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 Nine: Milly's Present

Glory sighed as she struggled to stay awake. It was, after all, her responsibility to make sure Nicholas was taken care of until he was fully functional again, and even while Vash drove, her eyes were drooping. She didn't want to get some sleep; she wanted to double-check Nicholas' stats every time she thought of it. Which reminds her. . .

She glanced over at him, nearly asleep himself. His body needed time to wake up completely and regenerate everything Glory didn't quite reach; only sleeping could do that. He was trying just as hard as she to stay awake, though, she had to give him that. He was leaning heavily against his left fist, elbow propped on the edge of the jeep. Every now and again his eyes would drift shut, and then jerk open again as he struggled against sleep.

In front of her, Knives hadn't bother with fighting to stay awake, simply let himself drift away when he got tired. Vash looked like he was going to be awake until they got back; probably it was something he engrained upon himself over so many years of getting up fast and staying up until he found somewhere to hide - or, more precisely, somewhere where he could feel safe enough, hidden away from the world, to sleep to his heart's content.

She woke up too late uncountable times over the past century, finding him already gone and cursing herself for not having that strange ability. She cursed herself most of all for three particularly hard moments: being too late to stop Knives at July, not getting there soon enough to stop Legato at Augusta, and for failing to get to Legato first when Vash killed him. If you could call it that - technically, didn't Legato commit suicide, albeit through somebody else?

Whatever you call it, with the way it messed with Vash's head, all Glory could do was blame herself for not making there in time. That's what she got for sleeping in, thinking there would be momentary peace after Wolfwood died. But no; Knives just had to make Vash suffer some more by telling Legato to force Vash into killing him.

At least the freak died in the end.

Glory's train of thought continued to drift away until at last she was asleep, eyelids heavy and body going limp. Ahh, cushions, how nice they are.

Next day

Glory woke slowly, eyes blurring, to bright sunlight. The fact that there was no wind told her that they weren't going anywhere at the moment, and Vash was slumped in the driver's seat, head back and mouth slightly open. She looked left and saw Nicholas leaning entirely on her and the back seat, wearing much the same expression as Vash. In front of her, Knives was lifting and dropping his right arm, testing how far it could move.

How long have you been up?

Without turning to look at her, Knives replied, About an hour.

How long has Vash been asleep?

Since dawn.

What time is it?

Six or seven. I don't have a watch, he added, in a slightly annoyed way.

Glory sneered at his back and very carefully maneuvered Nicholas to be resting against the cushion and got out, hopping over the side of the jeep. She walked around to the driver's side and - being careful - kept Vash's mind asleep as she moved him to her previous seat, letting him sleep all he wanted. She got in the front and started the jeep, checking the fuel before letting off the brake.

"I don't go slow," she warned Knives. "You save more gas that way."

Knives feigned a look of terror. "Don't kill us all!"

Glory laughed. "I just might, to get some quiet time." With that she added pressure to the pedal and the jeep added a good twenty mph. "We'll be back in no time!" she called to Knives over the rush of the wind.

If there was anybody you didn't want to piss of while driving, it was Glory. She trained herself in doing all sorts of tricks to scare the bejesus out of people, and she prided herself on being able to do it at top speeds. Generally she needed to get used to the vehicle first, but if need be, she could do without it. A jeep wasn't exactly the best choice, but only jeeps could take jumps so well. Dunes were fun when you had a jeep.

She kept the speed at a relatively slow one until both of the back passengers woke up, and then - once they were fully awake - practically floored it. "Hold on!" she yelled as they neared a towering dune, and got launched. All three men yelled protests but it was a little late for that; another second and she landed, sand spraying in every direction and gave the guys whiplash. Glory laughed madly and steered recklessly, scaring the piss out of the guys until Vash and Knives got her to stop and let Vash take over again.

She pouted the rest of the way back, muttering angry curses and damning the male species.

Milly (Almost 1st POV)

She hummed as she and Meryl cleaned off the kitchen table. She missed Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives and Miss Glory, but Miss Glory had said that she had to take Mr. Vash somewhere for a little while, and Mr. Knives had joined in. They've only been gone a day, and she was missing them.

