Dig for Fire
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun.
Luck was on her side today.
She had gotten off of work early due to the fact that her foreman was still thrilled with how quickly they had reached water. She happily made her way up town and stopped into the General Convenience Store to buy a couple cups of chocolate pudding, her favorite.
"Hello Mr. Teller!" she greeted and handed the middle-aged man the money for her treats.
"Well hello, Miss Millie!" he took the money and handed the big-girl her change. "Quite a commotion before, eh?"
Millie opened her pudding and began to dig in with the spoon she always carried with her, just incase. "What commotion?" she asked.
The older man's eyes widen with surprise. "You mean you…haven't heard?"
The brunette shook her head and continued to eat her pudding.
"Well, I guess since you were downtown you wouldn't hear about it. But gee, the whole town was nearly taken over by thugs!"
"Thugs?" she repeated. "Were there a lot of them?"
Mr. Teller nodded. "Around a dozen or so, and their boss was one mean fellow!"
"What did they do?"
"They tired to take over the Mayor's Office!"
Millie gasped and proceeded to open another pudding. "Oh no!"
"Oh yes!" the old man nodded. "And the Sheriff and his men were nowhere in sight! We would have been down for if it weren't for that blonde guy!"
The tall insurance girl swallowed her pudding with a loud gulp, "A blonde guy? You mean Mr. Vash?" Uh oh.
"Well…" Mr. Teller leaned over the counter and whispered. "That's what the rumors say. The Sheriff claims he's just a passerby who happened to come about the scene and wanted to help."
Millie nodded, "I see,"
"But…" his voice was even lower. "I know your friend Meryl was in here with a blonde man right before everything went down, and I also know that you two girls were very friendly with Vash the Stampede."
His eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt uneasy. "Mr. Teller…you're not…gonna tie him to that truck again…are you?" she queried fearfully.
"What!" the old man nearly screamed and began shaking his hands in front of him. "No! Of course not! I just wanted to know if you can send him our gratitude…and apologies for what we did to him before."
She felt a wave of relief hit her system and smiled happily, "Well in that case, I'd be happy to tell him! I'm sure Mr. Vash will be glad to know that the town has accepted him!"
"Thanks Miss Millie, it really means a lot to us!" He then pointed to stack of pudding behind her. "Take some. It's on the house."
"Gee thanks, Mr. Teller!" She then picked up two containers of chocolate pudding then made her way out waving. "I'll see you later!"
She continued to eat her pudding on the way to the house. "I sure hope Mr. Vash is alright, but knowing Sempai she's probably watching over him like a hawk." She pictured Meryl tending Vash's wounds with love and squealed happily. "Maybe this will be thing to bring them together...and make me an aunt!"
After her daydream, Millie made her way into to the house and walked cheerfully inside. "Sempai?" she called, and wasn't surprised to hear silence answer her. She placed her pudding on the table and made her way up the stairs to Vash's room.
Afraid of interrupting anything, Millie slowly opened the door a crack and looked inside. She saw Meryl sitting in front of the bedside of an unconscious Vash, and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth.
"Sempai!"
She notice Meryl instantaneously swing around in fright. "Oh Millie you startled me."
Millie gave her a smile that she hoped was reassuring. "Sorry Sempai, I just came in and didn't know where everyone had gone." She lied and pretended to just notice Vash on the bed. "Uh oh, what happened to Mr. Vash this time?" She walked over to try and see the damage to the blonde.
What really gave Millie the chills was the fact that Vash didn't often loss consciousness unless he suffered from extreme pain or mental trauma. The last, and only time, she had seen him like this was when he shot that horrible blue haired man.
She was thrown from her thought by her partner, "It's a long story, but h-"
Abruptly there was then a crash and a loud scream from Knives' room.
Millie took a glanced at the wall. She was used to all sorts of loud noises coming from the Plant's room. It seemed as if he was having another one of his fits again. "Looks like Mr. Knives is up. I think it's time for his medicine." She watched her friend get up from the chair, and felt a twinge of guilt sting her heart. It really wasn't fair for Meryl to have to take care of both men. "Are you sure you're up to it, Sempai? I can do it this time if you want." To her dismay, she watched her partner shake her head and leave the bedroom.
It was getting late in the afternoon and Millie wondered if it would be too early to begin making dinner. She sighed and turned back to unconscious outlaw, Meryl was probably at his side the entire day and knowing her she didn't eat at all. After making sure Vash would be all set if he were to awake, she quietly exited the room.
The hallway was small and it seemed as soon as Millie left Vash's room she was right in the room with Meryl and Knives. She heard her friend fight with their houseguest and smiled, who would have thought that Millions Knives would be having a "name-calling-contest" with a human? Maybe there was some hope for him after all...
Down the steps and into the kitchen, Millie could still hear the buzzing derision from upstairs. After rummaging through the cabinets, she decided to make a nice stew for dinner that night. She was just in middle of cutting the carrots when Meryl had come down the stairs.
"Hello Sempai!" she greeted and watched as the smaller insurance girl took seat at the table. She noticed Meryl picked up the extra container of pudding and looked at it strangely before raising and eyebrow at her as if to say 'Why is this not eaten yet?'
"Oh yes! Mr. Teller gave me some extra today; I never really got around to finishing them though," She smiled. "Do you want one, Sempai?" Meryl shook her head and placed the container back on the table.
"Why did he give you extra?"
"Well," Millie went back to cutting her carrots. "He wanted me to tell Mr. Vash that the town was sorry for how they treated him." She dropped the chopped vegetables into the large pot. "Isn't that nice, Sempai?"
"Yes…very nice…" her voice was far off. Was she even paying attention?
"Sempai?" Millie asked sheepishly. When she got no response she walked over to her friend and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Meryl jumped up and quickly faced her. "Sempai, is anything wrong?"
Millie was really worried. She hadn't seen Meryl this distant since those two years Vash was missing.
"Millie...do you..." she stopped and looked down at the table. "Think...if I tell Vash..."
The taller woman nearly screamed. How could her friend be so confident one second and then so insecure the next?
"Sempai," her voice had an unfamiliar sternness to it. "Do you care about Mr. Vash?"
Meryl seemed to squirm under the question, like a bug underneath a microscope and Millie had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling. "Yes..." she answered quietly.
"Would you regret never telling him how you feel?" she asked.
"Yes." Millie noticed the confidence back in her voice.
"Then don't worry about the ifs!" she said with a smile. "Like my little-big-sister used to say, 'you can never question matters of the heart'. So stop questioning yourself and just go for it!"
She felt a burst of happiness elope her when she saw the ravened haired woman smile. Millie triumphantly made her way back to the counter and was just about to cut some celery when she heard the chair scrape against the wood floor. She quickly looked up to see Meryl making her way back up the steps.
"Where are you going, Sempai?"
"I'm going to check on Vash," she answered cheerfully and climbed up the stairs. "Thanks Millie."
With an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, she went back to her chopping. It would only be a matter of time until she was an aunt.
She only wished he was still here to enjoy this...
(AN: La-Di-Da! It seems we have 160 hits and two Alerts already!
Have I told you lately that I love you guys?
Well I do. A lot.
So much that I finished this chapter early.
Reviews are nice. They make me happy and updates happen sooner.)
P.S. – A special thanks to my amazing Ajd262 who put me on Alerts, not to mention they were my FIRST reviewer for this! I send you love and candy of all kinds!