Last time: Jayne learns that Lara's husband passed away recently and tended to the flowers.

Now: Jayne helps Lara at the market.

Chapter 5- Familiar Little Girl

Jayne was smiling under the sun. Lara had let her borrow a straw hat when they invited her to join them for their table at Durasteel Spring's farmers market. There was a very pleasant little town square that was packed with tables and displays of all kinds. Everyone seemed to be out and having as pleasant a time as she was, and the farmers market itself seemed more like an excuse for the entire town to visit and socialize than it was for an opportunity to get shopping done.

Though there was plenty of shopping as well. She recognized the hat she was wearing as coming from a vendor that was down the path a ways, and if she had any money she would buy one for herself. She was borrowing one with a nice blue ribbon on it, but there was another one at the vendor that had a red ribbon she was quite taken with. Perhaps she might get paid for the work she was doing at the hospital, and after being able to pay some manner of meager rent to Lara and Tanner she might get the hat later. But for now she was enjoying sitting at a table as the town walked past them.

Lara had been kind enough to introduce her to all the friends who stopped by to chat or buy some of their produce, and the roses she had collected the previous day seemed popular as well. All told it was a beautiful day and a wonderful experience, and she couldn't help but smile as she looked around. And she wondered if this was ever something she did in whatever her old life was.

"Having fun, hun?" Lara asked as she grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler they had behind the counter.

"Yes." Jayne replied. "How often do you have these markets?" She asked.

"Like once every couple weeks," Lara said as she took a drink of water. "But we always try to make an appearance as we have a lot to sell from our garden."

"I know, I don't think I've ever seen so many dalru's in my life." She said, looking at the huge pile in front of her that had been dwindling through the day.

"A lot of what?" Lara asked, chuckling as she looked at the pile of food before them trying to figure out what she was referring to. "I don't know what a dahl-ru is."

Jayne furrowed her brow slightly. "A dalru?" She said, picking one of them up and looking at Lara.

"A potato?" Lara said pointing at it. "Is that what they are called where you are from? I don't recognize the language."

"I, uh…" Jayne started, looking at the potato in her hands. "I'm not sure." She said. "I should look that up and see if it means something."

"Well let me know," Lara said as she took another sip of water. "I'd be curious to know what language that is."

Jayne couldn't help but laugh at that. "Me too." She stated with a bit of a giggle.

Lara laughed too.

"Hey Mom, Mrs. Linz is here," Taner called from the counter.

Lara looked over to see the woman she was helping a couple days ago. She smiled at her and walked over to the counter. "Riza, hi. What can we get ya?"

"Oh I'll take seven of the potatoes and some of those lovely roses. Maybe a half dozen," Mrs. Linz said, pointing loosely at the items.

"Taner, can you please bag that stuff for her?" Lara asked kindly.

"Of course," Taner nodded, smiling at them. He grabbed a bag and started picking through the potatoes for seven really good ones.

As Lara chatted with Mrs. Linz, a little girl peeked around the table and looked at Jayne.

"Hello." Jayne said, with a small wave at the little girl.

"Hi," the little one said with a shy wave.

"What's your name?" Jayne asked.

"Kori," the girl answered, still very shy. "What's your name?"

"Jayne." She replied. "It's nice to meet you Kori."

"Nice to meet you too," Kori said. She then looked at Jayne's stomach. "Are you gonna have a baby?" She asked innocently as she pointed at the baby bump.

"Yes." Jayne said, "two, actually." There was something about talking to this little girl that felt oddly familiar, but like everything else it was like trying to grasp at smoke to remember why.

"Two? Are they gonna be girls?" Kori asked, curiously.

"No," Jayne shook her head lightly. "One is a girl, the other is a boy."

"Oh, I have a brother too. He is older though," Kori told her. "Do you have brothers or sisters?"

Jayne blinked and thought for a moment. "I'm not sure." She said.

Kori cocked her head to the side in confusion at her answer. "Why?" She asked, curiously.

