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Enough For Now by Jen Northwood (NC-17)
Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Zoe/River, past Zoe/Wash
Length: 7,907 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rivendellrose
Author Website: just her lj
Why this must be read: Post-BDM, much like after the War, Zoe's only half alive; someone needs to get her warm again. This is a quiet and thoughtful story, full of deep and profound character explorations, striking imagery, and small, exquisite epiphanies. The characterizations are all lovely, especially for Zoe, River, and Mal. I love the way this story deftly builds the connection between River's current actions and Wash's past ones, making a pairing I never really saw before into something that feels as purely inevitable as a river (or a River) wearing down rock into canyons. In particular, I like how Zoe's reluctance and discomfort with the whole thing ring very true, but the brilliant way that's linked to how she started off with Wash shifts her resistance into a different light. I love best the theme of learning to appreciate broken things for what they still are, and to get on with living as best as possible around the jagged edges. The way Jen writes this, the pairing is like River herself: there's something broken here, and full of pain and lonliness, but for all that, still full of life and promise.
"Tied up so tight, it hurts to take a full breath. You'll drown if you don't open your eyes and swim."
"Aiya! Tamade..." Zoe whirls and picks the slim figure of a dark-haired girl out of the shadows on her bed, ghostly and slender, pale legs dangling off the edge of the bunk and hair hanging in her face. "River, how many times have we been over this? Can't have you showing up in random people's rooms."
"I don't. Not random." She smiles. "Only here."
"Then don't show up here."
The smile in the darkness gets bigger, and Zoe finds herself thinking of a ghostly cat in some story her mother used to tell, about little girls and packs of cards. River unfolds herself from the bunk and stretches luxuriantly... which is when Zoe noticed the bright shirt she has wrapped around her tiny frame.
"Leave that here. It doesn't belong to you."
"As much to me as to anyone." River plucks at the fabric, then begins to pop the little buttons.
Zoe shakes her head and starts to turn away when she realizes that the girl isn't wearing anything but a thin, oversized nightgown underneath... and a devilish, eerily familiar grin above. "Forget it," she grits out - no idea why this sets her so much on edge, but she's eager to see the girl gone. "Just bring the thing back tomorrow. Go back to your room."
"I'm very comfortable here." River finishes unbuttoning the old Hawaiian shirt and leaves it open, flapping around her slight figure as she pads forward on silent feet. "All the memories live here. Safety, warmth." She closes her eyes as though listening to something far away. "All here. You've let it wane, dark and cold. Shouldn't leave the fire untended, there won't be coals to start it again later if you don't take care."
"Could've sworn your brother said you weren't crazy anymore."
"Once broken, a thing never comes back together in the same way, no matter how much glue and hope and bailing wire you use. Ask Kaylee, she knows. Simon knows, too, but he pretends he can - doesn’t like to think all his training was for nothing. Still fly true, though. Still a leaf on the--"
Zoe's momentum is halfway into slapping the girl before she realizes what she's doing and pulls the strike.
Enough For Now
Pairing: Zoe/River, past Zoe/Wash
Length: 7,907 words
Author on LJ:
rivendellroseAuthor Website: just her lj
Why this must be read: Post-BDM, much like after the War, Zoe's only half alive; someone needs to get her warm again. This is a quiet and thoughtful story, full of deep and profound character explorations, striking imagery, and small, exquisite epiphanies. The characterizations are all lovely, especially for Zoe, River, and Mal. I love the way this story deftly builds the connection between River's current actions and Wash's past ones, making a pairing I never really saw before into something that feels as purely inevitable as a river (or a River) wearing down rock into canyons. In particular, I like how Zoe's reluctance and discomfort with the whole thing ring very true, but the brilliant way that's linked to how she started off with Wash shifts her resistance into a different light. I love best the theme of learning to appreciate broken things for what they still are, and to get on with living as best as possible around the jagged edges. The way Jen writes this, the pairing is like River herself: there's something broken here, and full of pain and lonliness, but for all that, still full of life and promise.
"Tied up so tight, it hurts to take a full breath. You'll drown if you don't open your eyes and swim."
"Aiya! Tamade..." Zoe whirls and picks the slim figure of a dark-haired girl out of the shadows on her bed, ghostly and slender, pale legs dangling off the edge of the bunk and hair hanging in her face. "River, how many times have we been over this? Can't have you showing up in random people's rooms."
"I don't. Not random." She smiles. "Only here."
"Then don't show up here."
The smile in the darkness gets bigger, and Zoe finds herself thinking of a ghostly cat in some story her mother used to tell, about little girls and packs of cards. River unfolds herself from the bunk and stretches luxuriantly... which is when Zoe noticed the bright shirt she has wrapped around her tiny frame.
"Leave that here. It doesn't belong to you."
"As much to me as to anyone." River plucks at the fabric, then begins to pop the little buttons.
Zoe shakes her head and starts to turn away when she realizes that the girl isn't wearing anything but a thin, oversized nightgown underneath... and a devilish, eerily familiar grin above. "Forget it," she grits out - no idea why this sets her so much on edge, but she's eager to see the girl gone. "Just bring the thing back tomorrow. Go back to your room."
"I'm very comfortable here." River finishes unbuttoning the old Hawaiian shirt and leaves it open, flapping around her slight figure as she pads forward on silent feet. "All the memories live here. Safety, warmth." She closes her eyes as though listening to something far away. "All here. You've let it wane, dark and cold. Shouldn't leave the fire untended, there won't be coals to start it again later if you don't take care."
"Could've sworn your brother said you weren't crazy anymore."
"Once broken, a thing never comes back together in the same way, no matter how much glue and hope and bailing wire you use. Ask Kaylee, she knows. Simon knows, too, but he pretends he can - doesn’t like to think all his training was for nothing. Still fly true, though. Still a leaf on the--"
Zoe's momentum is halfway into slapping the girl before she realizes what she's doing and pulls the strike.
Enough For Now