Disclaimer: I don't own anything Trigun, so don't sue me please, thank you!

Myshkin: Much apologies for the delays between chapters! Naturally, since I'm so close to the end these things just seem to get harder to write. That, and summer school's kicking my ass. ^_^ I finally realized why everyone thought I was crazy when I told them I'd be taking eight hours this summer.

Tying Up Loose Ends

Chapter Thirty-One

Withdrawal

He grew accustomed to moving about without the crutches for short periods of time, thanks to the "aid" of his fellow plants. As Knives guided Edy down the long corridor into the bowels of the airship, though, he realized just how short that period of time was; pain shot up his shins with every heavy, slow, resounding step, causing his teeth to grind and his body to stiffen in its movements. Edy just had to walk so damn slow…

Gazing upon the woman at his side his brow furrowed in frustration and confusion. Her eyes were open but they seemed to see nothing before her; she also clung so tightly to him that she obviously still believed him to be Vash.

Pillow talk… it could have been a joke. She had such a wry sense of humor that wasn't afraid to dip below the belt. Knives tried fervently to convince himself that this flimsy excuse was the truth. Still, things would change shortly once they reached their destination. The plants would help another of their siblings, a sentient sister, if Knives so commanded.

And command he would.

At last they reached their destination, the pair pausing before a giant, thick metal door, one reaching forward to open it and one shrinking back, confused that they had stopped and surprised by the sudden movement of the other. Knives ignored her and within moments the door swung open to reveal a cavernous room, the ceiling disappearing into the darkness above and a grating made of wide beams acting as the floor below. Beneath the grating writhed a great mass of pale flesh, plants melding and unmelding with each other as they swarmed below; this place acted as their new home outside of the bulb, where Knives could reach each and every one of them at a moments call willing them to his aid.

Wordlessly he strode forward, letting go of Edy. The sudden loss of contact mixed with the overwhelming sensation of the plants surrounding her from below made her back up, attempting to find the door in her darkness. Fear coursed through Edy like a fever, causing her to break out into a sweat, her limbs shaking uncontrollably. She didn't like this feeling, like something wanted to touch her, to turn her insides out to the world. Vash had left her side, but a sneaking vine of doubt curled itself about her, telling her that everything was wrong and that wasn't Vash.

A bare foot landed on the edge of a beam, slipping of it into nothingness. Franticly she fell to her knees, fingers scrabbling at smooth metal, gaining no purchase. In a flash all sense of solidness had disappeared and Edy could tell whatever that thing was that pulsed and flowed below her, that she could feel even without seeing, it would swallow her whole.

As suddenly as her descent began it ended in a blinding flash of light. Sight returned in all its blazing glory as something indescribable touched her back, her legs, her arms, with feather light caresses. The brilliance of being able to see once more seemed useless though; all Edy could see around her as she slowly twisted her head side to side was white, pure white. It felt like she was in a dream, floating there in this pure nothingness, all her pain, fear, and sorrow ebbing away. For once in her entire life, she felt whole, truly, physically whole.

Closing her eyes Edy breathed in, each breath feeling like something new and wonderful entered her body along with it. Instead of falling now she was flying, soaring higher than any substance could ever take a person. Every inch of her body, every pint of her blood throbbed with this new life. This could last forever and Edy would have no qualms about it. Memories of Isaiah, Vash, Wolfwood, Knives, the house, her life, it all seemed so inconsequential and far away.

Then, as violently as a baby is ripped from its mother's womb, Edy was dragged out of the bliss and into the cold, harsh, terrible world once more. Gasping for breath and sobbing from the shock, Edy found herself back upon the girders once more.

It hurts, oh god, it hurts so bad!

Huddled there, resting on her hands and knees with her forehead pressing into the cool metal, Edy screamed in pain, a low, throaty, roar of frustration and surprise. Nothing seemed right, her vision a jumble of shapes and shades and the very touch of the air within her lungs as sharp as Knives' blades. Her limbs ached from a strain like no other, as if she had ran a thousand miles; they held her up only for so long before she collapsed face first into a pile on the beam. Everything, life, living, it now felt so sharp and so heavy at the same time. Conscious, cohesive thought was too far beyond her reach at that moment; Edy just wanted to die.

