Title: There Comes A Time
Fandom: Doctor Who, Firefly
Characters: Simon, Rose, Ten, Jack, Mal, Kaylee, Inara, others
Pairings: Simon/Jack, Mal/Simon, Inara/Kaylee, implied Ten/Rose
Summary: Everything comes to an end.
Timeline: Following the previous fics in this series.
Word Count: 4976
Rating: PG13ish
Thanks to
naughtyelf for holding my hand, once again, as I wrote this.
Previous Parts
This Used To Be Home, Mal/Simon, others
Something Like Home, Simon, Rose, Ten
The Same But Not Quite Simon, Rose
It's Best To Just Keep Going Forward Simon, Rose
In With the New Simon/Jack
“Oh, that’s just disgusting,” Rose rolled her eyes from across the table, “Would you two get a room, please?”
“Jealous?” Jack grinned at her with a raise of his eyebrow.
“No. Just nauseous.”
Simon and Jack hadn’t taken a long time to become Simon and Jack. Simon hadn’t been quick to get into any sort of a relationship after the last one, but they’d come to an agreement that it wasn’t exactly about being in a relationship. At least that was what they had said. Rose couldn’t see any difference between their “arrangement” and what any normal couple would call a relationship. The only difference was that they never fought. Not once. It was more annoying than anything Rose had ever encountered in her life.
Simon was happy. In the last month, he had thought about Serenity a lot less. Not much at all, really. And he had started to regret things less. He wasn’t constantly thinking about Mal and how they had left things. Jack was a big part of that.
After that first night, Simon hadn’t been so awkward around Jack. Things had been more relaxed, and he took the time to get to know the other man. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but Jack had engrained himself into Simon’s brain, and it was nice to have someone again, even if they had decided it wasn’t actually a relationship.
Relationships were too complicated anyway. Too hard to deal with when something bad happened. Their arrangement was easier. Happier. There was no mess to clean up because there was nothing to make a mess.
“Come on, Rose. Give them a break,” The Doctor looked amused, “They’re just being in lo--”
“Don’t even say it,” Jack warned, “On second thought? Don’t even think it. We told you. We--”
“Yes, yes. We know,” Rose rolled her eyes again, “Friends who happen to hop into bed together on the odd occasion. Almost every night. How could we possibly mistake it for something else?”
“Exactly.”
Rose and The Doctor looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They’d had this conversation before. They’d no doubt have it again.
“So, non-lovebirds that you are, do you have any plans or are you coming to see mum?”
“I think we’ll skip your mother this time, Rose. Simon and I can find better things to do.”
“I’m sure,” Rose muttered.
Jack just grinned and pulled Simon up from the table with him, “So, you still got that TARDIS key?”
Simon laughed with a nod of his head and started out with Jack. It’d been a long time since he’d felt like this. A very long time.
-----
“My mum asked about you, you know,” Rose walked into Simon’s room without knocking a few hours later.
“Me or him?” was Jack’s response.
“Him,” she paused, “My mum hasn’t even met you. Why would she ask about you?”
“Curiosity?”
“If you say so,” she looked at Simon, “Anyway, she said next time she doesn’t care what you’re doing, you’re going to come see her. She won’t take no for an answer.”
“I think Rose’s mother has a crush on you, Simon.”
“Yeah,” Simon paused, “You haven’t seen the way she gropes me. This is nothing.”
“My mum does not grope you!”
“Then what do you call it?”
“She’s just affectionate. That’s all.”
“Affectionate. Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Oh, hush,” Rose rolled her eyes, “I’m going to just let you two get back to …whatever it is that you were up to. And I don’t want to know the details. I just wanted to give you that message.”
“Thanks for interrupting for that,” Jack said with a pasted on smile.
“My pleasure!” Rose grinned before going back out and shutting the door behind her.
“So,” Jack turned to Simon with a grin, “Where were we?”
-----
The TARDIS came to a sudden stop. It was about a week later. Simon never really kept track anymore. There was no reason, since time was almost all but irrelevant when you could go to any time or place that you wanted.
Simon was the last to step out. The planet was all too familiar. He’d been there before. Before Rose and The Doctor. Before his sister died. Before.
It was Persephone. The Eavesdown docks. It was where he had first stepped foot on Serenity. Where he’d met Kaylee. Where he’d met Mal. It was too much.
