Chapter Text
"Mars. Isn't this where you said you were born, Spike? Hmmm. I wonder what it was like here back then. From what I've seen of this planet today, you were probably happy as a boy, if it was the same. It looks like a beautiful planet to grow up on. Just like my home planet, Earth was when I was a little girl. Before the Gate accident and the asteroids wrecked it. I guess there's something we have in common. We both had happy enough childhoods, and our lives just... fell apart when we became adults." Faye Valentine thought sadly, staring at the intense red and gold sunset.
She shook her head, pulled a cigarette out from the pack in her red jacket, lit it and muttered, "Why do sunsets always make people think of pointless memories like this? Earth has been a big disaster area for years and years. Most people probably don't even remember it ever being anything else. There's no point in longing for or even thinking about a place that doesn't really exist anymore. And the Earth I knew doesn't. Besides, just because a person grew up somewhere that's pretty to look at, it doesn't necessarily mean they were happy there. Foolish thoughts. I seem to be having a lot of those lately." The wind picked up a little, blowing Faye's hair back and putting out her cigarette.
She dug out her lighter, re-lit the cigarette, and, before bringing it back to her lips, whispered, "This one's for you, Spike."
Standing by the Bebop a small distance away, Jet was watching Faye and unhappily thinking, "What is that woman doing ? She's just been standing there, staring at the sun, for almost ten minutes now. If I want to get off this planet any time soon, I guess I'd better go tell her that I'm not going to wait around for her forever."
"Hey, what the hell is the big idea?! It's bad enough you're takin' me to jail. How come I gotta wait around all day first? What kinda crap is this?!" complained a gruff voice from inside the ship.
"Hold your horses. Believe me, I can't wait to turn you over to the authorities, get my money and never have to see your ugly face again. Gimme a minute to get my partner, and we'll be on our way." Jet replied.
"Hmmmphh. Never catch me waitin' around for no skirt, much less takin' orders from one. Must be a real pain. Heh heh. Hope she makes it up to ya at night. She sure looks like she must." the man inside the ship snickered.
" Whaatt?! You think... Me and Faye?!?! You shut your mouth, you lousy punk!" Jet yelled, taken aback by the crook's suggestion.
Stomping away, he grumbled, "That does it! The sooner we're done with this bounty head, the better! If Faye wants to stay here and stare at the sky, fine. But I'm leaving!"
Unbeknownst to either Jet or Faye, nearby, Edward was running as quickly as she could, shouting, "Come on, Ein! Ed sees it! Ed sees Bebop! Come on! We have to hurry, hurry, before they leave without us!" Ein gave a short bark in response, panting a little as he raced to keep up with Ed.
"Almost there!" Edward gasped happily, seeing the spaceship appear to grow larger and larger as she and Ein got closer to it.
"Yippee! Whoa! Aaahh! Oof! Yay! Ed did it! Whoo!" Ed cheered as she and her canine companion reached their destination. In celebration, Ed jumped on the Bebop, and, after slipping, sliding, and nearly falling off several times, finally managed to climb to the top. Once there, she immediately flopped down on her back. Ein barked excitedly, jumping up and down.
"Ohh, that's right. Ein can't climb up the way Edward did. But don't worry. I'll find a way for us to get in. Hmmm. Ed remembers a door up here somewhere. Ed will find it, then get inside and let you in through the main hatch." Ed said, climbing onto her hands and knees and beginning to feel around for a door. She hummed as she searched.
"Hey! Now what's goin' on? Who's up there?!" demanded the crook locked inside.
"Huh? Ed doesn't recognize that voice. It's not Spike or Jet person. Hmmm. Faye-Faye, is that you? Are you sick?" Edward puzzled, knocking on the roof of the ship and pressing her right ear against it.
"Get lost, kid!" came the response. Ein growled at the unfamiliar, unfriendly voice.
"Oh. Not her either, I guess. Do you think they got someone new to replace Edward?" Ed suggested, sitting up and looking a little confused.
Then she gasped and said, "Or maybe it's a terrible intruder! Don't worry, everyone. Edward is coming to save you!" She felt around a little more, and, upon finding an indentation at last, immediately began struggling to open the door she'd found. Ein kept barking. The man inside the Bebop continued to yell and complain.
Jet Black was now standing behind Faye, telling her, "It's time to go. That creep's getting mouthier by the minute. Let's get out of here so we can turn him over to the authorities and get our reward. Come on, Faye." There was no answer. Faye kept her eyes on the sun as it continued to go down and the sky became darker and darker. She didn't even notice Jet at all.
