Disclaimer- I don't own Trigun. I own Heather Jo, Kelly Jo, and Caleb.
This chapter is more about the growing relationship between Heather and Vash. The whole chapter is kind of a father daughter bonding thing. Don't worry, VM lovers out there! Fluff will come soon!
Vash POV
'Poor Meryl! I hope she's ok. Where did she hide?' I wondered. Out loud, I said, "What was up with that, Kelly?"
"Oh, my lil gal has got herself some fans. She is the most popular of the city only because she was the first singer that had a song on the radio. All the singers here look up to her. I wanted her to be famous and lead a glamorous life but she wanted to work at that dumb ole insurance place. At least she met a good man!" explained Kelly.
"Um... we aren't together," I said sadly.
"Oh!" Kelly looked surprised. "Then what is she doing with you?"
"Bernardelli sent us to find Vash the Stampede and prevent the damage he had a knack for causing. Along the way, we just became really good friends. Meryl does have a thing for him," said Millie.
"She does?" I asked.
"Yup! Just don't tell her I said so, ok?" she whispered to me. To Kelly, she said, "Meryl has told me so much about you! I so happy to finally meet her family!"
"And who might you be, little lady?" asked Caleb.
"My name is Millie Thompson. I work with Meryl at the Bernardelli Insurance Society," Millie replied.
"Who's your friend?" Caleb asked again, indicating Wolfwood.
"My name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood. I met up with Vash along the whole adventure. I just follow him for the fun of it. We're all great friends now," said Wolfwood.
"Is Meryl going to be ok?" asked Vash.
"Oh! She's had a lot of practice running away from the fans. She'll be ok," said Kelly brushing it aside.
"I'm going to find her," I declared and left. 'Now where could she be?'
Heather's POV
"Thank you for letting come, Danielle. I really had to get out of that house. Meryl's home and she brought friends! She wants me to be nice to them! She makes me sick! She isn't even my real sister! Ok, well, bye!" I waved at my best friend and started walking home. Suddenly, I saw a huge mob of people following Meryl who was running like mad. Vash was trying to keep up with the mob. He paused and held his hand out to them.
"Wait! Wait for me! Aw! Damn!" he said. "Oh! Hi, Heather! What are you doing out this late?"
"That's none of your damn business!"
"For a kid, you sure have some foul language," he said.
"Look who's talking," I said under my breath. "Why is Meryl running away?" I asked.
"Her "fans" want her to sing some more. I don't see why she won't do it. They only want one more song," he answered.
"The thing is, Vash, she already sang one song. Every time she sings a song, they want more and more. It takes forever to make them go away! Meryl is the most popular because she was the first one on the satellite. Everyone wants to hear her sing. It gets kind of annoying... Did you want to help her hide or something? Is that why you followed them? She can take care of herself, you know. She's done it her whole life."
"Yeah. I want to make sure she gets home ok."
"Aw! How touching! Give me a moment while I puke!" I made fake retching sounds and spit in the street.
"Could you please help me find her? She is your sister after all," he begged.
"She isn't my sister." 'Oh great! Do I really have to get into this?' I thought miserably.
"Huh?"
'Poor guy. He's so confused. Ha!'
Vash's POV
I just didn't get it. 'They have to be sisters. They said they were sisters.' "But you guys have the same mom!
"Of course we have the same mom!" She looked annoyed with me already.
"Then, why aren't you sisters? Does this have anything to do with the fact that you all look nothing alike?" I wondered aloud.
"We are sisters. Half sisters if you will. I look more like my dad than my mom. My real dad. Not Caleb," she started to explain.
"Who's your real dad?" I asked curiously.
"That's what I'm telling you! I never knew my father. I was a mistake," she looked down sadly. "I wasn't supposed to happen."
"That can't be!" 'Poor girl. She must feel so different and separate from her family. She didn't even know her father and her mom treats her like dirt.'
"Well, it is! My mom had a little fun one night at this club in New Nevada! She met my father and they, well, you know." She blushed. "My mom got pregnant with me. She never saw my dad again. Mom didn't have enough money for abortion at the time so she had to keep me. Of course Caleb was really nice about all of it but he still hates me."
"I sincerely doubt he hates you, Heather," I said sternly. I kneeled down so we were at eye level. She had tears in her eyes.
