Disclaimer: I just got back from shopping; 11 consecutive hours of walking doesn't want to make me put up much of a fight. I don't own Trigun

Chapter Forty-Three: Her Angel Without Wings

A/N: This chapter is for those of you who missed dialogue.

So here I slave inside of a broken dream
Forever holding on to splitting seams
So take your piece and leave me alone to die
I don't need you to keep my faith alive

Vertical Horizon- Shackled

"I'm sorry"

Her first words in a long while started Vash so much that he nearly relinquished his grasp on her bloodied skin in his surprise. The words were so faint that for a moment he knew not if she had spoken at all, until she repeated herself, perhaps to his silence when she had first offered her unexpected apologies. She sniffled as she said it, turning her head slightly towards him so that one tear-reddened eye gazed painfully at him.

"Rhianne" Vash smiled "what do you have to be sorry for?" She sniffled again, and Vash took notice of where the blood had run down her face, leaving white hand marks where her fingers had been, and crimson skin where they had not protected the porcelain of her composure. "What I did was rash and stupid and I'm sorry to be putting you through all this. If you can ever forgive me I will be a lucky woman; and if you cannot, then I wholly understand your reasons and will not mind if you should return to Knives" At this the blonde nearly laughed

"Return to Knives? What makes you think I would ever do that?"

The brunette blinked for a moment, as though she could not comprehend his words "why would you not? He is your brother, and of your blood"

"What difference does that make? I would rather Knives left me alone for the rest of my life, so I could be happy with Meryl."

"Meryl?" Rhianne asked, flinching as Vash removed his hands from her wounds, declaring them healed, which they were. The blood had clotted and there was a thin layer of fresh skin sitting over it like a blanket atop crimson petals. "My wife" Vash replied, a smile lighting his lips as he thought of her. She had been gone nearly a month when he had met Rhianne, and probably wouldn't even be home by now. He hoped she hadn't arrived home; he couldn't bear to think of her entering their little house, happy to see him, and he so far away from her and her big gray eyes that glittered when she told him that she loved him. He missed her more now than he ever had; the smile that lit her face when he made her laugh, the way she leaned on his shoulder when she was sad, how she always knew to wake him up with a batch of fresh donuts every morning. He missed her hair in the morning, puffy and scraggly as opposed to its usual luxurious sheen; the way she looked in her housecoat in the mornings, quietly making a cup of tea. He missed her determination, her passion that showed in everything she did; her dedication to her work, and how he could creep out of bed at the early hours of the morning to see her clacking away at her typewriter. It was at these times he would sneak up behind her, carefully snake his arms around her waist and then haul her up and over his shoulder and into the bedroom, stating that there were times for work and play, and now was definitely a time for play.

Rhianne smiled.

"You're a good husband to her" she stated, rising and holding the bloodied and tattered remains of her shirt to her chest as she moved to the bag, bending and searching for a new shirt. "Do you really think so?" Vash asked, moving behind her and watching over her shoulder as she rummaged through the clothes, food and blankets for something suitable to wear.

"Yes, I do" came the reply; as he back was turned to him as she slipped off the bloody remains of the shirt and slipped a fresh one over her head; a deep blue that offset her eyes, glowing in the firelight "I never mean to pick up on people's thoughts; they're usually projected like a movie on a screen or words on a tape in my mind because the sender doesn't know how to shield their minds. So I heard and I saw what you thought, and" she turned to him, and a tear was sliding slowly down her bloodied cheek "I thought it was the most wonderful thing I've ever seen.

"Love in itself is a beautiful thing. It's like a wonderful bird, brilliant and rare; if you sit out in the open waiting for it, it usually won't come to you, but will come when you aren't looking for it. You can't force it to sing it's wonderful song, and you can't make it sing for others. You have to be careful with it or it'll peck you and hurt; but if you treat it with care and don't smother its wild nature it's feathers will become more beautiful and radiant than before. Sometimes, though, it will fly away from you when you least expect it, and all you will have left is a single feather that will pierce your heart. And sometimes…sometimes Vash, we must set it free and hope that it will return to us….some day" A tear escaped her eye as she said this and a small sob crept from between her lips. Sitting heavily on the ground she allowed herself to place her face in her bloodstained hands and cry for Knives, who followed her now, probably with every intention of killing her. Her shoulders slumped in despair, and then felt the weight of a mechanical arm atop them as Vash placed a gentle arm around her shoulders, drawing her to lean on him as she cried.

"Vash why does he hurt me?" she sighed through her sobs as her tears stained his shoulder "I don't know, but he doesn't mean to" Vash crooned, whispering and stroking her hair with his flesh hand, marveling at the texture like spun silk that entwined around his fingertips "Knives is a very confused person who has to deal with a lot of inner tumult over just about everything he does. He's never experienced love, and he doesn't understand how to open himself up to someone like you and I do. I hurt him when we were younger, back before the cities were destroyed and before I had the silver gun I carry with me always. He asked me to destroy the humans with him, because he said that they were just killing our sisters. But I couldn't; not after my promise to Rem and the beliefs I still hold true: that all life is sacred and not to be taken by the hand of another. When I left Knives…I think he took it a betrayal, and has never forgiven me for it. We were beaten as children and I was what kept him afloat in a sea of pain and rejection. Everything he did….crashing the Seeds ships, attempted genocide… they were all for my benefit. Knives is a much more caring person then most realize, yet he refuses to let people know how kind he can actually be because he's afraid of rejection and pain, reliving the feelings he had as a child. Trust me Rhianne, he doesn't mean to hurt you; not really. Knives doesn't know how to accept love. One day he will, I know he will" He sighed sadly, wishing that day had already come to pass. "Why do you think that Vash?" Rhianne asked, lifting her tear-stained face from his shoulder and gazing at him thoughtfully

"Because you're his angel. You will teach Knives to love"

Fresh tears welled in Rhianne's eyes and she smiled at him with a gaze filled with admiration and firelight. "I'm not an angel Vash" she smiled "you are. You never give up on anyone. I just look at you and I see your heart is filled with love for everything and it makes me smile because you've been hurt so much by everyone, yet you keep on getting up every morning and facing a world that for so long hated you for every breath you took. I admire you for having the nerve to stand up to your brother and try every damned day of your life to teach him the err of his ways; never giving up on him. I've come to appreciate everything you do for us all, and come to anger at the fact that no one recognizes the acts of kindness you kindly give to us every day. I've come to love you as a brother, Vash, and I have so much to thank you for. You're an incredible person for becoming the man you are. What amazes me the most about you, though is this: throughout your life people have tormented you and despised you, and you have seen people at their most desperate and animalistic state, yet you have never given up hope for anyone. Not Knives, not Humanity, and" she paused, wiping a tear from her eye "you've never given up hope for me, and for that I thank you"

And she leaned up and kissed him, planting her soft lips upon his bloodied cheek.

A/N: *Hides* Don't hurt me please! There's a reason for it all! *runs away*