Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T
Special thanks to my reviewers! You've encouraged me to continue on with this fic.
The chapters will be getting longer now, and the story's plot will pick up. I hope my characters aren't OOC, but I have faith that I got them right. Alot of fics have Knives too phychotic and evil, Meryl too angry and bitchy, and Vash too goofy. Well, okay... Vash CAN'T really be written as too goofy, but you get my point.
My fic takes place two years after the anime, so my Meryl had calmed down a bit, but she still has flashes of her old self. Knives is kinda hard to write, and I hope everyone likes the way I've choosen to portray him.
In any event, if the characters seem too OOC, please let me know.
"..." is talking
'...' is thinking
-----------------
A Glimpse of Eden
-----------------
Chapter 1 -
Knives was deeply concerned. It had been almost a month since he had found the child and it still wasn't responding to him the way it should. He fed it and cared for it, but the child hadn't bonded with him in any way. He felt no link with the child as he and his brother had always shared.
Also, the added responsibility of caring for a baby was greatly cutting into the time for his other pursuits, such as repairing some of the computers and equipment on the ship that had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect.
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. He never knew that a child would be so... needy.. And what about when the child grew and began to walk and talk? How would he find the time to constantly monitor the child and keep it safe from harm?
He knew the child would grow at an extremely fast rate, one year of growth for this child would be equal to almost ten years for a human child, and then after one year the growth would slow until it reached a more normal rate.
Could he put off his work for one year to care for a young child? He sighed again, leaning his head back against the chair's headrest. Staring blankly at the flickering computer screen in front of him, he could think of only one logical solution.
And he hated it.
~
Meryl Stryfe glanced at the small clock on the store's wall. Only five more minutes until she could close the shop.
She raised her arms over her head and stretched, allowing herself a small yawn. 'I wonder if the boss will know if I close up the shop and leave early?' She ended that thought almost as quickly as it had come. No way, her boss (somehow) would know. And he would probably dock her pay, or even fire her. She couldn't risk losing her job. The town was small and jobs were hard to come by. The only reason her boss had hired her in the first place was because her friend Milly had cornered the man and had 'convinced' him what a great idea it would be to hire her. The memory of Milly shaking her finger in the man's astonished face and insisting that 'it's really the only smart thing to do' came back to Meryl and she couldn't surpress a grin.
"Thank God for Milly!" she laughed aloud, spooking the customer who had been browsing. He shot her an annoyed look before quickly leaving the store. Oops... that wasn't good. She really had to watch herself, that was the third customer that month she had scared away with a random outburst. She snuck another glance at the clock.
Yes!!! It was seven o'clock. She hurredly locked the cash register and gathered her bag. Locking the door behind her, she stepped out onto the wooden walkway. The sky was already beginning to grow dark so she quickened her step toward her evening job. The diner was located at the edge of town and if she didn't hurry the manager would be upset.
~
She had been late. The manager had been standing by the door waiting for her, impatiently glancing at his watch as she walked in. He hadn't said anything about her lateness, but Meryl could tell that he had been annoyed.
She laid the last plate in it's place and sighed. She hadn't been that late. Only ten minutes. She had stopped to talk with some children and had bought them some ice cream. By the time she had said her goodbyes and dashed over...
"Meryl!" She jumped, her thoughts interupted by the manager's harsh voice. "Stop dawdling and help serve the food!" She moved quickly to the kitchen. Grabbing up a bowl she filled it with soup. Working in the kitchen every night was her second job. Her low pay at the shop couldn't cover the rent and other necessities, so she had gotten another job. Milly also helped earn money by working in the fields during the day, but by now she would be home preparing dinner.
She carefully placed the bowl on a tray along with some flatware and napkins and then carried it out into the dining area. Plastering a smile on her face, she approached the first table and set the items from the tray down in front of the customer. "Good evening, Mr. Isaac," she greeted. Mr. Isaac was the town's Tomas breeder.
"Evening, Meryl. Keeping busy I see." Mr. Isaac replied. He shook his head as she moved back toward the kitchen. Poor girl. So many people took advantage of her. Her boss at the shop worked the girl ragged all day and then the manager here worked her just as hard in the evenings.
