WARNING! READ THIS NOW!

THIS CHAPTER IS *R* RATED!

OK, here's the thing. Most of this story is PG-13, there's nothing much in here that you won't get in the Anime. However, within this chapter is ONE utterance which is a little… harder. Not too bad, but still leaning towards the R rating. So, if you are under 13 and/or of a delicate nature, you can do one of the following:

1: Skip this chapter and E-mail me for a summery. I'll send it to you.

2: Read this chapter, but skip the sentence beginning with *.

3: Read this chapter, but don't blame me if you get offended by the utterance in question.

All I'm doing is covering my butt, I'm giving you due warning.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy the following. Please review!

Day 90

            He is beginning to get better again, he eats and drinks in reasonable quantities, does what Vash tells him to. He seems determined to recover, to get well as soon as possible.

            He's alert, too, he watches his brother, studies him, though he still speaks little. There is an aura of silent fury about Knives and he is pleased to note Vash winces at it every time he comes in.

            He first smells blood in the water when Vash's arm begins the tremble.

            He was feeding him at the time, when the spoon began to shake, spilling its contents. He growls in anger, and Vash put down the spoon, placing it back into the bowl of stew.

            He watches as his brother pulls up the sleeve of his shirt and begins to examine the shaking arm, his cybernetic limb. He opens up a small panel and, taking out a pair of tweezers from his jean pocket, begins to fiddle with the wires and electronics inside.

            'What are you doing?' Knives enquires.

            'Sometimes sand gets into it,' explains Vash, 'or the wires come loose, it isn't much but I like to fix it quickly.'

            'It must be irritating,' remarked Knives, observing his brother put away the tweezers and close up the compartment.

            Vash only shrugs, it's obviously an annoyance he has long become used to.

            'Do you miss it?' asks Knives at last, and his brother blinks in confusion.

            'Your arm,' he explains, 'do you miss it?'

            Perhaps his brother senses he is being goaded, so he does not reply, he merely picks up the bowl and spoon again, ready to start feeding Knives.

            'It went to a better home anyway,' continues Knives, ignoring his brother's apparent disinterest, 'I know Legato appreciated it.'

            'That's nice,' mutters Vash with forced cheerfulness, 'it's good to think I made someone happy.'

            'Doesn't it bother you?' asks Knives, eager to push the subject, 'that he had your hand? That it was your hand that killed all those people? Tell me, my brother, if your hand was the one that killed, does that make you a killer?'

            Vash turns, and looks at Knives with a soft, almost pitying look, 'it's not the hands of a man that kills,' he replies, 'it's not the gun either. They are just implements. It is the soul, the mind that guides the hand and the gun. That is what kills. Tell me, Knives, what was Legato to you?'

            Knives is confused, 'he was a human,' he explains, 'a useful one, but still human. He was nothing more than my servant.'

            'Was he your tool, then? Your weapon?'

            'Yes, I suppose so.'

            'He was a weapon for you will, you guided him. Tell me, brother, if your will, your mind, was the one that killed, does that make you a killer?'

            Knives snarls, 'don't try to trap me, Vash, it won't work. I feel no guilt over what happened. I care nothing for killing humans as you well know. Besides, even if I did, it was Legato who chose his path, he who came to me when I was weak of his own choice. I guided his footsteps, yes, but I never chose them.'

            'But did you not consider where his path led him? Didn't you care?'

            Knives sneers, he feels like he has the upper hand at last, 'no, I know he was happy just to serve me. He was the only enlightened human I ever met, the only one who knew the truth, knew I was a superior being. To him, simply serving me was a privilege, a joy beyond comparison. Well worth death, in his eyes.'

            'Damn, Knives,' spits Vash, anger at last entering his words, 'can't you see what you did to him? What you made him?'

            'What I made you, you mean,' he sniggers, 'you were the one that killed him, after all. But take comfort in this, Vash, Legato Bluesummers died happy, the arm I gave him was the greatest gift possible. I gave him the arm of my twin, gave him part of myself, in a sense. He loved it more than you can understand, and he didn't just use it for killing.'

            'Really?' hisses Vash, his breathing deeper, his hands clenched to his sides, struggling to maintain his temper.

            *'Oh no, for example, I know he used it to masturbate with on a regular basis.'

            Vash lunges, picking up Knives by his shirt and thrusting him forward so that their faces touch, nose to nose. Brother to brother, sun to moon, water to sky. This is as close as they've ever been, he can smell the sweet donuts on Vash's breath, feel the warmth of his body, see the blue fire in his eyes.

            'You're a monster, Knives!' he spits, 'you take everything good and twist it! Legato loved you, damn it! He gave you his soul and you destroyed it! You meant to create the perfect example of humanity, to show me the truth, but you showed me an example of everything humanity isn't! You showed me nothing except the lengths you'll go too in your wish to hurt me! You used and destroyed the one being on this world that unconditionally loved you!'

            'Legato. Didn't. Love. Me,' Knives replies, enunciating each word perfectly, 'and besides, what about you?'

            'What about me?'

            He blinks, not understanding. This cannot be true, it simply cannot. Vash loves him, of course he does, they squabble, they disagree, but love is there, is it not? On some level?

            'Vash,' he mummers, sounding almost pathetic, then he grasps himself, remembers himself, 'if you hate me so much, why did you spare my life? Why are you nursing me back to health?'

            Vash shrugs, letting go of Knives' shirt and allowing him to slide back down onto the bed and pillows, 'because I won't let you use me, and I won't let you destroy me. I'm not Bluesummers. I love life, I believe in hope.'

            'So once again you're doing this for Rem?' sneers Knives, satisfied that once again he's found the answer.

            'Nope,' replies Vash, starting to leave the room, 'I remember her, but now I walk my own path.'

            'So who are you saving me for, then, dear brother?'

            'Saving you?' mutters Vash, moving out the door, 'who says this has anything to do with you?'

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ah, done. Hope you liked it. Here's the reviewer replies:

Kyp: glad you liked it. Sorry I missed your reply last time, but you're getting one now, right?

Silverarm: Thanks! Sorry about the typos, I'm badly dyslexic, I've had a lot of help with it and I always use a spell checker, but I don't know any other Trigun fans personally who'd be willing to read my stories so no beta reader… thus there will be a few small spelling errors. Sorry. If you see any popping up again and again, please let me know. I type at an average of 60 words per min, so occasionally I hit the wrong key and don't notice. So it goes…

Angelstryke: Yay, I'm so glad you're still reviewing! I'm glad you approved of Vash's actions, it did seem a very Vash thing to do, if you follow. Don't worry though, things will work out. Besides, it's not as if Knive's hasn't tried to kill him before… or something like that anyway. PLEASE keep on reviewing! The chapters will continue to get longer and (hopefully) better!

Aoi: I think Vash can be a little man when he has to, but he's a generally nice guy. He's a bit mean in this chapter too, but remember that Knives pushed him to it, so he has an excuse. I'm afraid the link didn't work… can you give me the name of the web-site instead and I can do a Google search on it? I only got your review once, BTW, so don't sweat it. Some sort of glitch in the system earlier meant that I got over 50 copies of Silverarm and Angelstryke's reviews for the last chapter! (Um… I mean the reviews before the ones answered to here, if that makes sense) so one more would have been nothing. All fixed now thank god!

Please keep on reviewing! I love you all!

Love and Peace!