Her next rational thought was one of shock and surprise.

Sputtering, she fought to breathe in a world gone wet. Her arms lashed out and her left fist connected with something. She was released and she drew her face out of the water.

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow…"

She blinked hard a few times, clearing her vision, but even before her eyes focused she saw the scene.

"Sorry, Vash," she croaked.

"You didn't have to hit me," he whined nasally, one hand firmly clasped to his nose, the other waving at her in a warding gesture.

"You didn't have to try to drown me," she shot back, shaking her head, trying to get water out of her ears. Somehow, she seemed to be a lot more wet than just a quick dip in the pool would account for…

"Yes, he did," chimed up Meryl. "We couldn't get you to wake up. You just lay there and didn't respond to anything." She changed the subject quickly. "Just what's going on here?"

"What does it look like?" Kiley said waspishly. "Knives and Ace left."

"They what?"

"They left. He said he was," her voice threatened to break, but she continued. "He said he was tired of me. Of dealing with me. So he took her, and she went with him, and they left me here."

"You didn't try to go with them?" she asked.

"Why? They don't want me. Why should I go after them?"

"Because you're miserable here?"

"It's better if I'm miserable there?"

Meryl shook her head. "There's one thing you need to understand about these brothers," she started.

"We're cowards," finished Vash, head titled back to staunch the nosebleed. "Total cowards."

Kiley looked at him in shock.

"There's nothing we won't do to avoid getting close to someone."

She continued to stare, nonplussed.

"Nothing like being betrayed as a child to make future relationships difficult." He tried to affect a thoughtful pose, one hand under chin, but the hand still pressed to his nose ruined the effect.

She couldn't help it. She giggled.

He rolled his eyes at her, asking silently why she refused to take him seriously. "We are very good at running whenever we think that things might be getting… serious."

She sighed, and looked at her toes. "I… don't think that is the case here. He… I… he thinks I'm scum."

"Vermin. You can't have spent this much time with him and not picked up on the correct terminology."

She nodded, despondent.

Vash continued. "If he didn't like you, he would still be here. But you are a threat to him, to the way he wants to be, so he ran."

She perked up for a moment, but thought about what he said, really thought about it, and her face fell again.

"He tried to kill me," she explained. "And I almost killed him."

"He tries to kill everybody. This way you know you have his attention."

"But I almost killed him. I had my hands… and I almost stopped his heart…" She sighed and fell back to lay in the sand.

"Not again, lady," said Meryl as she hauled her up by the front of her shirt.

Kiley rolled her eyes buy sat on her own. She ended up hunched over her knees, staring at the sand and…

A sharp hit to the back of her head drew her back to herself again.

"What?"

"Quit sulking."

"I'm not sulking!" she denied. "I'm… I'm… I am sulking, aren't I?" she agreed wryly. "But you would sulk, too."

"No I wouldn't. Didn't. I ran after him and pestered him into submission when he pulled that trick on me." Meryl hooked a thumb over her shoulder. Vash waved, then took his hand gingerly from his nose.

"It's a good thing she's stubborn," he agreed. "Like I said, my brother and I are cowards."

Kiley sighed. "He hates me."

"No he doesn't."

"He said as much this morning."

"You didn't see him yesterday. He could hardly take his eyes from you, he was so worried. But he didn't want to stare while we were looking, so he kept shooting these little glances when he thought we weren't paying attention. It was really cute."

"Really?"

"Really." They both nodded firmly.

"Huh. I thought everybody just ignored me."

"Nope. We didn't want to bother you while you were doing… that whatever it was you did. But we kept an eye on you."

"Oh."

"He cares. We both can tell. We're both surprised beyond the grasp of words, but it's obvious to anyone who knows my brother well that he's enamored of you."

"Oh." She sat, deep in thought.

"So what are you going to do about it?" prompted Meryl.

"Follow him?"

"This isn't a test, girl. Don't look to us to judge your answer."

"I'm going to follow him," she said firmly.

Vash grinned. "Good."

The decision brought with it a sudden rush of energy, and she stood and walked over to pack. "What are you two going to do? Are you going to come with me?"

"We'll wait a bit, then follow. Our presence seems to have put a damper on Knives' ability to show affection," Kiley laughed, and Meryl continued with a smile, "so we'll wait a week then start after you. Sound good?"

"Sounds good." Kiley finished throwing things in her pack, then walked back to the pool to fill her canteen. "Thanks, guys," she said simply, then threw her arms around Meryl and squeezed. Meryl squirmed in her embrace, and Vash merely tentatively patted her back when she hugged him. "This means a lot to me."

She set out on her way to the ship. Vash and Meryl watched her go, Vash's arm slipping around her waist.

"Did we do the right thing?" Meryl asked quietly. "I'm not sure that we should encourage your brother."

"He's different, now. I think it's her influence."

"But can she influence him enough?" she asked, a note of worry creeping into her voice.

"We'll have to wait and see."