Vash the Stampede belongs to the amazingly creative Mr. Yasuhiro Nightow, not me. (wistful sigh)
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News
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Year 1414 month 6 day 11
Vash frowned over his morning paper, and Shyla felt an emotional spike that concerned her. The children had just left for school, so hopefully they would be sufficiently distracted that they would not notice.
However, Rem or Naomi might wander in to check on them if they noticed those strong feelings.
She finished drying the dishes, and then walked over toward her husband.
"What is it, dearest?" she asked.
He flicked his gaze up at her, and his expression softened. "Sad news," he said. "Do you recall that girl who made such a fuss at Nicholas' wedding, about 300 years ago?"
"Yes," she replied. "She was so bitter, and spiteful, and hurt. But I don't think her hurts were all about our Nicholas. I think she'd been mistreated long before she ever saw him."
"I'm inclined to agree that her troubles began well before Nicholas walked into her life," he said. "Do you recall how she claimed to have met him 60 years prior, but she still looked as young as we do?"
"I do remember that," she said, "and that we speculated she might have some Plant blood slowing or stopping her aging process."
"It seems that others had a similar theory," he said, and sighed. "She was murdered, centuries ago, and the only clue besides the poison used was the impression of a crooked leaf symbol on a clay disk."
"That's terrible!" Shyla said. "Was that information never released before today?"
"Apparently not," Vash replied grimly. "It seems her death was the first that included a clay disk with that strange symbol. Since then, it has turned up about twice per century, and always at scenes of crimes against independent Plants or people rumored to be independent Plants. Most are just vandalism or ambiguous threats, but there was another murder scene with a disk last month."
"I thought we had achieved peace with ordinary humans," Shyla said softly.
She sat beside him, and he immediately extended his right arm. She snuggled against his side with her hands in her lap, and rested her head on his shoulder. He hugged her gently, and leaned his cheek on the top of her head. In that adjusted position, he continued reading the disturbing news written in the paper.
"With most ordinary humans, we have," he said. "Unfortunately, it appears as if some few have acquired a different opinion. They seem fine with orb-sisters, but they seem to object to any of us that are out freely wandering around."
"Is anything being done?" she asked.
"Sheriff Central has apparently decided that all independent Plants must henceforth travel in groups of four or more," he said. "I expect we'll get orders to that effect shortly, if they aren't already waiting for us."
Shyla nodded mutely. "I wonder if our new partners will be ordinary humans, or Plants?" she speculated out loud.
"I'd imagine they'll partner us with some of our children," he said. "Perhaps they will choose Rem and Naomi, since they live here in the Seeds Village also."
"Oh, yes," she said, feeling a little better. "That would make sense. I hope that is what they do." She still felt painfully awkward around strangers most times, so keeping partnerships within the family was more comfortable for her.
"Ah, Mayfly," he said gently, as he turned his face to speak into her hair, "you were well-named. The first three letters speak one of many truths about you."
She felt heat in her face. "Am I that obvious?" she asked.
"Only to one who knows and loves you as well as I do," he replied, kissing her hair.
She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She could feel it whispering again... her destiny. There was that warning: one day she would have to choose between his life and her own. She knew in her heart, when that day came, she must choose his.
It no longer terrified her. However, it was not a pleasant thought and it did make her sad. He was worth the sacrifice of her life; that was not the issue. She'd simply hoped that things had grown so peaceful that such a sacrifice would never be needed.
This grim reminder was most unwelcome.
Yet even so, deep inside her heart, she renewed her commitment. If ever a time did come when the choice had to be made, she would choose him. She almost felt like crying, since she also wanted to live.
"Mayfly?" he said softly. Then he dropped the paper, and turned toward her with both arms. "Shyla!"
"I'm here, dearest," she said softly.
"Don't leave me," he pleaded, burying his face against her neck and clinging to her tightly.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said, puzzled. "As long as I live, I'll stay by your side."
"Your emotions," he said, his voice breaking. "It felt like... please, I don't ever want to feel that again. Whatever you were thinking, please, I beg you, don't think that way anymore."
She refused to make a promise that she couldn't keep. "I love you, dearest," she whispered, and unleashed the flood-gates of her heart so that he could feel her love for him instead of whatever had alarmed him.
"I love you too," he replied, and she felt an answering depth and width and breadth of warmth that encompassed her own. Yes, he was worth it. He would always be worth it.
There was a tap on their door. She smiled as Naomi called to them.
"Come in," she answered.
