Alrighty! You guys actually caught up to me! I had to finish writing this one! Okay...so this is like...the sad and unhappy chapter...for the longest time I didnt know how to finish the story after Sabatino dies, but I got it...and this is it. It's not the end (yet), but almost...almost my sweets! ; N-joy!

Chapter 15:

Adieu

Spike was right: their trouble was far from over, however, there was hope for Emp yet. They were charged with murder, for Sabatino and his men, but in both cases, the fact that the victims were baring or using their weapons razed all of the prosecuting evidence. Spike was free from the murder charges and Emp was free from her accessory to murder charges within three months. Unfortunately, Emp still had one more case to deal with; the district attorneys still thought that she was behind the Travailler murder and as much as Spike and Emp hoped, the correct evidence didn't show up to free her.

However, just when it seemed that all hope was lost, Emp was rescued by the last person in the universe that anyone would have thought would help: Faye Valentine. She felt bad for Emp and about everything she had said to her, so she decided to look for evidence at the last minute. The strange thing is she actually found it. She somehow managed to get a hold of Emp's final ISSP report and track down the person behind the fake name. Once found, he was given immunity for his testimony and his words were as good as gold. He told the court everything from what Sabatino was doing with ISSP to how he murdered Travailler. He recounted every bit of information down to the last bloody detail and that was just enough to sway the jury. They awarded the BeBop the 20, 000, 000 woolongs that had been put up for Emp's capture and then gave Emp 15, 000, 000 woolongs in emotional compensation. Within six months of Sabatino's death, Emp was freer than a bird and more lively than ever.

As for the money the BeBop received, they were more than pleased to accept it. They split it between themselves and bought a well-deserved meal. Jet was eager to leave Mars and begin their regular life again. They had freed Emp and he felt that their time on Mars was done for awhile. However, Spike was torn. He could either stay with Emp on Mars, living a normal life the way he never thought he could, or he could continue on with the BeBop, catching crimals for nothing except a sum of money. He loved Emp, but could he really stay with her? No. He knew very well that he could never adapt to a lifestyle like that. The only other option was to take her with him. That might work. He knew Jet might not be happy with the idea, but Emp did have some former training from the ISSP, even though she didn't seem like she was presently very efficient at it. Plus, she did have money now. Spike was sure that Jet wouldn't ignore those seven zeros in her bank account. Jet was a nice guy, but just like all other bounty hunters, the money always came first.

"You want to WHAT?" yelled Jet, his eyes popping out of his head. Spike had just told him what he had thought about bringing Emp aboard.

"You heard me, Jet. I haven't exactly mentioned it to her yet, but what do you think?" Spike said, sighing into his cigarette. It had only two weeks since Emp's murder case had been settled and Jet was just about ready to push the BeBop out of Mars' orbit if he had to.

"What do I think?" Jet laughed, "I think you've gone insane, Spike! You can't bring somebody like her into the bounty hunting world!" Somebody like her? What was that supposed to mean?

"Why not? I could teach her to fight and everything. Plus, she's stopped her alcoholism so that's one less bill to pay." Spike calmly sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the lighted table in the BeBop's bridge. He took a long breath from his cigarette, exhaled and stared at Jet innocently through the smoke.

"I'm not saying that she's weak, Spike. I'm just saying that she's…well, she's liable to crack. She's not all together, if you know what I'm saying." Jet put his face in one hand and sighed. "It's not that she's crazy or anything, but she might not be able to handle all the violence and all that. Especially if you're involved. She has this wild image of you built up in her mind that presents you as some sort of ethical pacifist or something, and you and I both know that you're most definitely not. She doesn't see you as the brutal bounty hunter that you and I are familiar with."

"So, what are you saying?" asked Spike, drawing in from his cigarette as if it was oxygen, his expression of innocence altering to one more solemn.

"I'm saying that if you bring her to the BeBop and make her one of us, you're going to be introducing her to a place and a part of you she probably won't like. This whole entire ordeal she just got finished surviving will be shoved in her face every time she goes out to capture somebody who is just like the person she just got finished being! Do you really want to send her into that? Not to mention that any enemy of yours will be quite jovial with the idea of using her as a way to get to you!" Jet sat quietly after his crescendoing speech and watched Spike blow out wafting rivulets of smoke from his nose.

"You do realize that she has a bit of money now that she'll be most glad to spend on us, don't you?" Spike said, his voice flat as he stared straight at Jet through his veil of smoke. Jet growled and slammed his fist on the lit table, half expecting Spike to flinch, which he did not.

"This isn't about the money! This is about the danger that you will be putting her into!" he yelled madly at Spike.

"Are you trying to tell me…" Spike began but Jet pounded both fists onto the table and spat his bellowing conclusion, "I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT SHE'S BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!" A deafening silence followed as Jet began to shake off his frustration and calm down. Spike looked at the slowly disappearing twirling strands of smoke drifting weightlessly in the dark room, which was lit only by the glowing blue table they were sitting at. He seemed to be staring at those ribbons for hours when suddenly his eyes clicked back to Jet's. Jet saw that look in Spike's eyes and wondered if he really had gotten through to him.