"Yes! He does! He says it enough times! Mom doesn't even try to defend me! She also says I'm a mistake!" The tears were seriously falling now. "I get all of Meryl hand me downs and I'm always looked down upon! I can't wait to get out of this hellhole! I'm going to leave and go to the city of July! I'm going to college with my best friend, Danielle! She's going to work for a fashion magazine and I'm going to be a psychiatrist! Every year, on my birthday, I always wish for my dreams to come true! Sometimes I wish I could meet you-"she quickly covered her mouth and blushed. "I didn't say anything!"
"Yes you did," I said softly. I felt like the father she never had. "So did your mom really have you with another man when she was already married?"
"Yeah. She was drunk. As you can probably tell with Meryl, not being able to hold very much alcohol runs in the family."
"I've never seen Meryl drink before."
"That's probably why. Now you know." She started humming a little tune and sat down.
"So, you got a couple things from your mom's side of the family, too, you know. The short temper, singing..." I couldn't think of any more.
"That's it, right? Whatever. At least I got the "tall" gene from my dad. I would much rather have mom's eyes though. Meryl is so pretty. So unlike m- mmph"
I put my hand over her mouth. "You are a very pretty girl, Heather. Do not ever say otherwise. I bet you're smart, too. You'd have to be if you want to be a psychiatrist."
"Yeah. I get good grades. It's the only thing my mom is really proud of me about besides my singing. I'll never be as good as Meryl in her eyes, though because Meryl was born to a man she actually loved. Not to mention, knew." She started talking in a fake worried voice. "Oh gee! It's getting dark! What time is it? I bet it's around 9! Meryl's been running for a while. Mom might be, dare I say it, worried about my well being! I should go so she doesn't have to look for me. Or... maybe I won't! Haha! It might do her some good to get off that lazy ass of hers."
I chuckled. "Now that isn't very nice," I said in a fake chastising tone. "You shouldn't talk about your mother like that when she isn't here to defend herself."
"I bet you are just dying to know why I always wanted to meet you," she said turning to me.
I smiled. "I guess I am."
"I always wanted to meet you because you got to travel and see the planet. You got to go wherever you pleased. People fear you. People fear what you can do, your capabilities. To me, you were God. You were my idol, probably the only other human being I looked up to. I realized a while ago that meeting you was just a childhood fantasy. I had to look up to myself. Then, I met Danielle. She's my best friend. We are so alike in every way! We talk about each other's problems and try to find ways to solve them. I know I'm only 13 and I shouldn't have to take care of myself but it's true. Sure, my mom buys me some clothes. She puts the bread on the table. I have a very sturdy roof over my head. But I can't have a girl to woman talk with her. I remind her of my father so much because I look so much like him. She doesn't want to know me in fear I would be like my dad. Without Danielle, I would have no one to talk to. That's why I want to leave. You used to be my imaginary friend. I would try to imagine conversations with you. I knew you weren't a cold-blooded killer. Would I really want to befriend a cold- blooded killer? I was around 8 years old at this time. It was really fun trying to imagine being to damsel in distress and you saving me from some evil guy and we live happily ever after. Everyone thought I had a crush on you but in reality, you were my imaginary dad. The dad I never really had. Hey! That rhymes! Haha! I'm so weird. Now Meryl is home and she just happened to drag you along. The last time I saw Meryl was when I was 5. She had gone for college. Meryl and I never had a great sister-to-sister relationship. We were never the great of friends but we never ever fought. We were two totally different people. She didn't know any of my deepest darkest secrets and I didn't know any of hers. It was like we were from two worlds. She was never as mean as my mom! Meryl was the perfect child. She was pretty, smart, strong, and capable. She could do everything I couldn't. The bad thing about it was that she was nice so I couldn't be mean to someone who was nice to me so I ignored her. To tell you the truth, I was glad she left. This sounds selfish but I thought I would get some more attention, then. I did get attention, but it was negative attention. With Meryl gone, my mistakes were ten times worse because mom had a hawk's eye on me. It was terrible. So now she's back. She brought you. 'Oh joy!' I said to myself when you were introduced. 8 years ago, I would have jumped for joy! I'm still really glad you're here. It's great to finally meet you. Any other grown up would have told me to shut up and stop talking if I ever rambled on like this. I can't even tell Danielle this stuff. Consider yourself lucky and special. I would really like to have you as a dad but that would mean Meryl would be my mom! Gross! I don't want a brother-in- law. I need a father. A good father. Not some whacko rodeo cowboy like Caleb. I'm still talking aren't I? Great. Now he thinks I'm some talkative kid who thinks I'm all that."
