Hey everybody! I'm back! I'm sorry for the wait, but my life has been pretty hectic, and my computer enjoys destroying the little work I am able to get done. I want to thank all my reviewers, and I'll answer them at the end instead of up here. This chapter was going to be a songfic because the ideas came to me while listening to "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down (great song and CD), but it didn't fit and made the story flow weird. But if you listen to the song while reading this, you get the same effect. Unfortunately, while I was gone, Vash managed to escape the clutches of my associates…
Milly and Meryl: We're really sorry!
Meryl: It was Milly's fault! While I was gone, Wolfwood talked her into setting him free!
Milly: But senpai, Bokushi-san is very persuasive!
Sakura: Don't worry, Nick will be back!!!
Milly and Meryl: Why? He knows that you're insane and out to capture him!
Sakura: (sigh) Don't you guys know anything? He left his cigarettes, see?
Meryl: Wow! It'll be easier to lure him back with those. He won't survive for more than a couple hours without going into withdrawals!
Milly: You two are really mean!
Sakura: Do you want Nick back or not?!
Milly: Well I-
Sakura: I thought so! We'll just have to wait it out! Meryl, read the disclaimer.
Meryl: The authoress doesn't own anything, including Trigun or 3 Doors Down, no matter how kawaii she thinks Vash or Brad Arnold are. She just uses them to serve her evil purposes.
Sakura: How true… On with the next chapter!
On a side note, this chapter is kinda introspective on Vash so: 'thoughts' and "speech", 'kay?
Liquid Sunlight
Chapter Three- Here Without You
After slowly lowering his load on a shabby bed, the tall man bent to leave the tiny structure. Shielding his eyes with his hands, he stared in the direction of the small town in the distance. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty face; the heat was getting to him.
'No, not the heat,' he thought with a goofy grin. 'It's the humidity.' He started to chuckle out loud, surprising himself. The happiness was washing over him in waves. After being gone for so long, he was finally going to see the insurance girls again!
The load he had been carrying shifted on the cot and winced when he hit sore places on his body. Bloodied bandages covered most of his person.
'Knives,' thought Vash with a guilty look on his face. He didn't want to frighten anyone by carrying his unconscious brother into town, so he decided to let him rest in the small shack a few iles away. Hopefully, he'd stay in his three-month coma until Vash got back.
"Well Knives, I'm off!" he said cheerfully. "Be good while I'm gone, okay?" With a last grin at his twin, he shut the door and began his walk across the desert. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt to cool off a bit as he walked.
'I wonder how they're doing,' he thought for the billionth time since he'd left them standing at the edge of the small town. A picture of the weeping Milly popped into his mind, a memory from shortly after she'd found out about the fate of her beloved priest. This image was replaced by a memory of her devouring some caramel pudding while Meryl looked on. Milly was grinning through mouthfuls of her favorite food, a look of pure bliss on her face. Vash could almost hear her cheerful voice shouting "Thank you senpai!" and he laughed out loud at the thought.
"I'm sure Milly's fine!" he proclaimed to the desert as he marched along with a huge smile on his face. Vash slowed his pace as he thought of the other insurance girl, whom he had thought and even dreamed about more often then Milly.
"Meryl," he said softly as a scalding breeze passed over his face. He had always had feelings for the petite girl, but only recognized these feelings as love in his last few days with her. The exact moment would have to be when she protected him, taking a huge risk by stepping in front of that gun and trying to talk down the grief-maddened man.
"No one has the right to take the life of another. No one," she'd said. As he heard the words of his mentor repeated, Vash had suddenly realized how alike Meryl and Rem were; they even resembled each other in physical appearance. All the good things he had seen in Rem he now saw in Meryl. Vash felt a love for someone like he hadn't experienced in more than a century. He felt so confused and disoriented, as though he had been hit in the head.
That night, he had tried his best to sort out his feelings while getting ready to "take care of Knives". Vash came to several conclusions, the first being that he didn't love Meryl because she shared traits with Rem, he loved her because those traits were hers; they were the true Meryl beneath the serious and business-like façade. Through all his confusion, Vash also decided he could label his love for Rem as motherly and his love for Meryl as…well…maybe he didn't have it all figured out yet.
Snapping out of his daydream, Vash could see the town looming closer. Then a strange thought came into his mind: How would the girls react to his return? 'They'll be really happy to see me of course!' one part of his mind seemed to say. Vash grinned and happily resumed his marching pace. 'But won't Meryl be angry that you've been gone for so long?' challenged another part of his mind.
Vash looked thoughtful. "Maybe…" he said out loud.
'And you know how she is when she's angry,' he scolded himself. Vash shuddered as he thought of her angry face and her patented slaps.
"Scary!" he said out loud with a panicked look on his face. A group of people headed out of town looked at him strangely. 'Oops, talking to myself again,' Vash thought with a sheepish look at the people.
A little kid in the group shouted, "Mommy that man is weird!"
