"That's a nice song."

"Yeah."

I let my gaze linger only a moment longer on her features as she took her seat next to me. I hadn't expected her to come here, much less know of Rem's song…however, if there's anything that these recent years have taught me, it's that people are full of surprises.

My eyes moved back to the heavens, and I let my mind resume its train of thought. About Knives, Rem…what I must do. I never forgot that she was there, but the silence around us had always been so comfortable, and I never felt the need to fill it with mindless talk. We had been together so long; there was just no need for that anymore.

"You can…"

Her voice broke into my thoughts, and I looked down at hear features. Something about them had changed since she came and sat by me. Either that or I had just not been able to penetrate whatever mask she wore in her approach. There was sadness there now, and an innocent pain I had never seen before. Well, few instances I could recall, but at this moment I couldn't remember what had spurred them…nor did I care. We were in this moment now.

"You can stay here permanently if you like."

I had never seen her face so clear before. Like an open book, I could read just about every emotion that was flashing through her eyes. She was afraid, and there was a feeling of hopelessness. Once she had finished her words I could tell why. 130+ years of roaming, settling down isn't exactly an easy thing. Of course, that does make choices a little easier. I wouldn't be alone, she would stay with me. I could tell that just from her voice.

"That sounds good."

I didn't have to look at her to hear the surprise in her small gasp. The thought of it made me smile. Not her surprise, but the thought of spending my life with her here, in this town. My mind drifted to the possibilities of a now all too real future. Peaceful days, slow and easy, just as I had been living now. Except there would be no sense of foreboding. There would be no destiny to linger over my head, and no battles to face. There would be no loneliness. She was offering me a home, a chance at peace, and in some small way a life with her. She would stay with me now, not just because she had to…but because she wanted to. I could live…we could live peacefully.

"That might not be so bad."

Sharing a life here with her…that might not be so bad at all.

Authors Note: Yeah, I'm a crazy VashMeryl fanatic...and this is one of my favorite scenes in the anime. Never really had time to read the manga, and the fact that I spend so much on other manga anyway...its craziness. So yeah, just settle for the anime right now.
Anyways! I was thinking about doing more to this, my own idea of course as to what else led Meryl to 'stay up late' that night. Nothing crazy, just wonderful cuteness, but yeah, if enough people want it, I may add to this. For now, a Vash POV on that scene in ep. 25.