Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun and I don't own the extracts of songs either...damn I don't own anything.

Thanks to reviewers:

Dueser: Hey don't worry about it, I don't mind if you are busy and don't have time to review, this story isn't going anywhere so you can take your time. I really appreciate you reviewing my other stories I have written. Don't worry Ivory hasn't completely given up on revenge just yet you'll have to wait and see what happens. Sorry for the delay in an update but I had a bit of block on this story until I came up with a new idea.

Blu: Don't worry my computer is feeling a lot better after some well deserved rest. Anyway thanks for your review, as always it made me laugh and that is the key to a great review...anyways glad you like it and take care of Legato...or not...

Pyro: (see, see I shortened it ) You write really good as well, don't ever doubt your abilities. Anyways thanks for your review and I hope you like this chapter.

Neptune Butterfly: Yeah I'd say that Knives needs to cool down a bit too, I guess he'll never learn. Thanks for your review and yes my computer is much better now, though for how long is anyone's guess.

Geranium: Thanks for your review and I'll keep your idea in mind.

Ashumi Mikito Lupin: Oh yes I see what you mean about Ivory but don't worry she hasn't finished just yet; there will be more to come of her. Thanks for your ideas and I think I'm finally over my block now. Thanks so much for your comments and I hope this update is just as good.

Anime/MangaMichelle: Don't worry there is one more chapter to come after this one so it hasn't ended yet. Glad you liked it and thanks for your review.

NinaWilliamsTheSilentAssassin: Oh yes me and Knives are having lots of fun...well not really but it's better then being stuck alone in the desert. You're right about Vash having bad luck, guess I'll have to mend that and yes its Meryl and Vash all the way! Thanks for your review.

-Somewhere in the middle of nowhere-

Angel: I swear I've seen that rock before.

Knives: It's a rock...

Angel: Yeah and I've seen it before.

Knives: -sigh- I can't believe I let you drive.

Angel: And what's wrong with my driving?

Knives: Do you even have your license?

Angel: License? What's that?

Knives: Oo I don't believe this.

Angel: Let's put on some music.

Knives: Let's not.

Angel: I paid for this car and I'll damn well listen to music -hits Knives over the head- Okay let's try and work out how this thing works.

Knives: -sigh- women...

Angel: Ahh there you go, I'll just ignore that last comment. -The radio tunes in-

Radio: If you've just tuned in you are listening to a whole 24 hours of non-stop romance classics. Happy listening.

Angel: Oh well it's better than nothing. -Turns up the volume-

Knives: Oh great...

Angel: -singing along to the radio- Love is in the air, everywhere I look around,

Love is in the air, every sight and every sound.

Knives: Kill me now...

Chapter 6 - Red...everything was red

Meryl's POV

I stood impatiently whilst Vash was being given his final check up before getting permission to leave. He had apparently been bugging the doctor all day, saying that he was fine, and whining until he gave in. I smiled, that man could be so childish. I had opted to come and meet with Vash whilst Millie went shopping with Ivory. Knives had regained consciousness this morning and was looking quite well considering everything that had happened.

I occupied my time by looking at the health posters scattered on the walls, they weren't very interesting and some were quite disturbing. Then I sat back down on a chair and glanced up at the ceiling, it was so white and clean that it seemed strange. Just like everything else in this place, it didn't seem to fit in with this little dusty town.

I thought back to a couple of days ago when I had fallen asleep next to Vash's bed and blushed very slightly. I hadn't meant to but for some reason when I was with him I felt a great inner calm that lulled me to sleep. Luckily he hadn't found me there but unluckily the doctor had and now he had it in his mind that Vash and me were together...as in dating. Who on earth could possibly think such a thing? I thought doctors were supposed to be intelligent, but then they work mostly on physical pain and injuries than mental ones, so I suppose I could let him off for thinking it.

I heard voices in the hallway, which sounded suspiciously like Vash and the doctor whose name I didn't know, and tried to force myself to relax.

"See, didn't I tell you I was a fast healer."

