The first time Zoe stepped onto the bridge after Serenity was rebuilt, she was greeted by the painful familiarity of the consoles. However, something was missing. With a stab of grief she realized that Wash's toy dinosaurs were nowhere to be found. She turned to Mal.

"Where are the toys?" She said it quietly. She didn’t know if she could stay calm if her voice was louder.

Mal glanced at the console. "Uh… I dunno. I really don’t." His eyes reflected a fraction of Zoe's loss back at her.

She lowered her eyes and shrugged. It was not as if the toys mattered all that much now. Wash wouldn’t need them anymore. But she couldn’t get rid of the tightness in her chest when she thought of the empty space once occupied by brightly colored plastic toys. She resolved not to go to the bridge again unless absolutely necessary. Zoe would never admit it, but the absence of those dinos reminded her daily of her missing husband. Even though she never entered the bridge, she could feel the emptiness permeating.

She was sitting on her bunk several days later, mulling over the loss of those toys when Mal's voice broke her reverie.

"Zoe, to the bridge."

She sighed. Then nearly burst into tears. Where had they gone? Why couldn’t things be as they were? She reluctantly climbed the ladder. She made her way slowly toward the bridge, only to find that the entire crew was crammed in the space. Well, not crammed, it just felt so close. Besides, not everyone was there. She glanced around. Where was River? She stepped in and looked questioningly at Mal.

"Have a seat." He motioned to the chair Wash had always sat in. Oh the torture. But the look on Mal's face was kind and understanding. So she sat. The others were silent.

River walked in then, quietly as always. In her arms she carried a bundle. The bundle was lumpy. River positioned herself in front of Zoe and placed the bundle in her lap.

"I was keeping them safe." She said gently. "They were sad."

Zoe unwrapped the blanket to reveal every one of Wash's toy dinosaurs. She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face of its own volition.

"Turns out she kept 'em awhile when we were fixin' up in here." Mal said. "When I saw that you missed 'em, I asked everyone."

"We all wanted to know too." Kaylee piped up. "I was worried."

"When I found out River had 'em, I asked everyone here. Hoped you wouldn’t mind getting' 'em back." There was a vaguely wry note in his voice.

Zoe couldn’t trust herself to speak. She just nodded and looked from face to face as she fondled the toys. Kaylee had tears welling up and Simon was resting his hand on her shoulder. Inara smiled at Zoe when their eyes met. Jayne looked mildly amused, as if the whole thing was a bit ridiculous. But he kept his mouth shut and Zoe was glad of that. River was still looking fondly at the toys.

"They'll like it better now that they're home." She smiled at Zoe. Zoe returned the smile. Then, as she began to place the dinosaurs along the console, she couldn’t stop the tear that slid along her cheek. Mal rested a hand on her shoulder. Nothing more need to be said. Wash was back among them.