written by Neko-B
the_ugly_barnacle@hotmail.com
BAM! POW! Gunshots could be heard from the city of December all the way
to the faithful city of July, where people learned just how cruel and unkind
the Humanoid Typhoon could be... on that day when the tall man clad in
red unleashed his disgustingly immense power on the citizens and slaughtered
the whole city.
But that
was over a hundred years ago. The damage had been done, but the sixty
billion double-dollar bounty was still resting on Vash the Stampede's head. Although, at this specific moment in time, it looked as though Vash was
finally going to be brought to justice. In the city of December,
some reckless young -- and very drunk -- townspeople had gotten hold of
him and were planning to execute him in the center of the town, and afterwards,
take his head to the sheriff to claim the bounty money. Normally,
the Humanoid Typhoon would have just scared the people off with his custom-made
guns and not hurt anybody in the process... but these people had caught
him at a most inopprotune time, for Vash didn't have his guns. They
had been taken from him when he was jumped and had been put God-only-knows
where. And although Vash could've easily fought his way out, he had
finally reached a moment in his life where he felt as though he just couldn't
live anymore. The Plant no longer had the desire to live in a world
where he would never be safe: always on the run, looking over his
shoulder, waiting for that day...
Well,
that day had finally come. Vash the Stampede was going to die.
At high
noon, the people who jumped him -- which included a small group of very
large and muscular men -- had stood Vash at the center of the town, standing
him on a platform made especially for this occasion. His hands were
cuffed behind his back and he was bound to the pole that waved the city's
flag high in the air. His head hung low and his eyes were full of
misery and despair. Below him, on the dirt floor, a large crowd of
people had gathered, impatiently awaiting the execution of Vash the Stampede.
"This
is going to be a glorious day," the mayor of December cried out with joy. "With the bounty money, the town will prosper once more!"
When
Vash heard these words, he let out a small, choked sob and the tears cascaded
down his face. He truly didn't have anything left to live for. He had no friends left, and the only family he knew was Knives, his twin
brother, and Vash didn't want to be reminded of him at all.
The only
person he thought to have loved him was nowhere in sight... He would've
given anything in the world to see her before he died.
"Oh,
Meryl," he sobbed. "I wish you were here... don't let it end like
this..."
"What's
this? What the hell's going on?" the short, dark-haired woman demanded
to know as she pushed her way through the crowd. "What's all the
commotion?"
"I wish
I knew, ma'am," her assistant replied. She was much taller than anybody
else in the crowd and looked around over the heads of the gathering people
to see what was taking place. "It looks like... some sort of ceremony."
Meryl
looked confused. "Ceremony? For what?"
At that
moment, a young woman with curly blonde hair turned around to answer them. "Vash the Stampede has been caught," she answered the two women. "And he's going to be executed in a couple of minutes!" Despite the
news, this woman looked absolutely elated at this news.
Meryl's
face went completely pale as the news sank in, and covered her mouth with
her hands. "Oh... my... God..." was all she could say.
"I know! Isn't it great?" The blonde smiled and turned back around to her
place.
Meryl
suddenly burst out into hysterical tears and clung to Milly hopelessly. "Milly, this is all my fault!" she cried. "If we had only caught
up to him before we ran away, this wouldn't be happening!"
"Ma'am,
there isn't anything we can do now," Milly reminded her, hugging her tightly. "It's only a matter of time now..." Meryl looked up at her and could see
tears forming in her eyes as well.
"I have
to do something, Milly," Meryl announced. She stood herself up straight
and began pushing her way through the crowd once more, hell-bent on reaching
the front.
"Ma'am! What are you going to do? -- Oops, excuse me! Pardon
me!" Milly chased after her boss, pushing people aside and bumping into
them left and right. Before she could catch up to Meryl, it was too
late. Meryl had reached the front of the crowd and was jumping up
and down, waving her hands hysterically.
"Vash! Vash, look at me, damn you!" she screamed out as she sobbed.
Somewhere,
outside of the deep corners of his mind, something told Vash to open his
eyes. Something told him to look up...
And he
did. Below him, standing at the very front, was Meryl Strife. She was jumping, screaming, and crying, trying to get his attention.
"Meryl...?"
he said to her, almost too shocked to believe what he was seeing. She had come for him! She had come to watch him die, to give him
one last slimmer of hope before he was killed.
