A/N: Ah ah ah! ::thunder clap:: You thought I was done with this thing? NO! Here is a special bonus chapter--this time from Milly's POV, showing her perspectives on the other three that went before her. Set in the two year period after the Fifth Moon incident. It's a bit different than the others, but that's just the way I think Milly works.She's so happy!
Also, prepare yourself for more W/M FLUFFY TREATS at the end. I can't help it. Sing their praises! It's speculation and other authors have done it (this was especially influenced by two certain chapters coldchik's wonderful AU Insurance Gal fic "Thompson and Stryfe"--go read it if you value your kneecaps) but I always liked the idea that while he was searching for Vash in those two years, Wolfy made the occasional stop in December. And maybe he'd meet up with Milly, and then…::rubs hands:: Behave yourselves, you two!
Hope you enjoy!
BONUS: MILLY
In my little apartment I have lots and lots of pictures, whole albums of them, more than anybody I know can shake a stick at. Senpai's eyes bugged out the first time I showed her my place because, she said, she'd never seen so many pictures in her entire life. Well, that may be true, since I don't know anyone in December who has such a large family back home as I do. They send me new pictures in the mail constantly; my youngest nephews, nieces, and cousins are just growing up so fast they have to get their photos taken for every occasion. It's so nice! I put them all up neatly in the albums, numbering them by date, and I make sure not to put them in crooked. Not very many of the pictures are taken by me, though. I can't get my hands on a camera very often since I don't have one myself; I can't afford one. But in some of the towns I've been to, if the people are nice, the local newspaper'll lend me a spare. They're usually kinda crummy and the pictures aren't the best but as my Daddy says, "Beggars can't be choosers."
Living in December--the big city!--is nice and exciting, but that can't cover up how lonely I feel sometimes. Senpai is great, I'm well liked at the office, but . . .I actually don't have that many friends. Just good acquaintances. And the work is so boring there! "Thompson, file this! Thompson, wire that!" When I screw up or come in late (I'm doing that more often now, I really hope Mama doesn't find out please God?), Chief puts me on window duty. I actually like that better, sad to say. Until we got the Mr. Vash assignment, that was the funnest part of the job! Oh why oh why didn't I sign up as a janitor?
Speaking of the Mr. Vash assignment . . .not every album I have is of my family. When Senpai and I started out traveling together, I decided that I would take pictures myself for a change. I don't have a huge number, just enough to fill one book, but it's my favorite. It's on my knees right now, it's slender and has a really pretty green leather cover. I guess I don't know why I have it out since we're not on the assignment anymore; I just wanted to look at it.
Let's see. I open up to a page. Hee! It's a picture of Mr. Vash after a party; he has that silly tie around his head and looks happy and green at the gills at the same time. He never was very good at holding down liquor, was he? He usually ended up getting sick all over himself, poor guy. I was born with a separate stomach just for beer and whiskey, don't you know, so I rarely get sick after I drink too much. I feel woozy and Senpai says I do some awfully embarrassing stuff, yet I've never had huge headaches or stuff like that. My folks always said I was the luckiest of the bunch. I always feel sorry for people who can't hold it in--and poor Mr. Vash always looks a sorry sight the morning after a party. I wonder where he is right at this moment--I just can't think that he's dead somewhere. Nobody can get the best of Mr. Vash.
Ah, Mr. Vash, now, he's my hero! He's so wonderful. He can do such amazing things; just like Senpai said, he's touched people where they've never been touched before. He's never killed a person and doesn't ever want to do so, and I think that's so nice. Most of the time he looks happy and goofy; I know he's got a beautiful soul. Still--now that he's gone, now that I've had time to think about all our adventures together, I think that Mr. Vash isn't nearly as happy as he let on. I remember one time he stopped playing with these kids, which he never does because I know he loves to play with children as much as I do, and then he just stopped right in the middle of our game. He stared off in the distance. His eyes, they were so . . .empty and sad at the same time. I'd never seen that look before. Then in the jail, I swear that his eyes were glowing. How could they have done that? Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am. Despite what mean people say, Mr. Vash is no demon! But all that sadness, and what happened at July . . .why, sometimes I don't know what to think of him. I do know that no matter how scary he may seem at times Mr. Vash is good and sweet. Senpai and Mr. Priest say that that's very rare, not to want to kill anyone. Maybe it's not so rare-- I like to think he must have had someone who loved him very much and brought him up well. Just like me! Hee! Lots of my photos of Mr. Vash here are pretty funny. I should call it the "Big Book of Blackmailable Vash." Nah. That's too mean, it'd make him die of the shame. But this picture's so funny, I think I'll give it to Senpai as a gift; she'd like something to remind her of him, I think, even if he looks not at his best. Maybe it can make her feel a bit better. She's been so sad lately.
