DISCLAIMER: I don't own Trigun
Author; I know this is creeping along all of a sudden, I promise there's a point!
Renee awoke in a strange bed in an extravagant room. She was first aware of the flickering golden glow of candlelight. The scent of the floral candles permeated her senses. She sat up groggily, and rubbed her temples. How had they ended up here? Last she knew, they were on a bus.
"It was almost a year ago," Knives said behind her, "That you became my wife."
She spun around, only noting few thousand flowers surrounding her. She saw Knives looking out the window at the night sky. Searching it for something. Without turning to her he said, "On that day I thought I was the luckiest man on Gunsmoke."
"Has that changed?" She asked honestly. The romantic ambiance of the room said it hadn't, but there was something broken and edgy in his voice.
"Yes," He said softly, "Today, I am the luckiest man on Gunsmoke. Today is the day I learned you would bless me with a child."
She gasped and her hands went to her stomach. She had suspected, but wasn't sure. Her mouth moved wordlessly and she began to weep. Knives heard her but continued to look out the window for a few more seconds. I must be brave, and happy. I must not let her know my fears. She needs me.
So knives convinced himself, knowing that if he didn't believe everything would be alright, she would sense his apprehension. He turned to her with a smile, walked over to her, and pulled her into his arms. He lifted her face and trailed kisses across it as though he was the happiest man alive. She needs me.
Renee could sense a vague hint of happiness, and underneath a melancholy determination. He was focusing his mind, trying to hide something. She wasn't stupid. She knew that being pregnant was not a blessing as it usually was. It would kill her, probably the infant too. He knows it. She thought. He's trying to protect me, in his own way.
She was moved at just how deeply he had changed. He would have laughed and reveled in her sense of impending doom when she first met him. She clung to him, trying to make herself believe it would be alright, for him. She continued to weep in his arms, until dinner was brought to them by room service. After an edgy meal they fell asleep in each others arms. The candles burnt themselves out somewhere in the night.
Author; Chapter 19, coming soon. I thinking of making one of these chapters into a songfic, whatcha' think?