Jayne looked at her confused for a second, the way she cocked her head to the side, something about that… "I…" She started. "I can't remember." She replied. "Is that your mom?" She asked, looking over at Mrs. Linz, who was chatting amicably with Lara and Taner and trying to redirect what she, somehow, knew might be an infinite lothrabbit-hole of 'why' questions from the child.

"Yeah," Kori said, looking over at her mother. "She said that if I'm a good girl today, she would buy me a treat."

"Oh?" Jayne asked, "what treat would that be?"

"There's a cart of sweets and they have cookies," Kori said, excitedly. "They are really yummy."

"Cookies?" Jayne said, something about that hit her hard, as if one of her memories tried to bludgeon its way through the wall that kept them hidden away, but she couldn't understand it. It was the sense of something incredibly important, but she had no idea what it was. "What kind?" Jayne asked, as she tried desperately to pull the memory forward to no avail. She was absolutely sure it was a good memory, and she quite liked cookies.

"Chocolate chip," Kori said, grinning. "They are this big." She held up her hands to show the size of the cookie by making a circle.

"That's huge!" Jayne said with a smile.

Kori giggled. "It is! You should try them. They are over there," she said as she pointed down the path to a stall in the marketplace that was selling fresh baked goods.

"I definitely will." Jayne said, before she leaned a little closer. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Okay. I'm really good at keeping secrets," Kori said then she zipped her lips with her fingers before throwing away the key.

Jayne smiled at the girl before she spoke in a conspiratorial tone, hiding her mouth from the others at the table. "I really like cookies too." She said quietly.

Kori giggled at that. "That's a good secret."

"Kori, it's time to go," Mrs. Linz said as she came over with the bag of potatoes in one hand and a small bouquet of roses in her arm. She held her free hand out to her daughter.

"Okay, Mama," Kori said as she grabbed her hand. She looked back at Jayne. "Bye."

"Bye Kori, it was nice to meet you." Jayne said with a small wave and a smile.

"I'm impressed," Lara said as she stopped over to Jayne's side as they walked away. "You got my shyest patient to open up to you like it was easy. You are really great with kids." She complimented.

Jayne looked up at her. "She reminds me of someone." She said, trying to think.

"Someone you know? Did she spark any memories?" Lara asked, curiously.

"I…" Jayne thought for a moment. "No memory, just she reminded me of… someone. " She sighed. "This is so frustrating." She groused quietly.

Lara frowned slightly at that. "I know. It's obvious that your mind wants to remember, but whatever happened to you was enough to not let you. But I have hope that they will all come back. You need to too. And remember we are here to help you," she said comfortingly.

"Thank you Lara." Jayne said. "It's like there's this… wall of fog between me and my memories. I can see obscured shapes on the other side. I was just talking to Kori about the cookies, and it hit me that there was something quite… profound about them in my memories. But I don't know what the memory is, just that it's there. And about cookies, of all things." She said with an annoyed look, unable to fathom why a cookie would matter so much.

"Okay, well, let's see what we can string together from that," Lara started. "You said that Kori seemed familiar and there was something really profound about cookies. So let's start with Kori and see what we can figure out." She paused for a moment to think. "Is it possible you know another little girl just like Kori? Is she younger? Older? Same age?" She asked, trying to see if these questions would help.

Jayne thought. "I don't know. Something about the way she cocked her head to the side when she was confused." She said distractedly. "She said 'Oo?'" Janye said quietly.

"Oo?" Lara asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Said like this? Oo?" She did an impression of it based off Jayne's description. That got a small chuckle from Taner behind her. She tried not to glare at her son for that.

Jayne smiled at the impression. "Yeah, kind of. Like a little girls voice. I don't have anything more than that, though." She said, "but it's something."

