Mal and Simon were silent for most of the ride to the Cobb property. Strangely enough, it was Jayne who broke the silence.

“Wanna thank you both.... for uh... you know... being understandin' and all,” he rubbed his neck and stuttered somewhat.

“Anyone else would do the same in my place,” Mal assured him. Simon nodded in agreement.

“No they wouldn't.” Jayne said firmly. “You both know I've never really gotten along with either of you two, but uh... I just want ya to know... I think your all right.”

“Well... thank you, Jayne,” Simon said hesitantly.

“Gee... I think I'm gonna cry,” Mal said sarcastically.

Simon grinned, while Jayne gave a half grunt.

When they reached the farmhouse, Jayne tried to convince the Captain that it wasn't necessary for him to come in.

“You might catch somethin',” he muttered as they approached the house.

“Jayne, your mother is dying of cancer. That is not a 'catching' disease,” Simon explained.

“Still...”

“You ain't embarrassed of your family, now are ya?” Mal teased him.

Jayne whirled around to yell at him, but was cut off by someone else's yell.

“Hot dang! If it ain't the prodigal son!” a young man stood on the porch grinning from ear to ear. If it hadn't been for his ear to ear grin and his manner of speaking, Mal would have thought he was looking at a Core gent.

“Mattie, you ole son of a gun!” Jayne dumped his duffle bag into Mal's arms and ran to him.

He picked Mattie clean up off his feet and twirled him around. An older gentleman about the same height as Mattie came around the house. He took one look at Jayne and Mattie and gave an audible cry.

“Jayne!” he practically ran to the giant mercenary. Jayne gave him a big bear hug.

“Pa, look at ya. Ya ain't changed a bit. Still as spry as ever,” he grinned.

He gave a slap on the cheek. “Always sassin' your pa, ain't ya?”

“Come on you two, quit standin' around like two mules starin' at the side of a barn,” Jayne yelled over to Mal and Simon. “Pa, Mattie, this here's Captain Mal Reynolds, and our ships doc, Simon. Doc, Cap'n, this is my pa and little brother Mattie. Well come on then, let's go in and see my ma.”

They followed him into the house, with the younger man and Jayne's father following in their wake.

The last thing both Simon and Mal expected to see in the Cobb family parlor was a very fancy lady accompanied by a servant, that looked like she was ready to take them all down even though she was tinier than the little Albatross.

“Jayne?” Mal asked when everyone stopped to stare at them.

“Yeah, Mal?” he asked equally confused. Simon had a distinct feeling of deja vu.

“Why is there a very fancy lady in your sitting room that makes me feel like I should be curtsyin' to her?”

“Don't rightly know, myself. Mattie?” he turned to his younger brother.

“Oh, forgive my manners everyone,” he said in cultured tones that had both Mal and Simon glancing at each other.

“This is Lady Colbert-Jiangyin and her attendant, Miss Joon-mei,” he bowed his head lightly.

Jayne merely grunted at her. The little person glared at him for his obvious insolence.

“Pleasure, ma'am, miss. I'm Captain Reynolds.,” Mal bowed his head just like Mattie did.

“Not the Lady Vera Colbert-Jiangyin?” Simon asked paling.

“Y-yes,” she answered tremulously. She was staring avidly at Jayne and seemed to have eyes for no one else.

Simon still looking nervous, bowed deeply. “It's an honor to be in your presence, my lady. I had no idea... how are you acquainted with the Cobbs?”

Lady Vera removed her gaze from Jayne and looked at Simon. She paled as well. “Simon Tam?”

He looked wary. “Yes.”

“Doctor Simon Tam? You have a sister named River Tam? You broke her out of a high security facility, yes?” She demanded.

Two loud clicks were heard. Everyone turned to see both Jayne and Mal holding out guns at the ready. “Now how in the world would a fancy lady like yourself know that? You got connections to the Alliance or somethin'?”

“And why are ya in my ma's house?” Jayne asked as an afterthought.

The small woman stepped forward, but Mal aimed his gun at her. She stopped and looked at her mistress.

“Not right now, Joon-mei,” she ordered her.

“Right, cause she can really do somethin',” Jayne said sarcastically.

“Jayne, Captain Reynolds, please put those things away. Lady Vera and Joon-mei are our guests,” Mattie said calmly.

“Yeah? Well, I don't ever recall ma invitin' her over for tea,” Jayne growled.

Mattie sighed and stood next to Joon-mei, who looked annoyed at him. “Jayne, don't you remember about ma and pa being indentured servants before they had us?”

“Yeah, so? What's that got to do with the price of tea on Persephone?”

“Well, Lady Vera was their mistress. She freed them not long after you were born,” he explained.

“Now that's yi dui de fen bian. I weren't born yet when they were freed. I wuz born out here on the Rim,” Jayne scoffed and pointed his gun at Joon-mei when she tried to move. “Uh-uh, little girl. Don't even think about it.”

Ker-chink. Mal, Jayne, and Simon turned their heads simultaneously. Mr. Cobb had a shotgun trained on them.

“You boys best put those guns away. Jayne, I'm ashamed a' you, your ma taught you better than this,” he'd barely finished those words, when Joon-mei suddenly gave a sweeping high kick that disarmed both Jayne and Mal.

She assumed a fighting stance and stared at them blankly.

“Zao wu shu zai min!” Simon exclaimed.

