My Fair Valentine

Faye settled on her bed and began inspecting the brown paper package that was currently resting on her soft white pillow.

What can you be?

She reached her fingers over to touch the box, marveling as if it had been a creature from another planet. She knew this box was different. Knew that it held something important… very important from her past. Whether she wanted to know what it was, was an entirely different question. All the boxes she received before showed her life before the accident and how happy she had been. At first it was scary, because she couldn't remember a thing. She was angry, with herself for not knowing, not understanding what was going on. She tried and tried to remember but it never came. It wasn't until much later, that they suddenly came back to her, and the feeling she got was one of fulfillment and completion. She knew where she had belonged, and it made her the happiest she's ever remembered feeling in this life. She went searching for where she belonged, but when she found nothing but ruins, her heart was devastated. It was like she had been chewed up, spit out and left for dead. That was what the last box held for her. And yet now there was another one. Holding some part to her past and another piece of emotion for her to run through. What could be in the box marveled and scared her, should she open it… or just destroy it?

Faye! Damn it, come out here, and give me back that box!

The box belongs to me Jet!

But I paid the shipping and handling so it's my box Faye!

Hey you snooze you lose Jet.

Goddamn females!

Faye sat on her bed holding her breath and waiting to see if Jet was going to lose his patience and break down the door. She counted to 10, sitting very quietly, ready to move and strike back if necessary, but all she heard was grumbling and footsteps moving away from her room. She released a sigh, happy he was gone, but also happy he understood that this was something she needed. Hell if Jet really wanted he would have knocked down the door, or even made Spike do it, which he would have no remorse about. Sighing heavily over what she was about to get herself into, she turned and looked at her box. Well… only one real way to see what this is about, and to see what would become of this.

Using her long manicured fingernails, she poked a slit in the opening of the box and proceeded to open it slowly. Sure enough, there was a video tape like their had been before, however now there was a letter to accompany the tape. She picked up the envelope from amid the sea of white Styrofoam and proceeded to turn it in her fingers searching for an addressee. She didn't find any on the front, but the back had a seal… a seal that she remembered to be her family seal, and there was… a few letters beside it. She read them slowly, as if she had never properly learned to read. The words she knew well, just as she had any other words of the English language, but these seemed new and felt bland and foreign on her tongue. To Our Loving Daughter. Their loving daughter? She was a daughter? Heh, that seemed like a stupid question, and yet she continued to ask it. It had been so long since she felt the presence of a well parent, that she almost didn't recognize the sediment or the words themselves. Jet had always been a father figure, but he was far closer to a companion than anything. She felt her mind racing a mile a minute over those four simple words. This was from her parents? If so, were they still alive? If they are still alive, why hadn't they contacted her? Why didn't they try to find her? Why had her life been misery up until then? Did this mean she could see them? Reminisce and ask questions of her former life? Could she possibly find them?

The letter she knew held so many answers that she wanted to know more than anything and yet… she didn't want to open it. She was well, scared. Each and every tape changed her life and she didn't know if she was ready for her life to be changed just yet. She would watch the tape first. Yeah, watch the tape and then she would read the letter.

Faye stood up lazily grabbing the square, black tape from the foam and waltzed over to the station Ed set up for her with VCR, BETA and TV. It wasn't hard to remember to work it, as she had in her former days in living, but it was hard to maintain, the wires and what not everywhere and its bulkiness, protruding from her otherwise small and quaint room. Well, maybe she would be able to transfer it after she watched it. Sighing to herself she shoved the tape into the machine and pressed play. She returned to her bed plopping down hard and began watching screen intently.

The first thing she saw was… a single white rose on a brick walkway by her home. The one she played on each morning with her mom and dad while she waited for the bus to school. Then she saw a hand… that she recognized to be her younger self pick it up and run over to her mother who laughed aloud and swung her in the air. Mom? It was obvious where Faye got her looks from. Her mother's hair was a long beautiful purple, which hung in a lazy ponytail at her shoulders. She was a beautiful pale with warm robust lips that glistened in the sun. She had smiled brightly, her red and white polka dot dress blowing in the soft breeze. She was bare foot, as Faye was normally on her days on the bebop, but something was different from her mother. Her eyes. Her mother's eyes were a cerulean blue, that was as bright and vibrant as the sea. The sea. Faye... suddenly remembered.. a sea, and seagulls. She blinked twice and refocused on the film at hand. She heard her father in the background who was obviously video recorder taping the entire display and laughing at the site of his most precious wife and child. The mother waved intently to the tape and little Faye followed. She couldn't have been more than 5, maybe even 4… but she remembered when it happened. They were outside of their home, and the carnival just left, and Faye's single souvenir of the day, was that little white rose. She knew there was more on the tape cause her dad had been filming all day so she should rewind it. She stood and began walking over to the T.V, when the screen changed and she saw her parents sitting in chairs in front of her. She stopped in mid step, and stared blankly at the screen.

