Chapter 10

(Epiloge)

Author's Notes…

1: Super long chapter, this was going to be two chapters, but I thought it better to just condense it into one long epilogue, no reason to draw it out.

2: There's a scene out of this which, if not taken from the Manga, is certainly inspired by it. Those who spot it get a cookie!

Epilogue

It was no good, she wasn't responding.

Nicholas growled and threw down the spanner in frustration. He'd been working on the bike for hours, ever since Vash had returned from the hospital but it just wouldn't start. The fact that it had very little fuel in it was only half the problem, something else was wrong. He'd thought it had been clogged up with sand or dust but no matter how many times he cleaned her…

He sighed, deciding to try one more time.

He slipped into the saddle and turned on the ignition.

Chug-chug-chuga-chugauhhhhhhh….

The engine spluttered out of existence. Damn.

He slipped out of the saddle, casting a glance at his companion as he did so.

Vash was currently sitting with his back against one of the ruined buildings, his eyes staring blankly into the horizon, lost in his own thoughts.

Well, at least he wasn't causing any trouble.

Taking another look back towards his bike, Wolfwood came to a decision, there was only one thing he could do now…

He stepped a few paces back and then, with all his strength, he kicked it.

Angelina II shook from the blow and fell over onto her side. The noise startled Vash who shook himself out of his musings to watch the priest.

Grinning, Nicolas righted the bike again, saddled it and once more turned the ignition.

Chug-chug-chug-chugauhhhhhhh….

Double damn!

He unsaddled and backed up again, willing to give it another shot.

'What are you doing?' asked Vash.

'It's an old mechanic's trick,' explained Wolfwood patiently, 'it always works.'

'Kicking things makes them work better?' the gunman sounded more than a little sceptical.

'Sure does,' replied Wolfwood cheerily, before once more charging at the bike.

He brought his leg out to kick but skidded a little on the sand which skewed the angle of his blow. So, instead of hitting the bike with the underside of his foot, he hit it with the end.

The result of this was Angelina II once again on its side and there was a hell of lot of pain in Wolfwood's toes.

The priest hopped about in the sand, screaming out in agony and clutching his injured foot. To make things worse Vash was busting his guts out over it.

'Quit laughing,' snarled Wolfwood between his yelps of pain, 'I'd like to see you do better!'

Vash looked blank for a moment then, to Wolfwood's horror, he stood up and moved towards the bike.

He pulled it upright with ease and hunched down, studying its underbelly and other workings. After a few moments he brought his hands forward and began to fiddle with the wiring.

'Hay!' yelled Wolfwood, 'be careful! That's delicate machinery, if you break it then-'

Vash ignored him, he stood up once more, having finished whatever he was doing and turned the ignition key.

Chug-chug-chuga-chuga-chuga-CHUGA-VRUMMMMMMMMM!'

Vash sighed and dusted the sand off his knees, 'there,' he said, 'all better!'

He turned towards Wolfwood and grinned.

Wolfwood glared.

'What?' asked Vash helplessly, 'what did I do now?!'

Wolfwood opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by another voice.

'Um… Mr Vash? Mr Wolfwood?'

Both men turned to see a boy, not more than thirteen, watching them. They recognised him immediately. Before leaving to take care of the bike Wolfwood had paid the boy to bring any news of Sarah's condition to them.

The runner shifted nervously upon his feet under their stares.

'Yeah?' asked Wolfwood.

'Um… the doctor told me… um… it weren't any good, woman ain't gonna live. He says that you should come back to town right away, if you wanna say good bye to her…'

Wolfwood nodded grimly and turned to his friend, wanting to see how Vash was taking the news.

The outlaw's face was troubled, though not blank or mask-like as Nicholas had feared, instead it was just terribly, terribly sad. His cheeks shone wet with the tears trickling down his face.

'Do you want to go?' asked Wolfwood, still a little unsure as to Vash's emotions where Sarah was concerned.

'Yeah,' replied Vash, his voice soft and whispery.

'You sure?'

'I've been around a while,' said his friend, a small, sad smile tweaking his lips, 'I've seen a lot of death, one way and another. One thing I've learned, if there's anything worse than dying, it's dying alone. I… I wasn't there when Rem died, I left her to face death by herself, it's something I've always regretted. I won't let that happen with Sarah, I owe her that much at least.'

Wolfwood nodded, 'Ok then, but we'd better be off now, we don't have much time.'

When at last they were back at the hospital, the sun was falling towards the horizon and the shadows were lengthening.

The setting sun painted the white walls of the hospital crimson, an effect which hardly comforted either man as they walked through the doors.

The doctor was waiting for them, a grim look upon his wrinkled face.

'I'm sorry,' he said by way of apology, 'there was really nothing I could do…'

'Is she still alive?' asked Vash abruptly.

'Yes,' replied the doctor, 'though not for all that much longer.'

'Can we see her?'

'If you want, but be warned, we gave her a lot of drugs for the pain, she might not be very coherent.'

'Thank you,' said Vash sincerely, before making his way down the corridor, presumably to where Sarah was located. As much out of habit than anything else, Wolfwood followed.

