a/n: so my friends, this is the end, yet again. it came and went so fast, didn't it? well, the epilouge, cleverly titled "the last page" offers insight into the bebop in the aftermath of everything. and it's kind of a definite conclusion (which will keep this from being one of those weird sequel after sequel after sequel deals). well, i hope you like the way things go.

Epilouge: The Last Page


And that's the end of that particular story. Sound's crazy, right? Well, more often than not, my life is crazy. But I wouldn't change it, no, I've started to like it way too much. Like I said, though: that's all, folks. Did I do a good job? It's not like I really care what you think anyway (I've never been too into other people's opinions), but if you made it this far, then I guess I did something right.

Man, if someone had have told me ten years ago that I'd be writing books, and publishing them, no less, I would have told them they were crazy. Hell, I'd even tell them now that they were crazy. But here I am, another novel tucked away under my belt. I guess I'd like to thank you for reading, even though I'm sure you flipped to the last page before you even made it through the first chapter. But people in my life, most notably Faye, say that I'm not grateful enough, so really…thank you.

It's not normally in my nature to be so candid about myself, but this writing thing is really therapeutic. I remember when I was into heroin and Faye made me keep that diary, I hated it at first. But by the end, I was really into it. I even said that I might write more in the future. Boy, if only I knew how true that statement was.

So, if you haven't figured who this is yet, writing to you in first person, it's me…Spike. You know, the author of this book and all. This is my autobiography, I guess…well, a little bit, at least. This was just a few months of my life. If I decided to write about everything I've been through thus far, then I might as well sit down and rewrite the whole fucking encyclopedia. But I guess that's off topic.

Um…so, I bet you're wondering what I've been doing with my life since all of this, huh? Well, even if you're not wondering, I'm gonna tell you, anyway. The events in this book actually took place nine years ago. That's right, nine years. I'm thirty something now, and Faye claims that she's still in her twenties, etc.

Let's see…oh, speaking of Faye, yeah, we did eventually get married. It's been six years…or maybe seven. Shit. Our anniversary's coming up soon, so I better figure out how long it's been. It hasn't been wedded bliss for us, since 'bliss' isn't in our vocabulary, but it's been good. Very good, actually. I guess when you love somebody so much, things just fall into place. She makes my life worth living and I'd give her the world if I could.

And we have two kids, actually. Yep, Spike Spiegel's finally a father. We have a boy, Jack, who's five, and a daughter, Evey, who's three. I love them to death. I didn't know I'd be so happy being a dad, but I am. They give me a kind a joy that I never knew existed. But the joy is just gonna keep on coming, apparently. Faye's two months pregnant with our third right now. We're going to go tell the gang about it just as soon as I finish this book.

Oh, and yes, Faye and I still talk to Jet and Ed, though we no longer live on the Bebop. We moved into a house of our own back when we got married, so I guess the crew is kinda broken up, now.

We got a house in one of those hideous track housing neighborhoods, "Leave it to Beaver" is what Faye calls it. Everyone is so happy and neighborly and frankly, it gets on my nerves. But I was never all that much of a people person, so surprise, surprise. It's a good place to raise our kids, though, so I guess I'll give it that much. A few cities over from Tharsis is actually not as bad as one would think.

Now I bet you're wondering how I could afford a house at all, seeing as though Bebop and broke went together like peanut butter and jelly. Well, this is how I can afford a house. I write. I have a few stories out there, so if you haven't heard of me by now, then fuck you. Wait…no, I can't say that. Okay then…thanks for finally taking a look at my work.

Anyhow, yep, I'm a writer, now. No more hunting for me…that life got old, and it's not conducive to raising a family. I'm no Pulitzer Prize winner or anything, and no one's beating down my door to turn my stuff into movies, but I'm doing well enough. I'm making enough money to live quite comfortably on, and that's all that matters. That, and I really do enjoy writing.

As for Faye, she doesn't hunt anymore, either. She's what we call a "stay at home mom" now. I call her a lazy mooch, but she doesn't take too kindly to that. But I never really saw Faye as a real working woman, anyway. I'm not saying that her place is in the kitchen (since she can't cook all that well), but she's too interested in life to have a conventional job. Professional child and husband wrangler is work enough, I suppose.

