A Cowboy Bebop Thanksgiving

In the depths of space, a lone ship floated, quiet and solemn. However, inside, it was anything but.

"Damn it Faye, where the hell is my food!"

"Why do you think I touched it! How the hell would I even know it was yours."

Spike Spiegel's eye twitched, as he, former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate, held the bridge of his nose, and said in a calm voice "Faye, after I caught that last bounty I went over to you and told you that I was buying food with my money for, and only for, me." He said, emphasizing who did what.

"Well next time you buy food, don't leave it out where anyone could eat it," retorted Faye Valentine, who was currently filing her nails on the couch. Spike was about to start ranting at her again, when Jet Black, former ISSP officer and owner of the Bebop walked through the door. "Jet, back me up. That can of meat was mine, right?" Spike said, looking toward Jet. Jet just raised his hands and said, "I don't know and don't involve me. It's bad enough barely having any food, but you two, acting like kids and fighting about it makes it a thousand times worse. I don't want to get dragged in." After saying such, Jet reached into his pocket, and pulled out his final cigarette, sighed, then lit it. The three bounty hunters present then fell silent, reflecting on their current situation, which they had been in way too often. No money, barely any food, and running out of those cancer sticks that put them out of their misery for a short time. Yep, they had been in this situation far too many times. The solar system only contained so many criminals.

Suddenly, from the other end of the room, a figure came in, whose hair seemed to be on fire, and began running around, followed by what seemed like a barking throw pillow. Though, after a few minutes of running in silence, Francoise Appledehli, aka Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th, a 14 year old genius hacker girl from Earth stopped and looked around at the quiet faces. After another few minutes in silence, she looked down at her compatriot, a welsh corgi data dog, Ein, and said, "Aya Ein, what are we going to do? Everyone's so quiet." Ein barked at her a few times, before her face lit up with an idea, and she said, "Let's go Ein," before walking out of the room. After she left, the trio present raised there heads, as if they had just noticed that something was different. Yet, as soon as they saw that nothing had changed, they went back to their gloomy moods.

That night, it was cold and quiet - which is how it usually is - but this seemed like a different quiet. This quiet was empty; there was nothing filling it. It was more empty than the cowboy's stomachs, which were all growling as they lay in their beds, trying to get sleep. If they wanted to, one of them could have found a bounty and got some, but none of them had the energy or the motivation. It just didn't seem worth it. Even if they did make money, it would either be spent on Faye's gambling, food, or repairs. At any one moment, there was only a few thousand woolongs on the ship at a time, no matter how big the bounty they scored. So, everyone was in bed, trying to sleep the hunger off. Everyone, that is, that except for two.

The following morning was no better than the night before. Everyone was irritable and sleepy, with droopy eyes and bad breath. And, to top it all off, the hot water wasn't working, so all showers were taken in sub zero temperatures. Not a single word was uttered, as everyone went about their routine, for fear of starting a fight that could escalate into an all out war in these conditions. Not soon after, the three bounty hunters were climbing into their various ships. Even though no one had money, they figured they could at least get off the ship and not drive each other to the breaking point. As Jet was going to open the hanger, he thought about telling Edward that they were leaving, but he decided that she was probably asleep with the mutt somewhere, and would most likely stay like that until they got back. So, without further delay, he got inside his Hammerhead, opened the bay doors, and the three were off in separate directions. However, instead of being asleep, Edward was typing furiously on her trusty computer, Tomato, while smiling widely, and creating, what she believed, was a great plan for the crew of the Bebop.

The rest of the Bebop crew in question was currently at a group of asteroids. They both had different, as well as quick, experiences, yet they all ended with the same thought. Spike's first and only stop was a local bar. Walking in, he saw that it wasn't very crowded, except for two men playing pool in the corner, a woman smoking a cigarette at the bar, and a group of old men at a table, playing cards. Sitting at the opposite end of the bar, Spike waited until the bartender, a round man who seemed to be in his 40s with a balding head, came over cleaning a glass. Before Spike could make a request, the man asked "You got any money?" Instead of responding, Spike just sighed, and stood up with his hands in his pocket, getting ready to go. He was too worn out to try and get any money, and it wasn't worth one drink. Yet, before he could reach the door, the bartender sighed and called him back over, saying "I can't give you anything fancy, but how about some rum. On the house," and he started to poor some in a glass. Sitting back down, Spike looked at him for a moment, before leaning back. He wasn't about to refuse a free drink, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ruin it by asking any questions. Once the drink was placed in front of him, it was gone in five minutes. He tried to make it last, since there was nothing at the Bebop, but he couldn't help it. Once he was done, the man came over and took the glass, but before he could leave, Spike asked "I appreciate the free drink, but why did you give it to me?" He had let his curiosity get the better of him. The man smiled at him and said, "It's Thanksgiving, so it doesn't hurt to do something nice." Then he walked to the other end of the bar, and started cleaning whatever glasses where there. Spike didn't know much about Thanksgiving, except that it was a time when families got together to eat a lot of food and drink a lot of booze. He sighed as he left the bar, while thinking 'Wish I had a Thanksgiving.'

