Chapter 5: A Peaceful Life

A blond-haired child pulled up fistfuls of grass and flung them away, wailing. She was alone, all alone…mom and dad were gone forever, and she didn't know why. She didn't want to see anyone—or, more accurately, the people she wanted to see she could never see again.

Strong hands grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her off the ground. "What do you think you're doing?"

Val kicked and screamed. "Put me down! Put me down, Uncle Knives!"

"You know you're not allowed in here, filthy little brat," Knives said.

"I don't care!" Val shrieked back at him. "Put me down!"

"Listen to me, little brat," Knives said, still holding her in the air. "Do you know how hard it is to even get grass to grow on this planet? That grass had to struggle just to survive. And now you've killed it, for no reason. It's dead."

"I wish you were dead!" Val yelled, kicking at him. It seemed to have no effect.

"Well, I wish your whole goddamn race was dead, but we can't always get what we want, can we?" Knives said. "All your crying's not going to bring your parents back. Everyone dies, you know that? You're mortal, so that means that one day, you're going to die, too." Knives dropped her, and Val fell to the ground, a crying heap. "Go away," he said. "I don't ever want to see you again."

Wailing, Val ran. It took Vash the better part of an hour to get her calmed down again.

*

"She's just a child, Knives. An innocent child."

"It's not my fault her parents were killed. Besides, I didn't hurt her."

"What does it take to make you understand?"

"What are you going to do?" Knives retorted. "Ground me? Take away my allowance?"

Vash's fist connected with his brother's face. "Why," he began, struggling to control his anger. Knives wiped his bruising cheek, lip quivering in pain.

"What else are you going to take from me?" he said. "What's left for you to take?"

"You have no right to speak about having things taken away from you," Vash replied. "You've taken away too many lives yourself."

"A hundred years ago," Knives said. "They'd all be dead by now, anyway. Even you couldn't save them from that."

* * *

Sandhya wasn't sure how to conduct herself in a group like this. After dinner, they'd convinced her to come along with them to a bar. She felt sick to her stomach—the disgusting liquid hadn't gotten any better, and she felt like it was going to come back up. But she had to smile and be polite. That was what people did.

Vash and Brian exchanged stories and noisy laughter. Marlene seemed to have a silly streak that came out when she drank, and kept laughing loudly. It hurt Sandhya's ears to listen to them. What was worse was the feeling she should be enjoying it, but was simply too sick to do so.

"I...feel ill," she said, and hurried outside, leaving Vash laughing as Marlene slapped Brian repeatedly, calling him an idiot.

Sandhya heaved, spilling her expensive Chinese meal on the ground. The smell made her dizzy—dizzier, really. Embarrassed by the mess she'd made and the difficulty of walking, she leaned back against the wall. What the hell am I doing? Why isn't my mind... working?

"Nobody warned you?"

The dark-haired woman turned to see Vash, his blond hair shining under a streetlight. She just looked at him, not realizing how pathetic she appeared.

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking towards her.

"I feel awful," she said, then cut herself off.

"I wasn't exactly expecting to run into someone like you," Vash said. Sandhya frowned at him. "I mean, girls so beautiful are rare! You're really stunning."

Sandhya laughed. "You're a horrible liar. I see right through you."

"I did notice that," Vash said. "Why are you here?"

"Here? Because I got on a ship thirty-some years ago?" Sandhya hiccuped, it tasted disgusting. "Why am I here?" She laughed.

"Eh...maybe I should walk you home," Vash said.

"I need to get out of here," Sandhya replied. "I don't want to be here." She knew that. Other things were fuzzy, but that she knew.

"I can help you," Vash said.

"May-be," Sandhya replied. "How much do you know?"

"I know that you're the same as me." A plant.

"A plant?" Sandhya said. "Am I green, do I have leaves?"

"Never mind," Vash said. "I don't even know the word for what I am."

"What do you think you are?" Sandhya replied. "Man, or god? Neither? Somewhere in between? Angel, demon? Names are bestowed, words without meaning, and in the end, no one really knows what they are." It made sense to her as she said it, and she felt a silly pride in her words. "Who am I? I am Sandhya. Of the race of Sava, Sandhya."

"You're really gone, aren't you," Vash sighed. "Where are you staying? It'd be better to talk when you're sober."

"I don't have a place," Sandhya replied. "Too dangerous to stay here. I've gotta go on." She tripped. "Oops! See, dangerous."

Vash sighed. "In this state, I think it's dangerous for you to go anywhere. I'll carry you, and you can stay in my hotel tonight…tomorrow we can talk, okay?"

"I don't want to stay," Sandhya said. "I want to go."

"It'll be all right," Vash told her. "You'll be safe with me, I swear."