When I think about it, nobody hunts anymore. Jet actually went back to the ISSP. He's the head chief of his department, now, which keeps him off of the dangerous beats, but still satisfies him. He's pretty happy with his job, so that's really good. He also got married about four years ago. That's right, Jet finally got married. I always pegged him as the marrying type, but it took him a while to get there.

His wife, Sara, is a really great woman. She's stronger than Alisa was, but still soft enough for Jet. She compliments him well. He's also a dad! "Papa Jet" has finally earned his nickname. They have a six year old son, Neko, and he's the spitting image of Jet…except he has hair. Jet was afraid, at first, that he wouldn't do such a good job being a dad, but he had enough practice with Ed before hand, I guess. And as for Ed, even though she wasn't exactly a bounty hunter to begin with, she actually went to college. Turns out all of her hacking really did turn her into a genius, so getting accepted wasn't very hard for her at all.

If you can believe it, she was a psychology major, and now she's training to be a social worker. I guess that after all the shit she went through with her dad, she decided to help out kids so they didn't have to go through what she did. Although, I'm sure any kid would love life on the Bebop. But it's so weird to think that crazy little Ed is now a 24 year old woman. She still goes by Edward, but actually talks in coherent, normal English. When she's around us, though, she still reverts back to her old Ed ways, airplane noises and all.

The mutt is still around, too. He's only 10…or 70 in dog years. But his breed suggests that he has at least three good years left in him. We're all nervously waiting the day he kicks the dog dish, though. Ed's gonna lose what's left of her mind when that happens. The two are best friends, you know.

She has a boyfriend, though, if anyone can believe that, and from what we can see, they're really into each other. We figure that one of these days, they'll either move in together and/or get married, but for now, Ed's being a homebody and staying with her surrogate father, Jet. And though one might say that a 24 year old shouldn't be living at home with her "parents", Jet is more than used to adult kids in his house, and he welcomed her with open arms.

And you know those annoying neighbors I mentioned earlier? Well, Jet, his family, and Ed are our neighbors. Like inseparable saps, when we moved off the Bebop, we insisted on living next door to each other. Oh, did you think that Jet still lived on the ship? Well, he doesn't. But he didn't get rid of the clunker; the ship holds way too many memories to scrap. Actually, it's in the backyard.

Well, not the literal back yard, per say. See, the houses that we live in are on the waterfront of a man-made lake. So, we can just go out the back gate and be on the water. And since the lake is pretty big, and our houses are far enough apart, the old girl's docked right out back. I'm not sure if she'll ever see bounty action again, but I guess never say never.

When I think on it all, it's absolutely insane to think of how our lives have changed. I guess I just thought that things would stay exactly how they were, no changes, no nothing. But life moves on, whether you want it to or not. But I'm glad it did, and I'm glad I went with the flow.

And to assuage your fears, in case you had any, I am nine years clean and sober. I believe I hit rock bottom in that hotel room that night all those years ago, and I'm terrified to get back to a place like that again. I won't lie and say that sobriety is a walk in the park, we see how easily I relapsed the last time, but I had a better incentive to stay clean this time. That incentive was love.

It's not like I didn't have that the first time around, I just didn't acknowledge it. And also, I had a couple of people around me who weren't afraid to slap me upside the head, literally, when cravings got a little too intense again. So all in all, I made it out of the woods. I'm not saying that I'm in the clear for life, but I think I'll keep up this sober thing…I like the way it's going.

So then, I guess that's it. I don't think I have anything else to tell you. Maybe, if I get bored, inspired, or low on funds, I'll write some more about the sordid details of my life, but this is it for now. I remember my editor told me that I could never put out a book like this. There was too much language, and it was too gritty, and the sex scenes were unnecessary.

I told him that there wasn't too much fucking language, and I'd say whatever the hell I wanted to. I also told him that my life is gritty, and he'd have to deal with it. And without the sex scenes, some of you would have never made it to the end of the book…don't lie. So I guess this is a big "suck it" to my dear editor, seeing as though at least you are reading this.

I guess I'll go out on one of those inspirational high notes, then. It's not really my style, but my wife likes to tell me that I should inspire more. I also tell her that she should get cooking lessons, but she just makes me sleep on the couch when I tell her that.

