December 25

"Why do we always have to meet in the middle of the gorram night?" Jayne clomped into the galley and turned a chair backwards before straddling it. The kitten in his arms mewed as he settled it against his chest. "Honest folks are tryin' to sleep here."

"But it's time to pick a winner!" Kaylee exclaimed. "We all saw the way they was cuddled up together last night by the tree."

"And we all know what they did after," Zoe added wryly. "Never would've thought anyone could be louder than you two." She looked pointedly at Simon and Kaylee – Simon's ears went red, but Kaylee just beamed.

"Aw, thanks, Zoe. Sweet of you to say."

Kaylee placed a burlap bag in the center of the table and dumped out the contents. "Right. Here's the prize. Now everyone has to 'fess up what they did to help."

"I put up the mistletoe," Jayne said. "And I made cookies. Two things, two chances at the pot."

"Why should making cookies count?" Simon asked.

"It got them alone now, didn't it? Plus you shoulda seen the mess they left in there." He rubbed his nose with one hand, careful not to disturb the now purring pile of fluff in his other arm. "I deserve a third draw after cleanin' that up."

"I rigged up Inara's shower to not work right, so she'd have to use the crew showers. Worked out pretty well I think." Kaylee raised an eyebrow at Jayne, who grinned at her in return. "I also booked the sleigh ride. Oh, and talked the Cap'n into Christmas, which I reckon should count some, too. Simon?"

"I set up the Secret Santa so they would get each other's names."

"Seriously? And you were raggin' on me about the cookies? Lame." Jayne rolled his eyes.

"Zoe?" Kaylee asked.

She shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall. "I didn't do much of anything. Just told 'em what I thought they needed to hear at the time."

"Same," said River, nodding. "The probability of the desired outcome was approaching one without intervention, but the speed of approach was altered favourably."

There were blank stares all around. Simon opened his mouth to explain, closing it again when Kaylee just shook her head at him.

"Uh huh. Sure thing, crazy." Jayne snorted. "Right, so how are we aimin' to do this exactly?"

Kaylee reached into the pocket of her coveralls and drew out a handful of slips of paper. "I figured everyone gets to write their name on one of these. You did more than one thing, you get more than one entry. Fair?"

She grabbed a pencil out of the same pocket and wrote her name neatly on three pieces of paper and passed the pencil to Zoe before folding them and dropping them into the empty burlap bag. One by one, they all added their slips of paper to the bag, and Kaylee gave the bag a good shake once they'd all been placed inside.

After setting it down on the table, she reached in and fumbled for one of the folded pieces of paper. "All right, the winner of all these lovely goodies is – "

"Mal?"

They all froze at Jayne's exclamation.

The captain sauntered casually into the room, taking them all in with a calm, unsurprised glance. "Evenin' folks. Up late planning a mutiny, or is it something more sinister?" He peered at the pile on the table and shook his head. "Definitely something more sinister."

"We were just… uh… just…" Kaylee was stammering.

"Gamblin'? On my ship?" He tsked a few times softly. "Thought you'd know better, 'specially you." He pointed at Zoe, his expression stern but his eyes twinkling with amusement. "And maybe you." He gestured at Simon. "The rest of the lot of you… well, can't say as I'm surprised."

Mal walked over to the table and surveyed the pile in the center. "Nice pile of loot you got there. What are the stakes? Don't see any cards though…" He made a show of looking under the table. "No dice." He looked pointedly toward the bag in Kaylee's hands. "Some sort of lottery then? If I may?"

He reached out his hand for the bag and Kaylee gave a resigned shrug and handed it over to him.

"You know," he said after giving the bag a little shake, "I don't know if I even need to draw a name, seein' as how there should be about fifty slips in here with my name on 'em and likely the same for Inara."

"How did you…?"

"Point is, you shouldn't be interferin' in other folks'… "

"Love lives?" Kaylee offered.

"Business," Mal finished.

"Well, I hope the business was good, Cap'n," Kaylee said cheerfully.

Zoe unsuccessfully tried to stifle a snort of laughter at Mal's expression.

"Ahem." Mal cleared his throat. "Since I wouldn't feel right takin' your money, I'll just take my share and leave the rest of it for you to divvy up amongst yourselves as you see fit." He picked up the knife and examined it, pulling it briefly out of its sheath to look at the blade before tucking it into his belt. "This'll do."

Jayne tugged his hat down grumpily over his ears. "Aw, that was one of my favourites."

Mal picked up the spoon, looking at it thoughtfully before nodding and tucking it into his pocket. "This, too. Rest is yours."

He gave them all a nod. "Reckon you should all get some sleep soon. It's late." With a wink at Zoe, he strolled back down the corridor to the crew quarters, leaving them all staring after him.

Kaylee grinned. "Well, that went pretty well, dontcha think?"

River walked along the corridor between the bridge and the galley, her fingers trailing along the walls as she passed the crew hatches.

From Kaylee's cabin, playful giggles and Simon's laughter followed by a soft sigh. In Jayne's, the kitten was dreaming about chasing the scrap of ribbon, coiling and twisting through the long grass like a serpent. Its paws twitched restlessly, and Jayne reached up in his sleep to pat it as it was asleep on his pillow, body curled around his head. He was still wearing his hat. Visions of sugarplums…

River smiled.

Zoe was awake, but just barely, standing on the precipice between waking and dreaming. Her hand was resting against her lower belly, which was just starting to harden. The baby kicked and fluttered, movements still too slight to be physically felt, but rippling through the fabric of the 'Verse all the same.

Mal and Inara, limbs tangled up together, at peace.

The stillness of the empty shuttle was full of a warm and companionable silence that welcomed her as she entered. After Inara had left, it had been more like an ache, a lonely silence waiting for the return of an echoed sound. She lit one candle, all she needed, and moved to the little table near the bed where the brushes and paint had been waiting for her.

First, she touched each of the symbols that were already there, whispering their names in the glow of the candle. Another smile touched her lips as she reached the bottom most one. Inara had figured it out, as she'd known she would.

Taking the lid from the tiny pot, she dipped the tip of the paintbrush and added a character to the bottom of the row.

Serenity.

The ship, their home. A peace they had all carved out for themselves among the stars.

Then, a second one.

Love.

"Greatest power in the 'Verse," she whispered into the silence that wasn't silent at all and blew out the candle.

And so we come to the end at last. A huge extra-special thank you to my beta, Josie Lange, for all her time and support, and thank you to everyone reading for all your kind words and encouragement!