A/N: This story is one that I think will go relatively smoothly. This chapter was written in one sitting by just letting the words flow. I'm actually very pleased with how this is going (in my mind, at least) and although this first chapter doesn't really reveal the plot in any up front way, it sets up the problems to come for poor little Rem. Also, this story, sadly enough is NOT going to center around Vash and Meryl or even deal with them that much at all. This will more or less just be Rem, their daughter and Nick, Milly and Wolfwood's son, though I can't promise too much romance on that front either (maybe). Anyway, I've talked long enough, so please enjoy the story! ^_^
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun. End of story. This is pointless, because you all KNOW I don't own Trigun. Oh well. If I did, you all be writing disclaimers to me. Since you don't, it's safe to assume I do not.
Rem had only one memory of her elusive and much feared uncle. Anything else about him had been lost in the moments, hidden deep within the crevices of her mind. She remembered every detail of that day because it had been burned in her young mind. Even at such young age, she had realized the importance of that instant, that she must always remember it until the time came to use the information that she had guarded so closely through her childhood.
She had been playing in the geo-grove with her dog, a small whelp of a mutt named Stormy. The day had been a nice one with a cool breeze coming in from the north and blowing the loose strands of her platinum blonde hair around her face as she threw the little red ball for her pup to retrieve. She was so caught up in her game and the feel of the cool grass against her bare feet that she hadn't noticed the stranger until he spoke to her.
"Hello, little one," he said. She turned to meet eyes the color of the ocean, though she had never seen an ocean before; a cold blue that stretched on into the reaches of infinity. His hair was the same color as hers, maybe even a tad lighter, a blonde that was rarely seen in anyone over the age of three, so white a pure. He was very tall, probably as tall as her father, whom he reminder her of vaguely, with his lanky build and long face. "What are you doing?" His voice was melodic, a pleasing sound. She found herself instantly liking his friendly smile and calm demeanor.
"I'm playing fetch with my dog," she told him, smiling happily. As if it knew that it was being talked about, the dog came bounding up, the small red ball held proudly in her jaws. "Her name is Stormy." The dog seemed a bit cautious as to approached the stranger and gave him a wide berth as she came to rest at her master's side.
"I see," the man examined the dog for a moment before turning his attention back to her. "And what is your name, little one?"
"Rem Saverem," Rem answered, still smiling innocently at him. A spark of recognition and another emotion that she couldn't place flashed through her ice blue eyes. She was too young then to understand the look of hatred and sorrow that had been in his cool gaze. "What's your name, Mister?"
He smiled warmly, his composure regained from his moment of weakness. "My name is Millions Knives." He stopped for a moment to see if she recognized the name. She just kept smiling sweetly, oblivious to what his name implied, too young to understand the weight that came with such a name. "Listen, Rem, I'm looking for someone. I sure you know him."
"Really?" Rem was excited to help him find whoever he was looking for, especially if she already knew this person. She had always liked to help people. "Who is it? I don't know very many people because," she lowered her voice for a moment and leaned in closer as if conspiring with the tall man, "my parents don't like me to leave the geo-plant. It gets so boring with only Nick to play with." She spoke her normal tone again, done complaining about her living arrangements, "But, I'd be glad to help you if I can!"
"Alright!" Knives smiled, "I'm looking for a man named Vash."
Rem's face lit up. "Of course I know him! That's my dad!" She smiled brightly and took one of Knives' large hands in her small one, pulling on him to signal him to follow her. "I'll take you to him, he's home today with Mom and Aunt Milly." She turned to her dog, still with the large man in tow, slightly stooping so that he could grasp her hand, "Come on, Storm." The dog followed as she led Knives to Vash.
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(A/N: I could there for both simplicity sake and for some form of a cliffhanger, but I am a firm believer in the idea that a chapter should be at least four of five pages long. Maybe I'll make it that far! ^_^ I dun know!)
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Her father, the very silly and the very enigmatic outlaw, was none other than Vash the Stampede, though that was no longer the name he went by. Although her mother called him "Vash" at home, often yelling it angrily rather than saying it lovingly, in public she called him "Ericks". When Rem had asked her mother why, she had explained that it was because people didn't like the name Vash. She also said that Rem should never tell people she was "Vash's" daughter, but rather "Erick's" daughter. This confused her to no end, but she excepted the answer, knowing even in her youth that there was more to it than a name, but knowing that her mother would explain it better when she was older.
When she found her mother and father, they were working in the newer part of the geo-plant, where the saplings were still small and needed nurturing. As long as she could remember they had lived on the geo-plant and didn't see this as unusual or find it at all "amazing" as some of the people who came to visit did. The geo-plant was a large one, covering over ten acres of land that had started as a few very expensive but very small plants and growing from there. Her parents spent a lot of time keeping the plants alive and taught her to do the same. Though they spent much of their free time among the greenery surrounding their house, they never neglected her and always found the time to play games with her or read to her.
