Trigun: Reflections
Chapter 2
"Her name's Lina, I stayed with her for a while after…" Vash's voice trailed off; apparently it wasn't something he wanted to talk about Kaisa thought to herself, so she let it go without another word. "Wow, gee I hope some of the town's people aren't too angry with me still…" Vash had an innocent smile on his face as they headed for Lina's house. "Angry with you," Kaisa asked in an innocent tone, she knew he wasn't popular around these parts. "Well, when I left they weren't too happy to find out I was really 'The Humanoid Typhoon' instead of Ericks you know?" He laughed and looked rather joyous, looking around at all of the sights. "Oh hey look there, that's the hospital I'd always end up at, at least once a week, for something I'd done, and there's the hideout of that ugly pig faced bandit. Boy, the whole town thought he was me, he even kidnapped Lina…"
Kaisa smiles and listens, not really speaking much, looking at the area where a large house looked as it had once stood, rubble was still all around the area, apparently no one was eager to fix the property up too fast. "It certainly looks like your handy work Mister Act of God." Kaisa crossed her arms, tilting her head teasingly at Vash with a giggle. "Awe, c'mon don't call me that. It's not like I started it all…" Kaisa giggled again. "Oh Vash… I'm just teasing you…" Vash grinned and ruffled her hair a bit, hugging her tightly and lifting her up to sit on his shoulder, carrying her. He smiled up at her, "and I was teasing you too." He stuck his tongue out and marched onward toward a small house on the opposite side of the main road.
Vash set Kaisa back onto her feet as they reached the shaded porch. Vash walked up the steps slowly. His heavy boots were rather loud on the wood. He knocked gently on the wooden door and Kaisa stood to the side and a bit behind him, a little nervous. "Hello, anyone home?" Vash called and smiled widely as the door opened slowly. It was Lina's grandmother. "Oh my," She exclaimed, she looked relatively older than she had when Vash had left that town. "Well hey there grandma. Is Lina home? I sure would like to see her after all this time." Vash continued to hold that genuinely sweet and kind smile he had always had, Kaisa felt rather invisible. "Oh Ericks, we've been so worried about you, and I see you've brought a friend with you." Kaisa blushes a little as Vash turned around, pulling Kaisa to his side with a proud smile. "This is Kaisa. So, is Lina around nearby by chance?" Vash seemed almost electric as Lina's grandmother explained she was down in the market. 'He seems so eager. Lina must have meant a lot to him…' Kaisa thought to herself as she was half dragged off of the porch before she could right herself. She waves goodbye "Nice to meet you!" she called to Lina's grandmother as she was dragged down the road, back the way they had come from, heading for the small area of shops in the town.
Meryl groans as she catches the sight of Vash half dragging Kaisa past the saloon that they had just entered only minutes ago. "Now where is that broom-headed moron dragging her off to?" She mutters and turns back to her drink with a disgruntled look. "What's with you?" Uyoku asked her with a look on her face, she'd never seen someone so high strung before in her life. "It's our job to make sure that moron doesn't cause trouble, you know he always does wherever he goes…" She sighed and took a large gulp from her drink. "Milly, you know you shouldn't drink so much!" Milly fell over against Meryl, her eyes blazed with annoyance. "No more alcohol for you…" she muttered. "Sure thing M-Meryl…" her words trailed off in a drunken slur and she fell onto the table a bit. Meryl groans again. "Setsuna, what are you looking at?" Uyoku had stopped staring at Meryl to look at Setsuna who was watching someone at the bar who had long white flowing hair and a large white suitcase leaning against the bar. "Who is that?" Uyoku mutters with a look. "She's very… interesting…"
"A glass of wine…" the figure spoke quietly, holding out the payment for the drink. Setsuna just seemed to gape at her in a way of confusion and interest. Uyoku elbowed him, making him cough and look at her in a venomous glare. He wasn't the only one staring, many of the patrons in the saloon had mixed looks of interest and somewhat questioning in others. The pale and attractive female's eyes glanced in their direction, the gaze chilled Uyoku's blood instantly. The eyes were icy blue and cruel when they gazed over, but regained a normality to them when she turned back to take a long draft of her wine. Uyoku shivered slightly and closed her eyes, thinking to herself. That gaze was violent, and not anything any woman she knew could pull off. Setsuna suddenly fell out of his chair coughing and spattering, trying to get up again with a horrified look on his face. "What in the hell is the matter with you?" Uyoku growled at him. "It's… it's nothing…" Uyoku knew this was a lie instantly, but let it slide, going back to her thinking in silence.
Vash continued to hurry along the street and stopped so suddenly that Kaisa ran into the back of him and fell down with an audible 'ouch'. He picked her up carefully. "You ok? Sorry about that…" he looked a bit sheepish and looked down the street he had stopped in front of. Kaisa stood next to him and glanced down it as well. He got a look on his face and seemed to be staring at a girl with short hair, heading their way with some bags in her arms. The girl stopped, catching sight of them and just stared motionless for a long moment. Suddenly the bags dropped and she ran over nearly knocking Vash over in a hug. "Ericks!" Vash laughed a bit and hugged Lina gently back. "Hey there Lina," Vash was at a slight lack of words as Lina sounded like she was crying, but when she finally pulled away from him she was smiling and laughing. "I was wondering when you'd be back…" Kaisa had that overwhelming awkward feeling all over again. She just stood to the side quietly watching, not wanting to interrupt their reunion. "Oh! Are you here with Ericks?" Lina suddenly asked Kaisa, who blinked and looked a little flustered, she had been thinking again and not been paying too much attention. "Oh… Yeah, I'm Kaisa…" "It's nice to meet you. Have you been getting her into trouble too Ericks?" Lina gave Vash a bit of a playful hit and a grin. 'Wow, she sure has grown up a bit.' Vash thought to himself. "Well come on you two, I've got to go take these back home; you're welcome to stay there while you're in town." Lina said and started walking down the street. Vash, without a word, followed, grinning widely all the while. 'But what about the others…' Kaisa's thoughts trailed off as she followed them a moment later.
In the saloon, the eyes didn't cease to be on that image of unique beauty. Setsuna had fallen silent and looked rather disturbed in his out-of-focus state. Uyoku took a long draft of her tea, setting the glass down before realizing her eyes had been focused on the stranger that everyone seemed interested in. She got a strange aura from the woman, but wasn't sure what it was. Just as she was beginning to wonder, the woman rose and turned from her seat; for a moment their eyes met directly. The look was cold, and time seemed to stand still in that moment. Uyoku suddenly realized what had happened to Setsuna earlier, she also knew that today was going to be more than interesting. The woman left, carrying the huge, six foot long white suitcase in her grasp, leaving the bar and the ogling onlookers in her wake. Uyoku shivered and shook the feeling off, but she too now looked concerned, but unlike Setsuna, hid it better than he did. She picked up her teacup in her hands, staring at the remains of it, almost a half a cup there, and then she downed it all in one shot, making a bit of a face before setting the empty cup down on the table again, and rising from her seat. "Let's go, we should go see if Vash and Kaisa are alright…" she spoke quietly to the others. The rest looked at her suddenness, blinking and getting up quickly, leaving behind the amount for their drinks before following her into the bright sunlit and dusty road out front.