Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ The Search for the Truth ❯ Home ( Chapter 3 )

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

Beef: Yo you swine! Sorry I haven't really updated lately, I'm kinda slow... But thanks for the reviews! They make me so happy! Damn angst. Anyway... My hands smell like dogs. 0.o No, that's not what I really wanted to say, HERE'S what I wanted to say...

younggun= Thank you, I feel so loved!!!!!!!!

Vicious= Sorry my chapters are short. I'll try to make them longer but I get bored easily so I'm not promising anything. Do I hate Vicious? Well, I can't say I really LIKE him but I don't hate him with all my being. It may seem I hate him that bad but he's not the Father type figure (as I'm sure you are well aware) and I'm just writing as if looking through Willow's eyes who absolutley despises him. Could you see if he was all Fatherly though? 0.o

Maruken= I'm not sure which weapon she'll use yet... They're both so shiny... *.*

BloodCrested= My first reviewer person for this story! Your awesome, so you get a cookie. *brings in huge cookie on crane*

OK, on with the story, shall we?

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It seemed like the trip to Julia's house was forever when really it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes. Willow tried to keep herself occupied by looking out the window and finding random things that could hold her interest. When they were stopped at a red light she found a drunk man who thought he was an airplane and almost speeded into the street if one of his friends wouldn't have stopped him.

"Damn," Willow quietly cursed with a small smirk, "I wanted to see him get hit!"

"What are you mumbling about?" Julia questioned her daughter.

"Nothing." She said lazily and slouched down in her seat.

Julia smiled and tousled the girls hair a bit. The red light was done, and Julia sped off leaving the drunk man as nothing more than an after thought. Willow continued to stare out the window, she wanted to remember how to get to her Mother's house in the event that Vicious ever caught her, which was a terrible thought but she knew it was likely to happen. Willow sighed and then shook her head vigorously. She would get Vicious out of her head and not even slightly think about him until she had to deal with him again. But still, she wanted the way to her Mom's house memorized.

A little while later, Julia pulled into a parking lot. She parked her car and looked over at her daughter with a 1,000 watt smile.

"We're here!"

Willow made her way slowly out of the car and looked around. It wasn't what she had expected at all. She always thought her Mom lived in some small little cottage with flowers and deer and what not all around. But this, this wasn't a little cute cottage at all. She wouldn't call it broken down, but is wasn't a palace either. Julia lived in a beige apartment complex. The outside wasn't much on looks, and it was sort of on the small side, but it attracted Willow somehow.

Julia bent down to whisper in her daughter's ear, "My apartment is on the top floor, can you guess which one it is?"

Willow's eyes traveled up the building and landed on the top floor where they immediately went to a window that had a flower box under it. It was the end of winter, so their really wasn't much in it. But just by the looks of it you could tell that something was lovingly planted their each year. It was the only window that had a flower box.

"Do you know what I plant their?" Julia asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"What?"

"Oh come on! You should know!"

"Well, I don't."

"Lillies, Willow, night lillies. Do you remember?"

How could she forget. That was the best night of her life. It was her tenth birthday, at exactly 12 'o' clock at night when Willow should have been asleep. She was having a terrible day, Vicious gave her no gifts, no cake, not even a "happy birthday". In fact, she had to stay in her room all day without talking just because it WAS her birthday. She was crying in bed silently, with fear that if Vicious heard she was still awake he would beat her, when someone entered her room. Tears ran more freely down her cheeks as she tried desperately to make up an apology in her head for still being awake when instead of Vicious, Julia took her up in her arms. She carried her too her car and took her to a far away field that was bursting with night lillies and fireflies. They spent the whole night smelling the sweet aroma of lillies and enjoying the soft glow of the fireflies. From that day on, night lillies have always been Willow's favorite flower.

"Willow... Willow ... sweetie come on let's go inside it's cold out here!"

Julia's voice brought Willow back from her flash back, "Uh... Yeah! Sure! Sorry Mom."

"No prob, just come on!"

