DISCLAIMER: It's my story. It's my plot. These are not my characters. If they were, this wouldn't be called a 'fanfic'. ^.^

SPECIAL THANK YOU's TO:

Skittles, Lynda-chan, Miss Eriks, Rikku, Lynderia, Melinda, Gremlin Raven, Seshiri, Silver Hawk, Alyson Metallium, tenshi no ai, kate, Cardmistress Sakura, K-chan, Akima The Stampede Maxwell, kiki, Mari Silverfire, Chibi Mizu Tenshi, LinaIX, Marie-Mi, Beyond-a-Tree, Nadeshiko Kinomoto, Amanda, HyperFuzake, Seshiri, Ca (Rinoa Toki Moro Lockheart, Numena.

Silver Hawk: oops…. You're right. Meryl's hair is black, not brown ^.^' *lol* this is what I get for writing my fics at 2am.

Mari Silverfire: NO! No puppy dog eyes!!! -.- make poor DFS feel even guiltier *sniff sniff*

To EVERYONE: waahh!! Mommy! They're threatening me with sharp pointy objects! I didn't do it! I swear!!!! .

ALRIGHT THEN, welcome to the 5th chapter of my trigun fic! ^.^ *cries* everybody hates me and wants to rip my head off…. -.-.

Poor DFS has had a bit of a case of writers block, but she's happier now. Here's the long awaited 5th chapter… maybe with a bit of fluffiness… enjoy!



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EVEN THE STRONGEST WALLS CRUMBLE

CHAPTER 5



Meryl could barely comprehend anything in her semi-conscious state, the cold water swirling around her as her weak body struggled. The only thing obvious to her was the burning in her lungs, so strong that her head pounded and her body writhed in insane madness. Air! She needed air!

Deep inside her mind, Meryl was begging herself, the world, whatever supreme and godly power out there… for just one more chance. Please, let me live… just give me one more chance. I'll do everything right… I'll save the people I love… please give me one more chance!

And at that moment, Meryl could clearly hear her heartbeat, loud and slow in it's drowsy state.

BADUMP

BADUMP

'But do you love them?' A voice asked her. Meryl knew, somewhere in her hazy brain, that that voice was her own thoughts. But still she answered.

Of course.

'But is the great Meryl really capable of love? Isn't that what you convinced yourself? That you didn't need it?'

I love my friends. I love my sister. And I need to live.

BADUMP

BADUMP

The answer was so simple, why hadn't she seen it before? Why should she let all the grief and the worries of the world get to her, when she already had what made her the happiest. Those three things were the things that had always kept her going, even through the roughest time. Her friends, her family, and her will to live. What kind of person would she be to just die and leave everybody behind? And Jess… Jess needed her more then ever.

BADUMP

BADUMP

BADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMP

Meryl's heartrate raced once more, even without oxygen in her lungs. Her chest still burned, her head hurt, but she was aware. She knew everything that was happening. The sound of gunshots above her and the splashing noise as something hit the water. She was dying, but she was still alive- and had been for a whole minute and a half.

Suddenly Meryl felt a strong arm wrap around her and pull her back up to the surface of the lake. As soon as her head broke surface she took in a large breath, feeling a small pang as air quickly filled her lungs. Panting, Meryl shook her head sharply, sending sprinkles of water droplets everywhere.

Just then she remembered the mysterious arm that had pulled her back up, and twisted her head over to see who it was. The arm tightened as she moved, and she really had to struggle to get a look, since she was still tied hand and foot. What she saw made her jaw drop wide open.

Vash, his hair wet and plastered slightly to the sides of his face, was staring back at her with a frown. The look was so hard that Meryl had to cringe, looking away. Even then, she could still feel his sea-green eyes digging into the side of her face. But that didn't last for long. Obviously in a hurry, Vash pulled the panting girl up onto the dock, dragging her to her feet. Then, in silence, he grabbed a sharp pocket knife from his jean pocket and cut the ropes free.

During this time Meryl got a quick chance to look around. The scene near the dock wasn't quiet at all. All around the place, gang members were shouting and running, trying to get out of the way. In the center, Knives stood holding a long-barreled black gun, pointed straight at her and Vash. Legato stood calmly by his side, seemingly indifferent.

