[Author's Note: This fic was inspired by the song 'Rain' from Cowboy Bebop, which is the little poetic bits intermingled throughout the fic. I don't own that, or Trigun. However, the plot is mine. Please don't steal it. And no flamers. I will use it against you. Don't believe me? Don't push your luck. Try it. I dare ya.]



I don't feel a thing
and I stopped remembering
The days are just like moments turned to hours


Milly pulled her legs up under her body and stared out the window, not really seeing anything except the dancing shadows of her memories. It was dark and no one was awake, not even her Senpai; now was the time for those idle thoughts she wouldn't allow during daylight hours.


Mother Used to say
if you want, you'll find a way
Bet mother never danced through fire shower

'Ah, Mr Priest,' she thought, her large eyes filling, again, with tears that would fall unheeded in the darkness. 'What am I supposed to do without you?' She turned her gaze to the cross that had been his weapon and the sign of his vocation. But even that couldn't save him; even God didn't help him in his time of need. Milly, though, wasn't bitter at God. She just mourned her loss, silently and alone. Presently, she walked on silent feet and lovingly touched the cold steel. It was all she had left of him.


Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain
I walk in the rain, in the rain
Is it right or is it wrong
and is it here that I belong


She hefted the cross on her back and paused hesitantly at the threshold of the wooden inn they were staying in and stared up at the moon as it passed under the concealing veil of cloud. The Heavens seemed to open up then, and Milly was drenched in a rain of angel tears that mingled and danced with her own. Then, she set out in the direction of the church, for one last good-bye.

I don't hear a sound
Silent faces in the ground
The quiet screams, but I refuse to listen

The church was silent, and only the faintest traces of Wolfwood's blood could be seen on the hard floor, and then only because Milly knew it was there. She set the Cross Punisher down, and the sound echoed through the church. She sighed and knelt where she thought her Nicholas had knelt and bowed her head. If she listened really hard, she thought she could hear his voice, speaking to her. She bit her lip and nodded. She knew what he wanted her to do. She pressed her lips against the cold floor of the church, against the last of Wolfwood, and walked away without looking back.


If there is a hell
I'm sure this is how it smells
Wish this were a dream, but no, it isn't


Milly felt like she'd walked straight into hell. The two suns were beating down on her, unrelenting; the sands were shifting, changing beneath her feet, making it hard for her to walk; the screaming of the silence, she heard Wolfwood's name, his voice, in every breath of wind; and most of all, the smell. It seemed as though all of Gunsmoke was against her final quest, her sign of ultimate devotion to him. She almost wanted to just stop where she was and wait. Wait for Mr Vash and Senpai; Milly knew they were somewhere behind her. 'No,' she thought to herself fiercely. 'You have to do this yourself, Milly. He left his cross to you. Now it is your turn to bear it.'


Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain
I walk in the rain, in the rain
Am I right or am I wrong
and is it here that I belong
Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain
I walk in the rain, in the rain


Milly was approaching a small town. She hoped to God that this was it; she didn't know how much more she could take. There was a change in air pressure, like a sigh of cooler air. Milly closed her eyes and welcomed the cool air, like the caress of a lover, of her Nicholas. Then, she smiled. 'Mr Priest would not want to see you all mopey, Milly,' she thought.


Why do I feel so alone
For some reason I think of home


Milly knocked on the door and shifted the weight of the Punisher while she waited for the it to be opened. When it was, an elderly man in a suit similar to the one that Wolfwood had worn looked at her and smiled. Milly smiled back at him and said, "Hello. I am Milly. Mr Wolfwood told me about this orphanage?" The priest glanced at the Cross Punisher the rested on Milly's back, closed his eyes and nodded, understanding what she was telling him without the need for words. "I see, daughter," he murmured, his voice comforting, while his eyes shared her grief. "Please, come in." Milly nodded and glanced around. 'So many children,' she thought. Then, she glanced back out at the desert sky. 'Well, Nicholas, I'm here. Rest easy, love.'