...:::Chapter Two: Into The Dusty Night:::...
Vash returned to the orphanage on Friday, the last day that Melawen was to be there. He'd greeted the nuns, and asked after the kids. One of the nuns told him that the children were at school, but Melawen should be about. Melawen and Vash had been speaking to each other over the past few days whenever they bumped into each other on the streets. Melawen rarely left the orphanage, but when she did, it was usually to go to the market, and she always had one of the older children with her. They were usually very short, three sentence conversations, and then Vash would turn his attention to the child with her. If he ran into them while they were leaving, he'd help with the groceries.
Vash wandered into the children's dormitories, where he found Melawen making the beds. He knocked gently on the door, and Melawen turned. She smiled and waved, then returned to her task.
"Do you want some help?" Vash asked, stepping tentatively into the room. He couldn't help but notice that she looked particularly radiant that day. She wore one of her finer dresses. Red silk skirts and belled sleeves, dark, dark blue velvet bodice and golden Elvish embroidery around the low neckline and sleeves. She kept her hair in its usual braid, covering her ears, but a few strands escaped from their confines, framing her face.
"No, thank you. I can manage," she replied in her usual soft, dulcet tone. Vash frowned and sat on an unmade bed.
"So, you're leaving today?"
"Yes. I have to. I'm going home."
"Why? Don't you think the kids'll miss you?"
"I know they will. I'll come back, but I have to return home. My father needs me." They both stayed silent for a few minutes while Melawen finished making up the beds.
"Do you intend to at least say goodbye to them?"
Melawen looked at Vash strangely. "Of course I do. Now, come. I need your help."
She walked out of the room, and Vash followed. Melawen led him down the hall to a small room at the end of it. The kids' storage room. She began pushing boxes around, then asked Vash for his aid.
"Why are we in here?" He asked, picking up a box she'd indicated and putting it aside.
"Annie and Jessup have been adopted. I'm looking for their things. Some of these boxes are really heavy, and I can't lift them myself."
"The both of them have been adopted? That's good."
"Isn't it? It's better that way, so that Annie isn't separated from her brother."
"They're siblings?"
"Of course. You didn't know?"
"No. They don't look anything alike."
"That's because Jessup has a different father, but both of them share a mother. I can't believe you didn't notice how protective Jessup tends to be of Annie."
"I guess I wasn't paying any attention to that."
"Is there something on your mind, Vash?" She asked quietly, so that nobody could hear his name.
"Uh... N-no. Nothing's on my mind." But something was on his mind.
Melawen laughed softly. "You're a horrible liar. But don't worry. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push it."
Vash smiled back at her, then helped her lift a particularly large box. It was labeled with Annie and Jessup's names. They carried it to the front porch and sat down. Vash sat in one of the wooden chairs, and Melawen disappeared inside for a few minutes, and then returned with two glasses of lemonade and ice.
They sat there, sipping their drinks and chatting until the children came back from school. Annie dropped all of her school things on the porch and flew into Vash's lap, nearly bowling him over, and gave him a tight hug.
"Did you hear, Mr. Ericks? Did you hear? I've got a new mommy and daddy! I met them yesterday and they're really nice, and they've got a kitty!" She squealed. Vash smiled at the little girl's enthusiasm.
"Yeah, Melawen told me that you and your brother were adopted. That's great, Annie! When are they coming to pick you guys up?"
"Today! I've gotta go get Kiki!" She squealed and ran into the orphanage. Vash looked over at Melawen.
"'Kiki?'" He asked her, a confused expression on his face. He didn't remember there ever being a child named Kiki at the orphanage.
"Her doll. She's her best friend."
"Oh."
The day seemed to pass faster now that the children were back. Vash played with them and ran around for a bit until one of the nuns came out and announced dinner. As the children were running into the building, the nun called Vash over. She pulled him into a seat.
"Is there something wrong, sister?" Vash asked gently. The short woman sighed and looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap.
"Melawen is leaving tonight, Mr. Ericks."
"Yes, I know that."
"I don't want her to go anywhere alone. Since you're a drifter yourself, would you mind escorting her to her destination? I'll pay you. I'll give you whatever we have, just please, go with her."
"Okay. I'll go with her, but on one condition."
"Oh, anything."
"Keep your money. The kids need it more than I do."
The nun smiled, and then hugged Vash, who blinked in surprise. This wasn't what nuns normally did, hug a stranger. "I don't know who you really are, Mr. Ericks, but I do know that you're an angel in disguise," she said softly, her words muffled by his coat.
The nun let go of him, patted his face gently, a smile on her round face, and went into the orphanage. Vash followed shortly after, and went into the kitchen. The only person present in the kitchen was Melawen.
"Where are the kids? Aren't they helping you today?" Vash asked quietly, feeling his knees begin to quiver. 'Why am I so nervous around her?' he thought.