Faye was on the other side of town, in a casino. It wasn't huge, with a few rows of slots, a couple of card tables, and dark lighting. Yet, it was still a casino, and there was nothing Faye loved more. She was hoping she could make some money with the little she had gotten off of one guy on the way there. Smiling to herself, she thought, 'Men are so easy,' as she made her bet. However, that smile melted quickly after she lost that money. 'Don't worry,' she foolishly chided herself 'just play a little longer and you'll get it back with interest.' But, instead of making it back, she lost even more, even though she didn't have any to lose. After she was 500 woolongs in debt, she figured that it was time to disappear. Usually, she could leave the game in a way that no one would notice her, but here, she was in the seat against the wall, so when she did make a slight move to leave it was noticed by the card dealer. He was a young white man, with brown hair coming down to his shoulders, and brown eyes. "Are you leaving the game ma'am?" he asked. She smiled, hoping to be able to find a way out, but before she could say anything, the man said, "Ah . . you're out of money then." 'Crap!' she thought, 'I'm caught.' However, the man just looked at her and laughed lightly. "Don't worry, we're having a special. If your under 600 woolong in debt, the casino will let it go," and he took back her cards. When Faye still hadn't left, he said, "It's our Thanksgiving special." To this, Faye just nodded and left, before he even had the time to wish her a happy Thanksgiving. Faye had heard that Thanksgiving was a time when people got together to enjoy each others company and food in comfort. She stared down at the sidewalk outside the casino and thought, 'Wish I had a Thanksgiving.'

While this was all happening, Jet was on the other side of town conversing with an old cop buddy. Jet had been walking when he spotted him whose name was Tom Motroni. He had a build similar to Jets, but with a full head of hair, a softer complexion, and no scars. "So, you still with the force?" Tom asked. "Nah, I quit it and now I'm a bounty hunter." Tom whistled. "Wow, I never expected you to become a bounty hunter. Well, I suppose it's a job fitting for the Black Dog," he said with a chuckle. Jet laughed too, and then asked, "What about you?" "I quit a long time ago. Now I'm married and have a family with kids, and a well paying job in a local store. There's not much action, but it's nice. What about you, do you have a family?" Jet was about to say no, but something made him stop. While it wasn't a family by social standards, it still had the same aspects. Also, while they may not know each others pasts, they knew about each other in the present, and that was enough. So, he just nodded his head and said, "I guess you can call it that." Tom smiled, and then looked at his watch. "Well," he said, getting up, "I have to get back home. My wife is making a Thanksgiving dinner. But you take care Jet, and have a good Thanksgiving." Jet watched him leave, and then put his hat on, and started walking in the opposite direction. He tried to imagine Faye, Spike, Edward, and himself sitting down at a table for a Thanksgiving dinner, and nearly started laughing. That was nearly impossible, since they had no money, and he had never seen them do that before. He doubted he ever would. 'Still, it wouldn't be the worst thing,' he thought. 'Wish I had a Thanksgiving.'

Finally, after they had each had their own little adventures, they headed back to the Bebop. On the ride there, they were all thinking about what had happened to them, and also about Thanksgiving; how nice it would be to have a Thanksgiving meal. But, they knew that it was impossible, and shouldn't think about such things. However they couldn't. Finally, they had landed and were leaving the hanger. Once they got in the hall though, they noticed something was wrong. It took them a minute, but Spike figured it out first, realizing that there was a smell of something burning, and a small amount of smoke in the air. Staring at each other, the trio started running down the hall, screaming Ed's name. They all expected the worse, that Ed had accidentally lit the Bebop on fire. When they rounded a corner, and saw that that smoke was coming from the kitchen, that only reenforced that idea even more. However, they were all surprised to see Ed, standing in front of, what was not a fire, but a pan with something in it. In fact, there was already a few items on the counter, along with something in the oven, and a pot on the stove. Edward looked up and smiled at their shocked faces, while Ein ran around her feet, barking for food. "Surprise!" she said, jumping over to them. Yet, they stood there, just staring at what was on the counter. There was mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, pie and stuffing. Also, in the oven was a turkey, and on the stove was some kind of soup and gravy. Finally, Jet shook himself and asked very slowly, "Ed, what is this." She looked at him with a smile and said, "Thanksgiving," while spreading her arms out to indicate the whole spread. "Wh, where'd you get the money to get all this?" Faye asked. To this, Ed gave an uncharacteristically sly smile and said, "Ed has her ways. Don't worry." "Her ways," were various jobs she does online, as well as taking a small fee for all of the bounties they catch, and putting it in a private account which she made. She told this to the crew a few minutes after she answered the following question, which was asked by Spike. "How do you know how to cook?" To this, Ed did a hand stand, and told them about how she always cooked for herself before she came to the Bebop, which made sense.

Afterward, she made everyone help her take the food out to the table in the living room, which she had spread a large table cloth - that she had found in the back - over. Finally, with the help of Jet, she pulled the turkey out, and brought it to the table. Once everything was on the table, everyone took a seat, but before they ate, Jet turned to Ed and asked her, "Why did you do all this?" Ed just looked at him and said, "Because you, Faye-Faye and Spike seemed so unhappy. So Ed thought that she should make a family Thanksgiving to cheer everyone up," as if it was obvious. After she said this, everyone was quiet. She had made this because she was worried about her "family". Even though they weren't close, and fought a lot, they were a family in other aspects. Just the fact that they were sitting down to eat was one. Then, Faye stood up. The others looked at her, worried that she would leave, but instead she walked over to Ed and wrapped her arms around the other girl in a hug. "Thank you Ed," she said softly while smiling. Ed was so stunned that she couldn't move or talk. After that, Jet and Spike both gave Ed a small hug, saying their thanks, and then sat back down. They stared at Ed for a moment, who still hadn't moved. Then a small smile formed on her face, and she quickly wiped her eyes before saying, "Thank you for being Ed's family." And with that they all dug into the superb meal.

They didn't have a lot to be thankful for in their lives, but they knew that they could rely on each other, and that was good enough for them.