Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Fantaisie Sign ❯ Making All Of The Pain You Feel Seem Far Away, They'll Hold You Forever ( Chapter 20 )

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. ^_^

Author's Note: Back to Ed's POV for this and the final chapter! ^_^

---

I ran down the corridors as fast as my limber legs could carry me, past the empty rooms, the deserted halls, and finally, into the 75th floor elevator. As my eyes scanned up and down the rows of buttons, I found myself sliding back against the back wall of the elevator, completely in the dark about what to do next.

"Maybe Ed should push ALL the buttons," I thought. "No, that wouldn't do any good... think, Ed, think! Where would Sylvan go in order to fight mean old Cecelle Fremont? Think about where Spike-person and Vicious fought..."

---

"Faye-Faye, no! No, Spike-person is not dead! He can't be!"

"Ed, he... I couldn't believe it either, but... they found his body right outside the Syndicate building... they rushed him to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival..."

Faye-Faye knew I was about to cry, she could see it in my eyes... she'd never seen me cry before, but she knew exactly what to do, like a mother would... she walked over to me and gently wrapped her arms around my chest... from her staggered breaths, I knew she was about to cry as well, so I wrapped my arms around her and tried to comfort her as best as I could... we had to comfort each other that day.

"Faye-Faye, what... exactly happened to Spike-person?" I asked. Spike-person was so strong... I thought he was invincible, I honestly did... I was so naive then...

"He went to the Syndicate building and... slaughtered everyone there, fighting his way to where Vicious was... that's what one of the survivors said in the police report. Evidently, the police found Vicious' body on the top floor, which is apparently where they must have fought, so... he must have made it, fighting through legions of Syndicate men all the way up..."

Then, Faye-Faye stopped hugging me. She stepped away and, for one second, her face turned extremely serious... but then she couldn't hold it in anymore. She collapsed to the ground and began sobbing, her head in her hands.

"I tried to stop him! I tried so hard, but he just... he just ignored me, and went off to die! I told him he was going to die, but... he already knew... he was never alive, not a day I knew him... but he was real... he was so real..."

"Oh, Faye-Faye," I said, only a few tears running down my face. I couldn't possibly comprehend what Faye-Faye must have gone through... I left the Bebop, I had no chance to stop him, but I thought that when I left I'd see Spike-person again... "Faye-Faye, you couldn't have stopped him... there was nothing that could have... no stopping..."

"I think I might have even... loved him, Edward. I don't know for sure, and now I never will... was he just a comrade, a friend... he felt like something more, but now I'll never know because I couldn't save him! Oh, Ed, you'll never understand..."

"Faye-Faye?"

"But thanks for trying... I know I'll be better soon..."

---

Faye-Faye did recover from Spike-person's death... she told me that she'd tried to commit suicide a few hours after Spike left, but Jet stopped her... but one thing that Faye had said stuck with me. Faye-Faye said she might have loved Spike... does Ed feel the same way about Sylvan?

Gathering all of my strength, I rose to my feet.

"I'm not sure how I feel about Sylvan, I might love him or I might not, but there's only one way to know for sure, and that's to find Sylvan and Fremont! Observation deck, here comes Edward!"

Spike and Vicious had their battle on the top floor of the Syndicate building... somehow, some way, I knew that Sylvan and Fremont's battle had to be at the top of the Neo-Eiffel Tower... the observation deck... where Sylvan first told me he loved me, on our date that seemed so long ago... Sylvan, please be okay!

The elevator door opened, and I found myself on the narrow hallway leading toward the observation deck door. I didn't know what I would find, except that I knew I had to get there as quickly as I could. I walked down the hallway and put my fingers around the doorknob. Then, without hesitation, I turned the knob and pushed my way into the room.

So I wasn't too late! There, standing toward the back of the large room, were Sylvan and Fremont, facing each other down. As they noticed me, both of them turned in my direction, and I could see the beating that both of them had already taken. My heart began to twist as I saw the extent of some of Sylvan's injuries, as he had a large amount of blood dripping from several cuts on his face, and a particularly nasty-looking bullet wound on his shoulder. Fremont had been a little banged up, but not quite as badly as Sylvan was, although his right hand had been injured substantially.

