**Author's Note** Yay! I have more reviews to reply to! I'm so happy that people are enjoying the story and being very patient with me to see where the storyline heads. I hope that by the end of the tale after the tale, that Trigun fans will be more satisfied than the actual end of the series left us. ^_^
Donkey Kong- Ants huh? Well no worries there- Wolfwood is my sworn bodyguard when it comes to things that are annoying. ^_^
ShinyFairyLights- I see you've picked up the mild link (for now) between Vash and Lily. It gets much more interesting, I promise you that. And don't worry about Knives too much- he'll behave if he's to get his way, am I right? He's a very naughty plant-boy…indeed…manipulative…and I wouldn't have him any other way. *grins wickedly*
Jess Perry- Yes, Vash is very hot. *drools* Hum, but I've got my eyes on another certain blond *grins* that's if Wolfwood let's me…he's protective of his girls…right Milly?
*Milly* "Yep, he sure is! Mr. Wolfwood is just like that!"
See? *smiles*
Disclaimers: I do not own Trigun or any of the Trigun characters, nor am I affiliated with them in any way. I am not making any profit from this story other than personal satisfaction in receiving these lovely reviews. J
Claimers: All original characters are either owned solely by me or are co-owned. (Original characters are NOT Mary Sues, by the way, and for the time being consist of Artemis Fawn, a.k.a. The Arrow Goddess, Lily, and Gemini Mimic, as well as other soon to be added Gung-ho Guns).
~Under the Sky So Blue: Aftermath~
Part Thirteen
The sounds of birds chirping at the windowsill gently brought the urge for Nicholas D. Wolfwood to open his eyes and wake up. A day had passed and so did a night since he found the insurance girls and Vash the Stampede in Demetri, but it felt like he had never left them. Carefully, the priest slid out of bed, pulling his black pants over his boxers and moved to the window for his morning cigarette. His blue eyes flickered to the still sleeping figure of Milly Thompson, and this time he managed to smile. He wouldn't be leaving her again like he had last time- in fact he never really left her at all.
A light chuckle escaped Wolfwood's throat at the memory of Vash laying eyes on his thought to be dead companion for the first time…that needle-noggin thought the girls had brought him to a ghost. Yep, Vash was the same cry baby he'd been before his encounter with Knives; that alone made Wolfwood wonder why on earth the blond guy hadn't finished his brother off. It was Knives' fault- everything was that sorry excuse for a living being's fault- the mass murders, the vanishings, the trouble that constantly followed Vash because of a bounty that never should've been. If Wolfwood had been in Vash's place he undoubtedly would've killed him.
But now…the priest smirked as he exhaled slowly...in the moment when Wolfwood truly thought the end of his life had come, he had asked forgiveness from God. He realized that the way Vash lived might seem crazy and dangerous, but the man always found a way to save as many people as possible. 'Can you save your brother, Vash? I hope so, for the sake of everyone.' Wolfwood thought, putting out the lit cigarette.
Those questions were asked later, though. The most important question on everyone's mind was how Wolfwood was back from the dead. At first he thought it too complicated to give the entire story, so he broke it down the best way he knew how…
*…"It was an accident the day the bus happened by me in the desert- I hadn't been expecting to come across Vash so soon after my orders were given out by Knives. That's right- I knew about Knives the entire time and never let anybody know about it until the day of my supposed death. Anyhow, I guess I figured that the faster I got my job done, the faster I could go back to December…"
"What do you mean by that?" Vash asked, extremely serious and very interested in hearing more.
Wolfwood took a long gulp of his beer and sighed heavily. "My job was to make sure that you were delivered safely to Knives for what was supposed to be the final battle, a showdown. Why there were so many Gung-ho Guns out to kill you under his discretion before you got here, I have no idea- your brother has a strange way of thinking, though that's not anything you didn't know already, huh? If I hadn't agreed to do it, they would've destroyed the orphanage…I couldn't let those kids down, I couldn't let them suffer anymore. Do you understand why I had to do it?"
Nodding, Vash held sympathy in his eyes, looking as though he were ready to start bawling at any time. The priest made him hold off his tears until the end of the story- Vash and the girls all stared, waiting for him to continue.
"Despite the fact that this needle-noggin can get on everyone's nerves, I found that I actually wanted to protect him. He's never done anything to deserve the treatment he's gotten from people, which made me think, I really hope he destroys Knives in Demetri. That's why I wanted to know, Vash, that day when we had our guns drawn and ready, aiming at each other. I realize now that maybe you were right after all…In what I believed were my final moments, I wished and prayed and yelled that I wasn't ready to die. I bet he had a field day."
