The world she'd gotten used to feeling off kilter righted itself as he put his arms around her, and River exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. For a moment, she'd been afraid that seeing Simon was either a hallucination, or a trick of the Dreaming. But no hallucination, even her vivid ones, could mimic hearing Simon say her name like that, like she was the only important thing he knew.

"They're not here. Inara was, a long time ago, but she left and never came back. Simon, I've been here before. When we go back, we don't remember."

A cautious touch, the buttons on his vest. "You're real."