~Under the Sky so Blue: Aftermath~
Part Two
Slumber was dreamless for the first time in a long time for Vash. Rem didn't come to haunt his mind speaking of justice, hope, and life for people. He couldn't quite figure out how long he had been asleep, but it was much too long in any case. How dare he sleep when Knives was still at large?
Then it hit him- Knives was in the same room that he was in! Bolting straight up in bed, Vash half tossed off the covers and turned to see that his brother had hardly moved from the position he'd been laid down in. Knives no longer grunted and groaned with pain, sleeping as peacefully as a man with his conscience could.
Turning his aqua eyes down, Vash noticed he'd been bandaged up as well- though not to the extent of his brother, as he'd been bandaged many times before. There was no doubt as to who did it for him; Meryl Stryfe was always in one way or another taking care of him, even if she couldn't stand him. It made him chuckle softly to himself before realizing the door was slightly open.
"You can come in, I'm awake now." Vash called without any humor to his voice.
The door remained still for only a moment and then Meryl's petite form stepped inside and over the threshold, a bowl of soup in her hands. She stopped a foot away from the bed Vash inhabited and let on a very faint smile.
"I made some of my soup for you for when you woke up. I guess I have good timing."
Vash gazed at her, unabashed. He knew she'd been watching him and more likely watching Knives to make sure he didn't run amok in the town of Demetri.
"Thank you…I'm actually really hungry," he finally replied, taking the bowl from her and sipped at the hot broth, eyes closing halfway as he savored the taste. If anything, Meryl was damn good at making soup. "That really hit the spot," he complimented as he finished it, giving her one of his goofier looking grins.
Meryl hadn't budged- she stood there with her hands clasped in front of her, staring either at Vash or through him. The blond man didn't know what she could possibly be thinking now, but he could ask her or guess at it.
"I bet you still think I'm crazy for bringing Knives here, don't you?"
The small insurance lady furrowed her eyebrows and flickered her gaze to the other man, still asleep, then returned it to Vash.
"You're damn right I do, but you hardly do anything without reason despite how you make the situation appear. What are you planning to do with him now that he's here? I thought you were going to kill him when you found him."
Vash tilted his head to focus on the window letting in the stream of soft moonlight- he could see the red fifth moon high in the sky with the infamous crater that he had caused. How long ago was that? It felt like forever.
"I couldn't kill him. I wanted to so badly, but I couldn't do it because he's…he's my brother. I made a promise to her, to Rem, that I'd take care of him, and that's what I'm going to do. Do you understand?"
Meryl frowned lightly, following his gaze to the moon. She had witnessed that event when it happened- how frightened she'd been was beyond explanation, beyond reasonable wording. But Vash was far from the monster everyone had made him out to be. He was probably the gentlest soul she'd ever met, next to poor Milly of course.
"I think so," she responded, moving slowly to sit on the edge of the bed. "But you haven't answered my question. You say you're going to take care of him, but how are you going to do that?"
"I have to change him," was the quite reply as his aqua green eyes danced over to meet her concerned gaze. "I have to change Knives and make him realize that you can save the spider and the butterfly."
"Huh? What the hell does that mean?" Meryl arched an eyebrow. Spiders and butterflies, was he nuts? She didn't get a chance to question him anymore. At that moment a murmur came from the second bed, the voice belonging of course to Knives.
"You have to kill the spider in order to save the butterfly. You can't save them both, it's impossible, I've told you that before, Vash."
Meryl jumped up from the bed, suddenly feeling very nervous. With the wounds that Knives had all over him she was surprised that he had even regained consciousness so soon. It was only the second night since Vash brought him to Demetri- of course he and his brother both slept through an entire night and day. She forgot for a moment that they were related, and that Vash had been known to pull through life threatening situations before in far less time than it would've taken any normal human.
A smirk crossed Vash's lips as he and Meryl watched Knives sit up slowly, looking very disheveled.
"It can be done, Knives, you just have to figure out the way to do it."
A low chuckle emitted from the pale blond man's throat- it was cold, ruthless, and gave Meryl the heebie-jeebies.
"After all that has happened, how can you still be on the search for Rem's mindless teachings?"
"I should…go," Meryl had already begun creeping for the door.
It slammed shut with merely a glance from Knives. He grinned malevolently, straining to push his feet over the side of the bed to get up. However, he couldn't find the strength and stopped halfway there, his legs merely dangling with the sheets crumpled on the floor.
Vash, though, had more than enough strength, and stood with ease, striding quickly to his brother's bedside.
"I don't think you've had enough rest yet, Knives. Go back to sleep."
Before Knives could retaliate, Vash's fist rose in the air and swing down hard upon his brother's head, knocking him back out. He was just too tired to deal with more violence and battling, especially in the dead of night.
Meryl gasped when Vash had done that, and upon hearing her intake of air the tall bandaged man turned and flashed her a bright smile.
"I couldn't have him causing trouble already and waking everyone up, now could I? Thanks for the soup, Meryl, but you should go back to bed and get some rest."
As he crossed back to his own bed, Meryl replied to him. "Are you sure he'll be out the rest of the night? What if he wakes up again?"
Vash halted his steps, turning and leaned against the wall near the window frame, his form half covered in shadow and half bathed in moonlight.
"Don't worry, I can handle it okay? Just go back to bed and don't sit outside the door like you were doing before. Alright?"
Flustered that he knew she'd been doing that, Meryl turned, opened the door and shut it quietly behind her. She wouldn't sleep the rest of the night- Milly was snoring again.
~End Part Two~