Disclaimer: Trigun….I want it

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Rhianne Dreams…

A/N: My chapters were all messed up so I had to delete my story and re-load everything. That involved re-saving every one of my chapters, then saving them as HTML, then uploading them then re-putting my story back together! It was the most redundant thing I have probably ever done. But I lost my reviews!! It has made me so sad to lose my near-200 reviews. So review lost and make me happy again!!

The twin suns beat down ferociously upon the broom-haired man who stood upon the sand next to his brother's ship. He leaned against the weather-beaten hull, trying in vain to stay out of the sunlight as much as possible while staying close to the door. He stared up at the sky through his tinted sunglasses, his arms crossed across his expansive chest. He wasn't comfortable with this; not one bit. He didn't like having Rhianne and Knives in that ship alone together, for he wasn't sure who would exit triumphant. As much as he hated to admit it, he half-expected his twin to struggle out of the ship, blood on his hands and a smile on his face; ranting and raving about how he dealt with that meddlesome bitch in the only way he could. Vash feared that outcome with an empty fear; for he knew not how he would deal with that outcome. He bet very little on the chestnut-haired plant who has appeared so suddenly on the scene. She obviously held more sway over his brother than he did, but he doubted that she could make it out of a confrontation with Knives in one piece.

And so he was pleasantly surprised when she stumbled exhaustedly from the doorway, sweat pouring down her brow, her half-lidded eyes sporting a half-glazed look that reminded him, in a sickening fashion, of the waxy glaze that covered the donuts he ate so frequently. Her lips were coated in a thin film of blood, and for a moment Vash worried that she might have been wounded herself; then he realized that it wasn't her own blood that coated her lips, but that of his brother. She kissed him… he thought as he darted forward and before her as she landed at his feet in a small bedraggled heap. He tried to remain silent as she rose unsteadily to her feet and shrugged off his offer of helping her stand steady with a strange half-lit smile donning her face; but his curiosity got the best of him and the words tumbled unchecked and frantic as a child on Christmas morning.

"Rhianne are you alright?" was the first question, falling from his lips in a large singular word "how is Knives?" was the second, still met with silence "will he be alright? Why is there blood on your lips? Did you kiss him? Why? Did he shoot you? What's wrong with you? Why aren't you talking? Rhianne, can you hear me?" but the female plant only responded with silence; her only movement when her eyes rolled sickeningly back into her head and her body lurched forward heavily into his arms. For the first minute Vash was unsure of what to do with the limp body in his arms, the weight against him was unnerving and it was difficult to think without pain gripping his thread of thought and knotting it so tightly that he could barely unknot it enough to sit her gently upon the ground.

"Rhianne…." He whispered solemnly, cradling the back of her head with his hand. As he straightened her torso over the sandy ground, examining her for any wounds Knives might have inflicted. His head moved along within close proximity to her body, listening carefully for any sign of trouble breathing, closely examining any of the small splatters of blood to make sure they were of Knives' blood and not of hers, and so on and so forth as he went on examining her. He moved slowly from her toes to her head, searching for the reason behind her sudden collapse. His ear moved slowly to her bloodstained lips, the red liquid dry and cracking, covering her pink lips like shredded red velvet wrapped over the blushing side of a peach.

"…please be alright" he whispered, grazing his lips over hers. The metallic taste of blood was familiar to him; like a near-forgotten memory that came splashing to the surface of his lake of memories. He pulled quickly away; unnerved by the taste still lingering on his lips, but even more so by the image that flashed briefly in his mind: that of a young man with eyes of the deepest mauve and hair the same color as his twin, standing and smiling before a backdrop of emerald trees. It flashed briefly in his mind like a bolt of lightning, there one moment and then gone the next. He sat back from her, panting and clutching his chest, trying to slow the frantic beating of his heart. What had just happened? How had that alien image appeared and disappeared so suddenly in his mind without leaving a trace? Mental imagery was like leaving a fingerprint in someone's mind; it contained a signature that enabled the trained mind to decipher it and track it back to its master. Yet this one held no signature, no imprint by which he could know from whom it came; it was like a hand without fingerprints. But although it bore no traditional mental markings, the emotions sewn into the picture lingered and clouded around the image like a lingering breeze of perfume from an attractive woman walking by.

