Final Edit. FYI – this story was originally titled "The Darkness". Read on to find out why... "It's fun to play with Knives...."

Home is Where...

Voices spoke in whispers. Giggling children, stocking feet padding up and down the metal floors. The sounds echoed from time to time and a familiar voice made its way into Vash's head. It sounded... Tessla. One green eye opened and looked up at a metal ceiling. He was in the ship. The ship, had it been a dream? Was he still dreaming? Rem, where are you? The room was dimly lit, and the voices retreated as he realized that he was not in familiar surroundings.
Still, there was one little voice that came to him. It came from his right side, and Vash's other eye opened slowly as he rolled over on his side to look at the speaker, afraid that it came from a ghost. How many times had he seen that fragment of Tessla since the day he and Knives had found her remains? He knew Knives saw her in his dreams; he would speak her name in the night. They rarely mentioned her since, but she forever remained in their minds. His heart beat as he turned to look at who was talking.
Helen sat on a chair by his bed. She seemed to be talking to herself. The little girl hadn't noticed that Vash was awake yet, her attention focused on a little round scrap of metal that was in her hands. It was bright and shiny, and as Vash was pretty sure it was a coin of some sort. "My mom gave me this dollar when she put me in the sleep chamber. She told me that as long as I had it nothing ever would happen to me. You know Vash, she said that I could use it to buy a doll when we got to Second Earth, and that they'd call the money Double Dollars..." Helen closed her eyes, "But what happened to Mom? And my little brother? Are they okay? Why couldn't she have let me stay with her?"
"She wanted you to be safe," Vash said slowly, trying not to startle her.
The little girl's eyes turned to Vash, "Oh! You're okay!" She stood up suddenly and grabbed Vash around his neck giving him a choking hug. He coughed and tried to sit up, pulling Helen with him. She pulled away after a moment and tucked her coin away in her pocket. "I just don't understand. I want to go home! I want to be home where my mom and my baby brother are..." Tears formed in her blue eyes and Vash set a hand on her head.
"I know. We'll make a new home, remember?" Vash closed his eyes, "But you'll have to tell me how because I've never even had a home." Helen looked at him, slightly confused, but Vash opened his eyes and smiled. He didn't dare get into the line of questioning she would probably pose to him... Not if that meant having someone overhear where he had come from. As it was... What had happened after he had restored the power to the plants? Were they angry with him? Would they be scared? He was just glad that Helen was with him now, and that so far, nothing horrible had happened to either one of them. "Where are we, Helen?"
"The hospital," Helen said, as looked around the room. "Aunt Margaret said she'd come back in a little while to see how you were doing. I told her that I'd stay here to talk to you."
"I'm glad you did," Vash replied, ruffling her hair. He withdrew his hand and set it on the back of his head, realizing that it was throbbing. "What happened to me?"
Helen shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I should go get Aunt Margaret..." She gave Vash an inquiring look and then without an answer ran out of the room. Vash held out a hand, about to tell her to stop, but it was too late. Even though her arm was still broken, she still had full use of her legs! He smiled to himself and lay back on the bed. You would have loved her, Rem. She's just like you.
Scanning the room, Vash took in his surroundings. This 'hospital' as Helen had called it was another escape pod. They must have salvaged a few of them to use as different buildings. However, other than Vash it was empty, and most of the escape pods only had one or two rooms max. Either everyone had been taken care of, 'Or they're scared of me after all.' Vash frowned, sitting up again and looking down at his hands. "How did I do that? Did I really do anything at all? The plant was so hungry... And then she wasn't..."
"I'd like to know the same thing," a male voice said from the doorway. Vash looked up, dropping his hands to his knees and watching as Jeremy came into the room. He didn't seem to be angry, but he was a bit wary of coming too close to Vash. The man stopped a few feet back. "Are you feeling okay? You fainted after that stunt and have been out all night."
"It's morning?" Vash's eyes widened. If it were morning than surely Knives would have left... Or come looking for him! He started to scramble from the bed, but his aching head throbbed and Jeremy reached out and set a hand on Vash's chest.