I was smiling the whole time she was talking. 'She's a great kid,' I thought, 'really smart, too. It would be nice to have a daughter like her but not while Knives is still on the loose.' "Thank you for telling me all of this, Heather. I'm glad you told somebody. No one should keep all of that locked inside. You don't have to cry anymore."
"I'm crying?" She wiped her face and saw it was wet. "Well, I'll be damned," she said to herself.
I just started laughing. "Poor kid! You didn't even realize you were crying!"
"Yeah. I guess I didn't." She smiled a real genuine smile. Not like that fake one she wore inside when she pretended to be really sorry for what she did. It was obvious she wasn't sorry.
"You should smile like that more often. Kids need to be happy. At least you have a really good friend to talk to. Come here." I pulled her into a hug and she didn't resist. "There. That's better isn't it? Are you happy now?"
"Yeah." Her voice was muffled through my coat but I heard it. She was so cute and innocent. 'At least she has a wonderful life planned for herself. She reminds me of Lena. They would get along great!' I thought happily remembering the girl who always kicked me with her really hard cowgirl boots. I will always have bruises there.
"Do you want to look for Meryl, now?" Heather asked softly as she slowly pulled out of my embrace.
"Sure. Do you know where to look?" I wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Uh huh. I know how to look, too!" She quickly got up, surprising me. "Come on! Let's go save my sister from her doom!" She struck a superhero pose and I laughed.
"You're a good kid, did you know that?"
"Of course!" She stood with her legs apart, one hand on her hip, and one towards me, her fingers in a "V" shape. She winked and said, "Victory!"
"Come on, silly girl! Let's go!"
Aw! Wasn't that precious? I thought so. I dream of this day. I would love to have Vash as a dad, too, Heather! That was weird. In this fic, I'm supposed to be Heather. Heather is my name and Jo is my middle name. Kelly is my mom's name and Jo is her middle name. I've never met a Caleb in my life, though. Nor have I met a Vash but a girl can dream! Read and review, readers!
This chapter is more about the growing relationship between Heather and Vash. The whole chapter is kind of a father daughter bonding thing. Don't worry, VM lovers out there! Fluff will come soon!
Vash POV
'Poor Meryl! I hope she's ok. Where did she hide?' I wondered. Out loud, I said, "What was up with that, Kelly?"
"Oh, my lil gal has got herself some fans. She is the most popular of the city only because she was the first singer that had a song on the radio. All the singers here look up to her. I wanted her to be famous and lead a glamorous life but she wanted to work at that dumb ole insurance place. At least she met a good man!" explained Kelly.
"Um... we aren't together," I said sadly.
"Oh!" Kelly looked surprised. "Then what is she doing with you?"
"Bernardelli sent us to find Vash the Stampede and prevent the damage he had a knack for causing. Along the way, we just became really good friends. Meryl does have a thing for him," said Millie.
"She does?" I asked.
"Yup! Just don't tell her I said so, ok?" she whispered to me. To Kelly, she said, "Meryl has told me so much about you! I so happy to finally meet her family!"
"And who might you be, little lady?" asked Caleb.
"My name is Millie Thompson. I work with Meryl at the Bernardelli Insurance Society," Millie replied.
"Who's your friend?" Caleb asked again, indicating Wolfwood.
"My name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood. I met up with Vash along the whole adventure. I just follow him for the fun of it. We're all great friends now," said Wolfwood.
"Is Meryl going to be ok?" asked Vash.
"Oh! She's had a lot of practice running away from the fans. She'll be ok," said Kelly brushing it aside.
"I'm going to find her," I declared and left. 'Now where could she be?'
Heather's POV
"Thank you for letting come, Danielle. I really had to get out of that house. Meryl's home and she brought friends! She wants me to be nice to them! She makes me sick! She isn't even my real sister! Ok, well, bye!" I waved at my best friend and started walking home. Suddenly, I saw a huge mob of people following Meryl who was running like mad. Vash was trying to keep up with the mob. He paused and held his hand out to them.
"Wait! Wait for me! Aw! Damn!" he said. "Oh! Hi, Heather! What are you doing out this late?"
