Greetings fellow fanfic'ers. In the last chapter, it was Vash to the rescue! Let's see what happens next in this chapter…
When It's Over
Chapter 8: Daybreak
Back in the city of December…
Milly frowned in worry as she noticed that Ai had not touched her dinner.
"Ai-chan? Aren't you hungry?"
The little girl shook her head back and forth in silence.
"Come on sweetie. You gotta keep up your strength. You don't want your Mama and Papa to see you like this, do you?"
At the mention of her parents, Ai finally broke down into tears and went into Milly's arms.
"I want Mama and Papa," she cried softly.
Milly just held her as the strain of the past few weeks took their toll on the child.
"Mom?" Woody asked hesitantly, from the doorway.
"Don't worry. She'll be okay."
The boy walked up and took out a plate of dessert from behind his back, and put it on the table in front of Ai.
"You can have mine."
Milly smiled with motherly pride at her son for his thoughtfulness. He was always looking out after the other kids when they were sad or lonely. Just like his father.
"Wasn't that nice of Woody?" Milly asked, pulling Ai back.
Ai wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. She hated crying in front of the boys, especially when it was Woody. Why was he being so nice?
"Thank you," she said, smiling the best she could.
The little boy became immediately flustered, turning a bright shade of red.
"I didn't want it anyway, that's all," Woody answered sheepishly and ran out of the room.
"Ai-chan, no matter what happens, you have to keep believing. They'll come back. I just know it."
Milly's reassurance was as much for her sake as it was for Ai's. The child nodded in agreement.
"Papa promised, right?"
"And your Papa always keeps his promises. You'll see."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Vash asked Meryl for the fifth time in the last hour, as they were about to leave the hospital.
Meryl smiled patiently. "I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'll survive," he answered, flashing her that incorrigible smile of his.
"I never doubted it for a minute."
She became silent as she was thinking of a way to approach the topic of Knives.
"Vash…" she began uneasily.
"I know what you're going to say. I'm not going to force Knives to do anything he doesn't want to do. What kind of person would I be if I did that?"
In her heart, she knew what his answer would be. It was just like him.
Meryl turned away so that he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.
"You know what will happen."
Vash came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders gently. He felt her tense up immediately.
"I'm okay with it."
"But I'M not okay with it."
He turned her around and reached up to cradle her cheek in the palm of his hand.
"I'm not afraid Meryl. What time I have left, I want to spend it with you and our little girl."
She wrapped arms around him, hugging him tightly. Vash held her closely as they stayed in their embrace. No words were uttered between them. None were necessary.
Knives stared at the night sky, as he lay immobilized in the hospital bed. He would be in this pitiful state for the next few weeks before he could even walk again.
Damn Vash. Damn him for his idealistic principles and for not putting him out of his misery.
"I'm leaving now," Vash said quietly from the doorway. "I took care of your expenses until you can manage on your own."
Knives didn't bother to turn his attention to his brother.
"What do you want? A medal?" he replied sarcastically.
Vash lowered his gaze to the floor sadly. "I want us to make peace with each other."
"I'd laugh at that, if it didn't hurt so much. Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" he demanded, accusingly. "You should have finished me off the first time."
"That was not an option. For better for worse, you are my brother, Knives. No matter what you do to me, nothing is ever going to change that."
Knives refused to answer back, and kept his gaze turned away.
"When we were kids, you tried to protect me and was always looking out for me. When did you start hating me?"
Knives turned his head slowly. "The day you chose HER over me," he replied vehemently, referring to Rem. "You betrayed me, Vash. We always had each other from the day we were born into this miserable world. But you chose to listen to Rem's idiotic ramblings."
"They weren't idiotic ramblings. She wanted the best for both of us."
"Stop lying. It was always Vash this and Vash that. She knew what some of the others thought about us, but she didn't do a damn thing to stop them. We were just kids. If I hadn't done what I did, they would've have killed us."
