Shadowing Ivy By A Shot of Amber

* ~ * Session 15: Hanging with the Genie * ~ *

Faye grumbled a few curses and kicked away some pebbles in her path has she walked through the abandoned caves. Why she was here or the reason she was here was not of importance. All she knew is that she wanted out of this creepy place, and to be back on the Bebop. Faye rubbed her bare arms and pulled her sweater over them to ward off the slight chill in the air. It seemed to get colder the farther she walked in, but the air stayed the same, tinted with a reddish light and full of sharp points and sparkles.

Grumbling some more curses about caves and their dampness Faye walked around a corner meeting a sight she had never expected to see before. A room filled with treasure. More treasure then she had ever seen in her life. Eyes wide with delight she whipped out her communicator and was about to call the crew of the Bebop when she stopped.

"Wait a moment if I call them, then I will have to share all this wonderful wealth, but if I don't then it's all mine." Giggling with delight Faye slipped her communicator back into her pocket and ran over to a pile of gold coins overflowing from a chest.

Her fingers ran themselves over the gold feeling the inscriptions on the coins before she ran over to another pile of jewelry studded with rubies and diamonds and covered with silver. Happily she slipped on a couple pearl necklaces and some bracelets made of rubies before placing a heavy gold crown on top of her head and running over to another pile of gold coins.

On top of the coins stood a rusted and tarnished lamp; it looked like a million different feet had kicked it. Faye picked up the lamp and rubbed some of the dirt from it trying to read the inscription written on the side but it was too difficult so she threw it behind her. The lamp flew through the air bouncing a bit over the floor before rolling over and coming to a stop. Faye was climbing on top of the gold coins to look over to the other side when she felt the jewelry hanging around her neck and arms begin to warm up.

The pearls glowed red with heat and began to burn her skin as they started to melt. With a scream of terror she pulled the melting lava jewelry off her and tried to brush away the burning metal off her head from the melting crown. While she was doing this the lamp started to glow a bright red color and shake slightly as a stream of blue smoke shot out of it. Faye opened her eyes to see the room had disappeared in blue smoke and that the melting jewelry burning her was gone. There wasn't even a mark on her skin or clothes. Confused she turned around to see what was going on and came fact to face with a giant thing or was it man?

With a cry of fear Faye fell backwards unconscious to the floor while the genie took on a sympathetic look.

"Oh dear..."

* * * * * * *

Faye opened her eyes and placed one hand on her forehead. She had the worst pounding headache and such an awful dream. She had been walking through a cave filled with gold and jewelry, then all of a sudden she had met a genie, and he had looked like...

"Oh good you are awake Faye."

Faye turned her head at the source of the voice to see someone standing next to her.

"I am Whitney Haggis Mosumoto, your genie."

"Oh no, not again." Faye groaned sitting up in the bed she was lying in. " I thought you were supposed to be my lawyer."

Whitney looked confused for a moment. "I can be if you want." He disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke and reappeared dressed in a business suit carrying a briefcase. "Is this better?"

"On second thought I prefer you has a genie." Faye replied crinkling her nose in disgust at the loud patterns of his suit.

Whitney nodded and changed back to his genie self. "Now that you are finally awake I can begin."

"Begin what?" Faye asked has she searched through her pockets for her cigarettes.

"I am the great genie, Whitney Haggis Mosumoto and I have been awakened from a thousand years sleep to grant you, oh beautiful mistress Faye Valentine."

Faye made a face and lit her cigarette.

"Wishes of any liking except..."

Colored lights appeared all over the room and shone down on Whitney who had put on a top hat and tuxedo. Music begin to play has Whitney twirled his cane and sing.

"Oh Faye my love! I can grant you wishes!"

"Wishing and a wishing!" The back-up singers cried.

"Any wishes except boom badda boom!" Whitney shook his behind and flourished his hat.

"Oh yea!" The back-up singers crooned.

"I can't, no I can't make all your money debts disappear!"

"Nope! No he can't!" The back-up singers snapped their fingers in tune.

"Second thing!" Whitney spun around and pointed at Faye. "I can't, oh no I can't tell you about your past!"

"Nope! No he can't!" The back-up singers patted their hearts and made sad faces.

"And third of all, oh my lovely Faye! I can't! Oh no I can't! I can't tell you the truth!"

"Nope! No he can't!"

The back-up singers and Whitney went into this big dance routine while Faye sat on the bed smoking a cigarette and looking bored.