"No, they're not helping me today. I've sent them to do their homework. Would you like to help?"
"Sure. What do you want me to do?"
"There's a bunch of carrots there," she said pointing to a counter where a pack of carrots lay, "Can you chop them up while I prepare the meat?"
"Yeah. Uh, where are the knives?"
"Bottom drawer to your left. Be careful, they're pretty sharp."
Vash opened the aforesaid drawer and pulled a short chef's knife out and began cutting up the vegetables. They both remained silent, the only sounds in the room being that of a pot boiling on the stove, the soft chopping sound of the knife against the cutting board, and the slight shifting of feet on the floor. Vash looked over at Melawen. She was leaned over the pot, stirring it, adding things to it. He knew now that she was on one of the SEEDS ships, but he couldn't quite place where he really knew her from. He'd met her before. Not on a monitor or anything, but in person. But... when? While he was caught up in his thoughts, he wasn't watching where his hand was, and ended up cutting the soft flesh between his thumb and forefinger. He recoiled and cursed.
Melawen put down the long wooden spoon she'd been stirring the pot with and went over to Vash. She saw the cut when he drew his hand back.
"Are you okay, Vash?" She asked.
"I'm fine. It's okay."
"Let me see," Melawen reached for his hand. Vash drew back. "It's okay. Let me see. I can fix it for you."
"I'm fine, really. Please... Don't..." Melawen took hold of his hand, and examined the cut. The knife had cut clean through the thick leather of his glove.
"This'll need cleaning. Come. I've got bandages and such in my room."
"But... what about dinner?"
"It'll be fine. We won't be long."
After cleaning the blood from Vash's glove, Melawen grabbed his wrist and led him to her room, which was next to the kitchen. Vash sat down on the bed while Melawen retrieved a small bag from her nightstand. She brought out a small earthenware jar, some bandages and a few leaves of a plant that Vash had never seen before. She began removing his glove. Vash realized that she might see his scars, and he pulled back. Melawen favored him with a glare so thick with exasperation that it could have knocked him over. She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand forcefully forward toward her.
"I am not going to hurt you, Vash. Relax. I'm getting tired of this whole pulling away routine," she whispered heatedly. With that, she pulled up the sleeve of his coat and removed his glove.
Vash closed his eyes as he heard Melawen gasp softly at the scars on his arm. He felt her touch one of the scars lightly. He felt as if he were naked. He very rarely ever willingly let anyone see his scars. Melawen opened the small earthenware jar and scooped a fingertip's amount of the strong smelling dark green ointment out. She gently spread it on Vash's cut. The pain in his hand melted away, replaced by a cooling sensation. She wrapped the cut with one of the leaves, and then began wrapping the thin gauze bandages around it, looping the gauze around his hand and wrist. She cut the gauze, and then secured it with a piece of tape. She still held his hand in both of hers. Vash looked over at her. She was looking down at it, running her thumb over his knuckles.
"How did you get these scars?" She whispered.
"I don't want to talk about it. Besides, don't you know already? Aren't you supposed to know that just by touching me?"
"You're blocking me. I can't read you." She let go of his hand, put her customized Elven first- aid kit away, and handed Vash his glove. "We should get back to the kitchen."
She walked out of the room and back into the kitchen, leaving Vash sitting on her bed. Vash pulled the glove back onto his hand, and then pulled the sleeve of his coat over it. He went back into the kitchen to find Melawen cleaning up the cutting board and throwing away the carrots he'd bled on.
"Hey," Vash started gently, but stopped. He heard quiet sniffling. She was crying. "Are you okay?" He went further into the kitchen. Melawen dumped the remaining carrots into the pot, and went to the far end of the kitchen.
"I don't understand it," she said softly, taking out a medium sized glass bottle of olive oil from an overhead cabinet. "Why would anyone want to hurt you? Of all people, why you?"
"So you know that I hadn't done that myself."
"You hardly seem the type to willingly hurt yourself. How many more, Vash?"
"How many more what?"
"Scars. How many more scars are you hiding?"
"I-I've got them all over my..."
"I'm not talking about physical scars. What's happened to you that you can't smile with your eyes?" Vash didn't answer her. He only looked down at his boots.
"One of the nuns asked me to accompany you to your destination. I accepted."
Melawen gave a small laugh as she added a capful of olive oil to a bowl of salad. "That had to have been Sister Ana Maria. She's such a worrywart."
"Is there anything else you want me to do?"
"Dinner's just about ready. Could you set the table and go get the kids?"
"Yeah," He mumbled, walking to the cabinets where the plates were. He lifted a stack of plates out, and went to put them on the table, but stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. "Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine," he said over his shoulder, then went into the dining room to set up the plates.