"Sylvan, please stop!" I yelled, wanting this all to end.

"Edward!" Sylvan called back at me. "Ed, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you get hurt, Sylvan! Please, listen to Edward! Ed's friend was in a fight just like this four years ago, and-"

"You mean Spike Spiegel and Franz Vicious, of Neo-Germany's Red Dragon Syndicate? Well, former Syndicate, anyway, it collapsed after the deaths of those two... quite a bit of a scandal, that one was," Fremont mused casually. "I remember being quite pleased at the deaths of those two, especially Vicious... he was quite dangerous, and planning an assimilation of many Neo-European syndicates, including my own."

"You know about Spike-person?" I said. "How could anyone be happy about the death of Spike-person?"

"Turns out, Spike's current career was that of a bounty hunter, a ruthless space cowboy hunting people down to make a living," Fremont said. "He was a nobody. Sort of like you, Ed. You were traveling with him, correct?"

"Spike-person wasn't a nobody!" I shouted indignantly, marching toward Cecelle Fremont. "You take that back right now!"

I clenched my fists. Sylvan had done enough fighting... I wanted to finish off Fremont. But then, Sylvan waved me back.

"Ed, please... I don't want you involved in this!" Sylvan pleaded. "You have to understand, this is my fight... I mean, I know what Fremont's done to you, but... he's killed my father, too!"

"And my mother," I said. "Sylvan, let me take care of this..."

Did I really want to fight Cecelle Fremont? Now I knew exactly why Sylvan wanted to fight him... someone this evil had to be stopped... maybe Sylvan was right... Sylvan started the fight, and I should let him finish it... but I couldn't let Sylvan get hurt! Not like Spike did! Oh, what is Edward supposed to do?

"You know, Sylvan... and Francoise... I've never told you the whole truth about the death of your father and mother respectively... I tried to tell Sylvan, but he seems to think I'm a liar," Fremont said.

"What does he mean, Sylvan?" I asked, confused.

"He's trying to insinuate that my father was a member of his Syndicate!" Sylvan shouted, pointing at Fremont. "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my life!"

"I'm just telling you the truth," Fremont replied. "Seeing as how you're about to die in a few minutes, I'm willing to share a few secrets with you. But since you don't want to know... I guess I'll just kill you now!"

"No!" I yelled, seizing my chance to attack Fremont. I leapt upon him, grabbing his arms and knocking the crescent blade from his hands. Then, I pinned him to the ground. "You won't hurt Sylvan or anyone else! Ed will not let you!"

"Well well," he said, grinning up at me. "Miss Appledelhi is still fiesty, I see... but now that your limbs are free, I've got no qualms about doing something like this!"

And then, I felt an incredible pain, as all the wind was knocked out of me. Fremont had used both his legs to kick me hard in the stomach, and I'd felt it, being tossed back, my back hitting the floor. The kick was incredible... I couldn't talk, or breathe, or anything else, at least not for the next few seconds anyway... but the attack sent Sylvan into a rage. He lunged at Fremont even faster than I had, but incredibly, Fremont managed to spin around and grab Sylvan by the wrist, lifting his hand into the air before he could fire his gun.

"Let... me... go!" Sylvan shouted, trying to get out of Fremont's grasp as I slowly stood up. I looked around on the ground for Fremont's blade, and found it lying several feet away from the two men. I started to make a run for it, but stopped and gasped as I heard a sickening cracking sound from behind me. As I looked, I could see Sylvan clutching his wrist as Fremont dashed away, picking his blade up from the ground.

"Sylvan, look out!" I screamed, watching Fremont prepare to toss his blade in Sylvan's direction.

"It's too late for you now!" Fremont shouted, throwing the blade with incredible velocity. As Sylvan finally saw the blade rushing toward him, he pushed me out of the way and screamed as the blade caught him in the side, causing him to fall to the ground. I rushed to Sylvan's side and wrapped my arms around him, looking at the wound. It wasn't serious, but it was enough to cause Sylvan a large amount of pain, which is why I was embracing him... I wanted desperately to take his pain away.

