Hi. I'm
luzdeestrellas and I'll be behind the wheel for Firefly this month. We're starting a little later than I'd like, but I'll make up for that, I promise.
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: none
Author on LJ:
thenyxieAuthor's website: Nyxiefic Why this must be read : For me, Mal and Zoe have one of the most fascinating relationships on the show, and sometimes it's difficult to capture all its depth and complexity, but when it's done well, it produces some of the most exquisite fic I've ever read. This story does it well -- brilliantly, in fact. Set just after the movie, it deals with all the things you'd expect: Mal's guilt, Zoe's grief, and the struggle to find some peace, but this story makes it new and heartbreaking all over again. It's not particularly long, but it's crafted so that no word feels extraneous, each one building from the one before, and it creats something sharp and painful, full of the love Mal and Zoe have for one another, shown in all the things they say and all the things they can't.
An excerpt:
"I know there were pieces of you got left behind in the war. I watched 'em get ripped out o' you, one by one. And I know an even bigger piece got left behind
on Haven."
She says nothing, huge, almond-shaped eyes not quite meeting his, but he thinks he can see the wound there, a softened glittering in deep pools of brown.
He moves a step closer, fingers itching at his side to reach out and touch her shoulder, to offer her the comfort he'd give freely to any other one of his
crew. But this is Zoë, and Mal only ever touches Zoë with his eyes.
"Can't afford to lose many more," he says, and his voice cracks, catching in his throat, and now she raises her eyes to look at him after all. She is cold,
impassive, an impenetrable shell forged in war and burnished in blood. All You Can't Leave Behind by
thenyxie***
If you enjoy the story, please let the author know.