Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Fantaisie Sign ❯ We Can Dance If We Want To, We Can Leave Your Friends Behind ( Chapter 7 )

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 (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

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After saying goodnight to Sylvan, I went back up to my dorm room and used the satellite videophone on my desk to make a call back to Earth. After ringing three times, my father finally picked up the phone, and his face appeared on the screen.

"Francoise, is that you?" he asked excitedly. "How's Paris?"

"Oh, Paris is wonderful, daddy!" I told him, smiling. "Edward is doing absolutely fabulous!"

"That's just great! So, do you know if you're gonna be admitted to the college?"

"Well, I take the tour three days from now... Ed should find out a little while afterwards, okay?"

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself! So, have you seen any sights in Neo-Paris? I mean, the famous buildings, the museums-"

"Oh, absolutely!" I didn't know whether I should tell my dad about Sylvan yet, or wait. I decided to tell him. "And Ed met this wonderful guy at the college! His name is Sylvan, and-"

"A... guy?" my father said incredulously. "Now Francoise, you know what I told you about French guys."

"No, nonono, Sylvan isn't like that!" I protested. "Really, he isn't! He's only a year older than Edward... he goes to the college, you see, and he's really nice, and he took me around the city, and-"

"Wait, he gave you a tour of the city?"

"Yeah, he took Ed to this cool place where his mommy works, and she sang, and then Edward got to sing, and Sylvan said-"

Before I could tell him anymore, he began to chortle and laugh. I blinked, then asked him why he was laughing.

"Sounds like you are having a great time, Ed!" my dad laughed. "You know, your mother was the one who gave me a tour of the city... did you guys go up in the Eiffel Tower?"

"Well, the observation deck was closed when we went, but Sylvan said he'd take me up when it was opened again. He took me to the Arc De Triumph, though! That was funderful!"

"Did you buy a pair of socks like I asked you too?" he asked me. I smiled.

"Of course Edward did! In fact, Ed bought a lot of stuff! See, Faye-Faye sent Ed a lot of money, even more than the plane ticket cost! So Ed bought a new dress, and some cool leather gloves, and a bunch of different pairs of pants, and a pretty blue-colored hair ribbon, and... well, Ed will show you everything when Ed gets home, okay? Promise!"

"Well, alright, Francoise!" my dad said, yawning. "I miss you, too, you know that... keep safe, okay? And have lots of fun!"

"Sure thing, daddy!"

"And you know I can't always be there, and I want you to use good judgement, but if you and that French guy round third base and start heading for home, make sure you use pro-"

"DADDY!" I squealed, my entire face turning red. I can't believe he'd think I would... Sylvan and I are just friends... it's a good thing he wasn't here to hear that... "Edward is not like that at all!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he said hurriedly, waving his arms. "Uh... call me tomorrow, okay?"

The video screen switched off. I sighed, smiled, and flopped onto my bed, ready for tomorrow's adventures.

---

Thankfully, when I woke up the next day, my stuff was completely untouched. Guess they decided to mess with someone else, as I'd noticed many of the other people that would be touring the campus had arrived while I was off in downtown Neo-Paris with Sylvan. Speaking of Sylvan, I didn't see him at all in the morning, and by mid-afternoon I had gotten pretty worried, so I decided to head to the food court. Maybe a few arcade games would calm me down. Wearing a green turtlenecked sweater and a pair of long, brown pants that I'd bought at the Neo-Eiffel Tower yesterday, I strolled into the campus' recreational building and walked into the arcade.

"Fun fun fun, gonna play some games..." I sang quietly to myself. "Oooh, it's a 21st Century Dance Party game machine! Edward is soooo there!"

I walked over to the machine, where a tall, pretty girl with long, flowing red hair was dancing up a storm on one of the advanced levels. Several other girls were standing next to the machine, discussing something. When I ventured over to them, I was able to hear their conversation, and could immediately relate to them.

"So when I woke up, the whole room was covered with toilet paper... it was crazy! Someone came in during the night and TPd the whole room!" shouted the girl I was standing next to, a bespectacled girl with tanned skin and short black hair. "It was terrible...."