Knives stood there passively, expecting as much. It was the first time she had absorbed any plants and even with Knives' help a dozen were more than enough for her to handle in one go. He had caused quite a ruckus himself after his first absorption and knew she would be coherent enough to talk like a civilized plant soon enough. For a fleeting moment, though, the urge to sooth her stole over him again. Unlike back in Edy's cell, though, he knew this pain would come and anticipated it; he was able this time to steel himself, to resist the temptation to touch her, to hold her. The shock of finding the one he thought to be most loyal slowly driving her insane had made him do two irrational things: one, kill Legato and two, coddle Edy like an infant instead of the adult he knew she was. She did not need that condescension at the moment of glory when she began to transcend her average plant state and Knives had no plans in giving it to her.

Edy cried and screamed for an hour before her voice gave out and all she could do was lay there and whimper; no pain in her life had ever cut her this deep, renting her violently from the whole she had been a part of for so short and yet so glorious a time.

* * * * *

"You sniveling, pathetic, excuse of a cognizant being."

Her first words, neither soft nor indistinct. They were sharp, cold, like her existence when she crashed down from that high. Knives sat there (long before he gave in to his nagging legs and allowed himself this minor comfort), staring at her, explaining what he had been up to since they boarded the ship and he left her to her own devices, how he found Legato and destroyed him for what he was doing to her, and especially what happened when he caught her as she fell; he started the absorption process for her almost the same instant he laid his hand upon her flesh.

He of course didn't tell her that he almost couldn't resist the pull of her own power and that he hadn't meant to force that many upon her so soon; his control had been shaken by the driving need to leave Edy separate from himself. Eyes averted throughout the whole explanation, body now resting in a kneeling position with hands limp in her lap, Knives had no clue whether or not Edy had been listening at all, assuming that she had not. Then she spoke those charming words.

Unsure how to respond, Knives remained silent. Edy refused to look at him so all Knives could do was stare at that dipped head, still so frighteningly black. She felt more powerful now, his blades throbbing in reaction to her proximity. Knives coughed slightly and spoke at last after five minutes of tense silence.

"I really don't understand why you feel this way, Edy. I healed you, made you stronger. You should thank me."

"Thank you for what? For completely fucking up my life?"

Her head snapped up with that and Knives passively noted that the right side of her face had begun to crackle and feather out, much like Vash's had when his transformations were that strong. The change of feathers faded to hair in an odd, seamless fashion. Two brilliant blue eyes bore into his own.

"How did I mess up your life?"

"Hmm… Well, let's see, first you tried to kill both me and my little brother when all we wanted to do was help you. Then you became a parasitic lodger who made no attempt to treat my endless hospitality and kindness with anything resembling respect. Oh yes, we can't forget that you have this odd need to destroy the human race, a fact that has made both your brother's life and my own more stressful than ever imagined. Then, of course, you have the audacity to kidnap Isaiah and myself as well as separate us from each other. That's not the best of it, though, oh no; your demonic "pet" decides to takes it upon himself to torture me for some peculiar reason. And just now you force me against my will to… to… I don't even know exactly what the hell you just did to me, but I've got twelve new voices pricking at the back of my mind at this very moment and one hell of a migraine just from existing."

"You're over reacting."

"No, I'm over-simplifying. Do you want me to go into further detail?"

"Edy, I never wanted to hurt you," Knives said, his voice at last softening from his cold, clinical tone. "Everything I've done I felt was the right action at the time. In aiding you in absorbing the plants I've made your body stronger, more resistant to the deterioration it should not be suffering from. I just did not want you to leave me sooner than I wish."

The feathers upon her temple bristled slightly at this.

"Sooner than you wish? What about me, don't I get any say in the matter of my life? Or are you now going to make all the decisions for me? What is it that you like so much about me that you want to keep me around, my mind? My body? The fact that I'm a female plant?

"Ah… I see how it is; it's finally dawned on me. You want to start a little master race right here, right now. Aside from the fact that I will never touch you ever again and will loathe even the sight of you, could you ever forgive yourself for screwing a human? That's exactly what you would be doing."

"What… what are you talking about," Knives asked, his voice and resolve shaken ever so slightly. "You're a plant."

"Half of me is but half of me isn't. Didn't I ever tell you daddy was just a salt-of-the-earth plant worker? Whoops, sorry, my bad!"

Sarcasm dripped from Edy's words as she spat them at him, blending with bitterness that coated Knives in a sticky wave of sickness. He didn't understand, was she lying to get him to push her away? Was she telling the truth?

"Fuck this, I'm going to go find Isaiah," Edy spat. "If you stop me, I'll kill you or die trying."

With that, Edy stood and marched out, no longer wavering in her steps or words.