All The World Is My Stage

By: Topaz Tribal

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun. That belongs to Yasuhiro Nightow. And I don't own As You Like It. That belongs to William Shakespeare. Ok, now the lawyers are happy.

A/N: ^_^' Hehehe.... Funny story. So it was Wednesday. I was in study hall and memorizing lines from the play As You Like It. I had to perform it for the Renaissance Faire we were having Friday. By the way, my English teacher is psycho. Anyway, I was memorizing the part where they are talking about how "All the world's a stage..." and so on. So, I get to thinking "Hey, that's kinda like how Vash is always changing his personality from idiot to dead serious", and -PRESTO- I write this fanfic when I was suppose to be memorizing. It's real short and in Vash's P.O.V. And if you're still reading this, I commend you for your commitment.

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All the world's a stage

And all the men and women merely players.

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts...

I'm always me, but never the same. In all the years I've lived, I've changed many times. The masks I wear to hide all the pain fall from time to time, leaving me open to the harsh world's judgment. My life's been full of tragedies but, at the same time, full of happy moments too. I've had my share of laughs and tears, more than most would in their life times. Of course, my life time's staggeringly longer than a normal human's would be, isn't it? I forget that sometimes, that I'm different. That I'll see friends come and go with age, time and time again. It hurts to think that, to know that one is not mortal, and to have no one to be there when others have passed.

Well, almost no one.

My brother, although living as long as I will, doesn't care about the humans. He hates them with the passion of a thousand suns. He is the reason there is so much pain in my life. With his violent actions against me and the populous of Gunsmoke, he causes destruction and death to those who he feels are garbage. And to him, all humans are garbage. He killed Rem and orchestrated the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent people with the help of his Gun Ho Guns.

Whenever the thought of his hateful and disparaging nature enters my mind, the playful, goofy mask of a fool drops away in the dust and the hurt, scarred and angered face of a person too old for even my years appears.

I hate that part of me. That's why I try to hide it away from everyone, locked under a myriad of idiotic masks. When I act the fool and put on a smile for those around me, I'm not hurt or scared. I'm simply there in a happy light, making everyone around me laugh. Laughing scares away the demons of the past. Laughing hides the pain. Laughing hides the tears.

It's strange, but when I'm with my friends, my smiles seem less fake and more real. My friends..... I have friends? As odd as the thought sounds to my ears, I truly have friends. Wolfwood, Milly, .... Meryl.... they are my friends. Those Insurance girls and that crazy priest.... How they could stick by me this far is beyond my comprehension. As many times as I tried to leave them behind, no matter how much danger was there, they followed me. Why? Why did they do it? I think I understand now...... They care.

The Angel. The Fool. The Lecher. The Outlaw. The Demon.

Those are only a few of the parts I play to cover my true self. Those masks are my defense against a world that can't understand. Those masks are my anchor to sanity. Those masks hide the past I wish was less dark. I might always live in the world as if an actor in a play, but those masks are parts of me.

Those masks are me.

End

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A/N: I know it was short, but so is my attention span. So there. Anyway, R&R. I wanna know what you readers think. I already asked my friends. One thought it was depressing. One thought it was sweet. (sigh) Don't ask, she's the strange one. Another just said "Mmhmm. Nice." She was kinda mad at me since I interrupted her writing time to read it. Oh well! Ja-ne minna-san!