Eden
Dusk was coming at a rapid pace, and the four travelers in an old automobile were starting to get wary. Unfortunately for them, listening to a certain Needle-Noggin had gotten them utterly lost on their way to New Augusta City.
They were all exhausted. The two men in the front seats were trying to use a map to figure out where in all of Gunsmoke they were. The tall woman in the back was watching the scenery pass by idly, ignoring the ranting of the smaller woman to her left.
The small, very pregnant female was completely irate, yelling at the top of her lungs. "VASH! Look at where you've gotten us!" Meryl emphasized the yell with a swift smack to the back of Vash's head. "We're completely lost," she huffed, "and there is no one in sight."
"Calm down, Meryl, and stop hitting me," Vash whined. He loved his wife, but her mood swings were horrible; she was a violent little thing.
Luckily for the four, Meryl was wrong. In the far off distance to the west, Wolfwood spotted a two-story home.
"Thank God," the priest exclaimed, putting his foot on the gas, speeding up to see if any one lived there. "Do I see green?"
This caught Millie, the big girl's, attention. Her ears perked up, and she focused on the home. "Oh my, are those plants and trees and grass? How exciting!"
Meryl rolled her eyes. "Don't get too excited." Being pregnant didn't help her mood any.
"Pretty random having a home out in the middle of nowhere, especially with plants," Vash muttered, looking at the place curiously. "And, it seems to be taken care of."
The car slowed as it got closer to the home, and revealed a beautiful white home, surrounded by lush green grass and enormous trees.
Wolfwood whistled, "Nice place... someone has to be around."
As if on cue, a young blond boy came from behind the home, to see what all the noise was. He studied the four cautiously then spoke up, "Can I help you?"
Vash immediately thought the boy looked somewhat like himself, and if the kid wasn't his, then that left Knives, which seemed to be highly improbable.
Meryl looked at the boy, no more than ten, with brilliant blue eyes and sandy blond hair. The idea that Vash could have looked like this boy as a child flittered across her mind. "Hello, are your parents around?" she asked kindly, her maternal instinct kicking in.
He nodded briskly and ran back behind the home; the four following after him.
Needless to say, they were blown away when they saw the expanse of the greenery behind the home. The land was covered by grass, tall trees everywhere and what seemed to be flowering bushes.
Tending to a little garden was beautiful woman with emerald green eyes and blonde hair, obviously where the boy had gotten it. By her side were two twin toddler boys, playing in the grass and giggling.
She looked up slowly from her work when she heard her son call to her, wiping the dirt from the ground on her pants. "Who are our guests Mikey?" she asked, regarding the four lagging behind her son. Scruffy man with black hair and an unlit-cigarette dangling from his lips. To his right, a tall, happy looking woman. A smaller, pregnant woman. And lastly a man, with goldenrod blond hair, who she definitely found to be familiar. She eased up off of her shins to stand and greet her guests.
"Go get your father, tell him we have guests." Everyone watched as Mikey scurried off into the home through the back door. "Welcome... I'm Ria, woman of the house. That was Mikey, these two behind me are Owen and Peter, the second one, Nate, is with his father in the house somewhere... Now, what brings you all here? And who are you?" Ria said, finishing with a welcoming smile. She didn't get guests all that often, what with her husband and all.
The tall woman answered, "Oh, I'm Millie, and this is Meryl, the blond is Mr. Vash, and this is Wolfwood," she ended with a happy smile.
"Vash the Stampede, your legend surpasses you." Everyone looked at Ria with a confused expression.
Vash smiled sheepishly, while scratching the back of his neck. "Nice to know I'm famous... hehe... Well Miss Ria, we kind of got ourselves lost, you see." Vash beamed Ria a smile, and earned himself a smack via Meryl. "Ouch!"
Meryl smiled. "Vash got us lost actually. And we were wondering if you might be able to help us get to New Augusta."
"New Augusta is a good day and a half trip east," Ria explained, while pointing in the general direction. "It's far too late for y'all to leave now, and plus, y'all look exhausted." The blonde lady bent over and picked up her twins, one on each hip. "We have more than enough space in our home; you're welcome to stay the night," she voiced kindly. "Knives will be happy to see you Vash," Ria added as an after thought.
