Knives stood staring into Meryl's eyes, beginning to imagine a life with her. He gently kissed her lips and felt himself drift up to cloud nine.
Meryl's heart and soul leaped in unison with joy with Knives', but she couldn't help but feel one last pang of sorrow about losing Vash.
Vash, I'm sorry for this, but I must move on. I know you meant well by sending your brother with me and staying with Nick, but I never thought it would end this way. Baby, I'm sorry…
"Is something wrong?" asked Knives, slightly pulling his lips apart from Meryl's, resting his forehead against hers.
"No," she replied.
"Should we go inside and tell everyone?"
"Yes, we should." Meryl grabbed Knives' hand and they walked back to the lobby of the hotel hand in hand. They decided against taking the elevator when they saw the large crowd gathered around, pushing and shoving each other as they waited for the lift, and decided to take the stairs instead.
They climbed three flights of stairs until they reached the floor that their room was on and dashed down the hallway, racing each other to the door. Meryl was in the lead until Knives decided not to go easy on her and flew by her, reaching the door seconds before she did.
"Not fair!" yelled Meryl. "You cheated!"
"No I didn't," retorted Knives. "I saved all of my momentum for the end."
"Smart ass."
Meryl giggled and leaped into Knives' outstretched arms. He held Meryl tight as he fumbled in his pocket for his keys, successfully finding them. He placed the key in the lock and unlocked the door, opening it and dashing inside, tossing Meryl on the bed. Knives retreated back to the door for the key, retrieved it, and dashed back towards Meryl, jumping onto the bed.
"I'm going to go and get a shower," said Knives. "Why don't you call Vash and tell him the news?" Meryl nodded as Knives kissed her on her forehead and retreated to the bathroom.
Meryl got up off of the bed and walked across the room to the round table where the phone rested. She sat herself down in one of the chairs and stared at the phone, hesitant to pick it up and dial Vash's number. Suddenly her mind became boggled with many different feelings and thoughts at the same time, causing her great pain and a rather large headache.
Fear. How will he react? He's going to be so angry and he'll feel betrayed. What if this breaks the newly formed bond between Vash and Knives?
Depression. Vash was there when I needed him, so why am I marrying Knives? Vash surely isn't here now when I need him. The day he sent Knives with me and decided to stay with Wolfwood caused me great pain and sorrow. If this a true reason for breaking my ties with Vash and marrying Knives?
Love. I loved Vash and he loved me. But now Knives says he loves me and I love him as well. Is it just lust or is it real love? Why does this always happen to me?
Meryl held her head in her hands and cried until her subconscious thoughts caused her to come back to reality and face her task at hand.
You can do it Meryl Stryfe…No I can't…I don't want to hurt him…You love Knives and he has taken care of you unlike Vash…I hope I'm doing the right thing…
Meryl finally conquered her fears and picked up the receiver, dialing Vash's number. She closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat, waiting until the eternal ringing was answered on the other end.
"Hello?" answered a deep familiar sounding voice.
"Vash?" replied Meryl.
"Yes?"
"Hey, it's Meryl. We need to talk."