“Simon?” Rose whispered from beside him, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” he paused, “I’m fine.”
Jack looked over with concern. He knew fine wasn’t exactly the word that could be used to describe Simon at that moment, but Rose seemed satisfied with the answer.
“So, Doctor, where are we?” Rose asked with a smile.
“We are oooon---”
“Persephone,” Simon answered for him, quietly. Rose looked over at Simon, “I’ve been here before,” was his simple reply.
“So, we’re in Simon’s time?”
“That we are. About six months after he left with us, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That’s all?” Simon asked. He’d come so far recently. He hadn’t spent all of his time thinking about Mal and Serenity. He had been happy. And now everything was rushing back to him because he was here. Because he’d been here so many times with Serenity. He had been moving on with his life, and now it all felt pointless.
“Perhaps we should go, Doctor.”
“No,” Simon answered quickly, “No, I want to stay. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this place. I’m going to go explore.” He walked ahead of them, going off in his own direction, paying no mind to whether or not they were even following behind.
“I’ll go with him,” Jack followed close behind.
“Should we…?”
“No,” The Doctor looked at Rose, “Simon needs to do this alone.”
“But Jack--”
“Jack’s fine. Just leave it.”
Rose looked defeated but she nodded before smiling and turning back to The Doctor, “So, what shall we do then?”
-----
“Simon?”
Jack had been following behind Simon for a good fifteen minutes in silence, but he couldn’t take it anymore. Simon seemed to be retracing steps from a long time ago, taking everything in, watching and searching. It was unnerving.
“Jack? Oh,” he paused, “Sorry. I just…”
“You’ve been here before. I know.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just strange being back.”
“Yeah,” he smiled just slightly at Simon, “I can imagine that.”
Simon and Jack were side by side now. Simon stopped walking and turned to look at the other man, “I’m sorry. I guess I sort of zoned out.”
“Would you stop apologizing?” Jack laughed, “It’s okay,” he paused, “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Okay.”
“Yeah,” he paused, “Yes. I’m okay. It was just a minor shock being back here.”
“It didn’t seem minor.”
“I’m okay.”
Jack accepted his answer with a nod. “I had to make sure,” he paused, “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”
Simon laughed at that and leaned in to kiss Jack quickly. “Not a good friend.”
“Exactly. Now, why don’t we---”
“Simon!?”
Her voice was unexpected. Simon should have known this would happen eventually, but he didn’t want this moment to be eventually. He wasn’t ready for it. He’d started the process of moving on, but he wasn’t completely there yet. He turned around to see a grinning Kaylee running toward him.
“Kaylee?”
“Oh, Simon! It is so great to see you! It’s been months!” She ran up and hugged him tightly.
“Friend of yours?” Jack asked with a smirk.
“Oh, right,” Simon pulled out of the hug, “Kaylee, this Jack. He’s a friend of mine. Jack, this is Kaylee.”
“Friend, huh? You did look pretty friendly,” Kaylee gave the two of them a look.
“We’re just friends, Kaylee.”
“I believe you!” She paused, “Oh! You should come to the ship! Have a look around. I know Inara and Wash would love to see you again! Maybe some other folk too.”
He knew she hadn’t said Mal’s name on purpose. He was the ‘other folk’ part of the deal. Seeing Kaylee was bad enough. Simon knew he wasn’t ready to face Mal. Not now.
“I don’t know, Kaylee. We’re sort of in a ---”
“Kaylee! Where the hell did you get off to? We got a schedule to keep, gorrammit.”
Mal.
Simon couldn’t deal with this.
“Sorry, Cap’n!” she called behind her, “I was just--”
“I don’t care what you were just, Kaylee! I gotta get---” he looked past Kaylee, “Oh.”
“Mal. Hi.”
Jack looked from Simon to Mal and back again. This was the ex.
“Simon.” Mal looked back to Kaylee, “Best if we get goin’.”
“But Cap’n…!”
“Kaylee, you heard me.”
“Yes, sir,” Kaylee muttered. She turned to Simon and gave him a quick smile, “It was nice seein’ ya, Simon. Don’t be a stranger, ya hear?” She turned and walked away, giving Mal a glare as she passed him.
