**Author's Note** Whee! Can you believe it? Three chapters in 2 days? This is too awesome, for you and for me! I'm excited but then I'm not, because the end of the story will be coming up pretty soon. *sniffles* But hey, I've been thinking about a sequel to the sequel to go even farther. From the reviews I've been getting for this story, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea, eh?

Ultra Sonic 007- Yes, I did notice the review you left for me for "Vacation", I've just really been slacking on that story coz I really want to get this one done. Anyhow, you're right about Knives, and I'm glad you caught onto it, though I guess it wasn't that difficult.

Jess Perry- You caught on too! Yay! And yeah, I wrote Vacation too, heh, but it's alright, just as long as you like the stories.

*A figure from the shadows step forward, Artemis in her lovely party dress* "I don't mean to be rude, but can we got on with the story? I've got stuff to do."

Um, sure, Artemis but you know…

*Artemis* "Yeah?"

Never mind I can't really tell you, I'd give stuff away too early.

*Artemis* Well you can tell me, just me, can't you?

Uh…no, sorry, no can do.

*Artemis* Tch, fine, be that way…I'll just get back to the story then.

Good idea…oh and hey, tell Knives I said he looks nice.

*Artemis* Tell him yourself…

Touchy…

Disclaimers: I don't own any Trigun characters or the Trigun series, nor am I affiliated with the creators in any way.

Claimers: All original characters (new ones, people) are owned or co-owned by me.

~Under the Sky so Blue: Aftermath~

Part Twenty

            Milly finished tying up her long chestnut hair, tying it with a blue satin ribbon tightly. It was strange- she never wore it up like this before, but it looked so nice and the ribbon matched her new blue party dress perfectly. A faint blush colored her cheeks- Wolfwood had bought the dress for her to wear when she said she didn't own a dress. With a slight shake of her head, Milly Thompson turned to find Meryl having a bit of difficulty.

            The raven haired woman grew perturbed by everything- the ribbon around her head, the white dress she wore, her shoes, and her hair that wouldn't lie flat.

            "I look like a kid!" Meryl shouted, tearing the ribbon from her hair and crossed her arms in front of the mirror, huffing. The dress came to above her knees, showing off her slender legs and semi-toned calves and the sleeves were completely absent. It was actually a nice dress. "Forget it, I'm not going! There's still a report that needs to be written and…"

            "…Oh hush, Meryl, you look perfectly fine, you're just nervous, that's all!" Milly cut her friend off. "Besides, I think Mr. Vash will think the same thing."

            "What makes you think I'm worrying over this for that broom-head?!" Meryl gaped, hands clenching into fists before she relaxed slightly and turned her eyes toward the door. She had just heard Vash's voice, followed by Artemis screaming, and then Vash shouting 'Scary!' and running away. "What the hell is wrong with him now?"

            In spite of herself, Meryl still smiled.

            Vash squirmed, tugging at the tight collar of his freshly pressed red silk shirt. It was too new still, and too uncomfortable to be buttoned the way Wolfwood told him to. Taking a quick glance at the priest, the spiky blond undid the top three buttons and drew in a long breath. Much better. His hand rubbed the side of his face, though, where Artemis' shoe struck him. It was hard to see the red mark because Vash was still blushing furiously from having walked in on her while she changed. He hummed softly as a wide smile crossed his lips.

            "You better be smiling because she didn't kill you," Wolfwood muttered from around a cigarette. "Artemis doesn't let people off so easily, you're lucky you only got a shoe to your head, needle-noggin."

            "I've been meaning to ask you- how do you know her?" Vash snapped out of his boyish trance, trying to figure out if he should leave his damp, tousled hair down or put it up as it always was.

            "I knew her when we were kids- we stayed in the same place for a while and then she took off." The priest replied, putting his hands into his pockets and looked at Vash. "She was about sixteen when she left, but we were good friends. Strange how we met like this again."

