Takes place well after the events of Serenity. SPOILER alert if you haven't seen the movie.

2525

The silence was the strangest thing.

No running.

No laughter.

No moans of pleasure or whispers of delight.

No music.

Zoe walked the empty corridors, her fingertips running along the cool metal with the heat of a lover's caress. Her own footsteps were loud in the silence, but all she could hear was the whisper of Serenity, the building anticipation. This moment had to be perfect, had to be all she had to give.

Her first stop was Inara's shuttle, a womb of silk and incense, of wonder and caught breath. Nothing had changed in the scarlet rooms since Inara's death, not a sheet moved or a tea cup turned. Mal and Inara's wedding picture looked back from its place on the night stand, their smiles easy and their eyes full of a finding that Zoe had wondered if they'd ever take for themselves. For so long little things had kept them apart, and when they'd finally pushed it all aside it'd been as natural as breathing. Zoe had been happy for them, and sad all at once, the ghostly echoes of Wash stronger in the wake of the happy couple. She walked the rooms silently, making sure that all was set to rights before leaving, the door closing with a quiet finality behind her.

A walk through the cargo hold and she restacked the weights that had so often held the attention of Jayne and Book. The preacher's bible lay on a small table off to one side, metal bars holding it in place against the movement of the ship. It was opened with a red ribbon laying across the center of pages which were covered with River's angular scribbles, carefully taped back in place. One verse seemed to catch the eye and Zoe stopped, her fingers pressing against the worn pages. ~Peace I give unto you...~ The words were a stony contrast to the gun that was propped up against the table. Vera's final resting place. Jayne had left her there before he'd gone planetside, like a benediction on what was to come. Somehow right that Vera should be here now.

Slowly Zoe left the cargo hold behind, making her way to the dining hall and then to the infirmary. It didn't much matter to her when she retraced her steps. This journey was about remembering, not about getting to her destination in a hurry. The mess hall was still as inviting as it had always been, flowers etched onto the wall by Kaylee's creativity and a smear of chocolate handprints left by River and Cheyenne when the little one was just learning to walk. Simon had been so proud of his little girl, and more proud when Kaylee's stomach had begun rounding again. Zoe thought it would be a boy this time, with Kaylee's smile and Simon's tender touch. She hoped they would be happy together, as happy as any two deserved to be. River had promised to watch over all of them. Serenity's family left behind on distant shores. They had all shaped what the ship was with their touch and their warmth. All of that noise, and all so quiet now.

Left foot, right foot, Zoe walked with the same deliberate strides that had carried her through her entire life. She'd never had the grace that River had, never the connection with each thing around her, but she had awareness and Serenity was the closest thing to a real home she'd known. She wondered if she'd miss it.

The steps to the cockpit seemed all too short as Zoe climbed them, her gaze landing first on the plastic dinosaurs that still decorated the console. They were more battered now, handled by small hands and the tip of Bob's tail had been chewed off, but they were still there. Still telling Wash's stories, reminding them all of his cheerful smile the same way the hole in the chair reminded them that life was fleeting and death came in an instant.

"Everythin' in place then?" Mal's voice broke into Zoe's revery and he turned in the pilot's chair to look at her. His features were rougher now than they'd been years ago, a long scar running from temple to chin and a smile that didn't come nearly as readily as it once had.

"We're good to go, Sir." She shook her hair back from her face and entered the room, moving over to take the other seat.

"You don' have ta do this, Zoe. Ya know that."

"Yeah. I know, Sir."

Zoe looked over and their gazes locked. Shared pain, shared loss...as always they understood each other perfectly. They always had. There was love between them, different from what she'd had with Wash or he with Inara, but just as strong.

"All the same. I'm glad you come along. Wouldn't be the same wi'out you." He turned away from her, looking out into the black in front of them. In the distance many ships could be seen, darting too and fro in an intricate dance, that they both knew to be a deadly battle. The Alliance had finally decided to take care of the Reavers once and for all, and both sides had dedicated the majority of their forces to the destruction of the other. It was the perfect opportunity to do something about both.

"You too, Sir. I couldn't imagine standing here with anyone else. Here at the end of all things."

Mal nodded, not having much to say. Rarely had words really been necessary between them, less so in the last few months. "Wash would be proud 'f ya, girl."

"An' Inara of you, Sir."

The battle grew closer and closer, the hum from the engines reverberating through the hull.

"Zoe..."

"Don't, Sir." She knew what he was going to say and knew it would be better if they just left what was unsaid between them stay unsaid. "I know."

Mal looked back out at the stars as they passed the first drifting wreckage of ships, the firefly class ship darting easily between the masses. "They'll nevah know what hit 'em."

A smile ran over Zoe's lips at that. "No, they won't."

"You ready to be heroes?"

Zoe nodded and pressed the big red button on the console, the one Wash had rigged for bringing everyone home once upon a time. It was time to go home.

"Big damn heroes, Sir. Big damn heroes."

The firefly class ship, Serenity lunged forward into the middle of the battle her hull taking a pounding from both sides as she slipped through space. Deep within the little ship the engines began to scream as the gears ground and overloaded, Kaylee's precious baby chewing herself from the inside out and superheating the tons of explosive that had been loaded within. There was a shining moment of silence and then the ship expanded in a flat explosion, like a bright star that consumed everything in its path. With her death Serenity sought redemption, this valley battle not to be lost, two souls carried home to the arms of love.