Meryl, still taking in deep breaths, could only glance over at Vash as he pocketed the knife and turned to face Knives. The expression on his face was void of emotion as he stepped forward, stuffing his hands in his pockets and giving Knives the same hard glare he had just given Meryl. Except this glare seemed a bit more… cold.

"So you thought you could just walk through here, save your girl, and walk out in one piece, uh? I think you underestimated us A LOT kid."

Meryl jumped and turned red in the face. "His girl?! What?!?!"

"And you…" Knives growled, turning to her with a sneer, "Didn't we tell you not to tell anybody? You just kissed your friends' lives goodbye, little girl."

"I didn't-" Meryl began, looking helpless. Suddenly her face turned bright red and she twitched.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

"…" Knives turned slightly pale as the wet girl took a menacing step towards him, shakily aiming his gun in her direction instead of Vash's. This didn't seem to affect her very much.

"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL!"

Even Legato seemed afraid as Meryl took another step closer, ignoring the gun in Knives' hand. She was just about to jump forward and chew his head off when she heard a clicking sound. Glancing sideways, she caught sight of a long silver hand gun… and Vash was holding it. Not only that, he was pointing it at Knives.

"Wha-?!?!" She gasped, too surprised to form words. Vash? Happy, stupid go- lucky guy with a gun?!?! When had THIS happened?

"Let us out of here." He said calmly, taking one step forward. He ignored the strange sqwuishing sound his sneakers were making thanks to the water. "And if you even try to shoot Meryl, you're dead."

Meryl sweat-dropped, starting to feel shivers as she realized the severity of the situation. There were guns… lots of guns. And guns killed. That was bad.

Knives smiled haughtily, his gun still pointed at Meryl. "Oh, but then it wouldn't matter, would it? She'd be dead. And why the hell would I let you pass? It's 50 to 2 my friend… or can't you count?"

"Guess not." Vash responded, taking another step closer. His gun was pointed directly at Knives chest.

"Too bad!" Knives laughed, turning back to take a shot at Meryl… only to realize that she wasn't there anymore. No, she was about five feet away from him and looking really really mad.

"I'm dead, huh? So you think I'm just gonna stand still and let you shoot me? I don't think so buddy!"

"Stop!" He practically shrieked, turning his gun on her, "I'll shoot you!"

"Knives, watch out!" Legato warned.

And that's when chaos broke out.

Vash ran straight towards Knives and Legato, ignoring the shouts of the rest of the gang as they converged around him. Meryl ducked quickly away from Knives gun as he tried to take a shot, missing by about a foot. She snatched out her own gun, pulling Legato into a strong headlock (despite her height) and digging the short barrel into his temple.

"Drop the gun or I blow this guys brains out!" She shouted.

Meanwhile, Vash had pushed his way through the crowd and had his gun practically touching Knives's forehead.

Both Legato and Knives froze, along with the rest of the gang. Slowly they backed off, looking for direction from Knives. Then it finally hit them: every man for himself. They bolted.

Soon there were only four people left: Legato, Knives, Meryl, and Vash. Vash quickly snatched Knives's gun from his hands and threw it to the ground.

"Get out of here… before I shoot." He growled. Meryl took one glance at Legato and pushed him in the same direction as Knives. He took two steps forward before swirling around and kissing Meryl straight on the lips.

(ME: Woah! Look Legato!

LEGATO: … DFS, you have a strange, twisted mind. -.-

ME: Ah, but is it love?

LEGATO: 0.o

ME: ^.^ we'll see)

A split second later he was running away from her, a sly smile on his face. Meryl stood silently, her lip quivering. And then the anger flared.

"Dammit!! My first kiss and it had to be from HIM! God, I'm having the WORST day today!"

"This isn't over." Knives growled, glaring pointedly at Meryl then Vash. Before walking off into the surrounding forest. Vash stared after him for awhile before throwing his gun to the ground and grinning at Meryl.

"Close, huh?"

Meryl still looked disgusted, throwing her gun down to the ground as well, " Yeah, I'm glad they bought it… my gun was too drenched to do anything."

"And mine was empty," Vash responded, suddenly turning to a more serious tone. "What the hell did you think you were doing? You know you would have died if I hadn't gotten here in time, right?"

"Yeah, but I had to."