"He wants you, too," Sandhya said. "Just…lemme…ulgh…" Vash hopped away as Sandhya retched, squatting on the ground and vomiting into the grass. Shaking, even after she was done throwing up she stayed on the ground.

"You all right?"

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm so, so scared…"

*

The man who'd offered Spike a ride said "Room for both of them," but it turned out to mean "room for one person to share the cab of the truck with the driver, and room for one person to squeeze into the back with the freezers." Val sat cramped up in the corner, her arms clutching her large cross tightly to her body. The freezers with which she shared her space looked large enough to hold people; Val desperately hoped that their contents were not human.

The night wind chilled her through her coat. A bumpy road, combined with less-than-expert driving, ensured that she would not be getting any rest that night.

They finally arrived in June five hours later. Val was sore and grouchy from her uncomfortable trip, but Spike was no less chipper than usual.

"We're here! Aren't you happy, Val?"

"Thrilled," Val replied. "Where did he learn to drive, anyway?"

"I don't know. It sure made things exciting, though, didn't it?"

Val would have smacked her, but she didn't have the energy. Instead she rechecked the sign at the motel where their ride had dropped them off. Green Hill Inn, she read. He better still be here. She staggered into the lobby, Spike bouncing ahead of her. She rang the bell to wake the sleeping desk attendant.

"We'd like a room—" Spike began, but Val put a hand over her mouth.

"Excuse me," she said, "do you have a Mr. Stryfe staying here?"

The receptionist checked his register. "Yes, yes we do," he said.

"Thank God," Val sighed. "Give us a room. Two beds. Charge it to him—he's my uncle."

It took the man behind the desk forever to find a key and give Val and Spike directions to their room. When they got there, Val didn't bother to undress—she just kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed.

"G'night," Spike said, and Val pulled her pillow over her head.

*

"Praying to the porcelain god?"

"Would you let me die in peace, please?" The woman's face was completely hidden by her hair as she bent over the toilet, dry heaving.

Vash sighed. "Really...nobody warned you."

"Will it stop?" Sandhya asked, still staring into the toilet bowl.

"Eventually. To tell the truth, I think we take it harder than humans."

"Damn." Sandhya took a plastic cup from the bathroom counter, filled it with water, and rinsed out her mouth. She went back slowly into the hotel room proper. "Ugh, did you have to open up the drapes?" She stretched out her arm towards the source of the light, shading her eyes. "Damn you, sun…why did you have to shine so bright?"

Vash shrugged, and Sandhya went to shut the curtains. "So, um…you're…"

"Wait a second," the woman said. "I don't…remember…everything. You better not have—"

"I swear, I didn't touch you!" Vash replied. "I just brought you here because you weren't in any shape to go anywhere on your own. What do you remember?"

Sandhya thought about it, massaging her aching forehead. "I remember…being scared." She walked around the room, more and more agitated. "I've got to get out of here."

"What's going on?" Vash asked.

"To tell the truth, I wanted to find you," Sandhya said. "I heard all about you, even when he had me…Dr. Fulton wanted to take you, to test you like he tested me."

"To test me…so he knows that I'm…"

"Of the race of Sava," Sandhya completed for him. "You've been around for so long, you could only be one of them…I wasn't sure he was right until I saw you. But, you look so much like Sava herself…"

"Sava?"

Sandhya frowned. "You don't know about Sava?"

"No. Who—or what—is Sava?"

"Oh, man…you came with the first ships, and you don't know about Sava?" Sandhya groaned. "It's a long story…we don't have time. Right now—

"In a way, Fulton is right. The Twilight is just a name he made up, though…he wanted to make me sound more threatening. I had to get away from him."

"So you're responsible for what happened?" It did make more sense in Vash's head, now. This woman—this plant, somehow free like he and his brother—

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Sandhya said. "I just want to start over. I don't know where to go…I don't know anything. I just can't stay here."

"But you know more than I do," Vash protested. "You know what I—what we are—"

"I need to go," Sandhya replied. "If we meet again, then we can talk…but don't keep me here."

"There's somewhere you can go," Vash said.

*

When Val awoke, her roommate was gone. She didn't know what time it was and didn't care--she was still sore and wanted to stay in bed. The door creaked open and Val threw a pillow at the crack. "Leave me alone, Spike!"

A tall, pillow-faced figure entered. He spit out the pillow and scratched the back of his head.

"I just wanted to have a word with Val the Stampede," he said. "Should I make an appointment and come back?"

"Uncle Vash..." Val sighed. "Don't call me that, it's silly."

"Who's this 'Spike'?"

"The bane of my existence," Val replied. Vash nodded knowingly. "No, not like that! Actually…well, you'll find out soon enough."

"What took you so long, kid?" Her great-great-grandfather grinned at her, like he couldn't believe she wasn't still six years old. Val rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "Why don't you fill me in on what's going on here, instead?"