~Under the Sky so Blue: Aftermath~

Part Three

            The sun filtered through the slightly dusty paned windows of the motel room in Demetri, making the tiny specks of dust all the more visible as they floated around the room above the wooden floor.  Vash sat back easily in a rickety wooden chair across the room watching his brother sleep.  There was a knot on Knives' head where he'd been hit the night before to be sent back to lullaby land, but it was quickly disappearing.  The blond spiky haired man sighed heavily as he thought, his aqua eyes not once blinking or leaving from his brother's form.

            'How can I do it? How can I do it Rem?' Vash asked silently. 'How can I change Knives? I can do it, can't I? I can take care of him like you told me to, but I don't know if he'll let me.'

            That was all Vash worried about now- taking care of Knives.  How could he take care of Knives when all his brother cared about was death and destruction and coming out on top?  Meryl might have been right, saying that he was insane to bring Knives into town, but what else could he do? There was no way that being in solitude again would help at all.  Knives had to see how people lived, that they weren't weak because of their emotions, that they weren't inferior because they weren't like he and Vash were.

            As though hearing his thought, which wasn't at all surprising to Vash if he could, Knives stirred in his sleep.  Within a few minutes he'd sat up, albeit slowly, and let his gaze travel around the room until they reached Vash's form near the door.  Knives arched an eyebrow and smirked cruelly.

            "I'm shocked you didn't finish me in my sleep, Vash. Then again, knowing you, maybe I'm not so surprised after all."  He lifted his fingers to the knot on his head and hmph'ed shortly, narrowing his light blue eyes. "You hit me…you actually hit me."

            Unfazed, Vash shrugged, "I had to so you didn't go crazy last night and try to hurt anyone."

            Knives sneered, "By anyone you mean that lowlife human girl that was in here with you?  That wouldn't have been such a loss."

            Vash sighed softly to himself then shook his head. "She isn't a lowlife and she has a name- Meryl is a friend."

            "Friends," Knives scoffed and found the strength to get out of bed, examining the bandages on his body, "I should've known you'd be so weak as to resort to having friends."

            To this Vash didn't answer but only stood as well as his brother looked to the foot of the bed to see a pair of trousers and a white collared shirt folded up there. It was then Knives noticed Vash was dressed very similarly, abandoning the red trench coat which was hanging from a peg on one of the walls.

            "What's this?" Knives curled his lip in disgust, "I'm not wearing that- I'm not like those pathetic people out there, I refuse to dress like them."

            "You don't have a choice. We have to blend in here, they can't know who I am or we'll have to leave."

            Knives chuckled and started moving for the door, "I'm not staying anyhow. You should have killed me when you had the chance, Vash; you're only making it worse for yourself."

            As Knives reached for the doorknob, Vash quickly sidestepped into his path and knocked his arm away from it. Narrowing his eyebrows with determination, the kinder twin stared at his brother unrelentingly calm.

            "You're not going anywhere, Knives.  I can keep you here, I can beat you again just like last time, so it'd be futile to try."

            Slightly stunned and a little confused, Knives grunted, "Are you holding me hostage?"

            "If that's what it takes…yes."

            "If that's what it takes to do what, Vash? Tell me what you could possibly be planning."

            Vash smiled very faintly, "I'm going to take care of you."

            "Take care of me?!" Knives cried and laughed ruefully, "You can hardly take care of yourself, I was always the one making the decisions, and I'm the reason we didn't starve or die from heat exhaustion all those years! What makes you think you can take care of me?"

            A few moments passed as they stared each other down, Vash never letting the gentle shadow of a smile move from his lips.  He would take care of Knives; he had to because Rem told him to. Rem must have known somehow that Knives would turn out very unlike Vash…that one day Vash would have to make his brother see that he was wrong.

            "Rem told me to."

            Rolling his eyes, Knives took a step back, "Rem.  That stupid woman filled your head with nonsense."

            Clenching his teeth, Vash grabbed Knives' neck tightly, lifting his chin up and spoke angrily.

            "Rem wasn't a stupid woman! She was smart, she knew right from wrong, she saw everyone equally! Why is that so horrible?! She told me to take care of you and I'm going to do it, damnit!"

            Light blue eyes wide and brows furrowed, Knives stared at the intense expression across his brother's face and held his breath. He wasn't yet in a position to fight back, and he didn't doubt that Vash could easily bring him down again, especially when Knives was weaponless. Though there were other means of fighting off his brother, his head hurt too much to even want to bother trying just then.

            Slowly Vash released Knives and gestured to the clothes on the bed. "Now I suggest you get dressed and then we can join the insurance ladies for something to eat. You have to be hungry; you've been asleep for two days."

            Knives couldn't believe him- Vash was actually smiling at him like nothing had happened at all. He wouldn't admit that he was actually starving- his pride got the best of him- but deciding that fighting back wouldn't be a good idea just yet, Knives reluctantly agreed.  However, when he had the chance to do it, Vash would soon be looking down the barrel of a shiny gun…

                                                                                                ~End of Part Three~