Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing that has to do with Trigun. I only own my characters. Please, and I mean please REVIEW!!! It would really inspire me to write more and I promise this fic will get better. I'm just setting the stage.

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Chapter 1: Two Letters

Walking down the dirt road, which leads to her house, Meryl began thinking. It had been about two months ago when someone she cared for dearly, departed. The saddest part was that she didn't even get to tell him how she felt. Meryl hated to admit it, but she was hopelessly in love with him. Even her best friend Millie Thompson, a tall brunette, knew of her feelings. Warm, salty tears began to form in Meryl's eyes, as she thought of never seeing Vash The Stampede. Yes, the man with $$600,000,000,000 on his head. Just by looking at Vash, it wouldn't seem he could possibly be the real ace-gunman, but if you saw him in a fight then you would see. It still baffled Meryl on how she could possibly fall for a man like him, usually idiotic and childish weren't the qualities she looked for in a guy. Most of Meryl's co-workers say that she has no eye for men maybe it was true.

Meryl brushed her short raven colored hair away from her raven colored eyes. The wind was picking up, so she decided to pick up her pace. Millie should be home by now, seeing as Meryl had gotten off of work a little later than she had expected. Coming upon the house, a delightful aroma occupied the front porch. Meryl was hoping that Millie had fixed dinner and it seems she had. Whatever dinner was, it sure smelled good. It was even attracting a black cat. Meryl shooed the cat away and unlocked the door. As Meryl entered the house, she caught a glimpse of Millie dancing. Meryl slightly chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

"Hello Millie looks like your having a good time."

"Oh, hi Meryl. I made dinner, since you weren't home before me." Millie had a smile on her face upon seeing her friend.

"Thanks Millie, so did we get anything in the mail?" Meryl walked over to the pot upon the stove and looked in. It was soup, which was Meryl's own recipe.

"Yes m'am, it's on the table." Millie was looking in the cabinet for some different spices.

"Thank you Millie." Meryl walked over to a long mahogany table that seated six. On the table was a security envelope concealing a letter. Turning it over, Meryl noticed the initials 'MS' in beautiful handwriting. "Hmm...I wonder who its from." She was speaking to herself out loud. Sure the initials 'MS' were her initials, but they were the initials of one other person she knew. Meryl tore open the envelope and quickly sought to see who had written the letter. A jubilant squeal escaped from Meryl's mouth as she found out who wrote the letter.

"Millie! Guess whom the letters from." "Who?" Millie asked looking towards Meryl.

"Mina!" Meryl might have said this a little too excitedly.

Millie gasped and then ran over to the spot where Meryl was, "Read it, read it, read it!"

"Alright here goes:

Dear Meryl,

I hope that you receive this letter on time. This is a bit urgent, but I need to come visit you and Millie. I hope this is not a bothersome, for I need to stay. It's not just me, but Megan and Ruthie need to as well. If you are wondering why, I will explain everything when we arrive, which should be tomorrow. If this is going to be a problem, then please write me back and give me a reason as to why we can't come. Anyways, I need to get some sleep, so I'll see you soon.

Yours truly,

Mina Strife

Mina's coming to visit!"

"That's wonderful news Meryl, I should have waited to cook." Millie then walked back over to the pot and began stirring it.

"Well, I'll go fix up the extra rooms upstairs. Call me when dinners ready." Meryl ascended up the stairs. This was going to be great. Her older sister was finally coming to visit. One thing she forgot to check was when the letter arrived. Meryl didn't recall checking the mail yesterday and Millie was with her the whole time.

Brushing the thought away, Meryl entered into one of the extra bedrooms. It was rather cozy. There was a full sized bed and a light colored dresser. In the corner was a mirror. Every time Meryl gazed into one, she was always remembered of her mother. Meryl had the same eye color, hair color, and slender figure her mother had. This was probably why her father would abuse her so often, because she reminded him of her mother. Taking her eyes off of the mirror, Meryl turned to the closet and grabbed some pink sheets. Pink was her little sister, Megan's, favorite color, so Meryl found it suitable to put on the bed. As she finished fixing the sheets, a knock was heard on the door. Deciding to disregard the knock, Meryl continued to fix the sheets. It wasn't long before a scream of joy was heard. Meryl ran down the stairs to find Millie squeezing a beautifully slender woman with long raven colored hair, raven colored eyes, and fleshy looking skin, in a tight hug.

"Help...me," said the woman between gasps.

"Millie calm down! I thought you weren't coming till tomorrow, Mina." Meryl said hugging her sister and totally forgetting to check the date on the letter.

"It should have gotten here yesterday." Mina said brushing her blue shorts and short sleeved, white shirt off.

"It probably did, it's just that we didn't check the mail till today." Meryl was watching Millie and Megan get reacquainted with another. Millie was Megan's idol, which slightly stunned Meryl, but not too much.

"Oh, before I forget," Mina reached in her back pocket and pulled another letter. "I found this on the porch. It was a good thing Megan saw it or it would have blown away. So where do I put my stuff?" Mina handed the letter to Meryl, and then Megan and Mina followed Millie upstairs. Now alone, Meryl decided to open the letter. It was from Vash! Taking out the letter, Meryl began to read:

Dear Meryl,

This letter is to let you know that I will be returning, with Knives. If you could please have a room ready for him, I would greatly appreciate it. My brother Knives is wounded and needs care, knowing that you helped me I figured maybe you could help him. If you decline, I do not blame you, but I will still be coming with him. I don't know when I will be arriving, but it should be soon so don't be surprised if I show up on your doorstep. Thank you, and I'll be seeing you soon. We'll work out details and talk later.

Yours truly,
Vash The Stampede

He's returning with Knives?

"Who's Vash? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Holy crap! Don't do that Mina!" yelled Meryl. She was so into reading the letter that she hadn't noticed that her sister had snuck up on her.

"You still didn't answer my question, is he your boyfriend? Because that would be a second." Mina was talking nonchalantly.

Meryl was now blushing scarlet red, "No, he most certainly is not! He's just a friend!"

"Uh huh, right," Mina then had a big grin on her face. "Whatever you say sis'."

"Millie!"

"Yes Meryl?"

"Are we going to eat?" Meryl said this with a bit of anger in her voice.

"Umm...yes!" said Millie with a perky voice.

"Good, because me and Megan hadn't eaten anything yet." Mina placed her hand on her stomach.

"Well tonight we will eat happy and then get some good rest, because tomorrow Vash is coming." Meryl said this with a very happy voice, which caused everyone to stare at her.

"Mr. Vash The Stampede is coming back! Yeah!" Millie jumped with joy, which shook the table and caused her soup to spill.

"Millie!" everyone said in unison. Millie just smiled brightly and scratched the back of her head.