Disclaimer: I wish I owned Trigun, cuz then I wouldn't have to write fanfics, I could simply write the script and put this in the plot but nnnnnnooooooooooo… -_-

Chapter Fifteen: …He Made His Choice

Rhianne released her grip on Knives' lips and stalked up the hill, leaving him, bewildered, at the base of the dune. She crested the swell of the hill, and Knives was next to her before she had reached the bottom. He grabbed her wrist in an iron grip, stopping her from going any further. He moved in front of her, locking his gaze with hers.

"What did you say just now?" he asked warily, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she had to say. Rhianne leaned in and tried to kiss him, but Knives recoiled "no kisses, tell me what you said." He stated. Rhianne looked deep into his icy eyes, and thought for a moment, she saw a hint of glee in them, but it was fleeting, and her gaze was met again with the icy bitterness that so often consumed them.

"I said I love you Knives." She stated softly. The male plant blinked for a moment, and she thought that she saw that same glee flicker in his eyes. He was obviously trying to grapple with her words, trying to figure out how she could come to terms with something that major… how he could come to terms with the fact that someone loved him.

"How do you know that?" he asked hesitantly, hoping that she would say something annoying to put a stop to the mess they were entangled in. Rhianne rolled her eyes, temporarily breaking the eye contact Knives had been trying to initiate. He had learned that you could tell a lot of what people were thinking from looking into their eyes, and had to be certain this girl knew what she was talking about before she went around blurting it out.

"Because I do." She stated simply. There was no hesitation, save for the rolling of her eyes. And Knives felt a little black hole of nervousness begin to form in his stomach. She must be bluffing, he concluded, that was the only possible answer. She was trying to get him riled up and manipulate him to do whatever she wanted. But… what could she manipulate him to do? She had already made it clear she wanted to stay, so what motive could possibly be behind her lies? Knives felt the urge to tear out his hair in frustration, but wouldn't expose his weakness to her.

"How do you determine you feel this way?" he spat, his features stony "you have to have a certain basis for everything, and love is not something you can identify. So how do you figure?" Rhianne shook her head, avoiding Knives' piercing gaze that seemed to stare right into her heart.

"I don't know…" she admitted quietly. A grin of triumph smeared itself across Knives' face "then you have nothing to prove that theory." He spat smugly. He had her cornered. There was no way she could weasel out of this. He smiled smugly as Rhianne tore her wrist from his grasp and shook her head at him.

"It figures." She said, then attempted to brush by him. Knives snatched her upper arm and pulled her forcefully backwards

"What figures?" he demanded "what is it? Can't you grasp the concept that you're wrong? Are you that much like the vermin that you have to force your beliefs on others?" Rhianne's eyes narrowed angrily, "No Knives, because then I'd be like you." She snarled, and she used her free hand to deliver a slap to his right cheek, leaving a mark that looked grayish under the moonlight. Knives drew in a deep breath, and his eyes began to glow. Using his other hand, he snatched the back of Rhianne's head pushed her towards him, smashing their lips together. He tightened his grip on her hair, then pulled her violently back, tearing their lips away from each other.

"There" he snarled, pulling on her hair violently "is that what you call 'love'? Two people's lips being forced together? Is that a philosophy that you picked up from the vermin? Eh? Did those worthless little insects teach you that? Well I have a question for you: if two people kissing means they're in love, then why are the vermin such a destructive race? Shouldn't they be falling over themselves for their 'loved ones', instead of polluting the planet and killing our family?" he demanded, giving a final yank on her hair for emphasis. He released his grip on her scalp, and pushed her backwards.

Rhianne stumbled backwards, falling into the sand at the force of the other plant's shove. She glared up at him, the man who, even though he lived on a planet filled with light, was so full of darkness. He looked like a demon, with his fiercely glowing eyes and black silhouette, outlined by the silver moonlight.