"Huh? He who?" Meryl blinked, looking up from her mushy banana sundae. It had melted long before they'd returned with Vash.
"Legato," came the simple response as the last of the beer was drained from the priest's bottle.
The collective gasp made Wolfwood smile grimly- he had expected that sort of reaction.
"When I tell you what he did, you might not be so surprised," he resumed speaking, striking a match to light a cigarette. "I was face to face with a Gung-ho Gun by the name of Chapel the Evergreen. It was strange…dueling the man that trained me for ten years, and I thought I had him. Oddly enough, I didn't kill him…he gave me a wound…a horrible wound, and of course I had the feeling it was the end of me. What I didn't know was that Legato loomed nearby…Vash, you probably knew it already, but that…thing has the ability to play people like his personal puppets."
A soft sigh escaped Wolfwood's lips; he paused before going on. The sooner the tale was told, the better. "Legato stuck around to play his last and greatest mind game- he succeeded in making all of you, including myself, think that Chapel had succeeded in killing me. From what I gathered, my body was taken from the church and there was nothing there when you all had found me. It was an illusion. Who took me from the church and brought me back to December beats the hell out of me, but obviously Legato didn't care about the consequences. I don't have a doubt in my mind that he knew it wouldn't be his problem anymore."
Vash's expression had darkened in understanding. Of course- why wouldn't Legato find it humorous to play with their heads? The man was a puppet himself- a puppet of Knives, simply doing as he was told. Legato knew he'd get Vash to ultimately bring him to an end, so what harm could come to him from Knives if he didn't really have Wolfwood killed? It would bring grief and torment first, and then confusion should the priest ever find them again, granted that Vash was not killed by his twin brother.
"So you woke up in December?" the raven haired insurance woman spoke after a while of silent thought.
Shrugging, Wolfwood replied. "Yep, and like I said before, I really don't know how I got there. News traveled fast about Vash being in Demetri, but then again, news about Vash travels fast anyhow. In any case, I had to come back…I found someone to take care of the orphanage for now, until I finished making amends…until I told you what really happened."*
…Putting out the cigarette, Wolfwood took his gaze from the cloudless sky and brought it to the sleeping girl in her bed. This was actually Milly's room- he hadn't a dime on him since leaving the orphanage. The big brunette girl stirred, yawned, then sat up groggily, rubbing her blue-green eyes.
"Good morning, Mr. Priest," she greeted with a half asleep undertone.
"Good morning honey."
* * *
Knives took a step outside on his own for the first time in about a week without the support of Vash's shoulder. He hated to admit it, but he'd been too injured before to withstand walking around on his own for too long. His wounds had healed very quickly with care from his brother, and the occasional bowl of soup from the black haired human woman. Knives never wanted to stoop to saying that partial care from a human had aided in his recovery so he simply kept it in his thoughts.
It seemed that most of Demetri was still sleeping- it was early in the morning yet. Vash still slumbered away in their room…in fact it appeared that only Knives and the priest were awake. He knew Wolfwood was up because his reflection in one of the windows was easily seen. A sneer crossed Knives' lips- Wolfwood was not supposed to be alive. Damn that Legato, he was just as bad as the Gung-ho Guns who had failed.
Thinking about his deceased bandits, Knives smiled grimly. Legato was good for one thing yet, and that was having managed to save the life of one of the original Gung-ho Guns. Midvalley the Horn Freak still lived, far away, safe from knowledge of Vash the Stampede. Not that Vash would intentionally seek out an underling- the bigger worry was right there in Demetri. As long as Knives remained there so would his twin brother. All the better to carry out his plans, granted the newest Gung-ho showed up.
With a smirk, Knives turned his ice blue eyes over the nearly empty streets of town until they came to rest on the well in the square. Two young women conversed there- one wearing a silver skirt, black boots, and a long red coat, and the other in the dark blue and black of a church member's apparel. The blond woman in the red coat pat the other woman on the shoulder and walked off for the small family restaurant and the second woman turned around, her gaze instantly drawn to Knives.
"Like a moth to the flame," Knives murmured smugly, taking a step off the porch of the motel. There she was- the new Gung-ho Gun and the new reliance of his plans, the Arrow Goddess, Artemis Fawn.