“Mal, I---”
“Don’t gotta say nothin’, Simon. Ain’t got nothin’ to explain to me. ‘Cept for maybe why you’re here and not back on Osiris where I left ya. Not that that’s my business.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Right. Not my business.”
They stood for a moment. Mal wasn’t lying. He had a schedule to keep, but seeing Simon had been a shock, and he’d forgotten where he was supposed to be.
“This is Jack,” Simon said the first thing that came to mind.
“Right,” he paused, “I gotta---” he stopped himself, “We’re gonna be docked a couple of days or so. You wanna come back to ship? I gotta make a stop, talk to Badger, but you and your…” he paused and gave Jack a look, “friend here, you could come visit for a while. Maybe make it where Kaylee won’t give me such a hard time later.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Mal?”
“Course, Doc. It’s shiny. Ain’t got no reason to think it ain’t a good idea. Just head over there.”
Mal walked passed him in the opposite direction. Simon grabbed hold of Jack’s hand without thinking about it. He knew this was probably a bad idea, but he couldn’t deny that he wanted to see Serenity again. He didn’t say anything to Jack before he started walking, gripping Jack’s hand as he went toward the docks.
-----
Simon spotted Serenity right away. It was smaller than a lot of the surrounding ships, but it stood out anyway. He walked up to the ship. The entryway was opened, probably waiting for some sort of cargo to be placed inside. Simon remembered Mal saying more than once he’d have to be more in need of money than ever before picking up passengers again, and besides that, Kaylee wasn’t outside searching for good applicants.
Simon kept hold of Jack’s hand and walked up the ramp.
“Hello? Kaylee?” he paused and looked around, “Inara? Is anyone here?”
“Simon?” Kaylee came running back into the cargo bay, “Oh, it is you!”
“Mal told me to come by the ship.”
“Oh did he?” She smiled brightly, “Give me a second. I gotta go find Inara!”
She disappeared up the stairs and into Inara’s shuttle.
“You used to live here?”
“Yeah. A long time ago, it seems like. I guess it wasn’t more than a year ago when I left, but so much has happened that it seems like longer.”
“Simon!” Kaylee and Inara appeared again. Kaylee was still smiling brightly, and Inara’s smile almost rivaled hers.
She walked over and gave Simon a hug. “It’s great to see you again! What are you doing on Persephone?”
“We were just stopping by,” he paused, “I’ve been doing a bit of traveling, just to clear my head.”
“And this is?”
“Oh, this is Jack. He’s a friend.”
Kaylee cleared her throat loudly and then feigned innocence when Simon and Inara turned to look at her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Inara,” Jack took her hand and planted a kiss on it, “Jack Harkness.”
Simon rolled his eyes.
“Don’t mind him, Inara.”
“Your friend best be careful, Simon. I ain’t afraid to use my tools to vent out frustrations on people. ‘Specially people that ain’t payin’ clients.”
Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at Simon.
“Kaylee and Inara are involved.”
“Explain the other part.”
“Which other---oh, right. Inara’s a companion.”
“Oh, really?” Jack knew enough about the 26th century to know what that meant.
“Jack.”
“I didn’t say anything!” he replied defensively.
“You didn’t have to,” he turned to Kaylee and Inara, “Forgive him. He’s always like this. He just can’t help himself.”
“I could help myself if I wanted to.”
Simon rolled his eyes and kept looking at the girls. “So, where is everyone?”
“Wash and Zoe’s off doin’ somethin’ together. Ain’t sure what. Who knows where Jayne is. Cap’n said he had to see Badger alone this time. Don’t know why. ’Spose he has his reasons.”
“Oh. I was hoping to say hello to everyone.”
“I’m sure they won’t be gone for much longer,” Inara began, “Mal wanted everyone back on the ship before he finished with Badger.”
“You can stick around if ya wanna!”
“I suppose we can do that, yes.”
Kaylee linked her arm with Simon’s. “Shiny!” She then proceeded to drag him around the ship, giving him all the details of everything that had happened since he’d left.
-----
The four of them ended up in the kitchen, sharing stories about this and that. Simon had tried to keep his tales of adventure vague. The last thing he wanted to have to explain were his friends the Time Lord, the girl from the 21st century and the ex-time agent from the 51st century. Not to mention the TARDIS.
“Simon really said that?” Kaylee laughed loudly, “I can’t picture Simon’s language gettin’ so colorful!”