As she approached, she saw her father raise his hand in greeting only to drop it a few moments later, a look of confusion and fear crossing his features. Her mother said nothing and although her expression never changed, it somehow hardened, a reminder of the stoic woman she had left behind so many years before when she met her husband. Rem couldn't understand the almost immediate change in her parents as she continued to drag Knives to them. "Papa!" she called out, a happy lit in her voice from accomplishing the task of helping Mr. Knives find her father, "this man here, Mr. Knives was looking for you! I helped him to find you!"
They had reached her parents as the two wiped their hands of dirt and stood to face a man they hadn't seen in years. "I see," said Vash, plastering on a fake smile to mask his worry and discontent. He seemed to be weighing his options and the circumstances for a moment before embracing the other man in a tight hug, his fake smile melting away into a real one. "Brother, it's so good to see you again!"
Meryl seemed to relax a bit, knowing that her husband wasn't worried about Knives' sudden appearance, or at least pretending he wasn't worried. "Knives," she said when Vash had finished attacking his brother, "I can honestly say that I'm happy to see you."
"No you aren't!" the plant smiled. Rather than the smile she remembered it seemed to be a relatively good-humored smile that could melt the hearts of women stronger than her. "But, at least when I'm here, you know I'm not out destroying the world."
Rem watched the whole spectacle a bit more confused than usual, unsure what was transpiring between the adults. This was the moment when her father seemed remember that she was the one who had brought his brother there in the first place from the other side of the geo-plant. "Rem," he said turning to her, "this is your uncle, Millions Knives."
She looked at the man before her in a new light. Never before had anyone from her father's side of the family visited before. Actually, in all her life the only person that she had heard anything about from her father's side was her grandmother and namesake, Rem Saverem. Never before had she heard of her father's brother. She smiled brightly and ran to the man, hugging him around his thighs, as that was all the higher she could reach. "Uncle Knives!"
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She was lying in bed, unable to sleep in the hot dessert night, when she heard them talking out in the living room. Her parents and her uncle had spent most of the day talking and playing with her, but it had all been in a happy sort of casual manor. Now the voices she was hearing sounded harsh and angry.
"You can't let her grow up, not knowing, not comprehending why you won't let her off this geo-plant!" She recognized the voice as her newly discovered relative. He sounded so bitter and angry, she wondered whom he could be talking about.
"You don't understand, Knives!" Her father. He was angry, which was an emotion she couldn't ever remember her father exhibiting. Even when a man at the grocery store had nearly shot him, for reasons unbeknownst to her, he has simply smiled and told her everything was all right.
"Don't I, Vash? How old is she now?" There was no answer, simply an uncomfortable silence that threatened to crash down on her little ears as she strained to hear an answer. "How old?!"
"She's two years old," Meryl finally answered. Where Rem expected, of all people, her mother to sound angry, she sounded tired and defeated, as if she was facing a truth that she's rather not see, which was exactly was happening, although Rem couldn't understand this.
"Two?! She's two?" Knives laughed, a cold harsh sound, much unlike is full resonant laugh she had heard earlier. "She looks as if she's six or seven!"
"By two we were nearly adults, Knives!" Her father retorted.
"Well, we're plants, aren't we, dear brother?" Knives put an emphasis on the last two words, as if mocking her father with the statement. Rem had little time to ponder over what he meant by 'plants' before her uncle continued. "Of course her growth period will be slower than ours was, she's half-human. Assured though, within the next two or three years, the 'girl' will be a woman, then what will you do? Do you plan to explain it to her then, after she's already seen the effects of her genetic for herself as the priest's son seemingly stays the same and she does not?"
"We'll tell her when she's ready to know!" Vash answered, sounding unsure of himself.
"Did you even think of what would happen when you had this child, Vash?" Knives snarled. "Did you consider the consequences of your actions before you acted with you penis rather than your mind?!"
"Knives!" Her mother spoke for the first time in the last ten minutes, Rem had nearly forgotten she was there, "we discussed what might happen before we decided to conceive a child. We hoped for her to be more human than plant, but as it is apparent that she is different, we will deal with those consequences as well."
"You are both acting the fool," Knives said. Rem could hear the discontent in his voice. "When the child begins to see what you have done to her, the fate that you doomed her too, and has no other choice, send her to me. Brother, you do not even understand yourself, let alone the poor half-breed that you have created. I, on the other hand, know what it means to be a plant. I will teach her, if she ever needs help."
"I don't trust you, Knives," Meryl said, her voice full of malicious, "I never have and I will never send my child to you so that you can corrupt her. You are too evil."
"And you're too naïve, spider."
They spoke no more after that as Rem lay wondering in her small bed, her mind swimming with emotions and questions that she could not understand and had no answers for. It was clear that they had been speaking to her, but she didn't understand what it meant that she was a "half-breed". Nor could she understand what her age had to do with anything. She was sure that her uncle had meant Nick when he referred to "the priest's son" but what did that have to do with anything? Nick was nearly five years older than her and only played with her when his mother made him.
With all these questions swimming through her mind, she quickly felt sleep washing over her and when she awoke in the morning, her uncle was gone, but the memory of Millions Knives remained.
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A/N: Please Review! I appreciate it and it always encourages me to write faster, although I'll post with or without a certain amount of reviews. (I hate when authors do that!) So, please just drop me a line and tell me what you think!
