Firefly fic: Girl Anachronism (PG-13): Chapter Twelve

[toxic_corn]

Series: Girl Anachronism
Title: Chapter Twelve (12/12)
Author: toxic_corn
Pairing: River/Jayne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon, except for a certain stowaway.
Summary: A mysterious stowaway on Serenity may bring Jayne and River together.
Warning: Takes place after the BDM but has some AU elements to it so if that's not your cup of tea, it'd be best to skip this one.
Notes: I previewed this in my journal back in February and now I'm ready to share it with the public. And here we are at the end.

Catch up on earlier chapters at the round-up post


Chapter Twelve


River walked down the aisle, clutching her bouquet of flowers as everyone turned to stare at her. Unused to the attention, she ducked her head but peeked up through her lashes at Jayne, who smiled at her. He looked so handsome dressed up in his best; she’d long since done away with the striped shirt he wore when he visited brothels. Now he stood at the altar dressed in the sky-blue button up shirt and clean slacks they’d argued over at a border-world mercantile before he’d finally given in.


They’d both come such a long way…


Once River reached her place, the organ music started in earnest and everyone stood to get a glimpse of the bride, beaming as her father walked her to the altar.


“Kaylee looks so beautiful,” River murmured to Simon.


“Yes, she does,” her brother said, looking stunned.


“You did pretty good there, Doc,” Jayne agreed and winked over at River, who bit her lip to hold back a giggle.


The ceremony was short and sweet, giving time for River to have a nice, long stare at Jayne. She didn’t think they were ready for marriage themselves quite yet, but it was promising how he wasn’t looking panicked; just calm as a summer’s day as he watched his surrogate little sister get married.


No one would object to their union, not even her brother. Judging by how Simon had made Jayne his best man at his own wedding.


Someday, River told herself as Jayne caught her gaze and smiled warmly at her. Maybe even someday soon…


~*~


Men at a long conference table flipped pages in the little blue notebooks placed in front of them. The man at the front of the table, wearing glasses and a frown, took a sip of water and cleared his throat.


“Next order of business: Agent 42. The board moves to discontinue the creation of the chemical?” He peered down the table at a nervous little man with a comb-over. “Is that correct?”


“Yes, Mr. Chairman,” Comb-over said. “One hundred test subjects were administered the drug in a controlled experiment. However, only forty of those hundred returned. The returnees reported constant drowsiness during their trip and were unable to accomplish their simple objectives. The continued production of Agent 42 would be ill-advised and would not help support the best interest of the Alliance.”


The chairman sighed. “All right then. Anyone second the motion?”


A chubby man raised his hand.


“Vote?”


A chorus of ayes was met with a tired nod. “All opposed?”


Silence.


“All right, then. Next order of business: The new taxes on marijuana…”


~*~


As time went on, Nettie’s time away from home started to seem more and more unreal. No matter how often she insisted she’d been in another world, no one would believe her, not even when Simon tested her for the chemical and found traces of something, but not what. As soon as he said the words “possible hallucinogenic,” everyone was convinced it’d been a dream.


Nettie tried to tell herself it had been. How strange to think she could visit a world in which her parents weren’t married and she herself didn’t exist! She told herself the fiction that when she was eight years old, she’d disappeared for a month, drugged and kidnapped by an unknown entity, then set free to stumble home.


She told herself this every day. And then one day she believed it.


But she still never played tag on the docks ever again.


THE END


******************************

Thanks for reading, you guys! I know this story was a lot different from my other ones, especially in that I wasn't as frequent of an updater this time around. I guess I'm starting to lose a little interest in writing Rayne. I still have a few ideas here and there but I think it'll be awhile before I write anything else. I probably shouldn't have said that; anytime I make a definitive statement, I always prove myself wrong. We'll see. If I do write anything, it'll probably be a sequel to one of my existing stories and I do have a Raynekid bunny I've been holding onto for awhile that should get written. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that there'll be more stuff just not any time soon. Again, thanks for reading, it's been fun playing in this 'verse. :)


********************************

< Chapter Eleven :

Comments

[aikiariyen.livejournal.com]

One can understand... I write Rayne only very sporadically.
I tend to stick with Tamora Pierce fanfic, but even then my pairings change frequently. I seem to be stuck on Evin/Miri at the moment, whereas not so long ago it was Kel/Dom. *Sigh*

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

I still like Rayne and will read it sometimes but I've lost my super excitement to finish a story and have it posted right away. Now I'm just like all the normal writers who post a bit here and there. Eh, I was about due to slow down. :D

[aikiariyen.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. I've noticed. I started out as a normal writer with it, shame on me. I should get around to finishing/posting some of my drabbles.

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Awww, it's not bad to take your time!

[karanina.livejournal.com]

Well that was a nice bit of misdirection with the walk up the isle! I'm glad you've finally finished this story, it was a sweetie to read!

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

I've ended way too many Rayne stories with them getting married so it was nice to break the mold a bit with this one. I'm glad you liked it, thank you so much for being an awesome reader. *hugs*

[fairandbright.livejournal.com]

This has been an awesome story! I'm glad to see it has the fluffy, happy ending that you do so well. ;)

ANNNND NOW'S THE TIME IN TOXIC'S LJ WHEN WE DAHNCE!

