Quick Recap: A young woman named Kallie stops in a bar and Legato shows up in town, causing the people of the town to begin killing one another. Kallie is placed in a life or death situation with his gun to her head, in order to become bait to get the man in the red coat into the bar. Just as she thinks the ordeal is over, Legato shoots her right in front of the man in the red coat, and he then takes her back to an inn where her wounds are tended to. She meets Millie and Meryl and they are about to sit down for dinner!

Disclaimer: We do not own Trigun nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is the lint from our pockets and some wallets which may contain dead moths that won't even be alive to fly out when you open them.

Chapter: The Man who Destroyed July
Chapter Written By: Peggi
Edited and Revised By: Devy

As soon as Meryl removed the pot from the stove Millie stood and grabbed some plates from one of the cabinets. Meryl poked her head around the doorway to call in the man with the red coat.

"Vash, dinner is done!"

No sooner did she call for him was the man in the red coat, now known to Kallie as 'Vash', in the room. Everyone served their plates and sat around the table. Meryl had made a nice beef roast with vegetables mixed in and garlic bread, which all went very well with Millie's salad. Everyone began eating right away and were all enjoying their dinner but from the moment Vash entered the room, the wheels in Kallie's head were turning. Halfway through the dinner, Kallie began eyeing him and eating more slowly and no one noticed for several minutes, until Vash looked up from his nearly finished dinner.

"Everything alright, Kallie?" he asked in his overly-cheerful voice.

"Peachy," she replied very dryly.

She continued to watch him until the dinner was completely finished, and as soon as the girls were done with their food Meryl noticed the tension that could be cut with a knife. If you could glare daggers at a person, Vash would've been skinned, diced into little pieces, and prepared to be made into Vash stew by now. She decided to try and break the tension, despite not really knowing how or if it was even a smart idea.

"So, Kallie, where are you traveling? I noticed your shoes are pretty worn out and your bag was packed for some serious travel!"

Kallie never moved her eyes off of Vash when she spoke, "wherever life takes me. It's not like I have anywhere special to go."

Vash was almost nervous, feeling Kallie's eyes on him. He most definitely did not want to speak and possibly anger Kallie further, not that he knew what he'd done to deserve a look of hatred in the first place.

"Well then," Meryl didn't give up "you're welcome to travel with us while you recover from that gunshot wound."

"Yeah!" Millie chimed in, also noticing some bad vibes floating through the air, "we don't get company often! It'll be great!"

"Me? Travel with him? I really don't think so!" Kallie stood, grabbed her plate and water glass and took them to the sink.

"Me?" Vash hesitated with the question.

"Yes, you! Do you see any other men at this table?!" there was hatred and plenty of venom in her voice when she spoke.

"S-sorry..."

"You have no idea who I am, do you?!" Kallie raised her voice at this point.

"No, I really don't."

"Well you should! It took me a while to put two and two together, but you're the reason I travel. You're the reason I travel alone. You ruined my whole life! You took everything and everyone I knew and destroyed it all. You're the reason my parents and my sister are dead!"

Everyone was speechless again, and Vash wanted to ask her what she meant but was almost afraid to. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come to him. Whatever he had done, it had somehow ruined this girl's life, and he had no way of making it up to her.

"Did you know that when you destroyed my city, when you destroyed my life, that I was only spared because I was away visiting some friends? I spent the better part of my time afterwards wondering why me? Why was I still alive and safe? You destroyed July! My parents killed each other, fighting over food. My little sister, she died when an elderly man who ran a toy store down the street from us killed her for a few bites of bread. That man who I have known my whole life, who used to fix my dolls when they were broken, who I always thought of as family, he killed my sister. And it's all your fault! Vash, the Humanoid Typhoon!"

Before Kallie had time to storm off, back to the bedroom she'd woken up in, Vash stood, nearly knocking the chair down in his haste. Kallie was almost certain he was about to somehow harm her or retaliate, but instead, he did something unexpected.

"Kallie, I'm so sorry," his voice sounded shaky and he didn't give her time to reply before taking off into the next room.

Kallie stood by the sink, fueled by anger and hate, yet her confusion at least prevented her from following him with a slur of angry words. She looked to the girls, both frozen after witnessing Kallie screaming at Vash.

"I'm sorry," she really did feel bad for ruining their evening "dinner was wonderful, but I'm sure you want me out of here after that."

