Cowboy Bebop: What Would You Give?
"Faye-Faye…"
Her slender, childish hand stretched out, off into the distance. One monument stood erect amid a dozen or so trees. The little girl had never sounded so subdued before. Once full of energy and happiness, today grace was her only remaining childish virtue. Her head was hidden from the world under a large black hood; it was raining hard today, like maybe, just maybe, these two girls weren't the only ones mourning…
"Faye-Faye. Please, lets go now."
"Sure kid, just gimme a minute, okay?"
Faye stood immobile, despite the adamant tugs of her strange little companion. What was it about this guy? The last time she had seen him she'd broken down, and it seemed like she was about to do it again. She wanted to put a bullet in him, she should've ended it all herself. But then… Ed. She couldn't have faced Ed. That's right. It was for Ed. Faye had always lived to help other people.
The two stood unmoving for a while. The little girls eyes always moved back to the monument by the trees. Faye's eyes always wandered back to her watch. There was a sudden, sort jerk on her hand, and Faye looked down at her companion.
"Faye-Faye, I'm going." The child released Faye from her grip, hesitated for a moment, and began to walk slowly into the same distance into which she had pointed before. Faye remained, shocked at being left behind, but still her body was unable to move from this ground.
"Wait, Ed. We found him. That's enough for me, I think I'm going to go back to the ship. You stay however long you need to, okay?"
Ed stopped. Back turned, Faye felt a strange fear of the girl. There was something terrible she had never noticed before behind the wild antics of this child. Ed turned around, and Faye looked her in the eyes. The little girl just stared back at her. What's wrong with her? I didn't come here to spend my whole life, I just wanted to find him. Ed stared blankly, seemingly without emotion. It's a rough look for such a young child to execute, but while Faye's actions didn't seem to have pleased her, they certainly didn't phase her, either. Ed and Faye stood motionless, staring each other in eyes.
Faye looked away.
"Just go, okay? I'm not stopping you, you know."
The girl held her gaze.
"Why are you just looking at me? Don't you want to see him?!"
"Yes," the girl croaked. Her eyes were no longer visible behind her hood, but Faye could tell by her voice that tears were forming.
"Then… then… just… go!"
Faye fell down to the ground on her knees. The emotion was becoming too much for her; she shut her eyes. She needed to get back to the ship, she couldn't stay here any longer. There was no point. She didn't really want to come in the first place. The only reason she came was for Ed, and now the girl was just standing there looking at her. Faye was drenched. Ed had the sense to bring a coat, but Faye's mind just wasn't running up to speed lately. But at least the rain drops are hiding these tears…
Faye, feeling weaker, sat down and put her head in her knees. She felt the cold on her face and opened her eyes. There was mud all over her dress. I hate black. Why all this tradition? People die all the time. We can't always wear black, now can we?
Silence stood between them like a wall, and the rain was coming down so heavy that neither could see the other clearly. Ed remained stationary and foreboding while Faye proceeded to break up in front of her. There seemed to be nothing to save this day from disaster. Faye felt threatened and was unable to even look in Ed's general direction. Perhaps in was the looming monument behind her, or perhaps it was the child herself. Whatever the case, Faye looked at nothing but the ground and her mud-stained dress and she cried.
"Listen, I'm not your fucking mother, just go," Faye choked through her tears. Faye attempted to stare the child down again, but she couldn't look up at her, she hadn't the strength or the will. She could only look at the girl's feet. Her feet which remained motionless, pointing at her. Not a sound came from the child's lips, not a movement from her body.
Life is strange, isn't it? You never realize something is important until its gone. But what's the point of going through life if you can never have that thing that's important to you? You're just left chasing sounds through a tunnel; ghosts through a wall. You'll never get there. You'll never make it. My whole life I've spent searching for myself, and the second I find out where I belong its ripped from me like everything else I've ever loved.
And with all this pain I've gone through in my life you would think that others would give me the courtesy of letting me be who I want to be. I'm not a little girl, I know what's best for me, but no one can just let me live my life. They're always complicating things. Making things out to be more important than they are. Nothing's important expect yourself. That's what I've learned in my life. I'm the only one that counts, because no one else will ever care enough to-
Faye felt a warmth envelope her, and she looked up through her tears. Ed was standing before her, completely drenched from head to toe, shivering with a strange half-smile on her face. Faye pulled the child's coat around her head and smiled to herself. Fine… so the kid's okay…
"C'mon, Faye-Faye, we can go together." Ed reached for Faye's arm to help her up, and to the surprise of both Faye and Ed, she lifted herself onto her feet. Faye lifted the coat and took the little girl under her arm, and sheltered them both from the rain.
"I don't think I can go, Edward."
"… Then we'll go back to the ship, Faye-Faye. Just want you want, right?" The child hesitated before she spoke, but was honest in her words.
"What? After we came all this way, after I spent so long trying to find you, you can just leave like that?"
"If you can, Faye-Faye."
Great… if I can. What am I supposed to tell her? She's going to hate herself if she doesn't go, but I don't think I want to still. This isn't like me, all dressed up for someone's death… but her…
"Faye-Faye did you love him?"
Only Ed could have asked the most obvious question right then. Faye struggled for an answer, and was only half surprised when none came. She looked away from head at the ground to try and find the right words. Love… it wasn't Love, was it? If it was, then I never really got to experience it, and only found out too late- Faye broke down sobbing, and was only kept on her feet by the strength of the child grasping her waist. No, not Love. It couldn't have been. That's just too cruel. He was… different. A companion, a comrade. Or more? What's the word?
Faye regained her footing and smiled at the little girl, looking into her eyes this time to find a warm and comforting creature hugging her midsection. "Not love, Ed. He was… family. Yours," she poked Ed's nose, and the child squealed in delight, "… and mine. He was ours."
"Ed thinks she understands," the child said philosophically into the distance. "But Faye-Faye, Ed thinks it was different."
"How so, kiddo?"
"Mr. Spike is family. No was."
Faye smiled, honestly amused for the first time that afternoon. She smoothed down the front of her dress, and wiped off the mud as best she could with one arm. Still hiding under the child's coat, Faye nodded at her small, funny companion.
"Yeah, you're right… Let's go, Ed."
The two women walked arm in arm to the monument in the distance.
A little bit of a post-note, here:
Legally, I do not own any of these characters, and will never be so awesome as to own characters on the same level.
The story came to me after watching the last episode of Bebop, and I hastened to write it up as soon as possible, but fell a little short of the end before it went on the backburner to my Kingdom Hearts fan-fic (check it out, I think its pretty good). But today, after reading Dark Raion's FF8/Bebop crossover, my will was reborn! Anyway, I like how it turned out, and no, I will not continue it at all. I hope you enjoyed my take on how things would have happened, and forgive the bits of liberty I took with the characters. You never really find out how they think, so I think my assumptions were in reason. Anyway, this is too long of an author's note, so let's just leave it at "I hope you enjoyed the story!"