Serenity Valley.
Everyone was off in their own corners of the ship as Wash started to approach the atmosphere around 60 miles above the Serenity Valley memorial's principal landing docks. Mal almost hopes that at least some of them are heading off toward Milliways at the moment, but he knows not to hope for everybody to do so.
And every name’s a father or a husband ( Read more... )
And every name’s a father or a husband ( Read more... )
Those with the stomach for it - or the memories of having been there - do not turn away from the Valley at the far end of the graveyard.
As I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
In many ways, the Valley appears almost exactly as survivors of the battle left it: near to two months of constant shooting, bombing and fire left the ground charred and broken, a pit. There are railings along the very edge of the Valley nearest the graveyard, with petite electronic plaques outlining where precisely certain troops were stationed and how they moved during the course of the conflict. Some railings also sport small religious icons - the central railing closest to the graveyard itself has a wooden HoTei Buddha carrying a rosary ( ... )
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It's been the cause of a little trouble.
She's kept it. And without telling anybody --
Her hand tightens on Simon's arm. Whispered: "Hold up a minute?"
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They're walking slowly; he stops.
"What is it?"
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Something with holes in it.
She doesn't look at Simon. Just unfolds it. And stands there, looking at it.
And out at the waste land.
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Quietly: "Does Mal know you brought that?"
It's not accusatory. Just curious.
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Her fingers brush over the holes.
"But if I had to put money on it...I'm guessin' he thinks it ought to be left here too."
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You whom I could not save
She's right.
Listen to me.
"Where?"
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There's a blank patch of earth (scorched, of course, like the rest of it) off to the right. Kaylee kneels there, and pauses for a moment.
And says, low, and a little lost, "Don't know whether to leave it or fold it back, before I let it go."
It's riddled with holes.
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They used to pour millet on graves or poppy seeds
To feed the dead who would come disguised as birds.
But that's right, isn't it? The picture's not here to be seen.
I put this book here for you, who once lived
So that you should visit us no more.
"Fold it back," he says quietly.
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Kaylee doesn't -- can't -- just let it drop in the dirt. She places it there. Lets it rest there.
Doesn't bother with a rock to hold it there. If it blows away, it blows away. There's no breeze right now, anyhow.
You don't realize until you see this just how much the war has shadowed everything. Life on Serenity. Life in the 'verse at large. It's why Kaylee stays kneeling, like she doesn't know what to do next.
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He stumbles over it, a little.
"Do you want to ... I don't know. Say something?"
Not that he has any idea what.
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"Nothin' to say."
It's choked. Kaylee stands, carefully.
"This is how it is."
Mal's said that before. More than once. Kaylee can articulate what she means by it; she'd rather not do so here and now.
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Shepherd Book would have knows what to say. What would be appropriate.
He puts a hand on Kaylee's shoulder.
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Eyes on the picture at her feet. Not the larger picture of the Valley.
She's turned in to him, just a little.
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It's a little awkward to move this way, but not impossible.
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Not impossible.
Kaylee settles an arm around his waist; their steps are slow and measured.
It's so quiet here.
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