By A Shot of Amber
Session 24: Like a Dancer in the Dark
Ivy sat alone on the bridge. One leg was slung over the edge, the other straddled the cold concrete. It was a quiet night full of stars and just the bare sounds of the city behind her. No one knew she was here, no one knew she was sitting on a bridge. No cars had passed by in the time she was here.
The crew of the Bebop was out, hitting up the casino's looking for some quick cash. Armed with woulongs lining their pockets they had entered the neon filled world. All except Ivy and of course Ed and Ein who were asleep somewhere deep in the ship.
Ivy had not wanted to go out. She didn't want to be around people. She felt betrayed, heavy, and naked. She felt dirty and used. She felt like jumping off the bridge in the black water underneath.
Yet, she remained sitting on the bridge, the dark shadow of her car idling nearby. Some music streamed from the stereo. An old song from days gone by, Ivy loved old music. It was like the friend she didn't have.
Glowing light of orange followed by a stream of cigarette smoke and she was finished. The cigarette butt sailed through the air into the water and Ivy stood up. Her heels clicked on the pavement. The starchy black fabric of her dress rustled in the silence. It was made of some heavy shiny material almost like plastic. It was dress made to pour onto her body falling sharply to mid thigh and zipping up to her neck.
It was nice dress, fitting into her somber mood and the red jacket worn over it gave her a somewhat cheerful look. Despite the fact that she wasn't in a cheerful mood.
The door slammed shut as the engine rumbled to life. In a squeal of tires and the scent of burning rubber, she took off, driving through the empty streets. The Bebop flashed in sight, floating on the serene water but she drove right past. This wasn't her turn. Her turn would come up later, on the outskirts of the city, an old fashioned mansion. All bricks and curling leaves of ivy sitting like an affordable old king looking down on her and the street.
Lights flashed past as her car drove through the streets. It was like no one in the world but she was alive tonight. Music streamed from the speakers, a sad song of love lost. Except she had no love lost for him or anyone. She had only anger and the burning desire to jam a gun into his mouth and pull the trigger.
" Who was she?"
Spike looked up from his position on the couch. A book lay in his lap and a cigarette dangled from his lips.
" Who was who?"
" Her." Ivy held up a picture she had found on the floor outside his room. A mournful face framed by golden hair stared back at him. A pair of sad blue eyes and a sweet face.
" Where did you find that?" Spike jumped off the couch and grabbed the picture away from her.
" I found it."
" You went in my room?" He looked at her with nothing but full anger.
" I found it on the floor, outside your room."
" A likely story, you know there are things called privacy Ivy."
" Yes I know, but I also know that you kept that picture tucked away in your book and it fell out when you walked out of your room. Now tell me who is she?"
Spike looked down at the picture, a flicker of sadness in his eyes. He tucked the picture away into his pocket and sat back down on the couch. His cigarette lay smoking on the ground, he merely picked it up and stuck it back between his lips.
" She's just a person."
" No she's not, she something special or you wouldn't carry a dog eared picture of her with you every where you go." Ivy sat down on the table and crossed her legs in front of him. " I want to know, who is she. You never talk about your past yet I tell you of mine. It should be a deal for a deal."
Spike blinked and stared at her. Her green eyes stared back un-wavered and waiting.
" Her name was Julia."
" Was? Do you mean she's dead?"
" Yea, she's dead." Bitterness filled Spike's voice. " She died as an accident of my carelessness. I couldn't avenge her death so I left her alone on the rooftop, the blood was washed away by the rain."
" She must have meant something to you," Ivy replied quietly.
" Yea, she did."
" She was very beautiful."
" Yea, she was."
" And you must have loved her more then anything else in the world and yet she died anyway."
" She died…because I let her die. I was to damn careless to protect her when I should have."
Ivy stared at Spike but he refused to turn his head and meet her eyes.
" I think," she begin after awhile, " that you are very lucky. You had someone who loved you. I don't know that feeling." Ivy uncrossed her legs and stood up.
He watched her walk out of the room before pulling the picture out of his pocket.