He placed his hand on her left shoulder, shook her lightly and said, "Come on. You can finish your cigarette and your daydream back on the ship." Still no response. Jet sighed.
"You haven't heard a single word I've said, have you?"
"What? Oh, sorry. I... guess I haven't been listening. What did you say, Jet?" Faye asked, turning to face Jet, but still not seeming very interested in whatever he was going to tell her.
"I said I want to get off this planet so we can turn that bigmouth bounty head of ours in and get our money." Jet explained.
"I don't know what your hurry is, Jet. He's only a small-time robber. The reward is barely over 20,000 woolongs. And I've read the guy's file. He's not particularly violent or smart. Seeing how you've got him tied up, I seriously doubt he'll escape." Faye said, starting to turn back to the sinking sun. She took a few short puffs on her cigarette, then just held it.
"Hmmmphh. You'd know what my hurry is if you'd spent the last hour listening to that jerk mouth off. And I know the reward isn't much, but it's more than we have now. You feel like eating nothing but bean sprouts for another week?"
"Hmm. It's a wonder we still have such a problem keeping food around, even now that it's just the two of us. I guess we've been earning even less money lately than I'd realized." Faye commented absently, still not a bit interested in the discussion.
"Oh, now I get it. You're lonely. What is it? You miss having another girl around?" Jet suggested, placing his right hand on the back of his bald head.
"You think I miss Ed? Please, Jet. I'm a grown woman. Ed's what, thirteen? If that. We weren't exactly best friends, you know? Though I suppose we might have been a little closer, if Ed had any interest in clothes or guys like a normal girl her age, instead of just computers and stuffing her face." Faye scoffed, shaking her head. The wind lifted her hair again.
After staring silently at the back of Faye's head for a moment, Jet lowered his hands to his sides and said, "I suspected as much. Your real problem is that you've been thinking about Spike again, haven't you?"
The lit end of Faye's shrinking cigarette glowed against the increasingly dark sky as she whispered, "Maybe. It's not a big deal. I mean, he did come from Mars originally. And, it's the first time we've been back here without him. So it's only natural that I'd think of him today." Her expression was sad because of her thoughts, but also a little surprised because she hadn't expected Jet to know what was going through her mind.
"I know it's hard to accept, but you have to face it some time, Faye. It's been almost half a year. If he were coming back, he would have by now. Spike is dead." Jet sighed heavily, reaching out to touch Faye's shoulder.
She pulled away, letting her cigarette butt fall to the ground, and answered, "You think I don't know that? Ha. That first night that Spike didn't come back, I knew he never would. He was a fool, going back to the syndicate. He should've known he'd never make it out alive. What did he hope to accomplish, anyway? His old mentor, the Elders, Julia... All of them were already dead, Jet! It's not like there was a thing he could have done for any of them. What was the point of going back there?" By this point, Faye's hands were clenched into tight fists and she was forcing back tears.
"Spike felt that he had to face his past and all that had happened, all that he had lost. Going back there and confronting Vicious one last time was the only way for him to do that. Even knowing the risks, I'm sure that in Spike's mind, there was no other option."
"Hmmphh. I suppose you could be right. But tell me something, Jet. Do you think it's possible that he went back there because... he wanted to die? So he'd be with his Julia again?" Faye suggested, barely able to get the words out. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly.
"I don't know. There must have been something really special between those two, that was obvious. But I'm not sure I buy the idea that Spike would just let himself be killed so he could join Julia in death. Though I can't rule out the possibility." Jet replied, shaking his head. For a moment, neither he or Faye spoke.
Then, crushing the cigarette butt on the ground with her right foot, Faye sighed and said, "The past is the past. Nothing we say or do can change it. The best thing to do is to forget about it and just go on with our own lives. Come on, Jet. Let's go." She brushed away a single tear, then began walking quickly back towards the spaceship.
Jet stared after her briefly, thinking, "Well, I'll be. I never would have believed that Faye actually cared about him. I wonder if she even realized before it was too late." Shaking away these thoughts, he followed Faye.
Meanwhile, Edward, happily shouting, "Hurray! Ed opened Mr. Door!" had just managed to pry open the door on the roof of the Bebop. Immediately, she jumped inside, landing on the crook and knocking him to the floor.
