Chapter 12
She woke with the dawn; a natural habit when living with Vash the Stampede. She smiled at the pink and orange sunrise peeking over the horizon. It's brother sun would not be far behind. Turning her head away, she looked down at herself. Her clothes where torn and bloodstained. The cuts from the thorns had begun to scab over. She pressed a shaking palm over them, and some disappeared. After a moment, she rested, breathing deeply.
She looked over at Knives, who was still unconscious. Why hadn't he woken up?
"He's still alive."
Jinx jumped at the sudden sound, and faced her sister.
"What have you done with him?"
"I put him in a coma so he couldn't overpower my mind and send for help. I'll let him go after we get to town, and the two of you can go from there."
"Twi, please come with us—"
"End of subject."
Jinx shut her mouth disappointedly.
"So where are we going then?"
Twilight shrugged. "Back where I found you."
Jinx nodded.
"Your wounds..." Twilight said suddenly. "They're gone."
"Not gone, but less of them."
"How?"
"I can do a lot of things." She said cryptically, waving Twilight's amazement aside. "I'm sure you can do more than grow vines out of your back?"
Twilight almost smiled. "Yeah, but they're harder. Vines are the easiest, and fire."
Jinx nodded slowly. "Light is easiest for me."
"You were holding back." Twilight accused, sounding hurt. Jinx glanced away.
"I didn't want to hurt you. Even if we never were on the best of terms."
The sisters were silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry."
The words were so soft Jinx didn't know if she'd heard them right. "What?"
"I'm sorry." She said a little bit louder.
"It's alright." She said just as quietly. She touched her sisters arm reassuringly. "I forgive you."
She felt a tremor radiate through her sisters' skin, and she hugged her.
"It's alright, Twi. It's over."
"That doesn't mean that it's okay that I did it."
"You can move forward if you can't let go of the past. I've said you're forgiven, and I'll hear no more about it."
Jinx could read her mind and she knew she was sorry. She felt guilty.
"I have guilt too, you know." She sighed. "I can never forgive myself for accepting to fight you. If I had killed you... I don't think I could have gone on."
Twilight though for a moment. "Likewise."
They sat for a moment in silence, lost in their own private thoughts.
"Let's get you home."
The canyon around them materialized, and faded into the familiar town square from the day before. Vash called out to her, and she turned to see him and Starr racing over, waving furiously. Jinx waved back enthusiastically as them, a wide grin spreading across her face. Vash pulled her up into a gentle hug, minding her arm, and kissed her. Twilight stood awkwardly to the side as Starr knelt down next to Knives and felt his pulse.
"Here." She mumbled, and held her hands shyly over his body. With a sudden jolt he snapped out of his comatose state. Starr started to try calming him down as Twilight sunk into the background. Jinx was talking with Vash, but she caught her hand.
'Twi, please.' She spoke in her mind. Twilight smiled sadly.
Vash looked back and forth between the silent argument, wondering what they were talking about. He noticed that they had the same emerald eyes.
The other girl nodded curtly, and glanced at him. Jinx smiled and pulled Vash over.
"Vash, this is my sister, Twilight."
The outlaw's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected that.
"Your... sister...?" His eyes snapped back and forth between the two. A broad grin spread across his face. "Nice to meet you! I'm Vash." He held out an enthusiastic hand, which Twilight tentatively took.
"Hello." She said sheepishly. She cast her eyes down. "Sorry 'bout Knives."
"That's alright. Who could blame you?" he smiled his halcyon smile. Her eyes fretted nervously away.
'Well he sure isn't like Knives.'
'Told ya.'
Behind them, Starr and Knives had gotten into an argument about what really happened to Knives. Apparently, he had no clue what had happened, and wondered furiously how he had ended up in the middle of a 'spider' infested town. Starr didn't back down, and insisted that he had run away. The other three watched the argument now, thoroughly amused. Twilight blushed, embarrassed.
No one was prepared for what happened next.