Vash loosened his hold on her enough to bend and retrieve the newspaper. "Some strange news," he said, settling back into the couch and putting his arm back around her. Yet he held her more tightly than before.
Naomi sat to his left, and perused the paper with him.
Whatever was happening had outlasted several human lifespans, so someone must have been teaching others to perpetuate these terrible crimes.
All three hoped, ere long, the culprits would be stopped without any one else being hurt. When Vash expressed his opinion that perhaps she and Rem would be assigned as their additional partners, Naomi liked the idea.
"Sounds like I may need to renew my oath as a deputy," she said. "However, that's fine with me. I've always enjoyed traveling on occasion, and I love spending time with you and Mama."
"Perhaps we should verify this, or request it," Vash suggested. "Then maybe Rem can join us this evening, and we can celebrate being a four-way team."
"Oh, yes!" Naomi said, hugging her father and then standing up in her gentle excitement. "I'll go see what I can learn."
She was almost immediately on her way.
Shyla smiled after her, and felt something similar in Vash.
Then he turned toward her again, and she felt concern and... was that fear? Surely the tales of a few strange crimes, none of which had occurred in or near Seeds Village, would not frighten him?
(Are you ok, Mayfly?) his thought whispered gently into her mind.
(As far as I know, dearest,) she thought. (Are you ok? You seem terribly worried about something.)
(I'm worried about you,) he thought, with his usual transparent straightforwardness... when he wasn't joking about something. There was no joking or teasing in him now.
(You felt strange for a moment there, distant, sad, afraid, cold...) his scent and emotional echoes corresponded with his words. (I don't know what to call it. Something was wrong – badly wrong – and I didn't know how to fix it. Please, let me help. Whatever it is, don't bear it alone. Your mother was right: no one should bear heavy things alone when others are nearby who love them.)
(Just a nightmare I had as a child, that sometimes makes me uncomfortable when I remember it,) she thought to him. It was enough of the truth that she didn't feel like she was deceiving him. (Just feeling you close is all the cure that I need.)
She felt his arms tighten around her. (Then I'll stay close, at least until you feel like yourself again,) he thought.
(Thank you,) she thought, with both inner and outer smiles.
About that time, Naomi burst back into the house. "Orders received!" she said with delight. "You were right, Papa. We're teamed together!"
"That's great news!" he said. Since he didn't let go of Shyla, she had to stand with him. However, she had no objection to being drawn into the three-way hug that resulted.
"Rem's on her way," Naomi said. "Since we have evening shift at the infirmary this week, and it's Mama's day off, why don't we do something special for lunch? There's a new café in the ship that people claim has food almost as good as Mama's."
"I think that sounds like an excellent idea," he said. "We can learn the truth of it, and hopefully give your mother one less round of dishes to deal with."
"Pshaw," Shyla said. "You've been doing most of the dishes for the last century or so anyhow."
He grinned in that way that always made her wonder if he was deliberately turning on extra boyish charm. (It gets me more doughnuts,) he thought to her, (so why wouldn't I want to help out?)
She swatted his shoulder, and they wrestled a little, and then fell into some normal banter that cheered her more than she would have thought possible.
Naomi was laughing at their antics.
She smiled at her daughter, and then looked again at her husband.
"Let's go, before we make a complete mess of ourselves and are no longer fit to be seen in public," she suggested.
"Yes Ma'am," he replied, with such an intensely serious expression on his face that she didn't need to see the twinkle in his eyes, nor feel the sampling of his emotions, to know he was teasing.
She jabbed a finger into his ribs, which shattered that brief illusion of calm quite well.
After a moment, when everyone's laughter calmed, he extended his bent arm for her to take. Thus, he would escort her to a lunch she didn't have to cook.
She slipped her arm around his, and smiled up at him.
He extended his prosthetic arm for Naomi, who also accepted.
As they began walking down the path, she felt as if she was falling in love with him all over again.
Ah yes, her Vash. He was worth anything and everything. For him, she would do anything.
Anything at all.
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... continued in "Crooked Leaves"
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Author's note: Much to my surprise, several stories sprang from the idea of this OC young Plant girl who becomes Vash's friend and grows up in the Seeds village.
Every story involving Shyla should be able to stand alone (at least, I really tried my best to make each one readable all by itself… and still work). However, if the "VQL" stories are read in chronological sequence, they also form a larger story.
There is a chronological list of titles in my profile, with links to the few that were written by another author.
Enjoy! :)