"Sylvan, it's going to be okay..." I said, hugging him as he slowly tried to stand up.

"Ed... thank you..." he told me through clenched teeth. "Thank you... for coming here..."

As I looked down, I could see the gun, still clutched in Sylvan's right hand.

"It's not broken," he said. "My wrist, anyway... Fremont tried to break it, but I pulled away at the last second... hurts like hell, though..."

"It's okay, Sylvan... Edward is here now," I said, smiling at him. "We'll beat Fremont together, okay?"

"Isn't this nice," Fremont said, advancing toward us with his blade in hand. "Richilieu and Marishani never got a chance to embrace.. what with her being tied up in the clutches of about four of my best men, and Richilieu already badly beaten and all. Hmm... this makes the two of you almost like brother and sister, doesn't it?"

I gasped. My mother's name... he'd mentioned my mother's name... now I knew. Cecelle Fremont had had a hand in my mother's death... but... my mother and Sylvan's father, dying together? It didn't make sense, unless...

"What do you mean?" I said, standing up. "It can't possibly be true... can it?"

"That's why this whole thing is so funny... those who don't know the past are destined to repeat it. It's so beautifully ironic, wouldn't you say?"

"You're a LIAR!" Sylvan shouted, standing up in a rage. "My father was NOT a member of the Syndicate! He wasn't, I refuse to believe it! He-"

"Sylvan... I think... I think he's telling the truth," I said sadly. "When he kidnapped Ed, the way that he... he said Ed had her mother's eyes, and-"

"He thought I was my dad," Sylvan said. "It is true... my father really was in the Syndicate... but... how could he lie to my mom all these years... how could he... how could he cheat on her like that?"

"Your father truly did love Marishani, Sylvan," Fremont said, a grin appearing on his face. "I'm really not sure he'd do for your mother what he did for Marishani... when my men brought her out, he went after me like an angry dog, earning a stab through the stomach for his trouble. Then, the beating, for the next two minutes... I knew I had to make him pay. I knew about his real life, in fact, I considered going after you and your mother first, Sylvan. But I couldn't bring myself to kill a child... I still had a shred of ethics left in me. And besides, he loved Marishani so much more. We were comrades, Sylvan, your father and I... but he was willing to let me die so he could spend time with the woman he loved. That's why they both had to die."

That's why they both had to die... He killed them both... he enjoyed killing them both.... my mother, and Sylvan's father... the revelation stunned me. I couldn't do anything... but Sylvan could. I heard his anguished yell, and it sent a wave of sadness through me... and then the tears came. Streaming like rivers down both mine and Sylvan's faces... I'd never felt such anger, nor such sadness... for a second, I thought about simply retreating into my Radical Edward world again... letting Sylvan and Fremont duke it out while I sat about carelessly, the happy-go-lucky person I once was. But no... while Edward was now ingrained in me, a part of me... there was a time for it, and I knew that now. Until Cecelle Fremont was destroyed, I couldn't be happy again... or pretend to be. It has to end here...

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Sylvan shouted, firing a single shot right at Fremont's head. The bullet missed, there was no way Sylvan could see straight through all the tears in his eyes, but it did take a small chunk out of the top of Fremont's left ear, causing him to wince slightly.

"That's it?" Fremont asked. "C'mon, Sylvan... show me your rage. Don't put up a pathetic display like your father did!"

As Sylvan emptied the clip of bullets firing at Fremont, I heard one noise, over and over... Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. The bullets were bouncing off of Fremont's crescent blade, he was blocking them all... Click. Click. Click. Click.

"Goodbye, Sylvan Mazarin," Fremont said.

"You haven't forgotten about Ed, have you?" I shouted, causing Fremont to turn toward me. I ran at him and struck him hard with a powerful punch to the forehead, knocking him down instantly. As I kicked at him on the ground, he rolled away, slicing me on the ankle with his blade as he rolled. I saw a fairly deep gash in my ankle, but I kept running, even as Fremont stood up and swept his crescent blade straight at my face. I ducked out of the way and bashed my forehead against his, knocking him even further back, until I had him trapped against one of the plexiglass walls of the observation deck.

