I do not own Trigun / Vash or Rem: they belong to Mr. Yasuhiro Nightow.
.
.
Preparations
.
Year 0935 month 4 day 23
Vash returned upstairs after breakfast, and flopped comfortably onto their bed. He'd absorbed Shyla's memory package immediately, but had no time to process while eating and helping the children.
Now that he had a few minutes to himself, he began allowing himself to experience her memories...
.
Year 0931 month 6 day 10
Early on the morning of their 620th exhibition match, Shyla came downstairs in her pajamas and hung her podiatry diploma and certification on the wall in the ground floor sitting area. Vash was still sleeping upstairs in his room for a little longer. She'd wanted to have the certificates up before he arrived, but other preparations had taken precedence.
Those certificates completed a lengthy list of courses related to medical and biological studies. There was nothing more in either of those areas that the Seeds ship village instructors could teach her. Lessons would no longer be an obstacle (or excuse?) to prevent her from occasionally leaving town.
She hoped she could go with Vash when he left this time, but suspected that might not happen. If not, at least she could go along with the other Seeds doctors who traveled periodically to give assistance to other towns.
Sometimes, another town had a special-case patient or some disaster that would be mitigated by additional medical personnel. Sometimes they would either discover or else reconstruct a piece of lost technology, which would be of benefit to them, but for which they would need training to use most effectively. When any of those things happened, Seeds would loan what manpower (and womanpower) they could to assist the other town.
Thankfully, the one convalescent currently recovering in her house was an elderly woman who was a very sound sleeper. The small tapping needful to hang the two framed papers did not disturb her. Shyla had chosen a wall that was not shared with the lady's room to be extra-sure of that.
She returned upstairs, and saw that Vash had opened his door a little. She went to her room and quickly changed into her exercise clothes: comfortable knee-length pants, and a sleeveless top. No footgear was needed. She braided her hair, tied it, and returned to Vash's door.
"Come in," he said cheerfully, in response to her soft knock.
He was wearing his own exercise clothing, which consisted of a pair of very loose-fitting drawstring pants that were also secured at the ankles, and an equally baggy sleeveless top. She wondered if he wore things that oversized to limit chafing against his scars, but hadn't the courage to ask him.
She knew he was sensitive about his scars. Any mention of them might seem like an unwelcome invasion of privacy. So she remained silent on that topic.
"Good morning," she said softly, and saw him smile.
She knew that his smile was meant to be welcoming and reassuring, but she saw how troubled his eyes were. Since that day when he'd left without saying goodbye, 772 years ago, he'd only shared thoughts with her once. That had been to inform her he'd come for an unplanned visit to the village, and to ask her to come see him.
She wanted to try to help him with whatever it was that troubled him, or at least comfort him. Since he said and shared nothing, though, she let his silence remain unbroken. It made her heart ache to see him like this, but she could do nothing unless he allowed it.
She felt his warm affection, and responded in kind.
.
Year 0935 month 4 day 23
Vash briefly pulled back out of Shyla's memories from four years ago to recall his own memories of that long-ago unplanned visit. It had been a very difficult situation. Unfortunately, he was the only one who could resolve it.
.
Year 0231 month 6
It had taken a lot of talking from both himself and Rem to persuade Shyla to identify those who'd been harassing her. Even then, she'd been ashamed and inclined to blame herself.
The three of them had slept that night in the generally unused crew quarters of the hovering Seeds ship itself. He'd deliberately left the doors to that room wide open, so that others could wander by and see them all three innocently sleeping on separate bunks.
He'd also instructed his body to wake if anyone entered. That made for several awakenings during the course of the night, when ever someone got so curious that they stepped into the doorway. Thankfully, they always left quickly when he stirred. He was most definitely not in a mood for pranks, however well-intentioned.
The first time he woke, he'd checked to see that neither Rem nor Shyla had been disturbed. Rem lay on a bunk at right-angles to the one he rested on, her dark hair fanned about her. There was something soul-calming about the beautifully peaceful expression on her face.
He listened to the soft breathing of the two ladies so dear to his heart, and braced himself for a quick peek at Shyla. He looked where she slept, and saw her pale hair looking almost like spun silver in the dim light. She lay so that she half-hugged the pillow where her head rested.
Vash had quickly settled back on his own bunk, and lay there staring up at the ceiling while counting to two hundred in an effort to distract himself. It wasn't working.
Looking at Shyla had been a mistake.
He curled up on his right side and buried his face in his hand, wishing that he could trade places with that pillow Shyla held. He blinked as tears pricked at his eyes. "So pathetic," he whispered softly, condemning himself. He had no right to wish for anything like that.
He sincerely loved her, and wrestled with a strong desire for her that – best case – was premature. It was also possible that she would never reciprocate.
The pathetic nature of his wish to replace her pillow stirred up the loneliness that had silted up the bottom of his soul. He pulled the blankets over his head so that neither woman would hear him crying.
The next morning, he'd needed to deal with the reason he had come to visit Seeds Village sooner than planned.
Some of the village's children had taken it upon themselves to punish Shyla for his prolonged absence. They would hurl insults and accusations at her, along with Thomas dung. His brief visit, along with some stern words to both the children and parents involved (in the presence of a village leader), had put a stop to it.
He'd told them how disappointed he was by such terrible behavior. He'd also instructed them to fling the dung at him instead of Shyla, if they ever again wished to pelt someone with such substances. That would hurt him less than knowing they'd done it to his friend.
Learning that he was not displeased with Shyla had shaken them, and ended the overt persecution against her. It had not cured all ill feelings, but it had at least compelled the people who disliked her to stop expressing it in ways that would hurt her so badly.