Melawen turned the heat off, and put the pot of soup on a back burner, then looked over at Vash while he was setting up the plates. 'If only he knew,' she thought. She sighed harshly, and then mentally slapped herself. Why was she letting herself fall into a deep blue funk? She set about preparing breadsticks and salads, just to keep her mind off the gentle man in the other room.
Vash finished setting up the table, and then went off to find the kids. They were in the dormitory, jumping and laughing and playing, their homework apparently done. Vash smiled and went into the room.
"Hey guys! It's dinnertime!" he called cheerfully. The children responded with vibrant enthusiasm, and ran out of the room, except for one. Annie. Vash went over to the child and put his hand on the girl's tiny shoulder. She looked up at him from her spot on her bed, tears in her eyes. "Hey, what's the matter?"
Annie hugged him around his middle, crying openly. "I'm scared. I want a family, but I'm scared of leaving."
"You'll be fine. It's always a little scary, going to a new place, but everything will turn out to be good."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's always good to be somewhere new," he said with a smile, wiping away the girl's tears. She smiled up at him, and gave him another squeeze. Vash patted her head of chestnut curls. "Now, how about some dinner?" Annie giggled as Vash picked her up, sat her on his shoulders, and carried her to the dining room. Vash sat Annie down at her usual spot, next to Jessup, and went into the kitchen to help Melawen with the food. He carried out the giant pot of soup as she brought out bowls of salad and breadsticks and pitchers of water. They set them on the table, said grace with the children, and then began passing out food. Dinner went by with its usual chatter and happiness. Before they started dessert, however, Melawen announced that she was leaving. This was met by loud protests from the children.
"You can't go! We need you!" a little boy of about nine years old piped up. Then a little girl of seven joined in.
"Yeah! Who's gonna play with us and make us feel better if we get hurt?"
"Now, kids. I'll be back. I just have to go home for a little while. When I get back, I'll play with you guys for three straight days. I promise," Melawen said after the protests subsided. She passed out bowls of homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. "I've got an idea, since it's Friday, why don't we have a party tonight?" The kids agreed, and scarfed their dessert, suffered a brain freeze for a few moments, and then cleared the dishes to go and find the few party decorations that the orphanage owned. Meanwhile, Melawen washed the dishes and Vash dried them.
He watched her from the corner of his eye as he dried the dishes, and put them away. She hummed a tune he vaguely knew, and had a silly smile pasted to her face.
"You've been staring at me since we started, Vash. Is there something you want to say?" She said cheerfully.
"What are you planning for the party?"
"Oh, a surprise."
"What kind of surprise?"
"You know, for a plant, you're really nosy. If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
"I suppose so... but what's with that smile?"
"What's wrong with my smile?"
"I've never seen you smile like that. To be honest, it's making me kinda nervous."
Melawen finished the last dish, handed it to Vash, and walked out of the kitchen. Vash dried the dish, and remained in the kitchen. His heart hammered in his chest. Why did he recognize that smile so well? He shook the thought out of his head and went to Melawen's bedroom door and knocked gently. He heard the shuffling of her feet and then her voice.
"Be there in a minute! Indecent right now!" came the call from inside. Vash shied away from the door. He'd caught her while she was changing. He felt as if he had done wrong for some reason. She pulled the door open to find Vash blushing strawberry pink. She was wearing the same dress that she wore when he first met her.
"Are you okay? You look like you've just caught a nun naked."
"I'm, uh going to go check out of the hotel now. Is there anything you want me to get while I'm out?"
"Now that you've said it, yes." She went into her room, came back with $$40.00 and pressed it into Vash's hand. "Could you go pick up some liquor?"
Vash blinked incredulously at the small she- Elf. "Are you crazy? There are going to be kids present."
"Then don't get anything strong. Just a nice, smooth ale, it you can find it. Ales tend to be much weaker than regular beer. It depends on how young the drink is. If it's very young, it'll have barely any alcohol. Try and find some of that."
Vash sighed harshly, pocketed the money and went off to check out and find young ale. One side of his brain argued with the other.
Side One: "What is the matter with you, man? Have you seen how beautiful she is? Go on, flirt. You know you want to."
Side Two: "No. I couldn't do that. She's too beautiful. Too perfect. It'd be like defiling a church made of marble. She's way out of my league. Besides, in her entire lifetime, she could have given birth to me countless times."
Side One: "Good point. But she's still hot."
Vash arrived at the hotel he was staying at, trudged up to his room and gathered his things. It didn't take him very long, as he didn't really carry much with him. After that, he went to the bar he'd been spending his days in occasionally and asked for "some bottles of ale, barely a year old, please." Surprisingly enough, the barkeep gave him four bottles of the stuff. The men sitting at the bar snickered and made some comment about his being a wuss. Vash ignored them, and returned to the orphanage. By the time he got there, the festivities had started without him.
