Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Outlaw Star Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond the Screen ❯ Session 2: Three to Tango ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Beyond the Screen

Session 2

"What do you mean, we're back on Heiphon 4?" Spike asked. "We just
passed through here days ago!"

Jet shook his head and sighed. "Well, somehow, the ship turned around
during the night and docked here. Plus, there's a vital part missing
from the engine. So it looks like we'll be here for a while, partner."

"The ship turned around..." Faye's eyes narrowed. "Where's Ed?"

Jet blinked. "Damn, you're right! That little hacker maniac! I bet
she's the one behind this!"

"I wish you'd said something earlier, Jet," Spike growled. "She's
gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"She left a note on my door. Something about meeting a friend of hers
today."

"The last thing we need is another Ed on board," Faye muttered. "I say
we leave her."

"Weren't you listening, woman?" Jet asked. "We can't leave without
that part!"

"Besides, she took Ein with her," Spike added.

Jet banged his metal fist against the wall. "It's one thing to
sabotage my ship. But now she's gone too far! Nobody steals my DOG!"

"Relax, Jet; she'll come back," Spike replied as he walked away.
"You're the one who feeds her, remember? She's the only one of us that
actually LIKES bell peppers and beef."

* * * * *

"Okay. No pressure. It's not like we agreed on a time or anything..."

Jim had been waiting by the fountain for almost three hours now. He
kept himself busy by worrying if Ed would like the flowers he bought
her, or if she'd even show up at all. Of course, she had promised him,
but then, so had the last girl Jim had really liked...

He forcefully pushed the thoughts from his head and sat down on the
fountain's edge, humming a tune Melfina had taught him a few days ago.
He was always forgetting the words, and reminded himself to have her
sing it for him again. He suddenly wondered if Ed would like Melfina's
song.

It was then that he realized he wasn't alone.

Jim actually heard the dog first. But even before he'd looked long
enough to see it was a Welsh corgi, he had a feeling that it could
only be Ein.

The little dog ran right up to Jim and leaped into his arms, licking
his face as if they'd been together forever. In truth, Jim had only
known Ed & Ein for about six months, but it seemed like years to all
of them.

Jim smiled and ran his hand along the dog's back. He was happy to see
Ein, but he was beginning to wonder where Ed was. "Hey, boy. I got
something for you." He pulled a napkin out of his pocket and opened
it, revealing three sausages. "Melfina made these just for you."

Ein gobbled up the sausages and plopped down in Jim's lap, closing his
eyes as Jim continued to stroke his back.

Jim stopped smiling. "Not that it isn't nice to finally meet you, Ein,
but...you didn't come alone, did you? Where's Ed?"

"Edward is right here," a voice above him quietly replied.

Jim blinked and slowly looked up. At first, he didn't see anything but
a tree branch. Then he realized Ed was hanging from the tree branch,
upside down.

Ed smiled (though it looked like a frown) and waved at him. "Hi, Jim!"

"Hi...Ed." Jim stared at her for a long moment. "Um...how'd you get up
there?"

"Ed climbed, silly!" she giggled.

"No, I mean...WHY are you up there?"

"Ed thought it was a good spying spot. It was!"

"Well...could you come down, please? I'd like to see you the way you
normally are."

Despite the fact that being normal sounded pretty boring to Ed
(especially since being upside down WAS normal for her), she let go of
the tree and fell.

Jim gasped, but it was too late to do anything. Fortunately, he didn't
have to. Instead of landing on her head, Ed began to curve in mid-air
and hit the ground rolling. In fact, she rolled right up to Jim, drew
herself up to a standing position, and managed to do it all without
her fiery hair looking the slightest bit disheveled.

"Wow," Jim said in awe. "That was...cool."

Ed beamed. "Edward is cool!" Then her gaze landed on the flowers next
to him. "What are those?"

"Oh. The guy said they were called tulips." Jim held out the flowers
to her. "I, um...got them for you..."

Ed peered at the pale blue flowers closely, then yanked a petal off
one and popped it in her mouth.

Jim had heard that some people were so serious about flowers that they
tasted them, so he wasn't too surprised. Still, he was expecting her
to spit it out. So he was pretty shocked when he saw her swallow.

Ed took the flowers and smiled at him. "Thank you for the flowers,
Jim! Ed has something for you, too!"

"Really? You didn't have to-"

"Since you like Ed's Beautiful Eyes so much, Ed left her goggles at
home so you can see them up close!" With that, Ed walked right up to
him until their noses were almost touching.

Jim promptly turned scarlet and tried to remind himself that Ed wasn't
like most girls. So chances were, she wasn't trying to get him to kiss
her. She was only letting him look into her eyes, because she thought
it was a nice thing to do. And now that he was looking into them, they
were very, very nice...

Ein chose that moment to bark, and quite loudly.

With a yell, Jim fell backwards into the fountain. Fortunately, it
wasn't very deep, so there was no real chance of drowning. Especially
when two surprisingly strong hands grabbed him under the arms and
yanked him out. Jim was too busy coughing, so he was only vaguely
aware of Ed yelling, "Bad Ein! BAD!"

Despite his actions, Ein looked quite pleased with himself and sat
down to take a nap.

"Are you okay, Jim? Ein doesn't usually act like this."

Jim finally stopped coughing and realized that Ed was still clutching
him to her tightly. He could feel her warm breath on his cheek, as
well as the weight of her chin on his shoulder. "I'm okay," he
whispered, trying to keep the red out of his cheeks.

"Hmm. Ed thinks you're going to need some dry clothes."

"Yeah, I was thinking that, too. I guess you'll get to meet Aisha
after all."

Ed's face lit up. "Can I meet Gilliam, too?!"

"Sure. He's always happy to meet someone that knows their way around
computers."

"Thank you, Jim!" Ed squealed, giving him a big hug.

"Ah! Not so tight, Ed! You'll get wet, too!"

"Edward's been wet before, Jim," Ed replied in his ear. "It's not so
bad."

Jim blushed and patted her arm. "We'd better go."

"Okay. Lead the way, and Ed will follow!" Ed squeezed him one more
time before she let go.

* * * * *

Next Session: Jim & Ed aboard the Outlaw Star.