okay, I had already written this chapter, But I watched Cowboy bebop: the movie and got mad inspired. So i deleted it and started ALL OVER AGAIN, i hope the change was worth it. You tell me.

"Oh shit man!" Dragon said getting up from the stool beside me. He gave the man a manly hug before standing back and laughing. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," the other one answered. I remembered his face so clearly. The glasses, the piercing. The spiky blonde hair. "Boss just went out to have a good time at a local club, thought I'd come by and see what's up. Plus, I got one of those Prince Albert's," he said winking proudly and sucking his teeth. Dragon's face exploded in amazement.

"No kidding?" he asked in awe.

"No kidding," he replied. The blonde jiggled his hips a little and suddenly a metal clinking sound filled the air.

"Oh shit Mac! Dude, your crazy. I remember me joking about it, but I'd never think you'd actually get your willy pierced!" Dragon laughed out. It took me half a second to actually get what the two was talking about and I cringed at the thought of it. I quickly dismissed the image from my head and sat up in my seat. Dragon turned back around to me and sat down. "Lemme just get this kid out the way, and you can tell me all about the pain you went through," Dragon said still chuckling.

"She looks really familiar," he said pulling up another stool to sit on the other side of me.

"That's what I said," Dragon pitched in.

"That's because you work for my father," I replied, looking at him. His blue green eyes got as big as plates.

"No way! Your Appleberry's Daughter?" He said looking at me over his yellow tinted glasses. God. What was his name? MacIntyre, yeah that's it. MacIntyre.

"That can't be where I know you from," Dragon said beside me. "I didn't even know Appleberry had a kid," there was a sudden prick of pain exploding in my ear. I turned and looked at the other blonde man. He grinned at me, holding up a sharp pointed object with blood over the tip. He pressed a fresh clean cotton ball over the broken flesh and pushed a thin metal rod through the hole. "It hurts less when your not expecting it," he said wiping tiny drops of blood off his rubber gloves. He switched places with MacIntyre, and began cleaning reclining the other ear.

"What are you doing out here so late?" He asked me, taking off his shades and wiping them on his black shirt.

"Well," I started. Not knowing rather to tell him which excuse I had for running around by myself after dark on Earth.

"Kid tells me she's lookin for her Mom," Dragon pitched in. There was another explosive pinch and I could feel tiny drops of blood trickling down my earlobe. I started to bite the side of my jaw. Not from pain, the pain was no problem. Its just that I didn't want MacIntyre to know. I didn't want anyone to know, as a matter of fact. But I guess if anyone was to know about it, maybe it would be him. Maybe my bubble-headed daddy would have told him something.

"Your Mom, huh Peanut?" he asked with a thoughtful look. I saw the impression of his tongue as it dipped down under his lower lip and caused his chin piercing to go around in circles. I giggled a little at him as Dragon slipped in the thin rod. "You know what. I remember you Dad saying something about her.." he said slowly. The tiny silver ball in his chin began to jiggle up and down. My heart pounded in my stomach when he said that. I leaned forward to hear him better when he remembered what ever my dad said. "Something about " he paused and tapped his chin. "Something about..angel wings.." MacIntyre said in an unsure tone. "I don't know. he was drunk at the time, we both where." I sighed and sat back down. "I know, we can go down to the club and ask him," he suggested.

"Oh yeah that sounds good. I could use a break," Dragon said as he peeled the gloves from his hands and threw them in the trash. "Oh, Don't worry about the price Ed. It's on the house," he said as he slipped back on his shirt and headed out the door with MacIntyre. I climbed down off the large black leather chair and followed them out the door, a million billion GA-zillion thoughts were zooming in my brain. We walked a few blocks down the street, I listened to Dragon and MacIntyre talk to one another and splashed in some of the rain puddles. When I looked back up again, we was standing in front of a building with a neon sign that read 'Arabian Nights' with a little belly dancer beside it, wiggling her hips. We walked inside, Dragon gave a nod to the man wearing a turban at the door. Unlike the club I went to earlier, this place was a lot more classy. Waitresses waltzed around in belly dancing costumes made of sequence and sheer material. There was a huge black polished stage which was occupied with a curvy woman with a white sparkling gown and chocolate colored skin. Her voice reminded me of that Billy Holiday lady Jet likes to listen to. I was so caught up in the glitzy glamour that I didn't even notice those two run off without me! I ran up behind Dragon and gave him an evil look as MacIntyre guided us through the bunches of dancing couples.

