Chapter 9 The Open Road

"Extra socks, extra underwear…toothbrush…check, check, check." Meryl looked at the small backpack on her bed, checking off items on her small list. They would need to travel light, as they would be traveling quickly.

"All done?"

Meryl turned to see Vash standing in the doorway of her bedroom, his small bag flung over his shoulder. "Yep. Just gotta feed my cat and then we're good to go." She answered as she hoisted her own bag.

Vash moved out of her way as she made her way to the kitchen, squatting down in front of her black feline. "Bye bye Kuroneko. Be a good kitty for Jill, and don't destroy the house while I'm gone, ok? I'll be back soon." She smiled as the cat bumped his head into her hand, meowing in response. Meryl stood and grabbed some cat food from the cupboard, pouring it into his bowl. Replacing the food, she jotted a quick note for her neighbor and pinned it and some double dollars to the fridge before turning out the light and following Vash to the front door.

Heading down the stairs, a question that she hadn't thought of popped up in her mind. "Vash, how are we getting there?" She felt like she was having a 'no-duh' moment, not having thought about this before.

He smiled as he threw over his shoulder, "I'll carry you."

Meryl shot him a dry look, as it was obvious that he was poking fun at her. "Ha ha, real funny."

"I bought a car yesterday while you were out."

Meryl's eyes widened. "A car? You did? I didn't know you had that much money…"

Vash grinned again, winking at her as she fell in step beside him. "Like I have said. There are lots of things you don't know about me."

Meryl just shook her head. He was truly a man of many surprises. Slowly, Meryl came to a halt, looking up at the buildings in front of them with sadness in her eyes. "Kiba…" She said quietly and Vash stopped, turning to face her. Indeed, they were standing in front of her ex-boyfriend's apartments, which were only a short walk from Meryl's. Vash decided to give her a minute, allowing her to gaze sadly to the window of Kiba's room.

"Meryl…" Vash spoke up softly after a time.

She cast her eyes downward, willing herself not to cry, and then slowly turned to follow Vash again. "Goodbye…"

He heard faintly whisper and felt his heart sink. Could it be that she truly did love Kiba? And broke up with him for reasons unknown to him? Vash really didn't know the whole story, and he felt bad that he couldn't comfort her on the matter. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he just really didn't know how…

"Thanks Vash."

He looked over to Meryl, who had fallen back beside him, a small smile on her face. "For what?"

"For letting me stop and say goodbye. For being patient with me." She answered and he smiled.

"Of course, Mer."

From the slit in his curtains, Kiba felt his heart wrench when he saw the sad look on Meryl's face. He wanted to run down the stairs to her, to beg her to take him back…beg her to try to love him again. But…he just couldn't. He had decided that he needed to take this like a man…

Sighing, he looked at the bag by his door. He stared at it, waging an internal battle. Looking out the window again, he saw that the duo had disappeared and he looked to the doorway again. Should he stay? Closing his eyes, he clenched his fists together.

"Damn it all!" He swore lightly and walked forward, grabbing his bag and heading out the door.

"I told you, he's still with the human in December city. Other than that, I know nothing. I've been trying to communicate more with him, but he just says everything's fine and severs it." Knives folded his arms, looking defiantly at Shikio.

"If you are lying-"

"I'm not! Just leave me alone would you?"

Shikio was in Knives's face in an instant, darkness swirling in his blue eyes. Knives struggled for breath, his eyes widening when he felt his airway being constricted by Shikio's invisible force. After an aggravating minute, Shikio released the other plant and Knives fell to his knees, hand flying to his throat as he gasped for air.

"You…bastard…" Knives wheezed as he glared hatred towards the black caped man.

"Never forget the power I hold over you and your brother." He said coldly and turned on heel to leave the room.

Knives remained on his knees for a time, eyes closed as he seethed. It had not always been this way…he was very powerful, and still was. But, Shikio was still more developed than either he or Vash was and Knives was not about to let the man get the best of them.

"I'll protect him…no matter what…" He said quietly out loud of his twin.

Shikio had been in fine form that morning, storming into Knives chamber, demanding to know why he couldn't connect with Vash's mind. Knives had shrugged and Shikio became even more agitated. It was the truth; Knives really didn't know why his brother was unreachable, even for Shikio. He had tried to reach his twin early that morning, but to no avail. He absently wondered if it had something to do with his human…

It didn't matter. What mattered was freeing he and Vash from Shikio, and at that moment, his brother was on his way to May city, trying to do just that…

Meryl laughed out loud, enjoying the car that Vash had purchased. It was more of a jeep with a canvas cover, no windows except the thin plastic windshield that kept the sand from flying into their faces. It was perfect for traveling across the desert and currently, Vash was putting the pedal to the metal, smiling at Meryl's reaction. She held up her hands, loving the way the wind was whipping her raven locks wildly about, the sun glinting from them. It was winter, but the fact that there were two suns kept the planet's surface relatively warm, even during that season.