“Now, I don't think God had anything to do with her learnin' that, but it sure is downright unsettlin',” Mal muttered. He'd never seen anyone move that way besides River and maybe the Operative.

“Joon-mei, stand down,” her mistress said firmly.

She immediately obeyed and stood back. But the look in her eyes told Mal that she had not let her guard down.

“Look, we should discuss this later. Right now, I believe there is a very sick woman I can help,” Simon tried to be the voice of reason.

“There isn't anything you can do, doctor. My ma's too far gone,” Mattie shook his head.

“I understand that, but I do have some medicine that should ease her pain a great deal. It should make the suffering stop and let her go with some dignity,” he answered softly.

“You got medicine that can help Vera?” Mr. Cobb placed the shot gun over his shoulder.

“Yes. We were lucky enough to touch down on a planet that is well stocked with medicine,” Simon lied. He wasn't comfortable telling Jayne's pa that they'd stolen the medicine from the well stocked planet.

“Come on, doc. I'll show you up. Just gimme a moment with ma, all right?” Jayne led the way up the stairs.

“Of course,” Simon answered and followed him.

“I'd really appreciate it if you handed me back my gun, miss. Been with me for a very long time,” Mal pointed to the gun lying near Joon-mei's feet.

She gave him a hard stare and merely quirked her eyebrow.

“I ain't about to try and shoot ya when Mr. Cobb there is sportin' a nice lookin' shotgun,” Mal said.

She still gave him no answer and stared blankly at him. He squirmed, it was too much like the stare Zoe gave him whenever she was unhappy with him. Come to think of it, the way she hovered over the fancy lady and took her orders was a lot like Zoe watchin' his back and takin' his orders.

“Come on now, we all know you can kick my pi gu good an' plenty if I try anythin' funny,” Mal tried to charm her and gave her a crooked smile that almost always worked on Inara.

Again with the starin'. Only this time it looked like Inara givin' him the evil eye.

Mattie sighed, this was getting ridiculous. He bent over and retrieved the guns. He handed both of them to Mal.

“Thanks. I'll just hold on to this for Jayne,” he tucked the extra gun in his belt.

Joon-mei made a quick motion as if she were to attack him. Mal stumbled back a bit. Mattie snorted, while Joon-mei's mouth corners angled up slightly.

“Joon-mei, stop teasing the captain.”Lady Vera said sternly.

“Forgive me, my lady. I couldn't resist,” she shared a rare smile with Mattie.

Jayne stopped at his mother's door and took a deep breath. Simon touched his arm lightly. “I know this must be difficult for you, Jayne. I can't even imagine what I would feel like if River—”

“You're right, you can't,” Jayne said bluntly. “Just stay out here for a spell. I'll call you in when she's ready for you.”

He entered his parent's bedroom and shut the door firmly in Simon's face.

Her eyes were closed and her face looked thin, too thin. Her hair had once been waist-length, thick wavy and light-brown. Now, it was more of a dull mixture of gray and flat brown. It looked too thin, as if it been falling out slowly and steadily.

Slowly, he walked to her and knelt down next to her bed. Taking her small hand gently into his large calloused one, he kissed it. She breathed in raggedly and opened her eyes slowly.

“Jayne?” she whispers.

“I'm here, ma,” he said, his voice, almost as ragged as hers.

“I didn't think you'd come.”

“Well that's jus' dumb. Ain't nothin' in the 'verse that can stop me from seein' my ma,” he gave her a gentle smile reserved only for her.

Her eyes filled with tears. She raised a hand and cupped his face. “God, I've missed you. I'm so glad you're here. There's so much I need to tell you—”

“Shhh. It can wait a little. I got ya somethin',” he pulled the small box out of his pocket and opened it up. Inside was a glass ballerina. He turned a dial underneath it and a tinkling melody began while the ballerina danced around.

“It's beautiful, Jayne-boy. But, don't see why you wasted your credits on this when I ain't gonna—”

“Don't care if ya gonna die in ten minutes or ten years. This is yours till the good Lord calls fer ya,” he placed it on her night stand.

“All right, so long as you promise to take it back when I'm gone,” she smiled.

“What I need a girlie thing for?”

“You never know if you'll find the right woman around the corner. Then you can give her this an say : 'This here belonged to my ma. I knowed she woulda liked ya so I'm givin it to you.'”

“You always thinking the right one's gonna be there for me around a corner,” he chuckled. “Ma, I got a... a.... friend here, and he's a doctor. He's gonna look you over—”

“Doc Sullivan already looked me over,” she shook her head an smiled sadly at in. “Ain't nothing your friend can do.”

“Simon's from the Core, ma. He was trained up real good an' he even graduated top three percent an' all—”

“Seems you been away too long, son. Don't ya remember when Doc Sullivan moved here? Man was from Londinium and he was so green, he couldn't tell the difference 'tween a post-holer and a shovel,” she chuckled. It caused her to take gasping breaths after a while.

“Ma, no more talkin' all right? I'm gonna go get the doc now,” he tucked the stray hairs away from her face, dropped a kiss on her forehead and stood to leave.

She took hold of his hand. “When the doc's done with me, there's somethin' I gotta tell you before I go. It's real important.”

“This have somethin' ta do with that fancy lady downstairs?”

“Yes.”

“All right. But if'n the doc says you need to rest, then ya're gonna rest.” He kissed her hand and called for Simon, just as the ballerina stopped her dance and her melody silenced.