The two girls hurried in the building and climbed their way up the stairs to the top floor. Once they reached the top Julia walked to the second door on the left which read Room 403 on a shiny gold plate. She swung the door open, and stepped inside followed by her daughter. When willow entered the room she was hit by the smell of brownies that were cooling on the kitchen table. Willow surveyed the whole building. It was like one giant room, except for bathrooms and bedrooms which had their own little separate nooks and the kitchen which was a whole different room all together. The living room area (which was closest to the door) had a fuzzy red carpet on which sat a glass coffee table that had assorted knickknacks on it. Their were two plush red chairs on either side of the coffee table, and next to one was a large floor lamp, while next to the other was a small book shelf. Traveling farther was the kitchen table, which was next to a window that had plain white curtains. It had four seats and a radio sat on the table. From what she could see of the kitchen, it was a blue color with all the normal stuff a regular kitchen has. All in all, it looked like a cozy little home.

"My bedroom is down that way," Julia stated as she pointed down a hall to the right, "and on the opposing side we have a guest bedroom and the bathroom. It is your decision where you want to sleep."

Willow nodded her head and plopped down on one of the red chairs closest to the book shelf, "Wait here, I'll go get some medicine for your cheek." Julia said as she scampered into the bathroom to get supplies.

Willow took this time to investigate. (someone's knocking at my door and it's creeping me out but that's got nothing to do with the story so let's continue.) She glanced around the room until her eyes stopped at the table in front of her. It was a delicate glass table with gold trimming, and it was clean all except for one picture. That picture is what caught her eye. Framed in silver, there sat a tattered picture. It looked as if it had been soaked in water, stepped on, and torn, but it was still visible. The picture itself was of a man who looked to be somewhere in his twenties. He had rather poofy brown hair with hints of green in it, and strange brown eyes. She sat their pondering what it was about his eyes that were so strange. Deciding to get a closer look Willow bent down to pick the picture up, but was halted when her Mother came bustling in the room with bandages.

"Here we are..." She said as she kneeled by her daughter and dabbed some alcohol on a cotton swab, "Now this may sting a bit."

"Doesn't hurt at all." Willow replied nonchalantly.

"Really?"

"I've faced worse."

"I'm sure you have, but look on the bright side-"

"There's a bright side?" Willow cut off her Mother.

"Yes, Just look at how strong you are! Your the scariest 14 year old I've ever seen, I wouldn't mess with you. I did always want you to be girlie in all honest truth, but I guess with Vicious that was sort of impossible huh?"

"I'd shoot myself if I was girlie."

Julia smiled and proceeded to put medicine on her cheek, and then a bandage, "There. Is that better?"

Willow nodded yes, "Good. Now, go get a brownie and meet me in my room to catch up on things."

Willow hopped out of her seat and went over to the brownies. She was starving, and barely ever got to have snack foods let alone home baked one's. She only got them when her Mother brought them, or one of the syndicate people didn't want one's from their lunch. It was a rare treat. She picked the largest one, and headed to her Mother's room.

Once she reached the door she knocked on it timidly, "Come in," She heard her Mother reply and entered with the brownie in hand.

Julia's room wasn't anything special at all. All that was in it was a plain double bed with white sheets, a dresser in the corner, another floor lamp, and a full length mirror. The walls were white and it was rather empty, but oddly enough it still had a homey sort of vibe. Willow scooted over to the bed, took off her shoes, and sat cross legged in front of her Mother. Julia was staring at a picture in her hands and seemed distant. It was quiet for what seemed like forever.

"Soooooo, you gonna tell me about Dad?" Willow finally broke the silence.

"Huh? Oh yes! Your Father!" Julia said, breaking out of her daze.

Willow hands got sweaty, and she feverishly ate up her brownie. She was nervous, yet excited at the same time. She wanted to know it all, but was she ready for it? The girl was a fighter, no doubt about it, but could the shock of who her Father really is finally get to her. What if he's worse than Vicious? She never thought it possible, but maybe. What if he was dead? Then their would be no escaping Vicious. 'Why do these thoughts only come to my head now?!' she thought to herself as she waited in anticipation.

"Well, Vicious isn't your Father." Julia stated.

"No crap."

"Yeah, you knew that..."

"Stop beating around the bush!!!"

"Sorry! OK, um... how do I say this..."