He smiled warmly. The front porch of the old orphanage was decorated with fairy lights and some balloons. There was an old record player sitting outside, playing a light, airy tune. Melawen was dancing with a little boy of five, picking him up, twirling with him, then setting him back down on his tiny feet. Vash put the ale on the table on the front porch, and then sat on the steps. No sooner than he had sat down did Melawen grab his hands and pull him to his feet.
"Come! Dance with us!" She laughed, her cheeks slightly rosy from the dancing.
"Oh, no. I-I can't dance. Two left feet." Vash stammered, but Melawen ignored his excuses.
"You don't have to know how! Come on, it's fun! I have an idea! We can do the horse's brantle! It's easy, and it's fun!"
She guided him into the crowd of children. "Hey guys! Wanna learn a real fun dance?" The kids crowed their approval, and Melawen guided them in learning the dance. "Okay, get in a circle, in boy-girl-boy-girl pattern. Now when the music begins after the introduction, you take two big steps to the right, then two big steps to the left. We do that four times, then the boys stomp into the middle, clapping, spin their way out. Then the girls do the same. And then we start all over again. Easy, right?" she was met with a chorus of agreement. "Oh-ho! But there's a catch! The music gets faster and faster and you have to keep up with it. Are you ready?" Another chorus of agreement, and then Melawen went and reset the song, then they began dancing.
The dance was met with joy and laughter as the tempo of the music got faster and faster, and more and more kids stumbled a bit, as did Vash and Melawen. Melawen gripped Vash's hand tightly during the dance, and Vash could feel a deliciously warm sensation course throughout his body. His knees almost went languid with the sensation, but he was being jerked around so much, he didn't have that luxury. Finally, the song ended, and he retreated back to his spot on the steps. He grabbed one of the glasses on the table nearby and poured himself a glassful of the weak ale. A soft song floated out of the record player next, and Melawen appeared in front of him again.
"Oh no," he began, seeing the look on her face, "one dance will do it for me. I'll just sit here and drink my ale."
"Oh come on, Ericks! Dance with me! Besides, do you honestly think I'm going to let you sit there for the entire party?" She took his cup of ale away from him, set it on the step, and then yanked him up from his spot on the steps yet again. "This one's slow. You can relax."
She pulled him to the center of the courtyard, and stood in front of him. He looked around nervously. All of the children were watching them intently from the front porch. Vash could feel their young eyes watching, could hear their hushed whispers and giggles.
"I don't know how to dance to this kind of music," Vash whispered, leaning in toward Melawen.
Melawen just smiled. "I'll teach you," she whispered back. "Okay. Put your left hand behind you back, just above your hip, and raise your right hand." Vash did as she showed him. "Now, come toward me, until our palms meet." He followed her every instruction to the tee until the song ended. It was then that he noticed that two faces were missing from the crowd of children. Annie and Jessup.
"Hey, where are Annie and Jessup?"
"They left while you were out. I said that you would miss them."
"Did you meet their new parents?"
"Yes, I did."
"And?"
"They're good people. They'll take good care of them. Oh, and Annie asked me to do this for her." Melawen leaned in close and gave Vash a soft, soft kiss on his cheek.
From the front porch whooping and hollering could be heard from the kids. Melawen blushed bright rosy pink and bowed her head. Vash blushed as well. He'd felt that warm feeling again. It was a curious sensation, like a wave of warm love washing over him. He stared down at the she- Elf in front of him. How did she do it? Make him feel that way?
The party went on for about two hours longer until the kids became tired, and Melawen put each one of them to sleep, and said her goodbyes to all seventeen of them. Vash watched from the doorway of the children's dormitory. He marveled at the way Melawen treated each and every one of them as if they were her own. She trudged out of the dormitory, and Vash followed her all the way to the outside of her room. She went inside, and came out a few minutes later, dressed in dark green pants, a light blue silk shirt, a green tunic, a pair of light boots, and bracers on her wrists. Her hair was pulled back away from her face in what could only be described as an Elven warrior's braid, exposing her ears. Strapped to her back was a quiver full of arrows and a long, magnificent bow. She had two long knives strapped to her back along with her bow and arrows, and a long, bone white knife at her waist. Her light pack was slung over one shoulder. She closed the door softly behind her.
"Are you ready?" Vash asked quietly. Melawen nodded silently, looking down at the floor. "Come on, then. Sister Ana Maria said that she would take care of the cleaning up." Melawen nodded sullenly. Vash put a hand on her shoulder and guided her gently out of the orphanage. "Where to?" She pointed a slim, white finger westward. "Okay then, off we go," Vash said, trying to lighten Melawen's mood. 'Hopefully,' Vash thought to himself, 'she won't stay like this for very long.'
