Midday Moon, Midnight Sun

"...You are my midday moon and I your midnight sun."

--Heather Alexander

I'm back with a vengence gang! grins I will be reuploading and tweaking my original works in progress and I will

also be working on new stuff. I have been out of touch because my life has been amazingly busy and chaotic but I'm ready to write again! Yay! Anyways to all my old readers and new...Thank you.

DEDICATION: To Joss Whedon. No Contest.

Obviously I dont own the Firefly 'verse. I just like to play.

Chapter One: Of Oranges and Disturbing Thoughts.

"Hey Cap'n." Kaylee and her megawatt smile came into the dining area and plopped down into her favorite chair; the one directly across from Mal.

"Shouldn't you be holed up in the engine room asleep?" he grunted. "It's the middle of the gorram night.

Well used to the gruff inflection in her voice, she just smiled her blinding smile and said: "Sometime's I like to walk around Serenity at night. When there ain't any distractions you can hear how's she's feelin."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "And how's she doin Kaylee?"

A self-satisfied look came across the mechanic's face. "She's hummin like a satisfied woman Cap'n."

Well used to Kaylee's analogies he didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Good to hear."

Kaylee picked up a fresh orange from the fruit bowl and slowly peeled it, her eyes glowing. Fresh fruit was so hard to come by in the black, that she always made it a point to enjoy the treat to her fullest.

Mal didn't think he would ever see anyone enjoy fresh fruit the way Kaylee did. She enjoyed it with every fiber of her being. He also thought he might rather like to be that orange and quickly put the brakes on that train. It was too disturbing. He filed it away with the other disturbing thoughts that he had been having about his genius mechanic lately. He shook his head slightly to clear it, and reached for an orange as well.

"What are you doin up Kaylee?"

"Same as you Cap'n. Couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

"Inner clock. It's peaceful. It's just me and Serenity. She tells me thanks or she tells me where she's hurtin. Or she just hums, tellin me she's satisfied." She looked at him shyly, almost expecting him to laugh or raise his eyebrow at her, though she knew that he understood because he loved the ship as much as she did. His small smile said it all. She tried very hard to ignore the sudden rush of warmth that spread through her and concentrated on her orange, peeling the sections carefully apart.

A comfortable silence settled between the two. The only sound heard was the soothing hum of Serenity as she cruised along.

An unsettling thought occured to Mal as he glanced at Kaylee. "How come I've never seen you walkin around? I've seen the Albatross around a couple of times but not you.

She paused midway through peeling her orange slices apart. "Mostly stay in the engine room or the cargo bay. Sit on the catwalk sometimes and jus listen to her. Seen you a couple of times jus sittin here." She added the last part almost sheepishly.

His gaze sharpened at that. "You sure learnin to sneak around here all quiet like." He felt an odd sense of self-rightousness when Kaylee blushed.

"Not sneakin Cap'n. Just didn't want to disturb ya."

"What changed your mind tonight?" It came out harsher than he intended and he immediately regretted it when he saw her stiffen slightly and a slightly hurt look come to her eyes.

Before he could think, he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, trying very very hard to ignore the tingle that shot up his arm. A tingle that had not been there before.

"I'm sorry Kaylee. You know you can sit with me. Don't feel like you can't." The words came out more fervored than normal and he just hoped she didn't notice. :What is wrong with me:

There was that smile again. That smile that put the stars to shame. "I know I can. And it's fine Cap'n."

He said nothing and ducked his head to hide the small smile that wanted to become a bigger one...