Corrin…

For a moment the word bubbled to the surface of the churning waves of his mind, staying there only for a moment then popping beneath the waves of thought crashing down upon it as he tried to figure out where this voice originated. Corrin…that must be the name of the man in the image, Vash concluded, feeling quite brilliant.

CORRIN!!!

A shrieking voice erupted in his mind; bright and fierce as the molten lava thrown from the mouth of a volcano. It echoed for a moment, like a cry piercing the night, then slowly being enveloped by that same inky blackness from whence it came. As it echoed, filling the blackness that accompanied it with a heart-wrenching sob, Vash realized whose heart and soul poured worth in her words: it was Rhianne's voice that cried out to some unseen figure. A pang of pity washed over him like a wave, filling his body and soul until his eyes leaked salty tears for her and the pain she endured. He had burdened enough pain in his lifetime to know the sound of grief when it came to his ears. He wrapped his arms around her, encircling her as he lifted her from the ground. He held her close for a while, simply listening to the sound of her breathing and awaiting the next cry, wincing as though it pained him when the sound echoed throughout his mind; the shriek of pure, unrelenting pain that ate at her mind like a savage animal. He held her close to him in a vain attempt to smother the cries ringing inside his head, but was rewarded instead with images instead of noise; still-pictures that flew by at light speed.

One was of a group of people, standing and smiling upon a small grassy hill; each wearing Seeds standard issue uniforms. Four men stood grouped closely together, their arms slung drunkenly around each other's shoulders, cups of sake of beer in most hands. Their faces held the shiny drunken smile of a man having a good time with his friends, and they all appeared to be laughing about something Vash couldn't see. There were three women, a blonde with amber flecked-eyes who stood a good foot taller than the chestnut-haired girl who looked of no more than twelve, her hair gathered in two small buns at the side of her head with chopsticks and sporting a large Band-Aid on her cheek. Next to her, holding her hand, stood a boy who looked to be also of her age, a wheat-haired lad with mauve gems for eyes and the purest smile the former outlaw had seen in a long time. Petals floated lazily through the air and the sky was clear and blue against the grass. Everything looked beautiful and pure.

The next image, however, was the complete opposite. Vash could feel the sorrow that hemmed it like a black lace border as it passed through his mind; and as it registered, a shiver ran through him at what he saw: a small carrier ship floating in space as the Seeds ship left it behind. A small porthole was the only feature of the lonely ship, a three foot- by three-foot opening from which peered the sorrowful face of a plant. Her face looked gaunt and skeletal, he frail skin clinging to her bones so tightly that it was taut like leather against the curve of her cheeks. Her fingers scraped weakly against the bulb behind the windowpane. And yet her thin purpling lips curved into a smile as she floated away. I love you, my darling children; please be strong… came a weak mental message; the voice of the plant as gentle as a rose petal; so soft and fragile that tears pricked the corners of his eyes as the image shifted to two children of no more than thirteen watched through a large window the plant in the ship as she was slowly left behind, tears cascading down their flushed faces and clutching at the window with frantic fingers; mouths open in shock and fear as the carrier ship began to recede in size before their eyes.

"Mother" the girl, obviously the older of the two, as her face had already begun to mature into its adult state "please don't leave us; I love you so much…you can't leave Corrin and me!" Yet no response came to the girl's mind nor ears, for at that very moment the little carrier ship that had occupied their eyes as prominently as sun in the noonday sky, was consumed in a fiery ball of light. The ship seemed to expand, then crumple in on itself like a ball of paper in a child's angered fist. Then a band of light tore through the thick metal exterior as easily as a hot knife through butter and nearly as white, ringed by a halo of flames, the light seemed to boil over and bubble up in the center and expand, covering the little ship in fire and light that blazed in the shiny tear-laden eyes of the children watching the terrible spectacle. The girl threw herself upon the pane, shaking violently beneath the sobs that rocked her entire body as she crashed against it "No mother! No!" She sobbed, dropping to the floor in a heap and allowing a cry of despair escape her lips. "Mother…" was all her lips could utter before she was overcome once again by a fit of uncontrollable sobs that racked her entire body and she rose unsteadily to her feet, swaying for a moment before throwing her shoulder again to the window. "This isn't happening….this isn't happening…..Mother!!!" She cried, collapsing against the pane and watching as their ship drifted slowly away from what had once been a proud and productive plant angel. Her eyes closed as she became aware of a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her and holding her close. The scent that drifted to her as she leaned against those arms was like heaven, smelling of feathers and grass and fruits and of life.

