A hard shudder, a growling sound. The shuttle shook, but different. What did that mean? Things seemed to blur and slow. [Have to hold on…] She told herself stubbornly. But things were muddy and she couldn’t focus. A hard jerk and things seemed to slip from her without her leave.

Time passed.

It was dark and vaguely warm and comforting where she was. No worries. It was familiar… But something was happening, someone wanted her to do something. A hand on her shoulder, shaking her. [Don’t want to wake up now. Can’t I sleep longer Captain? Engine won’t give you a bit a’ trouble, Serenity’s shiny. I fixed her good and…] Hand on her cheek, warm and soft. [The Captain’s a girl? How’d that happen?] Her foggy mind wondered.

”It’s all right. We’re safe now.” The girl from her dreams, that was her. [No power in the ’verse can stop her.] Her mind supplied as she felt a soft touch along her back. More words spoken, though no one seemed to know what. She was being lifted up. Strong arms, slender and warm, holing her to a body, strong and soft. Where were they going? She tried to move or open her eyes, but the light was too bright and it seemed to scare the world from her again and chase her back into the warmth of the black.

———-

Kaylee woke to a sea of all things soft and warm. A familiar perfume, like wildflowers on a clear spring day, settled into her mind. ”’Nara?” She questioned, blinking her eyes opened. ”What in’tha…” Her mind came back to her as her eyes cleared and she remembered, yes, she did already know what in the ’verse she was doing waking up on Inara Serra’s shuttle. She made to sit up, but the shooting pain through her torso immediately told her what a very bad idea that was. ”All ideas bright and shiny, that ain’t one of them, is it?” She breathlessly questioned herself as she lay back on Inara’s couch and stared up at the ceiling. Well, she was in pain, so odds are she t’weren’t dead and gone to heaven, so that was a cheerful thought. ”River?” She called, looking around the shuttle that she could see from her resting spot. ”River. You around anywheres?” She called a little louder, her voice a bit uncertain.