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Gorram Reavers, gorram alliance. Gorram firefly. This thing's going out of control on me. Pull on the yoke, punch the controls. Kwong-juh duh.
"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
Ship's twisting, spinning. I feel it dancing, almost. Hitting cloud, pockets of air tilting us. Mal looks at me like he knows I've got her covered, we'll land this baby and get on with it.
"Chicken's come home to roost."
"The hell?"
Mal looks at me, question in his brow as cloud swirls past us. Whistle of air breaks into a scream and she shudders beneath me. I lean on the yoke again, trying to lead her into another dance step, slow the wild spinning.
"It's ok."
Wuh de tyen, ah. I can only hope Kaylee's got something down there in the engine room. I got no thrust, I got no attitude. Maybe I can glide this bird in, slide her in nice and tight on some bit of flat ground. And maybe we'll end up in so many pieces of charred metal that even the Reavers won't care about our skins.
"I am a leaf on the wind."
"What does that mean?"
Mal's screaming at me through his eyes. I'm no crazier than I ever was, and Mal knows it. Plastic dinosaurs scattered minutes ago, and it's just me and Serenity, dancing. Never landed a ship this way before.
"...strap yourselves into something..."
I can't tell any more whether that's wind I hear or the engine's whine or Reavers cutting up my soul. We're fried, and I got no control now. Can't tell what I'm saying or which way's up. Run tse duh fwo tzu... I am a leaf on the wind. Protect us.
Scraping, clawing across solid ground. I think it's beneath us, not above us. Dance has ended, she's lost a limb somewhere. We're still alive, I guess. Mal, Zoe, looking at me like I knew what I was doing, dancing with this bird. Still nothing saying we won't hit some wall and end up scrap metal. Kan wuh-mun tzun muh suh bah.
"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how..."
Phrase translations:
Kwong-juh duh: "nuts"
Wuh de tyen, ah: "Dear god in heaven"
Run tse duh fwo tzu...: "Merciful Buddha..."
Kan wuh-mun tzun muh suh bah: "Let's watch how we die."