I think some thank you's are in order here! :)

To the reviewers of my last chapter:

Blu: ....uh, normally I would tell you to take a sedative or something, but you can be as hyper as you want if it gets you to read my story. ;)

Rainy-days13: Hehehe. Well, now you'll know.

Magnet-Rose: Believe me, you're not the first person to call me mean (and probably not the last, hehehe), but I just had to leave a cliffhanger, just to know what it feels like to cause misery to loyal readers. Lord knows authors have done that to me more times than I can count. LOL.

Vicious Eden: I used "the plant" because I didn't want to just come out and say "Knives' hand twitched." It just doesn't have the emotional punch that the other phrase does. I also thought that it would be clear that I was talking about Knives because I've never referred to Vash as "the plant" or anything like that. Just thought I'd explain my reasoning a little, though I'm glad you brought that up.

Shmoo Babies: Glad you liked it. And thanks for reviewing my other fic. ;)

Rui: I'm really flattered that you would check this everyday. It makes me feel really cool and special. :D

RoseRed5: I'm not sure if I would say he's actually awake yet, but you'll just have to wait and see....

A special thanks goes out to Bangman, who's taken the time to read all my chapters and encourage me through this process even though he doesn't watch the show.

An extra special thanks goes to Ravenwings. She's basically the reason this story's here in the first place. I never would have gotten the guts to post this if she hadn't forced me to! If you like "Zoids", you should check out her excellent fics on mediaminer.org.

And thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. It really helps to know that there are people out there who take the time to read your work and comment on it. It also boosts my ego that I really haven't received one negative review. Must be doing something right. :)

This chapter is going to be really short, which I'm really sorry about. Some things have been going on in my personal life and I haven't been able to give this the attention it deserves. That said, I wanted to go ahead and post this so that I could give you guys a least a little to tide you over til I can sit down and turn out more then a couple of lines. Once again, I'm really sorry. Hopefully I'll have a complete chapter up by the end of the week.

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Desert Sands

By: Batbabe

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Chapter 6

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Vash hadn't slept so well in weeks. The fact that he was no longer being chased around the planet by a homicidal madman had finally sunk in and he was able to fully relax. Of course, he still had to worry about all of the bounty hunters that would no doubt still be after him, but he could evade them easily enough.

He whistled slightly as he glided down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast. He was only somewhat surprised to find Meryl there by herself. Milly had undoubtably gone to work hours ago.

"Morning Short Girl!" He greeted her cheerfully as he went over to grab some donuts out of the box.

"Sometimes I wonder if you even know what my real name is...." Meryl muttered under her breath before taking a sip of her coffee.

Vash stopped at that. When he looked over at her, she was still looking in the other direction with an emotionless look on her face. She had sounded....hurt, which was a new emotion coming from Meryl. But the fact that she had even allowed him to hear it was a step forward.

Their relationship was still in unknown territory. Neither had yet admitted that they harbored any feelings for the other, though it was more than obvious to others. /Lord, it's way past the time to get past this.../ he thought to himself.

Vash sighed as he decided to take the first step.

"Of course I know your name, Meryl. Why wouldn't I?" He said, he usual facade gone as he looked straight at her.
She paused mid-sip and slowly turned to meet his gaze. "Well, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that you've never used it that threw me off." She replied quietly and with a hint of bitterness.

Vash blinked, then said, "I've always known your name, I just call you Short Girl for fun. I thought you liked it."

"Let me get this straight. You think I enjoy being referred to by a nickname that emphasizes something that I've been made fun of for all of my life??" She was a tad short (pardon the pun) of thunderous. "You're such a dense, broom-headed buffoon!" She slammed her cup on the table as she stood up and started to walk out of the room.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful when you're angry?" He called behind her, grinning wildly.

Her shoe flying at him was all the answer he needed.

"I'll take that as a yes...."

*

A slight chuckle escaped his lips as he thought, 'The insect is right. You are a buffoon, Vash...'