"Vash,
you have to try and escape! Don't do this to me! You're Vash
the Stampede! You can't die!" Meryl fell to her knees and rested
her head in her hands, crying harder than she had ever cried in her life,
because the pain was too much for her to bear. When she saw that
Vash was making no effort to escape -- he was only standing there, looking
at her with a tear-stained face and a smile -- she decided to take matters
into her own hands.
She went
out on a limb. Knocking people down as she moved, she climbed up
onto the wooden platform and stood face-to-face in front of Vash. With a sad smile on her face, Meryl reached out and stroked Vash's cheek.
"Vash,
maybe it's just because you're going to die... but you've never looked
more beautiful," she whispered.
"Meryl...
why did you come?" he wanted to know. "Why'd you come all the way
out here to see me die?"
"Shh." She pressed a finger to Vash's lips to silence him. "You're not going
to die. Not as long as I'm here." With this, she planted a
small, soft kiss on his lips.
"Hey,
what's she doing up there?" the mayor of December screamed out in anger. "Get down from there, little lady!"
Meryl
broke the kiss and turned to face the mayor, her hands on her hips. "I'm not moving!" she said loudly and angrily. "I told this man that
I would lay down my own life to protect his... and if I have to, that's
what I'm going to do!"
From
this moment on, Meryl couldn't remember if the mayor was still screaming
at her; the only thing she could hear was her own heart racing and Vash's
light breathing. She turned and walked behind Vash, where his hands
were bound, and proceeded to untie the rope that held them in place.
"I've
had about as much of this as I'm going to take," the mayor said. He turned to the sheriff, who was standing next to him, and told him angrily,
"Give me your gun!"
Wordlessly,
he handed his gun over to the mayor. Once he had it in his possession,
he opened the chamber to see if it was loaded -- it was, with one bullet. That was all the ammunition he was going to need.
"I'm
giving you one more chance, lady," he said to Meryl, "step off of the platform,
or suffer the consequences!"
Meryl
ignored him. Once his ropes were untied, Vash turned to Meryl and
embraced her in a warm, soft hug. Meryl fell into his arms, still
crying... she inhaled his scent, a wonderful mixture of gun powder and
doughnuts, and was so happy to be alive, to live this moment.
"You
had your warning!" The mayor held his gun out, keeping both of his eyes
open as he aimed -- right for Meryl's back. With enough luck, it
would puncture her heart. He pulled the trigger, and the gun was
fired.
The bullet
raced through the air and went straight into Meryl's back, which caused
her to open her mouth wide with shock and arch her back. Immediately
she started bleeding, and the blood soaked the white shirt she was wearing,
and ran all over Vash's hands.
"NO!"
Vash screamed, looking down and sobbing as he watched all of the expressions
on Meryl's face. First shock, then surprise, then utter and absolute
pain. She went limp in Vash's arms and he brought her down to the
floor, still holding her, looking down at her with eyes full of sadness
and anger.
"You
see?" he told her dying body angrily. "You see, Meryl? I told you! I told you that everybody I've ever cared about has died! Everybody I've ever loved has been taken from me, and I can't go on anymore,
with this pain in my heart!" He clutched Meryl close to him and cried,
like a lost little boy.
With
the strength she had left in her body, Meryl managed to smile up at him,
blood dripping down her lip. "I love you, Vash the Stampede," she
whispered to him. "Remember me not as I was... but as I tried to
be."
"No,
Meryl," he whimpered, clutching her tightly and shaking his head in disbelief. "Don't die on me -- whatever you do, oh please, Meryl, DON'T DIE!"
As Vash
spoke these words, Meryl's eyes rolled back into her head, her breathing
stopped, and she went limp in his arms.
He let
out a scream -- a cry that shook the skies -- and sobbed ever more into
her shoulder, hoping that maybe his tears would bring her back...
"Okay,
this has gone far enough!" The mayor screamed. "Fire at will! Fire at will!"
The executioner
was carrying a huge shotgun, and had it already loaded, ready to go when
he got the signal. He approached Vash from the back, pointed the
barrel at the back of his head, and said to him, "You have any last words,
you cold-hearted murderer?"
Vash
looked up at his killer, blinking his green eyes for a moment. He
then looked down at his dead love and brushes some strands of hair away
from her face. "Don't worry, Meryl," he whispered to her dead body. "I'll be with you soon enough." With these words, he leaned downward
and pressed his lips furiously against Meryl's... and his tears still stained
her shirt.
There was a loud BANG!
The next -- and last -- thing that Vash saw was only darkness.
(owari)