Here's one of just Senpai alone. I have the most photos of her; she takes the best pictures too. She's smiling up from her typewriter, all pretty and clean in her nice white outfit. I wish I could wear nicer clothes like Senpai can--I'm just too big for things like that. Mr. Vash's seen it and he said that it scared him that Senpai was smiling so nicely in it. Well, Mr. Vash's a special case. Senpai is really one of the nicest people you can ever meet! Really, she is. She's been very kind to me ever since we met and always treats our co-workers at Bernardelli with respect. But to do our job well she's had to be kind of mean occasionally, and with some of those, those…jerks, you have to show some teeth! So Senpai's a bit hard on the outside; that doesn't mean she isn't sweet on the inside. And it's the insides of the people that make you love them. Senpai has always been there for me. I'll never tell it to her face, but she can be a little pushy…and she doesn't seem to like it when I figure out things before she does…but she always means well. She keeps me from doing stupid stuff when I'm having too much fun. I don't know how many hangovers Senpai's had to nurse me through over the years. She was so nice to me when I first starting working at Bernardelli, too, not faking it like lots of the others were. Senpai is one of the most genuine people I know. Maybe that's another reason why people don't take as kindly to her: she won't kiss up to them, tell them just what they want to hear. She certainly gives it to Mr. Vash! Maybe Senpai's too hard on him sometimes, at least I think so, still my Middle Big Brother always says it's better to worry about people and show that you really do care than to just ignore them. She takes good care of me and makes me feel less lonely when I'm away from home, like the little big sister I need. She's the only one of my December friends who celebrates my birthday. The others say that I won't get an office party until I've gotten seven years tenure. What's that all about? Senpai doesn't mind bending the rules for me. She's the best!
I have only one picture of Mr. Priest--Nicholas, I mean--and I'm afraid it's not that great. He doesn't look happy at all. He's at a bar drinking something of a shot glass that I don't think I could handle, which is very rare don't you know! He's kind of frowning and his eyes look so hurt and surly. He's never looked like that around me except the time we helped Moore and Julius escape. He was sitting all alone in that bar; nobody should be alone! I sat down next to him after I hid the camera in my coat. Nicholas tells me he doesn't like his picture being taken and I wonder why. He says it's because he doesn't want to be reminded of what he looks like and he can't smile for a camera, but I say that that's a strange answer. Nevertheless, I do what he asks and I haven't taken another since. Even so, this picture is my very favoritest. Because you see, while I've never outright admitted it, I like Mr. Priest. I like him a lot. Tons. Maybe even. . .oodles? Despite that frown on his face in the picture, I think he's awful handsome in it. I like his nose the best. I bet you thought I was going to say eyes, weren't you? Well, I think his eyes are the most gorgeous things I've ever seen, but it hurts for me to look at them sometimes, they can be so intense, especially when he's mad. I hope he never looks at me like that. I suppose they'll take some getting used to--they'll probably become my favorite after more time has passed. But for right now it's his nose. I just love the way it swoops out. Not your conventional nose that's for sure, so I think that's why I like it.
But why am I looking at a picture when I've got the real thing? I was so happy today when I saw Mr. Priest's motorcycle (you can tell it's his because of the crosses on it) in the street today! I waited to see him, and when he came out I couldn't speak for a while. I gave him the biggest hug, asked him where he was staying. He said he didn't have a hotel yet. Then I did something I've never done with a guy before: I asked him to stay with me, since it'd be for free. I offered him the bed but he refused, saying that the couch would be fine. We went out to dinner, had a great time, got a few drinks, and now here we are! Mr. Priest looked pretty shabby, though; it made me worry, and the way he just inhaled everything on his plate . . .Why doesn't he take care of himself? Why can't he like himself? I know that Mr. Priest has something bad in his past, something he won't tell anyone about--it's just such a shame, because I'd listen to him. I want to make him feel better. I guess he doesn't know that. I've never really said anything to him. I know I can be an awful chatterbox sometimes, but I know that silence is good, too. It's good to just sit back and think about things sometimes, not say much . . .perhaps I'm being too chicken or too discreet…
A door closes behind me and I hear Mr. Priest's footsteps. I let him use my shower because he was all dusty and--rude as it is to say it--kinda ripe. I turn on the couch to smile at him; he's dressed but he's still rubbing at his hair with a towel. It's a bit shaggier than usual. I should send him to a barber or cut it myself.