            Vash didn't ask anymore about the priestess. He found out only what he'd asked about. Though he did wonder if they were both from some sort of twisted sect of priests- he never knew that servers of God were able to have relationships. But then again, it seemed that these two weren't exactly what one would call your average person of the cloth. They seemed to do things their own way.

            "Aren't you going to change, Wolfwood?"

            "Into what? I don't wear anything else, I'm a man of God, for God's sake." Wolfwood snapped, shaking his head.

            "Well Artemis is a woman of God and she was wearing a dress…or at least that's what she was holding when I walked in." His eyes gleamed but the goofy grin never made it to his face because Wolfwood already knocked him in the back of the head to prevent it.

            "She's a girl- I don't need to dress fancy to look good, alright? Are you ready or do you need more time on your hair?"

            Vash decided to leave his hair tousled the way it was. He didn't have time to put it up anyhow and besides, he was running low on the hair gel.

            Artemis crossed her arms, ignoring the wind that made loose baby strands of red tickle behind her ears and neck. She didn't notice that it felt a little cold on her bared shoulders either, or that the material of the loose skirt was rippling around her legs threatening to go up if the wind grew strong enough.

            The young woman was aggravated, though not for the reason of Vash having walked in on her. It'd happened before…Wolfwood probably still had the scar on the back of his neck from her nails. The memory didn't even cause a smile to surface. Artemis was too irritated…at Knives, and at her self.

            They hadn't worked on his stupid plan in almost two weeks, so she assumed it was thought through enough. Why on Gunsmoke then were they still hanging around Demetri? He still refused to leave when she asked, and she was getting sick of asking and demanding that they leave. Midvalley was not going to be a happy camper and she figured they were probably well on their way of taking matters into their own hands.

            That wasn't the only thing, though perhaps it was the most important. Artemis was none too pleased with herself to find she was beginning to feel attracted to Knives. She had no idea why or how it happened, or where it came from. She tried to blame it on him being one of the only guys she'd seen for the past two months or so, but even that wasn't a sturdy enough theory. She'd even been strangely pleased by the way he was presented coming out from the steam filled bathroom after his shower.

            His hair had been damp, a sweet soapy smell emitted from his skin, and through the thin veil of steam she could see his ice blue eyes intensely upon her. She didn't like how Knives had looked at her. Actually…what Artemis didn't like was the fact she did like how he had looked at her. It was a strange way to stare at someone- he almost looked surprised.

            "Humph, probably because he's shocked a piece of human garbage can clean up nicely," she tried to justify it the only way she dared to. Artemis couldn't think about things like that. She couldn't let her friends down…she shouldn't, but she just couldn't stay there any longer.

            Sometime during the party, Artemis would excuse herself and step outside for a breath of fresh air. Then she'd slip away to the motel, grab her things, and leave Demetri. Once she was a decent isle or two away she'd stop to change quickly and then continue on until reaching December. Wolfwood told her about the orphanage he had there…she could stay there he said, if she ever needed to, or if was just passing through.

            Soon major bustling about through the motel's exit was heard as the others came piling outside into the cool air. Knives was last, walking smoothly with his head slightly tilted upward. It was all she could do to keep from sticking out her foot and tripping him, just to knock the smug smile off of his face. The pale blond man stopped before her, offering an arm to her.

            "I'll walk with you."

            "I can manage, thanks," she snapped.

            With a sigh, Knives looped his arm around hers anyway. "Make it believable- they will think it odd if you don't."

            Grudgingly, Artemis let him take her arm and hooked it into his, walking with space between them to the saloon which was decorated with streamers and balloons and music played loudly from the jukebox. The red head frantically looked around and found Lily sitting at the bar. If anyone was going to know, Lily would be the first to tell that Artemis was skipping town.

            "Pardon me…honey," Artemis forced out the last word with resentment having to say it because Milly was staring at them strangely.

            Knives didn't move but watched as the red head made her way to the bar and quickly order a drink. A strange feeling twisted in his stomach. Something wasn't right.