Vash returned to the orphanage on Friday, the last day that Melawen was to be there. He'd greeted the nuns, and asked after the kids. One of the nuns told him that the children were at school, but Melawen should be about. Melawen and Vash had been speaking to each other over the past few days whenever they bumped into each other on the streets. Melawen rarely left the orphanage, but when she did, it was usually to go to the market, and she always had one of the older children with her. They were usually very short, three sentence conversations, and then Vash would turn his attention to the child with her. If he ran into them while they were leaving, he'd help with the groceries.
Vash wandered into the children's dormitories, where he found Melawen making the beds. He knocked gently on the door, and Melawen turned. She smiled and waved, then returned to her task.
"Do you want some help?" Vash asked, stepping tentatively into the room. He couldn't help but notice that she looked particularly radiant that day. She wore one of her finer dresses. Red silk skirts and belled sleeves, dark, dark blue velvet bodice and golden Elvish embroidery around the low neckline and sleeves. She kept her hair in its usual braid, covering her ears, but a few strands escaped from their confines, framing her face.
"No, thank you. I can manage," she replied in her usual soft, dulcet tone. Vash frowned and sat on an unmade bed.
"So, you're leaving today?"
"Yes. I have to. I'm going home."
"Why? Don't you think the kids'll miss you?"
"I know they will. I'll come back, but I have to return home. My father needs me." They both stayed silent for a few minutes while Melawen finished making up the beds.
"Do you intend to at least say goodbye to them?"
Melawen looked at Vash strangely. "Of course I do. Now, come. I need your help."
She walked out of the room, and Vash followed. Melawen led him down the hall to a small room at the end of it. The kids' storage room. She began pushing boxes around, then asked Vash for his aid.
"Why are we in here?" He asked, picking up a box she'd indicated and putting it aside.
"Annie and Jessup have been adopted. I'm looking for their things. Some of these boxes are really heavy, and I can't lift them myself."
"The both of them have been adopted? That's good."
"Isn't it? It's better that way, so that Annie isn't separated from her brother."
"They're siblings?"
"Of course. You didn't know?"
"No. They don't look anything alike."
"That's because Jessup has a different father, but both of them share a mother. I can't believe you didn't notice how protective Jessup tends to be of Annie."
"I guess I wasn't paying any attention to that."
"Is there something on your mind, Vash?" She asked quietly, so that nobody could hear his name.
"Uh... N-no. Nothing's on my mind." But something was on his mind.
Melawen laughed softly. "You're a horrible liar. But don't worry. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push it."
Vash smiled back at her, then helped her lift a particularly large box. It was labeled with Annie and Jessup's names. They carried it to the front porch and sat down. Vash sat in one of the wooden chairs, and Melawen disappeared inside for a few minutes, and then returned with two glasses of lemonade and ice.
They sat there, sipping their drinks and chatting until the children came back from school. Annie dropped all of her school things on the porch and flew into Vash's lap, nearly bowling him over, and gave him a tight hug.
"Did you hear, Mr. Ericks? Did you hear? I've got a new mommy and daddy! I met them yesterday and they're really nice, and they've got a kitty!" She squealed. Vash smiled at the little girl's enthusiasm.
"Yeah, Melawen told me that you and your brother were adopted. That's great, Annie! When are they coming to pick you guys up?"
"Today! I've gotta go get Kiki!" She squealed and ran into the orphanage. Vash looked over at Melawen.
"'Kiki?'" He asked her, a confused expression on his face. He didn't remember there ever being a child named Kiki at the orphanage.
"Her doll. She's her best friend."
"Oh."
The day seemed to pass faster now that the children were back. Vash played with them and ran around for a bit until one of the nuns came out and announced dinner. As the children were running into the building, the nun called Vash over. She pulled him into a seat.
"Is there something wrong, sister?" Vash asked gently. The short woman sighed and looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap.
"Melawen is leaving tonight, Mr. Ericks."
"Yes, I know that."
"I don't want her to go anywhere alone. Since you're a drifter yourself, would you mind escorting her to her destination? I'll pay you. I'll give you whatever we have, just please, go with her."
"Okay. I'll go with her, but on one condition."
"Oh, anything."
"Keep your money. The kids need it more than I do."
The nun smiled, and then hugged Vash, who blinked in surprise. This wasn't what nuns normally did, hug a stranger. "I don't know who you really are, Mr. Ericks, but I do know that you're an angel in disguise," she said softly, her words muffled by his coat.
The nun let go of him, patted his face gently, a smile on her round face, and went into the orphanage. Vash followed shortly after, and went into the kitchen. The only person present in the kitchen was Melawen.
"Where are the kids? Aren't they helping you today?" Vash asked quietly, feeling his knees begin to quiver. 'Why am I so nervous around her?' he thought.