It was the Saturday two weeks after the "not guilty" verdict in Emp's case. She was at the Mars Interplanetary Mall. After having finally dealt with the ever notorious press and their questions earlier that week, Emp had decided that it was time to give in to her feminine roots; she just had to go shopping. However, she was determined to forbid herself from spending all of her new money on clothes and jewelry. She wanted to redo her apartment, especially since it was chock full of bullet holes, although it wasn't a very good apartment to begin with. Of course, she wasn't even sure if she was going to be staying on Mars or not, being that she might leave the planet with Spike, but she thought that maybe she should keep the apartment just in case she and Spike wanted to get off the BeBop's cold premises when they got to Mars or something. She would always have a home on Mars if she ever needed it. The landlord of her building had decided to add on an apartment across from her own on her flat. She could always ask the new tenant if they would watch her apartment while she was away. It really would be a nice adventure to leave Mars behind for the first time and see other planets. These were ideas that she had fallen in love with instantly and couldn't stop thinking about. Her life was finally going to change for the better.

At 5pm, she realized that she hadn't talked to Spike since when she left the house that morning. She didn't make him go with her because she figured that he would just sulk, as men do when their girlfriends drag them to the mall. Anyway, she decided to give him a call to let him know what her "ETA" was. However, since Emp didn't have Spike's mobile number, she called her house, and as the phone rang, she dreamt about all the things she could do on other planets. The answering machine caught her off guard.

"Huh? OH! Hi, Spike! It's me. I guess you're out for a bit. I don't blame you, it's a great day! I um…just wanted to let you know that I'll be home in about an hour. WOW I had fun today! GOD! I completely forgot how great it feels to shop! I bought a whole new outfit that you'll love….well, you might not, but who cares? I love it! Anyway, um…yeah, so I'll be back…err..soon I guess. It really depends on how fast I can get a taxi and how bad the traffic is. I'm just walking outside of the mall to the street, so it should be soon. By the way, I didn't get you anything cause you'd probably think that's stupid. Haha! Okay, so we'll grab a bite when I get back, kay? I'm STARVING so think of what you feel like eating cause I could care less! Love ya! Byee!" She hung up the phone, and sighed. She hadn't left a message in a long time, but she still left the same type of messages: long and stupid. Emp hadn't felt depressed in a few weeks either; it was great. She couldn't believe how good she felt! However, she did notice that because she felt 150 better, her mouth was running 150 faster than before. I wonder if Spike gets annoyed? Maybe he like me better as "depressed-less-talkative-Emp"? She sincerely hoped not, and doubted it. Even if he was annoyed a bit, he wouldn't dislike her more, would he? He probably just utilized the 'smile-and-nod' trick, sans the smile part. A guy who barely says anything in love with a girl who says everything? How taboo was that? Well, maybe it's not taboo, but it sure is ironic.

Finally, she hailed a taxi and took it across town back to her apartment. As she hopped up the stairs eagerly, she realized how much she just wanted to jump into Spike's arms and thank him for saving her. In her mind, her story had to be a mix of every Disney fairytale imaginable and while part of her told her that everything would be fine, another teeny-tiny part of her wondered if the fairytale was over. However, she shook away all bad feelings as she approached her door. She opened it up and laughing at herself, she stumbled a bit.

"Hey Spike!" she called, "Spiiiike!" No answer. She went over to her bed and set down her stuff then walked over to the kitchen. After peeking around the rest of her small apartment, she felt that tiny voice inside of her start talking again. He's left you. You're such a fool, Emp Nemio. But she swallowed the feeling once more, telling herself that she was just being paranoid and that she had always thought this before when it was simply not true. However, as she walked over to her desk across from her bed, she saw a note sitting alone. With trembling hands, she picked it up and began to read it. Her hands began to tremble so badly that she had to hold the wretched note with two hands and her face slowly began to twist into a woeful expression. The note read:

"Dear Emp, None of this is easy to say so I had to leave this note instead. There are certain things you probably won't understand but I'll try to explain them the best I can anyway. My world and yours are two completely different places and for the brief time you experienced my world, I could tell that you were unable to cope with it. I can't bare to send you into that again. The thing you have to understand is that I'm not good for you. Being a bounty hunter is what I do and I don't think I can ever live the kind of life you're used to living. I don't want you to think of these as excuses for not being with you because that's not the case. I just wish that there was some other way for us, but I just can't find one.

-Spike

P.S. I left my part of the awarded bounty money for you. I don't deserve a single cent of it."

As familiar tears raced silently down her cheeks, her eyes drifted up from the letter and over to the woolongs on the desk. Voicelessly crying, she walked over to the desk, folded the letter around the money and placed it in the to drawer. She turned around, looked around her room slowly, then sunk down to the floor, face in her hands, sobbing her heart dry. Her fairytale was finished. The book was closed and she had to return to the real world which was life.

Okay...so did it catch you by surprise at all? hopes I wanted it to seem kind of like "yey it's a happy ending...woah..crap...just kidding..." Well..I dont want to ruin any moments that might be happening right now so I'll keep this short. It might be awhile before the next chapter because I well...I have to like...start it and I dont know how much more it's gonna be till finito so I dunno...it just could be awhile if you get my drift. ee;; Okay...bye bye for now my pretties! XD lol...