I heard my father's husky laugh before I saw him. He was laying back on bright colorful pillows with a bottle in his hand and girls dancing around him. I eyed them momentarily and couldn't resist the burning urge to dance along. I mimicked the hip movements perfectly, probably moving better then the dancers. The girls applauded me and cheered me on. It felt good to cut loose, even for a split second, all this research, all work and no play attitude was starting to get to me. I don't know how Jet does it. MacIntyre cleared his throat loudly, bringing me back down to my senses, Dragon was cracking up and Daddy was clapping for me.

"I thought you said something about your Mum, kiddo," MacIntyre said adjusting his glasses. I nodded and walked over to my father as he took another swig for his bottle.

"Who are you little boy?" he asked me through a drunken haze. I rolled my eyes and sat down one of the huge fuchsia colored velvet pillows. I played with the golden frills for a second before turning to my father, who was looking at the girls again.

"FATHER!" I shouted whacking him with a pillow. He turned back to me and blinked those mirror like blue eyes in confusion.

"It's Ed. What do you know about Mother?" I asked quickly. "Do you remember anything? Pictures? Anything?" I gushed out. Dad rolled his head on his thick neck and scratched his head.

"Umm...yeah," he said after a while with a victorious smile, then it broke into a frown again, "no wait. Oh yes!! No..wait..Angel wings!"

"What?!" I asked sitting up on my knees. I was really starting to get frustrated already.

"Boss, your not making any sense," MacIntyre pitched in.

"She had Angel wings. Yup, she said she was a fallen angel herself!" he said right before taking a sip of whatever was in that bottle. "Pretty lady too." Dad sighed out as he remembered then let out a hardy burp. I grabbed my hair and fell back onto the pillows.

"Do you have a picture?" Dragon asked.

"Nope."

"Her name?" I asked.

"Can't remember."

"Well, can you tell us what she looked like?" He asked sitting down on a pillow beside us. A waitress came by and smiled at me, then winked at Dragon before walking off to sell cigarettes to a man.

"Well, I only saw her a few times but.." Dad started off, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "she has brown hair and blonde hair and red hair and..and black hair. She has short hair and long hair!" he said as if he answered something correctly. I opened and closed my mouth in disbelieve. I grunted and buried in face in my hands. He was no help, no help at all! "Her name!" he shouted standing up. He wobbled side to side, smiling as if someone had said something harilously funny. Dragon, MacIntyre and me listened carefully. Even the dancing girls stopped to look at him. "She was the goddess, Aphrodite!" Those was his last words before falling back onto the pillows, past out. I got up from the pillows, dismissing the idea to shake him away and drill him for answers. He had trouble remembering that I was his kid and that I was a girl, I really wasn't expecting anything useful from him anyway. But I can't deny it, I was hoping with everything in my body that he knew something. Pressure found its way to my throat and my eyes began to burn and itch. I sniffed and trudged my way up to the black polished stage. The Billy Holiday lady sang out a song. I laid my head down on the shiny table and sniffed again. Something hot slide down my cheeks and disappeared on my sleeve. She sang something about strange fruit. 'Strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood on the root.' A pretty-pretty but sad, very sad melody. It sounded like it the music was crying itself, crying for who ever's blood was on the root of the strange fruit tree. I looked up at the woman and she smiled down at me. I wiped my eyes and smiled back. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder through the jacket and turned up to see Dragon grinning at me, blocking out the view of Billy Holiday.

"Okay Ed?" he asked, taking a chair across from me. I glanced at his golden eyes and nodded.

"Ed's fine," I said stretching and cracking the limber bones in my back.

"I decided I'm gonna help you find your mother," he said taking a glass of champagne from a waitress. "Maybe we can ask your-"

"Nope," I said shaking my head furiously. "He says to much about to little." I laid my head back down on the table, feeling the vibration of the music. "Aphrodite..angel wings. Aphrodite, angel wings, glittery clouds, princes and queens," I mumbled to myself. "Aphrodite..angel wings.." it was like someone had hacked into my brain and planted a virus, but a good virus. "Aphrodite! Venus!" I shouted. Dragon looked at me dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

"Maybe we can find Ed's Mom on Venus!" I said smiling in triumph. My father knew what he was talking about after all! Okay...well..maybe just barely. I saw Dragon fool around with his lip ring. He had a real weird look on his face, as if someone had dumped hot water on his pants. "Something wrong?" I asked leaning over the table.

"Nothing." He took a sip of his champagne "Nothing at all."