Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Fantaisie Sign ❯ Don't You Know That You Are A Shooting Star? ( Chapter 2 )

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me.

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

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I smiled. In just a few days, I'd be going to Neo-Paris to start my new life! Well, I'd come back to Earth until the actual school year started, but...

"Wonder what's on TV," I said, leaning back on the couch and picking up the remote control that sat on the table in front of me. I pointed the remote at the TV and turned it on.

"Hello, all you space cowboys!" shouted a tall, blonde-haired man on the TV screen. "It's time for Bigshot with yours truly, Andy Oniyate!"

"And me, Tasha!" said a pretty young woman with long, black pigtails who was standing next to Andy.

"Ed still wonders how Cowboy Andy-person got this job.... but Edward guesses he does seem like the kinda person that would want his face on TV all the time.... oh well, good for him!"

I had met Andy-person when I was still on the Bebop. I knew he liked Faye-Faye, but she hated him... I didn't figure out why until Bigshot came back on the air a year ago with Andy as one of the hosts.... he sure had a big ego!

"First of all, a Bigshot Cowboy Shout-Out goes to the lovely Faye Valentine and her partner, Jet Black for reeling in French Syndicate member Leo LeMez, one of the worst criminals in the Solar System and one of our biggest bounties ever at 16 million wulongs! Congratulations, my sweet...."

"Hee, congratulations, Faye-Faye!" I said, giggling at Andy's shoutout. "Give up, ya silly cowboy!"

"While the second-in-command of the French Syndicate, also known as Rose Du Diablé, has been caught," Tasha said, "the leader, Cecelle Frémont, remains at large."

"He's a dangerous criminal, and the bounty on his head right now is a whopping 120 million wulongs!" Andy said excitedly. "I hope Faye gets him...."

"Or anyone else out there!" Tasha said, smiling. "Next, we have a-"

I switched off the TV. I wasn't a bounty hunter anymore anyway, I found Bigshot boring, and they rarely ever showed any cartoons!

"Maybe Ed should go out and help daddy," I said, noticing that he had stopped the truck. "Time to check out the flower power meteor shower!"

I ran to the door and opened it up, then stepped outside.

"Francoise!" my dad said, turning toward me. "Come check this out, it's incredible!"

"Okay, daddy, Edward is coming!" I said, running over to see what he was looking at. "Wow....."

Last night's meteor showed had made a big impact after all! The front half of a large plateau in front of us had been sheared off, and a large crater in its side marked the site of the impact. Several smaller craters surrounded us, including a fairly large one right in front of my feet. Most of the craters were still smoking. Guess I slept sounder than I had thought...

"I can't believe neither of us woke up...." I said to him.

"Well, this is certainly the best field of craters I've seen in a while!" my dad replied. "Wanna go down there and look for space rocks?"

"But it's still burning...what if it's still hot down there?" I asked him.

"That's why I have... tongs!" he said, holding up the large pair of tongs that he used to retrieve meteorite fragments. "C'mon, you're not scared, are you?"

"I guess not...." I said, still with some trepidation. "But if Edward gets an owie...."

I took the tongs from my dad.

"You should probably put on your shoes first, Francoise...."

"You're right, I'd better!" I said, smiling. I ran back into the trailer. "Yoo-hoo, shoes, where are yoooooou.... oh yeah, Edward packed them in Edward's suitcase!"

I dashed into my room, gathered the shoes, quickly put them on, and ran back outside, tongs in hand. Slowly, I climbed down into the crater. I could feel the heat from under me, and I was careful not to let my hands touch the charred ground.

"Are you sure this is safe, daddy?" I asked him.

"I've done it tons of times, Francoise! I'd never let you get hurt, I promise!"

"Well, okay..."

I made my way to the bottom of the crater, about seven feet below the ground, and looked down.

"See anything?" my dad yelled from the top of the crater. I looked down, and low and behold, several small meteorite fragments were right near my feet. They were jet black, and they appeared to be very charred. They were still smoking, and they shined with a faint glow that the sunlight reflected off of them.

