A Thousand Iles

A Trigun Fanfic

Disclaimer: No funny pun today, I'm sad and this is my output. I don't own Trigun or the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton.

            Making my way downtown

            Walking fast, faces pass, and I'm homebound

            Staring blankly ahead; just making my way

            Making my way through the crowd

           

            Vash the Stampede, alias Alex, walked down the main avenue of December, his arms full of groceries her had bought earlier that morning while out shopping. A smile lit his face as people around him saluted him and waved; Vash had become popular here ever since her had saved that little kid from another near-explosion of one of his sisters about a year ago.

            He had a steady job at as a café owner just outside the city for the passerby's that came to visit one of the most prominent cities on the planet. The name? Vash's Donut Shack. It was funded by Meryl and himself shortly after Knives returned bitterly to his ship. He worked there while Meryl maintained her job and the Burnadelli Insurance Society. Everything was perfect. They were so in love.

            Vash sighed. But that was all in the past. Now his beloved Meryl was gone, taken from him forever.

            And I need you ,and I miss you

            And now I wonder...

           

            Vash paused, leaning against the wall of a building and looked up at the impossibly blue sky and muttered quietly to himself...

            If I could fall into the sky,

            Do you think time would pass me by?

            'Cuz you know I'd walk a thousand iles

            If I could just see you, tonight.

            He sighed and put his chin against his broad expanse of chest. Meryl used to lay her head there when she hugged him. It felt warm; almost like she was still there. Vash inhaled a shuddering breath and began to walk, willing himself not to cry. He knew he had to be strong, for Meryl and for Milly. Vash wanted so much to repay the men that had killed Milly and Meryl, but he remembered Rem's sage advice and bit his lip.

            So it's times like these that I think of you

            And I wonder if you ever think about me

            Cuz everything's so wrong and I don't belong

            And I'm living in your precious memory

                        He couldn't kill; not even for Meryl. He reached his café and unlocked the door. It was tidy and fresh, like Meryl had always insisted it be. He smiled, almost being able to hear the chiding tone of her voice telling him that the word "Shack" in the name wasn't supposed to refer to the state of the café. He smiled as tears pooled over his lids and cascaded down his cheeks.

             'Cuz I need you ,and I miss you

            And now I wonder...      

            If I could fall into the sky,

            Do you think time would pass me by?

            'Cuz you know I'd walk a thousand iles

            If I could just see you, tonight.

           

            Vash stood for moment, dwelling on Meryl's memory,. He tried to clean the café, really he did; but everything reminded him of Meryl. The table near the window that she had always insisted be reserved for Milly so that she could watch the orphanage she had opened in Wolfwood's memory not too long ago; the silver teapot he had bought for her on her last birthday; the mirrors she had saved diligently to be able to buy...Unable to stand the memories the café contained, Vash locked the door and walked back into town. He walked until he came to a small shop and emerged a few minutes later with an armful of red flowers. He knew Knives would have his head if he found out that he was taking the flowers made by their siblings and "wasting" them on Milly and Meryl, but he didn't care what his brother thought right now.

            And I, I don't want to let you know

            I, I drown in your memory,

            I, I don't want to let this go

            I, I don't....

           

            As Vash walked along, his steps slow and mournful, he looked wistfully at the flowers and thought again back to Rem. She had loved red flowers. The color, she had said, represented courage. That's why his coat was red. For Rem. But right now, Vash thought as he looked down as his signature threads, he didn't feel so courageous. He felt more like huddling into a heap and bawling his eyes out for poor Meryl and Milly. Perhaps that's why he had bought the flowers in that color, to help himself stay strong; perhaps not. He wasn't in the mood to contemplate such things right now, Vash decided as he quickened his steps. He needed to get back to the café before the flowers began to wilt.

            Making my way downtown

            Walking fast, faces pass, and I'm homebound

            Staring blankly ahead; just making my way

            Making my way through the crowd

            As the café came into view Vash's steps quickened until he broke into a sobbing run. He dashed past it, because about a hundred yarz behind it stood two crosses. Vash knelt down before the first, which was actually Wolfwood's Cross Punisher propped up against a large stone. This, of course, was Milly's grave. Vash placed two roses, who's stems were entwined around each other, upon the grave.

            "Poor Milly" he thought solemnly "you weren't supposed to be die. You were supposed to stay alive and take care of the kids that wacked-out priest loved so dear. You shouldn't have died that night. But you did, so that the bandits wouldn't shoot Meryl yet and I would be home in time to save her. But I didn't. I wasn't even in time to see poor Meryl before she..." he paused for a moment, sadness and another wave of tears choking his words " I'm sorry you died in vain my friend."          

            A single tear fell upon Milly's grave as Vash picked up the entwined flowers and fit them between the straps still bounding the cloth to the Wolfwood's weapon. He felt more tears well up in his eyes as he approached Meryl's grave. This one was made of quartz, and Vash had inscribed her name and alias himself into the stone. Then he had painstakingly etched out the pictures of the roses that bordered the words "The only person to truly capture the Humanoid Typhoon"

            And I still need you ,and I still miss you

            And now I wonder...   

            Vash placed upon the sand the bouquet of flowers and pressed his forehead against the cold stone, letting his tears splash against it's cold and lifeless surface. He missed her so much. 

 

            If I could fall into the sky,

            Do you think time would pass us by?

            'Cuz you know I'd walk a thousand iles

            If I could just see you...oh~

           

            "Meryl..." Vash whispered softly "I miss you so much." He rose, now unaware of the droplets the let their trails down his cheeks. He stood for a moment, eyes closed, tears flowing unchecked, his red coat billowing in the sandy wind. He sighed a shuddering sigh of collapse, and turned back to his café, back to his life without those he held dear; back to another night alone, all the while singing softly until his gentle voice was lost in the wind.

            If I could fall into the sky,

            Do you think time would pass me by?

            'Cuz you know I'd walk a thousand iles

            If I could just see you, if I could just hold you....tonight.

            A/N: *Sorry it's so sad, but I'm kinda depressed right now. Reviews might help cheer me up, though ^_^ Thanks for reading, Love and Peace.*