Part 3

Another Gung Ho Gun

Vash stared over to Jewel as she was asleep in her bed. He grinned. ~She's so peaceful when she's asleep, but when she's awake, she seems so troubled~ He walked over to her and hugged her. She frowned and rolled over saying, "Vash… What are you doing?"

Vash pulled back, looking a little confused. "Those are my donuts, yours are on the table," she said. He stifled a laugh. ~She's talking in her sleep, how cute…~

Vash stared at her a moment longer before deciding to get breakfast, but not before scribbling a note.

Hey Jewel! I went to go get some donuts for breakfast! I'll drop them off, but after that I have to go see Meryl. If I don't, she's sure to throw a fit.

Peace and Love,

Vash the Stampede

He then left the scene, leaving a sleeping Jewel, to her dreams.

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"Vash… Vash! Where are you?" Jewel called. She headed further up the mountain. She pushed the her hair out of her face as she trekked across the terrain. As she made her way across the desert, she recognized the red coat of Vash a mere 20 feet in front of her. She heard a whisper from somewhere.

Then all of the sudden it was as if she was watching herself in another dimension…

Vash was now a transparent image as she heard a voice say…

"Taking your life is just like taking someone else's. Besides, killing is unavoidable. If you swat a spider and squash it, you have killed a living being."

'That's my voice…' Jewel thought as she heard the person speak. She glanced in the direction from which her voice was coming from. She took note of that fact that she was not transparent. 'But… my tone is never that cold… that… lifeless. A person with that tone would be…'

The "other" Jewel took the gun from Vash. "But I don't deserve to live… I killed him…" Vash said without turning around. "But didn't you do it to save someone else's life?" she asked. Vash paused before nodding solemnly. "Then if you had not killed him, two other people would be dead and, though indirectly, you would have been the cause of their death," the ersatz Jewel said with no change of tone. Vash's eyes opened widely in realization and he turned around… "Jewel?" he questioned.

The real Jewel was still standing behind Vash, but she was farther away from him than the other her. "Knives…" Jewel said aloud. The fake one heard her and turned around in disgust.

"To think that you've nearly figured it out…" the false Jewel answered icily. She grinned and then…

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Jewel awoke to a sitting position. "That seemed so real… but… If Vash killed Legato a week back, then he shouldn't feel that guilty anymore…"

She sighed in slight relaxation, before widening her eyes in realization of the person standing in the doorway.

"How did you know I killed Legato?" Vash's voice asked from the doorway.

Jewel shook her head in uncertainty. "I… I don't know…"

Vash was staring at her. The silence between the two of them was deafening.

Jewel took it upon herself to bring up a conversation. "Uh… so where have you been?" she asked, still nervous about her "Vash killed Legato" dream

"Jewel, don't change the subject," he said as he walked to her, his eyes never leaving her face for a second.

"Vash, I don't know… and I'd rather not dwell on talking about actions I have done that are beyond my own comprehension ," she answered flatly.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to," he replied with a smile, as he pat her back.

'That was a major mood swing…' she thought to herself.

"Anyway, where were you?" Jewel asked, glad that Vash dropped the subject.

"Well, that means you haven't read the note… I was out getting donuts and talking to Meryl."

"Oh… What time is it?"

Vash thought for a moment, "Uh, I'd say that it's about.. Noon."

Jewel looked thoughtful for a moment. "I haven't slept that long in a while…" she said, more to herself than anyone.

"Well, I'm glad that you got your rest, because I'm heading out tomorrow and…" he paused to turn and smile at Jewel, "and I was wondering, if you would care to join me?"

Jewel returned his grin and nodded. "That would be absolutely wonderful, Vash." The two plants talked for a while longer before going into town to get some lunch.

As Jewel approached the bar with Vash, she heard two voices calling his name. Jewel turned around.

"Mr. Vash! Oh, Mr. Vash!" the taller one called. She was a brunette with large, bubbly eyes.

The shorter, dark-haired one called out too, "Vash! Turn around Vash!"

Jewel nudged Vash in the ribcage. As he turned around, Jewel commented. "Isn't that shorter one Meryl?"

