Chapter Two: Journeys and Meetings
Lee swung his legs casually over the seat as he watched the scenery go by. Meryl and Milly had managed to get a ride on a bus, and were now on their way to where the Sand-steamer was waiting.
"Mama, are we there yet?" Lee asked, bored out of his mind from the long ride.
"Not yet, but almost. We'll be there soon, I promise." Meryl said, smiling when Lee pulled his face into a cute pout.
"He has no idea how much he looks like his father right now." Meryl thought, then looked down at Grant, who was sitting on her lap, sound asleep. He was leaning against her, with his head in the space beneath her chin, his hair tickling her face as she breathed.
"This ride is gonna last forever!" Lee grumbled.
"Nothing lasts forever, Lee. Don't worry, we'll get there. Just be a little more patient." Meryl said, as she reached over and ruffled his hair again.
"Hey, are those two your sons?" one lady asked, from across the aisle.
"Yep. They're mine. I'm taking them to meet their father." Meryl replied.
"Ah. So their father works far away, eh?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, you could say that." Meryl said, not wanting to reveal the truth about her children's father. Finally, the long ride ended, and everyone on the bus disembarked, heading for separate destinations.
"Wow! Lookit that thing, Mama! It's huge!" Grant shouted, awed by the size of the Sand-steamer.
"Are we gonna ride in that?" Lee asked, looking beseechingly at his mother as he said that. Meryl laughed.
"Of course we are! This Sand-steamer is going to take us to where your father is. So we'd better hurry up and get on before we get left behind!" Meryl said, smiling as her sons scrambled to grab their suitcases, and she and Milly did the same. Once they were on board the Sand-steamer, Meryl had the task of keeping up with her sons. Both were eager to explore, and none too keen on staying by their mother's side.
"I wonder if Vash was like this when he was little!" Milly said, giggling as the boys dodged between people, enjoying a game of 'catch me if you can!'.
"If he was, then I am in for double the trouble. Lee! Grant! Stay where I can see you!" Meryl shouted, when the boys had gotten too far away from her for her liking.
"Aww, Mama! We just wanna explore!" Lee whined, as he reluctantly returned to Meryl.
"Yeah, Mama." Grant said, equally as reluctantly as his brother did.
"I know. But this ship is so big, and a lot of these people are strangers. I don't want anyone to take you away from me." Meryl said, gently, wiping away her sons' disappointment with her concern for their safety.
"We'd never want to worry you, Mama." Grant said, honestly.
"I realize that, Grant. Tell you what, why don't we go exploring together after dinner? We might even go up and say hello to the captain." Meryl suggested. To her relief, her sons' faces lit up and they were all smiles.
"Really Mama? We'll do that?" Lee asked, excitedly.
"Yep. So you'd better eat all of your dinner tonight, if you want to go exploring." Milly said, speaking up before Meryl could.
"Yeah! All right!" Lee and Grant both cheered, then started chattering away about what they might see when they explored the ship later on.
"Vash………………….I hope we find you soon. They want to meet you so bad, I can see it in their eyes." Meryl thought, as she watched her children take out some well-worn toy soldiers and begin playing.
"So, where is Vash, anyway?" Meryl asked, as she turned to Milly.
"Last reports say that he was last seen heading to New Oregon. That is where the Sand-steamer is heading." Milly replied, as they walked along, going to their cabin. This time around, they had actually been given the funds needed to travel on board the Sand-steamer and didn't have to get a job on board to pay their way. When they had gotten there, Meryl threw her suitcase down and plopped onto one of the beds. She watched in chagrin when Grant and Lee began bouncing on the other bed in the room.
"Come on, you two! Off the bed! We may be away from home, but the same rules apply. No jumping on the beds!" Meryl scolded, as the twins sheepishly got down off of the bed. With a mischievous giggle, Milly got up onto the bed and began jumping, laughing when the twins joined her.
"You're a bad influence, Milly." Meryl muttered, her expression deadpan.
"What's the point of being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes?" Milly asked, from between giggles, as she caught Grant and began tickling him.
"Agh! Aunt Milly! Leggo!" Grant laughed, struggling to get free of the taller woman's grasp.
"Hold on, Grant! I'll save you!" Lee shouted, jumping onto Milly's back in a childish tackle attempt.
