Epilogue
A few days later
The desert stretches out in front of him, behind him, around him. A blazing carpet of sand and rocks and wind and dust. Heat soaks the air, the suns above showing no mercy, no compassion; they paint the world in ruddy red and sickly yellow.
Through this scene he walks, a single figure dressed in pale blue, sweating a little in the oppressive heat. Across his back is strung a pack of all his belongings, not all that much but enough to ensure his survival.
A light breeze whisks across the desert, he eagerly turns his head, trying to catch the cooling wind upon his face.
He is beginning to wish he'd taken the bus, but it was not due back into town for another week, so he decided to leave Angel's Rest on foot.
He could have stayed; of course, Vash had paid the rent on the house for a month and had left him more than enough money to live upon. He could have obtained a job, after all, remained in the house…
Yet that wasn't what Vash wanted, nor what he wanted, really. He needed to grow, to understand, to be free again. So he finished his business in the town and left the day after their birthday.
Now he trod across the desert, a single set of footsteps trailing across the sand, heading towards the future.
Whatever that held.
Still, under the heat of the suns he really was wishing he'd had the common sense to wait for a bus. Vash must be having a negative affect upon him too.
He spies something in the distance, using a hand to shield his eyes he looks towards the horizon. A dust cloud is forming, like one made by a large vehicle.
He stands still, watching the vehicle come towards him. As it approaches he sees that it is a large truck, of the type supplier's use. Probably on the way back from delivering goods to one of the outlying towns, perhaps even Angel's Rest.
Knives comes to a decision and puts one hand out, his thumb extended in the age old signal of the hitch hiker.
The truck comes closer and bringing up a miniature sandstorm, breaks just by Knives.
The driver leans out of the window; he is a bulky dark haired man with a scar down his left eye and a tattoo of a black cat upon one bare, muscled arm.
'Yeah?' he grunts, 'you wanna lift kid?'
His manner indicates one of little intelligence, a short temper, but some honesty, Knives find himself a little annoyed by the his rude briskness, but pushes the irritation aside.
'Yes please,' he says, trying to be as polite as possible. It's rather difficult.
'Hop on then,' instructs the driver, indicating the empty carriage behind him.
Knives does as instructed, slinging his bag inside the back cart before springing in himself.
'The name's Jason Burton,' says the driver, 'what's yours?'
'Knives,' Knives replies truthfully, settling himself down.
'Knives…?'
It's obvious that the driver wishes for more information, a second name. Knives replies with the first thing that comes to mind.
'Bluesummers.'
'Knives Bluesummers,' repeats the driver, incredulous, 'crazy name. Still, each to their own I suppose. Where are you headed?'
'I… I don't really know.'
'Well, I'm off back to January City. That good with you?'
'That's fine,' says Knives and coughs as Jason restarts the engines, kicking up more sand and dust.
After things have settled down a little, Knives spends a moment wondering what possessed him to use that second name, of all the choices available.
He supposes it's as good a tribute as any to Legato, after taking so much from the man he should do this for him at least, bare his name. It's not much but, perhaps, it will serve as a reminder. Yes… Knives Bluesummers… it has a certain ring, it is fitting.
The truck rolls across a large rock, jerking Knives, he growls in irritation, with the heat and the dust and the movement he really is looking forward to getting back into town, even if it means being constantly surrounded by humans.
He turns round and stands up, about to ask the driver exactly when they're going to get to January City.
Something stops him however, a sense of déjà vu, a familiar feeling.
He remembers.
He knows!
A grin spreads across his features, and from his heart he laughs, a real, deep, true laugh without any cynicism or sadness, a laugh of pure joy.
After a century of looking, he finally has inkling as to what the answer is.
He stands up and looks out into the desert, feeling the wind tear across his face, the blue tails of his coat lashing in the breezes. His arms open to take in the horizon, the distance, the entire world. A world of infinite possibilities, a world that holds Eden within it, somewhere.
How far is Eden?
Is it a million light-years distant?
Is it a lifetime's journey?
Is it the work of three centuries?
Is it 133 years away?
Or is it just 1.5 centimetres?
Is it simply one year spent in a room?
How far away is Eden?
It's as far away as you want it to be.
It just depends what route you take.
The Beginning…
………………………………………………………………………………………
Authors Notes: Well, that's it! The end of How Far is Eden! The longest single fanfiction I've ever written! I hope you liked it, because I'm sure chuffed with it.
If you DID like it, then I ask only one thing. Please, please, please leave one last review for me, telling me what you thought of the story. If I get enough of these and of reasonable quality I will devote one, last chapter to answering them.
This is NOT going to be my last venture into Trigun Fanfiction; I do have many other pieces up and running. Some of them are visible from my LJ, (accessible via the link in my profile.) However, I might not post any in FFN for a little bit, due to some small computer problems, But worry ye not! I will be back in early July, posting stuff here! I hope you like that too.