Shocked as he was at hearing the name Knives, Wolfwood still smiled; Ria surely wouldn't be with Knives if he was crazy, so it couldn't be that bad. "That would be wonderful," he responded, cigarette bobbing around.
Ria nodded her head toward her home and started to lead the way when through the back door Mikey and two more figures emerged.
From the home came Knives, two little boys in front of him, one obviously Mikey, so the other would have to be Nate. Knives noticed the group behind his wife, and he stopped in the doorway shocked. Knives hadn't seen Vash for a good seven or so years, since their fight. Vash had made every attempt to bring Knives back home with him, but Knives escaped one night, and found himself at Ria's. The rest was history, a beautiful history in his mind.
"We have guests! Your brother to be exact" Ria said excitedly, smiling up at her husband. "I've offered to let them stay for the night, because they're lost, and it's too late to go anywhere."
Knives shook his head, he didn't like to deny Ria anything, but there was no way he was letting these humans and his brother that betrayed him into his Eden, to corrupt his children and his wife. "No." Knives worked hard for this life, and he wasn't going to let his brother into it, even for a night.
"What? Why not, Knives?" She was confused.
"I said 'no' and that's final," he explained calmly. This definitely wasn't the Knives everyone thought they would be seeing. Vash was happily surprised; he thought that maybe he'd have to fight his brother again if he ever saw him; apparently, the only fighting that would happen here would be the mild bickering between Knives and Ria.
Ria's eyes narrowed in a mock glare, as she pushed past her husband and called after the group of humans, telling them to follow her and to ignore her husband.
Everyone was shocked, including Knives himself. "Ria, love, I know we don't see guests often," Knives began, following after his wife into their home, "but it's with good reason. We don't know them." So that was a lie, he obviously knew his twin, and the priest, and the two women seemed harmless...
Once everyone had entered the house through the back door, they saw was would be a living room connected to a kitchen. The inside was immaculate; looking like it belonged to an obsessive-compulsive neurotic person, Knives to say the least.
Ria put the twins down, and all four boys ran into the living room, as she continued to the kitchen. "Knives," Ria began, turning to look at him, "shut up... they're staying, I win, so get over it."
Knives was dumb-struck, standing in the kitchen looking at his wife with his mouth hanging open like a fish. Ria had made her decision, and in the end, the woman always won in their fights. With a wide smile on her lips, Ria walked up to Knives and gave him a quick kiss, to settle everything.
The four guests were amazed to see that Ria had obvious control over Knives. It was refreshing to see that love had set him straight, and that he didn't look like he'd be going psycho any time soon, what with having to take care of a large family and all.
Sighing, Knives gave in and sat down at their large kitchen table. Vash following the example, sitting right next to his brother, with a goofy smile on his face. The mental link Vash had with Knives kicked in, and he said. 'She's cute, and feisty...'
Knives glanced over to Ria, who was looking in the fridge, pulling out refreshments and starting idle chat with Millie and Meryl.
Knives sent an icy glare at Vash. 'Don't talk about my wife.'
Vash smiled again. 'You got a nice family going for you,' Vash said, when he saw one of the twins go up to Knives and lift his arms, saying that he wanted to be held.
'Yes; this is my idea of Eden.' Knives smiled down at his son, as Owen cuddled into his chest, intent on the idea of sleep. 'Your spider is pregnant I see.'
Vash scowled a bit, old habits die hard, 'Well, your spider had four of your children, so shut up.'
Knives laughed out loud, "Oh no dear brother, Ria is a plant, like us," he explained, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear. "I still don't take all that kindly to humans"
Ria looked over at Knives and said, "Right, you didn't even know I was a plant until like a month after meeting me. You thought I was a human for a little while, so stop being stupid."
Knives' eyebrow shot up as he looked over at his wife. "I don't know why I put up with you woman."
"Cause you love me," Ria said, matter-of-factly.
Knives nodded. "Yes, I do suppose my love for you might have something to do with it," he responded, with a smile.
A/N: just a badly written sap little thing with Knives being good in the end, tell me what ya think.