"No," Millie offered a little smile "you're still welcome to stay here for the night and get some rest. We'll be taking off in the morning, and you're still welcome to come with us if you'd like."

Kallie just smiled back and nodded, not really giving a definitive answer. Kallie started to head back towards her room when she noticed Vash was sitting on the couch. He had his face in his hands and by the movement of his shoulders, she could tell that he was...crying? She eyed him for a moment, not sure what to do and still very confused by his reaction to what she had said in the kitchen. Before she knew what she was doing, Kallie's instincts took over and she approached the man.

As though her body were on auto-pilot, Kallie sat down next to Vash, placing a hand on his shoulder. At the touch, he lifted his head and looked into Kallie's eyes. She saw right away that his eyes were red already from crying, and she just stared into them for a few seconds. Before Kallie realized what was happening, Vash pulled her into a hug and began crying on her shoulder. Kallie didn't know what to do at that point. Her mind was in a heated battle at the moment. A part of her wanted to push him off and slap him for even touching her after what he'd put her through, yet the other part of her wanted to put her arms around him and comfort him. With the conflict in her mind, all she could do was sit there and not move a muscle.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he kept repeating, still sobbing on her shoulder.

Kallie pulled away from him, causing him to sit up straight again, tears still rolling down his cheeks as he looked at her. She sighed, not really sure what to say to him for a few moments, before she just let the Kallie auto-pilot mode take over again.

"Vash, you've already apologized. I really have to ask you something, though."

Vash sniffled, forcing himself to stop crying as much as he possibly could. He wiped the tears away, a fruitless move because they were replaced almost immediately with new tears. Sniffling again, he nodded, letting her know that he was ready for her question. He kept the eye contact until Kallie looked away, staring down at her lap and speaking softly.

"If you're so sorry now, why did you destroy July in the first place?" it was a question she had wondered since the day it happened.

Vash finally looked away, his crying a lot more calm now, but tears still fell from his eyes. He wiped them away again, pausing for a few moments before he even attempted an answer, staring at the floor as he did so.

"I don't even remember destroying it in the first place. It wasn't my fault. I-I didn't mean to do it."

Kallie wasn't really sure how to take that response. For a long time now she had imagined what it would be like the day she met Vash the Stampede. She always pictured him as a big, scary looking guy who made that man, Legato, look like a saint. She pictured that if she ever met him she would just know it was him and that she wouldn't have second thoughts about killing him for what he had caused her life to become. Now, here he was, the man she'd wanted dead, and she felt the need to comfort him. He actually felt bad about what had happened to July and possibly, if he was telling the truth, not only didn't intend for it to happen, but didn't even remember destroying it.

'How can this even be the same man?' Kallie wondered to herself.

The two sat in silence for what felt like ages for both of them, neither really having the desire to be the next one to speak. They made eye contact again and neither broke it for almost a full minute until Vash finally caved and spoke.

"Really though, I am so sorry for what I put you through."

Looking into his eyes, Kallie could tell that there was no way that this man had intentionally caused all of that damage and destruction. There was also no way that he could possibly be lying, not that she could think of any reason that he would, not if he'd destroyed an entire city. He should be bragging, if he had meant for it to happen. Kallie just took in a deep breath and nodded.

"I believe you, that you didn't destroy the city intentionally. But...how? How could you destroy a city without meaning to? Without remembering?"

Vash opened his mouth to speak, but before the words could leave his mouth there was a loud knock at the door. Meryl, who had been standing in the doorway, making sure that the conversation on the couch didn't get out of hand, walked over to it to answer it. Kallie and Vash's attention went back to the door and the two of them sat in silence, waiting to see who was there. A man stepped inside as the girls both greeted him, Kallie instantly recognizing him. It was the priest she had seen at the bar; the one who Vash had dragged off towards the sound of gunfire who drank and smoked and played poker.

The priest looked towards the small living room area of the inn, the girls following him as he made his way there. Kallie wrinkled her nose at the smell of cigarettes on the man and watched as he sat down, propping the very large cross he was still carrying around against the wall.

"Well then," he sighed as he made himself comfortable "glad to see you up and getting around. Just in time, too! I'm Nicholas Wolfwood, by the way!"

Kallie forgot for a moment that her side still hurt, at least until she leaned forward to shake the hand he was extending to her. Millie and Meryl sat down on the love-seat, joining in the conversation. Kallie felt slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation, but stayed where she was to see what he had meant by 'just in time'. The situation bothered her because she was wounded, in a room with two women she hadn't even known for an hour, the man who she would've gladly shot in the head as of yesterday, and a priest who was as shady as they came for a church man.