If you do like this, try my other three, tiny, Trigun fanfictions and, perhaps, my X-evo stuff too. There's some good stuff there.
Thanks for sticking around this long, I hope to hear from you in replies and I hope you liked How Far is Eden!
Reader's Replies:
Ron the Future Weasel: I'm sorry the B-Day's wrong, but it's a bit late to change it now. Besides, this day is more fitting, more ironic. And besides, Vash and Knives are so Gemini… heh! And you can say 'Until Next Chapter' because next chapter will be reader's replies chapter… and maybe something else too
Sessgirl1: Ah well, all good things come to an end. Good luck with your fic and I'm glad you've enjoyed this one!
Zolac no Miko: I'm happy you liked the chapter, and the coat… I was a bit worried it was too cheesy…
Angelstryke: YAY! Hello she of the awesome Fanfic! I wonder if Vash is following the Insurance girls! Heh, and you just know that, deep down, Vash yeans to own his own doughnut factory, only they'd never make any money what with our beloved gunman eating all their produce! Don't worry, like I said in my notes, more fanfic is on it's way! Check out my LJ for some of it, or wait a couple of weeks, it'll be out soon I promise! And keep working on that new fic of yours, if it's anything like the last one it'll be good!
Kitsu: Talk about coming in late! Heh, well, welcome anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the ride. I do have an idea for a sequel, and I might write it one day, but we'll see. Whatever I do it won't be around for a while yet. Thanks for your comments anyway!
Sailor Lillith-Chan: Yay! I'm so glad you liked this! Really, I am! :dances: Heh, as others, (like LeDiz,) have said, Vash isn't perfect. He comes damn close at times but he does have a little streak of evil in him. He has to, to survive. Knives has taught him that, I think. I'm sorry the epilogue wasn't what you'd hoped; my sequel will be a bit further down the road, if I write it. I guess I wanted to leave the story open, for the readers to decide what happens next. Like in the series, Knives is throwing aside his metaphorical gun and giving new things a go. It might be the wrong place to leave it in some ways, but it feels right to me.
Aoi: Well done for spotting the year thing, that was a conscious decision on my part. And yeah, like I said to Ron the Future Weasel, Gemini is just more fitting. Mmm… no more tight suits… but that means we can't see his… NOOO! I've made a terrible mistake! AUGH!
Communist Penguin: I hope this epilogue lives up to your expectations. Heh, this will have a few loose ends, heck, it has one huge loose end, but that's how I like it, in some ways…
ATO: Ooh, will I be getting a long review soon then? I'm very excited! Good luck with your computer and all, I hope it's in working order soon. I'll send you that story as soon as I've finished it, as the one who inspired me you should get first read.
LeDiz: You must KNOW that I never find your reviews pointless or annoying, I love reviews in whatever form! I can only prey you don't mind mine too much! The Kitten was evil? I never thought of that… ooh, evil kittens… cool! I think the best characters are those that carry both good and evil within them, that's why we love them so much. Knives would just be another maniac if he didn't have such very good, such very pure intentions. It's just his means kinda… ruin it, you know? And Vash… well, anyone who claims that Vash is all sweetness and light should watch Diablo again. Not that I'm saying he isn't good, he's damn good. He's nice and kind and everything, but he is a tad bit evil, he's a little bit violent and he does have his weaknesses, we wouldn't love him so much if he didn't.
Don't worry, I don't think he'll turn out like Vash… or I hope not any way. To me this is Knives going out to learn about… stuff. He might learn that Vash is right, or he might come across some slum town, get mugged, and realize that; yes, all humans are indeed evil and should be wiped out. Knives… remains Knives. He's just starting out again, that's all the coat represents.
See ya later!
TeaRoses: Oh don't worry, I'll write more! You just stop me, hehehe!
Jiana: Thanks for the kind words, that last sentence really touched me. I do hope it is remembered like that, I really do! The insurance girls… yes, I really should have put more in about them. I honestly think there were around, outside the house, until at least their first and only appearance in this fic, it's just they never visited. However, I think they left after Knives was up and about. They are undoubtedly the ones Vash is going to 'check out,' and so forth. Again, I would have liked to include them more but there were three main reasons why I didn't…
a) This is from Knives POV mainly, Vash wouldn't want to endanger his friends, so he wouldn't want to introduce his brother to the girls unless absolutely necessary. Thus there's little opportunity for interaction.
b) If I put them in this then it would immediately risk the title of 'romance,' and I didn't want to do another one of those. They're great and all, but I wanted to do something different.
c) I'll be honest, I'm not very good at writing the girls, I just… didn't feel like including them. The above two statements were what drove the decision, of course, but this fact helped me make the choice. Sorry!
Once more, thanks to you all for reading. Fare well… for now!
NEXT TIME: Any more Readers Replies.