"Okay, Ed found a few!" I yelled up to him. "I'm gonna get 'em, okay?"

Slowly, I reached down with the tongs and picked up one of the space rocks, the largest one in the crater, and also, in my opinion, the prettiest.

"Ed has got it!" I said triumphantly, holding the fragment up in my tongs. "Ed will bring it to you, okay, daddy?"

Suddenly, my feet began to slip! I couldn't keep my footing, and I began to fall face-first to the ground of the crater. Stunned, I dropped the tongs and screamed.

"Daddy, help Edward!"

I closed my eyes, expecting a hard and painful landing on the burning ground. But the only thing I felt was my dad's strong hand around my ankle, lifting me off of the ground.

"Gotcha!" my dad shouted, leaning all the way over the crater and holding me up. "Don't worry, I've gotcha...."

Slowly, he began to pick himself up off of the ground. He gathered me into his arms and carefully maneuvered himself to the edge of the crater, finally managing to sit up by the edge while holding my slender body in his arms. He frowned sadly.

"Oh, Francoise..." he said, with a slight hint of regret in his voice, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you go down there like that...."

"No, it's okay, daddy...." I reassured him. "I'm fine, you saved Edward! Thank you!"

I smiled up at him, and slowly, he began to smile as well.

"Maybe you should go inside, okay, Francoise?" he said, his tone returning to normal. "I'll stay out here and map these craters and bring in the space rocks. You just rest... you've got a big day tomorrow!"

He set me down, and I nodded and rose to my feet, walking back into the trailer as my dad began to work.

---

"Maybe I can find my mommy on this computer," I said to myself, typing rapidly on Tomato's keys. "New Parisian Liberty College Student Archives, let's go!"

I clicked on the icon that led to the archives. Maybe it would have some of my mother's records there!

"Class of 2059, let's see...." I said, looking at the options on the screen. "Class of 2063, 2062, 2061, 2060...."

And then, an area of text.

"Students that graduated before 2060 are not listed in these archives," I read. "Information on previous students may be looked up directly from the on-campus research area.... oh no!"

I growled at my computer.

"Dumb thing, making Edward go all the way to the college to find out about Edward's mommy!" I shouted. "Well, Edward is going there tomorrow.... Ed will look it up then!"

I closed my computer and picked it up, taking it to my bedroom and placing it inside my second suitcase. Then, I closed both suitcases and set them down by the door to my room.

"Well, everything's packed!" I said, smiling. "It's about time for lunch... Edward is getting hungry!"

The truck began to start up again. Dad must have gotten done with his crater mapping. I didn't understand why he loved his job so much... I knew it came with a sense of accomplishment, since he was helping Earth get back to some sort of civilization.... I remember a conversation I had with him about a year ago on the subject. We were both camping outside, under the stars, near the Cape of Good Hope in what was once South Africa.

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"Daddy?" I asked him, holding a stick with three marshmallows on it over a small campfire. "Why don't they just send a satellite out to scan Earth and map it?"

"They don't care, Francoise," my dad said, a hint of anger in his voice. "Ever since the exodus to Mars, nobody gives a damn about Earth. They just leave us all out here. We're the forgotten ones, sweetie."

"But it would only take just one satellite!" I said. "How can they be such big meanie-weenies?"

"It's because they want us to die out," my dad replied. "That's why people like me are so important, because people like me, who help make the maps for the newly-reshaped Earth, are helping to bring back civilization! If we work hard, then maybe, in a few hundred years or so, when the space rocks stop falling, Earth will be the crown jewel of the Solar System again! Wouldn't that be great?"

"I guess so..." I said, looking down at the ground. "You do work hard, daddy, I know you do!"

"And guess what, Francoise?" my dad said to me. "I saw a TV show a few days ago. People on Mars think that their planet is invincible, but in a few million years, one of their moons is gonna come crashing down right on their pretty little terraformed heads!"