"What the hell?! What kinda stupid game is this?! First ya tie me up and leave me here, now you drop some weird kid on me! I'm startin' to think prison'd be a swell alternative to you freaks!" the man bellowed, forcing the chair he was tied to back onto its feet. He was about Faye's age, with short, spiky blond hair, big, dark blue sunglasses, and a nose ring in each nostril.
"No one dropped Edward on you. Edward jumped. Why are you tied up? Is this part of the game? Can Ed play, too?" Ed said impatiently, getting onto her knees on the floor and studying the stranger. Outside, Ein's barking grew louder.
"I ain't playin' no game, kid!" the robber growled.
"You're lying. When Ed jumped down, you asked, 'What kind of stupid game is this?' Liar, liar!" Edward argued. When she repeated the man's words, she tried to imitate his deep, rough voice. The rest of her little speech was in a singsong voice. The bounty head groaned.
Outside, Jet and Faye were approaching. Seeing them, Ein became distracted from barking at the strange voice, ran to the two of them, and stood up on Jet, wagging his little tail and giving short, happy barks.
"Huh? Ein?! How'd he get here? Wait, maybe it's not Ein, just another dog that looks like him. Whatta you think? I mean, Ein's not exactly a rare breed." Faye said, more than a little startled to see the dog.
"I know. There are plenty of Welsh Corgis you could never tell apart from Ein by appearance alone. But this one's definitely him. Look, here's his name tag and everything." Jet replied, pointing to the little tag with Ein's name on it.
Then, petting the little dog's brown and white head, he said, "Welcome back, Ein. You miss us? It sure is good to have you back, boy. Where have you been all this time, huh?" Ein gave Jet a few more happy barks in response. Watching Jet and Ein, Faye smiled a little in spite of herself. Then, she noticed that the door on the roof of the ship was open.
"Finish your reunion later! Look!" she ordered, pointing with one hand and grabbing Jet with the other.
"Huh? Arrgghh! Don't tell me that loser got free somehow!" Jet yelled.
"Come on! We have to go check it out!" Faye shouted, opening the main hatch and charging inside. Jet and Ein followed closely. What they found was certainly a surprise for Jet and Faye. Their bounty head was still right where he belonged, and still tied to a chair. And, kneeling in front of him and making faces, there was Edward.
"Ed?!?!" the two stunned bounty hunters exclaimed, barely believing their eyes.
"Jet! Faye! Edward is ba-aack!" Ed announced, running over to the other two and hugging them.
"Ouch! Not so tight, Ed! You're stronger than you look, you know. It's nice to see you again, too... I guess, but could you ease up a little?" Faye protested as Ed squeezed her waist tightly.
"Oops. Sorry, Faye-Faye. Ed will try to be more careful." Ed apologized, loosening her grip a little, then backing away from Faye and twirling around. The whole time, she had a huge smile on her face.
"Hello! I'm still here, ya know! This is very touching and all, but I don't wanna hear this crap anymore!" the bounty head complained, thumping his chair around.
"Ick. Who is that? If it's Edward's replacement, Ed thinks you were much better off with her." Edward commented, frowning at the man.
"Relax, Ed. He's no replacement. This punk happens to be our latest catch. In fact, we're just about to drop him off with the cops on Jupiter and collect a 21,000 woolong reward." Jet explained.
"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don't ya?" the man grumbled, sounding bitter and sarcastic. Everyone ignored him.
"Hmmmm. 21,000. That's really not much." Edward said thoughtfully, putting one finger on her chin and looking at the floor.
"Hey, give us a break! With Big Shot off the air and you not here to track leads in cyberspace, it's not easy to find criminals with big bounties on their heads! It's not our fault that small-time little nobodies like this are all we've come across lately." Faye snapped, insulted by Ed's remark.
"Sorry. Ed didn't mean to offend you guys." Ed apologized with a shrug.
Faye opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a word out, Edward, looking up hopefully at Jet, was asking, "Edward was just wondering... Do you think we have enough money to have a party?"
"A, a party? Well, I guess we should do something to celebrate the return of you and Ein. But I don't know if we can..." Jet said, scratching his beard as he considered Ed's idea.
"Pleeaeessee?" Ed begged, still staring up at Jet with that hopeful look in her shiny amber eyes. Jet looked up at the ceiling with a half sigh, half groan.
A few hours later, Ed was busily trying to put a blue party hat on Ein's head. She had two hats on her own: one with purple and fluorescent yellow stripes, the other neon green with pink and blue spots.
