The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

Glory

Chapter Three: So We Meet Again

Glory hummed as she sat, on the roof of the hotel, smoothing over the chips in her boomerang and thinking about what to do tomorrow. Maybe she could "accidentally" bump into them. God only knows at this point. She shouldn't be thinking about this now, though. She'd just officially met her own brother, and she wasn't going to dwell on what to do about tomorrow now. No, now she was going to think about him, and how he'd acted.

True, for the longest time she'd been watching over him like a guardian angel, but never before did she ever actually speak to him. It wasn't easy, but she found herself going on about whatever came to mind. Like that crack about his hair. "I think I'd remember that hair style," she remembered.

He didn't know it, and she didn't show it, but her heart was pounding the entire time. It was hard for her to keep herself from throwing herself into his arms and crying in joy. It was about time she got to be with him like she should have been over the years. Unfortunately, it was necessary for her to not reveal herself.

If she'd have made herself known to him, Knives as well would know, and that meant. . .well, no one could guess. Knives would've either used her to get to Vash or offered her to be with his Gung Ho Guns. And of course, if Vash knew, he could never fight against her. She knew that. Vash hated fighting with Knives more than anything. So naturally, fighting his little sister would be impossible.

She couldn't help how she sang, though. She didn't know where she'd learned the song, but she knew what effect it had on her. It almost hurt her on certain levels. She wished with all her heart that Vash and Knives would have known about her since her birth, but she knew as well that she couldn't. It hurt her beyond words.

That song meant something to her. Immortal fear. Love is with your brother. Thou shalt not kill. That last especially hurt her.

She knew Knives had no concern with life, whereas Vash refused to kill anything or to let anything die. She, herself, seemed to be stuck in the middle. She's killed before. She's likely to again. But she's never wanted to. Every time she kills, she feels the death stain her hands, and the pain of the person she killed. She could feel it all, and she could tell that even Vash wasn't so in tune with life.

Knives knew a lot more about his plant powers, but since he only used them to destroy, he still had no idea how much power they did have. But she knew. It was too bad for Vash that he didn't though. . .If he did know, then he wouldn't have had. . .to. . .

Shutting her eyes tightly, Glory willed herself not to think about it. Vash had been destroyed when he pulled the trigger and killed Legato, but Glory refused to help the man. He was evil and misled, in every version of the word. He deserved to die. He deserved to burn in hell. He deserved to never be brought back.

Glory shook her head to clear these thoughts away. She was happy, now. Although it did hurt her that Vash now had a woman to be with. She'd never had anybody, having to follow around Vash for so long. But it almost did happen, once. Almost. But the man who had almost loved her back had just up and left one day. She hadn't heard of him since.

She remembered a song that she'd heard before, one that suited her better than she would have ever liked to admit. The scary part was, the song was never meant to have its metaphors taken literally, and one in particular was. For her, at least. Nodding her head to the beat that was coming up, Glory began softly singing the song. She'd been told long ago that she should be a singer, and she prided herself on her voice. The sun was setting, creating the perfect scene for such a song.

"I feel like I've been locked up tight for a century of lonely nights, waiting for someone. . .to release me. You're licking your lips and blowing kisses my way, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give it away. Baby, baby, baby. Baby, baby, baby. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .But my heart is saying no.

"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price to pay, I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true, you gotta make a big impression, oh yeah, gotta like what you do.

"I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out. The music's playing and the lights' down low, one more dance and then we're good to go, waiting for someone, who needs me. Hormones racin' at the speed of light, but that don't mean it's gotta be tonight. . . Baby, baby, baby. . .Baby, baby, baby. . .

"Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . . My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . . But my heart is saying no.

"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price to pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, ooh I can make your wish come true, come and set me free, baby, and I'll be with you. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out.

"Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .But my heart is saying no.

"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price you pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true. You gotta make a big impression, gotta like what you do. If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price you pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true. Come and set me free, baby, and I'll be with you.

I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come and let me out."

~*~ Vash ~*~

He heard her sing that song, sitting on the roof. He listened to every word of it. This new woman was puzzling him endlessly. After Meryl left, he'd happily eaten the second plates of donuts Glory paid for. And then they got to talking again, and he found out that years ago she was here, and had made a lot of friends. But she was vague with the exact date, shrugging and saying she hardly paid attention to the days that went by.

Thus far, he knew nothing about what she did. She said she was talented from birth with things like singing and gymnastics, and had trained for several years out in the desert to learn how to use that huge boomerang she has. She'd shrugged again when he pointed out its weight, and lifted it himself to see how heavy it was. He was shocked to find that it was even heavier than Wolfwood's cross. And that was hard-packed metal.

That was another thing he asked her about. He couldn't tell what the boomerang was made of, and she told him it was either a bone or a tooth she dug up after tripping over it in the middle of the desert. What he couldn't understand was, if she trained with that boomerang for "years", and still looked so young, then why was it so big? No kid would ever be able to throw that thing around. She wasn't telling him something.

He heard the door open and turned to see who it was, although he already knew. He smiled as Meryl came in, already thinking about what had happened between them the previous night. She walked right up to him and stared out the window at the setting suns.

"What were you doing?" she asked, her voice soft and like a caress.

"Watching the sunset," he half-lied. In a way, he was watching the sunset, but nonetheless he glanced once more at Glory's back from across the street plus several stories and a few buildings left. At times like this he really loved his hearing.

Meryl smiled and leaned into his left side, still gazing out the window. The colors of the sky were very touching right now. "So what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Nothing much," he replied doggedly. The last thing he wanted was Meryl to know was that he was still puzzling over this "Glory" girl.

