Persephone

RyAnne stood on the docks, eyeing the Firefly in the distance, noting the cheery girl sitting in front of it, clearly looking for passengers. A big guy and some city dandy had left on a mule a few minutes before, clearly heading out for supplies. The city dandy had kissed the cheery girl before leaving. Standing there, Ry began to question her resolve, but she'd made a promise, and she wasn't going to back out of it now. She hitched her bag up over her shoulder and started threading through the crowd toward the ship.

As she reached the dock where the Firefly towered directly above her, she had another moment of uncertainty. The cheery young woman noticed her standing there.

"Nǐ hǎo!" she greeted, smiling even wider. Noticing Ry's line of sight, she added, "Pretty thing, ain't she? You lookin' for a ride?"

Bracing herself, Ry shook her head and tried to smile, "Not exactly. I'm looking for Zoe Washburne."

The girl's surprise was clear, "Oh! Well, uh… she's, uh, just… I'll go find her."

"Xièxie." Ry responded, inclining her head.

She spent her time looking over the ship and nervously shuffling her feet, still contemplating an escape. Before she could decide to follow through, Kaylee was coming back down the ramp, Zoe striding right behind her, followed by a tall man in tan pants, a red button-up rolled up to his elbows and suspenders. Upon sighting her, Zoe stopped dead in her tracks, so abruptly that the man behind her almost plowed into her. Ry lifted her chin and made herself maintain eye contact with the other woman. Zoe's face was unreadable, and Ry still didn't know what to expect. Finally, Zoe seemed to snap out of it and smiled before walking quickly the rest of the way down the ramp and wrapping her arms around Ry. Ry quickly dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Zoe as well, letting out a sigh of relief.

They pulled apart, but Ry left a hand grasped on Zoe's arm, "I wasn't sure how you'd react to me showing up here."

"Why would I be anything but happy, lǎo péngyǒu?"

Ry just shrugged, "I heard about… I'm sorry. I can't imagine." Ry gently squeezed Zoe's arm before dropping her hand back to her side.

"Thank you. It's… I'm managing."

"I never doubted you would. But still…"

"I know. So, what are you doing here?"

"I've been on Persephone for a good few years now."

"I know that. I meant… here."

"Uh… not to interrupt this touching scene, but Zoe, I take it you know this woman?" the man who had come out with Zoe questioned.

Zoe turned to look at him, "Shì'a, Captain. RyAnne Belle, she's an old friend of Wash's. Ry, this is Captain Malcolm Reynolds." If anyone noticed the hitch in Zoe's voice as she said Wash's name, it was ignored.

Ry inclined her head toward the captain, "Sir." Turning back to Zoe, she took a deep breath, "I'm here because Wash asked me to be." She held her hand up as Zoe opened her mouth to question what she meant. "Bear with me a moment. Wash waved me just over two months ago. Told me the lot of you were about to do something real stupid, and even more necessary. Wouldn't tell me what, but I figured it out right quick after that broadcast. He told me if I didn't hear from him again, he figured Serenity was in need of a new pilot, and he wanted to make sure it was someone who would take care of his jiātíng. My heart broke when I didn't hear from him again, but I made a promise to a friend, and I intend to keep it, if you'll have me."

The silence that rang out when she finished was deafening. If Ry didn't know better, she'd think Zoe was on the verge of tears.

Finally, the captain spoke up, looking at his first mate, "Zoe?"

Zoe looked up at the captain, then back to Ry, then back to the captain, "Sir."

"A word?"

Zoe nodded and moved off to the side with the captain, leaving Ry to stand shuffling her feet once again.

Zoe did her best to focus on Mal, but she was also trying to process the idea that her husband had known he might not survive Miranda, so much so that he took steps in case he didn't. Mal reached out and gently placed one hand on her shoulder while using the other to turn her face toward him.

"Zoe. What are you thinking?"

"I… It's like he knew he wasn't going to make it. Why wouldn't he say anything if he was thinkin' that, Mal?"

"I don't rightly know, Zoe, but clearly he was. Question is, what're we gonna see fit to do about it?"

Zoe's eyebrows pulled in, "Sir?"

"This girl, you believe her?"

"Yes sir."

"You trust her?"

"Yes sir."

"We do need a pilot. "

"River…"

"You know just as well as I do little River's likely to decide dancin' 'round the cargo bay's more important that stayin' at the helm."
"Yes sir."

"This girl a good pilot?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you want to bring her on?"

"You're asking me, sir?"

"Seein' as you're the one who knows her, and it was your husband who thought to put her here… yes, I am. It's your decision, Zoe."

"Yes sir."

"Is that, 'Yes sir, I understand it's my choice' or 'Yes sir, we should keep her'?"

Zoe finally relaxed and almost smiled, "Yes sir, we should keep her."

As the captain and Zoe stepped aside, the cheery young woman approached Ry somewhat shyly, "RyAnne's what Zoe said, right? I'm Kaylee." She stuck her hand out.

Ry looked up from her feet and shook the offered hand, "You can call me Ry."

Kaylee smiled brightly, "So, you're a pilot?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ma'am?! Oh no! that's too fancy. Just Kaylee."

"Kaylee." Ry allowed a small smile. "Mechanic?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Callouses," Ry dipped her chin toward the girls hands, "and you've got a bit of grease here." Ry touched her finger to her own chin.
"Oh!" Kaylee rubbed her chin on her sleeve. "So, uh, you knew Wash?" Kaylee looked so sad, but so hopeful.

Ry couldn't help but allow a small smile of her own and she nodded, "Before the war. We were in flight school together."
"When'd you meet Zoe?"

"After they were married. Whenever Serenity landed on a planet I was on, I'd meet up with Wash. A couple years after the war, he brings along this gorgeous woman who looks like she could kill me with her pinky. I'd never been happier for him."

"That's sweet!"

At that point, Zoe and the captain came back to them. The captain flicked his gaze over her before he spoke, "Pay's not much, but it's enough to live on. We ain't runnin' from the Alliance these days, but we ain't exactly friendly with them."

Ry's mouth tightened, "Don't care for 'em much myself."

Mal nodded and almost grinned, "Welcome to Serenity."