"Well, they poured red paint all over my blankets," said a girl with blonde hair, standing next to the black-haired one. "I thought something horrible had happened!"

"They trashed my room," I said meekly. "All my stuff was everywhere..."

The four girls in the group turned to face me. The one with the black hair smiled.

"Oh, hello!" she said in a friendly voice. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Francoise Appledelhi," I said, opting to talk in a bit more of a normal manner until I got to know these girls a bit better. "Are you girls applying for this college too?"

"Yeah," said the black-haired girl. "My name's Asada Konishi, and I came to Paris from Europa."

"My name is Kimberly," said the blonde girl who had also spoken earlier. "I'm from Neo-America, here on Mars."

"My name is Piripi," said a girl with dark, bluish-black hair who was standing across from me. "I come from right here in Neo-Paris!"

"And my name is Sani," said a girl with shimmering, platinum-blonde hair who was standing next to me on my left side. "I came from Earth..."

I gasped. Another girl from Earth? Wow, small solar system...

"You are from Earth too?" I asked, rather stunned. "Ed is also from Earth!"

"Um... who's Ed?" Sani asked, giving me a puzzled look.

"Uh oh... Edward blew it, didn't she?" I thought to myself. "Well, you see..."

"Bit of an identity crisis, I see," said the redhead who had been dancing on the Dance Party machine. She hopped down and smiled at me, extending her hand. "Hey, I'm Kirsten. It's nice to meet you, Francoise!"

"Kirsten's taking psychology next year," Asada said. "She can diagnose anybody perfectly!"

"Diagnose... Edward?" I said, a bit puzzled. "Wait, no, I'm fine!"

"Edward is you, right?" Kirsten asked. I simply nodded. "Thought so. You speak in the third-person... but I can tell that you don't really have a big ego. So, that means you must be..."

"I'm not crazy," I told her seriously. "Look, I-"

"Oh, you don't have to hide your unique way of speaking, it's not a bad thing! Lots and lots of people talk in the third-person, more than you know! I actually used to myself a few years ago..." Kirsten said, smiling. "I bet I can tell a lot more about you by playing a game of Dance Party with you. Would you like to do that?"

"Kirsten is like... the best," Kimberly said. "She's completely unbeatable!"

"Hey, I almost beat her once," Piripi said.

"Losing by 14,670,000 points is not ALMOST," Asada said. "It's just not a complete slaughter. But you weren't close. You weren't embarrassed, but-"

"You weren't close either," Sani said. "Francoise, are you good that this game?"

"Am I?" I said happily. "This is Ed's favorite game to play!"

"Kirsten's too," Kirsten said, stepping up onto the first dancing stage. "Francoise, are you ready?"

Still with some trepidation, I stepped onto the second dancing stage. Kirsten seemed really friendly, but I still thought that she might be messing with me. Nah, we were in the same boat! And maybe next year, the same college.

"Alright, let's go!" Kirsten said, pressing the 'Start' button. "Since we both kick ass at this game, let's both play on Expert, okay? That's the third hardest level!"

"Edward usually plays at Master...." I said, looking at the screen. "But we can play at Expert if you want!"

"Oooh, Kirsten, better watch out!" Sani quipped, grinning. "You're not so good on the Master level..."

"And you can't make it past Intermediate," Asada said. "I think Edward's pretty good at this game..."

"Oh yeah, I forgot... you wanna be called Edward, right?" Kirsten asked.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as you're my friend!" I said happily. Uh... that mighta sounded kinda lame...

"Tell ya what," Kirsten said. "You beat me at this game, and I call you Edward. If I beat you, I call you Francoise, okay? We'll even play on the Master level!"

"Alright, let's go!" I said. "It's a deal!"

Kirsten selected the difficulty level, then chose a song from the list of available selections. She decided on a quick-paced, pounding song called Aishi no Heartpound, a song which I'd never danced to before, since I preferred slower songs with more flowing beats. However, I was still quite ready to take Kirsten down.

