Joyleaf's Untitled Trigun Epilogue
Chapter One: My Brother's Keeper
'This place...where am I? How did I get here?...that's right...Vash brought me here. That useless goody-goody...He's ruined everything! Where's my gun?'
"Knives-san!? Are you awake yet?" Milly called from the other side of the door.
Knives groaned.'That damn girl again...What a pain...' The light of early afternoon was peeking throught the shutters. Knives looked around the room. His old clothes were draped over a chair in the corner. Some new garments were sitting on top of the bureau in a neatly folded pile. He got out of the bed and stretched. Milly knocked on the door and called to him again. He ignored her and walked across the room, also ignoring his current state of nakedness. Inspecting the clothes on the bureau, he found a white button up shirt and a pair of khaki slacks. 'They have GOT to be kidding!' he scoffed, holding the shirt out in front of himself.
*GASP!* A tray and all of its contents clattered to the floor. Knives' head snapped towards the door. "Oh...my..." Milly whispered, her hands shielding her reddening face. "I'm sorry!" she cried.
Knives snorted. "How rude!" he scolded. "Do you always enter someone's room uninvited?"
"I...I thought you were asleep..." Milly defended meekly.
"Well, I wasn't." Knives said, lowering the shirt just enough so as to conceal his nudity. Then he walked over to her saying, "Even if I had been sleeping, what right do you have to intrude in MY chamber?"
"I was bringing you some lunch," Milly answered, pointing to the mess at her feet. She backed away a bit when he put his face up to hers, giving her an accusing look.
"I don't WANT your lunch."
"But, if you don't eat, you'll get sick," she told him.
"And what's it to you?" There was a bit of a laugh in his voice, as if something she had said amused him. However, he didn't say anymore and Milly didn't know how she was supposed to answer. The silence that followed was short, but akward enough to feel like an eternity. Milly nervously chewed the inside of her cheek with her eyes fixed on his. She wanted to look away, but where else could she look? He was standing right in front of her...naked! She had just about resolved to run away when Meryl came to her rescue.
"You're certainly taking a long time, Milly. You're not goofing off, are you?"
"Sempai!" Milly cried in relief. She quickly scurried behind Meryl, as if the tiny woman could actually hide her.
Meryl glared at Knives. He smirked back. She had already assessed what had happened. "Knives-san, I have to ask that you stop terrorizing poor Milly."
"And if I don't?"
"Can't you see that we're trying to help you?"
"I don't NEED YOUR help!" Knives screamed, suddenly very angry. The two women cringed. "Where is Vash!?" he demanded.
"He's gone out." Meryl answered, straightening up again. "He may not be back for a while."
One corner of Knives' mouth curled up. "Well now, maybe I should just kill the both of you while I have the chance."
"I do believe that that might make Vash-san angry," Milly told him, a bit more confident now that she wasn't alone with him.
"That's fine with me," Knives decided. "When I get my gun back, I'll kill that whiney idiot too."
Milly gasped in disbelief, but before she could say anything, Meryl took the offensive. "Might I suggest that you not take us lightly, sir. After all, we ARE known in some parts as Deringer Meryl and Stungun Milly. Besides, who ever said you'll get your gun back? You didn't think it was here, did you?"
Knives shot her a nasty look. "Where IS my gun?"
"I don't know." Meryl refused to let him intimidate her. "The only person who does know is Vash-san, so if you want it back you'd better stay on his good side."With that, she turned to leave. "Come on, Milly. He can clean this mess himself." And the two girls scampered down the hall.
Knives looked around the room for a moment before he threw down the shirt in a fit of anger. It landed right in the lunch mess. He grunted. "How's THAT for cleaning it up?"
**********
"I'm home!" Vash called, poking his head into the kitchen. "Damn, it feels SO good to say that, don't you think?"
Meryl stopped stirring the pot and turned to him, an angry look on her face. Vash cringed. "Whoa, scary! What did I do now?"
"It's not you," Meryl answered. "It's--"
"SEMPAI!!!"
"Knives!" she finished, running her hand over her face in annoyance. Seconds later, Milly ran in past Vash and quickly took to hiding behind Meryl. Before Vash could ask her what was wrong, Knives came down the hall, fuming, dressed in his old clothes, holes and all, with a huge, hand-shaped red spot forming on his cheek.