If she was his daughter he would never allow her to work the dining area. She was always being harassed and leered at by most of the male customers as she tried to serve meals. Just last week, he himself had had to throw one of the customers out on his ear after the drunken fool had tried to grab the girl as she walked by.
He glanced around. The town had aquired more than it's far share of undesirables since that new saloon had opened last month. It had become a refuge for drunks and criminals who spent their days drinking and gambling before coming here for dinner and to ogle the waitresses.
He watched as Meryl came back into the dining room carrying another bowl of soup on her tray, her small and graceful form moving expertly between the tables. He also couldn't help but notice that one of the town's more frequent troublemakers was also watching the girl, a little too closely in his opinion. He sighed. He couldn't do much for the poor girl, but perhaps he could make her life a little easier for just one night.
"Meryl." He called out, signaling her to come over. She came, smiling and eager to please.
"Yes, Mr. Isaac? Is there something you need? Something isn't wrong with your soup is it?"
"No, no. My food is fine, thank you, Meryl. It's just I was hoping you could do me a favor. You see, I think I forgot to close the gate to the Thomas pasture. Do you think you could go out and check on it for me?" A huge grin lit her face.
"Sure, I don't mind. I'd have to ask Mr. Linnay first to see if it's ok, but I think he'll let me go. The kitchen isn't that busy tonight."
She headed toward the kitchen, already untying her apron. A minute later she waved at him and headed out the door. He smiled to himself. Yep, he couldn't do much for the girl, but at least he could get her out of the kitchen for one night.
~
Meryl walked out into the night, glad to have escaped the smells and grease of the kitchen. She grinned. And to have escaped one night grope free. She leisurely strolled toward the Thomas pasture located on the outskirts of town, taking in the cool night air, glad to be alone at least for awhile.
Her thoughts turned, as they usually did lately, to Vash. It had been over two months now since he had left, saying only that he needed to visit some 'old friends' and take care of some personal matters. He had promised to come back and had asked the girls to wait for him, but sometimes Meryl worried that he wasn't coming back. He had lived with them in this small town for two years, since his battle with Knives, and maybe he had gotten the urge to travel again and had decided to leave them behind. She pushed the thought away. No, he would come back, he had promised.
"Meryl, wait up!"
She sighed. Well... it had been nice while it had lasted. She turned to see who was calling her. It was Andrew, the banker's son. She smiled to acknowledge that she had heard him, but kept walking. He caught up to her easily enough and walked alongside her, keeping pace with her step.
After a few minutes of silence she glanced sideways at him. Gosh... he was cute. Dark hair and eyes, and he had the most gorgeous smile that just seemed to light up his entire face. Lately he had been spending alot of time with her at the store while she worked, just talking and trying to make her laugh. He was a good friend. And lately it seemed he was interested in becoming something more.
But she wasn't interested. Her heart belonged to Vash. And even though she had never told Vash of her true feelings for him, she thought that maybe he understood. She wasn't sure if he felt the same way about her, but since that day when he had returned with his brother slung over his shoulder, he had become more considerate and attentive toward her. There were times when she would catch him watching her with that gentle smile on his face, as if he had finally found somewhere to belong. Other times he would brush against her 'accidently', or leave his hand over hers a second longer than was necessary when they both reached for the same thing. And whenever she went grocery shopping he would always tag along to keep her company, and when they walked back home he always insisted on carrying the bags. Sure, he usually dropped a bag or two before they made it in the door, but it was a nice gesture anyway. They had gotten even more close in the last few months. The week before he left they had stayed up late laughing and talking. She had even been close to finally admitting her feelings to him. Then the next day he had told them of his plan to visit some friends and a few days later he was gone.
Maybe she had chased him away. Maybe he knew she was about to confess her love for him and he had left, in order to spare her feelings when he had to tell her he didn't feel the same way. Or maybe he had grown tired of living with her and Milly and had returned to his old traveling ways. Maybe she and Milly should pack up and track him down. But what if they never found him? Or he returned in their absence and thought that they had abandoned him? Or worse, what if they found him and discovered that he had in fact left just to get away from them, from her?
'So... got out of kitchen duty, huh?" Andrew grinned at her, interupting her thoughts.
