Disclaimer: *LL singing* Trigun, Trigun, o how I wish I owned thee, because then I could have my Knives-kun, and he would belong to meeeeeeeee! ^_^

Chapter Thirty-Three:

A strand of sunshine blonde hair fell into the aqua and ocean blue-speckled eyes of the Humanoid Typhoon as he folded the crisp white linen over the mattress and tucked it in gently on the sides. His hands played with the sheets, his nimble fingers smoothing the wrinkled edges away as he pulled the blankets tight over the bed as a small tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He was relieved to know Rhianne was all right. During the month of Rhianne's recuperation period, he and Knives had taken very little notice of each other; trying to avoid one another at every attainable chance. Not that it wasn't a simple thing to do; Vash had come to the conclusion that his sibling wanted to see him about as much as he wanted to live alongside the humans. Added to the simplicity of the situation was that Knives' ship was extremely large, and many corridors could be taken to arrive at the same place, and he guessed Knives had been following alternate routes to deter himself from him brother. And, as much as it pained the broom-haired man to admit, he was secretly thankful to his brother's anti-socialistic nature, as he was fairly certain that eventually a squabble would have arisen between them and would have risen to dangerous circumstances without Rhianne there to hold Knives back.

"Oh Knives" Vash sighed a little, standing and smoothing out the bedcovers one final time "you are so in love with her." He smiled what the late Nicholas D. Wolfwood had dubbed his 'empty smile'; a look that appeared, upon first glance, to be a wholesome well-meaning gesture, was empty and devoid of any underlying happiness. He couldn't help but wonder if Meryl had arrived home from her assignment yet. She and her stungun-toting assistant Milly had been sent to track down a notorious thief by the title of Jesse the Jackal (boasted to be 'The Next Humanoid Typhoon" by December Scoop magazine), and had been gone for only a week when Vash had encountered the two other plants.

Tears prickled the corners of his eyes and threatened to spill over as he thought of Meryl. Her little bob cut that flounced about her slender face when she yelled at him; the way her white cloak fluttered in the desert breeze, concealing a deadly array of derringers; the way her big gray eyes lit up when he waltzed into the room; how good her legs looked in those leotards…. Mmm, yes, Meryl always had a nice figure, and Vash wished nothing more than to have her there to-

A slap resonated around the room and Vash's cheek grew very red and sore all of a sudden. He opened his eyes and looked down a little, seeing a very disheveled, very flustered, and very angry Rhianne standing before him.

"R-Rhianne, what's up?" he asked, trying to ignore the fact that she had obviously picked up on his thoughts. For a moment his mind dwelled on her current opinion of him; probably something along the lines of a Disgusting Perverted Bastard, and then his eyes focused in on her.

Her eyes were red and swollen with tears, their telltale lines streaked down her cheekbones, leaving tight patches of skin that shone lightly under the lamplight. Her hair, matted and tangled, clung to the wet spots on her cheeks like children to their mother's thighs. Clasped between her hands was the same cloth she had covered herself after being removed from the bulb; which surprised the ocean-eyed male. He had thought she'd have found something to wear by now. Rhianne's lower lip trembled and she fell against him, shuddering deeply.

"Vash…" she sobbed quietly. The blonde, taken somewhat aback by her sudden display of emotion and unsure of what to do, simply allowed himself to encircle her in his arms, and was surprised to find her arms wrapping themselves around his waist and reaching up to his shoulders.

"…Rhianne" he finally managed out after allowing her a few minutes to simply lean against him and sob; letting her get it out before telling him her plight "what happened?" The brunette pulled her head back from his chest, her eyes nearly scarlet around the rims, shining with tears still unshed, and stared up into his eyes. Locking gazes with the eyes that mirrored her own, eyes that still, after centuries, clung to the naïve hopes of a child; that hoped that his troublesome brother hadn't caused the girl any grief. Yet his hopes, however naïve, were mistaken.

"He…" she sighed heavily, nearly allowing herself to collapse onto him again. Resisting the urge to seek refuge in his arms any longer, she pushed herself away and sat heavily down upon the bed that Vash had, mere moments before, straightened to the last wrinkle so immaculately. Despite it, he sat down next to her, taking her hand in his robotic one, ignoring the small jump that the chill it brought to her skin when enveloped in his metallic grasp; he was used to it by now. "Rhianne" he started, squeezing her hand for reassurance "you can tell me. Please, let me help you; what happened?"

"He…" Rhianne sobbed again, momentarily overtaken by her emotions and collapsing into a fit of sobs that wrenched not only at her body but at Vash's heartstrings. Disregarding the hand in his grasp, she buried her face in her other hand, her slender fingers splayed out across her brow, obscuring most of her face with her palm and muffling the sobs considerably. Tears trickled down from her palm and slid down her flushed cheeks as she shook her head hopelessly. Wagging her head from side to side and sobbing, she smothered her mouth with her palm and Vash saw the flash of her pearly white teeth as she bit swiftly down into the tender flesh of her palm; to keep from crying out, he assumed.

Encircling her wrist with his flesh-and-blood hand, Vash pulled it from her jaw, grimacing at the deep bite marks her teeth had left in the pale skin. He gently swatted away the crimson droplet of blood that blossomed upon it, like a rose in winter's pure snow, where her canine tooth had pierced the mount.

"Please Rhianne...you have to let it out" he squeezed her hand as he spoke, emphasizing the importance in his words. "I don't want to hear what he did to you that's made you so upset, but you need to tell me before I can help make it better." Vash stated softly, watching helplessly as she quivered beneath the barrage of wrenching sobs that his brother had inevitably brought upon her with another one of his rash actions.

"No Vash, you can't make it better," Rhianne said quietly, gazing at him with her tear-laden eyes. A nervous hiccup escaped her mouth and she bowed her head, allowing her hair to fall as a curtain between them as she finally admitted to the aqua-eyed plant what caused her so much grief.

"…Knives tried to rape me" she sighed softly, her words nearly naught but a whisper that would have been lost in the gentlest of winds. She heard Vash gasp, and felt his grip on her hands tighten until she had to pull them away for fear of losing circulation.

"Knives…" Vash uttered darkly, the disgust and rage catching upon the word and carrying into Rhianne's ears. Running a hand through her disheveled locks, the female allowed a final sob to emanate from her slightly parted lips, accompanied by a hiccup. She stole a glance at Vash, who sat with his head bowed, much like her, his eyes aglow and encased in a shadow from his drooping spikes. For a moment she thought she caught the sparkle of tears catching in the light as he blinked, but disregarded it, as it disappeared in an instant.

"I'm sorry for my brother's actions," he spoke at last after remaining silent for a long while "I'll speak with him" he stated, rising suddenly. In an instant, Rhianne was on her feet "Vash, don't get involved. Knives is my problem, not yours." Vash's gaze leveled with her own, dark and menacing and filled with ferocity that, until that moment, Rhianne hadn't thought it possible for a pacifist such as himself to contain. "Knives had always been my problem" he stated darkly before exiting the room, leaving the distraught woman to herself.