"Vash!" he cried upon seeing his brother. "Where is my gun?!"
"What happened, Knives?" Vash asked. "Your cheek is all red."
Knives grabbed the front of Vash's shirt and pulled him closer. "Where is my gun?!" he repeated.
Vash's brow furrowed. "I don't have it," he answered.
"Where is it?"
"I left them in the desert. I left both of them behind. We don't need them anymore."
"You did what?!" Knives shoved him away. "I made those guns for us! How could you just throw them away like that?!"
"You don't need a gun, Knives. This is a peaceful town." Vash walked back up to him.
"Any place where humans live can never be peaceful." Knives whispered in Vash's ear. "Or don't you remember the ship?"
"I believe in them."
"They will NEVER change, Vash. Can you realize that before they kill you?"
Knives turned and walked down the hall towards his room. Vash watched quietly as he went. Milly and Meryl looked at one another, then at Vash. "Vash-san..." Meryl started, moving forward to comfort him. He turned to her, a smile on his face.
"Hey, is dinner ready? I'm starving," he said.
Meryl stopped short. "Uh...uh...sure..." she stammered.
"Good," Vash said, still smiling. "Let's eat."
**********
They sat silently as they ate their meal. Knives did not emerge from his room to join them. Despite his smile, the girls knew there was something troubling Vash. Still, they did not know what to say. Milly watched Vash while she loudly slurped the brother of her stew. Meryl did the same, with a bit less noise and a look of concern that had become pretty much commonplace.
Finally, Meryl decided to break the silence. In her most cheerful sounding voice, she said, "Vash-san, how was your day? You're working hard, I hope. Milly and I--"
"I have to go away for a while," Vash interrupted, leaving Meryl with her mouth gaping open in surprise.
Milly lowered her spoon. "But why, Vash-san? Things are going so well here."
"I know. And thank you."
Meryl stood abruptly, sending her chair flying back as she slammed her hands down on the table. "But, Vash-san, there's still a bounty on your head. If you leave the town..."
"I'll be careful," he assured her.
"Vash-san," Meryl continued in a calm, concerned tone, "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go wandering off on your own again. Besides," something suddenly occured to her, "are you just going to leave us here? Alone, with Knives?"
Vash shook his spikey, blond head. "I won't be alone. Knives is coming with me." Meryl settled back into her chair and Milly began to sip her stew again. After a short silence, Vash explained, "Knives still isn't ready to settle with humans yet. I'll need some time to change his mind. Until then, it's dangerous to keep him here. That's why I have to go. Okay?"
Tears began to drip down Meryl's cheeks and she looked down at her hands. "No. No, it's not okay. I still don't understand why you have to go," she sniffed.
"We can go with you, Vash-san!" Milly offered cheerily.
"No. That would be too risky. You two should stay here and take care of our home," Vash said in a soothing tone. He reached over the table to touch Meryl's hand. She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "Don't cry, Meryl. I'll be back. And I promise, I'll write to you all the time."
Meryl didn't want to agree, but she knew there was no winning this arguement. She forced a weak smile and wiped her face dry with her napkin, nodding. "Okay, but you'd better be careful."
"I will."
**********
Knives crept quietly down the hall. It was late, very late. He'd waited up all night for the others to go to bed. Now that he was certain they were sound asleep, he would make his escape. Silently, he eased the front door open and stepped outside. The door closed without a sound. 'Free...' he thought as he lept off the porch.
"It's a pretty big desert. You think you'll find it?"
Knives spun around to find Vash sitting on a porch chair. His hair was combed down and he wore a black trench coat over his button-up shirt and faded blue jeans. He stood and picked up the two duffle bags next to him.
"--I'm not--" Knives started in protest.
"Uh-huh...sure you aren't." Vash chuckled, handing his brother one of the bags. "So, I guess you won't mind my tagging along." Knives growled, taking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. As they started walking down the dark, dusty street, Vash said, "You know, Knives...you're still causing me alot of trouble."
"Well, at least there's solice in that."
Chapter Two coming soon...
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