"You don't know that. And besides, Rem gave her life for us so that we would have a second chance. I think that more than makes up for it."
"You're wasting your time, Vash. I have no intention of helping you. Not now or ever."
"I didn't really expect you to," he replied quietly and turned to leave.
"You'll die, you know."
Vash stopped at the door. His back was still turned away from Knives.
"I know."
"I don't get you at all. You're always trying to save everyone. Why aren't you saving yourself?"
"I don't want to force anyone to do anything against their will. That's not the kind of life I want to live. And it's not what I want for my daughter."
"Your what?" Knives asked in disbelief.
"Her name is Ai. She's three years old and has blond hair and green eyes. The woman you almost killed is her mother."
Knives was completely thrown for a loop. To be honest, he didn't know what to think.
Vash opened the door and stopped midway.
"I hope one day, you can find some kind of happiness, Knives. Farewell."
Knives watched in confusion, as Vash left.
"What the hell just happened here?"
Milly looked up from her seat on the porch and stared at the horizon and sighed wistfully. She had stopped counting the days that had passed since Vash left to find Meryl. Ai put up a brave front, but Milly knew how much the little girl was hurting inside.
"Mom, when is Vash coming back?" Woody asked curiously, tugging at her skirt.
"I don't know, son," she answered in all honesty.
"It's no fun playing dodge ball without him."
Milly bent down and hugged her son with all the love in her heart.
"What was that for?" the boy asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Just for being you," she answered cryptically.
Woody stared in bewilderment at his mother. He would never understand adults.
Ai sat on the swings by herself and sighed despondently, as she looked up into the blue sky. Tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks onto her shirt. She closed her eyes, as if doing so, would make the hurt go away.
"I'm sorry, Papa. I can't be a good girl anymore. I miss you and Mama so much."
"Ai-chan…" a voice called to her softly.
She looked up and found her mother and father standing only a few feet away.
"Mama? Papa?" she asked, unsure if this was real or not.
Meryl kneeled down to her level and held her arms out to her daughter.
"Mama!" Ai cried out, happily.
She jumped out of the swing and ran as fast as she could, catapulting herself into Meryl's arms and hugged her tightly. Meryl kissed her daughter's forehead lovingly, as tears cascaded down her cheeks. She thought she would never see Ai again.
"This isn't a dream?" Ai asked as she turned her attention to her father.
Vash brought her small hand against his face. "What do you think?"
Ai smiled and reached out to hug Vash. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing from his eyes. All the strain and emotional turmoil he had gone through the past few weeks were wiped away the moment he saw his daughter's sweet face.
"You came back like you said," the child stated emphatically.
Vash smiled and took out the stuffed rabbit from inside his overcoat.
"I had a little help," he replied giving the child back her toy.
"Are you gonna be okay now, Papa?" Ai asked innocently.
Vash's eyes met Meryl's. What could they possibly say to her that would make her understand?
"Ai-chan…" Meryl began uneasily.
"Vash-san! Senpai!" Milly shouted excitedly, as she ran across the courtyard to them.
She had been the first one Vash and Meryl greeted upon returning back to the orphanage. It had taken about ten minutes before she relinquished her death grip, almost hugging them to death. They hadn't gone into any graphic details about their ordeal. But Milly knew that Vash was still not out of the woods, yet.
"What is it Milly?"
"The doctor just called from the hospital. They've recently received blood from an anonymous donor from May City. It matches Vash-san's blood type!"
Meryl put a hand over her mouth, which had hung open in complete shock. She turned to look at Vash, who was in the same condition. They both knew.
It had to be Knives.
To be continued…
Written by: Babboo (Sept. 5, 2003)
Still reading? Yokatta! (I'm so glad) ^_^ Vash can be so romantic!
Well, I have decided that the next installment will be my final chapter (Sniff sniff). Everything will be wrapped up and I think you will be satisfied with the ending, at least I hope you will. Better start writing or else my head will explode. There's so much to cover!