"Don't look at him dear," answered his mother, grabbing the child by the hand and hurrying past Vash.
Vash heaved a sigh and walked into the town, disheartened. He needed to find some way to placate Meryl, or else get beaten until unrecognizable.
'But what can I do besides tie her up?' he wondered as he walked along. 'Okay, I'll need some rope, a handkerchief, a-' he broke off his thoughts as he spotted a better option. An old woman held a large straw basket filled with…
"Flowers!" Vash called happily, heading over to the woman.
"Not just any kind of flower young man," she said in a quivery voice, reaching into the basket and withdrawing a beautiful red flower. She held it up in her wrinkled hand for Vash to see. "Roses! Very rare."
"Wow!" exclaimed Vash with huge sparkly eyes. "Meryl would love one of these!" He stuck his hands in his pockets, fishing around for money. After digging deep, he pulled out both of his pockets and fell to his knees.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!" he wailed, rivers of tears running down his face and attracting more stares.
The old woman began to cackle as Vash flopped down on his butt with a huge sigh. "If it means that much to you," she said holding the rose out to him. Vash jumped up and his eyes became huge and sparkly again.
"Really?!" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes," she said, stretching her arm out farther. "Just take care of your lady and never hurt her, okay?"
"Alright!" Vash shouted, grabbing the rose and jumping into the air. As he turned to go he said, "Thanks grandma, I owe you one!" He tried to hurry off, but found himself facedown on the ground.
WHAP! "What did you say young man?!"
Vash rubbed the back of his head and said, "Uh…thank you very much miss, I'm grateful for your generosity?"
"Much better."
"Bye!" Vash waved and headed off to find the insurance girls.
As he walked, he pictured Meryl's face when she saw him; he'd dreamed about the moment and could see the happy and surprised look already. Milly would probably squeal and jump on him the moment she saw him. But would he get a hug from Meryl?
Vash remembered the last time he had hugged Meryl. She felt so tiny and fragile in his arms, although he knew she was far from fragile. Her hair felt feather-soft against his cheek and her arms had felt wonderful against his back. At first, she had stiffened up and protested, but she gradually gave into the hug, loosening her muscles against his grip. Of course, that hug had ended with Vash on the ground, but hey, anything could happen!
Thinking about that hug gave Vash another problem to think about that was on his mind at that time as well. Should he tell her his feelings? How would she react? She thought he was just some moron who wandered around and helped people out of sheer dumb luck. If she rejected him, it would ruin the easy friendship they'd developed only days before he left. Whenever he thought or dreamed about Meryl, he could picture himself telling her everything and her returning those feelings- but would she?
"Argh!" Vash cried, grabbing his hair with both hands. He'd never felt more confused about a person in his entire life. Looking up, he realized that he had been wandering around in circles for fifteen minutes. He started to curse in an extremely loud voice, but was interrupted by gunshots and what sounded like shattering glass down the street.
"What the hell?" He ran down the street, just noticing the huge crowd around the bank. Vash immediately headed towards the burly man with a gold star on his chest.
"What's goin' on officer?" he asked.
"A hostage situation, that's what! Bastards are holding on to them until they get the money out the back door." He sighed. "No one hurt yet, but I dunno how long that'll last."
Just then they heard a yell from within the building and a loud thump. Vash started; he recognized that voice. 'Milly!' he thought. 'And if she's there that means-' He heard another shout, confirming his suspicions. Without a second thought, he charged up the stairs and flung open the door. The sight that met his eyes both startled and scared the blond gunman.
On the floor lay Milly, blood trickling down the side of her head. Across the room stood Wolfwood- WOLFWOOD?! -who was guarded by a man with a shotgun. Three other bandits guarded other patrons and employees grouped in a corner and heaved money into bags. The last man stood with his back to Vash, gun pressed against the chest of a tiny, dark-haired woman-Meryl!
Vash had about three seconds to survey the situation before it exploded. The henchman nearest the door rushed Vash, who easily dodged, taking the gun and knocking him unconscious in one fluid movement. When Vash looked up, the man holding Meryl fired, point blank.
He stared, horrified, as she fell, so slowly, towards the glass-littered floor. She hit the ground, bounced twice and was still, blood spreading across her white blouse and pooling underneath her.
Before Vash could even react, Wolfwood had taken care of two guys and aimed and shot another with his partner's gun. Vash finally snapped back into reality and tore his eyes away from Meryl to aim at the monster who shot her.
'Please let her be okay, please, please, please let her live!' he cried over and over in his mind. Pulling the trigger, he shot the robber's gun away and started towards him. The bandit grabbed his right hand with his left and tried to retreat to the back door. Vash threw the bulletless gun and hit him perfectly in the back of the head. He flopped over, out cold.
