Mal-Susan dream.

[bad_in_latin]

Mal opens his eyes and he is riding faster than he ever remembers riding before. The split-rail fence is a whitewashed blur to his left, and he leans in closer to the gelding's neck. No reins and no restraints.

A blink of an eye finds Mal stopped, dropping lightly from the horse's back only to drop down again at the base of a tree, the leaves of which were a bright red, despite the heat of an oncoming Shadow summer usually keeping all trees green and vibrant. Stretching his legs out in front of him, Mal barely noticed the horse he had been riding moving off and away into the distance almost unnaturally fast.

The lack of a sun in the sky shows Mal that it's nighttime, but even as Mal stares at the familiar constellations, everything feels too bright around him - the grass too green, the fence too white, the bark of the tree too brown and the leaves still disturbingly red. The sky itself wasn't the normal shade of black-blue; more like the navy blue of Inara's favorite shawl, sequins blinking at him from his position on the back of the Reynolds Ranch property.

This may be a dream, but it's a nice and peaceful one, and Mal wouldn't mind staying for awhile.