Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Firefly or Serenity. All character credit (except the characters I make up) goes to Joss Whedon and those affiliated with the series.

Tales from the Academy: River and Me

Chapter 1: The River That Was

I will never forget the first time I saw River Tam. Even at the age of fourteen, she carried herself with the manner of a 40 year old intellect, but with the compassion and playful spirit of a child.

We who had been accepted were very intelligent, except for River. River Tam was beyond intelligent. She had a type of perception; not just extra sensory, but a conscious perception. It was as if she knew how you were feeling the moment you felt anything. I had a feeling that she could read our thoughts, but she always had the courtesy to keep what she knew about us to herself. She was personable. She made friends with everyone; you couldn't not like River Tam. She was brilliant.

I recall seeing her and her brother, Simon, playing a game with the maps in the M.I. Labs. Her brother would name a city on Osiris or Ariel, and River would eagerly shout out another city back to him. They called it "Digging." If you dug a hole in one city on one planet, where on another planet would you end up? She would literally have to have galaxies mapped in her mind. I could not image doing such a thing. However, River responded to each question with no hesitation whatsoever. And that was just one aspect of her intelligence. I had never seen anyone as eager and motivated to learn, as River was.

Not only did she excel in academics; she was an artist, a dancer, and a musician. It seemed as though there was nothing that she could not do. To this day, I still believe that River Tam can do anything. She was always willing to help others. Her explanations rivaled the methods of Socrates and Plato; she even made our instructors think twice. River Tam seemed unstoppable. So bright and full of passion; River Tam had everything. She was everything.

Then one day everything changed.