I don't own Trigun.

I like my reviews. I get big smiles.

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Knives merely grunted and started down from his perch. He jumped down the last ten feet, probably just to prove to her that he could, that he was more than human. She merely turned to hide a small smile. Sure, he could drop a story and walk away. Bet his feet still stung from the impact, though. Returning to the dropped bag, she began to pull out some of her purchases. He moved a fair distance away from her and crossed his arms before descending into a sulk.

"Where's Ace?" she asked after a few moments.

He jerked his chin up, pointing to the top of one of the spires without having to uncross his arms. Kiley ignored his pouting. She left the bag and walked to the base of the rock he had indicated.

"Hey kid!" she hollered up. Ace's head peaked over the edge. "Get down here! I bought you stuff, and I want to see if it's going to fit!" She watched intently as Ace climbed down, ready to help if necessary but unwilling to interfere. She made her way down without incident, and Kiley breathed a silent sigh of relief, then hoped that she wasn't turning into some sort of mother hen. She was never this protective over the people in her unit; she expected that they would get hurt and learn from the pain. But now? She meets this child and suddenly doesn't want her to ever be hurt again.

Was it a mothering thing? Was it some deep-buried genetic curse that was forcing her to protect the child? Some female instinct that made her ensure the survival of the next generation? Or was it simpler than that? Was it just that, after having finally given up complete control over her heart, she was unwilling to risk anything more? She rather hoped it was the second option. Maybe it was a control thing, but she hated the idea of being a slave to instinct. It was much nicer to think that she was merely…protecting her emotional investment. Yes, that was it.

She shook her head at the thought. She finally was able to admit to a measure of concern for someone other than herself, and she has to couch it in banking terms. Ah, the measures of the emotionally constipated, she thought to herself wryly. Someday I may even try to diversify my investments. She amused herself with other such babblings as she carefully followed Ace's climb down.

As soon as the child was within arm's reach, she grabbed her and held her close in a rib-bending hug. No words were exchanged, but they shared a moment of happiness in togetherness before Kiley reluctantly set her on the ground.

"Come see what I got you," she said, holding her by the hand and leading her to the half-unpacked bag. She pulled out the first outfit, the only one that was made for a girl, and had to laugh at the expression on Ace's face. The look of sheer horror was priceless. Her eyes grew wide and darted nervously from the outfit to the bag and back again. She gave a shaky little smile and took the outfit from Kiley's outstretched hands. Obviously working at composing herself, she looked at the shirt and fingered one of the bows before gingerly laying it on the sand beside her.

She looked up again and met Kiley's smiling eyes with a cautious look. With a bit of trepidation her gaze shifted to the next outfit that she had pulled out of the bag. Her eyes lit with joy this time as she took in the simple lines and colors of the boy's outfit. Loose dark blue pants fastened with a drawstring were complimented by a dark green shirt. When Ace held it close to her chest to see how long it would be before she could wear it, Kiley was pleased to note that the color brought green highlights to her eyes.

The rest of the clothes were greeted with about the same degree of pleasure, and a great deal more amusement as the sizes grew well beyond what one would expect she would be needing to use for years yet. The two of them shared more then a moment of laughter over the first outfit as Kiley explained herself.

"Every little girl needs to be dressed like a doll at some point in their life. I think it's one of those things, like every boy needs to have a dog." She gathered a quizzical look at the last comment. "A dog, you know? A pet?" Seeing no comprehension, she sighed. "Small, generally fuzzy, generally loyal animal that provides affection at the cost of food. Never mind; not important." She shot a look at Knives out of the corner of her eye and saw that he was still pouting.

"Don't you want to see what I got you?" she asked as her hands went into the bag. He met her eye, his gaze cold as he shrugged noncommittally.

"Fine," she said, her voice going a little colder. She slipped out the gun she had bought, hand on the grip and barrel pointing to the ground. He tensed upon seeing it and she sighed.

"Here," she said, shifting her grip and passing the gun to Ace by the barrel. The girl took it gingerly, almost as if she expected it to bite her if she held it too hard. Kiley sighed.

"Not like that," she said, moving to sit beside her and showing her the proper grip. "If you try to hold it like that, you'll end up on your butt the first time you pull the trigger."

Ace gave her a big, wide-eyed look that asked her just why she needed one of these.

"You need to be able to protect yourself, even if no one else is around. You're still a bit small to begin learning basic hand to hand, but you're never to young to learn how to properly shoot a gun. While I'm not planning on leaving you to your own devices, and I'm pretty sure Sulky over there would protect you as well, it's best to not have to depend on others for your own well being."