He couldn't help but be shocked at how much the woman had changed.

She lay upon the bed, her pail skin now as white as freshly darned linen. Even her grey hair seemed to have faded further into white. The only colour on her was a large red stain upon her breast where the blood had leaked through her bandages once more.

Just the faintest of movements came from the weak rise and fall of her chest, her breathing was as light as a butterflies wing beats. She seemed like a paper doll, delicate and frail, ready to be crushed with the meekest of touches. Her eyes, half closed and unfocused, widened a little as they entered, she was aware of their presence at least.

Vash approached and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

Slowly, carefully, he took one of her delicate, frail hands into his own, holding it as lightly as he would an injured baby bird.

'Sarah?' he whispered to her.

Her eyes widened further, the pupils moved back and forth until they focussed upon the gunslinger.

Slowly a smile spread across her wasted features. It was… there was no other word for it… it was beautiful. Nicholas felt his heart stir at the very serenity of it as, for a moment, the old woman seemed revitalised, young again, a delicate, smiling paper angel nestled within the sheets.

When she spoke her voice was little more than a breath of sound, 'Is that you Christopher? Have you come back for me?'

Vash looked stunned, his blue-green widened and he turned a shade paler. Then he calmed again, coming to some private conclusion. He smiled, not a real smile, but a kind one, nevertheless.

'Yes, Sarah,' he replied gently, 'it's me, it's Christopher. I'm here for you, my love…'

With this Nicholas knew that he'd stayed long enough, that this was a conversation he should not be privy to. So he stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.

He walked back down the corridor and through the doors, back outside. The bottom of the sun was touching the horizon now, it would soon be night. Sitting down on the hospital porch, he took a cigarette out of his shirt pocket and, after striking the match upon the sole of his left boot; he lit it and took a deep drag.

Nicholas D Wolfwood spent the next few minutes smoking whilst he watched the sun set and night come to the broken city of July.

The final few fingers of red light were just slipping from the night's sky when the ash reached the filter of his cigarette. He removed the used cigarette from his mouth and stubbed the dying embers out upon floor boards of the porch.

Just a few seconds later he heard the hospital doors open and close behind him. He sensed, as much as saw, Vash come and sit by him upon the porch.

'Is she dead?' asked Wolfwood.

'Yes.'

The two men watched the last rays of light leave the sky, neither saying a word. Soon the biting cold of the Gunsmoke night began to set in.

'So,' said Wolfwood at last, 'you did it again, you pretended.'

'It was for the best,' replied Vash confidently, and Nicholas didn't even try to argue otherwise.

Silence settled again, Wolfwood began to shiver. He wondered, briefly, why Vash wasn't shivering also; he was only wearing a shirt and dungarees after all.

'Wolfwood?' said Vash eventually, his soft voice breaking the still night air.

'Yeah?'

'Do you do funerals?'

They were up at dawn the next day. Vash started to dig the grave whilst Wolfwood went to buy fuel for Angelina, (they used Sarah's money, Vash confirming that it had been her desire they do so. There was, after all, no one else she could leave it to.)

The reason for the haste was twofold, for one neither of them wanted to stay in July any longer than necessary, as much because of the ruckus they caused in the bar as anything else. Another was that, in Gunsmoke's climate, it was best not to leave dead bodies around for long.

By the time he had returned and filled Angelina up, both grave and head piece were ready.

Wolfwood gave the customary service as Vash put her into the ground, covering her still form with sand and dirt until it was lost from view. Until it was just another grave in July's tragically large cemetery.

They buried her next to the place where Christopher was resting, his name recorded, carved upon the simple stone that marked his grave. It had taken them a long time to find him. The shallow carvings, the best that a younger Sarah could manage, had been half worn away by sand.

There had been no second name upon his marker.

Sarah had received a somewhat superior head stone, Vash being more skilled in these things, sadly enough.

When they were done Wolfwood took a step back and slipped his small, pocket bible and prayer book into his jacked again. Vash, straightened up, massaging the muscles on his back and reaching over, he hauled the marker over to the grave, placing it upon the freshly turned earth.

Then he moved back to stand besides Wolfwood, reaching into his dungarees he drew out something that made the priest gasp in shock.

'Geraniums!' he breathed, staring in awe at the bright red flowers Vash had produced, 'how in the name of all that's holy did you get those!'

Aside from some cacti and small desert weeds, flowers were extremely rare on Gunsmoke. It might be possible to obtain a few in some of the bigger cities, cities which had Geo-Plants, but even then they cost a small fortune.

Vash smiled and proffered the blooms for inspection.

Tentatively Nicholas took one of them, rubbing two fingers on one of the scarlet petals. He grinned in comprehension, 'cloth,' he said, 'and plastic. You've got plastic flowers for the grave?'

Vash returned the smile, though it was very sad, 'yeah,' he replied, 'does it matter?'

'I guess not, not really,' remarked the priest, handing back the fake flower.

Vash laid the bunch upon the turned earth; their vivid hue added an odd sense of life and vitality to the her resting place.

'So,' said Wolfwood at last, drawing out one of his cigarettes, 'tell me, why the name?'

