I do not own Trigun, although if I did there would have been a lot more romance. Wolfwood wouldn't have died and Meryl would have tripped Vash before he went off after Knives.
I also daydream about a certain blonde gunman.., A LOT!
REAL LIFE
Prequel
The light of the suns shone into the small room and fell on the sleeping face of the dark haired girl, rousing her from the tangled sheets of her restless repose. Rubbing the sleep from her face as she sat up, Meryl's eyes went to the window to scan the featureless horizon. It had become her morning ritual, ever since Vash had left, hoping for a glimpse of his familiar red silhouette returning.
She sighed softly when all her searching eyes could find was the same wide empty expanse of golden sand and crystal blue sky. Still nothing. It seemed like forever since he had walked off under the burden of Wolfwood's crosspunisher.
There was a light tap at her door, as Milly, her friend and partner's, voice filtered through the false wood, "I'm off to work Meryl. The coffee's on the stove, see you at lunchtime." Meryl responds, "Thanks Milly, I'll see you then. Is there anything special you want me to get from the store?"
She could almost see Milly's bright smile flash, her quick receding answer. "PUDDING!"
Milly had kept working at her job as a welldigger after Vash had left them. Meryl knew that it was because the mindless physical labor kept her partner from thinking about Wolfwood. The larger girl mourned her lost lover silently. Hiding her grief behind a mask of ever present cheeriness. Meryl sighed, at least Milly had the gift of love Nick had left in her womb. Meryl had nothing but a memories. Along with a faint hope that was fast waning, that the man she loved would ever return.
Meryl rose from her bed and headed into the bathroom to prepare for her day's work. She had taken a second job shortly after Vash departed. Not so much for the extra money but because sitting around the echoingly empty house during the day had been far too depressing for the small insurance girl. Not even writing reports could keep her occupied the full day.
Before Meryl had gotten the clerking job at the general store, more often than not she had found herself bemusedly wandering aimlessly into the room that had been Vash's and staring at his bed moodily. Wondering where he was, if he was okay, if she'd ever see his crazy blonde broom of hair and goofy grin again.
After showering she donned a blouse and a dark skirt, putting on the minimal amount of make-up before picking up her cloak, the only part of her usual outfit that she took to the general store. Meryl trudged downstairs, girding herself to face another day of worrying whether the man she cared for was ever coming back.
As she drank her morning coffee, the petite woman stared into space and reflected about the events that had led up to her this point. Of waiting in a no name backwater town for someone that the rest of the world thought was a menace. A man that might not ever even come back.
She had finally come to terms with the fact that she cared deeply for him. Problem was.., did Vash feel anything for her? She had always been a bit of a shrew around him. Scolding and yelling at him more often than not.
Part of that had been emotional self-defense on her own part. As she futilely tried to resist the totally ridiculous attraction that had increased each day they traveled with him. He was the exact opposite of everything she had thought she would have wanted in a man.
An unsettled, a rootless wanderer, one who had never seemed to be serious about anything. A skirt chasing charmer that couldn't even hold his liquor. A happy go lucky drifter without any apparent intention of ever settling down. Who had, without even trying, managed to wriggle and charm his way past her defenses irrevocably insinuating himself into her heart. She had finally given up denying it. She had fallen in love with the big blond dope. Now her problem was even more difficult. How did he feel about her? He had no recollection of anything that happened while he had been trapped in his self induced purgatory.
Did Vash even like her? She knew he had only mistaken her for the mysterious Rem that night. He had said called that name so many times during his catatonia. Pleading for her to comfort him as he had clung to Meryl like a lost child.
Of course after he had recovered and she had saved him from the mob, he had hugged her. But that had been just out of gratitude for rescuing him, wasn't it? Even though the night before, it had almost seemed as if there might be a chance that something could develop between them. But when everything was over, the next morning he just got dressed and left, going off in search of his genocidal twin. She and Milly told Vash they would wait for him. But his only reply was a casual wave saying, "See ya later." He had never really committed to coming back.