"Just how long is she gonna keep trying to get that stupid hat on Ein?" asked Faye, who was half sitting, half laying on the couch, holding an empty glass. Of course, Ed had made her wear a hat, too. Hers had stripes in two shades of pink, and the top and bottom of it were trimmed in silver tinsel. Jet's hat was purple.
"I'd say she'll keep it up until she either gets Ein to wear the hat or gets distracted by something else. Knowing Ed, it could take another few seconds for her to get distracted, or it could take the rest of the night." Jet answered, watching Edward as she continued trying to get Ein to wear the hat.
"Yay! There you go, Ein. Now you're all dressed up for the party, too!" Ed declared happily, giggling and falling on her rearend as she finally succeeded in putting the blue hat on Ein's head. The dog whimpered a bit and began turning his head from side to side, trying to see what was on top of it.
"Ed is hungry! Isn't it time to eat yet? " Edward complained suddenly as she pulled herself off the floor.
"Dinner will be ready soon. If you can't wait until then, go eat some more of that snack stuff you talked me into letting you buy." Jet instructed.
"Mmmm.... Ed can't do that." Ed said coyly, looking at the floor and blushing a little.
"And why is that? Don't tell me that after we spent all that money on all those different kinds of junk food, you don't even like any of it." Jet replied impatiently, folding his arms.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. No, no. Ed can't go eat more snacks because they're all gone. No more snacks to eat." Edward explained, smiling at the others and starting to laugh.
"Whoa! You mean you ate all that food by yourself?!" Faye asked, sitting up straight.
"Nah. You guys helped Ed eat some of it." Ed disagreed, shaking her head.
"I don't know how much Ein or Jet took, but I only ate a handful of chips and half a candied apple."
"Well, that still means that Ed didn't eat everything." Edward replied, a big, goofy smile spreading across her face. Ein walked over to Jet, dish in mouth, and stared at him, waiting.
"I guess you're trying to tell me that you're hungry, too. Nobody around here is too subtle about that, are they? Well, it'll be dinnertime soon. In the meantime, I seem to recall buying you some dog biscuits today. Ed, you didn't eat those, too, did you?" Jet said, petting Ein and giving Ed a suspicious look.
"Uh-uh. Ed took a bite of one, just to see why Ein likes them so much. Blah! Ewwww! Yucky!" She shook her head, making terrible faces at the memory of tasting the dog biscuit. She quickly handed the box to Jet, who took out a handful and placed them in front of Ein. The small dog happily began to eat.
"You know, I guess I could understand you still being hungry, even after eating all that junk food. Because you're still growing and all. But honestly, Ed, why would even you try to eat a dog biscuit?" Faye said, tracing the rim of her glass with one finger.
"Hmmm. Don't know." Ed laughed again.
Then, she exclaimed, "Edward almost forgot!", ran behind the couch, and held up a big box triumphantly.
"Oh, right. I forgot, too. Along with all the food, Ed talked me into letting her buy about a million streamers and balloons." Jet explained, rolling his eyes a little.
"Don't forget about the sparkly glittery stuff!" Ed said, sitting on the floor with her box and beginning to dig through it. She grabbed a balloon that needed to be blown up and began trying to inflate it.
"If you ever become a father, Jet, your kids are gonna be spoiled rotten. For weeks, I've been hearing nothing from you except how broke we are, how we have to watch every single woolong we have. But look at all Ed conned you into spending today, just by giving you a few pouty looks. Hmmmm. You act like such a big tough guy, but when push comes to shove, you're really softhearted." Faye commented.
"Well, when it comes to being spoiled rotten, you're certainly an expert on the subject. Lighten up, Faye. I know Ed's party is pretty silly, but since you won't give me a hand with dinner, you could at least help her out with those decorations." Jet responded, glancing towards Ed and her box.
"I guess maybe I haven't drunk enough to be in much of a party mood yet. Think you can help me out with that, Jet?" Faye said with a chuckle, stretching a little and holding out her glass. Jet frowned at Faye, but picked up a half empty bottle of dark liquor and refilled her glass anyway.
"Now that's more like it." Faye sank back against the couch and took a long sip of her drink.
Jet was about to say something, but before he could, Ed started yelling, "Stupid balloon! Why won't you blow up?"
After briefly studying Ed and her struggle with the balloon, Jet walked over to her and explained, "Ed, you're having trouble with this because you're trying to blow up the wrong end."
"But Edward tried the other end first! It didn't work, either!" Ed pouted.