"Do you feel better?" I ask him brightly. I always get chirpy with him around.
He nods, sitting next to me. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for everythin', Honey. It was a stroke of luck, findin' ya here."
"You shouldn't have been so surprised," I wag a finger at him. "You knew Senpai and I live in December." I pause--what's that smell? He doesn't smell as dirty as he used to, but he doesn't have that smoky-cologne smell I'm used to. I try to take a small sniff, but he still hears it.
"The only things you had in your shower were the girly stuff," he grumbles, frowning. "I needed to wash my hair."
"You smell like you fell into a bucket full of tulips," I sing. I just have to tease him; I think he's so cute when he gets flustered. He doesn't break a sweat when he hauls that big cross of his (right now stored in the corner), but put a dab of sweet smelling shampoo on him and BOOM! Instant blush! So cute! He's squirming in his seat, not looking me in the eyes. I notice that his chin's still scragglier than normal. "Why didn't you shave? I wouldn't have minded you using my razor."
"Honey," he growls, his eyes finally fixing on me, "I am not going to use a lady's razor to shave."
"But it has a safety bar! You won't get cut!"
"Honey," he groans, drooping his head into his hands--they're so big and rough. "You're killin' me."
"Okay, I'll stop. But tomorrow before you go, we have to buy you some more supplies. I'm not going to send you back out there so you can starve again!"
"Duly noted, Honey. Hey, what's that?" He points to the album in my lap.
"This? This is just something I started when Senpai and I went after Mr. Vash." I show him the pictures and pretty soon we're both laughing over them. I tell Mr. Priest stories from before we met him and he swaps some of his in exchange. I forgot how funny some of them could be! I even managed to get a shot of Senpai practically strangling Mr. Vash in a headlock; I forget what the whole argument was about, but there they are, Senpai's face all red and Mr. Vash with buggy eyes, looking right to pass out.
Ah, memories! I wish they could all be this nice.
I look up from the book to see that Mr. Priest has gotten closer to me. I feel a weight on my shoulders and find that he's put his arm around me, and I never even noticed! Oh, Mr. Wolfwood, you're a smooth operator. I like it, though. I'm always too shy to call him up on it, but it'd be nice to see if he really likes me as much as I like him. He sure acts like it.
He points to the picture of him and his smile isn't as strong. "You still have that old thing, eh?"
"Yes. I'd like to keep it, if you don't mind. It's the only one I have."
He sighs. "I suppose so."
I blush a little, screwing up the courage. "Would you like one of me?" There aren't many photos of me in this album, of course, since I was the one who took most of them, but there's one or two. I flip through the book and find one of me and Senpai standing on the front porch of the house of that old couple we helped in New Arcadia, the ones who had that bad son. It's a nice picture; we're both smiling and hoisting our coffee mugs in the air. "Here. This one."
He looks it over. "It's a fine one, Honey, but act'ally I'd like to have one of you solo."
My pleased blush deepens a little; I hope he doesn't see it. "I'm sorry. All of the ones of me alone are at my family's house. This'll have to do. But tell you what: I'll write home and ask Mama to send me one of myself, and the next time I see you I'll give it to you!" I nod stoutly as I take out the picture and give it to him. He takes it up, looks it over real closely, holding it close to his lips. He smiles, putting it away into the inside breast pocket of his jacket.
"You think there'll be a next time, Honey?"
"Oh yes, I'm sure of it! I don't know how exactly, but for some reason I get the feeling I'll be seeing you again," I say. He leans in close to me, pressing his cheek to mine.
"Then I'll take you up on that, Big Girl," he says, voice low and right next to my ear. Next thing I know we're kissing each other, cuddled up real close. It's very warm. Something inside me makes me want to commit this time and place to my mind because it says that there might not be very many chances like this and I need all the memories I can get; besides, memories are better than pictures, anyway.