"Ahh," Meryl said with a smile. She turned slightly, still holding that smile, and looked directly into his eyes. "You're thinking about that new girl."

Vash blinked and did a double-take. What? How could she know that?! "How could you know what I'm thinking?"

Meryl laughed. "I know." She leaned against him again, her eyes finding the slightly blurred, dark shape of Glory out in the mingled colors of sunset. "Did she say anything to you?"

"Not really," he tried. On another thought, he knew this wouldn't suffice, so he added on another sentence. "She dodged just about all of my questions."

"What do you mean?"

"Like this." He took a breath and wrapped his mechanical arm around her shoulders. "I asked her when she came to this town before. She said 'A few years back'. I asked her where she got that boomerang of hers. She said 'Out in the desert.' I asked her how old she was. She said 'I'm guessing about your age'." He gave a half smile and glanced down at Meryl.

Meryl seemed to be sharing his slight joke. A small smirk played at her lips, but she choked that down after a few moments and looked back up at him. "All in all, what did she tell you?"

He sighed. "Something along the lines of, 'Hi, I'm Glory, I like to sing, I carry a boomerang that weighs more than a man, I smile a lot, and if you ask me any direct questions, you'll get indirect answers'."

Meryl laughed. "Sounds like somebody else I know," she said, adding a playful pinch to his side.

A small yelp was her answer, and then - somehow - they ended up on the floor, laughing, with red cheeks and some knocked down random pieces of furniture and such. Poor living room.

At that moment, they were halfway tangled up in each other. They were both lying on their sides. Meryl's left leg was in between Vash's, and her right leg had somehow found its way up to his shoulder. Another "somehow" was for Vash's right hand - which seemed caught in her skirt pocket. It was then - that moment - that Milly decided to come downstairs, heading for the kitchen, and talking about how after just one day Knives was already looking better and so on.

She paused and walked backwards a few steps when she caught them out of the corner of her eye, and looked at them closely. The two smiled back, unsure of what to do or say. And then Milly smiled and dropped the whole thing, going on about how she was sure Knives would be just fine and that with the three of them working together, he'd be perfectly civilized in no time and ready to rejoin the world.

Meryl audibly sighed and started pulling them apart, trying not to jerk on any sensitive or bruised areas. Once they were both sitting up and dusting off, Meryl reached over to swat at Vash's arm.

He looked shocked. "What did I do?" he asked, in a voice that was half hurt, half innocent.

"You got us into that position," she accused.

His jaw dropped for added effect. "How did you come to that conclusion?" he demanded.

"You're the only contortionist I know, Vash," she said while getting up.

Not yet ready to let the matter drop, he reached up and caught the end of her skirt, tugging her down into his lap. He gave her a grin. "Why, hello there. Nice to see you, too," he said, trying again for innocence.

Meryl gave him her best glare, trying to appear angry, but ended up sharing his smile. She shoved at his chest as she got up, straightening her skirt before walking away, giving him a simple "You can't do this every time, you know," as she went into the kitchen to start with dinner.

Vash's grin didn't let up as he, too, got up, heading for the stairs. It was about time he checked on Knives himself, anyway. Although he seriously doubted Knives would be awake yet - let alone running around looking for his gun. But still, it would help to know when his twin was awake.

Much to his surprise, Knives was awake. Glaring daggers out the window, a scowl in place, and seemingly refusing to move. Vash walked right up to him and sat down on the chair next to the bed, still holding onto his smile. He leaned back and waited patiently for Knives to speak. He already knew the lectures that were to come, knew the excuses Knives gave for killing, knew the old metaphor they still used about spiders and butterflies.

"Then why do you wait for me to speak?" Knives said, faintly. He didn't sound angry, or in pain. He sounded almost. . .disappointed.

"Because I as well have nothing to say you haven't heard before," Vash replied, keeping his voice even - at least for now.

"And you think my views have changed? To give me a new opinion?"

"No. No, I think you're very angry at me for ruining your plans of destroying an entire species."

"What do you care?" Knives sneered, turning his head to look at his brother. "They're not your species."

"That doesn't take away their right to live. Not any more than it gives you the right to take their lives."

Knives smirked and looked away again. "So, we meet again, dear brother," he said in a mocking voice.

"It seems so," Vash said while standing up. "Hungry at all? Dinner's being made."

"Who was that woman that was just here?"

"Her name is Milly, though I doubt you'll use it. The other woman is Meryl. The four of us live here. Four, including you."

"And for how long?"

"That depends on you," Vash finished as he left, shutting the door quietly. If Knives needed anything, he'd more than likely contact him through their minds. No need in letting "the women" know he's awake.

Correct, brother, Knives' voice said in his head.

You should get some sleep, Vash thought back, not really in the mood for any sort of fight. He'd learned a lot during that fight with Knives - how to control his angel arm, how much they fight alike, and how to put up mental barriers to keep his thoughts from being heard or other's thoughts to get to him. Very helpful, when need be.

He was smiling again when he got downstairs, and started humming as he took his seat. Whatever was being made, it smelled really good. And then Meryl surprised him. She turned around and placed a box of donuts in front of him - a forty pack, she said. Followed by "Knock yourself out."

She probably didn't mean literally. . .

Meryl just shook her head. A forty box of donuts and then a full gallon of alcohol - he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

~*~

Ta-da! Third chapter is now finished! Unfortunately, I have no new glory pictures, seeing as how I'm working mainly on my Inuyasha ones for my fic "Transformations". Yep. And it's an awesome fic, really. Not to brag, but one look at how many reviews it has and you'll understand. *Sigh* Which reminds me, I've got to finish that one picture. . .

~DL~