Meryl doesn't miss them. She keeps saying how glad she is to get some peace and quiet, but she really worries about Mr. Vash whenever he's gone. Kind of like how she missed Mr. Priest. But she had Mr. Priest's baby and Meryl didn't have Mr. Vash's baby. If it weren't for the baby Milly just might. . .just might. . .

Well, she might be crying right now.

But Miss Glory had said that she would come back with a present that Milly would just love, something that related somewhat to the baby. Milly was so excited, Miss Glory was getting her a present! Yesterday Milly had finished writing letters saying that she was pregnant to her family, the 'Milly Monthly' letters to her ten brothers and sisters, cousins and aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. . .she had a big big family, alright!

But what was it that Miss Glory was coming back with? Nothing Milly could think of. Maybe some baby clothes? But she wouldn't need Mr. Vash for that. . .Or maybe something that Vash would have to carry, like a crib and a dresser and baby clothes and blankets and baby toys and -

"Milly, you're blabbering again," Meryl told her, breaking into her thoughts.

Meryl was so funny! "I'm just thinking, Meryl! What do you think Miss Glory and Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives is going to bring back for me? Baby things?"

"Maybe," Meryl said. "Knowing Vash, he's going to help all he can. And knowing Glory, she's got something up her sleeve."

So funny! "But Miss Glory doesn't have sleeves, Meryl. Her shirt is sleeveless and stomach-less."

Meryl made a sound like a laugh and a sigh put together. "I meant metaphorically, Milly."

"Yeah!" Milly said, and then thought about it. "But why would Mr. Knives go, too?"

Meryl shrugged. "I don't know, but the house is better without him around. He's just full of negative energy. If I had to say why he left," she went on, thinking it through, "I'd have to say that he wanted to go because he wants the three of them to be together. Haven't you noticed? Knives apparently really likes the whole 'family' idea."

"He really really likes Mr. Vash and Miss Glory!" Milly agreed happily, and continued chirping on and helping to straighten everything until she heard the door open. "Miss Glory is back!" she yelled. "She's come with my present!" Milly hurried towards the door to see what Miss Glory brought back - and froze.

Glory

"Hey, Milly," Glory said, and gestured Nicholas. "My present to you and your baby, so to speak. Go ahead, Nick. Say hi."

But Nicholas was grinning. "Hi, honey," he said, still learning against Vash. Standing up straight, he opened his arms. "I can't quite make it over there yet. Want to come here and hug me?"

Finally, Milly gave a response. She shrieked in joy and ran for Nicholas, arms outstretched and hit him full force, knocking him back into the wall. She talked too fast to understand and laughed, hugging Nicholas tightly.

Really, Glory was happy for them. They deserve to be a happy family and raise their child within such happiness and love. And Glory hoped she'd still be around to help raise the child, she really did. But one never really knew when it came to herself and her siblings. "I hope you thoroughly enjoy your present, Milly," Glory said as she helped to steer Knives onto the couch.

Vash walked directly into the hall, calling for Meryl to show herself, and got hit with the same type of hug that Nicholas did. Eye filling, Glory grinned at them, eternally happy and grateful that her older brother had found such love, even if his love had a temper to be challenged. As well, she felt envy for Meryl, for she would likely not have such loving hugs in her entire lifetime, most especially from her big brother.

It was rare to find interspecies love, but Vash - through all odds - had done it. He and Meryl would most likely never be separated, even through death. Who knows, maybe Vash could find some sort of power that could make Meryl as immortal as himself.

And Glory would likely never have that. There was such a thin chance of her finding such a thing, mainly because of how the sexes thought. Men had a much harder time of handling such loves, if they learned to love at all. But women would sacrifice everything for love, if they were sure that this love was for them. And looking back, Glory could count endless stories and physical proof of such love. When women found a love worthy of defying death, the men often had that same love, and they lived happily until they both died.

And somehow, Glory knew that she would never find that love for herself, even as she saw it spring up around her. Vash and Meryl, Milly and Nick, Wesley and his wife Laura. . .Dozens and dozens of other people she had met in her lifetime. . . Uncountable romance novels and stories. . .

And none for her.

Oh, boy. Glory doesn't think that she'll ever find love. Who wants to disagree? Agree? Takes all bets Alright. . .categorizing I don't bet, but I'll organize. Writes it all down Yeah yeah. . .I got you. . .and you. . .seven to one, you say. . .That's a bit deep. . . Two hundred?!

DL