Would he? After all, he had tried ditching them so many times before, this would be the perfect opportunity to be rid of his unwanted companions for good..
Was he even still alive? She blinked hard, the cup in her hand shaking, a bit of coffee shloshing out as that dreaded thought crossed her mind. She feared the worst.
From what little bit Vash had revealed, Knives was deadly. Even the sound of his name was terrifying. Millions Knives, the faceless enemy that had stalked Vash for God only knew how long. The real person behind the destruction of July and Augusta. A man that had set a maniac, leading a gang of ruthless killers, on his own twin.
If Vash had been facing anyone else she would never doubt his emerging victorious. But if his brother was even half as extraordinary as the blonde outlaw, he could be a real threat to Vash.
Meryl couldn't conceive how two siblings could be such polar opposites.
Vash was anything but dangerous seeming on the surface, despite his fearsome reputation. That was why it had taken her so long to accept the fact that he was the man she was seeking.
Outwardly he appeared to be nothing more than slightly clumsy lovable dope. A broomheaded idiot with a constant smile that cheerfully let kids beat him up, ogled every pretty girl that crossed his path (except her of course!!) And scarfed up donuts like there was no tomorrow.
His act had actually fooled her for several weeks after they had first met him.
He would run rather than shoot. He was overly-emotional, crying at the drop of a hat. Downright exasperating with that irritatingly simplistic peace and love mantra , and absolutely maddening at times. An unparalleled marksman that never shot to kill.
And totally adorable!!!!
As she performed her mission, accompanying him from town to town, Meryl had learned that there was far more to Vash the Stampede than the destructive legend or the false face and goofiness that he showed the world.
Meryl had sensed even back at the very beginning that Vash carried secrets. He had scars far deeper than merely the ones covering his body. During their wanderings she had caught glimpses of the truth, the reality of the tortured man behind the myth.
Over time Meryl had slowly began to sense that the enigmatic gunman was hiding a deep soul searing sorrow, a sadness that ate at him constantly. Concealing it behind the happy go lucky facade, using false smiles as a shield and apparent goofiness to keep people at bay. But even with all that, during his darkest moments, he had never frightened her or made her fear for her own safety at his hands. If there was anything she was certain of, it was that Vash was the sweetest and gentlest man she had ever met.
What really frightened her was the thought of losing him.
When he had disappeared after Augusta, it had devastated her. She had cried herself to sleep every night for months, the uncertainty of his fate making her heart ache. She had kept the scrap of his coat that they had found under her pillow, clutching it to her each was when she had first admitted how important his well being had become to her.
When he resurfaced, she had been relieved and ecstatic. She had known his face as surely as her own although his hair color had altered. She had also noticed new pain hidden behind his eyes, apparent even in the blurry photograph. But then the company assigned someone else to his case.
Disappointed but determined to see him again, she had taken her long deferred vacation time, just so she and Milly could at least get to visit him one more time. To make sure he was alright.
And it was a damn good thing they did. They had foiled a fraud conspiracy against the company and in the process managed saved his ass again.
After that incident she had made sure that they were reassigned to his case. It had become obvious that they were the only two people who had ever been able to keep up with him for any length of time other than that irritating preacher. She and Milly were the acknowledged experts on Vash the Stampede. Even by the Feds. So they linked up with him once more. This time along with Wolfwood which had suited Milly to a T. Her tall partner had become quite attracted to the dark mysterious man that carried that deadly chameleon cross.
The four of them had fallen into a rather strange routine of traveling together, it was an odd if easy companionship. That worked out quite well too, a masterpiece of misdirection. Everyone 'knew' that Vash the Stampede was a lone gunman, a ruthless murderer that massacred anyone that got near him. So a party of four, made up of two men and two women, traveling together couldn't possibly have him as a member even if one of the party bore a remarkable resemblance to the description of the infamous humanoid typhoon. After all no one in their right mind would risk traveling with that kind of murderous madman.