"What? Oh...yes. Mr. Isaac asked me to check on his Thomas'. He thinks he might have left the gate open again."
Andrew smiled. Either Mr. Isaac was extremely forgetful, or he needed to think up new story to get Meryl out of the kitchen. This was the third time that month he had sent her out to check on the pasture gate for him.
He casually stretched his arms above his head and snuck a sideways glance at Meryl. She was beautiful. There may have been other girls in the town that were more beautiful than Meryl, but not to him. She was special. She was different. She was... Meryl. He had never sought out her company until these last couple months, admiring her only from a distance before. He had always assumed that she was Vash the Stampede's woman and that put her on the unavailible list. But now, Vash was gone and Meryl was still there. Maybe he had a chance after all.
Hurrying ahead of her, he hopped the fence and reached out a hand to help her over. He knew she didn't need the help, but he just wanted the excuse to touch her hand. Grasping his hand lightly, she easily climbed over the fence and then turned to scan the pasture, quickly spotting a Thomas lazily munching on feed.
"There's one! I think it's Jack." That Thomas was frequently leaving the pen through the open pasture gate to sneak an extra bite to eat. Other than Jack, there didn't seem to be any other Thomas' in the pasture. So all she had to do now was catch the rogue Thomas, get him back into his pen, and lock the gate. Easy... yeah, right.
"I'll catch him for you, Meryl!"
She watched Andrew sprint off toward the Thomas with a wry smile on her face. That Thomas wasn't going to be caught so easily. It hated to be penned up. She watched Andrew chase after the Thomas for a few minutes before deciding she'd better help or they'd be out there all night. She started toward Andrew to formalize a plan of capture when all of the sudden she had the strange feeling that she was being watched. She had just begun to turn around when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and everything faded to black.
~
Andrew gave up chasing the Thomas and bent over in an effort to catch his breath. Damn Thomas! It was making him look like a fool in front of Meryl. He put an embarassed smile on his face and looked up toward her, a request for help forming on his lips.
But she was gone.
-----------------
End chapter 1
~
Please, R&R!!! Next chapter will be ready sooner than later. ^_^v
Special thanks to my reviewers! You've encouraged me to continue on with this fic.
The chapters will be getting longer now, and the story's plot will pick up. I hope my characters aren't OOC, but I have faith that I got them right. Alot of fics have Knives too phychotic and evil, Meryl too angry and bitchy, and Vash too goofy. Well, okay... Vash CAN'T really be written as too goofy, but you get my point.
My fic takes place two years after the anime, so my Meryl had calmed down a bit, but she still has flashes of her old self. Knives is kinda hard to write, and I hope everyone likes the way I've choosen to portray him.
In any event, if the characters seem too OOC, please let me know.
"..." is talking
'...' is thinking
-----------------
A Glimpse of Eden
-----------------
Chapter 1 -
Knives was deeply concerned. It had been almost a month since he had found the child and it still wasn't responding to him the way it should. He fed it and cared for it, but the child hadn't bonded with him in any way. He felt no link with the child as he and his brother had always shared.
Also, the added responsibility of caring for a baby was greatly cutting into the time for his other pursuits, such as repairing some of the computers and equipment on the ship that had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect.
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. He never knew that a child would be so... needy.. And what about when the child grew and began to walk and talk? How would he find the time to constantly monitor the child and keep it safe from harm?
He knew the child would grow at an extremely fast rate, one year of growth for this child would be equal to almost ten years for a human child, and then after one year the growth would slow until it reached a more normal rate.
Could he put off his work for one year to care for a young child? He sighed again, leaning his head back against the chair's headrest. Staring blankly at the flickering computer screen in front of him, he could think of only one logical solution.
And he hated it.
~
Meryl Stryfe glanced at the small clock on the store's wall. Only five more minutes until she could close the shop.
She raised her arms over her head and stretched, allowing herself a small yawn. 'I wonder if the boss will know if I close up the shop and leave early?' She ended that thought almost as quickly as it had come. No way, her boss (somehow) would know. And he would probably dock her pay, or even fire her. She couldn't risk losing her job. The town was small and jobs were hard to come by. The only reason her boss had hired her in the first place was because her friend Milly had cornered the man and had 'convinced' him what a great idea it would be to hire her. The memory of Milly shaking her finger in the man's astonished face and insisting that 'it's really the only smart thing to do' came back to Meryl and she couldn't surpress a grin.
