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There seemed to be an inordinate amount of fireflies on Mars. Faye watches as Aria chases a group of lighting bugs, even as Faye settles in by Spike’s grave. It gets easier, every time she comes here. Aria’s barely one and already running lik a true Romani. Faye lets her eyes lock with Shin, or Lin’s, it’s not like she can actually tell them apart.
Knowing her daughter is safe, Faye watches as Shin leads Aria away from her father’s grave. For both men being members of a crime syndicate, Aria seems to be falling in love with the twins. They’d stepped up in ways Spike hadn’t, and couldn’t, do.
All Faye knows is that the entirety of what’s left of the Red Dragon Syndicate would burn anyone that tried to harm her daughter. When Spike had killed Vicious, he’d lived for a few moments according to Shin, and Lin, for that matter.
It was seconds according to the twins but it was long enough.
Those few moments shifted the lines of power within the Red Dragon Syndicate so fiercely that it was still shaking to its core.
Aria Spiegel was the de facto head of the Red Dragon Syndicate. Watching as her little girl, her baby chased after Shin and the fireflies that were slowly coming out of their hiding spots, Faye could hardly believe it.
A cough from her right had Faye turning her head to look at Lin. The man had stood back when she’d been near Spike’’s grave.
The first few times Faye had come here, she’d broken down so hard she refused to bring Aria after the first time. Especially when she could feel eyes on her every time she set foot on Mars. Of course, now it all made sense. Faye Valentine was the mother of the Head of the Red Dragon. The RDS was watching her from the shadows, protecting her even though Faye knew she could hold her own well enough.
“It’s good to see you, Lin.” Faye found her words to be genuine as Lin nodded towards the bench not too far away Faye settled in on the bench with a sigh.
They’d given her over an hour alone with Spike. Or as alone as Faye ever got nowadays. It was more than she’d expected to get.
“Need a few decisions on things when you’re ready.” Faye raised an eyebrow, normally Shin or Lin handled most of the decision making. She wasn’t fond of the fact she was the defacto leader until her daughter was old enough to take over.
“Go ahead.” Faye sighed as she lit a cigarette before letting her eyes trail back to where her daughter was tackling Shin to the ground.
Or as much as a one year old could tackle anyone.
“I know we talked about the schools the last time you were here. Is that something you still want to go ahead with?” Faye cut her eyes to Lin, and watched as the man diverted his eyes nearly automatically.
“Tell me something, Lin. How old is my daughter?” Lin turned his head to the side before he answered.
“A year old, ma’am.” Faye nodded, as she continued.
“Does she know how to read and write yet?” Lin looked confused and concerned at Faye’s line of questioning even as her eyes told him to continue.
“No, ma’am. She’s still a baby all things considered.”
“Exactly. So when she starts school, where do you think she’ll make friends? At the school, or with fellow RDS members' kids?” Lin’s eyes widened in recognition as he jotted a note down on the digital pad he carried.
“Yes, ma’am. Consider it done. The future of the Red Dragon rests on their shoulders, in the long run.I assume the food pantry follows the same logic?” Faye nodded, offering Lin a cigarette with a smirk.
“Yes. Let the world know that the RDS is still here. Food pantries for the hungry, education for their young, jobs for the jobless. Outside the Syndicate. That way…” Shin cut her off, even as his eyes widened at his mistake. Faye merely laughed and waved him on.
“....when the ISSP comes asking questions, no one knows anything. Not out of fear, but out of loyalty..”
“Exactly.” Faye’s grin only made Shin smile as he set aside the tablet he’d been taking notes on.
“There’s more, but it can wait. You’ve only just arrived. Enjoy your day, spend time with your daughter and your husband, Lady of the Dragon. We’ll keep an eye on Aria if you want some more time with him.” Faye shook her head as she began to walk towards Lin, who was now carrying Aria up on his shoulders.
“I’ll return later, when Aria’s down for her nap.” Lin and Shin shared a knowing look that gave nothing away as Faye clapped towards Aria before scoping her daughter up from her minder. “Right now, I just want to hold her.”
As the fireflies came out in force, Faye wiped a stray tear from her eye. Even now, well over a year after Spike’s death, it still hadn’t gotten easier. A one-year old child, the head of a crime syndicate, Faye herself her acting head, her father buried six feet under. Uncle Jet off who knows where working bounties on his own, and Ed, somewhere on Earth trying to track down their father.
They’d come so far, and spread so wide, since Spike’s death that the chasm threatened to rip them all apart at the seams.
As the fireflies danced around them, Faye closed her eyes and listened to her daughter. Out of everything in this crazy world, Aria made it worth it.
Aria Spiegel made sense in a way nothing else did.
For her, Faye at least had to try.
In the end, that was all that mattered.