A wavering red coat

part two

By: Angel Azriel

~It's crazy I'm thinking,

Just as long as you're around,

And here I'll be dancing on the ground,

Am I right side up or upside down,

To each other we'll be facing,

But love will beat back the pain we've found~

-

Dave Matthews Band

Crush

"So where too now?" Milly asked Vash with a slight sigh escaping her mouth.

"I believe the rebuilt town of December." Rhym answered for him. She gave the same giddy look that made Merrill hate her.

"I don't think we should go there," Merrill began. "Vash did destroy that town a long time ago, if anyone remembered him, who knows what would happen." Merrill replied to Rhym.

"I know, but, I have to go there. I left something there a while back." Her giddy smile made Vash look at her in curiosity.

"I didn't know you'd been there lately." He looked at her bright red hair coloration and then into her eyes. They were the same clouded grey looks as the years before, and they made him remember.

*Flashback*

"VASH, KNIVES! HOLD ON!" A girl yelled to the two younger boys that waited for her.

"C'mon Rhym! Rem wants to see us, you gotta learn to hurry!" A younger version of Vash yelled into the room.

"But, I found this.." she replied and held up a box to Knives and then to Vash. "They're gifts, not much, but they're all I could afford with this month's allowance!" She gave the same old giddy smile and Vash opened his box to reveal a dart gun.

"Hey cool!" He yelled with childish interest.

"Check it out, mines black, and it looks like a real gun!" The younger form of Knives yelled out loud with the same childishness.

"And mines' silver, Knives, it looks more like a pistol than a gun." Vash argued with his older brother.

"Yeah, yeah, okay! We're all happy, now let's go see Rem!" She grabbed the two by their wrists and ran.

Vash was impressed at her speed. The look of surprise pasted across his face.

*End Flashback*

"Hello? Va—ash . . . HELLO?!" Rhym-yelled waving her hand in front of the blankly staring face. When she snapped her fingers, he snapped back into reality.

"Hi." He replied simply to her.

"Well, now that he's back, I suppose you can go on your way." Merrill said directing her attention to Rhym.

"But that wouldn't be very kind of us Merrill," Milly began. "To let her go all by her lonesome, I mean.." Milly's face was unusually solemn.

"All right then!" Vash said out loud before Milly could finish. "It's settled then! I'll go to the Town of December with her!" He gave a look of determination, only to have it settled by Merrill hitting him upside the head.

"If he's going, it's our priority to follow. We have to make sure you don't get yourself into any more serious trouble. With Ms. Rhym around I don't think that it would be hard for you to do that." She said out loud looking at Rhym.

"You make it seem as though I'm the bad guy!" She growled at Merrill as glared at her.

"Well maybe you are!" Merrill returned Rhym's glare with her own.

Vash and Milly could feel the static running through the air that the two were causing.

"Now, now children, we shouldn't be fighting." Vash waved his finger at the two-while winking.

"Well she started it!" The two replied as the other pointed at the other.

"I did not!" Rhym yelled.

"DID TO!" Merrill yelled back.

"SHUT UP!" Milly yelled then dragged the two by their ears, similar to what a mother would do with her children. They boarded the bus and Milly and Vash sat together. "Now you two sit together and get along." Merrill and Rhym did as they were told, but neither even glanced at each other.

"I believe she said that you are to get along!!" Vash yelled at them, they both jumped.

"Yes sir!" They answered him and began to chat as the bus chugged along. Milly and Vash gave each other a smile of satisfaction. Vash closed his eyes and began to sleep, as did Milly. Merrill and Rhym chatted like school girls gossiping and soon the bus came to a stop.

"Hey, Vash, Milly, wake up.." Merrill shook both of them gently. Vash first woke with a sort of gentle look in his green eyes and smiled at Merrill.

"Well, I'll be, what a nice sight to wake up to." He gave her a sincere smile and got up allowing the just awoken Milly to leave the bus. Merrill blushed a light red to his remark.

"You never did tell me, but...how do you know Ms. Rhym?" Merrill finally asked, while Vash and she sat on the bench and the other two had left to go get some food and whatever it was that Rhym had left behind.

"Well, when I came to their town, it was strange. Everyone loved my brother and I, but there was something wrong with my brother, but no one could put their finger on it. I began to stay in the house of a woman named Rem, because Rhym was her sister, that's how we met. I've known her since I was 11.." he sighed. "Such fond memories." He said with a sigh as he leaned back and smiled softly closing his eyes.