" Yea, I must be the luckiest guy in the world."
A cheerful song, filled with up beating sound had come on when she arrived. The engine was turned off and silence filled the air. Then another sound came slowly drifting over the well-manicured lawn, the sound of music. Shadowy figures drifted past the lighted windows.
Ivy opened the door and climbed out of the car. She pocketed her keys and slammed the door shut. None of the figures even stopped to look out the window. They just twirled past locked in the movement of dance.
Ivy willed one foot in front of the other until she was standing in front of the door. A brass knocker stared her in the face but she raised one hand and touched the door handle. The door swung open into immense marble hallway. Ivy stepped in, her heels clicking against the marble.
Behind her, the door swung shut, aided by cold fingers.
How many times had she entered through this door? Dressed like a doll in diamonds and satin forever on the arm of her escort. The image rose before her eyes, so many times she had entered through this door, a product of his imagination.
Ivy slipped both hands into the pockets of her jacket. One hand brushing against the cold metal of her gun. Two bullets, one for him and one for her. She would succeed at her mission.
Ivy stepped forward entering the hallway, already she knew where she was supposed to go. He would be waiting. He was always waiting.
Spike watched her enter the house, the door closed behind her. He knew she was up to something. The others were locked inside the casino, chained to the garish lights and the scents of gambling. He had escaped unnoticed. He had watched her sitting on the bridge and he had followed her from above as she drove to the house and climbed out of her car.
Now he parked his starship and climbed out. She was on a suicide mission. He knew this house, a mansion for the rich. The home of the leader of one his former rival clans. The white tiger clan, they were small and relatively unknown, but they were still evil. She was walking into a death trap.
Spike pulled out his gun and ran forward, his muscles tense and ready to strike at any moment. He wasn't supposed to be so tense, but he was.
Ivy walked past rooms filled with antiques, past stone vases and mirrors reflecting her pale face. She never stopped to look at her reflection. She always walked on, never stopping. The music got louder, filled with voices.
" Excuse me, I am expecting someone." He removed the women's arm from his and stood up. " I shall be back shortly." He brushed away a speck of lint from his tie and walked off.
She pouted and sat back in the plush chair. " Do hurry back or I will get lonely."
Ivy stopped in front of the set of double doors. She placed both hands on the doorknobs and took a deep breath. The only movement in her body was that of her beating heart. Then she moved forward opening the door and walking in.
He stood on the other side, posed and ready standing to the side both hands tucked in the pockets of his smoking jacket. She walked in to the middle of the room and stopped. Both hands rested at her side.
" Welcome back my dear, I've been waiting for you. Whatever took so long?"
Ivy smiled. " I was waiting for the perfect moment."
" For what may I ask?" He asked looking up at her with a sardonic smile.
" For the end of time." Ivy reached for her gun, but he was quicker. The shot rang out hitting her in the shoulder. Ivy screamed and fell to the ground, blood stained her red jacket and streamed through her fingers as she applied pressure to the wound.
He walked forward, the silver pistol dangling at her side. " You must be careful my dear, you never know what I may do when I'm mad." He knelt down in front of her and tilted her chin up. " Your so beautiful when your mad." He kissed her fully on the lips then just as abruptly pulled back and stood up.
Ivy spit at him, removing the taste of his lips from her own. " You're a coward, you'll never kill me."
" Now don't be so rude my dear, spitting isn't lady like." He reached down and picked her up. " And you never know what I would do with you."
Ivy let go of the wound in her shoulder and with her free arm reached for her gun. " I know if I could I would kill you in a second." She pulled her gun out of her pocket and shoved it into his stomach. " I'm loaded, care to mess with me?"
" You wouldn't kill me Ivy. Then who would take care of you?" He let go of her and stepped back. Fear resonated only slightly in his eyes.
" Myself, the only one who can take care of me is myself." Ivy aimed and pressed the trigger. The bullet his it's mark, shooting the pistol out of his hand. " And now I have only one bullet left."
" What do you want to know?" The fear was growing in his eyes at the sight of the wild eyes girl in front of him.