"Thank God for Milly!" she laughed aloud, spooking the customer who had been browsing. He shot her an annoyed look before quickly leaving the store. Oops... that wasn't good. She really had to watch herself, that was the third customer that month she had scared away with a random outburst. She snuck another glance at the clock.
Yes!!! It was seven o'clock. She hurredly locked the cash register and gathered her bag. Locking the door behind her, she stepped out onto the wooden walkway. The sky was already beginning to grow dark so she quickened her step toward her evening job. The diner was located at the edge of town and if she didn't hurry the manager would be upset.
~
She had been late. The manager had been standing by the door waiting for her, impatiently glancing at his watch as she walked in. He hadn't said anything about her lateness, but Meryl could tell that he had been annoyed.
She laid the last plate in it's place and sighed. She hadn't been that late. Only ten minutes. She had stopped to talk with some children and had bought them some ice cream. By the time she had said her goodbyes and dashed over...
"Meryl!" She jumped, her thoughts interupted by the manager's harsh voice. "Stop dawdling and help serve the food!" She moved quickly to the kitchen. Grabbing up a bowl she filled it with soup. Working in the kitchen every night was her second job. Her low pay at the shop couldn't cover the rent and other necessities, so she had gotten another job. Milly also helped earn money by working in the fields during the day, but by now she would be home preparing dinner.
She carefully placed the bowl on a tray along with some flatware and napkins and then carried it out into the dining area. Plastering a smile on her face, she approached the first table and set the items from the tray down in front of the customer. "Good evening, Mr. Isaac," she greeted. Mr. Isaac was the town's Tomas breeder.
"Evening, Meryl. Keeping busy I see." Mr. Isaac replied. He shook his head as she moved back toward the kitchen. Poor girl. So many people took advantage of her. Her boss at the shop worked the girl ragged all day and then the manager here worked her just as hard in the evenings.
If she was his daughter he would never allow her to work the dining area. She was always being harassed and leered at by most of the male customers as she tried to serve meals. Just last week, he himself had had to throw one of the customers out on his ear after the drunken fool had tried to grab the girl as she walked by.
He glanced around. The town had aquired more than it's far share of undesirables since that new saloon had opened last month. It had become a refuge for drunks and criminals who spent their days drinking and gambling before coming here for dinner and to ogle the waitresses.
He watched as Meryl came back into the dining room carrying another bowl of soup on her tray, her small and graceful form moving expertly between the tables. He also couldn't help but notice that one of the town's more frequent troublemakers was also watching the girl, a little too closely in his opinion. He sighed. He couldn't do much for the poor girl, but perhaps he could make her life a little easier for just one night.
"Meryl." He called out, signaling her to come over. She came, smiling and eager to please.
"Yes, Mr. Isaac? Is there something you need? Something isn't wrong with your soup is it?"
"No, no. My food is fine, thank you, Meryl. It's just I was hoping you could do me a favor. You see, I think I forgot to close the gate to the Thomas pasture. Do you think you could go out and check on it for me?" A huge grin lit her face.
"Sure, I don't mind. I'd have to ask Mr. Linnay first to see if it's ok, but I think he'll let me go. The kitchen isn't that busy tonight."
She headed toward the kitchen, already untying her apron. A minute later she waved at him and headed out the door. He smiled to himself. Yep, he couldn't do much for the girl, but at least he could get her out of the kitchen for one night.
~
Meryl walked out into the night, glad to have escaped the smells and grease of the kitchen. She grinned. And to have escaped one night grope free. She leisurely strolled toward the Thomas pasture located on the outskirts of town, taking in the cool night air, glad to be alone at least for awhile.
Her thoughts turned, as they usually did lately, to Vash. It had been over two months now since he had left, saying only that he needed to visit some 'old friends' and take care of some personal matters. He had promised to come back and had asked the girls to wait for him, but sometimes Meryl worried that he wasn't coming back. He had lived with them in this small town for two years, since his battle with Knives, and maybe he had gotten the urge to travel again and had decided to leave them behind. She pushed the thought away. No, he would come back, he had promised.
