Yuki: *crying openly*
Vash: Oh great, what NOW?
Yuki: You're so mean *wipes tear* Could me more sympathetic.
Vash: What's the matter?
Yuki: Now I'm not talking to you anymore...okay, the rest of ya, this chapter kinda lacks plot because it was written at four different times and then I was too lazy to read it over to get in the feeling like I do in my romance fics, so enjoy, please Read and Review, the last paragraph gives off a cliff-hanger somewhat, however.

Me and My Shadows
Subdued from the lack of excitement that had happened that night, the rest of us were rather quiet as our surroundings became more and more familiar and we found ourselves back into the basement room.
Lair was crying openly. If she wanted to run, she could've, but she was too astonished to run, and she didn't know where to run.
"Well, well." Vash said.
"Vash." Ms. Jewel walked over. "I'd rather if you didn't tell Clay the Elder you're his grandson."
"You mean he doesn't know?" Vash asked, surprised. Ms. Jewel shook her head sadly.
"After all those years, he still thinks that you got away somewhere and had a happy life, or something like that. And Mr. Clay does not know that his brother was related to Queen Jewel or any of it. It is just such a disgrace. Mr. Clay doesn't even know of the war. Clay the Elder won't speak of it. It gives him too much grief. All Mr. Clay knows, or thinks, at least, is that he had a brother who died of illness when Clay was very young." Ms. Jewel said. "It would cause much explaining and come rather as a shock. Clay the Elder might be glad, but there's always been some connection between the two of you, but the rest of the people might not like it."
"He said he felt like I was his grandson when I used to visit." Vash said, his eyes distant. Ms. Jewel smiled.
"He has to go soon, you know." Vash nodded. "He's an old man, and it'd be harder for him if he knew that he was a grandson. Once he's gone, I will tell him, and he won't regret a thing."
"How'd you know?" Vash asked.
"I know." Ms. Jewel said with a warm smile. "Because these things last longer in other places (she didn't say what). He'll be waiting for you. You have a long life in front of you, Vash. It would cause you much pain also. Relatives aren't always there when you need them. You can't rely on your uncle. I'm not exactly sure, but I just think that if you're his grandson, that would stir up a lot."
"There's something else." Kelli said quietly. "Vash, you might now know this, since it was a law passed while you were very little, but it was passed by an independence group (I think it was the dwarfs, was it the dwarfs, Ms. Jewel? Oh, yes, it was them, yes, yes.), a group of dwarfs, that state that anyone related to the Queen after the death of downfall of her shall be killed.
"But that wouldn't count, since we helped save Uri, would it?" Vash asked.
"I think it would." Kelli said quietly. "Just because then not so many lives would've been lost." Vash looked down.
"So that's the real reason."
"I'm sorry." Ms. Jewel said. "But I don't want to put anyone in danger."
"What about her?" Snowy pointed at Lair. Lair stiffened.
"We'll deal with her later." Ms. Jewel said. "Right now there's something more important to deal with." She faced Liz and knelt down. "Liz, I know you think fighting is bad, and that is has to be done for a purpose. I've tried to make you see that, but it is unsuccessful, and you have spoken your wish to be an ordinary kid, but still want these memories. So here are the conditions." She walked over and picked up Snowy's wand. "You will have the memory, but if you open your mouth to say a single world about it, you will find that you will not be able to find your voice." Ms. Jewel recited a single spell. "There you go, and now you cannot talk to me either. Second of all, you must leave your rapier." Liz gently set that down.
"Oh, Liz, are you sure about this, sure you want to go?" Rene asked. Liz nodded silently, but grimly.
"Third of all, you will be teleported back right now, before the others, to the front door of your house, where you will say to your parents you have decided to come home early. You will not be able to write about this adventure, quest, destiny, whatever you call it either, all right?" Liz nodded. "Now be gone." With a tap on the head, Liz was gone. Ms. Jewel handed the rapier to Snowy, who was holding Galdius's sword, and exchanged it with her.
"So we just lost a person?" Kanari asked. Doughboy squatted on the ground and sighed.
Ms. Jewel frowned. There seemed something else she had to do, but she couldn't remember what.
"Oh yes." She said. "You were wondering about how I came out, someone."
"Yes." Nakita said.
"Each one of you contains a heart as pure as a jewel, and when all those hearts combine, I come out. It's as I said, Yuki may have the body of that Jewel, but truly, my soul is in all of you, and when you needed me the most, I came out. I am a jewel, remember?"
"Yes, I do." Nakita said.