It was quiet for a while again. Willow was about to scream until her Mother began again.

"Your Father... He... He used to be apart of the syndicate. He was best friends with Vicious, they were comrades and always had each others back..." Julia began.

'Great', thought Willow, 'He is a follower of Vicious...'

"They got along great until one day. He was in a battle of some sort, and was terribly wounded. I was just leaving to go to the grocery store when I saw him standing their. He looked half dead and I could very well tell he would die if I just left him. I saw his syndicate badge, and knew it would be OK with Vicious, who I was dating at the time, if I took care of him. I took the man in, cleaned his wounds, and gave him a safe warm place stay. I was up with him as much time as I could bear and for a while I was worried that he wouldn't wake up... But then, one day I was humming a song by his bed. I was reading a magazine, and wasn't really aware that he was awake yet. I heard a groan, and looked down to find him awake. I leaned closer to him in case he was trying to tell me something. He told me one thing."

"He told you what?"

"Just like that. Sing for me, please."

Willow could see tears coming to her Mother's eyes, but she continued on, "I kept him at my house for a while, he still needed to heal. In the time he was their, we fell in love. We couldn't help it. I tried my best to be loyal to Vicious, but he had changed so much. He wasn't the man I fell in love with any more. Still, we knew we were both in danger if Vicious ever found out about are relationship, so we decided to just meet secretly. It didn't work out. Vicious had his suspicions and we both knew it was getting increasingly harder to not get jealous, and we began to pine when we were each away from one another. We couldn't go on the way we were anymore..."

"So what happened to him?"

"He left the syndicate, and invited me to go to."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I would be killed if I went. It wasn't really my life I was that concerned about, though. It was the unborn you."

"What became of my Father?"

"He left. I don't know anymore than that. From that day on I was never allowed to speak of him, look for him, or even cry over him. Vicious became more hard on me, and monitored my every move. When he found I was pregnant with you, past the point of abortion, he was furious. He beat me, and told me the baby would be raised as his own, and would never know of it's true Father. I had lost all control. I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry Willow..."

Julia was sobbing now. Willow reached over and hugged her, and Julia pulled her in tighter. She cried into her daughter's hair relentlessly and seemed to be hugging her tighter by the moment. After a bit, she finally let go to Willow who began to breath again.

"I'm sorry," Julia choked out as she handed a picture to Willow, "this is your Father."

It was the same man as the one on the coffee table. In this picture, he seemed much more happy. He was hugging Julia who was hugging him back and they were both standing in the sunset somewhere. They both had expressions on their face like their wasn't a care in the world. Willow had never seen her Mother so happy, it made her even angrier at Vicious for taking away her smile.

"What's his name, my Father I mean?" Willow asked as she looked up from the picture.

"Spike. Spike Spiegel." Julia responded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Spike Spiegel, huh?" The name sounded odd on her lips. Odd, but nice.

Julia stood up and stretched a bit, "There ya go, kiddo. You know who your Dad is. Now if you don't mind I think I'm gonna go to bed. I've had enough angst and drama for one night, don't you think? Want to join me, I mean we caught up on sad times, but I got happy stories to."

"Sure, Mom. I'll sleep with you, even though it does sound like we're making passes at each other."

The two girls smiled at each other. They got into their sleep wear (Willow of course had to borrow some of Julia's stuff) and crawled into bed together, and that's where they stayed together all night. A Mother and Daughter catching up and telling stories about all that have happened in their lives. Their wasn't a care in the world, and for that night, Willow had true happiness for the first time.
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Beef: What a corny ending. Willow's a wench. How come she get's a brownie and I don't?
Willow: 'Cause I'm cooler than you.
Beef: I CREATED you you swine!
Willow: Yeah, and you also created the brownie I'm eating, SO GO MAKE YOUR OWN.
B:FINE!
W: Ok.
B:......
W:......
B: I'm too lazy to.
W: No kiding?
B: I could kill you off...
W: Yeah and lose your story... AND reviewers.
B: Blast you...
W. ^_^
B: Well, thanks for reading. Sorry it took so long, I'll try to get the next one up sooner, alright peeps? See ya space cowboys.