"No, they're not helping me today. I've sent them to do their homework. Would you like to help?"
"Sure. What do you want me to do?"
"There's a bunch of carrots there," she said pointing to a counter where a pack of carrots lay, "Can you chop them up while I prepare the meat?"
"Yeah. Uh, where are the knives?"
"Bottom drawer to your left. Be careful, they're pretty sharp."
Vash opened the aforesaid drawer and pulled a short chef's knife out and began cutting up the vegetables. They both remained silent, the only sounds in the room being that of a pot boiling on the stove, the soft chopping sound of the knife against the cutting board, and the slight shifting of feet on the floor. Vash looked over at Melawen. She was leaned over the pot, stirring it, adding things to it. He knew now that she was on one of the SEEDS ships, but he couldn't quite place where he really knew her from. He'd met her before. Not on a monitor or anything, but in person. But... when? While he was caught up in his thoughts, he wasn't watching where his hand was, and ended up cutting the soft flesh between his thumb and forefinger. He recoiled and cursed.
Melawen put down the long wooden spoon she'd been stirring the pot with and went over to Vash. She saw the cut when he drew his hand back.
"Are you okay, Vash?" She asked.
"I'm fine. It's okay."
"Let me see," Melawen reached for his hand. Vash drew back. "It's okay. Let me see. I can fix it for you."
"I'm fine, really. Please... Don't..." Melawen took hold of his hand, and examined the cut. The knife had cut clean through the thick leather of his glove.
"This'll need cleaning. Come. I've got bandages and such in my room."
"But... what about dinner?"
"It'll be fine. We won't be long."
After cleaning the blood from Vash's glove, Melawen grabbed his wrist and led him to her room, which was next to the kitchen. Vash sat down on the bed while Melawen retrieved a small bag from her nightstand. She brought out a small earthenware jar, some bandages and a few leaves of a plant that Vash had never seen before. She began removing his glove. Vash realized that she might see his scars, and he pulled back. Melawen favored him with a glare so thick with exasperation that it could have knocked him over. She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand forcefully forward toward her.
"I am not going to hurt you, Vash. Relax. I'm getting tired of this whole pulling away routine," she whispered heatedly. With that, she pulled up the sleeve of his coat and removed his glove.
Vash closed his eyes as he heard Melawen gasp softly at the scars on his arm. He felt her touch one of the scars lightly. He felt as if he were naked. He very rarely ever willingly let anyone see his scars. Melawen opened the small earthenware jar and scooped a fingertip's amount of the strong smelling dark green ointment out. She gently spread it on Vash's cut. The pain in his hand melted away, replaced by a cooling sensation. She wrapped the cut with one of the leaves, and then began wrapping the thin gauze bandages around it, looping the gauze around his hand and wrist. She cut the gauze, and then secured it with a piece of tape. She still held his hand in both of hers. Vash looked over at her. She was looking down at it, running her thumb over his knuckles.
"How did you get these scars?" She whispered.
"I don't want to talk about it. Besides, don't you know already? Aren't you supposed to know that just by touching me?"
"You're blocking me. I can't read you." She let go of his hand, put her customized Elven first- aid kit away, and handed Vash his glove. "We should get back to the kitchen."
She walked out of the room and back into the kitchen, leaving Vash sitting on her bed. Vash pulled the glove back onto his hand, and then pulled the sleeve of his coat over it. He went back into the kitchen to find Melawen cleaning up the cutting board and throwing away the carrots he'd bled on.
"Hey," Vash started gently, but stopped. He heard quiet sniffling. She was crying. "Are you okay?" He went further into the kitchen. Melawen dumped the remaining carrots into the pot, and went to the far end of the kitchen.
"I don't understand it," she said softly, taking out a medium sized glass bottle of olive oil from an overhead cabinet. "Why would anyone want to hurt you? Of all people, why you?"
"So you know that I hadn't done that myself."
"You hardly seem the type to willingly hurt yourself. How many more, Vash?"
"How many more what?"
"Scars. How many more scars are you hiding?"
"I-I've got them all over my..."
"I'm not talking about physical scars. What's happened to you that you can't smile with your eyes?" Vash didn't answer her. He only looked down at his boots.
"One of the nuns asked me to accompany you to your destination. I accepted."
Melawen gave a small laugh as she added a capful of olive oil to a bowl of salad. "That had to have been Sister Ana Maria. She's such a worrywart."
"Is there anything else you want me to do?"
"Dinner's just about ready. Could you set the table and go get the kids?"
"Yeah," He mumbled, walking to the cabinets where the plates were. He lifted a stack of plates out, and went to put them on the table, but stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. "Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine," he said over his shoulder, then went into the dining room to set up the plates.