Well, let's see then…inspiration. Okay, here goes. Life is hard. It puts you through ups and downs and turns you around and makes you dizzy. And it'll kick you when you're down and make you never want to get up again. But on the flip side, life is only as hard as you make it, and you'll never go through more than you can handle. Even if you give up, you were still only tested to the brink of your abilities. So slow down, stop and smell the roses; take life as it comes. Whatever happens, happens. Take in a sunset, eat an ice cream cone, and just enjoy what this experience has to offer.

So once again, thank you for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it. I don't know if I made you mad, sad, angry, happy, disgusted, or what have you, and if I did, then that's good. If I inspired you though, even just the slightest bit, then that is my greatest accomplishment in this aspect of my life. I won't be a bastard and plug my other works, now, so I guess I'll just leave you with this parting sentiment…See you later, Space Cowboys.


Removing his fingers from the keyboard and admiring his efforts, Spike set back in his chair and gave a satisfied sigh. Deciding to put off editing until tomorrow, he looked at the time and was shocked to see it was almost six p.m. It was Tuesday, which meant it was dinner at Jet's house tonight. Sara was a great cook, and they had news to share.

Pushing away from his desk, Spike stood and stretched. Saving his work one last time, he turned off his computer, flicked off the light, and exited his study to go find his family. He ran into Faye first, who had little Jack on her hip, and he kissed her softly and told her his story was done. Evey waddled up to him then and asked for her daddy to pick her up and Spike happily complied and kissed her chubby cheek.

Heading out of their front door and taking the short walk across the lawn, the Spiegel family (though Faye still went by Valentine when he made her mad), made their way to Jet's house. Entering the open door, Ein was the first to alert the home's inhabitants, barking happily and running, thought not as fast, to greet the newcomers. Jet came out of the kitchen then and greeted his guests as well.

After hellos had been said, everyone sat down at the table and laughed and ate and enjoyed what life had given them. It was a full table, to say the least, with two separate families crowded around, but the ex-Beboppers enjoyed the coziness.

Midway through the meal, Faye announced that she was pregnant and Sara and Ed screamed with joy. Then, Sara revealed that she, too, was pregnant, and that sent the womenfolk into a happy, dancing circle. Jet and Spike exchanged glances, wondering what they were going to do with two pregnant women at the same time, but congratulated each other nonetheless.

And that was how life was for the Bebop-Bebop crew. They had families, now, and they had lives that finally fit them. And they were happy. Life had slowed down, and they thoroughly enjoyed all that they had. Chattering and laughter poured from the house, one that was overflowing with love. And in the backyard, empty, but not forgotten, floated the ship that had brought those strangers together so very long ago.

The Bebop had been through a lot. Bad and good, sad and happy, but things all worked out in the end. Maybe it was the ship that had done this to them. When Jet had purchased the fishing trawler over fifeteen years ago, the man he bought it from told him that the ship was special. He said that with its unusual appearance, came unusual occurrences and once you resigned yourself to life on that ship, you would never be the same.

And perhaps that's what the man was talking about: this family that had been created. Though the original members where branching out and moving on, they would still inevitably be brought back together in the end. With the magic of the Bebop, the tragic beauty of life, these Space Cowboys were now finally able to carry that weight.

AND THOUGH IT'S THE END, IT'S
STILL ONLY THE BEGINNING…


as much as i hate to say it, that was the last of it. fin, i guess is the appropriate term. man, i'm sentimental. in a way, i was ready for it to end, but then again, not really. even though this has been written since mid-august, the editing and re-editing process just brought back my love for this fic. i'm happy with how it turned out, and i hope you are, too. it's succeded its predecessor, which is more than i could have asked for. overall, i'm a bittersweet, happy camper.

i guess i'll tell you to keep looking out for me, because you can't keep a good writer down (barring i'm any type of good, that is). i'll do my favorite, song-fics, and one shots for a while, but fear not if you like me writing in this style. i already have preliminary thoughts of a new fic, and the prospects excite me.

thanks so much for the support, etc. to all of you who reviewed, muchas gracias and all that jazz. you're reviews always made my day. and for those of you who just read, a big thanks to you, too. reading is a definite compliment in and of itself. so then, until we meet again. adieu my dear readers!

phoenix