A/N Okay I looked at the chapter 5 that I posted originally and it turned out really jumbled! So this version should make it easier on the eyes. Thank you to the three people who have already reviewed!

Return Forever

Meryl grunted and rolled over on the bed. Big mistake. She landed on the floor with a painful thump and groaned. Good thing she had taken the blanket with her. Wrapping the blanket around her, Meryl twitched slightly and fell a sleep again.

            When sun rose and hit her face, waking her up, Meryl wondered why she was on the floor. She sat up and looked around. In fact, how did she get to her room? All she remembered was resting her head on Vash's shoulder and taking a short nap…

            Sitting up, Meryl cracked her neck and rotated her shoulders, sore from sleeping on the floor. With dismay, she noticed that she had not changed from her work clothes and that they were hopelessly wrinkled now. She glanced at the clock and noted that she had slept in late today. Oh well, at least she didn't have to work today.

Tossing on a fresh set of clothes, Meryl dreamily began to think of Vash, like the way he always had a smile on his face and if there wasn't, at least he still had a kind expression. She adoringly contemplated on twinkly, soft eyes and the way is blonde hair slipped down on his face at times. Then Meryl remembered that Vash had just piggy-backed her the night before and blushed and then slapped her cheek for blushing.

Meryl froze as she entered the kitchen. The sight of Knives sitting at the table met her eyes. The first thought that ran through her head was we're all gonna die!

Knives! What was he doing here? If he was up and about already than that meant that his injuries were healed now and he was not helpless anymore (not that he was ever helpless). It also didn't help that the moment Meryl had stepped in Knives had swiveled his narrowed eye and fixed his gaze on her, placing her under close scrutiny. This caused Meryl to be extremely uncomfortable. She almost opened her mouth to ask him what the hell he was looking at but didn't for fear of her life. She turned her head to look at Milly frantically. Milly smiled nervously back.

"Good morning, Sempai," Milly said, just a touch less cheerful then her usual cheery greetings and a note of fear wavering in her tone.

"Morning," Meryl answered, shifting her eyes back to Knives, who was placidly sipping porridge. What are we going to do with him? she thought. Looking around for Vash, she sighed in dismay when he was no where to be found in the kitchen. Damn it, where was Vash when you needed him. Meryl then groaned inwardly when she remembered that Vash had gotten drunk the night before and was probably still in bed due to a hangover, which didn't help the situation at all. Damnnitdamnnitdamnnit!!!!

"Here you go sempai."

Milly dumped a shaking bowl of porridge into Meryl's hands. Meryl then had no choice but to take a seat at the table. She sat down as far away as possible from Knives. What she wanted to do just then was bolt down her breakfast and run away as fast as possible but she couldn't just leave Milly with Knives alone. For crissake, this was Knives we were talking about, the one who wanted to destroy the human race or something evil like that. He was the one who caused Vash to kill against his will. Vash was the last person who would ever take a human life and looked how his life turned out. And it was all Knives's fault.

Amidst these thoughts, Meryl unintentionally glowered at Knives over her porridge. That was how Knives was in turn able to lock eyes with her and stare intensely back. Meryl shivered. She would have expected him to glare back at her but strangely he did not. The eerie expression on his face was far from glaring. This disturbed Meryl even more. Knives had an studying look on his face, as if he were trying to form a decision about her. The worst part was that she couldn't look away, that was how strongly Knives held her eyes. The next worst part was that he didn't stop staring.

This peeved her. When it came to a point where she couldn't ignore him anymore, Meryl demanded, "What are you looking at?"

A smirk curled onto Knives's face. There was an uncomfortably evil glint in his eyes right then. Meryl still couldn't look away.

"You, my little spider," he answered, face tilting down into a deeper smirk.

            There were more shivers down Meryl's spine. He had said "my little spider" in the same way the wicked witch of the west had called Dorothy "my little pretty." Why oh why couldn't she look away? That look in his eyes was just giving her the creeps.

            "Well please stop! It's rude to stare," she snapped.

            Knives sarcastically raised his eyebrows. Fortunately, this action caused him to move his eyes, thus freeing Meryl from the pit of hell and allowing her to look away.

To her dismay, he was still staring at her. Meryl tensed and tried to look as small as possible. This didn't stop him from staring. She snapped her head around.

"Hey? What did I say about staring?" Meryl growled.

