A/N: I do not own Trigun
I'm not sure I'll continue this... I'm just testing it.

Chapter One: It's Not Over Yet

Meryl Stryfe, a 5'2" woman with short black hair and gray eyes sat on the front steps of the house she had been living in with her colleague. She and Milly, her colleague, had been there for 2 months. Meryl wore the same clothes she always had and kept her 'throw-away' pistols close by. She and Milly were waiting for him. "It's been 2 months already," She mumbled out loud, "how much time do you need, Vash? You aren't supposed to keep a good woman like me waiting." Meryl couldn't help it, she was depressed. A few days had turned into two months. She would be angry with him but she knew that Knives, his brother, wouldn't be making things easy. With a sigh Meryl pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to curl into a ball.

"He'll be here soon, I'm sure of it," a cheery voice called from behind her. Meryl turned her head to look at her friend. Milly Thompson stood 5'7" tall, 5 inches more than Meryl. Meryl's eyes met Milly's blue ones and she could see the hurt within them. Even with all the pain she still did her best to cheer Meryl up. Milly sat beside Meryl and placed her hands on her lap. Milly's long brown hair shined in the sun, it looked so pretty.

Meryl straightened out her legs and kept eye contact with Milly before stating, "Yeah, you're right. He gave his word. As soon as Knives is better he'll come get us and we'll all be happy." She didn't know that she believed the last part. Knives had done nothing but destroy humans and the mental health of his brother.

Milly was the person who broke eye contact first. Something was wrong, other than the fact that the man Milly loved was dead. Meryl couldn't read her. "When Mister Vash comes back," Milly said as she looked at the ground, "I don't think I'll be going with you two."

Meryl wasn't sure she heard right at first. "What," she said with a gasp, "What do you mean you won't be going with us? Of course you are why would you want to stay here?" Meryl couldn't process it, Milly had been by her side for so long. Meryl didn't want to live without Milly around. She wasn't always the smartest person but her smile and moments of genius were irreplaceable. She was the only friend Meryl truly had and without Milly, life would seem incomplete.

Milly fidgeted with her fingers slightly, as if nervous and trying to figure out how to piece her words together. "Well," Milly said quietly, her cheery tone completely gone, "Life around Mister Vash is usually dangerous. I hope that things will be calmer for him now, you said he seemed to like the idea of staying in one place, but what if trouble still follows him?" Meryl watched as Milly closed her blue eyes, still trying to piece things together. Meryl had the urge to interrupt, to tell her that it wouldn't be as dangerous and they'd all be fine, but she didn't. Milly exhaled slowly before saying, "I can't raise a baby like that."

Meryl was now sure she didn't hear that right. She felt all the color flush from her face. Milly looked like she was about to cry and that's when Meryl had her moment of clarity. Instead of getting mad she wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders and told her, "That's great isn't it? I know Wolfwood isn't around but," Meryl's words trailed off as she watched the first tear fall from the corner of Milly's eye, "he's left something amazing behind. A baby Wolfwood." Meryl almost smiled, trying to picture the priest as a baby, but that quickly disappeared as Milly buried her face into Meryl's shoulder. "I'd really like for you to come with me," Meryl told her as she ran her fingers gently through Milly's brown locks. "I don't want you going through this alone. You're my friend and I will help you. Vash will want to help too, I'm sure of it."

Milly's tears soaked Meryl's cloak as she cried. Meryl had grown used to this, Milly had been through so much pain lately. Wolfwood had meant so much to Milly and he died so horribly. His death had really taken its toll on Milly. "What am I going to do," Milly asked between sobs. Meryl's heart was breaking all over again for her friend.

Meryl would never forget how her friend cried the day Wolfwood died. She ended up diving into work mining just to avoid thinking. "We'll get through this together, Milly," Meryl told her. Truth was Meryl wasn't sure how to handle the situation. Her friend was practically a widow and now she had found out she was pregnant with the man's baby. Meryl wondered how long Milly had known, how long she carried that weight without help. It didn't matter, Meryl would stick by her friend and knew that this was a good thing, even if this would be difficult.

Vash the Stampede sat straight up in his bed. The tall, very tall, man placed his hands over his green eyes, covering them to clear his head. His usually spikey blond hair was fairly flat from being asleep. His heart was racing, another nightmare about Legato. Vash had come to peace with himself over taking a life but it still haunted him. As soon as his heart returned to its normal pace, her turned and stared at the second bed in the room. His brother, Knives, was sleeping soundly.

