the taller of the boys, who had dark, thick hair like his father.
"Daniel," scolded his mother. "Don't be rude."
"Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," said Inara. "And... in fact, I did manage to pick something up when I was planet-side." She said this while pulling out a big object covered in a sheet.
"Them Ariel boys ain't as clean as you thought, huh?" said Jayne, entering the cargo bay.
"Don't be disgusting, Jayne," said Inara, rolling her eyes.
"What?" he said, looking around as though he had no idea what he did that was wrong.
"Anyway..." said Inara. "Ta da!" She pulled the sheet off and revealed a parakeet inside of a metal bird cage.
"Whoa!" all three children chimed at once, eyes shining bright.
"What do you say?" said Kaylee, in a motherly tone.
"Thank you."
"Can we show daddy?" Vicki asked her mother.
"Um... yes. But later. Why don't you go show your Aunt River?"
"Okay," she said. Daniel grabbed hold of the cage, and the three went off in search of their aunt.
"Where is Simon, anyway?" asked Zoe.
Kaylee knew there was no point in lying about it. "Now don't get mad," she said. "But he took one of the devices and went to talk with the Capt'n."
"I though I made it clear that we should leave it be?" said Zoe, a little more than miffed.
"I know..." said Kaylee. "But we couldn't just give up on him after all we've been through to find him."
"I'm in command," said Zoe. "And I except my orders to be obeyed."
Kaylee listened. Although she disagreed, she didn't want to argue about it any more.
Inara also listened. And when she couldn't take it any more, she made an excuse to leave to her quarters.
The kids walked excitedly yet carefully, being sure not to harm their new pet. When they reached the outside of their aunt's door, Joey knocked with a bit of impatience to reveal Inara's present.
River opened her door and smiled. "What's this?" she asked.
"It's a pairkeet," said young Vicki.
"That's parakeet," corrected Daniel, with the air of knowledge that could only be found in first-born boys when talking to their younger siblings.
"Isn't it pretty, though?" she asked.
River knelt down so that she was eye level with the parakeet. She ran her fingers down the cage, slowly following the lines of the bronze. She watched as the bird flitted around in its cage, but eventually had to resolve to just sitting on its perch. "Poor little bird," she said. "He spreads his wings, but has forgotten how to fly."
Back on Earth in the 21st century, Mal was sitting in his kitchen eating breakfast when he got a call from Beckett.