"So it seems..."

"Well it's been fun."

"Your girlfriend is waiting in the reception area for you." I blushed violently and turned my head so I could pretend I hadn't heard.

"Girlfriend?" Vash was clueless, and I was partly glad about that. The door swung open and they both entered whilst I tried desperately to look preoccupied with a leaflet I had found on one of the tables. It fluttered from my grip as soon as I caught sight of Vash.

He looked quite healthy in fact, a pale blue shirt that had been left unbuttoned revealed the bandages that had been wrapped around his chest. His blonde hair had been left to hang around his face and his gleaming aqua eyes seemed surprisingly alive and vibrant.

"Hey insurance girl." He raised a hand and smiled at me and I smiled back at him.

"Come on let's get back." I retorted a little more sharply than I had intended.

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted and dashed over to me before casting a glance behind his shoulder, "see ya doc!" His tone was light and happy, probably because he couldn't wait to get out of there and start stuffing himself with donuts again.

We walked back in silence, neither of us making any effort to speak. My arm, which was still in a cast, was starting to ache and I wished that it would just heal, but I knew it would still be a long time before that would happen. I glanced up at Vash from the corner of my eye so that he wouldn't notice and felt a twinge in my heart. He was walking beside me but not too close as if he was afraid of getting me angry by doing so. His eyes were directed to the ground and he seemed to be drifting into an abyss of endless thoughts.

Tears trembled in my eyes and I made sure to keep them from escaping but there was something in his dejected figure that made me realise...Vash could never love me as much as I loved him. This hit me so powerfully that one tear managed to escape and slide down my face. Until this moment I had held within my heart a frail hope of possibly winning his love, but for some reason that hope had been crushed and I was left with a hollow of what could never be.

That man could not afford to be tied down by any woman; he couldn't commit himself to a serious relationship. That's why he always went for the girls who had no intention of going any further then a one-night stand. If I told him that I loved him now, it would force him into an impossible situation to either stay and pretend like nothing had happened or leave. I knew he would choose to leave seeing as he always preferred that choice from any other.

The last thing I wanted was for him to dissapear and never see his smiling face or shining eyes again. I wanted him to stay for as long as possible and I would not scare him away by spilling my heart out to him. I would just have to live with it and find something else to keep my heart from become a shell of grief and despair. Work had always helped before, but now my work revolved around him...I would have to think of something else.

This kept my mind preoccupied until we reached the house where I left him to stay in the lounge and dashed up the stairs to my room. Okay...now think Meryl what can you do to keep your mind from that man? Well I stayed in my room trying to think of something for a good few hours, desperately hoping that I would come up with something. I didn't...nothing could ever replace Vash in my heart.

Normal POV

Vash glanced up the stairs again and wondered why Meryl was taking so long to come down, and where everyone else was. He guessed his brother was upstairs resting and smiled at the thought of what Millie had told him the other day...Knives had saved him. Could it be possible that Knives and him could be like regular brothers instead of trying to hurt each other all the time? He hoped that it could be achieved.

Leaning back in the chair he had sat down in he glanced over to the stairs once again and frowned very slightly. Meryl still hadn't come down and he wondered if there was something wrong with her, she hadn't spoken to him and the thought that she blamed him for what had happened to her crossed his mind. In all truth it had been his fault they had come after her, but things like this had happened before and she had never blamed him...unless she had simply hidden that blame from his view.

Standing up he stretched gingerly so as not to aggravate his wounds, which still ached slightly and snapped his head around as Millie entered with someone else. They were holding bags of supplies and talking quietly about something that sounded quite important. They stopped and Millie's face lit up at seeing Vash back in the house.

"Oh Mr. Vash you're back already. I was hoping that we could get dinner started before you arrived. I guess Meryl couldn't wait any longer, she missed you a lot." Millie grinned.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Four days." Millie continued, "The doctor thought you would be out for longer."

"I'm a quick healer."

"Yup." Millie nodded and stepped aside to let Ivory into the room.

