Kiley awoke early the next morning, long before either sun dreamed of dawn. Her eyes opened to find herself curled on Knives' chest, and she spent many long minutes listening to the slow, steady beat of his sleeping heart. The repetitive noise calmed her as she found the courage to face the day.

Gently, she reached out with her mind and ensured that Knives would slumber on until after she was gone. Then she sat up, the sheet slipping from around her shoulders with the barest whisper of cotton over flesh. She threw her feet over the edge of the bed and stood. Stretching and yawning, she collected the clothes she had worn yesterday, kicking them into a pile on the floor. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then went into his bathroom and had a glass of water.

She paused as she walked by the bed, then slowly sat near his head. A lock of hair had fallen over his eye, and she brushed it away with gentle fingers. He looked so peaceful as he slept. In a way, she wished he could stay like this the entire time she was gone, innocent of the pain she was about to cause him. Her fingers carefully traced the curves of his face, imprinting the memory of him on her flesh and bones. She smoothed the hair away from his brow, then dropped a quick kiss on his forehead.

Pulling back a few inches, she looked at his peaceful expression, memorizing it to take with her. Then she softly kissed him on the lips, staying there, unwilling to leave, for a full minute. Finally, done with her silent goodbye, she sat up. Her eyes were closed as she leaned over to pick up her clothes, and she kept them shut as she left the room. As she walked through the hall, she opened them, centered herself around what she saw now, and tried to put Knives out of her mind completely.

She succeeded well enough to be able to pack up her bag quickly and toss it over her shoulder without pause. Her room was emptied of her presence so easily, the only tangible evidence of her stay the two letters she left behind. The gray walls stared at her accusingly, their blank faces reflecting the harsh light. She sighed, once, as she reflected on how easy it was for it to look as if she had never been here.

She wandered through the halls of the ship, retracing her steps to the front door. She fumbled with the keypad for a few more minutes, then succeeded in tricking it open.

Only to see Vash and Meryl on the other side. Dawn had come as she sat and looked on Knives, and had grown and passed into day as she exited the ship. The two of them looked to have been camping by the ship for a few days, and she blinked a few times as she startled them away from their morning coffee.

"I was wondering if you guys were ever going to notice us out here," started Vash as he saw the doors were open, but his voice trailed off as he took in Kiley's bag and traveling attire. "Oh. Things didn't work out," he said flatly, but with a faint hint of compassion.

Kiley shook her head and cleared her throat before hazarding words. "No. Well, yes. Sort of. Not like you're thinking. I just… need some time to figure things out."

Vash nodded slowly, comprehension absent in his eyes, but Meryl looked at her with understanding and compassion. "It's not easy, loving them," she said simply as she poured a cup of coffee for Kiley.

Kiley took it gratefully and nodded. "It's not easy at all," she agreed, taking a gulp of the very strongly brewed stuff. "I have some other things I need to think over as well, big things, and I just need some space of my own… to come to terms with things, I guess."

"I know how it is. So, Knives is just letting you go off like this?"

"Well, um, no. Not really. Or at all. Actually, he has no clue I'm not going to be there when he wakes up."

"When he wakes up?" asked Vash with a grin. Meryl shot him a dirty look and he pretended to be assiduously cleaning his nails.

"Do you think he isn't going to come after you?" asked Meryl, a bit incredulously.

"Actually, I had that figured out. I was going to lock him in there. So I don't suggest that you go visiting for a bit, unless you don't want to leave for awhile."

"How long of a while?"

"My guess… four or five months until he figures out how to take down the barrier I'm going to put up."

"Barrier?"

"It's an energy thing. I'm going to key it to chromosomes. Anyone with a Y chromosome won't be able to pass through it."

Meryl looked at her oddly. "You… are just going to wave your hand and make a magic barrier."

Kiley cocked her head the side and sighed. "No. It involves a lot more than waving my hand and very little magic. Think of it more as applied quantum physics."

Meryl looked pointedly at Vash. "Your brother collects some of the most interesting people."

"He does do that," Vash remarked, looking up for a moment before reexamining his fingernails.

"I guess we'll be coming back in a few months, then," declared Meryl. "There's no way I'm getting trapped in that ship with your brother for any length of time."

Vash sighed and nodded, then stood and moved off to begin packing. Kiley sat and nursed her coffee, warming her hands and delaying the task to come. She watched the two of them as they squabbled over chores, smiling slightly to herself, wondering if she would ever be that close to someone.

Then she squinted her eyes, peering at Meryl. There was something wrong, something off…

"Meryl, did you know that you're pregnant," she commented softly.