DISCLAIMER: If I owned these characters, Firefly would have turned out WHACK. Rest assured, not mine, not ever.
SPOILERS: Post Firefly the series, prior to Big Damn Movie.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
All I Need
By onyx_regret
Some of the other girls at the training house think I'm crazy. They don't understand why I choose to affiliate myself with Mal Reynolds and his people. They know what he does, what they all do, but they don't know what kind of man he is. I tell them that I only fly with Serenity because it grants me a certain amount of freedom to choose my clients.
Really, I am fascinated with everyone on board.
Mal, for all his glaringly obvious faults, is not a bad person. Sure he can be egocentric, controlling, rude, invasive, abrupt, single-minded, stubborn and childish. But he looks after everyone on board as if they were family. He doesn't have to take care of them, of us, but he does. He would go to any length for one of us, kill a man if he thought it necessary.
Wash is impossible not to love. He is so… human. He is a great man, in the sense that he is not afraid to feel. It's so evident that he worries about Zoe, he loves her more than anything in the world. He says what he means, something that is unfortunately becoming rare today. And Wash can always make me smile.
Jayne. After first meeting Jayne I thought there was nothing to him except for guns and sarcasm. All he appeared to be interested in was guns, women, money and food. But after that little boy was shot protecting him, I know that I was wrong. He knows exactly who he is, and he knows that he could be a better man.
Simon, the doctor. He is similar to Mal, and it frustrates the both of them. They only have an interest in one thing, and his is to take care of his little sister. He differs from Mal also, because he doesn't mask his feelings for his sister. I think if the two of them ever found out how similar they are, they might understand one another a little better.
River is a beautiful child. I do feel for her, knowing what has happened to her. No child should have their essence forcibly removed from them. River still wants to be a child, but these modifications the Alliance have made to her brain make that almost impossible. Every now and then I see glimpses of the child, and it makes me happy.
Shepherd Book is a dear man. I never thought we would be friends, given our conflicting lifestyles. He is the truest, most honest man I have met in the whole 'verse. He never looks down on me for being a Companion. He focuses on his own failings rather than the failings of others. He is loving, and firm. And he is wise beyond all measure.
Kaylee. To me, Kaylee represents all that is pure and good in the world. Honestly, I think her heart is made of solid gold. She loves to see everyone happy, everyone smiling. That's why she worries so much about Simon, he rarely breaks a smile. Kaylee loves the simple things, the taste of a strawberry, the purr of her engine. She has never wanted more. That's why I love her.
Yes, I love her. She spends time with me just to spend time with me. When she smiles, the whole 'verse lights up. She never talks about herself, and I think she has license to, being the best mechanic flying. When she's fixing the ship, all covered in grease and concentrating hard, that's when she's most beautiful.
But I'm a Companion. Companion's never get to fall in love and live happily ever after with female mechanics. So I'll settle for brushing her hair, listening to her tell me about the caps in the engine. I don't know what she's talking about, but I can hear her voice, and that's all I need.
The End