"This is great!" Meryl shouted out loud and Vash's grin widened. He watched her from the corner of his eye, noting the pure happiness that was showing through. It made him glad, knowing that she was feeling this way. In fact, the entire time he had known her, he had never seen such a girlish look on her beautiful face. He felt his heart thud, her delight rubbing off onto him.

"I'm glad you like it! It was a killer deal." Vash responded to her.

"I haven't felt this free in, well, in years!" Meryl continued. It was the truth. Not since she and Milly had been following Vash around the planet had she felt so alive, so liberated. She absolutely loved to write, and had no regrets about her career, but a writer's life was generally full of long days and nights cooped up inside, in front of the type writer. And, with how depressed she had allowed herself to become, Meryl hadn't gotten out much, actually accepting Kiba's offer to be his girlfriend the first out of character thing she had done in forever.

Vash continued to glance at her, wanting to talk to her. Over the last few days, he had found himself wanting to know everything there was to know about Meryl Strife. And he had hoped that since they were making such a long journey together, there would be some time to learn about her. The problem was, Vash wasn't that great at just bringing up such topics. Where did he start? What question should he ask? Would she close herself off to him?

He mentally slapped himself. 'She's not YOU Vash.' On the contrary. Meryl was quite opposite from him. He always hid his true feeling away, but she was so open with them. At times, he wished he could be like that. It would certainly make relationships easier…

"So Vash how many days will it take to get to May city?" Meryl's voice floated in the air and he blinked. "Hmmm…it's a few thousand iles away, so with luck on our side, I would say about a week."

Meryl smiled inwardly. The fact that she was on a trip with Vash alone for a week made her heart flip. It was certainly the opportunity that she had been waiting for years. "Remember that time when there was a hostage situation in May city?" Meryl suddenly asked.

Vash blinked. So, they were going to play the 'remember when' game…this could be ideal. It could open up the conversation to other topics.

"Yeah, vaguely…" he responded.

Meryl began to giggle in remembrance. "You were so silly! Everyone outside was sooo serious, trying to diffuse the situation. And here comes this weird guy in red with a walkman, dancing up to the door, dodging bullets as he went."

Vash smiled as he recalled the incident, shaking his head as she continued. "And the next moment, you were 'caught', with you yelling at the top of your lungs 'Help me!' I was so irritated at the time with you. But, now that I look back, it really was pretty funny. You knew what you were doing, didn't you? And the man was right; you could have slipped those ropes at anytime."

Vash continued to grin goofily, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows?" He locked eyes with hers briefly, grin still in place.

"Ok, my turn. I remember when you didn't believe that I was really Vash the Stampede."

Meryl blushed as she slapped a hand to her forehead. "Here we go…" She was already laughing a little as he went on.

"You were so hell bent on finding him, but refused to believe I was it! I still find that amusing…"

"Well, you acted so dumb and ridiculous! I couldn't take you seriously until way later!" She laughed and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I remember that side of me…" he trailed off, becoming slightly somber.

"It's still there Vash. You have just dropped a lot of your masks, that's all."

He glanced at the woman beside him, as she remained staring forward, her small smile in place. "Yeah, you're right. So, Mer, where are you from, anyway? It's funny; I've known you for so long, yet know so little about you." Vash was surprised with the ease in which he asked the question, patting himself on the back inwardly.

Meryl blinked. "You're right. I know all about you, but haven't told you about me…hmmm…were to begin. Well, for starters, I was born in the city of September. My parents work in insurance, hence the reason I eventually became involved with it. Um…no siblings, I'm an only child. And, uh, yeah. That's about it. The life of Meryl Stryfe: not a very exciting one." She joked quietly.

"What was your childhood like?" Vash asked.

"My childhood? Well, I guess you could say it was a happy one…my parents didn't fight a lot, and I was pretty close to both of them."

"Do you ever see them?"

Meryl let her gaze drop. "Not really. Not since I left home, really. I write to them occasionally, but, that's it."

Vash could sense the sadness in her voice. "Why?" he decided to just be blunt. No use in beating around the bush.

Meryl twiddled her thumbs together, searching for the words. "Well, before I left, I had a fight with my dad. I can't even remember what it was about it was so petty. But…when I overheard him talking to my mother, he said something…something that I can't forget, or seem to really forgive him for."

When she went silent, Vash spoke up. "You don't have to tell me if it's painful, Meryl…" his voice was gentle, full of concern for her and she felt a lone tear escape her eye. She quickly wiped it away, shaking her head.

"No, I really should talk about this more." The only one that knew this was Milly, and it had been years since they had spoken of it. "They were arguing, my mom was mad at him for being so harsh on me. He said…he said why? I wasn't his daughter anyway…" She trailed off and Vash could literally feel the sadness rolling off of her.

"Meryl…I'm sorry. Why would he have said that?"

She shrugged. "I still don't know. I'm sure he was just angry, but…it hurt just the same. I left the next day, without so much as a goodbye to them. And I haven't seen them since."