"Well well, Miss Francoise Appledelhi, you seem angry as well..." Fremont said. "Don't you hate your mother for running out on you and your poor father like that? She deserves what she got, the stupid-"

"NO!" I yelled, my hand wrapping around Fremont's neck and squeezing as hard as I could. "I loved my mother... I still do... and so does my father! It doesn't matter what she did, no matter what, she'll always be loved by her friends and her family... how dare you take her away from us! And you used her to get Sylvan's dad killed to... you're a horrible person!"

"Is... that... all?" Fremont said, struggling to talk as I strangled him even tighter. "Excellent choice... of last words... Edward."

A sharp pain in my torso. I looked down, and saw Fremont pulling his blade out of my stomach, covered in blood. A huge gash had been pierced just below my chest, and I immediately let go of Fremont's neck and stumbled backwards. He'd barely missed my stomach, I knew that, or I'd be dead by now... he hadn't hit anything, but as blood poured from the wound, I knew I was severely injured. I collapsed onto the floor of the observation deck and gazed at the ceiling, my eyes beginning to roll back into my head.

"EDWARD!" Sylvan shouted desperately, bringing me back to my senses. I can't pass out... I can't die, not now!

"Worthless, pathetic girl," he said, rudely kicking me away. I rolled a few feet before coming to a stop, lying on my face as my midsection was engulfed in burning pain.

"Ungh... Sylvan, I'm alright," I said weakly, and began trying to get to my feet. "If Ed can't get up, Sylvan's spirit will be crushed... Edward has to show strength, to give Sylvan strength in turn! You can do this, Ed!"

"Oh, Ed," Sylvan said, extending his hand and helping me to my feet. "Please... please be alright... I'm so sorry, I-"

"Ed will be fine, Sylvan," I said. "It doesn't hurt all that much... he missed Edward's stomach by a mile, don't worry... you've got to finish him, Sylvan... for both of our parents."

Sylvan reloaded his pistol.

"This is my last clip," he whispered into my ear. "I... won't let us down."

"I can't believe you'll still conscious," he said in disgust. "I hate Radical Edward."

"Ed can't see why," I said. "You're the one that... created her, after all."

"It's just between you and me now, Fremont," Sylvan said angrily as I limped over to the other side of the room. "You're going to leave Edward out of this."

"Fine with me," Fremont said. "I didn't kill her mother until after I'd killed your father, Sylvan. She got a lot more pain from seeing him die than from the bullet I put through her neck."

"Shut up!" Sylvan yelled, running at Fremont and firing several shots at him, all of them missing. As Sylvan prepared to fire again, Fremont swept his blade at Sylvan's chest, and Sylvan had to parry the slash with his gun, trying to push Fremont's blade back toward him.

"Not this again," Fremont said, straining to hold Sylvan's gun back. "You know... I always win strength contests anyway."

"This time... it's different," Sylvan said. I noticed that Sylvan had switched his gun to his other hand, since he'd been shot in the shoulder earlier and the bullet wound was causing him far too much pain to be able to fire effectively with that hand. I grimaced from the pain in my stab wound, placing my hand over it to try and stop the bleeding. I'd never been hurt this badly in my life... my dad's going to have a heart attack when he sees this...

"Dumb boy... take this!" Fremont shouted. As I strained to see what was going on, Sylvan howled in pain, lifting one of his feet into the air... Fremont had stepped on Sylvan's foot during the struggle. As Sylvan was distracted, Fremont pushed Sylvan's hand out of the way and slashed at him, missing Sylvan's head by a hair as Sylvan ducked under Fremont's blade. Then, Sylvan struck back, punching Fremont hard in the stomach and causing him to expel a loud breath. Then, he slammed his elbow into Fremont's chest. Fremont was ready, though, immediately countering with a forearm to Sylvan's face, knocking him down hard to the ground.

"Sylvan!" I shouted, immediately clenching my teeth in pain as the searing pain in my midsection fired up again.

