Goodbye Old Friend

::WARNING!!:: The following story has some minor spoilers for Kill Bill in it, so don't read unless you've already seen how it ends, or if you don't mind about being told spoilers.

Disclaimer: I own my computer, my Gamecube, my swords, and my soul. I don't own Kill Bill and it's characters, and if I did, I would be a very wealthy girl.

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Beatrix wandered through the graveyard, trying to find a certain tombstone. All the snow wasn't helping matters, as it made everything blend in with everything else. At last she came to it though. The marker was carved in the manner of a shrine, and under the neatly carved stone roof there lay a katana. The handle was made of wood, lacquered black with a few white cherry blossoms painted on it. The blade glistened as if it were brand new, even though it had been a few years since it had fallen from its master's hand.

"Hello O-Ren," she said quietly, crouching before the grave. It felt weird that she was dead, even though it had be four years since she killed her. Out of all the Vipers, she had always figured that O-Ren would last the longest. Sure, she looked like a delicate little flower, but beneath that there was a frightening madness. Watching your parents being murdered can really screw a child up.

It was weird, but next to Bill, O-Ren was probably the only one she considered as a friend. Elle was a bitch, Budd was only really in the group because his older brother was the leader, and Vernita was always something of a loner, but O-Ren was probably the most similar to herself. O-Ren and Sofi signed on with Bill at the same time, and the pair of them were like sisters, but Sofi never did any of the heavy work', and so more often than not, it was Cottonmouth and Black Mamba on the job.

The pair of them got along right from the get go. Both had their equally tragic pasts, and both of them were absolutely gung-ho about the whole Bushido code and the way of the Samurai, and from that their friendship grew.

On most joint missions they acted like a pair of silly schoolgirls, lulling their target into thinking them harmless. But then the signal would be given, and their target would find himself dead. She wasn't even sure which of them started it, but somehow, "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!" somehow became their signal to kill. Beatrix couldn't help but give a little laugh, remembering the codeword's final use.

She remembered a mission the pair of them had gone on when they were still young and innocent. Well, as innocent as trained assassins could be. It was some Mafia crimelord who was getting a little too carried away, and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad was called in to clean up. The hit had been relatively quick and easy, and so Bill decided that they should spend the weekend in sunny Venice to celebrate. There was much drinking and doing of illegal substances that night, but O-Ren never was one to get into that kind of stuff, so she merely watched and laughed as the others made asses of themselves. Later that night (when her buzz had died down), Beatrix had gone out onto the balcony for a bit of fresh air, only to find O-Ren already there.

"You an insomniac too?" Beatrix asked, feeling a little giggly from the drugs working their way out of her system. O-Ren smiled and continued to stare up at the stars. "No, it's not that. I just have trouble sleeping in a room full of drugged out maniacs who talk in their sleep."

As if to punctuate that remark, either Bill or Budd warbled out something that vaguely resembled a song, and Ellie started cackling.

"Ah, point taken," Beatrix replied, plopping herself down in a nearby chair. O-Ren turned around to face her, leaning on the railing. She had a puzzled expression on her face, almost as if she was contemplating on whether or not to say what she wanted to say. She seemed to make up her mind, and so she asked, "When you die, how would you like to die?"

"That's cheery question," Beatrix giggled, "Planning on throwing yourself off the balcony or something?"
O-Ren gave a disbelieving little laugh, "Hardly! Just morbid curiosity really."
"Oh, I dunno. Probably an all out fight against a horde of enemies go down in a blaze of glory and all that, taking as many of them with me as I can." was Beatrix's bemused reply. "What about you then?"

O-Ren chuckled slightly, almost as if she was embarrassed to say how she wanted to die.

"Well, when I go, I want it to be in a duel,"
"A duel? Like wild west kinda duel?"
"No, a samurai duel. One on one. Nothing by me, my opponent, and our swords," O-Ren said with a little nod. "Oh, and snow."
Beatrix gave a snorty little laugh. "Snow? You want to die in the snow?"

"I happen to like snow," O-Ren replied. Had she been a little more immature, she would have stuck her tongue out at her laughing friend. "I honestly don't think that there is enough snow in this world, and I want it to be the last thing I see before I die."
"But I thought it was cherry blossom's that a Samurai is supposed to be all jazzed about?"

"Yes, well, I like snow better,"

In the end though, O-Ren got her wish. She was even killed by Hattori Hanzo steel, and from her last words, that probably made her death all the more significant.

Beatrix sighed and brushed snow off of the little stone roof that protected the sword beneath it. It was with mixed feelings that she stood up and brushed the snow off of her jacked. She was happy that she had got her revenge as well as her daughter, but sad that she had had to kill those closest her in order to secure her happiness. Well, wherever assassins go when they die, she hoped that they were happy. Not Elle though. Elle was a bitch. And even though she did leave her in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, minus and eye and plus a poisonous snake, that conniving wench could very well still be alive. But that didn't matter. She didn't matter.

"Mommy! Mommy!" came a voice through the snow. Beatrix turned around and saw her daughter B.B., now eight, running towards her. She came flying at her mother in a tacklehug that almost sent her toppling over.

"Careful now sweetie, all this snow makes for plenty of slippery spots. Now, what has you all worked up?"

B.B. jumped up and down, hanging onto her mother's hands. "That theater over there is showing Sanjuro! It's one of my most favoritest movies! Can we go see it? Please mommy, please?" the girl asked.

Beatrix laughed and hugged her daughter. "Of course sweetie! I like that movie too!"

While her mother was hugging her, B.B. took a peek at the name on the tombstone.

"O-Ren Ishii? Wasn't aunty O-Ren a samurai?" she asked.

Beatrix stood up, taking her daughter by the hand and leading her towards the theater.

"Yes, O-Ren was most definitely a Samurai."