The woman slipped into the room casting a suspicious look at Vash who chose to ignore it and start digging through the bags that Millie had put down on the table. Millie laughed at the gunman's childish antics and batted his hands away.

"Where is Meryl anyway?" She asked.

"She went upstairs and never came down again."

"And you didn't think to check up on her?"

"Well..."

"You're hopeless." Millie shook her finger at him and he looked down at his feet as a guilty child would. "What if she got hurt, or is upset about something, don't you think she would want to be comforted?"

"Not by me." Vash murmured.

"Why not Mr. Vash? You haven't said anything to annoy her again have you?"

"It's more of what I did."

"What did you do?"

"It was my fault she got hurt in the first place...she blames me for it." He ignored the uncomfortable look from Ivory who had taken a couple of steps back.

"Now Mr. Vash does that sound at all like Meryl? She doesn't blame you for anything, she thinks very highly of you and maybe even lo-" she paused "looks up to you." With that she picked up the bags and took them into the kitchen, motioning for Ivory to follow her.

Vash sighed and sat down again, he had to think about what he was going to say to Meryl. Even if she wasn't mad at him he had still caused her great pain and the guilt was beginning to build. Slumping back in the chair he glanced up at the ceiling with his clear aqua eyes and tried to think...there had to be someway of making it up to her.

'Maybe I could get her something.' He thought but then realised that he didn't know enough about the insurance girl to buy something she would like. Come to think of it, he knew absolutely nothing about her except she had a bad temper and a kind heart.

A heart that he found he quite adored.

He thought back to the time when Meryl had saved him from being shot by those men, she had done so without fear or sensible thought. She had protected him and spoken words that he thought he would never hear from anyone other than Rem. Yet Meryl had said them with such understanding and truth that it was like seeing Rem all over again. It was as if Rem had returned to him that day, with a message...a message that he had long forgotten and shouldn't have. That was not the only thing though, from that one little vision he had received he also gained a new respect for the insurance girl that he would never admit. The hug he had given her afterwards had been his clumsy way of saying how much he appreciated her friendship.

He sighed and closed his eyes, she had tried to save him again at the restaurant, telling him to go away and not walk into the trap...She had also forced the cat creature from him and had offered a shoulder for him to lean on. She had done so much, and all he had done was get her into terrible situations in which she was usually hurt or upset and yet she remained with him...why? That question repeated in his mind and he wondered whether he should ask her...would she laugh or say that he should figure it out?

Standing up, he stretched lightly and glanced up the stairs before taking a few nervous steps towards them. He paused to look in at Millie and Ivory who appeared to be preparing food before slipping upstairs.

Meryl was pacing back and fourth trying desperately to think of a way out of this situation. Could she handle living under the same roof as him and pretend she liked him only as a friend? Would she be able to forget about him and move on even if she did leave? She highly doubted it.

A light tap on the door brought her to a sharp halt in her mental debate and she tilted her head towards the source of the sound. She approached softly; checking her face in the mirror just in case the tears had left any obvious marks - they hadn't.

Opening the door with a sharp turn of the handle brought her vision to a blur of pale blue and she glanced up at none other than Vash. Her breath caught in her throat and for a moment she thought she would suffocate until her brain reminded her she could breathe quite normally.

"What's wrong?" She asked after a moment of silence. Vash blushed and smiled at her shyly.

"I came to apologise."

"For what?"

"For making you a target...you could have been killed and it would have been all my fault."

"Vash..."

"No listen." He cut her off and slipped into the room closing the door behind him. "I know you are going to say that it was completely out of my control and that it was nothing to do with me...but it was." He paused and looked into her eyes briefly, "If you didn't know me none of that would have happened to you...but I realised today it hasn't been the first time you have been put in danger."

"I'm used to it...and it's part of my job." Meryl replied.

"You care too much about your job if it means putting your life at risk."

"Hey! Wait just a minute; it's not just because of my job that I do those things...that time when I stopped those men from shooting you it wasn't because I was afraid of getting sacked from my job." Meryl's eyes darkened with anger and Vash leaned back against the door; he had really done it this time.