Knives seized Starr's face in his hands, and kissed her. Her eyes went wide with shock, and she half raised a fist to hit him with. But after a tense second, she relaxed, closing her eyes and lowering the fist. Then Knives pulled away abruptly, the normally cynical and genocidal Plant flushed a brilliant red. Starr sat frozen in place. The other three stared at them, mouths gaping wide. Knives made to escape, but Starr caught him and pulled him back into another kiss.
Jinx collected herself faster than the other two, and pulled them away from the scene. Vash followed her in a trance, but Twilight just felt sick to her stomach.
"Did Knives just... did he...?!" Vash stuttered, dumbfound. He glanced back over his shoulder to be sure that, in fact, it was real. "Oh my God. I must be dreaming."
"No," Jinx giggled. "There would be donuts."
Vash nodded in agreement. "This is insane..." he muttered to no one in particular.
Twilight started to walk away.
"Wait!" Jinx caught up with her and blocked her path. "Please, Twi." she pleaded, "Please."
"I can't, Jinx." she whispered, her eyes cast at the ground. "I have to go." She looked up and met her sister's eyes. "I'm dying, Jinx."
Jinx sucked in a ragged breath against her will. "What?"
"Though I cannot physically age, I will still live the life span of a normal human being."
Jinx calculated the math in her head. "So you're ninety?" She nodded deftly.
This new revelation saddened her sibling, and they sat in melancholy silence.
"I've not felt like I did for years, Jinx. I'm sorry, unlike you, I won't live forever."
Jinx opened her mouth to protest, but the sob that replaced it destroyed any hope of speech. Tears burned through her lids and her throat tightened. Twilight pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back rhythmically.
"Don't worry, Jinx. I've lived a full life. I got to see you again before I die. And you taught me so much... for the first time in decades I feel whole. Remember that, Jinx: now that we've found each other we'll never truly part. I'll become one with the earth and sun and sky. I'll be all around you."
She gently removed herself from the embrace as a light breeze fluttered through the air. Twilight's figure slowly faded; silver particles swirled around her, and she was gone.
Jinx stared sadly at the now empty space in front of her. She looked down at her feet as the tears burned in her eyes.
She sulked. She felt terrible. In the whole epic of finding her lost sister, and then losing her just as quickly, just tore her apart. She felt sick all the time, too. Vash would lie next to her in bed, stroking her back or a shoulder. She would close her eyes and lay with him for hours. On occasion, Starr would be there too. Finally Vash forced her out of bed.
"Come on. You can't mope forever."
She groaned inwardly and reluctantly followed.
Vash got Jinx and Starr involved in a game of 'Cowboys and Outlaws'. Vash (naturally) ended up as and outlaw, while the girls ended up as cowgirls. The game brightened their dampened spirits; Jinx jumped after Vash, Starr and the other kids following close behind. Vash jumped around idiotically, smiling wildly and screaming for mercy. Jinx and co. tailed him diligently, until they cornered Vash against a wall. Jinx lead the pack, a huge smile plastered on her face. She raised her invisible gun, and took aim.
But then she froze, and her smile melted from her features. The world seemed to stop, and Vash saw her knees buckle. He leapt up and caught her in his arms, shaking her limp figure, calling her name. The children cowered behind Starr as Vash hoisted Jinx up into his arms and rushed her to a hospital.
Jinx could hear hushed voices around her, whispering urgently to one another. She recognized that one voice belonged to Vash, but couldn't make out the other. The unknown man left, and she heard the door shut behind him. She felt Vash take a seat somewhere else in the room. He fidgeted in his chair nervously.
"Vash?" She whispered softly. Vash was instantly at her side.
"Jinx." He whispered, excited and nervous at the same time. "Oh, Jinx..."
"What's wrong?" She was afraid of the unknown tone in his voice. "Is something wrong with me?"
"No, no! Not at all!" He said cheerfully.
"So why am I here? Why did I pass out?"
Vash smiled a smile she'd never seen before... it was filled with true happiness.
They had a daughter. She had her mother's emerald eyes, and her father's blonde locks. She had a small crescent moon birthmark just below the inside of her right elbow.