"Hah! Got you too, Lee!" Milly said, as she grabbed Lee and started tickling him.
"Mama! Help!" Lee shouted, laughing uncontrollably as his 'aunt' tickled him.
"Sorry, Lee, but you brought it upon yourself." Meryl said, with a playful smirk, contentedly watching her partner and sons play.
Later, after the promised exploration of the ship, Meryl sat back and watched as the twins slept. She smiled gently when both mumbled something in their sleep, then snuggled in closer to her. She was sitting between them on one of the beds, to assure them that they were safe in this strange, new environment. With a contented smile on her face, she looked out at the starry night sky that peeked in through the small porthole.
"Even though I didn't think so in the beginning, I really do feel complete with these two around. I am not just Meryl Stryfe of the Bernadelli Insurance Agency, or the infamous Derringer Meryl, but I am also 'Mama'. Vash, you have given me a rare gift, and I will treasure it forever. I only wish you were here now to share it with me." Meryl thought, as she lay down between the twins, and switched off the bedside lamp, drifting into peaceful slumber as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning, Meryl awoke with a start. Something was wrong, she could feel it.
"Lee, Grant, wake up, sweethearts." Meryl whispered, gently rousing the twins.
"What's wrong, Mama?" Grant asked, sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"I don't know. I'm going to go find out. I want you and Lee to get under the bed. Under no circumstances are you to come out. Is that clear?" Meryl asked, sternly. Both children swallowed nervously and nodded. When Meryl had gotten dressed, and Milly had been awakened and had done the same, the two women left the room, leaving the twins in hiding. Moments later, the shout of a man and the groaned 'Oh no, not again!' of Meryl and Milly reached the twins' ears.
"Mama!" Lee whispered, distressed. Grant stopped him from going out after their mother.
"Mama could be in real danger, Lee. If we go out there, she could get hurt." Grant said, with genuine worry emerging on his childish face.
"Then what should we do? We can't just stay here!" Lee retorted, going quiet when a man entered the room, coming within inches of where they were hiding, and then left.
"I know! But we can't disobey Mama, either! I wish Daddy was here!" Grant said, his voice trembling with fear. Then, suddenly, a tremor ran through both of the twins and, for a moment, a single image entered their minds; it was that of a man wearing a red trench coat and glasses that had orange lenses in them. Instinctively, they knew who this man was: their father!
"Daddy……………….he's somewhere nearby! I can feel it!" Grant muttered, excitedly.
"Yeah………………..If he's here, then that means he can probably save Mama and Aunt Milly! Let's go see if we can find him!" Lee said, as he started to crawl out from under the bed.
"Wait! What about what Mama had said?" Grant asked, concerned about disobeying their mother's order to stay put.
"Daddy needs to know that they are here! If he doesn't know that they are here, then he won't help them! Let's go!" Lee said, urgently. Needing no more convincing, Grant followed his brother out of their hiding place and to the door of the stateroom. As cautiously as he could, Grant opened the door and looked out, relieved when he didn't see any outlaws lingering in the hallway.
"Let's go." Grant whispered, leading the way into and across the hall, ever so careful to not make any noise as they did so. They paused when they heard a voice over the intercom, a voice that had a haunting quality to it.
"What's he singing?" Lee asked, shuddering as the words became clearer.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." Grant murmured, also shuddering when the words of death and destruction reached him as well. Then the singing stopped. Lee and Grant exchanged a glance; just what was going on here? With curiosity aroused, the twins continued onward, remembering with startling clarity the way to the central control room. When they got there, they could see that there was a fight going on between two men, and a third man was tied up in the corner of the room.
"Stop! Don't kill him!" one man, a tall blond, shouted, desperation blooming fully in his voice.
"No! That bastard killed my daughter! He deserves to die!" the other man, this one shorter and burlier, replied, as he wrestled with the blond. He tore away from the blond's grasp and rushed over to the man that was tied up, shoving the shotgun he carried into the other man's face.
"No! Don't do it!" Lee suddenly cried, as he ran over and jumped onto the burly man's back, trying to get the man to stop. All three of the men in the room stopped what they were doing and stared in shock at Lee, who was now standing in front of the burly man, with tears running down his face.
"Lee!" Grant yelped, as he rushed to his brother's side and stood before the vengeful father.