"So then, all your power, all the little bits of me were combined, through your loyal hearts, and then, suddenly, I appeared and had the power to help and heal." She smiled, looking at a Cherry, whose big eyes were full of love and gratitude.
"Well then, I have to be gone." With a swift mist, she disappeared. Vash sighed.
Spreading our wings, we landed on the ground outside the flattened castle with a tied up Lair.
"Whoa, good job." Vash said, looking around at him. "You could hardly have guessed there once stood a mighty fortress here." Clay the Elder smiled at him.
"I have heard about the Mistress Jewel." He said quietly. "Congratulations."
Vash put Lair in front of him. "What should I do about her?" Clay the Elder pondered this.
"Leave her to deal with later." He said. "The rest of the army have gone and are currently finishing freeing the other slaves. They will get a good night's rest, and tomorrow, start building a ship."
"A ship? What for?" Rene asked.
"Tell her, Anora." Anora sighed and sat down on the grass.
"Genesis is approaching the orbit of Uri, and it is predicted that the two planet's magnetic fields will be hooked onto each other." Anora said. "Thus, you will have two planets linked together, going in the same orbit as if it was one planet. We gave decided: This planet, Uri, rightfully belongs to the dwarfs, and the workers can establish their own colony on Genesis."
"How do you know all this?" Kelli asked.
"I have connections." Anora looked at the Pure Fereos.
"And for that reason, after you all get a good night's sleep, we shall dig through the rubble and retrieve anything worthy to put on that ship, as gifts towards the workers." Clay the Elder said. "The dwarfs have their own system of reading and things."
"But Genesis is a deserted planet." Snowy said. "Barren, nothing living, no atmosphere."
"Not true." Clay the Elder said. "There was once atmosphere, and there still is. And now, after all those years, the planet has regrown, full of luscious plants and animals, and the source of life, water."
"Whoa." I said.
"The lost planet of Genesis, the planet swung out of orbit, has returned." Clay the Elder said. There was a moment of silence. Then-
"Let us be going for the last night in the Underground, at least the last night Queen Jewel walked the earth." Clay the Elder looked hopeful. "I know it may be too much, but could you help us clean up this mess?"
"Yes." Vash said. "We will help (Doughboy: Why does he get to decide? Snowy: [pokes Doughboy] Shut up) you get whatever if of worth to the workers and give them to them. Do they have education?"
"I'm afraid not." Clay the Elder said. "And Mister Clay is the mayor of Dwarf Land, unable to teach. However, I do not expect you to do anything about that. There are a few that can teach. That will be enough teachers for the whole colony to learn. Right now, let's go and rest."
As we flew over the forest and descended into the tunnel, the sun was slowly rising.
When we reached the mayor's house, we didn't even think to change but fell asleep. I slept in my hat as well, Kero and Spinel Sun sleeping on a vacant pillow on the floor.
We had done quite a job.
I woke to the sun streaming in from the window. Getting up, I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside to look out. The curtain was big and pink, purple, and blue, also fluffy, throwing rays of light throughout the room. Outside, the sun was big in the sky, and it looked welcoming. I looked around. All seemed quiet from my view. I looked back in the room.
Kelli was already making her bed, and Kanari and Nakita were rubbing their eyes. Cherry was whimpering and Kero and Spinel Sun (whom I had just yesterday nicknamed Suppi) were playing a game on the bed. Anora was hiding behind Snowy's covers, shielding herself from the light. Rene was jumping up and down on her bed, laughing and looked very happy.
"We've finally won." She collapsed onto the bed. "It feels good, doesn't it?"
"There is a new light in the world, suddenly." Kelli mused. She smiled. "C'mon, let's all go down and have breakfast."
"To think." I said, skipping down the stairs after Kelli. "That after all those months, things are finally back to normal!"
"Yuki?" Kanari asked. "I think that was only one month."
"And things will never be the same way they used to be." Nakita said sadly. "We'll never be the innocent, lively, self-centered kids we were."
"I, for one, an glad." Snowy said. "Just yesterday I found a spell that does sums out for you!"
"But suppose your powers went away when we finally returned back to earth?"
"Now why on earth would it do that?"
"Well, we don't need them anymore."
"I need them, to do my sums!"
"I don't think we should let our powers affect our lives." I said. "We should just protect to be normal kids and try to forget about our powers until dangers comes (catches Snowy's eyes), IF danger comes, that is."
"That's a good idea." Kelli said.
"Where would you and Vash stay?" I asked Kelli. She shrugged.