Merrill gave a disheartened look and almost wanted to cry. She felt tears well up in her eyes and a lump appear suddenly in her throat. Her blue hair shielded the eyes that would show pain if she looked at the blonde haired man one more time. She felt cold shivers run through her, as though all of her dreams for the two had been shattered. Her grey blue eyes didn't want to see his smile one more time. She was scared that if she looked at him again, she might cry for the first time in a long time.

Rhym looked at the two with a slight smile and cocked her head to the side and she dropped a large bad onto Vash's lap. "Alrighty boy! Get to work. You'll be holdin' these bags!" She smiled at him with that usual smile that made Vash blink in curiosity. It wasn't a smile that showed warmth, but cold fearlessness. Her eyes were that same clouded grey color, with no emotion in them.

"Hey Rhym, what's going on, why the sudden cold look." Vash asked, making Merrill look up.

"Neh? Oh you mean this one? No reason, I just got to thinking about something, and it's more important to you than you think it is." She winked at him but the wink really seemed aimed at Merrill instead. The gesture made her smile again.

"Well, you heard the woman, let's go!" Merrill said with a different smile across her lips. Vash enjoyed this one much more than the one Rhym had given him.

"Yes`m!" He replied and stood at attention like a soldier that was in a battle zone.

"All right, lets move out!" Rhym waved her hand.

The four began to walk to the inn, where Vash had a few memories that were coming back. The town didn't seem deserted and the people walked about as if they had no clue who he was. Vash received a few angered looks from the town's folk, but only decided to disregard them. They walked into the inn and got two rooms. Rhym walked into the first one, followed by Vash, but she shoved him out.

"Tut, tut! You'll be sleeping in that room. Merrill, Milly, and I will sleep in this one." She winked at him, then allowed Milly and Merrill in. She shut the door on a confused looking Vash.

"Aw man!" He said out loud, then walked into his room.

*flash back*

"Rhym, I want you to promise me something.." The younger Vash appeared again in his mind.

"Yes?" The young girl replied to his request. She removed some of her red hair from her grey eyes. At this time they weren't cold and mechanical-like. But warm, they seemed truly human.

"If we get split up..that is, you, me and Knives. We'll all meet again someday." He asked lifting his blonde haired head backwards so he could stare up at the ceiling.

"What makes ya think we're gonna get split up?" Rhym asked with wonder in her eyes.

"Cause, I dunno, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, even if Knives isn't." The younger form of Vash replied to her question. He gave her a childish smile to which she returned warmly.

*End flash back*

Vash woke in a cold sweat. He found that Rhym had been staring at him from a chair seated at the foot of his bed. "What's wrong?" He asked her. She got up and shrugged, the stretched her long, thin arms toward the ceiling.

"Dunno, I couldn't sleep, so I came in here to see what you were up to." She replied to his interrogation. "I feel somethin's gonna happen. Can't you feel it Vash, that feeling in the air? It's like something is missing...but you can't find the link." She sat down right next to him on his bed. Her face not but maybe an inch from his own. Her breath was hot, but had a mint smell to it. Her grey eyes had a glint of mischief to them, but the same feeling emitted from her body, cold and emotionless.

Vash looked into her eyes and felt his face drawing closer to hers. He felt his lips brush against hers in a moment of passion. It was as though her cynical, emotionless, heartless look was the thing that made him happy. His green eyes were closed and he felt Rhym press against him. He felt her climb onto the bed and onto his lap, her legs wrapped around his hips the two exchanging love kisses.

Finally her lips left his and reached his ear. "I give up . . . " they whispered into them through shallow pants. "I love you . . . " she finally admitted. She took his hands in her own and entwined her fingers with his. She pushed herself against him once again and the two fell unto the bed. Before she could stop it, it happened again, he'd taken her to the edge of the heavens, then the two fell right back down to earth. She laid there with no second thoughts. This was where she'd dreamt of being.

Vash thought of what she'd said 'I give up . . . I love you . . . ' what did it mean? Why was she surrendering now, instead of back when he'd surrendered to her love? His pale green orbs stared at the velvet purple night sky. The stars dotted it again with their bright glossy glow. His fingers twirled her red hair around his finger. Was this all some dirty trick? No, it at least felt real . . . at least . . . it wasn't a dream . . .