It had not escaped his notice that everyone involved was descended from a woman who had once been infatuated with him during her youth. She had been among the witnesses who saw him bring Shyla to the Seeds ship village, even though she'd married someone else by that time.
Based on something Lumia said to Rem, he got the impression that Jessica must still have had some lingering infatuation toward him, even though she'd married Brad a few years prior to Vash's arrival with Shyla.
Shyla's disposition made it impossible that she could have done anything to Jessica that would directly earn such dislike. However, Jessica had long run possessive. If she became jealous enough to dislike Shyla for his attention toward her... it might explain a few things. Jessica's children may have acquired her dislike, and spread it like a virus to their own descendants.
.
Year 0935 month 4 day 23
Vash fervently hoped that the generation he'd scolded would end such an unhealthy trend. He made a mental note to check on their descendants, and do whatever was in his power to make sure there was no lingering difficulty between them and Shyla.
He glanced at a clock, and saw that he still had some time before he'd need to clean up for the family portrait. So he again closed his eyes, and returned to Shyla's memories of that day four years ago, when she felt she'd first begun to think of him romantically... instead of as a close friend who chanced to be male.
On that day, they had met early in the morning to do exercises together…
.
Year 0931 month 6 day 10
"Shall we begin?" he asked, moving toward the door.
"I think I'm ready," she answered. "Though I probably won't do as well as you do, since I spend so much time holding still tending patients."
"You always give me a run for my money," he said mischievously as he passed her to walk through the doorway.
She followed him into the upstairs sitting room, which had more floor space than any of the other upstairs rooms because of the differently-arranged furniture it contained.
They methodically worked their way through Vash's exercise routine. When they reached the mock shooting part, Shyla took a position that guarded his back and let him guard hers. After their back-to-back mock-shooting practice, they did more exercises. They ended with additional handstand push-ups.
This time, she saw that he kept going even after exceeding the usual number by a fair margin. He grinned at her, so she kept going too. Apparently he wanted to see how long each of them could keep going, and who would tire first.
She admired how his muscles moved so smoothly under the skin of his arm. Even his numerous scars could not conceal that. Her own muscles were inclined to complain and cramp at the extra exercise.
Naturally, her more sedentary lifestyle resulted in her giving out first. When she felt her arm give way, she curled into a somersault. She ended the somersault by laying flat on the floor with both of her arms over her head, giggling.
He dropped with graceful ease to a sitting position beside her, and laughed too. "You're doing better," he said approvingly. Then his face took on an exceptionally gentle expression that she'd never seen before.
He leaned over until he was reclining beside her, braced on his left elbow. He gently brushed back stray strands of hair from her face with his natural hand, and looked into her eyes.
"You can be pretty amazing at times," he said softly, still stroking her hair with gentle fingers. He slowly leaned toward her and gently kissed her cheek, lingering just enough for it to be unusual.
Then he abruptly sat up, turned away from her, and said, "We should wash up for breakfast. Don't want to keep your patient waiting." He flashed a brief smile over his shoulder, and was out the door before she could say or do anything.
Shyla sat up, and her fingers hovered over the place on her cheek where he'd kissed her. She didn't move for several minutes. She felt strange, and a little confused.
Always before, when he'd kissed her, it had been a very brief yet gentle and chaste peck on cheek, forehead, or occasionally the top of her head. That one was different. It wasn't unpleasant – far from it! But somehow, it was very different from anything he'd ever done previously. His emotional echoes felt different as he did it, too.
She didn't know what to think or how to behave. She sat there trying to puzzle it out for a few minutes longer, and then decided that she would let his behavior guide her. Perhaps it had merely been a random impulse that he'd already forgotten.
Finally, she went to wash up and face the rest of the day.
The day progressed much like any other day. Vash was out visiting everyone. She lived according to her usual routine, except for making extra food at mealtimes and enjoying seeing him come to eat with her.
Evening came right on schedule. Shyla saw to it that her single convalescent guest had dinner and was settled for the night.
Then it was time for the practice duel with Vash before the exhibition matches. The two of them, Vash and Shyla, would compete against a few other teams who wanted to try their luck against the two Plants.
He walked into the small practice arena smiling, with a blindfold in one hand. His light gun rested in the holster strapped to his right thigh, just as hers was in a holster strapped to her own leg.
She wanted to look at him sternly because of the blindfold, but couldn't help smiling back. When he was blindfolded, she could tie with him or occasionally outscore him. When he could see, he always won – even if only by a very narrow margin.
She hoped the presence of the blindfold wasn't mocking her skills.
He put on the blindfold and asked her to start the duel. She did, and outscored him by a single point.
She couldn't help admiring his grace, speed and accuracy as they dueled. While she had noticed these things before, for some reason she was acutely aware of those details about him right then.
He always seemed to move so smoothly, while she herself felt as if she was all elbows and knees. The distraction of admiring his natural grace in movement might have contributed to her only outscoring him by one point, and not by a wider margin.
He whipped off the blindfold, grinning. "Should I wear this during the exhibition matches?" he asked. "It might give our opponents higher scores, which could make them feel better... even if they still don't win."
"They might view it as you mocking their skills," she said softly. "Some of those guys get really sensitive about losing, and if they lost while you were blindfolded..."
He frowned. "I'd never intentionally mock their efforts," he said. "They're trying to hone their skills, so they can protect others. I want to encourage that. If they might misinterpret my effort to balance things that way, then I won't wear it." He quickly stuffed the offending cloth into a pocket and dismissed it.
"It's probably time. Shall we?" He offered her his arm, smiling.
She smiled in return, and linked her arm in his. They walked up to the main arena to begin their exhibition matches against other teams.
.
Year 0935 month 4 day 23
Vash smiled at the memories, and continued...
