Ahh!! Jingu has awesome art! Everyone go here and check out the gorgeous picture she drew for this unworthy fic. *-* She rules! http://spots.flatland.com/slice/jinguj/gallery/kirikm.jpg Also, many thankies to Jaina and Vallea for putting up with me for this part. ^^;; You guys should read their stuff. They're awesome writers. And bug Jaina to put up her serious fic. ^__^


Stirring Revelations

He was sitting up, leaning against the back of the bed when she entered.

"What's wrong with you?" His voice held a cross between curiosity and disgust at that curiosity.

She gave him a dark look and handed him a cup of coffee. "I thought you would have figured that out by now."

He accepted it, taking a long sip. "This is rather lukewarm."

"Tough."

Shrugging that off, he continued. "You're dismayed at the fact you have to go home in less than three weeks. And the prospect that you will never see my brother again bothers you a great deal." Satisfied, he took another sip.

She sighed, and folded her arms across her chest. "You seem pleased."

"I don't like to share."

"Ah."

He glanced at her out the of the corner of his eye, studying her small frame. She wasn't looking at him.

"What did he say to you this morning?"

"I thought you would have figured that out by now too."

"I have; I just wanted to hear it from your own lips."

She raised her gaze to him slowly. His eyes were a cross between glass and ice and sky. Cold.

"He asked what I thought he should do when we left for December. What he should do with you."

"And what did you say?"

She paused, gazing back at him, her eyes morose. "That I didn't know."

He was silent, his face flat, empty. Why was he still watching her? She felt strange. Her heart was thudding in her ears like a distant drum, beaten by someone with poor rhythm. Where was her world? Where was what she held onto, her base? Was she lost? His eyes were cold, but depthless. She was suffocating, drowning, but burning, burning somewhere inside, a place she couldn't name. She turned her eyes away.

She suddenly felt overwhelmed. How had she gotten here? What was she doing on this dying planet that was slowly being ravaged by the heat of the suns, taking care of a man who wasn't even human, a man who would kill her as easily as drink a glass of water?

But… he hadn't yet.

Would she be sad to leave him? Would she be sad to leave Vash? Did it matter? She was a piece of dust thrown into the wind.

But, she reminded herself, even a piece of dust can get someone's eye.

His voice was softer than she had ever heard him speak, frighteningly gentle. "What did you want to do with me then?"

She closed her eyes, shutting out his frozen eyes for the moment. "I suppose that depends on you."

"You want to know if I'll be able to live with humans."

She did not even answer, and she herself was not even sure whether it was in deference or defiance to his logic.

He was silent for a long time, almost uncomfortably so. She opened her eyes again, wary. What was he doing?

He was still watching her, a pensive expression creasing his lips and brow. Strange, she hadn't noticed until now that his hair had grown a little in the interim he had been here. It still wasn't as long as Vash's when it was down, but it gave an eerie image of Vash's face ghosting over his own.

She replied softly, dignified, praying that the day would not continue in such a manner. "I do hope that you would be able to live with humans. Not necessarily as your brother does, but in relative peace."

He broke their gaze like an icicle shatters. She shivered. "I see," he murmured, leaning back onto the bed.

And that was all.

The rest of the week was relatively void of conversation, both between herself, and Vash or Knives. Milly, excited to be going home, was already packing as much as she could. The landlady they informed that at least the two girls were leaving, and she gave them a knowing smile.

She herself packed a few things halfheartedly. The concept of leaving bothered her, even leaving Knives. Maybe she really had made some progress with him. She had stopped hearing that humans were worse than insects every few minutes, and he had actually carried on several polite conversations with her that did not involve simply food or toiletries.

She would be very lonely again.

Oh, she had had friends back home before this assignment, but it had been much more superficial than this. How could she ever explain to one of them what she had been through, what Vash the Stampede was really like? They would laugh at her, or just not believe her.

She could never replace Vash. Ever. When she left, there would be a big hole where he had used to fit, a place that no one else could ever fill. She'd have Milly, for whom she was very grateful… but it was different.

She needed Vash. She loved him.

Resigning was seeming like a better and better idea. Even if it meant leaving Milly, she needed Vash more than she needed her friend. Right?

It seemed an unfair situation.

With two more weeks left to stay, Knives decided to start conversing with her again.

And then he demanded to be let out to walk around in the town.