"Ed, take this!" Sylvan shouted standing up and ripping off his shirt and tossing it over to me. "Tie it around your wound to step the blee-"

Then, I gasped again as Fremont stomped on Sylvan's already-wounded shoulder. Sylvan screamed again, but managed to roll out of the way as Fremont tried to stomp him again.

"Ed, get the shirt!" Sylvan yelled, standing up. Extremely concerned for Sylvan's safety at this point, I hesitated for a few seconds, but then did what I was told, grabbing Sylvan's t-shirt and tying it tightly around my wound. It helped, stemming the bleeding somewhat, but I still felt quite dizzy, and I knew that if I didn't get medical help soon, I'd pass out from the loss of blood. Definitely not a good thing for Edward...

"You seem awfully concerned about her, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You know, I'm starting to think that this fight is simply revenge for me kidnapping Ed a few days ago. You don't care about your parents, or the people in this tower. It's all about her... she wouldn't be up here in the first place if it wasn't for you, Sylvan. You've already gotten her almost killed... she'll die from loss of blood before you finish me off, if you can finish me off, which it doesn't look like you're going to do, since you're clearly losing. What say you to that, Sylvan?"

"Think what you want to think," Sylvan said angrily. "I know one thing... one way or another, Ed's going to live, and you're going to die. I don't care what happens to me anymore."

"Sylvan, you can't say that..." I whispered. "Sylvan, you're Ed's friend... you can't die, not now... Ed has faith in you, Sylvan!"

"Then why do you persist? For her? What about the rest of the people here? Surely you care about them. I wonder what would happen if I threatened to press this..."

Fremont removed a small, black device from his pocket, with a small red button on top. I knew immediately what it was... a detonator. But the bomb had already been deactivated... surely Sylvan and Fremont didn't know that.

"I press this and kill everyone here, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You, me, Edward... this operation's not going to be successful, I already know that. Too many people are rebelling... once we release the hostages, this place will be retaken. If pathetic, insignificant people like you dare to rebel, someone else will, and if you can do this much to me... well, I dare not to think what an insurrection of hundreds will do."

"Fremont, don't you dare press that button!" Sylvan shouted.

"Sylvan, I-"

But before I could tell Sylvan I'd deactivated the bomb, Fremont pressed the button. Sylvan immediately screamed in anguish, but I knew what would happen... absolutely nothing. Fremont gasped in disbelief.

"WHAT?" he shouted, pressing the button again. "What the hell-"

"It was me, Fremont... Radical Edward spoiled your evil plan!" I shouted, smiling. Now I knew that I'd saved thousands of lives... the first happy news I'd gotten in quite some time. But there still was the matter of Cecelle Fremont to deal with... come on, Sylvan...

"You bitch!" Fremont yelled. "I'll-"

Bang.

"Argh!" Fremont yelled, collapsing and clutching his stomach in precisely the same spot he'd stabbed me in earlier. Sylvan must have been shooting for Fremont's chest, but hit lower than he'd wanted to. Still, the gunshot brought Fremont to his knees.

"That's for Ed," Sylvan said. So he WAS aiming for that spot... for a little poetic justice, I guess... this isn't time for playing games, Sylvan! Finish him off now! "And this... is for everyone else you've hurt."

"No!" Fremont shouted, diving upon Sylvan. He was startled, and the gun flew from his hands. Fremont had left his blade on the floor, instead, choosing to assault Sylvan's face with a rain of deadly blows. As each punch landed, Fremont grew more and more angry, and Sylvan screamed louder and louder. "You're... both... going... to die!"

"Not if Ed can help it!" I yelled, ignoring the pain in my stomach and running toward Fremont as quickly as I could. But as I did, Fremont leapt up from Sylvan, grabbed his blade, and ran at me. Whether he was more enraged or deranged, I couldn't tell. As I leaned forward to throw a punch, he swerved to the side, running around me.

"Ed, behind you!" Sylvan yelled, still on the ground. But before I could turn back to face Fremont, he grabbed me from behind, holding his blade to my neck. I tried to scream, but Fremont's hand clamped over my mouth, stopping me from yelling anything at Sylvan. Sylvan crawled toward his gun and grabbed it, standing up and facing down Fremont, the gun trained at the both of us.