"Where we've been staying, I guess." She replied. "In the apartment. Don't worry Yuki, we can support ourselves, we have these pendants around our necks (that is, Vash carries his in his pockets, and though I think he's gonna lose them, he hasn't yet) and inject ourselves with them. They help feed us. I guess they're equivalent to one meal, but when we grow up, I think I'd rather live on food. And we can earn enough to support ourselves."
"To pay rent?" I raised my eyebrows.
"We brought the apartment with money Queen Jewel gave us." She said.
"Wow, injecting foods with pendants, that's like heroin and needles." Kanari said. We reached the dining room and looked in.
Vash was eating, Doughboy was sitting across from him, and a stubborn Lair was there also. The piece of cloth was gone from her mouth, and when we entered, she started to yell.
"Gosh." Kelli said. Lair was bounded to a chair, her auburn hair blazing. The others took a seat at the table. It had a checkered blue and white tablecloth over it. Odd. I wondered what happened to the last one. Throughout breakfast, Lair clamed down a little, but as the conversation flowed, Vash seemed unusually quiet. I wondered, hmm?
"Vash, what's wrong?" Kelli whispered. She was sitting on the other side of Vash.
"Wrong?" Vash whispered back.
"Yes." Kelli said. "You're so quiet, and, oh, I dunno, something's on your mind."
"Kelli." Vash said very seriously. "The Dwarfs are going to kill Lair today."
"What?"
"You heard me." Vash said. "And worse, they want me to do it." His eyes traveled towards to Blue Mist. "I'm not sure if I can."
"I understand." Kelli said, her hand on his.
"She was one of my best friends when we were little." Vash said, his eyes distant, as if seeing the past. "She helped me stand up to Galdius, and those were the only times I've stood up to him."
"You must feel betrayed." Kelli said.
"No." Vash said. "She must feel betrayed. But I know one thing, that is, if I were to plunge a sword through her on the mound where the evil must die, I couldn't do it. I'm too much of a coward."
"You're NOT a coward." Kelli said. "Where is this mound?"
"The place where the bad are hung." Vash said. "I saw it when we were walking through town."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm not sure." He walked over to the window and put his hand on it. "I'm really just not sure."
At that moment, Clay the Elder entered the room. "Come quick." He said. "We must get started on the work."
"What work?" Kanari asked.
"The ship building." Doughboy said. "Remember?" Kanari shook her head. Doughboy sighed. "Never mind."
Clay the Elder walked us all out of the room and above the Underground. He pointed to a place that seemed to be bustling with enthusiasm and activity. We proceeded without him, walking over many bare fields where the Three Wars had been fought.
As each person walked, memories flooded back. This was the place the dragon first set foot. This was the place Cherry fainted and literally died. This is the place that turned into a bloody river. But for Vash and Kelli, childhood memories flooded back also.
The Fourth Annul was always held there. The Spring Concert was there. And there was a time when-but not all childhood memories were like that. No. Some were more deadly and evil and cruller than others.
"All right." Vash commanded. "Let's get to work."
"And, like how?" Kanari asked.
"Yeah." Doughboy put in. "Mr. Master here, you could explain what to do first."
"How bout you figure it out?" Vash asked gruffly. "We are to transport the wood to the ship so they can build the planks."
"All right." Doughboy said equally gruffly. They started to walk towards the grounds.
'Why is this so difficult all of a sudden?' Vash thought. He grunted a little. Kelli noticed this and looked sideways at him. 'Someone's always got to take the responsibility and no one likes it when it's me. As if they can do a better job.' He cast a look at Doughboy. 'As if HE can do a better job, indeed!' He sighed. 'Sometimes, people in this world can be so unfriendly and all.' He cast a look around the crowd and his eyes fell on Rene. 'Well, maybe not all people.' He looked around and saw Kelli and Nakita. 'No. But then, still, some ARE, and they are just that way and you can't change them, but everything seems to go their way, and everything seems so complicated, and things can't heal and will only get worse unless you go that way. I'm so confused. And the Lair thing?' He paused, remembering that they had left Lair back in the room, where Clay the Elder was probably taking care of her right now. 'I just don't know if I can. If I can bear this responsibility of leadership anymore, or anything, while NO one, I repeat, NO ONE appreciates me and everyone seems to be against me and everything I do and say can be criticized and I do believe that we don't have any nice pe-' But he caught himself and groaned. 'Man.'

Yuki: Review if you want Vash, and if you do *hugs Vash* and if you don't, go and have this guilty feeling all day long that you didn't review Yuki's story because you knew that it was wrong not to review *evil glare*
Oh, and if you kinda didn't get what the plot had to do with the title, it's Vash and his inner feelings, as the end half of the epi. shows, and how he feels towards this whole issue.