“Oh, he said that alright, and you should have seen the look on her face when he did!”
“It’s not that funny,” Simon said. He had to admit, he was enjoying himself. As much as he wanted to move on, he missed Serenity. He missed Kaylee. It was nice seeing her again.
“Yes, Simon. I’m sorry to say, it is,” Inara laughed.
“What’s goin’ on in here?” Mal’s voice came in from the next room over. He appeared in the doorway and saw Simon sitting at the table next to Jack and across from Kaylee and Inara. “Oh. So, you did decide to take me up on my offer.”
“Uh, yeah,” Simon paused, “We won’t stay long.”
“No. Like I said, we’ll be here a couple days. Stay awhile.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Jack, Kaylee and Inara all felt how tense the room got when Mal had walked in. Not that it hadn’t been expected. Kaylee and Inara knew the whole story of Mal and Simon, and Jack knew there was something incredibly intense going on, even if he’d never been told all of the details.
“Feel free to join us, Mal,” Inara broke the silence.
“No. I’m shiny. Got a lot of work to do. Gotta talk to Zoe and Jayne about the job, give Wash a destination…” he turned and walked out of the room, still listing things to do that none of them expected would actually get done. At least not right now.
-----
Simon found himself unable to keep with the conversation after Mal left. He tried, and he was almost sure at least one of the three of them bought his act. After twenty minutes though, he couldn’t sit there anymore. He stood up and started away from the table. Jack looked over at him.
“Simon?”
Simon turned around and looked at Jack apologetically and then at Kaylee and Inara.
“I’m just going to go wander the ship for a while. You three keep talking.”
Simon turned to walk away and disappeared of the room. Jack looked disappointed. Kaylee looked at him with sympathy. She’d heard about their “non”-relationship. They’d explained it, but she really wasn’t buying it. Simon never seemed the type to go for that sort of thing. She couldn’t speak for Jack. She didn’t know him. But the way he was looking after Simon, it didn’t seem entirely platonic. Jack started to stand.
“I wouldn’t,” Inara said.
“Simon gets like this, ya know? Ya just gotta leave him be. He’ll be okay.”
Kaylee hoped that was the truth.
-----
Simon ended up in his old room somehow. It was empty now. Just a bed and a table. No things. Nothing making it his. It didn’t belong to anyone. It was just an empty space. He laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
“Ain’t takin’ on passengers anymore.”
Simon jolted up in the bed and looked over to see Mal standing in the doorway. Not that he thought it would be anyone else. He knew Mal’s voice. He knew Mal’s everything. Mal walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, far enough away from Simon that they couldn’t touch unless they tried.
“Too much trouble.”
“Yeah,” Simon shifted, so he had his back against the wall, “We were that.”
“Weren’t necessarily you,” he pauses slightly, “Things just got troublesome.”
“Yeah.”
They sat in silence for a while. There was so much unsaid between them, so much they knew they wanted to say, knew they should have said, but didn’t want to say. It was just too hard, and neither of them had expected to be there. The setting was so familiar. They’d been together in Simon’s room so many times when it was still Simon’s room. But so much had changed.
“I should go. Jack’s probably wondering where I am.”
“Yeah,” Mal paused, “So, who is he again?”
“What?”
“This Jack fella. He a friend? Or somethin’ else?”
“Jack’s just a friend,” Simon pushed up from the wall and stood up, leaving Mal on the bed alone, “and we should be getting back to our ship.”
“Yeah. Guess you should.”
Simon started out of the room but hovered in the doorway for longer than he should have. While he was standing there, Mal got up and walked over to him. He placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder and turned him around.
“Simon.”
“Mal, I have to go.”
Mal hesitated. He knew this was a bad idea, but he’d made this mistake once, and he couldn’t make it again.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“I said don’t. Don’t go.”
“Mal, I have to.”
“No. You don’t. Serenity’s still got a place for you, Simon. I still…” Mal trailed off. That was as far as he could go, at least until Simon told him whether he would stay or not.
“Mal, I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Simon turned around and started back toward the kitchen.
“Simon, wait.”
Against his better judgment, Simon turned around.
“If you change your mind, you can come back tomorrow. We ain’t leavin’ ‘til the day after.”