"Phobos," I replied. "15 miles in diameter."

"Bingo! It'll be worse than the Gate Disaster, because nobody's gonna survive," my dad said. "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Mars!"

He began to chuckle. I smiled.

"I guess it's not the nicest thing to be happy about, but I'm glad you're happy, daddy," I told him.

---

After lunch, I put my plates in the sink to be washed later, and threw my paper cup in the garbage. Then, I went into my room, took off my shoes, and flopped down onto my bed. I yawned.

"Daddy will wake up Edward when it is time for dinner...." I said sleepily. "Nighty-night..."

---

Sure enough, the first thing I saw when I woke up was my dad's smiling face, hovering over me.

"Francoise, wake up! We're in Suarez City!"

I rubbed my eyes.

"You sure about that?" I said, slowly sitting up. "Mmmm.... good nap-nap..."

"I figured that we could have supper somewhere nice here," he told me. "I sold those meteorite fragments, and they fetched a lot of money! Not enough to buy a shuttle ticket, but your friend Faye's got that covered, right?"

I nodded.

"So tonight we're gonna go out to eat. Is that okay?"

I nodded again.

"Great! Come on out in a few minutes, okay? And don't fall asleep again!"

He quietly walked out of the room. I slid out of bed, put on my shoes, and followed him out.

---

"So, your daughter's going to college in the big city, huh?" asked our waitress, a short, fairly chubby middle-aged woman. The restraurant my dad had chosen was a small cafe-like place, and the air smelled nice, uncommon for restaurants on Earth except in the larger settlements like Suarez City.

"That's right! My Francoise is going to the New Parisian Liberty Institute!" my dad said.

"It's college, not institute, daddy," I gently told him.

"Institute sounds nicer, dear," he replied.

"Well, that's wonderful!" the waitress said. "You know, I had a son that went to college on Europa. Really nice resort-like place, in the middle of a big forest. He studied art there, and he's got an expo going on in Neo-America on Mars!"

"That's really neat," my dad said. "Francoise, do you know what you're gonna study in college?"

I paused. I hadn't really thought about what I was going to study... just going there was exciting enough! I already knew a lot about computers and technology, but I wanted to go to college to gain more knowledge, not study something I already knew...

"Um... Edward doesn't know!" I stammered out. "Not yet, anyway..."

"Who's Edward?" the waitress asked quizzically.

"Eh, just some imaginary friend of my daughter's or something," my dad said, still not completely understanding.... well, you know. "She means herself, really."

I nodded. Well, at least he had that part down right.

"I see," the waitress said. "Well, anyway, what'll you fine people be having tonight?"

My dad had just begun to open his mouth to say something when suddenly, a loud whooshing noise filled the air. In an instant, a huge explosion engulfed the back of the restaurant. My dad grabbed me and quickly pulled me to the ground as a large plume of debris rushed outward from the explosion. The waitress ducked to the ground next to us.

"What's going on?" I shouted, but I pretty much knew what had happened.

"That's the second time this year!" the waitress screamed. "Damned meteors!"

"Well, that's one thing you can't control!" my dad shouted as the dust began to settle. "Francoise, let's get the hell outta here... sorry about that, we can go somewhere else to eat, okay?"

My dad grabbed my arm and quickly ran from the restaurant, several others following behind us.

"The meteor hit the kitchen... fortunately there weren't too many people back there tonight," the waitress said. "Our chef and a couple others, I think..."

Screams and moans of pain began to permeate the air.

"Daddy, there's people back there!" I shouted. "They're in trouble..."

My dad quickly pulled a 5,000-wulong bill from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Here, take this money and go to the restaurant next door," my dad instructed. "There's already some other people coming to help, so I'm going in there and seeing if we can't save some of these people. I promise to be careful, okay?"

He kissed me on the forehead and ran into the smoldering restaurant before I could even say a word.

