AN: I wish I did, but I do not own Firefly or Serenity.

Chapter One - You Were A Thief, You Stole My Heart

"Ready to get off this heap and back to civilized life?"

"I uhh, I don't know."

"Good answer."

That had been five days ago. Inara hadn't seen him for five days. On a ship of Serenity's size that meant he was taking a lot of trouble to avoid her. At first she thought he was just busy after what had happened. Serenity had been newly repaired and everyone was adjusting to the new way of things. River was settling into her role as pilot, not to mention training with Jayne. Kaylee and Simon were always together; whether in a dark corner of the ship, or just holding hands in the common areas. Her heart ached for Zoe. They all mourned for Wash in their own ways, but the strong woman tried to hide her heartache behind a mask of perseverance and duty. Due to her companion training, Inara could see the cracks in Zoe's armor. She could just sense how badly Zoe was hurting. She wanted to reach out to her, but Zoe was not one to talk about her feelings. Zoe was not cold-hearted, quite the contrary, but she was private. Right now she was on her way to get a cup of tea. She smiled at the sight that greeted her. Kaylee and River were playing cards laughing at something whispered. "Ladies." Inara greeted the two younger women she saw as little sisters. "I hope I get to hear this humorous secret." When Kaylee looked at River in surprise, Inara's melodic laugh rang out. "Oh my Kaylee, you could definitely use some assistance in how to compose your facial reactions. Maybe after dinner?"

Kaylee's face lit up. "Really? I mean I've never been any good at keepin' my feelings off my face."

Inara reached to fill the teapot with water. "You're an honest person. Probably the most genuinely honest person I have ever met. It's one of your best qualities, most people are too jaded these days."

Kaylee's eyes lit up a little. "I always thought of it as a bad thing, I couldn't ever lie."

River reached around and embraced Kaylee. "Kaylee is made of love and sunshine. When I was lost in a fog I would seek out the sunshine to bask in its truth."

Inara still had trouble believing the girl. who barely spoke a coherent sentence. was now able to put her thoughts out in such a poetic way. Inara put her teapot and three cups on a tray and sat down. "Now, we'll have a real woman's tea, and you can tell me what mischief I walked in on."

Two hours later Simon walked in as the laughter drew him in. All three women were full of happiness and looking at them, he couldn't help smiling. "What's going on here?"

Kaylee stood taking Simon's hand in hers and pulling him to sit beside her. "We were just talking about girl stuff." She kissed his cheek. "Are you gonna help me with dinner tonight?"

River snorted. "You don't want that."

Simon face contorted into a challenge. "I set fire to the kitchen once and you never let it go. It could happen to anyone."

River answered his challenge. "You were boiling eggs! They were scorched. Bits of eggs and shell were all over everything."

Inara kept her face impassive but the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. "Well I should be getting back to my shuttle. I will see you after dinner Kaylee. River you are more than welcome to join us." She left the kitchen and started heading to her shuttle. Now that she was alone her thoughts drifted to Mal. He said he was glad she was staying and now he was never around. The man was an enigma. At first it had been one of the things she liked. She had been trained by the best how to really see a person, and she was rarely surprised. However when she had told Book that she wasn't certain if she would ever actually know Mal, she never knew how true those words were. Now she was afraid she would never find out. She loved Serenity; the crew, the excitement of living on the edge, even the backwater places they travel to. Inara felt she could have a future here, but not if Mal shut her out. She couldn't come up with anything she could have done to drive him off. She thought of going after him and just confronting him, but there was the problem. Mal would only push her away if she cornered him. So here she was five days later just waiting…