" Everything, who am I? I heard you when you said I'm not really living. So tell me, who am I?"
" You are not truly a living thing. You are not you. I found your original lying on a rooftop after a gang shootout. I was the one who killed you the first time. You were so beautiful back then, but you never noticed me. You see…Ivy. Your name isn't truly Ivy, it never was. I only named you that after I found out one of your lovers had lived. I thought he was dead but when I brought you back from the dead I found he wasn't, so I had your looks changed and your memories locked away, repressed and hidden."
Ivy's and shook but never wavered from him. " Go on." She whispered.
" I'm surprised you don't remember by now, it's really shouldn't have taken this long. The doctor knew you would remember soon enough but I never thought it would have taken this long, especially since you were living with him all along."
" Living with who?"
" Spike Spiegel." He was looking past her to the doorway.
Ivy turned around and looked into the stone cold face of Spike. His gun was raised both hands clasped around the hilt, one finger on the trigger.
" Maximillion, I thought you were dead but I guess you aren't. Let me just change that."
" And what? Then you wouldn't be able to hear me tell the story of your beloved Julia. She's right here tonight, she's standing in front of you. Don't you see? Ivy is Julia!
Spike never moved as Maximillion raved on. His eyes took on a wild look and he threw back his head in laughter. " Of course not, you have never seen because I changed her so much, but memories can only be locked away for so long. Look at her! Her memories have come back to haunt her now, don't you remember Julia! Can't you see it?!"
Ivy's eyes grew wide as she listened to him speak but she could remember nothing, except waking up in a hospital bed and looking at the ceiling.
" Unfamiliar ceiling." Ivy whispered through dry parched lips. She turned her head to look for a glass of water when a gunshot ripped through the air.
Max fell to the ground, the bullet went right between the eyes. He died instantly bringing Ivy back to her senses. Spike lowered the gun and slipped in while Ivy stood there holding her shoulder. The pain was so dull now it was almost nonexistent.
" You killed him. I was going to do that, but I ended up wasting a bullet. Except it doesn't matter, because you killed him." Ivy stepped forward towards the body.
" What he was saying." Spike paused and took a deep breath. " Is it true?"
" I am only me and I am not who you want me to be." Ivy stopped in front of Max's body. " I can't be Julia…she was your love and I don't love you."
She looked down at the mess that was once him then turned around and faced Spike. " Its all a dream isn't it? When I shoot this gun you'll wake up and the dream of a dark haired womyn with blue ribbons in her hair will come to life."
" A dark haired womyn? Do you mean you?"
" No I'm already dead. Julia died long ago and if I'm Julia then I'm already dead.
Ivy stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. She tilted her head upwards and looked into his eyes.
" I don't love you Spike. I never did." She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips before stepping back. The gun was raised to her head, the finger on the trigger. "But now that I have said that and now that I know that Julia is not me and now that Max is dead I to can die." She raised her eyes and looked straight into his. " I'm sorry if I ever caused you any pain Spike." Her finger pressed gently on the trigger.
" Goodnight Spike."
The gunshot resonated through the room. She died as she fell to the ground, her body falling over Maximillion's. Spike stood there frozen as the gunshot's ring echoed through the air, then he ran forward towards her, but it was too late.
Spike knelt down and looked at her, her green eyes stared lifelessly up him.
' I am not Julia….'
" Yea, I know." He mummered, closing his eyes.
" ............................."
" Having ourselves a little nap I see?"
Spike opened his eyes to see Jet standing above him with the white sky framing his body. He smiled at his friend as reality set in.
" I had a sweet dream."
" Well then you can continue your dreaming back on the Bebop."
While Jet talked to himself about the difficulty of catching Asmiov Solenasan Spike thought about the dream he had just had. It was all a dream, there had never been the soulful girl with the green eyes and the black hair, the little girl that had brightened up the Bebop…she had never existed. She was only a dream. Julia was some where out there waiting for him but Ivy...she had never existed. She was only a dream.
Life is but a dream…The end, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Please remember to be kind and read and review or send all comments, questions, suggestions, and flames to . Thank you!