*whimpers*

This shouldn't be possible. You've got me crying in public - a big freaking campus computer lab - and I can't seem to stop sniffling. Because I adore this, and I miss Wash, and oh, it just hurts to see Zoe so broken.

"He was here then," she says, and sounds desperate enough that they pay attention to her and not to the way Zoe's got her fingers wrapped around the necklace that meant commitment. "They were three and now they're two. They shouldn't have to be one yet. They're just plastic now and you're afraid of being it too and wishing that you were, but they're hurting too. They were with him when he was three and when he was flying and when he was loving you more than them and Serenity and everything else. No one else can see, but they're mourning, just like Serenity is, just like you are and it's not fair to make them do it alone. He's not here anymore and all they are is lonely."

And this part? Kills me dead. River just knows everything, and she's not just talking about the dinosaurs or Zoe. Because everyone is sent reeling by this, mainly Mal, Kaylee, and Zoe, but the rest of the crew as well.

I loved this. Please please, for the love of Joss, write more Firefly fic!