"You could have told us!"

"I-I just didn't-" Meryl tried to answer.

"You don't trust people too well, do you?" Vash asked, making a point to look her straight in the eye. Meryl shivered.

"It's not just that… I didn't want to drag other people into my problem." Then she dd something unexpected… she smiled warmly. "Thanks for coming though Vash."

Vash was quiet for a second, a strange expression coming over his face. Then he grinned, leading Meryl back towards the 'civilized' part of the park. "No problem… but next time don't mess with any gangs… they tend to hold grudges."

"Yeah… I guess they'll be after me for awhile, huh?" Meryl wondered aloud, walking down the path in her wet clothes. They were sticking to her skin and slowly getting heavier and heavier.

"Not likely," Vash grinned again, "Cops are everywhere! Someone tipped them off on the gang members whereabouts tonight…"

"Don't they already know that the gang hangs out here?" Meryl asked, "It's a common fact!"

"Guess not," Vash said with a shrug, nodding happily at a couple cops as they walked out of the park and towards Meryl's apartment. He shot her a hard look as they walked. "Now you can get your sister out of that place YOURSELF."

Meryl nodded, walking in silence until they reached her apartment. Knowing she owed her life to Vash right then, she sent him another warm smile. "You can come in if you want to Vash… you might want to dry off."

Vash raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior, but nodded happily and followed her into the apartment. They left wet footprints all over the floor as they walked in.

"Sorry there's no where to sit," Meryl mumbled, grabbing him a towel and sitting down carelessly on the edge of her kitchen counter. Vash shrugged, laughing, and slipped quickly into her bathroom to dry off. Meryl smiled when she heard the blowdryer start.

Slowly the events of that afternoon played back in her mind. What stuck most, besides the near death experience, was Legato's kiss. What the hell had he been thinking?! And WHY, above all things, had he done it? It felt so wrong… and just… wrong. And it had been her first kiss. Dumb bastard.

Meryl's hand lightly brushed her lips as she continued wandering, her face growing hard. Had he kissed her for a reason? Or just to mess with her head? Did he REALLY feel anything towards her at all? She didn't realize how long she had been pondering until she finally noticed Vash was standing in the doorway, his clothes only slightly dryer, staring at her. She jumped slightly, sliding off the counter.

"Oh, you're out-"

"Were you being serious?" Vash asked suddenly, cutting her off. Meryl blinked.

"About what?"

"About that being your first kiss."

Woah, where had THAT come from?! Meryl did a doubletake, her surprise and anger showing clearly on her face.

"Y-yeah, I was being serious." Then she grinned, "Pretty sad, huh? And then it had to be HIM."

Vash didn't answer, still staring at her. His eyes were only on hers, as if entranced, and his mouth was starting to form a word very slowly, as if he was trying to talk but couldn't. The silence was starting to send shivers down Meryl's back, so she took a step closer and gave him a stern look.

"You OK, Vash? You're acting kind've weird."

Vash smiled, a sly gleam coming into his eyes, and opened his mouth to speak when-

--RING--

Vash and Meryl looked up, both with identical faces of rage. The phone had NOT just-

--RING--

"For some reason, I really hate your phone," Vash whined, slumping to the ground. Meryl clenched one fist, her left eyebrow twitching.

"Damn phone."

--RING-- !!!!!!!!!!!!

"Right, right, I'm coming," Meryl sighed.



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TBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHA! Sorry everyone, fluffy moment was ruined by the phone! Don't blame me! ^.~ Guess you just have to wait till next chapter. (ahh… um… -.-' pwease don't hurt me! I try to write faster! *dodges angry reader* ouchie!!)

Hmmm… maybe I should continue a bit with the Legato thing as well? Hmmm.. that could be interesting to mess with…. ^.^ muhahaha… Ciao for now! And thx for the reviews everyone!

LEGATO: You really like torturing me, don't you?

ME: ^.^ Aww, but you're SO cute together! (*cough* Don't worry everyone, I'm a strict VashXMeryl fan. No way I'm going to turn this ficcy into a LegatoXMeryl fic…)

LEGATO: *breathes sigh of relief*

ME: but it's gonna be so much fun to mess with!!! *dances around*

LEGATO: 0.o' someone please help me…