Yet again, I have forgotten my promises... sigh. School is in session now, and I've got one more year to go!!! Then, semi-freedom!!! Anyways, I'm really gonna try to get these chapters up faster, but I'm not gonna guarantee anything. I'm pretty busy, but I'll dedicate a little time to writing each day. Thanks to the reviewers, who were few and far between (guess I deserved that tho'); I'll respond at the bottom. Enjoy!!!
Liquid Sunlight
Chapter 11 - Small Revelations
Momentarily stunned by Meryl's outburst, Vash could only mutter her name and watch her push through the drunken mob to the door. He shook his head slightly. 'I've never seen Meryl that emotional before,' he thought. What she'd said had touched him; struck a chord within him that hadn't been touched for years.
"Having trouble with your lady-friend, Vash?" one of the bar's patrons called out.
Putting on a sheepish grin, Vash waved a hand at the man. "Just a misunderstanding. I'm gonna go talk to her, before she realizes she wants to hurt me."
Back at the hotel, Meryl was attempting to get back to her paperwork, but it failed to distract her befuddled mind. Vash's soft, deep voice kept breaking into her thoughts.
"Why are you so afraid to let me in?"
His words irritated her, but also made her wonder. Did she really shut her loved ones out? Admittedly, she'd tried not to let her emotions get the best of her, but...
The door opened, but Meryl didn't bother to turn around; she kept her gaze fixed out the window. A soft sigh, and the door clicked closed. Heavy footsteps approached her, but Meryl remained unmoving. Finally, Vash came to a halt, and boldly let both hands rest on Meryl's shoulders. She gasped.
"I was afraid. I'm still afraid." Vash's voice was barely above a whisper. He let his hands fall to his sides when Meryl stood up and turned around.
"I don't think I ever told you about Rem..." Vash sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Vash...?" Meryl's voice betrayed her uncertainty, but she perched on the edge of her bed, across from him.
With a wry smile, Vash continued. "She took care of me and Knives after the spaceship crew found us. And she died because of us." Tears welled up in his eyes, but Vash ignored the sting. "I really loved her, Meryl. She was everything to me: mentor, parent, my world. She was a devoted pacifist, and believed you could solve anything through talking. Rem took her job seriously, and had great hopes for the future of mankind. She was killed while saving the people on that ship. And Knives couldn't have cared less. His only concern was the humans that survived." He drew in a shaky breath.
"Oh, Vash..." Meryl hesitantly put a hand on his knee.
"I watched Knives manipulate the survivors, hurting and killing so many innocent people. And I knew, somewhere, all the violence was making Rem cry. I vowed I would never kill, for her sake.
"I withdrew from everyone, tried not to get attached because I was afraid of causing someone else undue pain. When you and Milly started following me around, that's why I kept my distance. Meeting up with Wolfwood made it even more difficult, and I found myself getting you all into bad situations." Vash put his hand over Meryl's.
"I couldn't stand you guys getting hurt, that's why I never let you know what was going on, or exactly what I was fighting. Now I trust you guys so much more, and know you all really well, but..." he trailed off, a little of his goofy gunman façade returning. "I guess old habits die hard." He looked down at Meryl expectantly.
"You... you moron..." Meryl muttered shaking her head.
"Huh?"
"Did you really think we were that weak? You're such an idiot Vash. You underestimated us by a long shot, and I think we were all strong enough to be there for you then..." Her hand tightened on Vash's, making his eyes widen. "No matter how happy you looked on the outside, I could tell something was eating you up from the inside out. And now, you're stuck with us, so stop hiding yourself!" She gave him a defiant glare, as though daring him to disagree.
Vash smiled. "How can I make it up to you?"
"By not being so stupid from now on!"
"Okay, then." Vash grabbed Meryl's soft hands up in his own. "Then I have to tell you that you, the Big Girl, and the priest all mean so much to me. I don't know what I'd do without you. How's that?"
"Um...." Meryl could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and her heart began to beat much faster. "It's... a start."
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Wolfwood brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the Fallose City Inn, and glared in the rearview mirror. "You've got money, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Rigel squirmed under his gaze. "Plenty."
"It's a damn good thing. WHY did we bring him with us again?"
"Darling, try to be nice," Milly admonished him gently. "He needs to get to Calis. We're going to Calis. He has his own money to get a room. What's the problem?"
"I don't like his attitude," Wolfwood growled. "And we're on our friggin' honeymoon for God's sake!!!"
"Don't worry. You won't see me the entire time you're here, 'cause I've got my own business to attend to." Rigel gave Milly a pleading look. "Just don't leave me."
"Of course not!" Milly smiled while Wolfwood grumbled.
"Shall we?" Rigel opened the door with a flourish and a bow.
Later, Milly had finally finished unpacking, and was taking a short break when Wolfwood returned to the room.
"The kid's gone," he informed Milly as he threw down his jacket. "Left about an hour after we checked in, according to a guy in the lobby."
"Well, he did say that he had business." Milly held out her hands expectantly. "Did you get it?"
Wolfwood nodded and opened up the bag. "I had to visit 4 stores to get the right flavor, but..." He placed a container in Milly's hands.
"All right!!! Cucumber-banana pudding!!!"
"Anything for you, honey." Wolfwood lovingly ruffled her hair.
"So, Nicholas..." Milly began between mouthfuls, "why were you asking people in the lobby about Rigel, anyways? Are you worried he might be in trouble?"
"I wasn't asking, and I'm definitely not worried about the brat." Wolfwood frowned. "But that kid is so idealistic and naïve and that can be dangerous."
"I think that people like Rigel are the best kind of people the ones who want to make things better," Milly said lightly.
"Revolutionaries are also the ones who usually wind up dead somewhere," Wolfwood grumbled, staring out of the window.