Melawen turned the heat off, and put the pot of soup on a back burner, then looked over at Vash while he was setting up the plates. 'If only he knew,' she thought. She sighed harshly, and then mentally slapped herself. Why was she letting herself fall into a deep blue funk? She set about preparing breadsticks and salads, just to keep her mind off the gentle man in the other room.
Vash finished setting up the table, and then went off to find the kids. They were in the dormitory, jumping and laughing and playing, their homework apparently done. Vash smiled and went into the room.
"Hey guys! It's dinnertime!" he called cheerfully. The children responded with vibrant enthusiasm, and ran out of the room, except for one. Annie. Vash went over to the child and put his hand on the girl's tiny shoulder. She looked up at him from her spot on her bed, tears in her eyes. "Hey, what's the matter?"
Annie hugged him around his middle, crying openly. "I'm scared. I want a family, but I'm scared of leaving."
"You'll be fine. It's always a little scary, going to a new place, but everything will turn out to be good."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's always good to be somewhere new," he said with a smile, wiping away the girl's tears. She smiled up at him, and gave him another squeeze. Vash patted her head of chestnut curls. "Now, how about some dinner?" Annie giggled as Vash picked her up, sat her on his shoulders, and carried her to the dining room. Vash sat Annie down at her usual spot, next to Jessup, and went into the kitchen to help Melawen with the food. He carried out the giant pot of soup as she brought out bowls of salad and breadsticks and pitchers of water. They set them on the table, said grace with the children, and then began passing out food. Dinner went by with its usual chatter and happiness. Before they started dessert, however, Melawen announced that she was leaving. This was met by loud protests from the children.
"You can't go! We need you!" a little boy of about nine years old piped up. Then a little girl of seven joined in.
"Yeah! Who's gonna play with us and make us feel better if we get hurt?"
"Now, kids. I'll be back. I just have to go home for a little while. When I get back, I'll play with you guys for three straight days. I promise," Melawen said after the protests subsided. She passed out bowls of homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. "I've got an idea, since it's Friday, why don't we have a party tonight?" The kids agreed, and scarfed their dessert, suffered a brain freeze for a few moments, and then cleared the dishes to go and find the few party decorations that the orphanage owned. Meanwhile, Melawen washed the dishes and Vash dried them.
He watched her from the corner of his eye as he dried the dishes, and put them away. She hummed a tune he vaguely knew, and had a silly smile pasted to her face.
"You've been staring at me since we started, Vash. Is there something you want to say?" She said cheerfully.
"What are you planning for the party?"
"Oh, a surprise."
"What kind of surprise?"
"You know, for a plant, you're really nosy. If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
"I suppose so... but what's with that smile?"
"What's wrong with my smile?"
"I've never seen you smile like that. To be honest, it's making me kinda nervous."
Melawen finished the last dish, handed it to Vash, and walked out of the kitchen. Vash dried the dish, and remained in the kitchen. His heart hammered in his chest. Why did he recognize that smile so well? He shook the thought out of his head and went to Melawen's bedroom door and knocked gently. He heard the shuffling of her feet and then her voice.
"Be there in a minute! Indecent right now!" came the call from inside. Vash shied away from the door. He'd caught her while she was changing. He felt as if he had done wrong for some reason. She pulled the door open to find Vash blushing strawberry pink. She was wearing the same dress that she wore when he first met her.
"Are you okay? You look like you've just caught a nun naked."
"I'm, uh going to go check out of the hotel now. Is there anything you want me to get while I'm out?"
"Now that you've said it, yes." She went into her room, came back with $$40.00 and pressed it into Vash's hand. "Could you go pick up some liquor?"
Vash blinked incredulously at the small she- Elf. "Are you crazy? There are going to be kids present."
"Then don't get anything strong. Just a nice, smooth ale, it you can find it. Ales tend to be much weaker than regular beer. It depends on how young the drink is. If it's very young, it'll have barely any alcohol. Try and find some of that."
Vash sighed harshly, pocketed the money and went off to check out and find young ale. One side of his brain argued with the other.
Side One: "What is the matter with you, man? Have you seen how beautiful she is? Go on, flirt. You know you want to."
Side Two: "No. I couldn't do that. She's too beautiful. Too perfect. It'd be like defiling a church made of marble. She's way out of my league. Besides, in her entire lifetime, she could have given birth to me countless times."
Side One: "Good point. But she's still hot."
Vash arrived at the hotel he was staying at, trudged up to his room and gathered his things. It didn't take him very long, as he didn't really carry much with him. After that, he went to the bar he'd been spending his days in occasionally and asked for "some bottles of ale, barely a year old, please." Surprisingly enough, the barkeep gave him four bottles of the stuff. The men sitting at the bar snickered and made some comment about his being a wuss. Vash ignored them, and returned to the orphanage. By the time he got there, the festivities had started without him.
