“Hey, Mal, long time no see,” Zerri laughed. “How we gonna rescue my ship? Of course someone would stick a bomb on my poor Kleodora.” “How do you manage not to die on me?” Mal laughed, eying her. “Good to see you, mei-mei.” “I’m just lucky. And brave and dumb,” she told him, and glanced at River. “Hi.” “You were lucky. They didn’t know who you were, did they? When they asked, you made up a name. You cut and dyed your hair and came to the Rim again,” River murmured. “Sorry, I don’t mean to…..It just slips out.” “It’s okay. I’m not a reader or anything, but sometimes I get that way,” Zerri said, laughing. “Then Keith hits me and we get into a tussle….” She gave an affectionate smile towards the man, which he gladly returned. River smiled to herself- she had found a new project. Jayne glanced at her satisfied smile and groaned inwardly. This was going to be an interesting trip. Kiri shot the guns on Jayne’s belt an appreciative glance, and opened her mouth to speak. “Don’t, Kiri Annebella Lee. That man is mine,” warned River, not even looking away from Zerri’s face. Jayne smiled, and Kiri frowned. She, too, had found a new project. “Oh, yeah, this is gonna go great,” murmured Staci, and Zoe was inclined to agree with her. **

“This trip is gonna be interestin’, ain’t it?” Staci said to Zoe. The two were tucked away behind an empty crate in the cargo bay. Wash was flying the boat, and Staci needed someone to talk to, so there they were, tucked out of sight. “You can say that again,” Zoe agreed. “Why are you sittin’ here with me when you could be with your husband?” Staci asked curiously, tilting her head to study the older woman. “You’re hiding something from Zerri,” Zoe stated. It wasn’t a question. “Yeah, Zoe, I know. Never did get my life together after the war,” lamented Staci, and Zoe felt a shiver of familiarity at those words. “But you weren’t exactly up front with your captain about knowin’ me, were ya?” “You were a high-ranking Alliance officer. I bet your captain doesn’t know,” Zoe pointed out. “She doesn’t. I regret every moment of that, Alleyne, you know I do. I was so mad at the ‘verse then; I don’t know how I didn’t kill myself,” moaned Staci. “A rogue Browncoat killed your mother, father, sister, and fiancé, and, Staci, it’s a wonder there weren’t bloodbaths following you. You were powerful in the Parliament, but you left, didn’t you? You made a choice.” “They couldn’t stop me. I had all the influence to crumble their empire, so they left me alone…..You’re hiding something, too, from my captain. What is it?” Staci asked carefully. “Well, years ago, back when we were all in the war together….,” began Zoe and Staci settled back to listen.

**

Zerri was sleeping soundly on the couch outside of the infirmary, twitching in a fretful sleep. Mal sat in a chair next to her, not quite believing this was the teenage girl who had triumphed over fear and agony in the war, that had saved his and Zoe’s lives countless times, and vice versa. As he stared at the girl who might well be his sister for all he cared for her, the girl he dearly loved, he wondered what had happened to his mei-mei.

** Battle of Athena’s Grave, Seven Years Ago

“Tracey! Gorammit, Tracey, I want your beans!” Zerri managed to whine, despite the sounds of an air battle not far away. Zerri was grinning happily at Tracey, ready to wrestle him away from the appealing, tiny can. She was smudged with dirt and blood, hers and other people’s, in the middle of a war, and begging Tracy for his beans. Mal glanced at the two with a smirk. If they all managed to get out of the war alive, there was no doubt Tracey and Zerri would find themselves together. “Alright, alright, just don’t kill me. You can have half,” relented Tracey, and Zerri beamed at him, which to him was worth half his beans. It sometimes bothered Mal how she never thought twice about killing the enemy- no regrets, happy, happy, joy, joy, smiles and laughter all around, but was reduced to tears when she found the mangled bodies of her comrades. Zerri and Tracey were sitting side by side, and Zerri was alternately leaning on Tracey’s shoulder or the crumbling stone wall behind them. As Mal watched, Zerri snuggled sleepily into Tracey’s side and Tracey hesitantly put an arm around her tiny, but dangerous, figure. Zerri raised her gaze to the hole in the crumbling roof of the warehouse they were in. Faint explosions from far away lit up the night sky, flashes of pink against dark blue. She turned back to Tracey, and surprising her, Mal, and even himself, Tracey kissed her gently. She giggled, a silvery, tinkling sound, and as Mal watched they became even more enveloped in each other’s arms. It made Mal slightly nauseous. Zoe popped out of nowhere, cast a blank look at the young couple, suppressed an eye roll, and turned back to Mal. “There’s an enemy scout ship landing here in fifteen minutes,” she informed him. “Right, then. Hey, everybody! We got purple bellies in fifteen minutes, prob’ly hopin’ to kill us all!” Mal yelled to his men and women, and Zerri appeared, clutching her gun, and smiling faintly. Mal felt slightly sorry for whoever encountered the teenager that night. She was one of the best. “So, Sarge, I guess I gotta go shoot somebody,” she said to him, laughing quietly to herself. Zoe smiled faintly, no one but Mal and Zerri seeing the trace of emotion. Zoe had a soft spot for the girl, and Mal knew it. “Zoe, you and Zerri go in first,” ordered Mal. “Tracey, you go with ‘em. You die, I’m takin’ your beans.” “Private,” Zoe said in way of acceptance, and Zerri smirked. “Hey, Zoe. M’ I gonna die?” Tracey asked as they melted into the shadows. “Probably,” answered Zoe.

**

He hadn’t. No one had, ‘cept for the purple bellies Zoe and Zerri slaughtered. But by then Zerri got a promotion and was transferred from Mal’s platoon, though she had proclaimed to him the eve of her departure, “Balls and Bayonets forever!” It had been a childish statement, and Zerri could be childish, but it seemed children always saw things clearer than adults did. Maybe that’s why he had never really grown up. There had been a few times after that when they had run into her at a bar or such, and Tracey and Zerri had made plans for the future, and then he’d seen her during the Battle of Serenity Valley. But during Serenity Valley, there hadn’t been celebrating as there had been before. Now he needed to tell her that Tracey was dead. Mal never knew what had happened there, but he was positive she didn’t know. He decided to tell her when she woke up, and rose to leave, but her slender fingers flew out and grasped his wrist. “Stay and talk to me,” she pleaded, her eyes weary with years her body had not yet seen. She was battle-scarred and wise beyond her years in a way Mal couldn’t fathom. Because in the midst of the fatigued warrior that she was, there was the laughter, the childishness that maybe made her the wisest of them all. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall,” she murmured to herself, and Mal started. “Zer, I need to tell you somethin’,” he sighed, gazing at her. “We ran into Tracey ‘bout a year back, and…he’s dead.” “Um, Mal, is this that the tragic space dementia talking?” Zerri demanded, shooting to her feet. “I shot him and put him in a casket, Zerri. He’s dead,” Mal told her softly. “Mal, I talked to him day before yesterday. I’m gonna go to Saint Albans sooner or later and get him. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout, but my Tracey is alive.”

**

River crept into Shepherd Book’s room. He had been hiding, and she wanted to know from what. “River? Is that you?” “She knows your secret. Can’t let her see you or she’ll tell them. Don’t want us to know. Staci……..your daughter.”