Even Vash had admitted that he was running into fewer routine difficulties as they drifted from town to town. As he an Wolfwood searched for their nameless quarry.
The Gung-Ho guns were another matter entirely. They were not the normal run of the mill bounty hunters, there had been some other motive force behind their preternatural attackers. She had realized that even before Vash had told her what was actually going on.
But then everything happened at once, Vash and Wolfwood had been leading them on a search for the mysterious Knives. While Vash seemed to be withdrawing deeper into himself as they got closer to their goal. Then the sandworms attacked directed by the boy, Zazie. Forcing Wolfwood to save Vash by shooting the demonically possessed child.
The killing had caused a breach in their small party. Milly had been drawn to comfort Nicholas as much as she herself was drawn to side with Vash. And then without warning, without a chance for reconciliation, Wolfwood was killed by yet another Gung-ho gun. The mysterious Evergreen who had some sort of strange connection with their deceased comrade.
Wolfwood's death had affected them all deeply. Immediately after it happened Milly had insisted on staying in his room, like Wolfwood had told her to do, waiting for him to return, refusing at first to even acknowledge he was dead.
That was when Meryl tearfully confronted , Vash demanding a full explanation. Cornered, he had finally revealed everything he could remember, explaining that he was in fact not a human at all. He was a plant like the ethereally beautiful beings inside the power bulbs. That, the mysterious Knives they had been seeking, was not only his sibling but also his genocidal twin. Who he suspected was the motive force behind all the attacks on them as well as the destruction of both July and Augusta and the cause of the recent mysterious depopulation of several towns.
The revelation of who and what Vash was, hot on the heels of the violent demise of the preacher, had temporarily stunned Meryl. Shocking her into inaction as he walked away from them, once again. Leaving them alone in the deserted ghost town.
Vash's confession had made the small insurance girl reconsider everything she knew about him. But then Milly's positive nature had reasserted itself, and even though she was bereft of her own lost lover. She encourage Meryl that they had to follow Vash, insisting that they had to help him. Her partner's resolve had reenergized Meryl. Reawakening her feelings for Vash.
So they had packed up and followed him. Only to fall into the trap that had been set for them all by Legato. Forcing Vash to shoot the insane telepath to save the girls, and causing him to kill for the first time in his long life.
During the torturous aftermath of Legato's death, she had realized she couldn't deny her feelings any longer, she was in love with Vash the Stampede. While she had sat by his side nursing, as he had lain trapped in his own purgatory of guilt, Meryl had thought, long and hard about what kind of relationship, if any, she should attempt with him. How could a short lived human even attempt to love a plant. On the surface he might appear to be human but he wasn't and if what he had said to her was true, he was already many times her age. It was common knowledge that the plants were older than the great fall, "those who lived outside of time". It was apparent that he would most certainly outlive her. And if what he said was true, he would remain looking as he did as she aged normally.
And what about him, was he even capable of loving her back? If he was capable, would it be fair to him to love her? Knowing she'd grow old and eventually die leaving him all alone. If she really and truly loved him, how could she inflict that sorrow on him?
He had endured so much already. Wouldn't it be far better for him if she kept her feelings to herself and suffered unrequited love. But then when in the depths of his despair he had needed her the most, her heart had made her decision for her. She had given him what he needed.
Vash might not be human but he was still a man. It didn't matter who or what he was, she knew in her soul that she could never love anyone else. And love was a far more precious thing that even water on this arid dust ball of a planet. So she would wait for him, forever if she had to, and if..., NO! WHEN he came back she would tell him how she felt.
As lunch time drew near Meryl was hurrying back to the house from shopping when the ground began to shake. A rumble started beneath her feet and then suddenly a geyser of water erupted out of the wellhead. Milly can running towards her laughing jubilantly. "Meryl! Meryl, we did it, we did it! We hit water!"
Then she stopped and stared over Meryl's shoulder and if anything her grin got even bigger as she reached out to twirl her around, to see what she was looking out. "Oh Meryl, look! Look he's back! Mr. Vash is back!!!"
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