"Wait one second. You have quite a bump on your head from when you fainted. Wherever it is that you think you need to go, first you're going to have to do some explaining. My men are confused and want to know just what you did last night." His fear of Vash had evaporated and he sat down on the bed. "Just what aren't you telling us?"
Vash's eyes became unfocused. Would he accept him like Mr. Conrad had? Would Jeremy even understand what he was? He didn't look Jeremy in the eye when he said, "I don't think you'd believe that I'm an angel, would you?"
"Maybe," Jeremy closed his eyes, "I would like to, but I know that's not the truth. After the fall... I'm not sure anyone believes in God anymore." He shook his head, "No, we survived, so that has to account for something. But not for you... What are you really?" Jeremy looked towards Vash with a weary expression.
"I'm a plant, just like ones in the glass bulbs," Vash looked up at Jeremy. "My brother and I were born on the ship and Rem found us. She raised us as her own children. I'm not any different than you, but I can talk to them... I didn't really know how to help her, so I just thought talking to her might bring her back to life... I didn't do anything else, really." He lowered his head; "I wouldn't blame you if you were scared... I wish I wasn't what I am. Please, you can't tell anyone. I'll leave... I have to leave."
Jeremy ran a hand through his hair, "Whew boy, I think the angel story makes more sense. Although, it would explain why you could do what you did..." He nodded to himself. "I promise I won't tell anyone. I'm not sure I believe it myself, and I'm sure no one else will." His eyes focused on Vash who finally looked at Jeremy, amazed that the man was accepting his story. One down, thousands to go. "You're probably right in wanting to leave... Already people are whispering about you. I've been telling them you're just a smart boy, but you were on the mother ship which means to them you are high society."
Vash frowned, "I didn't know..."
"Each ship was set up differently. The mother ship had the majority of the politicians and many of the people who could buy their way into the SEEDs project bought spots on that ship. Our town had worked for years to collect enough money to send everyone on the ship. So many people were left behind because there weren't enough spots... I was mayor of the town and I couldn't save everyone." Jeremy closed his eyes, "I guess I still can't. We're going to have to rebuild our town, step by step."
The man stood after a moment and turned to look at Vash once again. Vash opened his mouth, but he couldn't think of anything to say. It wouldn't change anything, no matter what he said at this point, he was afraid. Jeremy filled the silence for him, "We'll take care of Helen. You don't have to worry about that. The Thompson's have already offered to take care of her. Little Eric really likes her." He smiled. "Maybe you can find the people who were on your ship. I wish you could stay here in New Orlando..."
"I understand," Vash said after a moment. He managed to get to his feet and followed Jeremy out of the escape pod and out into the sunlight. The light reminded Vash of Knives and his eyes searched the crowd trying to find his brother. Where was he? Was he still waiting, or had he left to find the plant ship on his own? Words suddenly came to Vash's mind, "I think we might have even found the plant ship." Hadn't Bernard said someone had found the ship? Vash frowned, he wouldn't tell Knives he just couldn't. If Knives knew that the plants were under the control of humans he'd go in and slaughter them all... Vash shivered.
"Hey Vash!" Helen came running and grabbed his hand, tugging at it urgently. "I'm glad you're okay! You have to come and play with Eric and me! We're going to go and explore the cliffs and see if we can find anything we can use. The other kids are coming too!" She started to tug at Vash's hand but he pulled away. Helen looked up at him in concern. "What's wrong?"
Vash looked down at Helen and smiled, but he was afraid it didn't look that sincere. He could see Jeremy frowning out of the corner of his eye. The children had accepted him, but the adults would be much harder. Already he knew he had lost this round. "I have to go Helen." He squatted down to look at her face-to-face and whispered, "Knives is waiting for me."
"No he isn't!" Helen said, "He's been playing with me!" She bounced on her toes and Vash grabbed her shoulders, his eyes urgently flicking over to Jeremy. "He came to the orphanage last night and told us about all of the treasures that are up in the cliffs behind the ship."