"Get OUT people!" Wolfwood shouted as the last of the hostages escaped the building, many screaming. He ran back to Milly, who was beginning to stir. "Milly, honey, are you okay?!" he asked in a panicked voice, helping her sit up, placing an arm around her shoulder. His other hand strayed to her stomach, and Milly's hand shortly joined his as she opened her eyes.
"I'm fine but what ab- SENPAI!!!" she shrieked, seeing Vash kneeling beside her partner in a pool of blood.
"Oh god, oh god…" Vash muttered. He ripped open her shirt so he could get a better look at the wound. He winced at the size of it, but the bullet had gone through. He couldn't tell if it had hit anything fatal. He looked into her face and saw her eyes begin to close. "Meryl!" he shouted as she went limp in his arms. "Please don't die!" he cried, removing his shirt and pressing down on her chest, trying to stop the blood.
The sheriff ran into the building and gasped at the scene of the tall blond man cradling the bloody form of a young woman. Milly, restrained by Wolfwood, was trying desperately to get to her friend.
"Dammit!" the sheriff yelped. "We gotta get her to the doctor, quick! This way!" Vash gently lifted Meryl and moved after him as fast as he dared.
Milly stopped fighting Wolfwood and buried her head in his chest, sobbing loudly.
"Sshh." Wolfwood stroked her back, trying his best to calm her. "It's okay honey. She's gonna be fine." Milly looked up at him, tears running down her face.
"D-do you really think so?" she sniffed.
"I know so," said Wolfwood in a deep, soothing voice. "Small Girl is strong. And Vash is with her."
Milly smiled through her tears and said, "You're right." She stood shakily. Wolfwood got up with her and gently wiped her tears away.
"Let's go home and get you cleaned up, okay?" said Wolfwood. Milly nodded, and they walked out the door together, his arm around her waist.
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(A/N: Did you really think I'd leave you hanging again? I'm not that cruel!)
Several hours later, Vash had worn a path on the wooden floorboards of the waiting room. The last update he had gotten had been two hours ago, when the motherly nurse told him Meryl was still bleeding a lot, but she was otherwise stable; the bullet had missed her vitals. He threw himself into a chair and sat with his head in his hands.
When the door creaked open, Vash jerked his head up to see (once again to his surprise) Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Vash gave a small smile and asked, "How's the Big Girl?"
"Fine," Wolfwood grunted. "I bandaged her head and she's sleeping now." He sat down next to Vash.
"That's good." Silence ensued for the next few minutes.
"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?" said Wolfwood, leaning back in the chair.
"I'd say so. I saw you die, but you're back. How?"
"Honestly? I don't know. I just woke up to find myself standing in the middle of the desert. All I remember are voices, telling me to make Vash the Stampede suffer." Wolfwood pulled out a bent cigarette and lit it. He took a drag and slowly breathed out. "What about you?" he asked, the cigarette flopping around loosely in his mouth. "Where the hell have you been, huh?"
As Vash opened his mouth to answer, the plump nurse came out of the door again. Both men jumped up and Vash raced over to her. The nurse held up her hands.
"Miss Stryfe is going to be fine. The bleeding stopped and we were able to stitch both the entrance and exit wounds. The exit wound is a little lower due to a ricochet, but it's nothing to worry about. She needs to rest for a few more hours and then she can go home to rest."
Vash sighed in relief. "Can we see her?" he asked. The nurse bit her lip.
"Just for a second. And only one of you. She's not really supposed to have visitors yet." She winked at Vash. "But I can see you're really worried, so last door on the left." Vash gave her a grateful smile and took off down the hallway.
When he reached the door, he opened it gently and stepped inside. He listened to Meryl's gentle, even breathing before going closer to the bed. The setting sun cast a strange red light from the window and reflected off of her hair. Vash reached out and brushed a few stray strands away from her peaceful face.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "If I'd only gotten there sooner." Bandages were wrapped all the way around her chest and her left shoulder. They were wrapped down far enough so that Meryl wasn't exposed, even though she didn't have a shirt on. Vash gently pulled the sheets up over her as the nurse poked her head in.
"Come on!" she whispered urgently. Vash waved her off and she shut the door.
He turned back to Meryl and gently kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back," he whispered, placing the rose into her right hand. "I promise." He looked at her sleeping form one last time before he hurried out the door.
"Vash…" Meryl murmured in her sleep.
Wasn't that just too kawaii? Thanks to the new reviewers:
AkinaMeigatsuno: Don't worry, Chill!!!! Vash/Meryl forever! Are you happy now? I hope so! Thanks for reading.^_^
ShadaHack: Here you go! I'm sending this to you with a bottle of potent medications! Aren't those little extras great! Thank you for your compliment! (blushes) I'm so happy!
blood-lust6: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am evil aren't I? Feel the terror of my cliffhangers and lack of plot! I'm glad you like my perspective change, I like to be different.
Thanks to everyone, you've all been so nice! I'm probably gonna remove my notice after I put up chapter four, so read the responses quick!
LUV ^^
Sakura