\0\ /0/ \0\ /0/ \0\ /0/ \0\ /0/ \0\ /0/ \0\ /0/

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

DANCING!!!!
/0/ \0\ /0/ YAYZ \0\ /0/ \0\

[gehdra.livejournal.com]

*joins in the dancing*

And I say 'thank you!' for the beautiful story you have shared with us :)

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

You're welcome; thank you for reading! *gives you a twirl*

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Er.... um.... *awkward pause* I did enjoy reading this but, at the risk of being a big meanie, this chapter was really sort of a letdown after the last one. I think it would have been better to have ended the story after chapter 11. Just my $0.02.

And so long as you keep writing, I'll enjoy reading it, even if it's not Rayne. :-)

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Now you know how I felt during the epilogue to The Deathly Hallows. ;)

Basically, this was a "tie up loose-ends that'll bug me later" chapter. I kept in mind reader comments from earlier and tried to attend to everything. There was a Kaylee/Simon element I hinted at and wanted to follow up, put to rest any concerns that the chemical was spreading and would be a problem, and the question if Nettie was still flickering between realities.

So, I'm sorry that you're disappointed. *shrug* Don't know what else to tell you. Thanks for letting me know what you thought, though.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's not your fault I was disappointed! Like I said (or at least, intended to say, regardless of whether it actually came out that way), I enjoyed it, it just was a letdown after chapter 11. (That was a really had comment to write, by the way - I'm so used to loving everything that you write, and by the comments that had come before mine it was apparent I was the only one so far who felt this way, but I would have felt dishonest not to tell you how I actually felt about it.)

I suppose now I understand people who didn't like the epilogue to Deathly Hallows

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wasn't claiming responsibility for that, don't worry. And you're not the first and definitely won't be the last to not like every single thing I write. It happens.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

So... if Rayne's not next on your writing agenda, what is?

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure yet, it depends on what I feel like writing. I know that I have some prompts I haven't gotten to that I need to take care of. If I have any mojo left, that is. *shakes empty bag and ponders where I can get another one*

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've got some mojo around somewhere.

That reminds me - I need to scrape up some mojo and finish start my fic for the Random Title Generator Challenge. Did you sign up for that one?

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Nope, I tend to wuss out of taking part in challenges because they're, um, a challenge. I have enough difficulty feeding my own plot bunnies as it is.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I can certainly understand that. I have the opposite problem: I have problems developing plot bunnies, so I like challenges because then someone gives me one and all I have to do is finish it.

[evelynvaughn01.livejournal.com]

Awww! I really liked this. Great fake-out at the start, with it being Simon and Kaylee's wedding. And good job tying up the loose ends on the unproductive "agent"! Thanks for a great read.

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really couldn't see introducing that chemical and then not following up on it later; there would've been too many questions. I'm glad you liked it. :)

[crazywriterchic.livejournal.com]

Nice fake-out there at the beginning. I'm glad it worked out. I wonder how they explained the new pink dress Nettie showed up in, though. It's kind of sad that she thinks she imagined it all, but then, at 8 it would seem rather unreal.

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Whoever drugged and kidnapped her got her the dress. At least that's the official word on Serenity. ;) The whole "alternate world" thing is what she convinces herself was a dream.

Now, if anyone had thought to take PICTURES in the other world, maybe they'd believe the poor kid...

[icebreather.livejournal.com]

Probably understandable to lose interest after a bit. Like actors who leave starring roles on a popular show after 6 or 7 years -- fans get so upset, but I think it likely gets stiffling after awhile. There's only so much to be done with specific characters, and after that you want to expand your horizons ...

Oh, and I liked the ending, too! Laughed at 'taxes on marijuana', if we had that in the States maybe the gov't wouldn't always be in financial trouble ...
Oh, who am I kidding. They'd find a way no matter what the income.
I digress. Sorry!

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Heee, I remember reading in one of the Official Companions that marijuana was legal in the future so you know there'd be a big ol' tax on that. (and I think you're right; even with more money coming in because of the mary jane, they'd dig themselves into a financial hole in some other way; that's how big governments work it seems)

Thanks for reading!

[annie866.livejournal.com]

Very much enjoyed the story! Thanks for tying up the loose ends. Glad that the chemical will no longer be manufactured. And I was curious how the crew on the other Serenity would react to Nettie's experience. It was a nice surprise that Simon chose Jayne as his best man. Speaks volumes about how far they've come over the years.

Just one teeny comment (or concrit). For this part:

"Once River reached her place, the organ music started in earnest and everyone stood to get a glimpse of the bride, beaming as he walked her to the altar."

The "he" who walked Kaylee to the altar isn't clear. I'm guessing it's Mal, or it could also be her pa. Just thought I'd mention it. Hope that was okay.

Thanks for another wonderfully captivating story.

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Oh no, thanks for pointing that out. I should've caught it myself (and I really should've sent this to someone beforehand to catch it for me). Fixing now!

[angel932.livejournal.com]

Lovely ending to a wonderful story. *hugs you*

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks for reading. *hugs*

[susanmarier.livejournal.com]

thanks for the story. it was very good. liked the jayne and river dialog.

[toxic-corn.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. Thanks for reading!