"You must not have blown hard enough. Here. Give me that." Jet said, taking the blue balloon from Edward. After realizing that it was covered in her teeth marks and spit, he dropped it on the floor and pulled a fresh balloon from the box.
"Now, watch carefully. You open this end up a little and blow into it like this." Jet instructed. He took a deep breath, then exhaled into the balloon. Once it was fully inflated, he continued, "And now you have to hurry up and tie the end so all the air doesn't come right back out. There. You see, Ed?" Ed examined the round balloon being held in front of her and nodded. She reached into the box, pulled out a red balloon, took a deep breath, and blew into it. It didn't get as big as the one Jet had blown up, but it certainly came out much better than Ed's first attempt. Determined not to let the balloon get the better of her, she huffed and puffed into it a few more times. Soon, the balloon was round and large, fully inflated.
"Everybody look!" she exclaimed, proudly holding it up.
"Bravo, Ed. Bravo." Faye congratulated her, briefly putting down her glass to clap a little.
"And now, to trap all the air inside!" Edward said, completely unaware of Faye's lack of enthusiasm. She began trying to tie the end of the balloon. This didn't go very well. Part of it slipped through her fingers, and the red balloon flew around the room, losing all its air.
"Hey, no fair! Come back!" Ed cried, chasing after it.
"That's it. I have to get back to the kitchen before everything burns. You two have another crisis, like you having all your decorations run away from you, or you running out of booze again, you'll either have to handle it on your own or help each other." Jet grumbled, going back into the kitchen. Faye scowled at him, but Ed was too caught up in her balloon chase to notice anything else. Finally, completely deflated again, the red balloon landed in front of Ein, who sniffed it curiously.
"Ohhh!" Ed whined, staring unhappily at what had happened. She recovered from her disappointment quickly, though, proceeding to grab the balloon and begin re-inflating it. It wasn't long before it was filled with air again.
"Careful.... Careful...." Ed told herself as she tried to tie the balloon again. This time, she succeeded.
"Aha! Yay!" she cheered, holding up her accomplishment for a moment before letting it float up to the ceiling. She then dived for her box and began working on another one. Ein, who had finished his dog biscuits, watched as Ed blew up balloons. Soon, seven more had joined the first one: two blue, one pink, one purple, a yellow, a green, and another red.
As Ed began to tie a yellow balloon she'd just finished blowing up, she happened to look at Faye and thought, "Huh? It's not like Faye-Faye to be so quiet. She looks kind of sad about something. Maybe she had a fight with Jet? Uh-uh. Faye-Faye wouldn't be sad about that. Whatever it is, Ed will cheer her up." She got up, tiptoed over to the couch, and tapped Faye with the yellow balloon. Actually, she sort of tossed it at her. Faye ignored Ed.
"Faye-Faye? What's wrong?" Edward asked quietly, grabbing onto the balloon before it could float away.
"Huh? What makes you think there's something wrong, Ed?" Faye replied, looking up at Ed and raising one eyebrow.
"You seem too quiet. And you're just sitting and drinking all by yourself. We're supposed to be having a party, remember? Oh, but you don't look like you're having any fun at all." Ed looked at Faye with concern as she flopped down next to her, hugging the balloon.
"Actually, Ed, just sitting and drinking is the way grown-ups usually have fun at parties. You'll understand when you're older." Faye replied, pushing an ice cube around her glass with one finger.
"Sounds kind of boring to Ed." Ed commented, letting her balloon float to just above her head. She then slid down onto her back a little, raised her right leg above her head, and caught the end of the balloon between her toes. Faye laughed, then took another gulp of her drink.
"Ed made you laugh." Ed said in a teasing voice, holding the balloon over Faye's head. She was obviously very pleased with that success.
"Yeah, I guess you did. You gonna leave me alone now?" Faye asked, giving Ed a half smile. Edward shook her head in response.
"Can't say I'm surprised." Faye sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ed asked again, clearly skeptical.
Faye hesitated for a few seconds, then, opening her eyes and facing the ceiling, she finally answered, "Yeah, Ed. I'm fine. Don't worry so much. It's not like you to be so serious. It doesn't suit you at all." Ed nodded, then released the balloon from between her toes and let it float away. Ed, Faye and Ein all watched as it floated up to the ceiling, bounced a few times, then settled with some of the other balloons.
After a few seconds of silence, Ed jumped up, declaring, "Ed's tired of balloons now. Time for other pretty party thingies. You help, too, Faye-Faye!" She grabbed Faye's hand and pulled her up off the couch.
