Chap. 7

Rem's whole body seized up in fear as the man slipped his free arm around her waist and pulled her gruffly back into the room from which he had come out of. She couldn't see anything in the pitch black room, let alone her assailant behind her. However, she could hear his every move as he pushed her roughly again a wall and held her arms to her sides with one hand and her mouth with the other. His hands were calloused and strong, making it almost impossible to move.

Her other senses began to react violently against her, making it hard to decipher what was really happening. The smell of his cologne nearly drown her as the sound of him shifting his weight so he could reach for the light crashed upon her like a wave. She was scared, even more so then when she had been at the plant because now, she was alone. No one would come to rescue her.

I wish I had never left home! She thought as the man pressed against her, his hand still covering her mouth. She considered biting him for a moment before his voice broke through her thoughts.

"I'm going to take my hand off your mouth and turn on the light," he said, "don't scream, Rem."

As soon as the hand was removed, she was ready to scream her head off. She would have, too, if she hadn't realized what her attacker had just said. "How do you know my name?" she demanded, trying to see through the dark, to catch a glimpse of recognition through the shadowed room.

Suddenly, the light blinded her as her companion flipped on the switch. She blinked a few times in confusion, raising one arm to block the light from her sensitive eyes. As a blurred form in front of her took shape, so did the features. Dark hair, swarthy smile, bright blue eyes full of mirth as she gapped at him.

"Nick!" She nearly screamed, forgetting what he had told her only moments before, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?! You scared the shit out of me!"

He simply laughed, tears streaming down his long face as she glared at him, ready to kill. She contemplated for a moment whether to kiss him or to kill him before she decided on neither. Walking across the now clear room, she sat down on the single bed, trying to sort out her thoughts as each one clamored for attention.

Nick, meanwhile, was trying to stop laughing so hard, or at least long enough to get one coherent sentence out. "I (laugh) couldn't help it!" he burst in to giggles, "You should have seen (sigh) your face." He wiped a tear of mirth from his eye as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to keep from jumping up and choking her dear, good friend.

"I could have shot you, Nick! What the hell were you thinking?!" Rem sighed and lay back on the soft bed, briefly wondering where Nick got the money to pay for a single room.

"Shot me?" he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, still grinning from ear to ear, "With what?" His grin was quickly replaced with a look of unease as she reached to her hip and pulled out the .45 Colt, its silver edge gleamed in the bright light of the room. "Where did you. . ."

"It was my father's," she said simply, slipping the deadly weapon back into its holster. Nick simply stared at her for a moment before laying down next to her on his stomach, his head propped up by his hands.

He brushed cool fingers across her forehead, pushing her roughly cut bangs out of her eyes. "You cut your hair," he stated simply, still lightly stroking her hair. His touch sent shivers down her spine, making her once again question the validly of their friendship.

"I had to," she told him, closing her eyes and letting herself relax into his caress. "Women aren't safe traveling alone, so I wanted to disguise myself." She could almost feel him smile.

"You're too beautiful to be some rouge man," he told her quietly. She didn't answer as he continued to stroke her features, venturing from her forehead to her cheeks and eyes. He spoke again, his voice still quiet, but it now held some air of fear and disbelief. "Did you really plan to run so far that you need to hide your gender and carry a gun?"

She inwardly cringed, knowing that he didn't want to hear the truth. "I can't stay there anymore," she felt tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "even though Dad and Mum can forgive me for what I did, I can't. What if it happens again, Nick?!" She sat up quickly, her eyes wide with fear at the prospect of killing another person, "What if I kill again?! What if next time, instead of some crude sad-excuse for a man, it's someone I care about?!" She let the tears fall, streaming in rivers down her cheeks and falling forgotten on the bed bellow her.

Rem felt Nick's strong arms wrap around her, engulfing her in his embrace. She wept into his chest, her sobs muffled by his shirt. He rested his head against hers, his lips lightly brushing her hair. "What if I killed you?" she whispered quietly, clutching at him in desperation and sorrow.