"Let's do this!" Kirsten yelled as the first level began. As the song played and the arrows began to fall, we both moved and danced in time with the music, and our scores quickly skyrocketed.

"Kirsten's better on the Master level than I thought," Piripi said, staring at the screen.

"And this Francedward girl is good too!" Kimberly shouted. "Um... go, both of you guys!"

We continued to dance as the song went on, and neither of us missed very many steps. When the song concluded, the score stood at 15,842,700 for Kirsten, and 15,788,660 for me.

"Whoa, not bad...." Kirsten said. "You're only 60,000 points behind, Francoise!"

"This is so exciting!" Sani said, looking at both of us. "It's so close..."

"Two more levels to go," Kirsten said. "You wanna pick the song this time?"

I nodded and scrolled down the list to one of my personal favorites, The Mariana Ballet. Kirsten winced slightly as I selected it.

"That's a really hard song to dance too," Asada noted. "Ed, are you sure about-"

"It's one of Ed's favorites, of course I'm sure!" I said, turning back toward the screen. "What about you, Kirsten?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Kirsten said quietly. The song began, and immediately, I took the lead as Kirsten missed the first few steps. Soon afterward, however, she launched into a huge combo, which continued to build.

"Oh man, she's hit 60 in a row..." Kimberly said, watching Kirsten's score rise rapidly. "Ed's only reached 27... 28... 29...."

I danced my best to try and keep up, but Kirsten surged back into the lead and began to pull away, adding to her combo. Finally, when the stage ended, she had hit 103 steps perfectly, and her score showed it.

"46,850,073 to 44,122,690," Kirsten said, smirking. "I thought you liked this song, Francoise! Guess I'm better at these slow-paced, flowing songs than I thought..."

"I think you're doing great, Kirsten!" I said. "But watch out... Edward is guaranteeing a comeback!"

"We'll see," Piripi said. "I think Kirsten's got this one won!"

Kirsten picked the song for the last stage, a techno version of the French national anthem, spliced in with several other song clips from what I could hear.

"The Free France Absolution Remix," Kirsten said. "Saving my best for last...."

"It's my best song too!" Piripi said. "I almost beat you with this song, remember?"

"Alright, Ed... you've gotta win this!" I thought, mentally preparing myself for this final battle.

"Ready? GOOOO!" blared the arcade machine's speakers, signaling us to begin dancing. I loosened up my muscles and began dancing on the stage, flowing along with the beat of the music. Kirsten appeared to be doing just as well as I was, and her lead shrank only slightly through the first 30 seconds of the song. The four other girls were saying things, obviously about us and our match, but I tuned them out and focused on the music, still trying to flow with the song. As my latest combo began to build, Kirsten faltered slightly, and my score inched ever closer to hers. I pulled within a million points of her score, and she began frantically trying to widen the gap, dancing with incredible determination. I ignored her and continued dancing, paying no attention to the score, or even the screen, but merely the flashing lights and the beat of the music. At some point, I did a somersault, using my hands and feet in tandem to land the beats of the music. Finally, the song stopped, and Kirsten and I both collapsed onto our dancing stages. She turned to me, sweating profusely and smiling a friendly grin.

"Francoise, I think you beat me..." Kirsten breathed, having been left winded by our dance battle. "Let's see..."

The machine tallied up the scores from the final round, and my eyes widened to view the final score.

"Kirsten, you got 95,878,390 points," Asada read. "And Edward got... 96,003,000!"

"Guess that 157-move combo clinched it, eh?" Sani said. "Wow, Ed, that was awesome!"

"I got a 157-move combo?" I said in disbelief. "That's 31 moves more than Edward has ever done in a row before!"

"I stopped counting when you beat my record of 124, Ed..." Kirsten said, still trying to catch her breath. "Congratulations!"

We stood up, and Kirsten embraced me. I hugged her back and began to giggle.

"Ed, you wanna come eat lunch with us?" Kimberly asked. "We're gonna go down to the food court and get some pizza... and then we're going back to play more arcade games!"