Standing straight again, Vash looked at her in concerned horror, "What do you mean?"
"He's already gone with Stevie, Jack and Zoë up to the cliffs, they went treasure hunting. Eric is waiting for us at the orphanage so we can go with them!" Helen grabbed Vash's hand again. "Come on Vash, let's go play."
"Who are you talking about?" Jeremy asked, now interested in the conversation.
"My brother," Vash replied. "He's..."
"He's going to show us treasures!" Helen insisted, tugging at him again.
"Dangerous..." Vash finished, and turned to follow Helen.
Jeremy grabbed Vash's shoulder, "What do you mean by dangerous? I thought you said only you escaped... He... He's with my son, Stevie."
Vash's eyes widened as he looked at the older man. Jeremy had every right to be frightened for his son. "Come with us," he said finally. "I might need your help." Suddenly Vash was pulling Helen along and Jeremy followed behind them. They dashed into the orphanage and Margaret looked up at them, startled. "Where did the others go? What direction?" He scanned the escape pod and grabbed his belongings, and threw them over his shoulder.
Eric jumped up from his seat on the floor, "You two took too long! What's the old man doing here?" He looked up at Jeremy, "No grown-ups!" The little boy frowned, and under normal circumstances, Vash figured that most children never played with adults. He thought it was strange, Rem had always played with them.
"I need to talk to Stevie," Jeremy said. "Will you take us there?"
The little boy kept his eyes narrowed, stuck his hands in his pockets and said, "Okay, come on, I'll show you." He skipped out the door and past Vash and Helen. When he'd gotten out into the sunshine he broke into a run and the others followed behind. "Come on guys, it's not far really, but you can see the whole valley from there!"
As they ran, Vash's mind swam with horror. What would Knives do if he were alone with them? He wouldn't just leave them alone would he? Had something changed? Had he gotten his brother back? For a short time Knives had seemed happy to play with Helen. But at the same time he had continued to say bad things to her... And then he'd hit her. Vash could still see that scared look on Helen's face as she lay on the ground. Knives had looked at her with such hatred in his eyes...
Vash ran past them, his legs longer than Eric and Helen's, but Jeremy kept pace easily. He had to get to them. If anything had happened to them... His hands closed into fists as he ran. Knives would pay for leaving even a scratch on those kids. Just one... He knew already that he would not be able to stay with them... The humans were already afraid of him. But if Knives did anything, Jeremy would make sure they would never be able to return to New Orlando. Never. Jeremy said he remembered every face, and he knew his was now included.
"What would your brother do?" Jeremy asked as they ran. "You said he's like you, right? That would mean..." Jeremy stopped running and Vash turned to look at him. Something had occurred to the mayor of the town, and Vash breathed, his eyes flashing towards Helen and Eric. The two children were playing tag behind them, zigzagging through the rocks. "He was awake on the mother ship too, wasn't he?"
"Yes," Vash admitted, his gaze flicking over his shoulder towards the cliffs. There was movement on the top, and his heart skipped a beat. He could still see four figures moving along the ridge. The last of them was taller than the rest. He turned to look back at Jeremy, "There isn't time to tell you everything. I just want to get to him..."
Before Vash could turn to resume their run, Jeremy grabbed his arms. "Did he cause all of this?"
"Yes."
Jeremy let go of Vash and didn't say a word. It was obvious that this conversation would never go beyond the two of them. He nodded after a moment and headed towards the children once again. Vash followed behind, his eyes on the silhouette of Knives upon the hill. There was no turning back now. Nothing he could say or do could change the past. He could not bring the dead to life, could not return the ships to space, and could not turn back time. Someone knew... Vash felt relieved that he no longer had to share the secret, but at the same time, it pained him to know that he had no idea how to stop it from happening again. What would Jeremy do to Knives?
Closer. They were closer now. He could see Knives up on the hill clearly now. His brother smiled. He lifted a hand to wave at Vash, and the other children waved as well. Jeremy huffed beside Vash, "Stevie!" He called, "Stevie! Can I talk to you for a minute?" He waved his arms towards his son, even as Knives turned to look at the children beside him.