"I really hope this will be over soon," she sighed taking another a drag of her cigarette.

Whitney spun around twice then slid over to Faye on his knees arms wide open has the others posed and disappeared.

"Well what did you think Faye?"

"I think it sucked. Now can we please get out of here?" Faye replied flicking her cigarette away.

"I greatly appreciate your opinion Faye and now where do you want to go?"

"Oh I don't know how about the Be-"Faye stopped and thought for a moment, a smile lit up her face.

"How about the casinos and lets bring all this gold with us. You never know when it might come in handy."

"Your wish is granted." Whitney snapped his fingers and they disappeared and reappeared standing in front of a casino on Mars. The gold coins were conveniently stored away in a hyperspace pocket.

"Wow, not bad!" Faye looked around her in satisfaction then turned to Whitney and grinned. "Not bad at all, so how many wishes do I get?"

"Fifty, one for each year I was locked away in my lamp."

"But I thought you were locked away in that lamp for thousands of years?"

"I lied." Whitney shrugged his shoulder in defiance while Faye gave him a look then turned to the casino.

"Well before I go in here I would like to make a wish. I want to win at every game and make lots of money and give me a look that will make me look rich."

"Your wish is granted." Whitney snapped his fingers making a stream of blue smoke rise around Faye then dissipate away again. She was now dressed in a burgundy colored gown with two straps crossing over her chest that tied around her neck. The skirt fell all the way to the ground with two wide slits on either side.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Faye spun around and felt her hair, which was pulled up into a complicated looking hairdo on top of her head.

"You look wonderful Faye."

"Thanks." Faye took the purse Whitney was holding out for her which was really the hyper-space pocket holding the gold and walked into the casino generating stares from everyone around her wondering who the beautiful lady was.

* * * * * * *

After winning pretty much all the money the casino had. Faye went out and celebrated with Whitney at the most expensive and fancy restaurant she could find. By the time they got out it was the pre dawn hours of the morning so Faye made a wish for a big fancy house right next to the ocean full of servants and filled with comfy furniture and beds.

"Your wish is granted," Whitney replied snapping his fingers and Faye found herself fast asleep in a soft bed in a beautiful house on the beach near the ocean. She ended up sleeping through the whole day and night only to wake up the next morning thinking it had all been a dream. One look around her told her it was not, and with a cry of joy Faye jumped from the bed and ran around the room.

Later on after a maid had walked in on her jumping on the bed Faye had calmed down, slipped on a white terry cloth robe, and was now eating breakfast on the balcony outside of her bedroom. The sun had already risen in the sky and the ocean was at it's calmest with small waves coming upon the shore.

"Good morning Faye."

Faye looked up from her toast and smiled. "Oh, good morning Whitney." She replied through a mouthful of food.

Whitney took a seat in the chair opposite her and poured himself a cup of coffee, real gourmet coffee, of which Faye had already had three cups of.

"So what do you plan to do today? You do have 46 more wishes left."

"Oh I don't know give me time and I'll think of something. Right now I just want to have my breakfast in peace."

Whitney nodded and took a sip of his coffee while Faye went back to eating.

* * * * * * *

Gradually Faye made more and more wishes. She got herself a new zip craft that was newer and faster then any other model out there. She won all the races at the racetrack and made even more money. She got a whole new wardrobe, had all the food she could want, and even surrounded herself with friends.

Still there was something missing. One night in fit of absolute madness Faye confessed to Whitney what she really wanted most in the world.

"You know that if I do this it won't be genuine."

"I don't care, it's what I want." Faye replied clasping one hand to her heart.

"Alright then. Your wish is my command." Whitney snapped his fingers and disappeared just as someone knocked at the door.

Faye slowly got up and walked over to the door opening it under shaking fingertips. On the other side in the hallway, Spike stood there grinning that goofy smile of his and holding out a bouquet of red roses for her. Wordlessly Faye stepped into his arms feeling for once completely happy.

It was a few hours later that she begun to wonder. The night had passed by slowly while she and Spike had lost themselves in their own world. Now she looked at the clock sitting on the table next to her. It was 2:00am. How long had she been asleep? Not very long, Spike was still asleep next to her in the bed. His bare chest rising and falling rhythmically. Faye turned back to Spike and looked at his sleeping face. He looked like a child all innocent and perfect. She brushed some hair away from his forehead then turned to lay on her back on the bed.

