At the Gates of Eden
Disclaimer: This is a purely non-profit story written for entertainment purposes only. The characters of Trigun belong to their respective owners.
WARNING: This story contains slash (yaoi), which may offend some readers. You have been forewarned.
Author's Notes: A slightly re-written version. In my world (a.k.a. for this story), Knives gravely wounds Vash in episode 26 and then leaves him there to die. Vash DIDN'T kill Legato earlier on in the series, and they're lovers. Just a little experiment of mine.
~Seeress
Summary: [AU, slash, slightly supernatural, angst, character death] Knives leaves Vash for dead in the middle of the desert, and Legato tries to save his wounded lover. But what if Vash doesn't want to live?
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He lay bruised and broken on the hot desert sand, his blood staining the golden grains a deep copper red. His sunglasses lay shattered a few feet away from his left arm, alongside his silver gun. The sun beat heavily down, stinging his eyes and burning his skin. The bullets residing in his body caused him terrible pain, and he was thirsty beyond belief. His mechanical arm lay limp and immobile.
'This is it,' Vash thought to himself. 'This is where it all ends. It's been far too long already.'
He didn't really try his hardest against Knives. They were brothers after all, and maybe secretly he was wishing for all of it to end. He had lived for too long already; seen too much, learnt too much, and suffered too much pain. The eternities of sorrow were leaking from his soul just as his blood was leaving his body. It cleansed away everything and he felt reborn again.
He lay there for an undeterminable amount of time, his foggy mind reliving his life over and over. If things had gone differently, he would be on a fertile planet in their own paradise, with Rem and Knives by his side, and they would all be content. He would never have known the sandy shores of this cursed world. He would not be at the gates of Eden, as he was now, just waiting for them to open and to be enveloped in the warmth of death…
The vision was interrupted as he heard footsteps sound behind him.
'Have you come to finish the job, Knives?'
He kept his eyes closed as the sound drew nearer. He would not give in to Knives so that the last thing he would see in this world was the sneer on his brother's face, the comment on how he had been right about humans and how they were all trash. The footsteps were more rapid now, approaching from his head.
'It'll be over soon… don't give him the satisfaction… just keep your eyes closed…'"Vash!"
His head immediately cleared when he heard his name being called, because he could recognize that voice anywhere and it definitely was not Knives. So he had figured it out, as Vash thought he would. But this would make things a lot harder. He hadn't told his lover he was planning to die.
"Vash." The call came from beside him, less insistent this time, and he felt his head being lifted gently off the sand. He opened his eyes a crack and saw golden eyes looking back at him, concern written in their depths.
"Thank God, Vash, I thought you were dead!"
Vash managed a small smile. "Not just yet."
"Not if I can help it," Legato said determinedly, and put Vash's head back down to tend to his wounds. "How could you leave without telling me?"
Ripping out a strip of his own clothes, he began to stop the bleeding of the largest lesion. Vash winced as the rough cloth touched his raw skin.
"No, Legato, leave it," he said weakly, trying to push his lover away.
"Vash, you'll die if these aren't tended to." He kept on working.
"You can't help me anymore. Please, leave me be. I've lived too long already."
Legato's hands stopped abruptly. "You came here to die, didn't you?" It was said as more of a statement than a question. "Without saying goodbye?"
"I'm sorry…"
"No," he said harshly, getting up abruptly. "You're not dying here, not like this." Then his eyes fell upon Vash's gun, lying only a few feet away from his body. He walked over and picked it up, and placed it in Vash's right hand.
"The Angel Arms, Vash. Use it."
He made no reply, except simply to smile.
"It'll heal you, Vash, use it!"
No response.
"USE IT!"
His eyes fixed on Vash's arm, he concentrated hard and the covering of the gun flew off. The mechanism was starting to whir, the light was getting stronger…
"Would you force me to use it against my will, Legato?" he said softly. Legato made no reply.
"Do you hate me so much that you would make me do the one thing I would hate myself for forever?"
His eyes jerked off the gun and to Vash's face, where their eyes locked. Vash could feel Legato's will weakening, but it hadn't dissolved altogether.
"I'm doing this to save you." Legato's eyes reverted back to the gun, and his will was strong again. His arm was starting to transform. He was too tired to fight now…
"Legato…" The golden eyes shifted back to his face. He tried to put as much emotion and tenderness as he could muster into his gaze, to make him understand.
"… Don't do this to me." He started to cough up blood.
Breaking off his hold suddenly, Legato rushed to support Vash's head, holding it gently between his hands. He wiped the blood away with his thumb, touching Vash gently so as not to hurt him.
"I'm tired, Legato," Vash said quietly, his voice strangely calm. "I'm already at the gates… all I need is for someone to let me in." He eyes were glazed and distant. He brought his hand up slowly and touched his lover's cheek.
"Would you be so cruel as to leave me alone?" Legato asked brokenly.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, and his words started to fade. He closed his eyes and tears streamed down his cheeks. "I…" His hand dropped and hit the sand with a dull thud.
His mouth continued to move, but no sound came out. Still, Legato had understood.
"I know," he said, gently laying Vash back down again. "Me too." He leaned over and placed a kiss on Vash's lips, still hoping he might feel breath. There was nothing.
A single traitorous tear rolled down his cheek and landed on the wet cheek of his lover.
And then Vash's body exploded into beams of white light so brilliant that it made the sun's rays look pitiful. Legato jumped back in surprise and shielded his eyes as the beams slowly dissipated… leaving waxen-winged butterflies in their stead.
END