As a silence ensued, Vash silently wondered if he should have brought it up, but was surprised when he felt her hand on his arm. He looked at her to see a smile on her face.

"Thanks for listening. It's really a boring story, but it's nice to have…a friend to talk to."

Vash smiled in return. "You know that I'm here, anytime you need to talk, Mer."

She nodded knowing it was the truth. He hadn't always been there in the past, but, over the last four days, Meryl had felt herself growing closer to him by the moment. She really didn't know if they would ever have a relationship that was more than friendship, but for the moment, she was content just to have Vash at her side, a friend that she could rely on. And in turn, he could rely on her. Knowing that he recognized her and appreciated her had done more for her than he could ever know.

"So, what about your writing career?"

She blinked at him. "My writing? What about it?"

"Well, what made you decide to become a writer?" Vash eyed her.

"It was after…after I came back to December actually. Friends at the Insurance society always said that I could be a novelist, always laughing at how descriptive my reports were. And, I found that I really did enjoy writing. I had this idea for my first book bouncing around in my head and decided to roll with it. When it was a success, I quit Bernadellis to pursue it full time."

Vash nodded as he listened. "I see. What was your first book called?"

Meryl felt a lump in her throat and tried her best to swallow it. "It's called 'Where You Left Me.'"

"Interesting…what's it about?"

'Oh, it only follows my adventures chasing you, Vash the Stampede, around the planet, an unrequited love, and the fact that you never came back to me…' "It's an action/ romance of sorts. Lots of adventure, gunfights, the works." She answered instead.

"Ah, one of those. Seems it was a real success. I saw it when it first came out and thought about reading it. Just never found the time."

Meryl felt the thudding of her heart begin to dissipate as she felt relief wash over her. So, he hadn't read it. If he had, she would be so embarrassed, she would die. "I don't know if you'd like it anyways. It's a little mushy for guys. I do think you would like some of my later stories."

Vash nodded. "Maybe when things have settled down, I could read them."

"I'd like that." Meryl smiled. "Hey there's a town coming up. I gotta pee. Could we stop?" She asked and Vash smiled.

"Well, why didn't you say so? We just passed a perfectly good outcropping of rocks back there…" he joked and laughed at the look on her face.

"Yeah right! Just because we are traveling in the desert doesn't mean that I have to go all outdoorsy or anything! Perfectly good rocks…" She chuckled along with him, reading the sign as they entered the small town. "Monday County…"

Kiba paced back and forth, stopping sporadically to look out into the desert, his direction towards May city. His gaze fell to the car beside him, his small bag taking up the passenger side. He closed his eyes, fighting with himself.

"Oi, Kiba. What are you doing?" He whipped around the see Tasuki walking up to him, Milly close behind.

"Hello Kiba! How are you?" Milly's cheerful voice reached his ears and he smiled at them.

"Hey guys. What are you doing here?" He eyed them suspiciously, noting that they carried bags very similar to his.

"We're going to May city. What's it to you man?" Tasuki said casually and Kiba blinked.

"May city?"

"Yup!" Milly chimed in.

"Uhh…what for?" he asked and Milly patted his back heartily.

"You didn't think that we would really just sit around here when Mer and Vash were out on an adventure, did you?"

The green-eyed man stared dumb founded at them and Tasuki snorted with laughter. "So, are you coming, or not?"

Kiba looked at his feet. "I…I don't think it would be ok…"

Milly cocked her head to the side, asking, "Ok? With who? Meryl? Oh, Kiba, come now…"

He shook his head. "She dumped me Milly. Flat out. What would she think if I suddenly showed up, and possibly ruined her chance?" He trailed off, his voice soft and full of pain.

Milly felt her heart go to him. She had known him for a long time, and cared about him a great deal, knowing he was hurting very much. She threw an arm around him, leading him to the car. "Kiba, if I know Meryl, and I'd like to say I do, she would be delighted to see all of us, even you, come and join them. After all, and adventure is more fun when there are more people involved!" She chirped as she stopped him at the driver's side door and went around to the other side.

He stared at her for a minute, still waging his internal struggle on whether he should really go.

"You care about her Kiba. There is no shame in following the one you care for the most. I bet Mer would be very moved to see how much you still cared, even after what happened." Tasuki spoke up, and his words seemed to finally tip the scale.

Smiling softly, Kiba nodded and opened the door, sitting at the wheel. He started the engine and waited for his friends to get situated before heading off in the direction of May city. As they drove, Kiba smiled, saying, "Thanks guys."

"No need to thank, man. We are all friends, aren't we? You've always been there for us. Now it's our turn to be there for you." Tasuki said, using the usual laid back tone he always did.

Kiba nodded, his smile gaining confidence. He was really on his way to see Meryl again. It had been a short time, a matter of hours, but he missed her already. And, even if he couldn't have the relationship he really wanted from her, he could still be her friend…