Why didn't this feel right? She thought it was supposed to. She had what she wanted, everything she had ever wanted. Money, beautiful clothes, enough food to feed an army, a beautiful house, and now the love of Spike but it didn't feel right at all.

Wordlessly she slipped from the bed and pulled on her silk robe, belting it tightly around her waist before walking out of the room giving Spike one last look before she closed the door. Inside the hallway, the lights had been dimmed for the night allowing the shadows to widen. Quietly Faye walked down the hallway towards the stairs and down to the library. A fire was already lit in the fireplace and a decanter of brandy with two glasses lay on the table between two maroon chairs

Faye took a seat in one of the chairs and poured herself a drink. She took the burning liquid in one gulp feeling it warming her veins. Faye was pouring herself another glassful when Whitney appeared in the other chair.

"What's wrong Faye? You don't appear to be happy."

"It's not, it wasn't what I expected it to be." Faye replied placing the cap back on the bottle and picking up her glass.

"Nothing ever is, I told you it wouldn't be genuine. The feelings were bound to wear away till you begin to wonder."

Faye drank down the brandy and cringed as it ran down her throat. "I thought you were supposed to lie to me about everything."

Whitney chuckled and laced his fingers together. "Contrary to popular belief I can tell the truth sometimes."

"Yea to bad it had to be now." Faye set the glass down on the tray and settled back in her chair. "You know sometimes I wonder why I can't be happy."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, I wonder why nothing makes me one hundred percent happy. I find the little things that make me happy but there is always a small part of me that is still sad and I cannot figure out what it is. No matter what that part of me is always empty and filled with sadness. I thought by having Spike's love that part would be filled and I would be happy. At first it was but then I realized it was all an illusion and I was worse off then before."

"Tell me Faye, are you in love with him?"

"I thought I was," Faye drew her legs up to her body curling herself up in the big chair. "But now I'm not sure. When I was lying with him in his arms, it felt so odd. Not like I thought it would be."

"What did you think it would be like?"

"I thought it would perfect and I would feel safe and protected but I didn't. I felt almost out of place and so odd in his arms."

Whitney nodded and did not say anything in reply. Silence fell over them broken only by the crackling of the fire. Finally, Faye spoke again, her face glowing slightly in the firelight.

"Whitney do you think that all the wishes I made were made in vain?"

"Faye, nothing we wish for is in vain. Everything we want, everything we dream of, and everything we wish for is just an extension of ourselves."

Faye nodded her head and fell silent again. When she spoke again her voice was filled with an unexpected sweetness.

"How many wishes do I have left?"

"One." Whitney held up one finger to show her.

"Alright then I am ready to ask for my last wish. I wish, Whitney Haggis Mosumoto, that I could go home to my past. I wish that I could go home back to my family."

"As you wish, Faye Valentine." Whitney snapped his fingers and the room disappeared.

Faye opened her eyes and looked at the door in front of her. It was painted red with a cheerful looking brass knocker on it. She was no longer dressed in her robe but instead in a white summer dress with her short violet hair slightly messed up from running up the hill towards the house. With shaking fingers Faye reached over and turned the doorknob. The door swung open to reveal a hallway filled with furniture and a violet hair lady standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Faye! How nice to see you! Welcome home."

Faye took a deep breath filling her lungs with the sweet spring air.

"Mommy...I'm home." She whispered stepping in and closing the door behind her.

* * * * * * *

Faye jumped in her sleep and sat up looking around her. She was laying on her bed in the Bebop. The same old water stained metal walls greeting her. Wordlessly Faye slipped out of her bed and walked over the main room where Spike was laying asleep on the couch. Faye leaned over the edge and looked into his sleeping face. A delicate smile touching her lips has she carefully brushed some hair out of his eyes.

"Mommy...I am home. I'm home where I belong." Faye stood up and walked back to her bedroom to go back to sleep. It was still too early for her.

Welcome Home Space Cowgirl...

Whitney Haggis Mosumoto: (Singing) Oh look out crew because here we come and boy oh boy do we have something for you!

Back-up Singers: Something for you! Something for you!

Whitney Haggis Mosumoto: (Singing) We got the next episode of Cowboy Bebop and boy will it be a good one!

Back-up Singers: A real smooth and cool one!

Whitney Haggis Mosumoto: The next episode is "Jet Black Sings the Blues."

Well what did you think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you even understand it? Please read and review or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!