Simon just nodded before turning back around. He had to get out of there.
-----
Simon had gone back to the kitchen and told Jack they were leaving with no explanation. They said their goodbyes to Kaylee and Inara, and Simon promised not to go so long without contacting them next time, even though it wasn’t a promise he was sure he could keep. Not now. Not after Mal had asked him to stay.
The walk back to the TARDIS seemed a lot longer than it actually was. He didn’t say anything to Jack about Mal asking him to stay. It was a conversation he didn’t really feel like having, while at the same time, it was a conversation he knew he had to have with someone. He had no idea what he wanted to do.
“Simon, are you sure you’re okay?” Jack asked and got no reply, “Okay then, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and tell me if this is wrong, but I’m going to assume that’s a no.”
Simon looked at him, and he knew. He didn’t know what had happened exactly, but he had the distinct feeling that it had something to do with Mal. He didn’t ask Simon if he was okay again.
-----
“He asked me to stay.”
Simon and Jack had gone back to the TARDIS and gone to Simon’s room. Rose and The Doctor weren’t back yet, which Simon was glad of. He didn’t want to face Rose just now, and that made things just a little bit better.
They just lay in bed, nothing else. Jack was hoping that Simon would say what was bothering him, despite the fact that he knew Simon had no reason to. He hadn’t expected to hear that.
“Oh,” he paused, “Are you going to?”
“I don’t know. He gave me until tomorrow to decide.”
They lied there for a while longer. There was nothing to say. Not really. And Jack had no doubts what decision Simon was going to make. He moved to get off the bed. Tonight wasn’t the best night for this. He knew that.
“Where are you going?”
“My room.”
Simon didn’t respond, and Jack took that to mean he didn’t have any problems with it. He started toward the door and got as far as putting his hand on the knob before he turned around.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
That was the second time that night someone had said that to Simon.
“Don’t stay,” Jack paused, “I’m not your boyfriend, Simon. I’m not your lover. I’m not anything. I know that nothing qualifies me to make this request, but just…don’t stay here.”
Simon blinked. Of all the things Jack could have said, Simon hadn’t even imagined that. Jack turned back to the door and hesitated for a moment before walking out and closing the door behind him.
-----
The Doctor and Rose weren’t back the next morning. Jack and Simon hadn’t spoken since the night before. And on top of it, Simon was going back to Serenity. When he thought about it, really thought about it, there was no other option than what he had decided. He didn’t even check to see if Jack was awake before leaving the TARDIS.
-----
“Simon. Thought you might not come.”
“Mal,” he paused, “We need to talk.”
“Reckon we do.”
“Mal, you have no idea how much it means to me that you asked me to come back. We left so much unsaid before, mostly by my choice, and I just…” he paused, “I can’t.”
“What?”
“I came back today because I wanted to do it right this time. The last time, we didn’t say goodbye, and I’ve regretted that since the day I left. And I missed you more than anything, but I’ve got a new place now. I’ve got ---”
“Simon, don’t do this.”
“I have to, Mal,” Simon walked closer to Mal, virtually making the distance between them nonexistent, “You know I have to. I’m just not ready to come back.”
“Simon, I ain’t good with words. You know that, but I don’t want you to go again,” he paused and took in a deep breath, “I love you.”
There it was. Another thing between them that had never been said, that Simon had wanted to say but hadn’t. It was out in the open now, and it didn’t make what Simon was doing any easier.
“I love you, too, Mal, just not the way I used to. I have to go. I just wanted to say goodbye this time.”
“Simon---”
Simon kissed Mal. It felt good, but not good enough to change Simon’s mind. It felt exactly like Simon’s intent.
It felt like goodbye.
“Goodbye, Mal.”
Simon turned to leave, leaving Mal alone in the cargo bay, staring back at his retreating form. Simon was too far away to hear Mal when he finally spoke in a hushed whisper.
“Goodbye, Simon.”
-----
Jack went to Simon’s room when he woke up. Simon wasn’t there. He just assumed that meant Simon had already left, and his request hadn’t made a difference. There wasn’t any particular reason it should have, but Jack had hoped that it might. He went into the control room to wait for The Doctor and Rose. If it were anyone else, he would have started looking for them, but he knew The Doctor and Rose were fine.
The door to the TARDIS opened. See, fine. Only it wasn’t The Doctor and Rose.
