F: The Song You Sing
Fandom: Firefly
Main characters: River, Inara
Referenced characters: Simon, Mal
Pairings: River/Inara
Contains: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: This is the song Inara's mother once sang. For comment_fic.
"Your mother sang it to you."
Inara looks up and blinks. "I didn't hear you come in, River."
"Of course not," River says, shrugging, and sits down on the bed. "Your mother sang that song to you, didn't she? To help you sleep at night. She sang it over and over the night before you left home, but neither of you slept. And now you're leaving home again. So you're singing it over and over again."
"I suppose I am," Inara says, closing the lid of the box she just finished packing.
"I'll miss you."
"Everyone will, sweetie."
River shakes her head. "I'll miss you more. You sing the lullaby all the time, only you don't know it, and it helps. You help. And you think I'm beautiful, and you don't see broken when you look at me, you see grace. You bring calm. You help Simon, too. Civilise all of us. Tame the wild girl, keep the man company among the savages. You are the lullaby."
"River -- "
"I don't want you to go," River says, and that should sound childish, but it sounds old and tired and serious. "We need you. All of us. He's too grumpy to say so, but he needs you, too."
"River..."
Her eyes are wilder, when she looks up again. "Don't let me fall apart."
Inara crosses the room to sit on the bed too, and takes River into her arms easily, holding her close. She's too thin -- Inara can feel the shapes of her bones, sharp points, but it doesn't matter. Inara holds her, and thinks she's beautiful and not broken, and hums her lullaby, is the lullaby, until River's eyes close and she holds her even after that.
Main characters: River, Inara
Referenced characters: Simon, Mal
Pairings: River/Inara
Contains: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: This is the song Inara's mother once sang. For comment_fic.
"Your mother sang it to you."
Inara looks up and blinks. "I didn't hear you come in, River."
"Of course not," River says, shrugging, and sits down on the bed. "Your mother sang that song to you, didn't she? To help you sleep at night. She sang it over and over the night before you left home, but neither of you slept. And now you're leaving home again. So you're singing it over and over again."
"I suppose I am," Inara says, closing the lid of the box she just finished packing.
"I'll miss you."
"Everyone will, sweetie."
River shakes her head. "I'll miss you more. You sing the lullaby all the time, only you don't know it, and it helps. You help. And you think I'm beautiful, and you don't see broken when you look at me, you see grace. You bring calm. You help Simon, too. Civilise all of us. Tame the wild girl, keep the man company among the savages. You are the lullaby."
"River -- "
"I don't want you to go," River says, and that should sound childish, but it sounds old and tired and serious. "We need you. All of us. He's too grumpy to say so, but he needs you, too."
"River..."
Her eyes are wilder, when she looks up again. "Don't let me fall apart."
Inara crosses the room to sit on the bed too, and takes River into her arms easily, holding her close. She's too thin -- Inara can feel the shapes of her bones, sharp points, but it doesn't matter. Inara holds her, and thinks she's beautiful and not broken, and hums her lullaby, is the lullaby, until River's eyes close and she holds her even after that.