Jack/Inara - Goodbye
Fandom: Whoniverse/Firefly
Title: Goodbye
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness/Inara Serra, Mal Reynolds
xoverland Challenge: Love State
7_crossovers Prompt: 6. Money
Content Warning: N/A
Summary: In which Inara says goodbye.
Author’s Note: Part of my Elaborate Lives series. Set towards the end of it, though. Fair warning: this is sad.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. They belong to Joss and Russell. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
Things with Jack don’t last forever-at least not in the same way.
He wasn’t on the same time table. Inara found that out fairly early on, and it didn’t impact their relationship much. After all, Jack was only a client, and she was only to provide whatever he wished of her. She was attached to Jack, possibly more so than her other clients, but her time with limited to whatever time he would purchase, steal or barter from her. And for a long time, that was enough.
Then there was a time where it wasn’t enough, and she wanted him with her all the time. She and Jack traveled the stars together, seeing amazing things she’d never thought she’d see, and for a moment it wasn’t about money, or decorum, or even the fact that she would never really belong to herself. She was just a girl who Jack wanted to show his world, and that in and of itself was amazing.
But eventually that time came to an end, and they both had to move on. Jack would never grow old with her. They would never have the kind of life that most people dreamed of. The fact that he had given her a life at all was a miracle within itself, but in the end, she had to let him go. Their world could only collide for so long, and she knew that from the beginning.
Eventually, Inara left the life she used to leave, and wound up on a small planet where no one would bother her. She and Mal-too old to keep wandering the skies in his little ship anymore-settled down and hid away from the rest of the world, until she was too old to keep hiding. Too old to keep going. Inara’s time was coming to an end, and this was the way it was supposed to be.
“’Nara? Someone here to see you.”
She looked up, turning in Mal’s direction, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was standing over the man’s shoulder. “Jack?”
He hadn’t aged a day, not even in his smile. He made his way past Mal and into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. “Hello, Inara.”
She couldn’t help but meet his smile, reaching for his hand. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” he nodded.
“I missed you,” she said softly. There was a pause, as she started to shift into more of a sitting position. “How long can you stay?”
He reached over and ran a hand through her hair. “Inara Serra, you are worth all the time in the world.”
She knew it wasn’t going to be long, that he was only there to say goodbye. But in her eyes, it was enough.
Title: Goodbye
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness/Inara Serra, Mal Reynolds
xoverland Challenge: Love State
7_crossovers Prompt: 6. Money
Content Warning: N/A
Summary: In which Inara says goodbye.
Author’s Note: Part of my Elaborate Lives series. Set towards the end of it, though. Fair warning: this is sad.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. They belong to Joss and Russell. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
Things with Jack don’t last forever-at least not in the same way.
He wasn’t on the same time table. Inara found that out fairly early on, and it didn’t impact their relationship much. After all, Jack was only a client, and she was only to provide whatever he wished of her. She was attached to Jack, possibly more so than her other clients, but her time with limited to whatever time he would purchase, steal or barter from her. And for a long time, that was enough.
Then there was a time where it wasn’t enough, and she wanted him with her all the time. She and Jack traveled the stars together, seeing amazing things she’d never thought she’d see, and for a moment it wasn’t about money, or decorum, or even the fact that she would never really belong to herself. She was just a girl who Jack wanted to show his world, and that in and of itself was amazing.
But eventually that time came to an end, and they both had to move on. Jack would never grow old with her. They would never have the kind of life that most people dreamed of. The fact that he had given her a life at all was a miracle within itself, but in the end, she had to let him go. Their world could only collide for so long, and she knew that from the beginning.
Eventually, Inara left the life she used to leave, and wound up on a small planet where no one would bother her. She and Mal-too old to keep wandering the skies in his little ship anymore-settled down and hid away from the rest of the world, until she was too old to keep hiding. Too old to keep going. Inara’s time was coming to an end, and this was the way it was supposed to be.
“’Nara? Someone here to see you.”
She looked up, turning in Mal’s direction, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was standing over the man’s shoulder. “Jack?”
He hadn’t aged a day, not even in his smile. He made his way past Mal and into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. “Hello, Inara.”
She couldn’t help but meet his smile, reaching for his hand. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” he nodded.
“I missed you,” she said softly. There was a pause, as she started to shift into more of a sitting position. “How long can you stay?”
He reached over and ran a hand through her hair. “Inara Serra, you are worth all the time in the world.”
She knew it wasn’t going to be long, that he was only there to say goodbye. But in her eyes, it was enough.