“Simon?”
“Yeah. Hey.”
“Didn’t you leave?”
“I went to say goodbye, Jack. I can’t leave. I can’t go back to Serenity, not now.”
“No?”
“No,” Simon walked closer to Jack, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to go back there, but I know I’m not right now. I want to stay here.”
“About what I said, Simon…”
“I’m not going to lie, Jack. What you said? It made a difference. But it wasn’t the only factor. And you’re right, you’re not my boyfriend or anything remotely resembling that. But you are my friend, and that means you had every right to ask me to stay.”
Simon now stood in front of Jack.
“What if I were?”
“What if you were what?”
“Something remotely resembling that.”
“What do you mean?” Simon knew what Jack meant, but he wanted to hear him say it. It was too easy to mess up a situation like this. Especially if your name was Simon Tam.
“I mean that you and I both know we’re kidding ourselves, Simon. Rose knows it. The Doctor knows it. I’m pretty sure your friends Kaylee and Inara knew it. This whole friends with benefits thing isn’t doing us any good, when it’s clear what we both want.”
“Jack…”
“Don’t say I’m not right, Simon. You know I am. When I thought you were gone---”
“Jack, I know you’re right. I do. I also know how complicated things get, and we like what we have the way we have it. You know that.”
“Do we?”
Simon didn’t answer.
“Listen, Simon. I’m no fan of relationships. You know that. I like to play the field, see what’s out there. It’s not like I keep that a secret, but what we have? Well, what we have is pretty damn great, and if I can hold on to that, I want to try.”
“Jack the last time I was actually in a relationship, it didn’t exactly end well. Mal and I cared about each other so much that it hurt, really physically hurt, when I left, even when I didn’t think I had any other option. I don’t want to go through that again.”
“You think it’s not going to hurt just because we don’t actually admit that it is what it is, Simon? Because it’ll be even more painful. You didn’t tell me much about your relationship with Mal, but didn’t you say the hardest part was knowing that you didn’t leave saying everything you wanted to? Do you want that to happen again?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It just is.”
“Right, of course it is. How could I have thought it was the same?”
They stood facing each other. Simon knew Jack was right, but he didn’t know if he was ready for something like Jack was suggesting. A real relationship. With the shouting matches and the silent treatments and everything else that came along with it. And all right after he’d forced himself to go see Mal just to say goodbye.
“Jack.”
“You don’t have to answer me right now. Just think about it.”
He didn’t have the chance to reply because just then Rose and The Doctor came barreling into The TARDIS, laughing and joking. One look at Simon and Jack and they were silent.
“What’d we miss?” Rose asked.
Simon and Jack didn’t know where to begin.
-----
“Are you okay?”
Rose poked her head into Simon’s room.
“You should probably asking Jack that question.”
“He’s not the one who just said a final goodbye to someone he loves.”
“No, but he’s the one who has to wait for a decision I’m not sure I’m ever going to make.”
“It’s easy, Simon. What do you want to do?”
“What I want to do and what I should do are two completely different things.”
Rose sighed, “Not necessarily, Simon. I see the two of you together every day. There’s no denying that it’s not exactly friendship between you, and if you want to take that next step, you should.”
Simon thought of telling Rose to take her own advice, but he decided against it. It wasn’t a good idea, anyway. Rose would just make up an excuse to leave the room.
“Simon? You should talk to him.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it.”
She left.
-----
“Jack?”
Simon didn’t knock before walking into Jack’s room. Jack sat up on the bed and opened his mouth to say something.
“No, just listen,” Simon walked all the way in and stood across the room from Jack, “I’ve been thinking, and maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s something undeniable between us, and maybe it’s something we should hold on to. Maybe you’re wrong too, and maybe it’s going to destroy a good thing to take this chance, but I think I have to take it.”
Simon walked closer to Jack. It hadn’t been an easy decision, but after speaking with Rose, he knew that what he wanted and what he should do were the same thing. He might have hated the way things ended with Mal, but he liked relationships. The good times and the bad times and every thing in between. And he couldn’t deny that he had real feelings for Jack.
He’d moved on in every other sense of the word. Now it was time to move on completely. In saying goodbye to Mal, he’d left behind his life on Serenity.
And he was finally in a place where he didn’t regret it in the least.