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"You..." Inara's voice trails off. For once, she's out of words. Hùn dan, she thinks, breath caught in her chest. He can still surprise her, always in the way that hurts most.
Mal doesn't hang his head, but the impulse is there. He looks everywhere in the shuttle but at her.
The power of his shame, his need, overwhelms her. Not for the first time she wonders how River bears it.
"It wouldn't have worked," he says, finally, gesturing between them.
The acknowledgement cuts her. Maybe this cauterization will allow them closure? Still it aches when she admits, "I know."