Author's Notes – It seems the awful spell has been lifted, but what does that mean for all those involved?
LR
Chapter 3
Legato Bluesummers was dead. I would never forget the sight of him – the smile that had been on his face. Had his death been a release for him, or another way to make Vash suffer?
And yes, suffer he had. Somehow along the way, I had come to realize that despite all the trouble he endured, Vash had made it a rule not to endanger the lives of others – not even an enemy. He would not take the life of another.
Legato had been the first. His life extinguished by Vash's hands alone.
Perhaps there was more to it; then again, maybe not. To this day I am almost certain the whole thing had been planned. Wolfwood had always cautioned Vash of no-win situations; of how there would come a time when he could not resolve a situation passively. Vash would usually laugh it off, or there were the rare occasions when his true emotions would show through and he would adamantly defend his belief.
His words from the first time they met suddenly came to mind...
"To be honest, I disapprove of suicide more than anything."
Naturally Vash would always take responsibility for the deaths he had caused indirectly, but this time it had been he who had pulled the trigger.
Up until that point, the outlaw had always believed there was a non-killing solution.
He was a man that constantly put others' needs before his; looking out for the safety of others was more simply important than his own well being. He always took on pain so others wouldn't have to suffer. He made sacrifice after sacrifice so that others wouldn't have to. I respected him for it. I also hated him for it.
So of course, when everything had ended, we were stunned. It was almost as if the awful curse had been lifted. We had been awakened from a terrible nightmare. The moment the shot had been fired the villagers surrounding us had collapsed to the ground. Fearing the worst – me especially – we'd hurriedly removed ourselves from under the pile of unconscious bodies to receive the shock of our lives.
There had been a brief moment when I thought it was Legato who had fired. In efforts to protect the townspeople – to protect us – I feared Vash had made the ultimate sacrifice...
A life for a life.
To protect us from Legato Vash had taken Legato's life.
This made me right of course, just not in the way I had expected. There had been a sacrifice – a life had indeed been lost. For what Milly and I had witnessed was a terrible and tragic death. The death of a madman's pawn, the death of an honest man's spirit.
000
"Hey,"
Meryl froze at her typewriter, nearly falling out of her chair. Gripping the desk for balance she looked back to find herself face to face with the Humanoid Typhoon himself, Vash the Stampede.
Heat shot up her face, tinting it a bright pink. She pushed herself forward, using her body to shield her work from view. "V-Vash-san!" she shrieked. "Just what do you think you're—?!"
Aquamarine eyes that had seemed to be focused elsewhere met her violet eyes with startling clarity. She froze, noting the intensity in his gaze. She blinked in curiosity. "Vash-san...?"
He blinked, seemingly realizing their closeness before backing away. "Sorry 'bout that," he laughed nervously. Was he blushing? "You didn't hear me the first couple of times so I..."
"Oh," Meryl looked away, embarrassed at her own initial reaction and forcing herself not to dwell on it. Just what was he doing in her room anyway? She turned away from him, doing her best to sound disinterested. "Did you... need something?"
Vash seemed to be a little hurt with her impassive response, but he shook it off, pasting a goofy grin on his face. Somehow, he was determined to go through with this. "Actually I was getting a bit bored cooped up in the house all day..."
Of course... he never came to her unless he wanted something. Grinding her teeth in frustration, she kept her gaze steadfast at the wall. If she could burn holes through it, would she be tempted to turn her gaze back on him? "Of course, you twit," she ground out. "The weather outside was terrible! If you had gone you probably would have gotten yourself into a whole lot of trouble!"
"Yeah..." He sighed overdramatically. "Just the way my luck runs, isn't it?"
Meryl sighed. The weather had been more than just terrible the past couple of days. An awful sandstorm had come through making it just too dangerous to even attempt to go outside. So naturally, a weather warning had been declared and most people had decided to keep indoors – just as she had. Nothing out of sort had happened; everyone in the house had managed to coexist with one another without incident. She hadn't had to beat Vash up once.
It was all a ruse, of course; she beat up on him to make sure he would never realize how she much she cared for him. She yelled at him for saying ridiculous things so that he wouldn't notice how she practically hung on every word he spoke. She remained in close proximity to him only in necessity lest she be tempted to do something she would likely regret. Thank goodness he didn't realize how hard she'd fallen for him – it was pathetic!
Old broom head was still blathering on. "...what with the sandstorm and all but now that it's stopped I was thinking about getting out and doing something..."
But of course, it was just typical –once the weather cleared up he would be back to bar hopping and skirt chasing once more. She had expected it of course, but not even she liked being right all the time. Was her company that awful?!
"...with you."
She blinked, looking back at him. "What?"
Vash shifted uneasily under her gaze. Why was she looking at him as if he had grown a second head? Laughing nervously, he scratched his head absently. "I was wondering if you wanted to get out of the house and do something." She was still staring at him. "Nothing special really – you know, maybe take a walk or something!" He continued to laugh, oblivious to the sweat bead rolling down the back of her head.
'Crap... she's gonna say no... what do I do, what do I do?'
The cogs in Meryl's brain were quickly turning. She looked up at him in disbelief. "You want to take a walk..." Vash nodded eagerly. "With me?"
"Yeah," he replied. "It's not like there's anyone else around..." He trailed off, a look of panic skirting across his face.
Meryl could tell that hadn't come out the way he had wanted so she let it slide. Rising out of her seat, she stretched her limbs before turning back towards him. "Okay."
000
The second sun was just beginning to set as Vash and Meryl walked through the small town of New Boise. Small reminders of the storm were still prevalent in the windswept debris scattered across the ground covered by a thick layer of sand. The pair paid no attention to this, as it would be back to its normal neatness by tomorrow.
Meryl's focus was on her work, or rather the subject of her work. With no disasters to report to the agency, the insurance agent had discovered an abundance of free time outside of her job at the local café. So, feeling herself a master of penmanship, Meryl had taken to writing. Following Milly's example, Meryl had written to multitude of letters to her parents in Albuquerque City and to her two brothers back in December assuring them she was not on her deathbed – receiving a letter from her would naturally lead them to assume such things – and that she was in no danger – well, in a manner of speaking – living in the company of the Humanoid Typhoon.
More often that not her mind continued to wander to him at the most inopportune times. He was always with her, whether she wanted him to be or not. Their time in LR had revealed a new side to him – she had witnessed him at his most vulnerable point. In his moment of turmoil he had seemed more human to her than any other person she had or would ever meet. He was a good man, an honest man. A soul with the purest heart she had ever seen. And as she had hid behind his door, listening to his anguished cries she had decided then and there that she would believe in him.
No matter the situation, her belief in him would always be resolute so that he would never doubt his choices again.
And so she did. When staring down an angry mob, standing in the line of gunfire of those who questioned his actions, Meryl had come to a startling resolution. She loved him.
Meryl Stryfe was in love with Vash the Stampede.
End Chapter 4
Author's Notes – Wow! How about that for ya? Now that Meryl knows the truth, how will she go about breaking it to Vash? The end is on its way, folks. Keep a look out.
And remember the 3 R's of fanfiction! They're good for ya!