Hello guys thanks for all the reviews they really made my birthday special! Yeah, it's still my birthday for like... idk 3 more hours or so where I am. :P but who cares, I'M FINALLY FIFTEEN! :D Happy birthday (in case I don't get the chance to tell you tomorrow) to A bit of a nerd. (: I love you so much your reviews always make my day :D I hope you have a super wonderful fantabulous awesome CoDerific birthday!

In other, related news, at my school we decorate each other's lockers for our birthdays and my amazingly artistic friend drew me a Mockingjay and wrote "On your birthday, may the odds be ever in your favor." And only my best Hunger Game friends will understand how that made me scream with excitement. XD So my dear best friend Christine, I love you for being the most amazing person ever and no one could ever replace you. I love everything about you, you're an amazing artist, you know how to make me smile through my tears, you are more like me than anyone I know, we can never stay mad at each other, you love Cause of Death, you are the strongest, bravest, BEST friend I've ever had in my whole life and I just want to say thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for being so amazing. (:

Anyway, after all that random babble that had absolutely nothing to do with my story but I had to say, enjoy this story that is now officially dedicated to my Aunt Mary, my best friend Christine M. (just for being herselfXD nothing to do with fire whatsoever), and anyone else that's ever had to deal with a fire destroying something they'd loved. Stay strong.

And enjoyyy(:

It wasn't like he was blaming her – not in the least. It was hard to explain; he just wanted to be alone. It had finally hit him that his daughter – his pride and joy – was gone forever. He'd begun to tell himself that this wasn't possible, but that little voice in the back of his head (that sounded an awful lot like Natara) simply told him this was another stage of grief. Denial, he supposed.

He shut himself in the bedroom for the fifth time that day and walked to the laptop computer. His fingers danced over the keys. Stages of loss and grief. Scanning the results quickly, he settled on an article from . He read through the list, locating a step titled Denial and Isolation. Well, that cleared that up nicely.

"Mal!" Natara called from the living room. "I know you want to be alone but I really think it would help if we talked."

He quickly cleared the internet history and closed the browser, knowing she'd check and yelled back, "Isn't it healthy for me to get through all of these elusive 'Stages of Grief'?"

"….well, yes, but…"

"And you clearly know that isolation is a stage of grief then."

"Well yeah, but Mal..," she materialized at the door. "You don't have to do this alone."

Mal stood up and they embraced. His whisper muffled by her hair, he mumbled, "Nat when am I going to get better and be normal again?"

"Oh Mal, you think I'm perfectly okay? We just lost our daughter; we're allowed to be an emotional wreck. Grieving is a personal process that has not a time limit nor an exact way of accomplishing itself. But we will get through this, I swear."

He stared at her for a long moment and before collapsing once again onto the soft motel bed, he stated bluntly, "I want to go back to work tomorrow."

Natara sighed and left him alone to stare up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Captain Yeong?" she said quietly into her phone. "I need your help."