"That would be great!" I said, smiling. "Thank you, friends!"

"No, Ed, thank you," Asada said. "It was getting really annoying always hearing about Kirsten's 279-match Dance Party winning streak!"

The other girls began laughing. Kirsten playfully elbowed Asada in the ribs, and I hugged Asada rather tightly, causing her to giggle. Then, we walked over to the food court and sat down to eat pizza.

"If there are this many friends for Edward here, Ed is gonna love this college!" I thought as we happily began eating our meal.

---

We returned back to Dejoule Hall just as the sun was beginning to set. Asada offered to walk me back to my dorm room, and I graciously accepted.

"Well, today was a lot of fun, Ed!" Asada said as we entered my room. "Wanna come down to the arcade tomorrow and do it again?"

"Okey-dokey!" I said, walking over and sitting down at the foot of my bed. "Thanks for everything!"

Asada smiled and began to walk out of my room. Just then, I gasped. I'd had so much fun with Kirsten, Asada, Kimberly, Piripi, and Sani today that I'd completely forgotten about Sylvan! As I gasped, Asada turned around.

"Edward, is there something wrong?" Asada asked. I shook my head.

"No, no, it's alright..."

"There's something bothering you, Ed..." Asada said kindly. "Tell me."

"Asada, do you... do you have a car?" I asked. Maybe Asada could take me to the Fantaisie Sign...

"Yes, but...."

"Could you please take Edward somewhere in Paris, please?" I asked meekly. "It is very, very important to Ed...."

"Sure.... is it a relative or something?" Asada asked. "You said you had French roots... is it that?"

"No, no, it's just a friend..." I said, extremely worried. "You don't have to, though..."

"C'mon, we'll go together," Asada said, taking my hand. "Lead the way, Ed."

"Really? You will take Edward?" I said as Asada began half-dragging me out to the parking lot.

"Of course!" she said. "I mean... what are friends for?"

---

As I navigated Asada through the streets of Paris to the Fantaisie Sign, I became more and more worried. What if something had already happened to Sylvan? The sun had just set, and the sky was a dark shade of blue, the moon rising in the sky.

"Okay, park there please!" I said, pointing to the parking lot of the Fantaisie Sign. The lot was completely empty except for two cars, one which was clearly Sylvan's, and the other I assumed belonged to his mom. Two other cars, completely jet black, were parked right in front of the ramp leading to the restaurant. My heart plunged to the bottom of my stomach, and I emitted a soft squeak of fear.

"What is it, Ed?" Asada said. "Hey, what are those two cars doing there..."

Asada parked behind the two black cars and looked up toward the Fantaisie Sign.

"Something is very fishy..." I said quietly. "Sylvan's in trouble..."

"Ed, want me to come with you?" Asada asked. "I'm kinda worried..."

"Asada, no... Edward does not want to drag you into this... the French syndicate is here!" I said, warning Asada of the dangers that could be inside. She gasped.

"French syndicate?" Asada said wearily. "Edward, what do you-"

I got out of the car and shut my door.

"Asada, please go..." I said quietly. "Please!"

"Ed, no way," Asada said. She removed the keys from her car and climbed out, locking the door behind her. "We're going in there together, and that's final."

"Asada, please..." I pleaded. "I've seen these guys, and they're too dangerous!"

Asada ignored me and began walking up the ramp leading toward the bistro. Seeing no way to convince her to turn around, I walked alongside her. Whatever danger lay inside, we were walking right into it. As we reached the top of the ramp, a neatly-dressed, tall man in a trenchcoat stepped outside the door and confronted us.

"Ladies," he said in a monotone, French-sounding voice.

"What's going on here?" Asada said firmly. I clenched my fists, trying to conceal the growing feeling of terror inside my body.

"We're conducting some business here, so you two ladies need to head on home," the man said. "This restaurant is closed."

I gasped. Sylvan... no...

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Uh oh, the French syndicate in the Fantaisie Sign? What dastardly business could they be wanting to conduct? Find out... next chapter! And please please review please!