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Mal walked down the hallway to the room he had said Nafalis could stay in. He had already let everyone else know about breakfast and now he was on his way to let her know about it. He stopped in his tracks as he heard her singing. He walked over and leaned inside the doorway as she sat on her cot with a piece of paper and a pencil. The paper was set on a book so that she had something hard to write on.

"Take the love, take my land,

Take me where I cannot stand.

Burn the land and boil the sea,

But you can't take the sky from me.

Take me out to the black,

Tell 'em I ain't coming back.

I don't care, I'm still free,

Since I found Serenity.

You can't take the sky from me."

She set the pencil and paper down. Mal walked into the room after knocking on the wall. Nafalis looked up at him and hopped off her bed. She walked over to him and looked up at him.

"Yes Captain?" she said.

"Breakfast's in ten minutes," he said. Nafalis blinked as he started to leave.

"Where's that?" she asked following him out. Mal looked down at her. She really didn't know a thing about a ship. She looked up at him.

"Follow me," he said as he took a right. Nafalis had to jog to keep up with him sometimes but other then that she was able to keep pace right next to him. Mal had to admit she was pretty fit for a kid her age now-a-days. He wondered how'd she'd handle being out in space, some people didn't do so well on their first flight.

…

Nafalis jogged down the hall into the medical bay. River sat on a couch just outside it as she stared inside. Nafalis sat next to her. River looked down at her and smiled. Nafalis smiled back at her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," River said back. There was a moment of silence as River looked at her. River gasped a little bit. "You were on a Reaver ship, hiding from them, your mom and dad, you saw them eaten and torn apart,"-Nafalis stared at her, fear in her eyes as River continued-"You ran, you ran so fast to the town. They hated you, beaten so many times. Your scar." River set a hand on Nafalis's right sleeve and pulled it up. There lay a cut from her shoulder just passed her elbow.

"Is it true?" Mal's voice came from behind. Nafalis whirled around and looked at him, surprised at his presence. Nafalis's eyes welled up with tears, she jumped off the couch and ran away. "Nafalis!" Mal ran after her. River just watched as they left.

Nafalis sat on her cot curled up in a ball, she cried and murmured the song she wrote to herself. She had been born on a ship, she didn't remember that ship much, but she did remember the Reaver's ship. She could understand them, she had learned their language and she feared every noise out of their mouths. She watched them killed millions as she hid in their ship.

She hid in the little nooks and crannies no one ever looks in. She slept in a small air-vent that was blocked off from all the rest so no air would hit her and she could rest. Everyday she had to hear the screams of one crew after another facing their ugly fate. She had found a little girls clothing they hadn't touched. She took it and changed from the small dress she had worn into the clothes she now wore.

As soon as they landed she took her chance to run away, one of them saw her and chased her. It had caught her and cut her arm, one of the townspeople shot it and she was able to get away. But because of her mark no one liked her, she was an outcast. The boys would throw rocks at her, the girls would make fun of her, the women would shun her every chance they got, and the men would toss her around and some of them would hit her.

The bartender was kind enough to sometimes give her water or a small piece of bread. There was on boy who was a little bit of a friend to her, they would talk sometimes and he would save some of his dinner for her at night. And one of the older girls, about eighteen or so, would stand up for her from time to time when the others would make fun of her.

She slept in a barn that no one cared for and there was a dog and a cat that stayed there too. The cat would eat the mice and the dog would sometimes bring her chickens. Of course people gave him the chickens, he never stole and he would share with her. They were her only friends in the whole world, that was until the dog was shot and the cat was killed by some boys.

On back you would find bruises from the rocks the boys threw at her, on the front of her legs you'd find cuts from rocks in the ground when the men would toss her around, and if you really looked you'd find that her hair was all tangled up not with knots, but with blood. Some of it her own.

Mal ran into the room and looked at her. He walked over to her and sat on the cot. Her sleeve was still pulled up and her scar shown. He reached over and put the sleeve down. Nafalis looked at him. Her eyes were sad, so very sad. She forced down a sob.

"I can still hear their screams and see the Reavers with blood covering their mouths," she said quietly. "These clothes belonged to another little girl they killed. Their ships are so cold, and so loud. Crew after crew after crew were killed, and I had to listen."

"I thought you said you hadn't been on a ship before," Mal said.

"I didn't want to answer the question of what ship it was," she told him. Mal nodded. That was understandable. Nafalis leaned her head on her shoulder and wiped away her tears. Jayne walked in.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" he said walking over to her. Mal stood up as Jayne passed him. Nafalis looked up at Jayne.

"I grew up on a Reaver ship," she murmured. Jayne got an angry expression.

"Well, them Reaver's have another thing coming if I cross paths with 'em."

"You'd fight them?" Nafalis asked curiously. Jayne nodded. Nafalis stretched out her legs and came out of her tiny little ball she had formed.

"Course I would," he said. Nafalis smiled. "I would take each and every one of 'em out." Nafalis stood up on her cot and walked over to him. She hugged him.

"Thanks Jayne," she said. Jayne chuckled and picked her up.

"You're welcome kid," he said. Mal chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Mal said as he left. Jayne grumbled. Nafalis raised an eyebrow, the Captain never made any sense at all, he loved to bug people, he didn't like his crew but he didn't let anyone hurt them. He made fun of Inara's job but didn't let anyone else do it. He certainly was strange…

…

Nafalis sat at the table with a piece of paper, her pencil, and a few colored pencils that Inara gave her. Shepherd walked into the room and looked at her. Nafalis finished and looked at her picture. Shepherd walked over. Nafalis looked up at him.

"May I?" She nodded. Shepherd picked the picture up and looked a it. In big square letters she wrote SERENITY and she colored it in red and blue. Shepherd smiled and set it down on the table. "It's very nice." She smiled.

"Thank you, it's for the Captain," she said as she hopped off the chair to the ground. Shepherd watched her walked out of the room with her picture. He smiled. Only a little girl and she was very high spirited. He walked out of the room and wondered why on Earth Mal had brought her here.

…

Nafalis walked up to Mal and pulled on his jacket. Mal turned around and looked down at her. He kneeled down so that he was eye-n-eye with her.

"Yes?" She handed him the picture. Mal took it and smiled at her. "Thank you." Nafalis got a huge smile and ran away. Mal stood up and watched as she jogged down the hall. This girl sure was something else all right.

…

Nafalis walked into Inara's room and marveled at its beauty. Inara hadn't yet noticed her as Nafalis looked around at all the colors. Of course she still liked her room, it was her room after all. She had never had a room before. Inara looked up at her.

"Hi sweetheart," she said as she took her hand and led her to her bed. She sat her on a stole as she sat on the bed. She took out the rubber-band that held her hair up. She gasped as the blood. "We're gonna have to rinse this out." Nafalis nodded. Inara took her hand and gently led her to the sink. She set her head in the sink and washed her hair out to get all the blood out of it.

When she was finished she dried her hair and they sat by the bed again. Nafalis shook her hair back and forth to find that it wasn't covered in blood or in a braid. Inara combed her hair and put it into a ponytail. Nafalis stood up and smiled at her and Inara returned it.

"Thank you," Nafalis said.

"You're welcome," Inara replied as Nafalis skipped out of her chamber. She smiled. Mal had brought them a little bit of sunshine and Nafalis just seemed to love the ship. It was as if she had hated everywhere else but not here. Of course, although she didn't know it, that was exactly the case.