"What are you going to do, Sylvan?" Fremont shouted. "Kill me? I'll kill her first! If I die, she dies too!"

I tried to yell out to Sylvan, but Fremont's hand muffled me, and as I tried to wrench free from Fremont's grasp, the wound in my side made any real effort impossible, the pain simply being too much to bear. Fremont's blade pressed against my neck, and I could feel the blood starting to trickle down. What did I really want to tell Sylvan, anyway? Destroy Fremont, don't worry about me? Then I knew... the reason why I came up here... it was so simple...

"Let her go, NOW!" Sylvan shouted, his gun pointed out. "Killing Ed is pointless! As soon as she dies, you die!"

"Can't you see I'm not afraid to die?" Fremont yelled. "I'm just like you, Sylvan! I was willing to blow up the tower a few minutes ago. I'd have been killed then, and I don't care about dying now, as long as I get to take your pathetic lover with me! History does repeat itself, Sylvan..."

"I can't shoot..." Sylvan said quietly. "I might... hit you... Ed..."

---

"You know what Spike told me? He told me that he didn't go to fight Vicious to die... he went to fight out if he was really alive!" Faye sobbed. "But... he wasn't alive... he was dead all along..."

---

I didn't go up here to help Sylvan fight Fremont... I went up here to find out if I... if I loved Sylvan... and... at that moment... with tears streaming down my face...

"That's right, Sylvan," Fremont said. "You'll hit her. So, will she die by your hand, or mine? You've got only a moment to decide..."

I finally wrenched free from Fremont's grasp, just enough to cry out...

"Sylvan, I love you and I trust you! Take the shot!"

Bang.

---

"Oh my God!" Sylvan shouted, collapsing onto the ground and sobbing. "Ed... I'm so sorry... I didn't know what came over me, so I pulled the trigger, and..."

Fremont's blade clattered to the ground... his body the next thing to fall. He had been killed instantly. I stood up and smiled, walking over to Sylvan.

"You did it, Sylvan..." I said softly. "I knew... I knew you could..."

"Ed?" Sylvan said, standing up. "I... I didn't-"

"You didn't hit me at all, Sylvan," I said, a smile coming over my face. "It's over."

"Oh, Edward!"

And as we embraced, the doors of the observation deck flew open, several sets of footsteps rushing into the room.

"Cecelle Fremont, you're under arre... wha?"

A SWAT team...

But Sylvan and I ignored them completely, our embrace continuing for several more seconds... the pain in my body seemingly floating away in Sylvan's arms... finally, we turned around to face the police, who had crowded around the fallen body of Cecelle Fremont.

"What the hell happened here?" said one of the cops.

"That would be me," Sylvan said, the gun he was holding falling to the ground. "I... I shot him."

"Well, I'll be damned..."

"We need some paramedics in here right now," Sylvan said, pointing at me. "She's hurt badly..."

"So are you, Sylvan.." I said, tears still running down my face. "Oh my God, Sylvan, are you alright?"

"I am now..." Sylvan said. "At least... I think I'll-"

Then, Sylvan collapsed onto one knee, and as I went to check on him, I collapsed as well. I could see a team of paramedics running toward us. Then, everything went black.

---

"Francoise... Francoise?"

My eyes blinked open. There, standing over me, was my father, a worried look in his face. I looked around and could immediately see that I was in a hospital room, lying on a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown.

"Oh, Francoise, I was so worried... I saw on the news about the Eiffel Tower incident, and you were listed among the people inside, so I hitched a ride with the Bebop and flew here as quickly as I could, but-"

"The Bebop?" I asked, still a bit groggy. "Daddy, are Faye-Faye and Jet-person here?"

"Yes, but they're only allowing one person at a time inside the hospital room... the doctor said that you got a nasty wound, but that it's mostly superficial and you should recover quickly... you'll probably be able to leave the hospital in about a day or so."

"What about Sylvan?" I asked my father, thinking that he'd know about Sylvan's condition. "Please, tell Edward how Sylvan is doing!"

"Heh, he's doing just fine... he's in the same boat as you, he'll be out of the hospital tomorrow," said my dad. "He's just across the hall, but the doctor said that-"

"Ed is coming, Sylvan!"