The Bernardelli duo reached both Jewel and Vash a moment later.

Meryl looked to Jewel, "I don't believe we've met. My name is Meryl." Meryl stuck out her hand for a handshake.

Jewel shook her hand, "and I'm Jewel."

The taller woman spoke up, "I'm Millie! It's nice to meet you Ms. Jewel!"

Jewel smiled, 'Such nice people…' she thought to herself. "It's nice to meet you too, Millie."

Millie grinned from ear to ear. "Well, you certainly seem like a nice person, which is odd, considering that all Vash seems to attract is trouble," she said, her smile never leaving her face.

Jewel laughed. "Why don't you two have some lunch with us?" she offered.

"Thanks," Meryl said as she nodded in gratitude.

As the four sat down at a table, a young woman confronted them. "Well, what do we have here? Jewel, since when have you been in town?" she asked. Jewel turned around.

She was looking at a 17 year-old girl with waist-long chocolate-brown hair. Her hair was the exact same shade as her eyes, she stood at 5' 5'', and was wearing, what looked like, a waitress's uniform.

"Shani! I haven't seen you in over a year!" Jewel said as she stood up to hug her. Meryl, Millie, and Vash blinked a few times.

"Uh…" Vash said in confusion.

Jewel turned around. "Everyone, this is Shani, my best friend. And Shani, this is Meryl, Millie, and…"

"Vash the Stampede" Shani finished.

Vash looked up at Shani and smiled. "Well, I would really appreciate it if you just called me Vash, calling me Vash the Stampede attracts too much attention."

Shani nodded, "Okay!" Shani took a seat at the table.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Jewel asked.

"Naw, it's my lunch break right now. Besides, we haven't seen each other in over a year, we got a lot of catching up to do."

"What have you been up to?" Jewel asked.

"Nothing really. After you left town, everything got real quiet. But that shouldn't be a shock."

Jewel grimaced. "Well, I was the "Village Idiot" so to speak."

Vash burst into laughter, along with the Bernardelli duo. "I'm sorry Jewel, but I can't see you as the village idiot," Vash said, now laughing so hard that tears were coming down his cheeks. It was a good thing that these five and the bartender were the only ones present, the Humanoid Typhoon laughing at a table with four beautiful women, might have caused a scene.

"I could see Vash as the village idiot, but not you," Meryl added, laughing almost as hard as Vash.

"Hey!" Vash protested. Jewel and Shani giggled. Vash, Meryl, and Millie all finished laughing as Jewel began to speak.

"When I lived here, I was always the one doing stupid stuff. For instance, a pair of bounty hunters were running after me. They were really fast and I was wearing a skirt, so I just tried to shake 'em off and ran into an alleyway. When I tried to jump the fence, my leg got caught between two boards and I was upside down, my skirt hanging over my head for the whole world to see."

Vash stifled a laugh. "I would have liked to see that," he added. Jewel smacked him on the back of his head.
"That's not funny," she said flatly.

"I thought it was," Vash replied with a frown.

Meryl, however, had a different idea in mind. "Why were Bounty Hunters after you?" she asked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you that part. Does this pose look familiar?" Jewel stood up.

She turned her back to everyone and pointed her gun to the heavens. She spread her legs apart and put her left hand on her hip. Then she turned her head around and winked.

"The Metal Flame…" Meryl said as she looked at Jewel in recognition.

"Or, Wildfire Jewel," Shani added.

"Who?" Millie asked through a half-full mouth of pudding.

"The only person who ever had a higher bounty on their head than Vash," Meryl said.

"Yup, I was once worth 70 Billion Double-Dollars," Jewel added, "but then I captured a lot of bounties and now I'm not worth a single Double-Dollar. Of course, that only lasted a few months… that's why I'm not as famous as Vash."

"You were accused of numerous murders… and the Blaze Massacres…" Meryl said. Meryl looked as though she was going to snap..

"Meryl, what's wrong?" Millie asked through confused eyes.

Meryl spoke again, "If I remember correctly… you were classified as a Gung Ho Gun…"