"Meryl, wait up!"
She sighed. Well... it had been nice while it had lasted. She turned to see who was calling her. It was Andrew, the banker's son. She smiled to acknowledge that she had heard him, but kept walking. He caught up to her easily enough and walked alongside her, keeping pace with her step.
After a few minutes of silence she glanced sideways at him. Gosh... he was cute. Dark hair and eyes, and he had the most gorgeous smile that just seemed to light up his entire face. Lately he had been spending alot of time with her at the store while she worked, just talking and trying to make her laugh. He was a good friend. And lately it seemed he was interested in becoming something more.
But she wasn't interested. Her heart belonged to Vash. And even though she had never told Vash of her true feelings for him, she thought that maybe he understood. She wasn't sure if he felt the same way about her, but since that day when he had returned with his brother slung over his shoulder, he had become more considerate and attentive toward her. There were times when she would catch him watching her with that gentle smile on his face, as if he had finally found somewhere to belong. Other times he would brush against her 'accidently', or leave his hand over hers a second longer than was necessary when they both reached for the same thing. And whenever she went grocery shopping he would always tag along to keep her company, and when they walked back home he always insisted on carrying the bags. Sure, he usually dropped a bag or two before they made it in the door, but it was a nice gesture anyway. They had gotten even more close in the last few months. The week before he left they had stayed up late laughing and talking. She had even been close to finally admitting her feelings to him. Then the next day he had told them of his plan to visit some friends and a few days later he was gone.
Maybe she had chased him away. Maybe he knew she was about to confess her love for him and he had left, in order to spare her feelings when he had to tell her he didn't feel the same way. Or maybe he had grown tired of living with her and Milly and had returned to his old traveling ways. Maybe she and Milly should pack up and track him down. But what if they never found him? Or he returned in their absence and thought that they had abandoned him? Or worse, what if they found him and discovered that he had in fact left just to get away from them, from her?
'So... got out of kitchen duty, huh?" Andrew grinned at her, interupting her thoughts.
"What? Oh...yes. Mr. Isaac asked me to check on his Thomas'. He thinks he might have left the gate open again."
Andrew smiled. Either Mr. Isaac was extremely forgetful, or he needed to think up new story to get Meryl out of the kitchen. This was the third time that month he had sent her out to check on the pasture gate for him.
He casually stretched his arms above his head and snuck a sideways glance at Meryl. She was beautiful. There may have been other girls in the town that were more beautiful than Meryl, but not to him. She was special. She was different. She was... Meryl. He had never sought out her company until these last couple months, admiring her only from a distance before. He had always assumed that she was Vash the Stampede's woman and that put her on the unavailible list. But now, Vash was gone and Meryl was still there. Maybe he had a chance after all.
Hurrying ahead of her, he hopped the fence and reached out a hand to help her over. He knew she didn't need the help, but he just wanted the excuse to touch her hand. Grasping his hand lightly, she easily climbed over the fence and then turned to scan the pasture, quickly spotting a Thomas lazily munching on feed.
"There's one! I think it's Jack." That Thomas was frequently leaving the pen through the open pasture gate to sneak an extra bite to eat. Other than Jack, there didn't seem to be any other Thomas' in the pasture. So all she had to do now was catch the rogue Thomas, get him back into his pen, and lock the gate. Easy... yeah, right.
"I'll catch him for you, Meryl!"
She watched Andrew sprint off toward the Thomas with a wry smile on her face. That Thomas wasn't going to be caught so easily. It hated to be penned up. She watched Andrew chase after the Thomas for a few minutes before deciding she'd better help or they'd be out there all night. She started toward Andrew to formalize a plan of capture when all of the sudden she had the strange feeling that she was being watched. She had just begun to turn around when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and everything faded to black.
~
Andrew gave up chasing the Thomas and bent over in an effort to catch his breath. Damn Thomas! It was making him look like a fool in front of Meryl. He put an embarassed smile on his face and looked up toward her, a request for help forming on his lips.
But she was gone.
-----------------
End chapter 1
~
Please, R&R!!! Next chapter will be ready sooner than later. ^_^v