Once on a dusty desert moon,

the townspeople gathered, it was high noon.

They were there to watch a hangin', too be sure

of a group of smugglers numbering four.

One was a large man with a woman's name.

He'd been shot in the leg, and thus was lame

Then there was the funny man in the island shirt

next to the shepherd who appeared to be hurt.

Lastly, standing with head held high

was their leader with an odd look in his eye.

It was as if he knew something they did not.

He didn't seem upset over bein' caught.

Turns out he had history with the queen bee.

Meaner than mean and named Patience was she.

Sitting on her throne in front of the clock tower

she laughed and hollered o'er her supposed power.

She'd been sore since Mal turned down her offer

to share her bed and the villiage coffer.

So there they were, knee deep in dung,

bruised, bleeding, and waitin' to be hung.

"how'd this happen?",you might ask.

Tellin the story is quite a task.

You see there's this ship called Serenity

with a damn fine crew and trouble affinity.

Over the years theres been all sorts of drama:

Reavers, blue-hands, and a hat from Jayne's mama.

Love has budded between the crew,

Zoe n'Wash and Simon'n Kaylee to name a few.

Then theres the thing with Inara and Cap'n.

I'm holding my breath to see what'll happ'n.

However, the greatest love we see quite plain.

I would certainly be between Vera and Jayne.

I should probably get on with the tale

of how our boys landed their butts in jail.

They knew they shouldn't go but needed the money.

It was hardly lucrative smuggling honey.

Patience had waved them, white flag in hand

wanting the Lassiter and offerin' a payment grand

They couldn't turn it down, it was too good.

Even though they knew they probably should.

Patience had already tried to kill Mal twice,

but poor Zoe's protest just wouldn't suffice

to sway Jayne and Mal from their belief

they could escape Whitefall with minimal grief.

So there they were in the middle of the square

with ropes 'round their necks and dirt in their hair.

The hangman stood with his hand on the lever,

he was big and ugly and none too clever.

Just as they were about to swing,

a shout was heard with a piercing ring.

Before Queen Patience could comprehend,

fair Zoe came tearin' 'round the bend.

Hot on her heels was a huge cloud of dust.

The townsfolk stared and Patience cussed.

The dust was thick and gritty in their eyes.

The people hit the ground in shock and surprise.

Three minutes later the dust had cleared,

when Patience looked up it was just as she feared

Four empty nooses hung from a beam.

She let out a yelp that would've curdled cream.

Miles away in the open glorious space,

The crew gathered 'round their favorite place.

Book's arm was broken, Jayne's leg in stitches,

Mal and Wash sat counting their riches.

Simon and Kaylee were playing a game.

River acted crazy without any shame.

Zoe was quiet, her eyes on her spouse,

Inara just watched, still as a mouse.

After a few moments of bonding and bliss,

Mal raised his glass and he said this:

"To a wonderful, brave, fantastic crew

your equals will be far and few."

They all cheered while Jayne cleaned his gun

'til it occured to them that Cap'n wasn't done.

"One more moment, if you please,

I'd like to toast our enemies

they may lie and stab us in the back,

they can drag us into the black,

they can holler and they will fuss,

but they can't take the sky from us."

So life went on on that beautiful boat,

to tell the sweetest story Joss ever wrote.

by: chosen1