"That's none of your damn business!"
"For a kid, you sure have some foul language," he said.
"Look who's talking," I said under my breath. "Why is Meryl running away?" I asked.
"Her "fans" want her to sing some more. I don't see why she won't do it. They only want one more song," he answered.
"The thing is, Vash, she already sang one song. Every time she sings a song, they want more and more. It takes forever to make them go away! Meryl is the most popular because she was the first one on the satellite. Everyone wants to hear her sing. It gets kind of annoying... Did you want to help her hide or something? Is that why you followed them? She can take care of herself, you know. She's done it her whole life."
"Yeah. I want to make sure she gets home ok."
"Aw! How touching! Give me a moment while I puke!" I made fake retching sounds and spit in the street.
"Could you please help me find her? She is your sister after all," he begged.
"She isn't my sister." 'Oh great! Do I really have to get into this?' I thought miserably.
"Huh?"
'Poor guy. He's so confused. Ha!'
Vash's POV
I just didn't get it. 'They have to be sisters. They said they were sisters.' "But you guys have the same mom!
"Of course we have the same mom!" She looked annoyed with me already.
"Then, why aren't you sisters? Does this have anything to do with the fact that you all look nothing alike?" I wondered aloud.
"We are sisters. Half sisters if you will. I look more like my dad than my mom. My real dad. Not Caleb," she started to explain.
"Who's your real dad?" I asked curiously.
"That's what I'm telling you! I never knew my father. I was a mistake," she looked down sadly. "I wasn't supposed to happen."
"That can't be!" 'Poor girl. She must feel so different and separate from her family. She didn't even know her father and her mom treats her like dirt.'
"Well, it is! My mom had a little fun one night at this club in New Nevada! She met my father and they, well, you know." She blushed. "My mom got pregnant with me. She never saw my dad again. Mom didn't have enough money for abortion at the time so she had to keep me. Of course Caleb was really nice about all of it but he still hates me."
"I sincerely doubt he hates you, Heather," I said sternly. I kneeled down so we were at eye level. She had tears in her eyes.
"Yes! He does! He says it enough times! Mom doesn't even try to defend me! She also says I'm a mistake!" The tears were seriously falling now. "I get all of Meryl hand me downs and I'm always looked down upon! I can't wait to get out of this hellhole! I'm going to leave and go to the city of July! I'm going to college with my best friend, Danielle! She's going to work for a fashion magazine and I'm going to be a psychiatrist! Every year, on my birthday, I always wish for my dreams to come true! Sometimes I wish I could meet you-"she quickly covered her mouth and blushed. "I didn't say anything!"
"Yes you did," I said softly. I felt like the father she never had. "So did your mom really have you with another man when she was already married?"
"Yeah. She was drunk. As you can probably tell with Meryl, not being able to hold very much alcohol runs in the family."
"I've never seen Meryl drink before."
"That's probably why. Now you know." She started humming a little tune and sat down.
"So, you got a couple things from your mom's side of the family, too, you know. The short temper, singing..." I couldn't think of any more.
"That's it, right? Whatever. At least I got the "tall" gene from my dad. I would much rather have mom's eyes though. Meryl is so pretty. So unlike m- mmph"
I put my hand over her mouth. "You are a very pretty girl, Heather. Do not ever say otherwise. I bet you're smart, too. You'd have to be if you want to be a psychiatrist."
"Yeah. I get good grades. It's the only thing my mom is really proud of me about besides my singing. I'll never be as good as Meryl in her eyes, though because Meryl was born to a man she actually loved. Not to mention, knew." She started talking in a fake worried voice. "Oh gee! It's getting dark! What time is it? I bet it's around 9! Meryl's been running for a while. Mom might be, dare I say it, worried about my well being! I should go so she doesn't have to look for me. Or... maybe I won't! Haha! It might do her some good to get off that lazy ass of hers."
I chuckled. "Now that isn't very nice," I said in a fake chastising tone. "You shouldn't talk about your mother like that when she isn't here to defend herself."
"I bet you are just dying to know why I always wanted to meet you," she said turning to me.
I smiled. "I guess I am."