"So, I take it we're leaving town tomorrow?" Meryl directed her question at Wolfwood.

"You've got it! So, I didn't catch this pretty young thing's name."

It was very obvious that the man was flirting with her, which would've been flattering on any other day and by a man who was not supposed to be a man of the cloth.

"Kallie," she answered very matter-of-factly.

"Kallie, well that's a name as beautiful as the girl who has it!" more flirting that made Kallie even more uncomfortable.

"We'll leave bright and early then!" Meryl informed the group.

Wolfwood gave Vash a questioning look, "Vash, something the matter?"

Vash just shook his head with very little enthusiasm and looked down at the floor again.

"Welllll alrighty then!" Wolfwood brushed off the response as he stood, "I guess I'll be getting a shower then and heading to bed! I'll see you all in the morning!"

'So they all stay here? I wonder if I'm supposed to be sharing my room with someone. This place doesn't look like it's got a lot of space' Kallie internally worried herself.

"I guess I'll head off to my room then. Thanks again, everyone, for helping me out. I do appreciate it."

Everyone stood at once and Kallie hoped someone would clarify the question she had in her mind. As though reading her thoughts, Vash answered for her.

"Millie and Meryl are on the opposite end of the inn, you'll be across the hall from me and Wolfwood," in his own mind, Vash was just giving Kallie an opportunity to switch rooms and stay in a room with one of the girls, if she wanted.

"Okay, that sounds good," she responded, waving a goodnight to everybody minus Wolfwood, who had already taken off to get his shower.

"Sleep well tonight, Kallie!" Millie smiled at her.

"You too, good night girls!"

With that everyone branched off to wards their own separate ends of the inn. Vash allowed Kallie to walk a few steps ahead of him, trying to avoid invading her space. Kallie didn't seem to be paranoid by his being right behind her, and it hadn't really occurred to her to care. Just as she was opening the door to the bedroom that was to be hers, Vash spoke in a very soft tone.

"Hey, Kallie?"

"Yeah?" she was a bit unsure of where this conversation might go.

"I'll never hurt you again. I swear. I'll be here to protect you."

Kallie suddenly felt all of the anger just melting away. This man really wasn't who she had hated all this time. The man she hated never really existed. It was just a man who had somehow accidentally destroyed a city but had the guilt anyway. Vash was just a man. A man who clearly had feelings. A man who had tried to come to her rescue, who was so sensitive and kind that he couldn't even kill another human being who was torturing him by forcing him to watch other people die. This was the man who had taken her after she was shot by Legato and made sure she was nursed back to health.

'I'll always be here to protect you' repeated in her mind for a few moments as she looked deep into his eyes. Vash began to lean forward, something that Kallie would've felt butterflies because of in any other situation. She didn't want to be kissed. Not now, and not when she was just finally starting to feel better about this man. Closer, closer, until she was positive the kiss was about to happen, but then Vash pulled her into a hug. He held her tightly for a few moments until she wrapped her arms around him, sighing into his chest and feeling more safe and secure than she had in quite some time.

When the hug was over, which seemed to Kallie to last for several minutes, Vash simply kissed her forehead and then turned around. He walked into his room and left Kallie standing outside of her bedroom, still trying to process what had just happened. Suddenly, the butterflies Kallie was missing from just before she thought she was about to be kissed showed up. She wanted so badly to hate this man, but something inside of her betrayed her wishes. She smiled, walked into her room, and sank into the bed. Letting out a content sigh, Kallie drifted off into sleep to dream about all of the good memories of her life. She even had a dream where she and Vash and the girls were just traveling the world together. It was the first time since she'd lost everything she had ever known, that she dreamed of something peaceful.

Peggi: I know it's getting a little feelsy pretty fast, but keep in mind this was written as an insert-yourself quiz-style thingy so it wasn't too terribly long. But, other than that, liking it so far?

Devy: Poor Vashy-baby! All that guilt and emotional pain he goes through! It kills me on the inside!

Peggi: I know! Well, readers, please send us your reviews and let us know what you think about the story so far!

Devy: And bonus question - do you think that Kallie will decide to travel with Vash and the gang, or do you think she'll just have run-ins with them from time to time?