Life on this boat. A Firefly story. #fanfic

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Landing on Odinshelm, Lou led the crew out into a warm summer morning. She had waved her brother, Giles, about their imminent arrival so as the ship touched ground in an unused cattlefield, Giles was allready standing there with his two daughters Buffy and Willow. Lou's youngest brother, Joseph, was walking up from the main house.
Lou waited for the loading platform to lower before allowing herself to actually believe that she was home. Next to her she had Mal and behind her were all of Serenity's crew.
They started herding cattle out with Mal on a regular basis shouting at Jayne for whacking the cattle.
Lou walked over to him and grabbed his hand as he was lifting the whip for another whack.
"Will you stop beating my cows?" She said.
"It's more fun this way," Jayne mumbled darkly, giving the cow a decent whack sending her running in panic.
"Fine. You have avoided me since Persephone and now you think it's ok to whack my cattle," Lou said.
"I ain't been avoiding you," he said.
"I've only seen you at meals," Lou said.
"So?" He said.
"Well. Serenity is going to be parked here for a good few days and I have had enough of this," Lou replied throwing her hands up, indicating the bagfull of unspoken between them.
"This?" Jayne asked.
"Jayne.... I want us to be ok. I don't give a gorram crap if you wanna hate me for wanting to live on dirt. Try as I might, I can't even begin to hate you," Lou pleaded.
He studied her, scratching his head for a minute.
"Please?" She whispered.
He lifted his face and looked around.
"Jayne...," she said.
"Not that far into town is it?" He said with the beginnings of a smile curling his lip. When he turned to look at her something had changed in his eyes and he had his teasing smile plastered on his face.
"If you say bars and whores, I'm gonna throw you into the dungheap!" Lou threatened with a smile.
"Does that mean I'll get some here?" He said with one of those dirty grins that woke the butterflies in Lou's stommach.
"Ain't you just got a one track mind?" Lou said shaking her head with a smile receiving one of his best crooked smiles back.
"Glad to see things patched up, but I think there's unloadin to be done," Mal said as he walked past.
Lou squeezed Jayne's hand gently, before reluctantly letting go and heading over to see to the rest of the stuff.
Behind her she heard the crew moving about.
"Jayne. Stop standin there gawping and get this stuff shifted. I ain't payin you to look at women," Mal said.

Lou stopped for a moment to admire the home she had left two years earlier. The barn and outhouse buildings were built in an L-shape to shelter the courtyard from winter winds with the main living area being a longish two floor building forming the third side of an open square. On the fourth side of the square, sat Lou's smaller house with a large porch where Lou knew she would find everything she left behind. She smiled at River next to her.
"You are home," River smiled.
"Yes I am," Lou said hugging her.
"So are the cows. And the sheep. The chickens still don't know what to make of it, but they like it," River said.