Her mother smiled at the man behind the camera and her father coughed into his fist. Her dad was the first to say anything and asked if the tape was rolling yet. There was no sound probably meaning the man nodded, and her mother giggled to know she had been filmed without even knowing. Her father cleared her through and spoke.

"Faye, dear. I know that you are out there somewhere right now making dad proud, and your mother and I just want you to know we are very proud of you."

Her dad had soft black hair that was cut short to his face. His eyes were green like Faye's and his face structure also told a tall tale of our precious heroine. He had broad shoulders under his blue suit and his tie was a bright red, one Faye had remembered from earlier Christmases. His face was tense… something that slightly frightened Faye until she glanced at her mother. She wore a vibrant smile, and the same polka dot dress from before. She had high-heeled pumps on, red ones that Faye used to always try on. She went without makeup showing her natural beauty, as she looked at the camera. Faye calmed down instantly.

"Yes, we are very much Faye"

"Maryann, let me finish!"

"Oh, right, sorry dear"

"Its, fine. Well, oh umm, Faye. Dear, for the last couple of years after the accident, you have been frozen, and if you are watching this tape, then it means that somewhere in the future you are well. If you are watching this tape, it also means that, your mother and I have probably passed on."

The man paused a bit uneasy with the subject but not nearly as much as Faye. Her mother's face suddenly turned grim despite her tries to stop it. Faye knew she was in for something. She walked to the T.V. slowly as if she had been the bride of Frankenstein herself. Her parents… were dead? No… so she had no one now. She had always known they were dead, but when the tapes came, she held some hope, just a little that they were possibly brought over with her with technology. Had they just died?

"Faye, I know it is hard for you, to well, hear this, but its something that is very important for you. Your mother and I left you a bond of not much, only 100,000 woo longs. And we've also left our insurance policies to you as well, each totaling 5 million woolongs, with interest tacked on. I'm not sure this will be efficient for you, being that inflation will surely make prices higher in the future, but I hope the interest and what not we leave you will sustain you even if for just a bit dear."

"I'm sorry momma couldn't be there for you love, I would have loved to just seem your pretty eyes… and… and…"

Her mother broke off in mid sentence tears sliding down her pale cheeks, she stood quickly and left the room, her dress billowing with her. Faye felt her own tears full in her eyes. Mom…

"I know Faye I may not be showing it too well, but my grief is just as large as your mother's. Please remember, we both love you dearly and… and… just make us proud alright? There will be more tapes for you to watch, incase you don't remember, but for now, the letter I have for you will have to do. If you have not opened it, then do so now. Mom and Dad love you. Stay safe in the future and make us proud. We'll miss you always, Cachetete, Faye."

Suddenly the tape stopped and Faye fell to the ground staring at a blank screen. Her entire body was frozen in shock and pain. She opened her lips and whispered softly,

Cachetete daddy.

She knew the word well, it was a word she had made up when she was still a refreshing young little toddler. She said it to her parent, especially her father… to mean, I love you, and stay safe, whenever he or her mother left for work. They used it with her, everyday she left for school, and the day the accident happened. Faye brushed angrily at the tears. The stupid word didn't work, damnit! It was their word, and it had always protected them before? Why not now damnit! Why hadn't it protected her when she needed it, when her parents needed it? She forced herself up and threw herself on her bed, tears spewing down her eyes as if she had been a child all over again. Daddy, mommy, I need you, where are you? She flicked her hand across the bedding and suddenly felt a cool piece of paper flick against her wrist. The letter? Oh yes, read it, find out more, what happened, what was in it?

Faye reached across her comforter and picked up the long white envelope before turning it in her hand. Well, this is it right? Time to open it, and see what she's been avoiding. She slipped her finger under an opening in the envelop, and pulled her finger across the edge. Tearing the edge, she pulled out the slick white paper and stared down at it. She began to read the letter, and it wasn't long before a scream escaped her lips and tears bubbled down her face. Bittersweet.

AN: Well, hell there guys! It's the infamous Carolina again with another story for you. I'm actually extremely excited about this and I hope it turns out to be as good as Tears of the Angels, which is yes, still in progress. It's inspired by daydreams and pondering of mine, oh and from our ever lovely Kendra Luehr who thought I should write another one. This one will be an action packed, heartwarming story of our dear Faye's struggle. Struggle of what? Well you will see in the next chapter! Yes it is rather short but that is to build suspense! Of course I need the support of the general Fanfiction public to make this a great one, so be sure to reach out and review for me! Love yall, I'll update soon!