He smiled warmly. The front porch of the old orphanage was decorated with fairy lights and some balloons. There was an old record player sitting outside, playing a light, airy tune. Melawen was dancing with a little boy of five, picking him up, twirling with him, then setting him back down on his tiny feet. Vash put the ale on the table on the front porch, and then sat on the steps. No sooner than he had sat down did Melawen grab his hands and pull him to his feet.
"Come! Dance with us!" She laughed, her cheeks slightly rosy from the dancing.
"Oh, no. I-I can't dance. Two left feet." Vash stammered, but Melawen ignored his excuses.
"You don't have to know how! Come on, it's fun! I have an idea! We can do the horse's brantle! It's easy, and it's fun!"
She guided him into the crowd of children. "Hey guys! Wanna learn a real fun dance?" The kids crowed their approval, and Melawen guided them in learning the dance. "Okay, get in a circle, in boy-girl-boy-girl pattern. Now when the music begins after the introduction, you take two big steps to the right, then two big steps to the left. We do that four times, then the boys stomp into the middle, clapping, spin their way out. Then the girls do the same. And then we start all over again. Easy, right?" she was met with a chorus of agreement. "Oh-ho! But there's a catch! The music gets faster and faster and you have to keep up with it. Are you ready?" Another chorus of agreement, and then Melawen went and reset the song, then they began dancing.
The dance was met with joy and laughter as the tempo of the music got faster and faster, and more and more kids stumbled a bit, as did Vash and Melawen. Melawen gripped Vash's hand tightly during the dance, and Vash could feel a deliciously warm sensation course throughout his body. His knees almost went languid with the sensation, but he was being jerked around so much, he didn't have that luxury. Finally, the song ended, and he retreated back to his spot on the steps. He grabbed one of the glasses on the table nearby and poured himself a glassful of the weak ale. A soft song floated out of the record player next, and Melawen appeared in front of him again.
"Oh no," he began, seeing the look on her face, "one dance will do it for me. I'll just sit here and drink my ale."
"Oh come on, Ericks! Dance with me! Besides, do you honestly think I'm going to let you sit there for the entire party?" She took his cup of ale away from him, set it on the step, and then yanked him up from his spot on the steps yet again. "This one's slow. You can relax."
She pulled him to the center of the courtyard, and stood in front of him. He looked around nervously. All of the children were watching them intently from the front porch. Vash could feel their young eyes watching, could hear their hushed whispers and giggles.
"I don't know how to dance to this kind of music," Vash whispered, leaning in toward Melawen.
Melawen just smiled. "I'll teach you," she whispered back. "Okay. Put your left hand behind you back, just above your hip, and raise your right hand." Vash did as she showed him. "Now, come toward me, until our palms meet." He followed her every instruction to the tee until the song ended. It was then that he noticed that two faces were missing from the crowd of children. Annie and Jessup.
"Hey, where are Annie and Jessup?"
"They left while you were out. I said that you would miss them."
"Did you meet their new parents?"
"Yes, I did."
"And?"
"They're good people. They'll take good care of them. Oh, and Annie asked me to do this for her." Melawen leaned in close and gave Vash a soft, soft kiss on his cheek.
From the front porch whooping and hollering could be heard from the kids. Melawen blushed bright rosy pink and bowed her head. Vash blushed as well. He'd felt that warm feeling again. It was a curious sensation, like a wave of warm love washing over him. He stared down at the she- Elf in front of him. How did she do it? Make him feel that way?
The party went on for about two hours longer until the kids became tired, and Melawen put each one of them to sleep, and said her goodbyes to all seventeen of them. Vash watched from the doorway of the children's dormitory. He marveled at the way Melawen treated each and every one of them as if they were her own. She trudged out of the dormitory, and Vash followed her all the way to the outside of her room. She went inside, and came out a few minutes later, dressed in dark green pants, a light blue silk shirt, a green tunic, a pair of light boots, and bracers on her wrists. Her hair was pulled back away from her face in what could only be described as an Elven warrior's braid, exposing her ears. Strapped to her back was a quiver full of arrows and a long, magnificent bow. She had two long knives strapped to her back along with her bow and arrows, and a long, bone white knife at her waist. Her light pack was slung over one shoulder. She closed the door softly behind her.
"Are you ready?" Vash asked quietly. Melawen nodded silently, looking down at the floor. "Come on, then. Sister Ana Maria said that she would take care of the cleaning up." Melawen nodded sullenly. Vash put a hand on her shoulder and guided her gently out of the orphanage. "Where to?" She pointed a slim, white finger westward. "Okay then, off we go," Vash said, trying to lighten Melawen's mood. 'Hopefully,' Vash thought to himself, 'she won't stay like this for very long.'