"Don't kill 'im! I don't know what he did, but killing him would be wrong! Please don't kill him, mister! Please!" Lee begged, not wanting to see one man take another's life. Despite the shock of suddenly seeing the two children in the room, the burly man's eyes softened and he lowered his gun, not wishing to kill in front of them.
"Thanks, mister." Grant said, softly, grateful that neither he nor his brother would have to witness any bloodshed that day. When the officials had arrived to take the burly man and his hostage away, the blond man sat watching the twins. He was surprised when he saw them approach, looking almost shy as they did so.
"Hello." Lee said, shyly.
"Hey. What were you doing up here when all this was happening? Don't you know it was dangerous to try such a thing?" the blond man asked, referring to when Lee had tried to stop the vengeful father from killing his hostage. Lee nodded, sheepishly.
"Mama's gonna be mad at us for not staying put, but we wanted to find Daddy so he could help her." Grant said, also looking a little sheepish at that moment.
"Oh really? Who is your mother?" the blond asked, curiously.
"Her name is Meryl Stryfe! She works for the Burn-a-deli In-sure-ants Agency." Lee said, sounding out the company name, since he wasn't used to saying it. The twins were surprised when all of the color rushed from the blond man's face.
"And who is your father?" the blond man again asked, this time sounding a bit tense. Grant motioned for the man to put his ear lower, and, when he had, Grant whispered into it.
"Our daddy's name is Vash the Stampede." Grant whispered, as though it were some big secret. It was then that the man moaned and put a hand to his face.
"No……………it shouldn't even be possible…………….Oh Meryl, please forgive me!" the man murmured, obviously distressed by this revelation.
"Mister, are you Vash the Stampede?" Lee asked, curious as to why this information had garnered such a reaction from the stranger. The man looked gravely at them and nodded.
"Daddy…………………" Grant and Lee murmured, in unison, awed that they were finally, and inexplicably, face to face with the man that had sired them.
"Lee! Grant! Where are you? Answer me!" Meryl's voice shouted, as she ran into the control room and came upon the scene.
"Mama!" the twins replied, running over and leaping into her arms when they saw whom it was.
"Meryl………………." Vash murmured, as the shock of finding out that he was a father wore off and turned into guilt.
"Vash…….." Meryl replied, smiling gently as she held her sons, trying to tell Vash with her eyes just how happy she was.
"Look, Mama! We found 'im! We found Daddy!" Lee shouted, gleefully.
"I know, honey! That's wonderful! Did you tell him your names?" Meryl asked.
"Uh-oh, we forgot!" Grant yelped, as he and Lee squirmed out of their mother's embrace and rushed over to where Vash sat.
"My name's Lee!" Lee said, giving Vash the brightest smile he could possibly manage.
"And mine's Grant!" Grant added, also giving Vash a happy smile. Vash looked as though he was at a loss for what to do next; he didn't know whether he wanted to jump up and down and shout for joy, or retreat into himself and punish himself for putting Meryl through such a thing.
"Daddy?" Lee asked, noticing the conflict in the man's eyes. Vash shook his head as though to clear it, then gave his sons a warm and gentle smile.
"Yes, I guess this does mean that I am your dad……………." Vash murmured, then embraced the twins, holding them close to his heart. Although they were startled at first, Lee and Grant collected themselves rather quickly, and returned the hug. Without even realizing it, Vash found himself crying, not in pain or sorrow this time, but, for the first time, he was crying tears of joy. Silently, Meryl came up behind the twins and embraced all three, completing the circle, and cementing an unseen, yet very present, family bond.
"Now we have a mama and a daddy." Grant murmured, sounding sleepy as he said that.
"Yes. At long last, you have a mama and a daddy. We are a family now." Meryl said, looking directly at Vash as she said that.
"A family…………………..I finally have one. And it feels good." Vash agreed, feeling content for the first time in centuries since Rem's death. Outside, a crowd of people were listening to the conversation, and tears were in the people's eyes. Wolfwood smiled a knowing smile as he looked up at the Sand-steamer.
"Maybe now he won't be so reckless." Wolfwood thought, as he inhaled deeply from his cigarette, knowing that at any time Vash would be emerging from within the Sand-steamer with his newfound family.