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The twin suns shed their fading light on two Tomases and their riders in the middle of the desert as they prepared to sink beneath the horizon. Despite twilight being nearly upon the two, it was still fairly hot, and the animals were already protesting.
"Vash, we're gonna have to stop. The Tomases can't go any further," Meryl said, wiping away some sweat with a handkerchief.
Vash looked up at the sky. He knew very well how cold desert nights could be, and he knew that the two of them were unprepared for camping. But there was no choice.
"Okay," he agreed. "Let's find some rocks. They'll hold in the suns' heat longer, and help keep us warm." Meryl nodded and took the lead towards several boulders under a rock overhang.
Vash hopped off his Tomas and led it behind Meryl. 'I have a blanket, she has a blanket, and we have one for each of the Tomases,' Vash thought carefully. 'Will that be enough? We won't be able to build much of a fire. We both have other clothes we can pile on if we need them...'
"This should work." Meryl's voice broke Vash out of his reverie. He quickly tied up his Tomas, and then gave Meryl a hand down from her own mount.
"It's gonna get cold," Vash told her. "We need to get a fire going soon."
Meryl nodded. "You go get some more wood; I'll start it with what I can find." Vash's stomach growled loudly and Meryl laughed. "I'll put something on to cook too."
"All right Small Girl!" Vash smacked her on the back before heading out.
Grumbling about idiot gunmen, Meryl quickly built up a fire and put some soup on to heat. She glanced up at the sky as the second sun disappeared completely over the horizon and the moons began to rise. She shivered. Vash hadn't been kidding about the cold. She was beginning to worry about him, just a little. He'd had on his trusty red coat when he headed out, but she figured he'd still be frozen when he returned.
"Geez, I can't feel my feet!" Meryl whipped around at the sound of his voice. Vash dropped his pile of wood near the fire and sat down as close as he could without getting burned.
"Eat some soup before you freeze to death," Meryl commanded. She shoved a bowl at him and pointed at the pot.
"Yes ma'am!!!" cried Vash with a salute. He served himself and ravenously downed a bowl in less than a minute.
"Vash, could you use a spoon?" Meryl complained. "We may be out in the middle of the desert, but still!"
Vash grinned sheepishly. "Can't." He held up his hands and Meryl gasped. The right one had become a pale shade of blue.
"Oh Vash!" She grabbed his hand in both of hers and started rubbing. "You could have gotten frostbite you idiot!" she growled as she thawed his frozen hand. When it became an angry red and Vash yelped with pain, she let go quickly.
"We need sleep," Meryl muttered. She moved away from Vash, to the other side of the fire.
"Yep," Vash agreed with a nod. "We're really gonna need to bundle up against the cold." He noted that Meryl had already put on another layer of clothes. "Good idea."
Meryl wrapped herself in a blanket and shivered slightly. "I'm still freezing," she admitted.
"It's getting even colder than I thought it would be," Vash said with a note of concern in his voice.
Meryl tossed him a blanket and a frown. "Quit worrying and just get some sleep Tongari." Vash lay down submissively and tried to sleep.
Several hours later, Meryl's eyes snapped open. Darkness had overtaken their camp, the rocks blocking the light of the many moons. Vash, seeing she was awake, moved over to her and crouched down.
"You okay? Not too cold, are you?" Meryl shook her head, but her teeth were chattering.
"The fire died," she pointed out.
"Yeah, I know. Ran out of wood, and the wind's blowing way too hard to get more." He sat down beside her. "We're gonna have to keep as warm as possible... so please don't hit me too hard, okay?" Meryl quietly gasped as Vash boldly pulled her to him, laying them both back and curling himself around her. His arms snaked around her waist as he held her to his chest, and pulled his big blanket around the both of them.
Blushing at his own audacity, Vash muttered, "We'll stay a little warmer this way. Sorry if it's a little uncomfortable..."
"I'm... fine," Meryl answered. "I mean, we gotta survive, right?" Unconsciously, she snuggled a little closer to Vash. He grinned.
"Meryl?"
"Yes?"
"Since we're being all open and honest, you know, more like friends instead of acquaintances, I have to tell you something."
Meryl's heart skipped a beat. "Y-yes?"
"I... this feels... really nice. I always sleep a lot more comfortably when I know you're nearby. And I don't have nightmares either." He felt Meryl squirm a little in his embrace. "Was that a little too honest and forward?"
"No... not really," Meryl stammered. Vash could see the scarlet blush creeping across her face that made her look all the more adorable in his eyes. "But you're right," she agreed after a second's pause. "It's... comfortable." She looked into his aquamarine eyes and tried to read what they were telling her.
"Meryl, I-"Vash began, but was interrupted by a low rumbling from deep within the sand they lay on. Both sprang to their feet.
"What's going on?" Meryl shouted over the din.
"I don't know!" Vash shouted back. "Could be an earthquake."
At that moment, the sand beneath their feet began to swirl and spiral downwards. The two were quickly swept into the strangling sand. Meryl took a deep breath before she was sucked under.
Somehow, someway, Vash found Meryl and was able to grab hold of her hand. As suddenly as they had been sucked downward, they emerged into air, falling faster and faster. Meryl struck her head against one of the metal walls that made up the shaft they had fallen into. Vash quickly pulled her into himself, as he knew they would hit bottom soon. As Meryl lay unconscious in his arms, he landed on the floor, and succumbed to blackness.
A cliffie! Haven't done that for a while! Well, soccer season is almost over, so hopefully I will have no excuses to slack (even though I have a wicked hard English class) and I will get these chapters to you guys faster! It's late so I'll reply to reviews later. Please click that little button at the bottom...... you know you want to! Love you guys!