'Excuse me?'

'The second name, the one you put on her grave stone,' Wolfwood nodded towards it,

'Why that name might I ask?'

'There's no way of knowing what her real second name was. She never got to marry Christopher and she was disowned by he parents. And even if she wasn't, she never gave me either of their second names, there's no way of finding out.'

'Yeah, so? That doesn't answer my question. We could have just left it blank, why did you choose that one? Is it yours?'

'Nope,' replied Vash, some real humour finally creeping into his voice, 'it was… someone else's.'

He allowed his hand, his real hand, to trace across the carved marks upon the tomb stone, the letters which spelled out its occupant's name.

"SARA SAVEREM."

'So why did you pick it?'

'I guess…' Vash paused and a tear dripped from his eye, 'I guess it was sort of a final thank you, you know? A sort of gift, a way of repaying what she did for me. It isn't much, but it's all I have…'

Nicholas nodded, puffing upon his cigarette, 'I still want to know whose it is.'

'You've become nosy recently,' muttered Vash, some irritation leaking into his voice, 'you didn't used to be like that.'

'Yeah, learned it from you,' Wolfwood sighed, 'it's really irritating, isn't it?'

Vash looked at him and scowled. Wolfwood grinned and blew smoke in his direction, causing the gunslinger to cough a little and wave his hand in front of his face.

'Those things will be the death of you, you know,' he said.

'God, I hope so,' replied the priest, entirely sincere.

The two men stood in silence by the grave for a little time after that, eventually Wolfwood sighed and stretched, 'we'd best be off. There isn't anything more we can do here.'

'I guess not,' agreed Vash, his eyes, watering once more, not moving away from the graves.

Wolfwood, understanding that Vash needed some more time to himself, moved away, making some final preparations to Angelina II.

When Vash came back, his eyes clear of tears and he looked a little more at peace with himself.

'Well,' asked Nicholas, 'are you ready to go?'

'Yep,' replied Vash, he turned round one last time, to look upon the wreckage of July.

'I'm sorry… good bye,' he whispered into the air, his voice so quiet that Wolfwood almost missed it.

'Come on, Needle Noggin,' Wolfwood grunted.

Hearing him, Vash moved back towards the bike and paused, 'um… Wolfwood… aren't you supposed to sit at the front?'

'Nope, not this time.'

'But then who's driving?'

'You are,' replied Wolfwood smugly, 'after you showed your skill with fixing bikes, I figured it was time you rode one. I'm sick of having to dive you everywhere. It's your turn!'

'But Wolfwood I'm really not all that good-'

'Shut it, Needle Noggin, you're driving or we ain't moving from this spot!'

'Fine,' huffed Vash, taking the front seat, 'but don't say I didn't warn you…'

He turned the key in the ignition and the bike thrummed into life beneath them, 'alright,' he muttered under his breath, 'let's get this thing going, now… gears… gears… if I was a gear where would I be? Ah, here!'

He pulled a likely looking stick and the bike shot forward. Wolfwood gripped onto his waist, holding on desperately as both wind and sand whipped across his face.

'This is all very good,' he yelled, 'but don't you think we're going a bit fast?'

'Yeah!' agreed Vash.

'So slow down!'

'Uh… how?'

'The breaks, idiot, use the brakes!'

'Oh… ok!'

'NO! NO! That's the accelerator!'

'Damn!'

'NO! Lean left! Lean left! We're gonna crash!'

'Your left or mine?'

'Any left! No! Not that way, not that waaaAAAAAUUUUGGHHHHH!'

'AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!'

FIN

Well, that's it, The End. I hope you enjoyed this little fic, PLEASE, if you've been reading this, give me some feedback! It gives me many warm and fuzzies! And I'm especially interested in knowing if I pulled off the Wolfwood and Vash relationship well.

Also, if you liked this, try checking out my other words. Especially How Far is Eden? Which is supposed to be one of my best pieces.

Also, for those who have read said fic, you might be interested to know the sequel is finished. I'll be putting it up soonish.

Reader's Replies.

LeDiz: This was going to be two chapters, in fact, but I felt it would be better to make it one… end it here as it were. I'm sorry you don't feel sorry for her, but I can understand why. She made a REALLY big mistake, and she was VERY manipulative and a bit of a bitch but still… Heh, I enjoyed writing her, she was a bit of an anti-Mary-Sue. BTW, what was that idea that popped into your head? I'm curious?

Mangaqueen13: Thanks, I hope this ends on a good note for you!

Keiko Sonora: No problem, sorry your computer died. I hope you get to read this. Thanks so much for your support!

Ninja Chic: Vash is indeed hot. Glad someone feels sorry for Sarah (Glares at LeDiz) And yeah, it was kinda a misunderstanding. I hope you like the ending, review whenever you can, it'd all be good. Thanks so much for reading this, I really appreciate all my reviewers.

EVERYONE ELSE: Thanks for reading this fic and I hope it lived up to your expectations. If your finishing it now, PLEASE post a review. I'd really like to know what you thought.

Thank you, good bye, and Merry Christmas!