I leapt out of bed, ignoring the pain in my heavily-bandaged side, and began storming out of the room, thankful that I wasn't hooked up to an IV or anything that would slow my process. I pushed my way out of the room, my dad following close behind me.

"Francoise, honey, the doctor's not going to like you getting up like that, are you sure you... please come back!"

"Miss Appledelhi, you can't get out of bed just yet!" yelled a doctor, running toward me. "Your wound isn't serious, but it needs time to heal, and-"

Ignoring everyone, I opened the door to Sylvan's room and rushed in. A nurse was handing him a bowl of ice cream, but she quickly leapt back in shock when she saw me.

"Miss, you shouldn't be-"

"Edward?" Sylvan said, his face lighting up. "Is that you?"

"Yep, it's me, Edward!" I said, smiling at him. "Sylvan, are you okay?"

"Well, as you can see, I've got a bunch of bandages... and they had to pull a bullet out of my shoulder, but other than that, the doctors say I'm gonna be fine!" Sylvan said. "Ed, how about you?"

"Same here... Edward is going to be out of the hospital tomorrow, like you, Sylvan!"

"That's great, Ed," Sylvan said. "Edward, what you said back there... I had another dream about it..."

"Ed isn't lying, Sylvan... I... I didn't want to lose you, Sylvan... I love you."

"Edward... you really mean it?" Sylvan said. Again, I nodded, and he smiled warmly. "Oh, Edward, I'm so glad..."

As we leaned in to kiss, my dad began talking, interrupting us.

"Hey, guys, get a room. And I don't mean a hospital room!" my dad said, before starting to laugh. "You're really serious, Ed?"

"Daddy, I love Sylvan.... and did you just call me Edward?" I said.

"Well, why not?" he said. "I almost lost you today, I thought I did... just like I lost Marishani ten years ago."

"Daddy, there's something Ed has to tell you about that," I said. "You might want to sit down...."

---

Sylvan and I exclaimed everything about Marishani and Richilieu to my dad. When he heard it, he obviously began to cry, and I had to hug him for about two minutes before he'd finally stopped sobbing enough to speak.

"It's my fault," said my dad. "It's my fault, I wasn't good enough to her... or to you, Ed... I was too concerned about my job, and I never spent enough time with either of you... I'm a real jerk... that's why she left..."

"No, daddy, it wasn't you," I said, trying to console him. "But it wasn't her, either... she just... needed some time off, that's all..."

"From what I knew of my father, he was a wonderful person... but you're just as wonderful, Mr. Appledelhi," Sylvan said. The nurse had given up trying to get us out of the room some time ago, and had left the room to give us some privacy. "I'm really sorry about all this..."

"No... it's alright, I'll be fine," he said, still sobbing. "At least now I know... what happened... and the person that did it is dead, thanks to the two of you... it's good to have closure, you guys... it's just that... I loved her so much, I wish I could have done more for her... I should have been there to save her!"

"It's alright, daddy..." I said, hugging him. "You did all you can do..."

"It seems that the two biggest heroes of this incredible and tragic day are Sylvan Mazarin and Francoise Appledelhi, also known by her hacker alias Radical Edward," came a female reporter's voice from the TV in Sylvan's hospital room. "Sylvan's incredible subduction of the Syndicate leader Cecelle Fremont, and Francoise Appledelhi's deactivation of the bomb led to the incredible police operation that managed to rescue over 12,000 people trapped inside the building as hostages, with only 228 people in total killed. It is unknown how the bounty for Fremont's death will be distributed, but since Fremont was wanted dead-or-alive, the bounty will be rewarded, and probably split between the two young heroes."

"Wow, Ed..." said my dad, his face lighting up. "That's really incredible what you guys did..."

I nodded.

"Maybe we should go visit the others... daddy, who all was in the waiting room with you?" I asked.

"Well, there were a ton of people wanting to see you. There was me, Faye, Jet, and a bunch of your friends from the college, along with a little girl and her parents and a few other people. You two are pretty popular..."