So much had happened with Knives during the nearly two months since their showdown. Vash had told Meryl he'd only be gone a few days but that had turned out to be a lie. He had expected Knives to be hostile, a man didn't change overnight, but he had never imagined just how difficult Knives would be. Vash wanted to go back to Meryl, to live a quiet life for a change. He couldn't do that until Knives could behave. Things were getting better though, Knives' physical body was mostly recovered and Vash recovered well too, thanks to the woman who had found them.

Vash was carrying Knives, he knew that he had to get Knives away from people. Vash walked with Knives as far as he could, but he was tired. They both were in pretty bad shape, Knives was worse off. Vash had just sat down to rest when he closed his eyes. He didn't know how much time had passed but when he opened his eyes he heard a soft voice asking, "Are you guys okay?"

Vash opened his eyes to see a short young woman, she was maybe 25. She had really long black hair, it wasn't as black as Meryl's though. She was really pretty, her skin was pale like porcelain. A smile formed on Vash's lips. A pretty girl was talking to him! He thought about flirting but then he thought of Meryl. She was too nice of a girl to do that to, he really was smitten with her. She was so much like Rem. Vash stared into the girl's pale gray eyes and told her, "We just stopped to get a little rest."

Vash watched her eyes move between Vash and Knives. She had a worried expression, not a good thing on such a pretty face. He watched her tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke quietly, "My house isn't too far away. Your brother doesn't look so well." She paused, as if to think, and Vash watched her cheeks turn a soft pink. "I'm sorry," she told him softly, "I should introduce myself. I'm Kiva Armstrong." Vash watched the female's lips move, creating one of the gentlest smiles he had ever seen.

"I'm Vash," he said calmly. He hated introducing himself, knowing this woman would probably want the sixty billion double dollars on his head now. He flashed a small smile at her and said, "This is my brother Knives."

Much to Vash's surprise, Kiva didn't freak out. He would have to be careful of this one. She was either stupid or planning something. "Knives," She repeated as she stared at his brother, "He seems like he needs medical care." She kept her gray eyes fixated on Knives. It was a strange site. "I'm a nurse. I could try to help him, i-if you want," she nervously bit her lower lip.

Since that time they had stayed with Kiva. She was a really kind person, even if Vash hadn't trusted her at first. He had been extremely skeptical, on the inside. Knives' breathing seemed peaceful. Vash now knew that Kiva had had no idea what she had gotten herself into. She had pulled back when she saw all the damage to Vash's body. She never once screamed though. Even though curiosity could be read all over her face, she never asked him about it. She never asked him about anything.

When Knives woke up for the first time since their arrival, Kiva had been in the room alone with him. Vash was stretching his legs. Vash had heard Kiva scream and when he ran into the room he saw Knives holding Kiva two feet above the floor by her throat. "Let her go, Knives," Vash had shouted as he grabbed his brother's arm and forced Knives to release her.

Kiva fell to her knees coughing, trying to regain her breath while she held her throat. "Stay out of it, Vash," Knives snapped, "I never want to hear that song again!" Hate was easy to read in Knives' eyes.

"You won't hurt her Knives, she's the one who's been taking care of us," Vash practically growled. He grabbed his brother by the collar of his shirt and punched him in the jaw hard.

When Knives smiled he pulled his hand back to do it again but this time two dainty hands grabbed his arm. He turned to look at their master, Kiva's eyes were watery as she stared up at him. "Please," her voice was raw, not nearly as pleasant as it had been before, "Please don't hurt him. It's my fault, I shouldn't have been humming that song. Please don't fight."

Vash was utterly confused. He released Knives, who started laughing and stared at the woman. "Kiva," he told her softly, trying to ignore his horrible brother's laughs, "Knives had no right to hurt you."

"I'm fine," she told him quickly.

Before Vash could respond to her she had let go of his arm and ran from the room. The door slammed closed and Knives' laughter faded. Vash looked at the floor. She had been changing the bandages on Knives' leg, they were all sprawled out. Vash picked them up and stared at his brother. "Don't you dare hurt her again," Vash told Knives, "bandage yourself."

Knives laughed again and caught the bandage roll as Vash threw it to him. "You're so weak," Knives told him, "still protecting humans I see."

That's how things went. Knives was cruel to Kiva but she wouldn't let Vash hit him more than once. Knives would laugh and call him pathetic in some way. Several times he had made Kiva cry. There was no way Vash could bring his monstrous brother around the woman he loved…. He wanted more than anything to go back to Meryl… but Knives just couldn't behave. He had to make him change his views on humanity and he had an idea how, but it would take time.