Title: Jordan Author: A.j. Challenge: Water Spoilers: “Objects in Space” Summary: She wants to feel clean again. *** She wants to feel clean again. Her days in the academy were simple. Companions were vital. Necessary. Revered. A point of order in a chaotic universe slowly being won over. On the day of her graduations - one for the house, one for the family - she stood proudly with her sisters, beautiful and powdered and perfect in the shining sun. There was light and water everywhere, and pride swelled within her like a river. She had done it. She was real. She was a Companion. She wonders when that stopped being so amazing. She's beginning to hate that she ever thought it was. Because she is different now. Sees things with different eyes. And she almost hates that more. Serenity may be gone, but her presence isn't erased. She's not sure it ever can be. Inara stands still and perfect, staring down to the temple gardens with something that might just be contempt. Fruit trees bloom around her. Food and water and medicine are plentiful, almost forgotten because they just are. A sister brushes by her, clad in silk and semi-precious stones from head to toe. Inara wonders how many fuel cells Zoe and Mal could have fenced that outfit for. Her eyes narrow, just a bit, and she turns back to the water fountains inside. Inara needs to wash her hands again. -fin-