"Be careful, daddy..." I said quietly before going into the restaurant next door.

---

All through my meal, I had worried about my dad. I'd never actually seen him go into a building that had been hit by a meteor like that! I knew he'd done it before though, because he told me. A widely accepted law of the time was that any able-bodied adult male who could assist in freeing survivors from the rubble of any building struck by a meteorite had to go in and help... most people would have done it voluntarily, though.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" asked the blonde waitress, a much younger and prettier woman than the one in the other restaurant. "You look kinda worried..."

"My dad went in to help some of the people in the restaurant next door that got hit by a meteor," I told her, poking at my remaining food with my fork. "So yes, Edward is worried."

"Yes, we heard the big boom," the waitress said, not asking me who Edward was. "It shattered our windows, see?"

She pointed to the window on the far wall, which had been completely shattered by the shockwave caused by the small meteorite. The glass had been swept from the floor.

"I'm sure he'll be okay.... I'll pray for him, alright?" the waitress said. I nodded.

"Francoise, I'm here!" yelled my father from the doorway. His shirt and pants were ragged and dirty, but I didn't really notice. I got up from the table, ran over to him, and embraced him tightly. "Ah, you're happy to see me!"

"I'm so glad you're okay, daddy!" I said ecstatically.

"I'm glad you're okay too, dear," he told me. "We pulled six people out of the rubble... they were all alive! One of them was a pretty girl... not as pretty as you, of course."

He smiled warmly. I returned the smile and hugged him again.

"You'd better get back to your food before it gets cold," he told me.

"Don't you want to stay and eat supper with Edward, daddy?" I asked him.

"No, no, I'm okay," he said. "I had a big breakfast this morning. You just go on and eat, okay?"

We walked over and sat down at the table. The waitress smiled and asked daddy if he was sure he didn't want anything to eat.

"Well, I guess I'll take some dessert," my dad said. "You got pie?"

"Sure, we have cherry pie, peach pie, blueberry pie, lemon pie, chocolate-"

"Got any egg pie?" he asked the waitress. She gave him a surprised look.

"Daddy?" I said, also rather puzzled.

"Heh, just kidding!" he said. "I'll take some apple pie."

"Chocolate for Edward!" I said, smiling. The waitress nodded and walked away.

---

After our dessert, we left the restaurant. I rode with daddy in the cab of the truck while he drove into the large parking lot of the spaceport.

"We'll camp out here tonight," my dad said. "I'll just sleep in the truck... you'll sleep in your room, okay?"

"Daddy, I was thinking...." I said softly. "Maybe we could sleep on top of the trailer tonight, under the stars!"

"On... top of the trailer?" he asked me. "But it's cold, and hard, and we could fall off...."

"We've got sleeping bags, daddy!" I said. "I could go in and get them!"

"Well, alright.... I'll see you up there, okay?"

I went inside the trailer and fetched the two sleeping bags, then put on a blue pajama top and blue pajama pants. I went back outside and climbed up on the top of the trailer, where dad had already climbed. I stretched out the sleeping bags, and we had plenty of room to lie on top of the trailer, as it was fairly wide. Then, I took off my shoes and slipped into my sleeping bag. He slipped into the other sleeping bag, still wearing all of his close. The bright lights from the spaceport dimmed most of the stars, but we could still see many of them in the sky, as well as a beautiful display of meteors.

"Good night, daddy," I whispered, looking over at him. "I'll miss you, you know that...."

"I'll miss you too," he said. "Good night, Edward."

He smiled and slowly closed his eyes. Did he just... call me Edward? He'd never done that before... it was at that moment that I knew he'd miss me. I would miss him too....

"Thanks, daddy...." I whispered. Dwelling on my thoughts no longer, I closed my eyes and slowly slipped into a serene slumber. I would miss him most of all...

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And that's it for this chapter! Please review people, I only have 3 and I'm a bit disappointed! Well, until next time, bye!