"I agree. It's a start." Lara nodded. "Okay so not older. That sounds like something a baby or toddler would say. And the head cocking thing is very much a little kid thing to do," she said, going over the information. "So if I had to take a guess, I would say you know a little girl probably no older than five. Maybe a niece or neighbor. And maybe you have cookies with her or made them for her. So maybe we just need to get you into the kitchen and see if you can make cookies. Using a recipe of course. I wouldn't just throw you in blind like that." She laughed lightly.

Jayne chuckled. "I wouldn't mind trying that for a variety of reasons. Cooking…" She trailed off. "I feel like I know a lot about cooking, actually. I keep looking at these dal… potatoes and getting these ideas, like basting them with rosemary and thyme in a butter bath, or roasting these savo roots with brown sugar and a little cinnamon." She considered the produce in front of her, the vague notions of different ideas going through her head. "I wonder if I'm a cook."

"Or you could be related to one. Or possibly married to one," Lara added with a chuckle. "But that potato recipe sounds delicious. We should see when would be a good day to make that."

"I'd be willing to try." Jayne said with a smirk. "It's the least I could do for all your kindness and help. If I'm good at cooking, that is." She joked.

Lara chuckled. "Well, we will just have to see won't we. Now come on, we still have produce to sell." She said. She looked back up and spotted Sheriff Dunweather and Wesley walking along together. "Lacie, Wesley. Hey!" She called out to them.

"Hey guys!" Lacie said, who Jayne needed a moment to recognize as Sheriff Dunweather in her civilian clothing.

"Hey Lara. Hey Taner," Wesley greeted then spotted Jayne. "Hi Jayne. How are you doing?"

"Good," Jayne replied with a pleasant smile on her face.

"How's the market treating you?" Lacie asked, looking at the display that seemed well picked over.

"Pretty good," Lara said, nodding. "It seems everyone is stocking up for the festival."

"This years is going to be the biggest." Lacie said with a smile. "Are we still on for tomorrow night?" She asked Lara.

"Well I hope, it's all everyone can talk about." Lara chuckled. "And yeah, we are. Once I get off work and change, I'll meet you at Moonshine Bar."

"Excellent." The Sheriff said with a smirk. "I know Wes was looking forward to a night off from boyfriend duties." She added, gesturing at him with her thumb.

Wesley rolled his eyes with a smirk. "I also have plans too." He said matter of factly as his smirk turned into a smile.

Lara and Laci chuckled at that. "Well that's good," Lara said. "Taner's also got plans going on that night. So it appears we are all going to have fun." She then glanced over at Jayne. "What about you, Jayne? Wanna come with me and Lacie for a night on the town?" She offered.

Jayne looked between them and swallowed, "I don't want to impose…" She started uncertainly.

"Nah." Lacie said with a dismissive wave of her hands. "It'll be fun!" She said encouragingly.

"She's right," Lara nodded. "It'll be a blast! Come with us, please. You're not imposing." She said, encouragingly too.

"Okay, if you guys don't mind." Jayne said with a fun smile.

"Not at all, after Debrah had to drop out it was just down to the two of us." Lacie said. "Everyone is so busy nowadays."

"Yeah, they are," Lara agreed then looked at Jayne. "And yeah! We are going to have so much fun!" She said, wrapping an arm around Jayne's shoulders, and Jayne smiled and blushed as she leaned into the hug.

She was running through the forest, the darkness seemed to follow after her like a horrible fog, a dark spirit trying to drown her as she desperately tried to escape. Gasping for breath she ran, not knowing from what, and hoping that she might find somewhere safe. She tried to jump over a log in her headlong dash but she tripped and fell, and the darkness grew ever closer like an inky miasma. She scrambled desperately to her feet trying to get away.

There was a house, with a singular light coming from inside that she could just make out through the trees. She all but vaulted over the fence, her lithe form easily able to clear the barrier and ran through the garden, up onto the porch, all the while the darkness playing at her ankles and her back.

