Vash awoke but didn't open his eyes. He wasn't quite ready to be alive to the world just yet. He'd had that dream again, that same awful dream. Shouting, running, the closing door of the escape pod, the same as always. That silky voice still rang in his ears, telling him to watch over Knives.

Tears were runing down the gun mens already wet face. He must have been crying in his sleep again. This didn't surprise him, he seemed to always be upset these days. And for good reason. Everywhere he went, people would die and cities would fall to ruin. Even the strongest of men couldn't escape it. Vision's of Wolfwood played through his head as he thought about it. Even the tough as nails priest in black couldn't escape it. The only two that had managed thus far were...

The soft creak of an opening door announced the arrival of one of the insurance girls. Vash supposed it was Milly stopping in for lunch before going back to work digging the well. But the footsteps were soft and less clumsy then the strong womans. The bed sunk a little as Meryl sat on it's edge. Vash still didn't move. Meryl didn't say a word at first, she just stroked the blonds hair lightly, comfortingly. This filled Vash with a small warmth, one he didn't often feel in these sad times.

Meryl sighed and Vash felt the soft dabbing of a cloth on his cheek as she dried his tears. "I wish you wouldn't dream about things that make you sad..." she said quietly, still wipping his cheeks.

She liked to play herself off as tough, but really, Meryl was such a soft hearted woman. Vash's mind flashed back to yesterday when she had faced off with someone trying to kill him. She had stood, no gun, and implored the man to lower his weapon. She had said all the things that Vash had always believed. She had spoken words he had heard a long time ago from another. Strong feelings of adoration filled Vash when he thought of Meryl. Adoration...and something more.

As her fingers returned to his blond hair, his mind wandered to all the days he'd spent with her. The fateful day that they had met, he'd had a whole box of doughnuts and she'd hit him round the head for it. He could remember the day she'd assisted him when they had been held hostage in a bar. He'd have been dead if she hadn't shot down the hanging lamp onto his asslaints head. And then there was that day she had choosen to take up the position guarding that couple that was being threatened for their land. To this day, she still thought she was the one that had shot Chenpai Nebraska out of the sky.

Vash had to stop himself from chuckling and giving away that he was awake. But he must have smiled because he heard Meryl sigh happily. "That's better."

His cheeks were suddenly hot as soft lips touched them for a moment. But they drew away quickly, to quickly for the gun mens liking. He opened his eyes, but she was already heading for the door. He was about to sit up, to say something. The door clicked behind the mousy black haired woman, unnoticing of the blonds awakening.

Vash sat up and mussed his hair. What would he have said anyway? Even he didn't know how he felt. That always seemed to be the case. His hand brushed the cheek she had kissed him on. A smile crossed his face, a true geniune smile. As he did, a familiar voice and the image of a priest clad in black came swiming through his mind. "Well I'll be...so you can smile like that."

And Vash laughed. For the first time since he could remember, the Huminoid Typhoon laughed a whole hearted and happy laugh.