It was cold.
Very cold.
The heat from his body had seemed to escape into an unknown space, making the well-built body seem fragile, delicate, and unable to move. Like a thin sheet of glass that could be shattered, even if the most careful hand adored it. It was too cold to move, to dark to see, too blank too think.
Too cold to feel any emotion but emptiness and pain.
It was nearly unbearable.
But he would live through.
...Unless he was already dead.
Millie woke up with a jump, and shivered from the sudden shock in the unpleasantly damp room. After being propped against the wall for some time, her hand swiped the sweat that was just about to reach her eyes, and a relived expression slowly appeared on the girl's face. This allowed her to tumble out of bed onto a surprisingly smooth floor, made from some unknown, solid material that appeared to be just as old as the walls supporting the building. Turning gently towards the right, her eyes burned from the sunlight pouring through the window into the mediocre room, and the pair of eyes violently shut.
Her broad frame expanded through the heavy air, and from her lungs there came a procacious yawn, that quietly echoed against the splintering walls. Millie's arms reached excessively up, abdomen stretching in opposite directions, sending a pleasant tingling throughout her entire figure.
Suddenly, the pleasant smile disappeared, immediately grabbed her stomach area, and nearly collapsed due to a sudden and unexpected jolt of pain. She squirmed around the room with a disgruntled look, until she was forced trod towards the sink, and released the contents of her stomach. There was a large thud after that: the result of her rapidly moving into a sitting position against the lower portion of the wall. Two tears poured on the side of her face, while quiet pants filled the room.
The room door swished open, and Meryl came in like lightening in a partially buttoned collared shirt. She looked worried, and it was obvious that there was deep concern for Millie. The small girl immediately leaped towards Millie, and knelt before her while stroking the tear soaked cheeks.
"I knew you shouldn't have eaten so much pudding last night. You made yourself sick! You should be more careful, Millie..."
Millie coughed a few times, and blinked her eyes rapidly to clear her vision from the tears. She forced the best smile she could procure.
"I guess my appetite got a hold of me last night...I'm a bit better now."
"I should have stayed here last night, I'm sorry Millie-"
"It's okay Sempai, I'm fine now..."
The door creaked once more, and this time Vash came sleepily trotting through the door with a look of surprise: to see the Millie on the floor with what was left of her tears was a rare sight indeed.
"Is everything alright?"
Meryl paused for a second to think.
"Perhaps we should take you to a doctor..."
"No, I'm fine, really."
Millie had a harder time than usual lifting herself up, but as soon as she did, the stomach pains were gone.
"I better get dressed and ready for the day...can't waste time on a great day like this!"
Millie proceeded to rummage through her belongings that were neatly stashed at the side of the bed, and Vash soon started heading out the door while scratching his head full of hair.
"I...better get my things, then..."
Meryl started slowly following Vash with a slight tint of pink of her cheeks, but she kept looking back at Millie to see if she was fine.
"You do that Meryl, you do that."
Mille continued to go along with her current task with a gleeful smile, and finally managed to scavenge an extra coat from the depths of the unorganized suitcase. However, along with pulling out her coat, another garment fell was dragged out, and it fell to the floor. Millie paused, and just stared at the piece of clothing, as if in trance.
A thin white shirt, with an overly large collar, lay motionlessly on the floor while a loose thread moved silently in the small breeze that came from the door. From the moment it touched the ground, and familiar intoxicating smell filled the room, and it felt as if time stood still for far more than a moment. Millie was surprised she hadn't noticed the shirt before, and felt guilty that it was so carelessly packed into the bottom of her suitcase. To be honest, she didn't even know how it had gotten there.
She would have continued to gaze at the article of clothing, but the sound of a slamming door interrupted her train of thought. The girl immediately moved her gaze to the doorway behind her, and was surprised to see Meryl leaning against the wall.
"Perhaps you should really stay here today, Millie...you could use the rest."
Meryl walked over to her partner and moved her palm on Millie's forehead.
"Well...you don't appear to have fever, but you should sleep. You look tired."
"But Meryl! What about work-"
"Vash and I will be fine without you for the day. Now please, rest, because we'll need you tomorrow."
Millie found it somewhat suspicious to see Meryl in such a caring mood. However, she obeyed, and watched Meryl head out the door with a wave. Millie found herself to be suddenly sleepy, and decided to curl up under the wrinkled covers from her previous slumber. However, in the midst of her napping, her hand reached back to the ground, retrieved the white shirt, and embraced it while her head rested on the collar.
"Good night, Mr. Wolfwood..."
With that simple comfort, she fell asleep.
"Vash, I'm worried."
The tall blonde jerked her head behind him, and looked at the raven-haired girl with a sympathetic look.
"She'll be alright. Besides, we're already heading home, so you can check up on her soon."
Meryl felt somewhat relieved after this information, but she still couldn't get over a small nudge towards the back of her head: It wasn't exactly...usual...to see Millie acting and feeling so oddly.
"Vash...do you think this has anything to do with...well...you know..."
Her head bowed down, as if in shame.
"He was a good man..."
Vash's pace slowed, and the dust behind their trail was blown away into the air.
"...I sometimes wonder if he was really supposed die."
The gunman cocked his head back, and his sunglasses reflected the sunlight as he stared into the sky. He forced back a tear in remembrance of his good friend, and continued walking.
"What's done is done..."
Meryl felt guilty bringing up the subject, and she could almost feel the stinging pain Vash was going through. Although, the pain Millie must be going through must be near unbearable, and she kept a note how to never forget that.
But while in her deep thought, she wasn't aware of where she was walking, and accidentally bumped in Vash. She looked up to see his gorgeous face, unscathed by the decades of suffering.
"You looked so deep in thought, I couldn't help myself."
He put a crooked smile on his face, and put his hands Meryl's shoulders, somewhat afraid he might crush her small torso with his gigantic hands.
"She'll be fine."
Meryl smiled with reassurance, and flew up the stairs into Millie's room. She sat on the side of the sleeping girls' bed, and brushed the auburn hair from her face. Millie looked like a child, curled up under the mounds of wrinkled sheets, and her face pressed against the pillow...
But it wasn't a pillow.
"Oh Millie..."
Meryl wanted to cry when she pulled out the wrinkled and soaked shirt, and felt the biggest guilt she had ever experienced. It wasn't fair...
She checked Millie's forehead to see how she was doing. It was then followed by Meryl being paralyzed in shock.
"VASH! MILLIE'S BURNING UP!"
A blonde broom raced through the doorway, with eyes in disbelief.
"We have to take her to a doctor. NOW!"
Dun dun dun...cliffhanger!
Before I say anything more, I must say: I. HATE. THIS. CHAPTER. BWARW. It has no depth, the sentence structures are like...blah, and well, I just don't like. And I apologize for the awful-ness. Xx; I'm also pretty bad a cliffhangers, but seeing how I'm new to this whole fanfic thing, I can't degrade myself too much. This is prolly the last chapter you'll see until mid to late July, sorry about that. Maybe if I have access to Internet and I get a chance to write anything, then it'll be up earlier.
This whole chapter seems rushed, because I have so many ideas I have yet to incorporate into this...so bear with me.
I'll improve soon...I promise...