Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to this little work of insanity! This chapter is just setting up the central conflicts for each character. If you want to get to the action parts, you don't really need to read this, but it would help.
Just to let you know, this story isn't going to be based entirely on the canon characters. A good lot of it will focus on Aislynn Dowd, a character who will first show face in the next chapter (No, Spike doesn't fall in love with her. He loves Julia, remember?). This is just a precaution so you don't read this expecting one thing and end up getting another (don't you hate it when that happens?). Also, this story isa slight A/U. At the time when Spike was supposed to die... Well, I suppose you'll find out what happened! Anyway, he is not dead in this fictional piece.
Please give it a chance, and review! Constructive critisism is very welcome as I would very much like to improve my writing!
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Cowboy Bebop, The Cowboy Bebop Movie, or the Cowboy Bebop Manga. This anecdote is simply just a piece of fiction for entertainment purposes only. Also, the song "Changes" is written and performed by the wonderful band, 3 Doors Down. Again, I do not own, nor am I associated with, 3 Doors Down or their wonderful music!
Prologue – Changes
"Feelin' weak and weary
Walkin' through this world alone
Everything they say every word of it
Cuts me to the bone, (and I bleed)
I've got something to say
But now I've got nowhere to turn
It feels like I've been buried
Underneath all the weight of the world
I try to hold this under control
They can't help me cause no one knows
Now I'm goin' through changes, changes
God, I feel so frustrated lately
When I get suffocated, save me
Now I'm goin' through changes, changes."
3 Doors Down, Away from the Sun
"Spike! Spike! Come look at this!" she yelled across the Bebop.
There was no answer, not even the slightest sound mentioned anyone stirring.
Edward was tired of being ignored. At the age of thirteen, when she'd first moved onto the Bebop, she hadn't had to worry about lack of attention. Wherever she had gone, it seemed that something new and interesting happened. Eleven years later, at the delicate age of twenty-four, things were different.
"God damn it Spike, get your pathetic skinny ass in here this instant!" she screamed.
A scurrying noise followed her statement and the tall, green-haired man slid into the open living space, followed shortly by Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Ein the Corgi.
"What?! What is it?!" everyone shouted, breathing as though the ship was devoid of oxygen.
"Wow… that really worked. I should try this swearing thing more often!" Ed smiled, truly amazed at how a few well-chosen words could make all the difference on the Bebop.
Spike straightened himself, and stuck a hand in his pocket to pull out a cigarette.
"Just come out with it, Ed. This better be important."
He took a deep inhale of the smoke, and then let it out through his nose; the caustic taste seemed to calm him.
"Look at this: Kyros Drago; worth 500,000 woolongs. Wanted for third-degree murder, drug dealing, counterfeiting… hundreds of things. He was last seen at a shoot-out a couple weeks ago, with a couple Syndicate thugs. You up for it?" Despite what had happened during the years she'd been away from the Bebop, Ed still had energy, and a lot of it.
No one spoke for a moment, everyone was quietly observing Spike. He still had the same, cool posture. To someone who didn't know Spike, it would seem he hadn't heard. To Ed, the slight intake of breathe after her statement had been enough to know she'd hit a nerve. She was about to take back her suggestion of going after Drago when Spike spoke.
"Five hundred thousand, huh? I sure would like something other than bell peppers and beef to eat."
Spike turned and left the room, leaving Jet, Faye, and Ed to research the man and set up an arrangement.
It had been years since he'd looked at her picture, the one that had been hidden underneath his old clothing in his dresser.
Her face had been pale that day. Her blonde tresses had been pulled back by a pair of red sunglasses, and her smile had been warm.
He'd promised himself, after miraculously surviving his battle with Vicious, that he'd forget everything. He'd never think about her, he'd never think of the Syndicate. It had even somewhat worked, and he'd been able to go on living life day-to-day.
He knew something was missing. At least once a day his heart would ache for a warm hand to touch his cheek, for full lips to kiss his pain away. There'd been one time in all the years he'd been missing her that he'd looked at her photo, and it had caused him even more pain than what he'd gotten used to.
Now here he was, looking again. It was going to be a long, agonizing week.
It seemed like it had been a long time since the Bebop had been fun to him.
Back in those days, when Ed had still flown about the ship with her arms outspread, life had almost been perfect. Everyone had still been alive, both in their actions and their minds. Jet Black had been happy.
Anymore, everyone was getting older each minute of the day. After Spike's suicide mission, everything had changed.
Faye had gone mental with loneliness. She'd begun going out and drinking more often, eating less often, and being away from the Bebop for longer periods of time. He knew she'd fallen for Spike; it had been obvious from the way she'd never stopped crying.
A year or so later, Spike had miraculously returned to the Bebop, alive. There hadn't been much emotion, just a hello, and the small task of explaining why his desk an inch of dust on it. Things had just gone back to normal. The only thing that was different was that Spike had become even more aloof and circumvent than before. His life had been spiraling downwards since then.
Then Ed had been discovered on Uranus three years after that, and had gone from being Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski 4th to being Edwina Howell 3rd, Titanian Preparatory Academy graduate. Her speech had changed, her body had changed, and her mental capacity had increased. Jet supposed that her changing had been inevitable, as no one was the same as an adult as they were when they had been thirteen.
Ein had even returned with Ed. He was old, older than a dog should have been, but he'd been living steadily since. Anymore, the dog would wake up once a day to eat and see his young owner, and then off to his dog bed he'd go.
It was as though the entire crew of the Bebop was just spending their time day-to-day, waiting to die. For Jet, change had been unkind.
She was tired of holding everything inside. Since the day Spike had returned, she'd wanted to yell, or scream; do something out of the ordinary to help get back to normal.
It had been unbearable to begin living with Spike again after a year of silent mourning. Just when she'd finally convinced herself that Spike had died, and had begun moving on; he'd returned. Jet hadn't even acted like it was unusual. He'd opened the door, spotted Spike standing there with a small briefcase, and told him his room hadn't been vacuumed in a couple of months.
Spike had appeared at dinner, and gave a half-hearted complaint about the bell peppers and beef.
That had been it. He was again part of the Bebop family.
He still didn't act the same, though. It was as if he was a whole different person. He wouldn't argue, get mad, or show any emotion anymore. He'd sit through a loud round of finger-pointing accusations, say sorry, apologize, and then he'd be gone to another room to avoid further conflict.
The daytime wasn't half the torture of nighttime, though. During the dark hours, Faye would sleep restlessly, or wouldn't be able to sleep at all.
When she did sleep, she'd have nightmares of losing the green-haired man again. Sometimes he'd actually left her, and other times he'd push her away. During these dreams, Spike would die in some way or another, usually in a very gory way.
When she didn't sleep, she'd think about him endlessly. She'd go over ways to confess her feelings, she'd plat out scenarios of previous days in her head. Sometimes she couldn't move during these, she would lie in the same spot in a cold sweat until she remembered that nothing was going to emerge from beneath her bed and eat her.
Faye Valentine was truly lonely.
Havea good day (or night, for some...)!!! Thank you for your time (and yes, there will be more chapters)!!!