"What? Oh, Ed. Can't you just do this by yourself?" Faye asked wearily, nearly spilling what was left in her glass as she quickly put it down.
Pulling Faye towards the big box of decorations, Ed simply told her, "There's too much. Edward can't do it all alone."
"Ed, I'm really in no mood for this." Faye continued to protest, starting to get more annoyed.
"Here. You can help with these."
Ed tossed some rolled up streamers to Faye, who crossly gave in, saying, "Okay, fine. If it'll get you off my back, I'll help you decorate. Just tell me what you want me to do with these ."
"Just this. Whee!" Ed exclaimed, spinning in a circle and tossing some streamers into the air. They all unravelled partially, some more than others, before hitting the floor.
"Uh, Ed? Sorry to spoil your fun, but aren't you supposed to hang streamers from the ceiling or on the wall, not just throw them all over the floor?" Faye said sarcastically.
"Ed's way works just as well. Here, Ein. You help, too." Ed answered with a quick shrug. She placed a bright blue, still tightly rolled streamer in front of Ein, who sniffed it, then picked it up in his mouth and walked away with it. After a moment, the dog put the streamer down and started pushing the now slightly wet decoration around with his nose. Of course, it was beginning to unravel somewhat.
"Yay! Good job, Ein!" Ed cheered. Once she'd finished applauding, she reached into the box for more streamers to throw.
Noticing that Faye was still just holding the decorations she'd been handed, Ed coyly told her, "You're the only one not helping, Faye-Faye!"
"Grrr! Would you stop calling me that?! There . I helped. Happy now?" Faye said, tossing one streamer over her shoulder. Ed giggled and nodded.
"Hmmm. Well, I guess they're having a good time in there, judging by the noise." Jet mumbled to himself, hearing Ed's laughter from the other room.
Ed was now pulling little tubs of glitter out of her box, saying, "This will make everything really pretty." She lifted the cover off some red and gold glitter, and proceeded to throw handfuls of it everywhere.
"Jet's gonna blow a fuse when he sees this mess you're making." Faye warned, studying the streamer and glitter covered furniture and floor. Ed, either ignoring Faye or simply not concerned by her words, continued to jump around the room, humming loudly and flinging glitter. By now, she'd finished with the first container and moved onto blue.
"Now you're the one who's worrying too much." she finally answered, sneaking up behind Faye and dumping an entire container of silver glitter on her head.
"OOH! What did you do that for?!" Faye demanded. Ed ran behind the couch, laughing.
"Think it's funny, huh? You won't think so when I catch you!" Faye growled, diving after Ed and starting to chase her around the room. As soon as the two of them were away from the couch, Ein hid behind it.
"Come back here, you little brat!" Faye yelled, nearly slipping in a pile of glitter and grabbing onto the wall to catch herself. Ed grabbed another container of glitter from the box, lifted it high above her head, and dumped the whole thing down on herself, laughing more than ever.
"Boy, she hasn't changed a bit, has she?" Faye thought, watching Ed dance around with another streamer she'd found in the box. As she watched the young girl, Faye's expression changed to something that was almost a smile.
"And now for the grand finale!" Ed announced. With that, she tossed the rest of the glitter up into the air and flung the last yellow streamer. It landed in front of Ein, who was also covered in glitter due to Ed's antics. Ed fell backwards onto the couch, very happy with her decorating.
"Everything is just a big game to you, isn't it?" Faye asked, sounding tired and a little bitter.
"Edward never thought about it that way before." Ed said, looking thoughtful and serious. Well, for her, anyway.
"Well, it's true. You never seem to take anything seriously. I don't think I've ever seen you sad about anything. The only times I've ever even seen you get mad were when the rest of us went somewhere without bringing you anything. And even that you always got over in two minutes. You know, living alone for a long time at such a young age like you did would make most people bitter. Kind of hard-edged, and not very trusting. But not you. You're completely carefree and naive. Ha! Enjoy it while you can, Ed. Someday, even your life will be complicated." Faye explained, sitting cross-legged on the couch and pulling out a cigarette and red lighter.
"Why is that, Faye-Faye?" Ed asked, inching closer to Faye, who had sat down as far from her as she could.
"That's just the way it is, kid. When you grow up, your problems get bigger, and you're bound to be unhappy at least once in a while. It's something that can't be helped." Faye answered with a shrug, lighting her cigarette and putting the lighter away.