Vash cradled his daughter in his arms, his aqua eyes large and glassy.
"She's beautiful." He whispered in awe, rocking her gently back and forth.
Jinx smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Isn't she?"
Starr walked through the open door. "Ready to go for the picnic?"
"Yes." Vash handed the bundle over to Jinx, and picked up the basket. Knives stood off to the side, watching the scene. Starr walked over and took her husbands' hand, kissing his cheek.
They filed out of the mansion carved into the face of the canyon, and lay atop the blanket spread over the ground. Starr and Jinx were playing with the baby, and Vash lay spread out on his back, staring up at the sky. Could things get more perfect?
Knives sat close to his sibling, and thoughts flowed between the two. Knives was still shocked by his affection toward Starr.
'I'm glad you found someone, Knives.'
'I'm glad you did, brother.' He almost smiled. 'I didn't think... I could ever feel like this.'
Vash smiled. 'Me either.' He turned to look at the three. 'It's nice.'
'Yes.'
Abruptly the older Plant's thoughts became anxious. Vash shot up too, tense and rigid. Jinx and Starr stopped also, listening. A low rumbling echoed around the surrounding canyon. The party rose and stood alert. Jinx cradled the whimpering child in her arms. The rumbling grew.
Vash and Knives scrambled up to get a better view, their vision stronger than the girl's. Dust rose from the opposite end of the gorge. They strained their eyes.
"RUN!" They suddenly yelled spontaneously, charging toward the girls. Jinx and Starr bolted. The brothers caught up with them and pulled them toward the rocky wall. They pushed them girls up against it, pressing their bodies tightly against theirs. The herd of stampeding thomases barreled by them; Vash and Knives quivered with the strong gust of wind. The ground trembled beneath them, and their screams were lost in the deafening noise of the herd. Eventually, the last thomas cantered by, and the brothers hesitantly removed themselves.
Vash and Knives glanced around cautiously, venturing away from the wall. Jinx and Starr hugged each other close, with the baby held snugly in between.
A great crack echoed throughout the canyon. The brothers snapped their heads toward the girls, whose heads snapped up toward the sky. The great canyon wall was crumbling from the top down, spilling over. Vash and Knives propelled themselves into the raining rocks toward Jinx and Starr, who soon vanished behind a mound of stones. Vash ran frantically through the falling missiles, but one conked down on his head.
Everything went black.
His head was throbbing. What happened? And obnoxiously bright light blinded his aqua eyes, and he shut them again. He reached out a sluggish hand to probe the bandaged lump on the back of his head. He grimaced.
"Oi, are you alright? Can you hear me?"
His eyes opened again. Unfamiliar faces slowly came into view.
"Wha—?" he slurred. His eyes shot wide.
Jinx. Starr. Knives. His daughter... The images flashed like lightning through his mind. Stampeding thomases, falling rocks, utter chaos.
"Jinx!" he gasped wildly. "Where's Jinx?"
The other people looked around in alarm.
"You and the other guy were the only people we pulled out of that mess." Someone said gently.
Vash sat frozen in horror. The terrible sentence echoed in his head. He leapt up and barreled out the door. Someone caught him round his waist and slammed him into a chair. Vash looked defiantly up into his brothers' cold eyes.
"I need a moment alone with him." growled Knives. The people quickly departed.
The two Plants glared at each other for a long instant.
"You think this is my fault?" yelled Vash.
"It's your fault I ended up in a glass dome and got attacked by a demon!"
"Well it's your fault all this happened in the first place!"
"Why can't you see we're the superior race?"
"Because we're not!"
"We are! Stop clinging to Rem's foolish ideals!"
"You murdered her! Everyone!"
"She was dead the moment she chose to save that scum!"
"Rem gave her life so that they could live!"
"Foolish act."
Vash stood defiantly in front of his brother. "No. It wasn't. This is. Was."
The two brothers stormed out of the house in opposite directions.
'When we meet again, Vash... I'll kill you.'
'Don't count on it.'