"I always wanted to meet you because you got to travel and see the planet. You got to go wherever you pleased. People fear you. People fear what you can do, your capabilities. To me, you were God. You were my idol, probably the only other human being I looked up to. I realized a while ago that meeting you was just a childhood fantasy. I had to look up to myself. Then, I met Danielle. She's my best friend. We are so alike in every way! We talk about each other's problems and try to find ways to solve them. I know I'm only 13 and I shouldn't have to take care of myself but it's true. Sure, my mom buys me some clothes. She puts the bread on the table. I have a very sturdy roof over my head. But I can't have a girl to woman talk with her. I remind her of my father so much because I look so much like him. She doesn't want to know me in fear I would be like my dad. Without Danielle, I would have no one to talk to. That's why I want to leave. You used to be my imaginary friend. I would try to imagine conversations with you. I knew you weren't a cold-blooded killer. Would I really want to befriend a cold- blooded killer? I was around 8 years old at this time. It was really fun trying to imagine being to damsel in distress and you saving me from some evil guy and we live happily ever after. Everyone thought I had a crush on you but in reality, you were my imaginary dad. The dad I never really had. Hey! That rhymes! Haha! I'm so weird. Now Meryl is home and she just happened to drag you along. The last time I saw Meryl was when I was 5. She had gone for college. Meryl and I never had a great sister-to-sister relationship. We were never the great of friends but we never ever fought. We were two totally different people. She didn't know any of my deepest darkest secrets and I didn't know any of hers. It was like we were from two worlds. She was never as mean as my mom! Meryl was the perfect child. She was pretty, smart, strong, and capable. She could do everything I couldn't. The bad thing about it was that she was nice so I couldn't be mean to someone who was nice to me so I ignored her. To tell you the truth, I was glad she left. This sounds selfish but I thought I would get some more attention, then. I did get attention, but it was negative attention. With Meryl gone, my mistakes were ten times worse because mom had a hawk's eye on me. It was terrible. So now she's back. She brought you. 'Oh joy!' I said to myself when you were introduced. 8 years ago, I would have jumped for joy! I'm still really glad you're here. It's great to finally meet you. Any other grown up would have told me to shut up and stop talking if I ever rambled on like this. I can't even tell Danielle this stuff. Consider yourself lucky and special. I would really like to have you as a dad but that would mean Meryl would be my mom! Gross! I don't want a brother-in- law. I need a father. A good father. Not some whacko rodeo cowboy like Caleb. I'm still talking aren't I? Great. Now he thinks I'm some talkative kid who thinks I'm all that."
I was smiling the whole time she was talking. 'She's a great kid,' I thought, 'really smart, too. It would be nice to have a daughter like her but not while Knives is still on the loose.' "Thank you for telling me all of this, Heather. I'm glad you told somebody. No one should keep all of that locked inside. You don't have to cry anymore."
"I'm crying?" She wiped her face and saw it was wet. "Well, I'll be damned," she said to herself.
I just started laughing. "Poor kid! You didn't even realize you were crying!"
"Yeah. I guess I didn't." She smiled a real genuine smile. Not like that fake one she wore inside when she pretended to be really sorry for what she did. It was obvious she wasn't sorry.
"You should smile like that more often. Kids need to be happy. At least you have a really good friend to talk to. Come here." I pulled her into a hug and she didn't resist. "There. That's better isn't it? Are you happy now?"
"Yeah." Her voice was muffled through my coat but I heard it. She was so cute and innocent. 'At least she has a wonderful life planned for herself. She reminds me of Lena. They would get along great!' I thought happily remembering the girl who always kicked me with her really hard cowgirl boots. I will always have bruises there.
"Do you want to look for Meryl, now?" Heather asked softly as she slowly pulled out of my embrace.
"Sure. Do you know where to look?" I wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Uh huh. I know how to look, too!" She quickly got up, surprising me. "Come on! Let's go save my sister from her doom!" She struck a superhero pose and I laughed.
"You're a good kid, did you know that?"
"Of course!" She stood with her legs apart, one hand on her hip, and one towards me, her fingers in a "V" shape. She winked and said, "Victory!"
"Come on, silly girl! Let's go!"
Aw! Wasn't that precious? I thought so. I dream of this day. I would love to have Vash as a dad, too, Heather! That was weird. In this fic, I'm supposed to be Heather. Heather is my name and Jo is my middle name. Kelly is my mom's name and Jo is her middle name. I've never met a Caleb in my life, though. Nor have I met a Vash but a girl can dream! Read and review, readers!