[Firefly] from there we climb

[harlowrd]

Fandom: Firefly
Title: from there we climb
Word Count: ~1560
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Zoe/Wash
Warnings: None
Summary: Zoe grieves.

Comments

[harlowrd]

Low expectations are just safer, you know? Hehe.

I think in some ways I wanted to mirror one of the final scenes in Serenity, when Mal and River are flying the ship through some storm clouds as they depard, because of the same loss/hope relationship it shows. Yes, they are moving on, because it's what they do, but at the same time they're dealing with grief and loss, each in their own way. They survive and they move on, but the fact that they don't hire a new pilot represents to me the scars of what they've suffered. They won't let new people in, because it would be too painful to have a new person, that knows nothing of what they went through and how much Wash meant to all of them (especially Zoe, who in turn means a lot to Mal, etc.), taking his place. It would mean moving on not only too quickly, but too much, more than they'd ever be ready to IMO. Zoe fascinates me a little because she's able to almost completely turn off her emotional responses and go into 'soldier mode', and in the BDM I felt like she did that too quickly, so it had to be a mask (the other option is bad writing, which I refuse to acknowledge). Sure, his funeral must have brought some closure, but not that much closure, I think.

I see the parallels with Zutara as well, sans the romantic element. It also reminds me of Roy/Riza from FMA, although in both Zutara and Royai it seems to me like they're more like equals, whereas Mal and Zoe almost make it a point to keep the rank distinction pretty clear in their interactions, not only formally (like in Royai) but also in the way they regard each other, I think. Ultimately I don't think I managed to convey in the fic how much I feel Mal and Zoe mean to each other, but I do believe they'd have an almost codependent relationship at this point. They'd never leave each other. And the fact that it's not romantic makes it even more fascinating to me.