"My brother…" she sobbed, burying her face into the folds of his shirt and soaking them with her tears. She felt him run his hand over her hair, smoothing her tangled locks with his hand and soothing her torn heart with his scent. She turned her head and watched as the debris receded in size, becoming smaller and smaller as they drifted on in search for their planet; the planet their mother had only dreamt of, and now would never see. Her hands clutched tightly at his shirt and she nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder "I love you, dear brother, don't ever leave me"

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her reassuringly, the silent tears he shed for his late mother falling onto her hair and making it sparkle in the light and he smiled into it "I won't Rhianne; you'll always have me here"

Tears flowed unchecked down Vash's cheeks as the image faded away and into blackness. The image of the Seeds ship exploding as it entered the atmosphere of the planet swam to the surface of his mind, and he remembered the pain the had tore his heart in two as he had watched it-and Rem- disappear from his life forever. He had thought that the worst pain imaginable; having to lose someone as close to him as that, someone who had raised him from birth with love and care. But she was not his mother; he had never known his birth mother. And, as such, had never endured the pain of losing her. Yet Rhianne had. She had watched, unable to change anything, from the Seeds ship as her dying mother drew her last shuddering breath before allowing herself to die and explode, saving the crew and her children. He had never fathomed pain such as this could be possible to experience; had never toyed with the notion that pain that ripped your heart to tatters could be possible to cope with and to feel, and yet it was. And she had endured it, he sighed, gazing down at her face and drawing her face up to his. His lips grazed her forehead in a tender kiss of grief for the only woman of his kind, and was overtaken again by a memory as vivid and terrible as its predecessor.

A fully-grown Rhianne stood in what appeared be a living room. The walls were a pale pink, sponged on over a pearly white. The furniture, a couch and loveseat set, were striking against the pallor of the walls, as they were leather of the darkest black. Metal side tables adorned the sides of both pieces of furniture, and three people sat upon them, watching an extremely large television set. His eyes wandered momentarily to the people sitting on the furniture, a woman and two children clutching each other tightly and weeping uncontrollably, but he felt his eye being drawn to the television set not for it's size, but for the images being shown on it. Carcasses littered the screen in a grotesque sprawling of limbs and hair, guns lay atop the blood-splattered metal floor some of them with disconnected fingers still gripping the trigger; a few of which still twitched and continued to spasm. Rhianne clasped her hands over her mouth as tears fell down her face like saltine waterfalls as an image replaced the one on the screen: a large ship floating amongst several others similar to it. A male announcer's voice cut through the silence of the scene, his voice serious and tear-choked "At precisely 3:58pm today, the Carpathia III, a carrier ship from the Setsu Military erupted into flames without warning. Many suspect treachery amongst the ranks, and are currently investigating the situation…"

As the announcer went on to talk of other things concerning the war, the blonde woman on the couch let out a wail and collapsed backwards as the children began to cry with more gusto than before. Rhianne simply stood there, her hands clasped over her mouth, tears running down her cheeks. Still, motionless, she stayed silent for a moment before dropping to her knees, her fingers winding themselves in the threads of the carpet before she threw back her head and cried out the name that would ring for years to come in Vash's mind; echoing in his ears as he awoke in a cold sweat in the dark of the night.

"Corrin!!"

He felt his voice echo her cry, moved by the power of her love for her brother and the power of her grief as she mourned for his lost life. He turned his face to the sky, sand sticking to his tears and reminding him of his sense of reality. He drew her close again, simply wanting to hold her and make her pain subside. Yet the plant knew he could not; that this was a pain that would travel with her until the day she died, and no one would ever be able to heal the wound left by her brother's death. He looked down at the woman he held in his lap; with whom he had shared memories of pain and suffering and, more importantly, of love. She still knew how to love, he reminded himself. Knowing this, Vash stood with her in his arms, and walked over a dune into the horizon, and out into the harsh desert that knew no love.