She slammed the door open and shoved it closed behind her, desperately out of breath as she closed her eyes trying to recover from the horror as she held the door fast behind her. She opened her eyes, and looked around an impossibly large space, the floor underfoot was polished obsidian, a holographic display was visible some distance away in front of a throne that looked like it had been hewn out of the same solid piece of volcanic glass. Jayne looked down at herself, she was wearing black robes and a black tunic. And her stomach was athletically flat and thin. Something about that felt wrong but she didn't know why.

The heavy blast door behind her slid open and she startled forward, turning around. A ship's corridor, shrouded in darkness, was waiting.

Out of the darkness a malevolent figure slowly started walking forward. His helmeted visage slowly revealing itself in the faint light that penetrated the darkend corridor, the slits of his visors staring out at her. She recoiled in absolute horror, her legs frozen as the helmeted figure stalked towards her. She had no idea who he was, but she was absolutely certain he was death coming for her, and she could do nothing. He ignited a blood red blade and swung down as she stared frozen in shock.

Jayne startled awake. She was in the guest room that Lara had given her, next to Taner's. She was drenched in sweat, and her breathing was heavy as if she had just run another marathon. She flicked on the bedside lamp, trying to calm herself.

She had no memories, but her subconscious didn't seem to care about that. She had no idea who the dark helmeted figure was, wielding a blood red plasma sword of some kind. Was that someone she had encountered? Was it real? Was it just a nightmare, or did it have some basis in reality?

She put a hand down to the twins. Her only real touchstone to who she was. Where she came from. What her past life was. Perhaps that was who she was running from?

The terrible thought ran through her mind that perhaps that might be the father, and that's what she was escaping from. But if that was the father, who could she possibly have been?

She got up and went to go look at the tunic and skirting that Lara had returned to her room after laundering. It was torn and covered in small gashes and pulls. Whether it was all from the forest or whatever situation she had escaped from she had no idea. But she looked at the tunic and examined the skirting. The tailoring was exquisite, the style severe. Though oddly there were some very handy pockets hidden away, as if she might have used them to smuggle something. These weren't the clothes of… anyone. Not the kind of things a mother might wear, nor the outfit of a doctor, a gardener, a cook or any of the other random thoughts that had flitted through her mind these past days. This was the outfit of… something else. And in her hazy understanding of anything beyond basic everyday life, she couldn't remember what they might be. Lara might know, but she had made no comment, so a part of Jayne had to assume this was just a normal outfit that someone might wear. But compared to what she had seen earlier in the town square, everyone dressed in their fine but casual clothes, this stood apart and looked… Evil. The only word that came to mind as she looked upon the finely crafted clothing.

Something that would match the monster she had just encountered in her nightmare.

She sat back down on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes. Would that mean that she was, herself, a monster in that other life? Or some victim of circumstance? Would she even want to find out who she had been? Some part of her had a feeling that there was some shade of truth to that, but it was as maddeningly tenuous as all the other recollections hidden behind the curtain of fog. But she still felt that shade of truth and she recoiled from it. The casual way she had talked about what to do if an emergency case came in missing a limb, the thought of 'beheading' the roses, the part of her that had felt like she might have been responsible for possibly shooting the other survivor from the escape pod. Jayne took a deep breath, feeling ill at the thought that at her most basic level she was someone who so casually thought about violence and expected it of herself and others.

Her hands dropped, her right arm resting on her pregnant stomach as she closed her eyes, trying to understand all of this. And that motherly part of her that felt some kind of connection to the twins, the imagined sense she had of their mood and their presence, felt nothing but a profound sense of innocence. Just a quiet warmth in the tumult and uncertainty of the circumstances she found herself in. She took comfort in that. Knowing whatever had happened, whoever she had been, monster or not, she had these two with her, and that innocence was something she had been able to nurture. Whoever she had been, her first and earliest memory was of running desperately through the woods to protect them. She rubbed her stomach and closed her eyes. And that was the one thing she would keep doing.

She lay back down, still with an arm around her stomach. And tried to put the image of that monster from her nightmare out of her mind as she tried to fall back asleep.

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