She seemed to trail off as if she had just realised what she had been saying and looked a little flustered...'I did it because I love you' she thought with a soft smile wishing more than anything that she could say it out loud to him.

"Then why did you do it?" Vash asked quietly.

"Because..." She paused and lowered her gaze to the ground..."I guess this is a good a time as any to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Meryl had to force herself to not get angry, here she was trying to tell him how she felt and all he could do was ask questions that she was trying to answers. Oh and how hard those answers were, she desperately tried to put some words together so that her feelings made sense...she laughed when she realised all it took was a simple 'I love you' that should make all things clear.

The problem was that Meryl's feelings for this blonde gunman could not be summarised by those three words. Her feelings went deeper than just love. She felt a need to be with him always, a desire to hold him and watch him breathing as he slept at night. She wanted to be the one to give him comfort and bring that beautiful smile onto his face Love barely touched the surface of her feelings.

"Well, it's hard to explain..." Meryl tried again.

"Take your time, its not like I have anywhere to be." He beamed down at her and she raised her eyes to look at him, the violet in them softening with affection.

"Well when I first met you...I didn't like you at all and I suppose you knew that. You can't blame me though because you did act like a complete idiot most of the time...but...I think I understand why you felt the need to act that way."

"What do you mean?"

"I for one know how intelligent you really are, you just acted all goofy to throw people off, make them more relaxed around you...so that they didn't fear you." Meryl had his complete attention now.

"You are one of the only people who knows about me and my past Meryl..." Vash's voice was nervous. "I was too afraid to ever tell anyone else, any normal person would have screamed and ran away terrified after seeing all my scars and hearing about my past..." His eyes quivered with tears.

"Oh Vash..." His name came out as a soft sigh.

The two stood for a moment absorbing in this new step of their friendship eagerly. Both of them reaching a new understanding of each other, which gave a great sense of comfort.

"I don't even know why I told you about me and my brother, being plants and everything..."

"I was surprised too, I didn't actually expect you to tell me when I demanded to know what was going on." Meryl admitted and smiled. "I'm glad you did, it made me realise so much about you, and why you act the way you do even if it is a little crazy sometimes."

"So uh what were you trying to say before?"

"What? Oh right..." She blushed a little, "Well you have become more than a job to me Vash, I know that's what I thought of you at first...but I'd like to think that you were my friend and I know for a fact that Millie thinks of you as one."

"Thanks Meryl...it means a lot to me..." He gave her a smile then...one of his rare, true smiles that made Meryl's heart quicken and her knees tremble. God how she loved this man standing in front of her...she knew now as she looked up into his eyes that no other person could ever replace him in her heart.

"Vash...I guess what I've been trying to say is...well..." 'Just tell him dammit!' her mind screamed when suddenly a loud shriek of rage was heard from down in the lounge.

The two of them froze staring at each other in horror before dashing from the room to the scene in the kitchen.

Red...everything was red...

-A few hours later-

Angel: -singing- near, far, wherever you are...

Knives: grrr...

Angel: -still singing- I believe that the heart does go on...

Knives: ...

Angel: -singing- Once more you...

Knives: Shut the hell up! -Rips the radio from the car and throws it into the desert-

Angel: I think that was uncalled for.

Knives: I hate you.

Angel: -rolls eyes- so you have said...oh...a thousand times.

Knives: -slumps in his chair- then I'll say it again...I...hate...you.

Angel: Do you see that?

Knives: It looks like someone has fallen down in the road...

Angel: I don't pick up hitchhikers

Knives: What the hell. It's my stupid brother!

Angel: Wha!? OO

Knives: Yep, it's definitely him.

Angel: Ahh I gotta get him in this car.

Knives: I thought you didn't pick up hitchhikers?

Angel: Shut up!

Note: I'm soooo sorry for taking so long but I'm back with this story and just to let you know the next chapter will be the last one. So leave a review if you want to and uhh... 'Love and Peace'