---

After my dad had regained his composure, Sylvan and I decided to head down the hall to the waiting room of the hospital, me wheeling Sylvan in a wheelchair, since he was hooked up to an IV, unlike me. We managed to talk the doctor into letting us, as long as both of us headed right back to our rooms afterwards. When the three of us (my father, Sylvan, and me) got to the waiting room, there was a whole group of people waiting. Kirsten, Asada, Curtis, Piripi, Sani, and Kimberly were there, of course, with Faye-Faye and Jet-person. When I arrived, Kirsten and Faye-Faye were having a rather spirited conversation (I just knew those two would get along!) Sukina and her parents were there as well, along with a whole blitz of media reporters. As I walked into the waiting room, the large group of reporters swarmed me, microphones and cameras in hand. With lightning speed, Kirsten intercepted them.

"Now now, Radical Edward doesn't talk to reporters without her agent's approval first," Kirsten said, "and as Edward's agent, I must decline all interviews until my client has fully recovered from her injuries."

"It's nice to see you too, Kirsten!" I said, giggling. "Yes, no questions right now, please! Ed wants to talk to her friends..."

"Edward!" Asada shouted, running up to me and giving me a big hug. She was followed closely by Faye-Faye and Jet-person.

"Ed, we heard all about you on the news... I always knew your hacking skills would come in handy!" Jet shouted. "Glad to see you're alright!"

"You don't know how worried I was!" Faye-Faye said, hugging me as soon as Asada had stepped back. "How's it been going, Ed? It looks like you've made a ton of friends over here, and they've told me most of the stuff you've been up too, but you've got to tell me the rest, okay?"

"Ed, what's it like to be a hero?" shouted one of the news reporters. "That question is directed at Sylvan too, so-"

"Guys, Edward is serious... you need to leave for now," I said. "Daddy, what time is it?"

"It's six in the evening, Ed," said my dad.

"We'll have a press conference at eight, then, alright?" I announced. "Please let Ed have some time with her friends, okie-dokey?"

It took a minute or two for my message to get through to the reporters, but they finally left after I told them to come back at eight for the press conference. That would give me at least a couple of hours to talk with my friends about the day's events... and to be with Sylvan before he had to go back to his hospital room.

"Ed, I can't thank you enough for saving Sukina's life," said Sukina's father, a tall, strong-looking man. "And thanks to your friends, too... I know they helped as well."

"Any time," Asada said. "Sukina's a very nice young woman!"

"Well, not exactly..." Sukina said. "I told you guys how I was rude earlier... Ed, I'm really sorry again... I promise never ever to be mean again, and to always be a good sport!"

"That's not necessary, really!" I said, smiling. "It's good that you're pledging to be a good sport from now on, though, but all Edward really wants is your friendship, okay?"

Sukina nodded and hugged me again.

"So this is Sylvan," Faye-Faye said, walking over to him. "Ed's new friends told me a lot about you... wow, Ed, he really IS handsome!"

"Well, thank you," Sylvan said, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's nice to meet you, Faye... Ed's told me a lot about you guys and your adventures on the Bebop..."

"You wanna take a tour of the Bebop, Sylvan?" Jet asked. "Once you're all better, I mean. "It's parked right outside, so if you and Ed's other friends want to look around, it's no skin off my nose."

"That would be wonderful!" Piripi said, walking over to Jet. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"Yes, that would be nice!" Sylvan said.

As Sylvan, my dad, and the rest of my friends and I began to talk, joke, laugh, and just have fun, I thought back to the times that I'd shared with my friends, even just a few hours ago today... and I knew that through all of the hard times I'd gone through, my few days in Neo-Paris were the best time of my life, even better than those few months on the Bebop. I'd made so many new friends, and I'd met Sylvan, the boy whom I now knew I loved. In just a few days, I'd be going back to Earth... I didn't want any of this to end, but I knew that when I returned in the fall to start college, all the fun times would begin again. Truly, this was only the beginning...

---

And so, Cecelle Fremont was defeated! But this chapter isn't the end, there's still one chapter left to patch up all the loose ends and say all the goodbyes before Ed goes back to Earth! So don't miss the final chapter!