Mal Reynolds stared off into the sunset over grey sand earth. The flickers of the sun set afoot dancing shadows moving across the rock landscape. It was beautiful. It was just the right place. Mal turned, his back now toward the sun and he shook his head.

"You sure know how to pick 'em." He coughed. He wasn't sure what to say. "I'm guessing you knew all along. How I felt. I might even 'a been the only shmuck in the 'verse who didn't know. But I'm here now, and that's gotta count for somethin'. Anythin' really. Cause the truth is, I love ya. I always have. Remember when you told me you weren't gonna be offerin' your services to anyone on my ship?" Mal laughed. "Yeah, well, I was actually glad for it. Meant I wouldn't have ta' worry 'bout you bein' a distraction to my crew." He paused and swallowed. "No, I know, it's 'cause I didn't want anyone else havin' ya."

Mal kicked at the dirt a little.

"Don't ask me why it took me so long. Hell's if I know. There was always somethin' in me that wanted ya, just always laid it off as a lustin' fancy. Whenever I got to thinkin' it was something more 'n that, I'd just tell myself it weren't worth ponderin' on. That's why it took so long, I'm suppose'n. Ain't nobody'd ever called me stubborn was wrong about." For a moment, Mal's voice began to fade. "I'm sorry. Fer bein' so stubborn that is. You didn't deserve that. What I refused to see all along is that you cared too. Not just fer me. But fer the crew, for Kaylee and Serenity. You cared as much as I did. If there was anyone in the 'verse I could think would understand me enough to love me, it'd be you."

"I'm here cause I don't want you ta go. I don't want to have to get back on that ship knowin' that yer here. I want you ta come with me. I want us to be sweet. I want to hold you, I want to kiss you. I want to wake up every mornin' knowing that I'll have the rest of my life to prove to ya how sorry I am that it took me so long. I want to tell you that I love you every day. I want to hold your hand. I want to listen. Not that I was any good at listenin' to anyone – but I'd listen to you." Mal could feel his voice cracking.

"I swear, Inara. Please. I'll do anything, I'll say anything. Whatever it takes, please, just come back to me. I can't bear it no more. I ain't never care for anyone or anything quite the way I care about you. I have so much to offer. So much love. I promise you. If you come back. You'll have me, you can have all of me. I promise to love you unconditionally. To hold you when you cry, to smile when you laugh, to brighten your every day by just lettin' you know that I'm there. That I'm not going nowhere. That no matter what happens. I'm there. We're there – me and Serenity. We're home." The last word he said was too hard and Mal fell silent.

Staring back at him, Inara smiled from under her eyebrows. Her eyes were full of love, full of trust and understanding. Mal reached out, setting the palm of his hand against cold rock. The holograph still smiled. As if she understood what he meant. Mal went weak and fell beside the grave stone. He sobbed, soaking the dry earth underneath him.

Minutes passed in silence as the sun finished it's decent over the horizon. The cold of the dark rippled over Mal's skin, his face was now dry, completely out of tears. He'd missed his chance, his only chance, with the woman he loved. And he'd never gotten to tell her. He hoped she'd known. But it was too late now. She wasn't coming back. Mal dropped the flowers he'd been holding next to the tombstone and walked away, walked into a world he didn't want to be a part of – the world without her.