Kinetic Energy

At first, he was anxious to bring Knives back to the small town. He thought about turning around and going in another direction dozens of times, but his feet continued to carry him forward. His body ached, blood seeped from his wounds through the bandages, he had no food or water, but his feet were oblivious to all of that, fed on the single realization of what the future could hold. And despite the weight on his shoulder, he smiled more wholeheartedly than he had ever done before. He smiled at redemption, at the blue sky, two girls waiting in a small town for him to come home. He hoped Meryl cooked stew. He hoped Milly was working hard on the well. He hoped the townspeople were still kind.

At first it was just a spec in the distance. As it grew and became larger he could make out the shapes of buildings, then the cars, and then a crowd of people surrounding the fountain of water spouting from the place where Milly's crew had been digging. The spray reached so far that it hit his face when he was still dozens of yards away. It revitalized him. His sleeping brother stirred when hit by the spray, but didn't wake up.

"Hey! Insurance girls!" He saw them turn and they never looked happier. He laughed at them.

-----

Meryl started a pot of stew and went out to buy donuts and other groceries. Milly helped Vash carry his brother into the house and up the stairs into Vash's bedroom.

"Where are you going to sleep, Mr. Vash?" Milly asked.

"On the couch." He replied.

He changed Knives' bandages. On the whole, the bullet wounds weren't that bad, and were healing nicely. He'd wake up soon. Afterwards Milly insisted on taking care of Vash's own injuries, replacing the sloppy self-bandaging with superior care. With all injuries seen to, Milly began to fill Vash in on all that happened while he was gone. Meryl missed him terribly, and of course Milly missed him too. He missed both of them and was glad to be back.

Meryl returned and finished the stew. They ate an early supper and Vash checked on Knives, leaving him a bowl of stew just in case. Then he went back downstairs to help with the dishes. The meal eaten, the kitchen cleaned, they sat in the living room where Vash ate his donuts and started to explain all that happened to him after he left. The girls listened solemnly, and when he finished much later in the evening, Meryl asked him what he planned to do after all this.

They would keep moving forward. The ticket to the future is always blank.