"No Knives, the humans taught me next-to-nothing about life." She stated waspishly, rising to her feet and meeting Knives' glowing eyes "and about your stupid theory, it's wrong. Dead. Fucking. Wrong. Do you know why people go to war, Knives? It's to protect those they love. But war is also started to protect people that are loved. I can't prove that I love you, but you can't prove that I don't. Love isn't something you can simply slap a price tag on, or give away whenever you feel like it. It's something you can take away, and something you can give to those people lucky to receive it. You can't help the way you feel; it's just… there. You feel that way. 'Nuff said. So if you want me to prove that I love you, I can't. You have two choices: you can either accept my love for you and live with it, or chose to push yourself away from me and I'll leave. Make up your mind." She finished icily.

Knives stared at her, his feelings covered by the mask of placidness that he forced his features to sport. But inside, beneath the calm exterior, he was tearing himself apart.

His mind told him to take the second option, to cast her away and continue with his genocide plans; that she would only prove to be an obstacle and a burden. That if he let her stay he would succumb to his strange feelings and to the voice that plagued him, and he would fail in his plans. That he would choose her over the life of his siblings, simply because she would become the most important thing to him, and would mean more than life itself to him, and he would be betraying himself if he let her into his heart. He would be failing his sisters and his brother, who he had always promised to keep safe from the scum that walked his planet. He would find supreme happiness, but would pay the ultimate price for it. He would find love, but he would be ignoring his cause for living if he did. She would be his companion, but he would loose the respect of his sisters, and his own respect for himself if he did. It spoke fiercely, convincingly, that he would find love, but he would never be truly happy.

The second part, his heart, the weaker party, tried to sway him to let her stay. It promised him that it would be worth it; that living with her would change his whole perspective on how things were. It guaranteed that his life would feel complete with her, and empty without her, and that he was only killing himself from the inside if her let her go. It showed him of how things could be, him and her together forever, like gods ruling over his Eden. That she would fill the gaping void that Vash had left in his heart when he refused to side with him. She would heal the scars made by all those who had torn at his heart and mind and had poisoned his soul. She would prove that he wasn't a merciless killer who cared only for himself, but a true person who was capable of loving, and being loved in return. It promised a future in which Knives would never be lonely, one in which he wouldn't have to live the next eighty or so years of his life in his ship alone because of his promise to Vash to stay relatively quiet until his friends had died. It spoke to him with word of wisdom, stating that he couldn't ignore his feelings forever, and if he let her go, he would regret it until he found her again and told her the truth. It promised love.

Knives, of course, chose to listen to his stubborn head. Love was for weak creatures that used it only as an excuse to create war and destruction or to get out of it. He waved a hand lazily, that confirmed Rhianne's fear.

"Go, then. Take your things and leave me alone. I have better things to do than baby-sit a love-sick little girl."

Tears welled up in Rhianne's eyes and she allowed them to splash over her reddened cheeks. They glistened like gems sliding down her face in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and held back a loud sob. She knew he was going to say that, she just knew it. But she had let it on herself, and now she had to deal with the consequences. Her hands balled into fists at her sides and she bit her lip until it bled to keep from begging him to let her stay. She had given the option, and he had taken it. It was her fault. She leaned down and picked up her backpack, not letting Knives' eyes catch hers. She shifted the straps into place on her shoulders with a sniffle, and reluctantly pulled her eyes to meet with Knives'. She looked straight into his ice blue irises, and felt more tears spill from her lids. Their eyes met, and Rhianne wished with all her heart that she could pull her eyes away from his and walk into the desert and leave him behind. But both her heart and her head told her it wasn't possible. She reached out, attempting to pull Knives into a final embrace, but he pulled back, as if the thought of touching her repulsed him. He recoiled as if her touch might burn him… or make him see the truth. Rhianne sighed heavily and picked up her board. She handed it to Knives, her eyes shiny with tears. He pushed it back to her "I want nothing of yours" he stated in an icy tone that made Rhianne want to cling to him and make him see how much she felt for him. But instead, she took her board under her arm and turned around, feeling the daggers Knives was staring into her back and forced them to slide off her like water on glass.

"Goodbye Knives." She stated in a tear-choked voice "I love you." With that said, she walked over the hill and out of sight, leaving Knives to himself, a lone figure beneath the pale light of the moons, beckoning towards a new morning. A new morning without her smile; a new morning without her laughter; a new morning alone; a new morning without the woman he loved.