Once the cattle and sheep were out, Lou sent her two girls in a sprint over to see their family. She sauntrred after them with one arm slung around River and holding Kaylee's hand.
She had asked Mal to leave most of the stuff on Serenity untill they had a place to put it. As she got close she received a big hug from her brother and a questioning look.
"There is so much to tell you, but I think we need to get the folks settled first," she told him.
Mal came up wiping his hands on a rag before reaching out for a handshake. Giles took it cautiously.
"This here is Mal Reynolds. Captain, Danny's brother and allround good guy unless you point a gun at him or threaten his crew," Lou introduced.
"Welcome to Odinshelm," Giles replied sceptically.
He looked up to see the rest of the bandits and outcasts in front of him.
"Not sure about this, Lou," he muttered.
"Not many are," she replied.
Giles looked around.
"Where do you wanna house them?" He asked.
"Some with me, some in gramp's house and some in the main house?" Lou asked.
"Main house is full, Lou," Giles said.
"Right, we'll figure it out. I think we'll need feeding first tho," Lou smiled.
"Sure. Adelia as cooked enough for an army," Giles replied.
"Adelia? " Lou asked.
"Yeah. Seemed you chased Russ home to set things straight. He got permission from his elders to marry her and they are going back to his paraonage on Persephone," Giles smiled.
"See. I told you he just got lost," Shepherd Book said.
"Book, old friend," Giles smiled and shook the priests hand before leading him away towards the house.
Mal followed the farmer and the priest, with the Serenity crew trickling along after. Lou hung back by the fence, looking at the big spaceship that had become her home and then turned to look at her own little house, that didn't quite look like home anymore.
"We're ok, Lou," a deep voice mumbled close behind her before she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
"Yeah?" She asked placing her hand on top of his.
"Yeah," he mumbled.
"So you don't hate me for wanting to stay here?" She asked.
"Nope," he said.
"And you are not just saying that to get into my pants?" Lou asked deadpan, but with a mass of fluttering threatening to break her apart.
"Hmmm... maybe just a little bit," he laughed.
"I can hurt you, you know," Lou laughed and led him into the house to join the others.
In the house was a big room taking up most of the ground floor and functioning as kitchen, diningroom and living room in one. On the floor of the living area she saw her brother Russ playing with toy trains next to a four year old boy looking exactly like him. Brooke was sat next to them and Saphire had curled up in a big old armchair with a book. They were home.
In the kitchen, she saw Adelia, mother of Russ' son and now his wife righing up a decent brunch with a smile towards her son and husband. Shepherd Book was allready sat at the table next to Giles with Buffy on his knee and Willow sat next to him obviously being at home.
"Your room is as you left it, Shepherd," Giles assured.
That left her friends from Serenity standing around looking slightly lost. Lou had let go of Jayne before entering, but he was still stood close enough for her hair to stand on end. Inara raised an eyebrow at her, receiving a shrug back.
"The food is almost ready if y'all wanna wash up and take a seat," Adelia smiled locking her eyes on Lou.
Lou walked over and gave her newest sister a hug.
"Thank you for telling him how much of a prat he was being," Adelia whispered.
"Oh, I think you need to thank Book. He made Russ understand that he needed to go home," Lou replied and went to the washroom adjacent to the kitchen to wash up.

Soon they were all sat down to a meal Lou hadn't cooked answering all kinds of questions about how they had gotten the girls free.
"Giles, I know how much you hated that the kids were taught to fight, but it saved their lives, " Lou said to her brother as he begun to understand the danger of what the girls had been through.
"I shot a man," Saffy said evenly.
Giles looked at Lou with wide eyes.
"She did the right thing. He was gonna rape her," Lou said.
"And everybody is Okay with the fact that a nine year old has killed someone?" Giles asked shocked.
"Hell. I'd be proud if that was my kid," Jayne said to pretty much everybodys surprise.
Lou felt a smile cross her face.
Giles stared at the Serenity crew.
"You are all maniacs!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, I think you underestimate them. They are much more than that," Book smiled, making Lou laugh.

After the meal, Giles pointed out where in the barn they could store things. Mal was drawn to the horses and stood patting a brown mare on the nose.
"She's a good one," Lou said.
Mal looked at her as if he had forgotten where he was.
"Her saddle is over there," Lou said pointing to the tack room on the end of the stable.
Mal looked between the horse and Lou for a moment.
"You'll get along. Just saddle her up and go. We got this. Her name is Eloise," Lou said.
"Maybe after," Mal replied and went to get the mule and cargo loaded up.
Lou felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Willow standing there.
"We kept your bees for you, they swarmed last year but I think we caught them all so now we have 60 hives. We set the new 10 over by the mountain to see if they would like it there," she said looking shy. Buffy was in the door mesmerised by the stuff going on and the new people.
"Thank you, Willow. With that many I will still need your help harvesting. You up for that?" Lou asked.
"Yes," Willow nodded.
"Good. We might need to encourage them to swarm too coz I got a man wanting to buy our honey back on Persephone," Lou smiled.
"That means money, right?" Giles asked.
"It means steady income," Lou smiled.
"Lou. How in the blazing verse did you fall in with these people? The captain and that Zoe and her husband seem like all right folks. And I like that respectable young doctor. But that mercenary seems a mite unstable. And Lou. For gods sakes. There is a prostitute with them!" Giles hissed in an increasingly intense whisper.
Lou looked at her brother.
"Companion, Giles. She is a highly respectable companion," she told him.
"Ok. A well educated prostitute," he said.
"She is also my best friend, so a little respect will go a long way big brother," Lou said menacingly.
"Okay. But can we at least lock the doors at night so that big guy can't get in? Or lock him in somewhere," Giles asked.
"Hmm.. might lock him up. Good idea!" Lou grinned before heading over to unload the mule.
"What was that?" Jayne asked.
"Just my brother thinking you will kill him in the nighttime," Lou said. "I might have to lock you up somewhere to keep an eye on you."
"Yeah," Jayne grinned.