"But you are so exotic to look at," Knives said, smirking. "How can I not stare? It is like watching a beautiful bird in her natural habitat."

Meryl gulped. It was excruciatingly hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Milly, listening to this exchange, trembled, nervously stirring the soup. There was nothing she could do to help Meryl.

It was fortunate that Vash bounced into the kitchen right at that moment.

"Good morn-in Milly!" he said chirpily. "Is that porridge for me? You shouldn't have!"

Vash plopped the bowl onto the table and was about to shovel a spoonful down his throat when he caught sight of Meryl's death glare at Knives and Knives's smirk at her. He placed his spoon down.

"So, you've gotten up, brother," Vash remarked.

Meryl sighed in relief as Knives switched his gaze to Vash.

"What of it, Vash?" Knives replied back. His smirk suddenly grew malicious, previous sarcasm gone. It was the smile of a psychopath. "Had a good sleep, brother? Did you steal any hearts in your dreams?"

Vash, with amazing self-control, calmly sipped his soup before answering. He smiled back at Knives's smirk. "Nope, not today, Knives."

"You'd better watch yourself then," Knives said, smile widening. He pushed back his chair and stood up. He paused for a moment, eyes flickering at Vash and then suddenly flashing toward Meryl. His gaze held there, eyebrows flicking up, a corner of his smile inching up. After an awkward moment of silence, he finally left the room.

Meryl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, preventing herself from shouting STOP STARING AT ME DAMNNIT!!! It all she could do to keep herself from throttling Knives on the spot. Maybe Vash could do that for her later, oh wait, he couldn't. Knives was his brother after all. Inwardly, she wondered why just him staring at her made her so angry. She could answer that immediately: she didn't like the way he stared at her, it sent a tingling feeling up her spine. It wasn't the kind of tingle she felt when she looked at Vash, it was a different one, an unwanted one. It was as if he were deliberately provoking her, making her uncomfortable, it was sexual harassment that's what it is. Why the hell was he staring at her anyway? Meryl didn't accept that bull about beautiful birds anymore than she thought herself exotic. Oh wait, Knives had called her exotic too.

"How long has he been there, Milly?" Vash asked.

"I, I don't know Vash-san," Milly answered. She started to tremble. "He just walked in suddenly and sat down. I didn't know what to do so I just greeted him and gave him some porridge." She sat down next to Meryl, placing her forehead on her hand. "He's so scary, Vash-san, how could he be your brother?" she whispered.

Vash smiled comfortingly. "Don't you worry Milly, you too Meryl. I won't let him do anything to you." His smile wavered and was replaced with a frown. "That bastard!" he exclaimed, surprising the girls. "Why was he staring at you Meryl? Did something happen?" he asked frantically.

This was unlike Vash. Meryl did not like to see that worried crease on his forehead nor that concerned look in his eyes. She smiled reassuringly. "It's okay Vash, don't worry. He just stared at me, that's all."

"I can't help but worry," Vash said. He sighed, toying with his spoon. "Well, I'll just finish this then. By the way, Milly this porridge is delicious!"

"Why thank you Vash-san," Milly said delightfully.

Meryl breathed out. At least Vash was back to normal now. Then a tendril of hair obstructed her view of Vash. She blew the hair away from her face frustratingly. When had her hair gotten so long? It used to be nice and short, out of her face. Now it was down to her shoulders and getting in the way of everything. She went back to her room to grab a band, tying her hair back.

"I'm going to take a walk," she called into the kitchen. "I'll be back in time for lunch."

Stepping outside, Meryl breathed in the fresh air. Ah, bliss. It was a quite morning and no Knives to be seen.

Or so she thought. She had been walking for about five minutes when she was suddenly yanked from behind. Meryl found herself being held in somebody's strong arms, head tucked beneath someone's chin, nose in her hair. She struggled in vain.

"Let me go of me or I'll scream RAPE!" Meryl yelled at her captor.

Knives face appeared to the side, chin resting on her shoulder. Meryl sucked in some air. Knives smirked at her frightened face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, my little spider," he murmured in her ear.

A/N 7/31/03 Muahahaha! I just couldn't pass up this cliffhanger! Bet you're all wondering what Knives is gonna do… I'll probably update really soon, maybe sometime today…

And here's my customary plead. Could you all please please review my stories on fictionpress.com? I ask this all the time but still…pleaes?