Vash's eyes widened, he was still too far away, the cliff was steep this high up, he had to climb. Jeremy's reach allowed him to scale the cliffs easily, and his son was already heading down towards him. Above, Jack and Zoë still stood looking down on them. "Knives!" Vash called, his eyes barely leaving his brother as he tried to climb.
Knives looked down at his brother. "Hey Vash. I wanted to give you something." His expression grew dark as he turned to Jack. "A present." Suddenly Knives lashed out, grabbed Jack around his arms and flung him towards Vash. The boy screamed as he lost his balance and fell.
"No!" Jeremy and Vash scrambled on the rocks, but they were too far away from the boy as he fell. Rocks flew in all directions as Jeremy slid down the cliff after Jack who bounced once, then landed in a heap at the bottom. Blood pooled around him, and his neck was bent at an odd angle.
Vash screamed even as the other children started to bawl. Eyes wide in horror, Vash scrambled up the cliff, and threw himself into Knives. The twins toppled to the ground and two wide-eyed children stared at them. Zoë scrambled back in horror, going down the cliff after Stevie who started to call after his father. Vash slammed a fist into Knives' face. His brother started to laugh and flung Vash off of him. "KNIVES!" Vash screamed, pulling himself out of the dirt, his eyes darting between the dead boy and his brother.
Knives' body shook with laughter. "They'll die, they all will! Even if I have to do it with my bare hands!" He tried to stand but Vash screamed and threw himself at his brother again. He pulled his fist back to hit Knives, but he couldn't this time.
Knives wiped away the blood that was trickling out of his nose from the first punch. "What are you doing Vash? You should be attacking them, not me." His eyes turned, wild, towards the group at the bottom of the hill. Helen and Eric had joined them as Jeremy lifted the dead boy into his arms. "I should have killed the girl in the desert. There were too many witnesses this time." Knives pushed Vash away and he stood. "I'll kill you all..." He said to the others. From within his space suit he produced a long shiny object, and Vash's eyes went wide.
"Where did you get that, Knives?"
His brother laughed, brandishing the knife he had found in the remains of the medical bay. It was already covered in blood... "It's fitting, isn't it, Vash?" Knives ran his finger down the blade's edge and the blood rolled down his hand and dripped onto the ground. "You always wondered why Rem named me Knives, didn't you, Brother? You're too stupid to figure things out on your own." He watched the blood roll down his arm even as he continued to walk towards Jeremy and the group of children that huddled around him. They were all too afraid to move, even Jeremy.
"She caught me playing in the kitchen drawer as soon as I could walk..." The boy continued, his piercing green eyes lifting to look at the group of humans. "'They're knives,' she said, and locked the drawer. Rem couldn't come up with a name for me as fast as she had you... You were always her favorite, but she gave me a better name." He laughed, holding his bloodied hand for the children to see. "That's why it's fun to play with Knives."
"I won't let you hurt them!" Vash scrambled to stop his brother from going down the hill towards the others, every last breath intent on stopping him from killing another. If anyone knew what horror it was to run another person through with a knife, it was he. Vash had done it before, he had smelled the metallic scent of the blood as it had poured from Rem's stomach, and had laughed at the joy it had brought him. But it had also caused him unspeakable pain... The darkness of that event curled up into his stomach even as he lunged for Knives and for the knife he held.
"What? You want to stop me? You didn't come to stop me last night... Now father and son are together in hell." Knives sliced the blade in the air in front of him; blood splattered Vash's face and ran down his cheek like tears. "If anyone knew the true use of a knife, it would be you. Do you want the honors? I'll give it to you if you run that little girl through with it." He smiled, turning the knife so that he could hold it by the blade. "Take it Vash." Vash reached out for the blade, pulling it out of Knives' hand in one quick motion and his brother cringed at the deep cut it left in his palm. "What... What did you do that for?"
Vash's eyes narrowed, the blood drying black on his cheek in the hot suns. "I'll stop this Knives. Right now."
