The End
By Alicia Maxwell
Vash had been walking for hours on end but the desert heat made it feel like days and weeks. The extra weight of carrying his wounded brother also wore him down severely. It was a miracle Knives hadn't died. One bullet had nearly pierced his heart and all of his wounds had bled badly. There was sure to be internal bleeding as well, considering Knives' ribs had cracked.
Suddenly, on the horizon, Vash was able to make out a few buildings. The poor tired blond nearly jumped for joy at the sight.
"I've found it! I found my way back to town!" he shouted to the world as he rushed faster toward the horizon. It was difficult to carry Knives and run at the same time but Vash managed. He was in town within a few minutes, staring at a sign.
"'Welcome to May City'? Okay so I didn't find my way back to the right town but I still found my way to a town," he smiled to himself. "Now to find the hospital."
Vash found the hospital with relative ease and checked Knives in. Once Knives had been taken care of and the doctors notified Vash that he was alright, Vash decided to get something to eat. He appeared in Knives' hospital room a half-hour later with two boxes, each containing thirty donuts, and a bottle of whiskey.
Vash sat down at the bedside and began to stuff his face, taking occasional sips of the whiskey. Once he had gotten halfway through the box, he noticed that Knives appeared to be waking up.
"Knives?" Vash blinked. His brother's eyes flashed open and he sat up. "Are you okay Knives?"
Knives slowly looked Vash up and down and then himself. After a long pause he said something quite unexpected….
"Ooh! Donuts! I want some!" Knives snatched the full box of donuts from his unsuspecting brother, tore it open, and began stuffing his face.
Vash tried to keep eating but the sight of Knives gobbling down donuts like there was no tomorrow was so unsettling that Vash began to believe that maybe there really was no tomorrow.
"Knives, what happened to you?" Vash asked.
"You mean the bullet holes?" Knives mumbled. Swallowing, he choked down a huge piece of donut and smiled, "To tell you the truth, I don't know. As a matter of fact, the last thing I remember is being on the spaceship with Rem, you, and the others. Say Vash, when did you get your hair cut? And when did I? My God, we're all grown up. When did that happen? How old are we? And where's Rem?"
"I got my hair cut like this slightly after the last memories you have and so did you. We grew up over the last century or so. We're a hundred some years old though I choose to pretend that I'm twenty. And Rem… she died a long time ago," Vash frowned.
"Rem died?" Knives blinked. "Sorry Vash. I know how much she meant to you."
"He's apologizing?" Vash thought.
"Hey, what have we been doing for the past century?" Knives asked stuffing his face full of donuts again.
"I've been getting a sixty billion double dollar bounty placed on my head, making friends with some humans, fighting the bad guys, and learning about Cathololicism from a preacher-man," Vash answered.
"That's nice… but I think it's called Catholicism. And what have I been doing?"
"Well…" Vash started. "Should I tell him the truth?" he asked himself silently. "You've been gathering evil minions and attacking me day after day."
Knives laughed hysterically, spitting pre-chewed donut at Vash. "No seriously," Knives calmed his laughter as Vash brushed off the donut. "What have I been doing?"
"Gathering evil minions and attacking me!" Vash replied.
"You were serious when you said that?" Knives blinked.
"Duh!" Vash said. "We're talking about me here! Do you really think I'm smart enough to make up a lie like that?"
"Well…" Knives started. "I know this stings but, no, you really aren't smart enough to make up a lie like that. But just so I can make sure it really isn't a lie… name a few of them…."
"Legato, Dominique the Cyclops, the samurai dude, the guy who looked like he was trapped inside a bowling ball, the dude with the saxomophone, and that big guy who, I thought, was definitely taking steroids," Vash answered quickly.
"I believe you meant to say 'saxophone'."
"Right, saxomophone," Vash said stupidly as he shoved a donut into his mouth. "So, you remember nothing?"
"Nope. Hey, why did I want to get you?" Knives asked. "I must've had some reason."
"Oh uh… to be honest, I didn't have the slightest clue why. I think somebody was controlling you. That would explain why you don't remember it," Vash lied. "Sorry I kinda pumped you full a' lead. I only did it to defend myself."
"Ah it's okay bro," Knives smiled.
"Now that's just freaky looking," Vash thought to himself as he watched Knives smile innocently.