"You wouldn't," he told her, trying to reassure her in some way.

"I could, though," she sighed, letting her tears fall freely. All the emotions and confusion of the last two days finally coursing through and out of her broken soul. "I could kill you like I did him. It'd be no different, only then, I'd have to go on without you. Alone."

"Where will you go?" he asked, still holding her tightly, trying not to think of causing her so much pain.

"I have to," she hiccuped, "I have to go to Millions Knives." She felt his whole body tense around her. She knew what this meant to him, now that they both knew the full story of Nicholas D. Wolfwood and Knives' roll in his death. "I'm sorry, Nick."

"Stay with me," he whispered, laying back and pulling her down with him. She expected him to let go of her at this point, but he only held her tighter, rolling over to draw her nearer to him.

Rem wanted so badly to tell him she would, that they could stay together forever in that moment, alone on a sandsteamer bound for Nowhere. She knew, though, in her heart, that her decision was the right one and that she couldn't stop now that she had started. "I can't."

He sighed as she rested against him, sleep beginning to drag her down. "Then I'll have to go with you."

"Thank you, Nick," she whispered as her eyelids drooped down, her weariness pulling her down.

"I'd follow you through anything," he whispered, knowing that she was already asleep in his arms, "Just to be with you forever." He sighed and closed his eyes, pretending that for one more night, he lived a normal life. . .with her.

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(A/N: I thought about ending it on that rather fluffy note, but. . .)

Rem set her bags down on the hot sand, smiling happily as the sandsteamer prepared to depart again from the booming city of Abril, its final occupants shuffling out into the morning light. The crew was bustling about, loading cargo and making sure that everything was ready to leave for their next destination.

"Nick!" she called over her shoulder, smiling at him as he set his own rather modest bag next to her own, "where should we go?"

"Didn't you have a destination in mind?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in both amusement and confusion.

She shook her head, still grinning like a little girl at him as he picked up her bags and his own, beginning to walk in the direction of the nearest dinner. "Actually, I just kind of left," she felt silly admitting her lack of planning when it actually came down to running away. "Really, I don't have any idea where to start!"

He laughed as they entered the small café. The whole place was rather crowded with early morning costumers, drinking a quick coffee before running off to various jobs and appointments. Rem felt completely free from their hectic pace as she and Nick found an empty table towards the back. He set their bags down as they waited for the waitress.

The first person to come to the table wasn't a waitress, however, it was a tall, rather pretty, blonde woman, not much older than Rem's mother. Her eyes were a violent shade of purple and her clothes seemed rather rich. "Oh," the woman seemed rather shocked and embarrassed as the two stared up at her in confusion, "I'm sorry, you just," she faltered, her eyes wide as she stared at Rem, "you just look like someone I met a long time ago. She seemed to be in shock as she continued to size up the youth. "No, clearly you aren't him, but you look so much alike." The woman seemed almost saddened for a moment.

Rem couldn't help back feel intrigued as the woman prepared to leave. Clearly the woman had wanted her to be this long lost person. "Who was he?" Rem called out before she even realized what she was saying.

The woman smiled sadly, "I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you. No one really believes that Vash the Stampede was a real man anymore."

Rem faltered. It was now her turn to stare in shock. All she could say was, "I believe you." She pulled out a spare chair, indicating it towards the lady before her. "Please sit down, Miss. . .?"

The woman smiled a little wider, this time a real smile that made her look years younger. "Marianne."

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A/N: So, that's that for today. I didn't really have this chapter planned out before I wrote it, it just kind of came to me. Anyway, hope you liked. Please R/R. If I get. . .hmm. . . seven more reviews I'll think about updating extra early. Please feel free to say whatever you like. Compliments and criticism always help!

Also, for those of you who don't know who Marianne is, she is the girl from the second episode that Vash is a "bodyguard" for. ^_^

What would you call the emotion that a character would have when they sweatdrop?