"You want to kill me? No... You couldn't." Knives' eyes went wide and crazy. "You couldn't even let the plants you hate so much die... I know what you did in the ship, even if I'm not sure how." He laughed, "You're a freak, Vash! You aren't human! You don't want to be what you are! No one is ever going to accept you Vash... Except me." He held out his hand. "Just give me back the knife and we'll be that much closer to making our paradise."
"We don't have to kill them! One at a time, we just have to keep trying... Someday they'll accept us. And someday we'll have paradise... With them."
Shaking his head, Knives started to reach out for the knife, but Vash landed a fist into his cheek. Knives reeled backwards. "You're attacking the wrong person!"
"You won't hurt them, Knives. I won't let you." Vash turned his eyes to Jeremy. He looked down at the bloodied knife, and with a sound deep in his throat, he hurled it out into the desert. "I'm sorry it had to be this way," he said, looking at the children. "Please go... I promise never to come to this town again... Go home!!!"
"Like hell you won't," Knives said in anger behind him. He reached out for Vash and pushed his brother to the dirt. "We'll be back, and we'll kill every one of you!!" Knives waved his blood-covered hands at them and then wiped them down his own face. Fingers made streaks down his face, causing him to look even more sadistic than even his eyes and smile.
Jeremy opened his mouth to speak as Knives came towards him, but he couldn't talk. The words wouldn't come even as he clutched the dead child to his chest. His eyes fell on Vash. Aqua eyes looked up at him from the dirt and the sorrow and fear that radiated from him finally freed Jeremy from the trance. One foot backwards, and Jeremy said to the children, "RUN!" The moment had unfrozen and they broke away and into the desert. Vash could feel his heart going with them. He had almost found home, hadn't he? A place where people had accepted him, at least for a moment? They would make a home for themselves and eventually forget everything that had happened... But Vash would never be a part of it. "You ruined everything, Knives."
"They ruined everything when they killed Tessla." He grabbed the front of Vash's space suit and pulled him to his feet. "They started this Vash, and I'll end it. We'll start over without them. We'll make a paradise for the two of us!"
Vash pushed Knives away from him, not being able to stand the smell of his brother's blood. "Do you really have a taste for blood now? You're as bad as the ones who killed Tessla! She wouldn't have wanted this!"
"Blood for blood, Vash," Knives said as he set a hand on his face. He turned, laughing, walking back to look down at where the boy had fallen. "Look at it, Vash! It was so easy..."
Vash stood behind him, fists balled up in white fury. It would be easy, wouldn't it? He could push Knives off the cliff just as he had the little boy and it would all be over. Vash could find someone to accept him; he could live like a human and no one would ever bother him again. But as he thought these things, he realized he couldn't. He didn't want to see blood again... He had already seen so much. Rem wanted him to live. She wanted both of them to live. Rem... It's wrong to kill, right Rem? I can't take his life, can I? Even though he killed all of those people... And you.
"Can't do it, can you, Vash?" Knives laughed, turning. "You're weak."
"Rem wanted us to live. She wanted us to find a new home..." Vash bowed his head. The truth was, the only feelings of home he had left were with his brother. Home... Tears came to his eyes. If something happened to Knives... He would never find a place he could call home. Never. His brother was all he had left now that Rem was gone... He sunk to his knees, tears falling down his cheeks. His friends were gone now too. Vash knew he'd never see Helen or the others again. Finally, he said. "Let's go, Knives. I don't want to be here any longer."
Knives nodded. He walked down the cliffs pass Vash. "The plant ship is west of here." He pointed towards the smaller sun. "It's that way."
Vash took a deep breath and forced himself to his feet to follow his brother. If he couldn't change his Knives, then at least he'd stay by him... No one else would die... Vash took one look towards the ship, and wiped the tears from his face. "Rem, I'm so sorry..." Helen and the other children would never understand. He knew for their safety he could never come back again. He wouldn't let Knives kill again... Rem help me, I don't think we'll ever find home.