A/N: Ok, the chapter I have been waiting to do FOREVER!!!! Chapter 7! This is the chapter you learn Karen's back-story. Also the one known as...The one with all the Bebop references. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing my stories here and on other places. I'm still writing because of you. And lastly...Pierre Bernard, You rock!!!!

Chapter 7:You Live, You Learn, and Then You Know

Karen woke up a little to the smell of eggs and bacon. "God, maybe I am hungry.", she said getting up. She didn't even bother to change. She went out to the kitchen in Milly's huge pajamas and her hair down. (A/N: You notice a lot of the story takes place in the kitchen? Ah well.) "Good Morning, Miss Karen.", said Milly, taking some bacon out of the pan. "Good Morning Milly." Karen sat down and looked at Meryl. She stared at her for a split second, then turned away. Milly gave Karen a plate. "So, are you ok?" Karen nodded. She pulled her hair out of her face and picked up her fork. "Good Morning Everybody!", said Vash coming into the kitchen. He had a huge smile on his face. Meryl smiled back at him. "Good Morning Vash." Vash sat down next to Karen. "How was your night?"

"Fine." Karen put some eggs in her mouth. She swallowed and looked at Vash. "Aren't you worried?" Vash took his plate from Meryl. "About what?" Karen stared at him. "The fight with Melody. It's tomorrow evening." Vash sighed. "I am worried actually. I just..."

"You don't want to show you're nervous", replied Karen, finishing a piece of bacon.

Vash put his hand behind his head and laughed nervously. "Yeah."

Meryl and Milly sat down. "You'll be fine Vash," said Meryl, reassuring him. "You are the best gunfighter we know." Vash swallowed. "I don't have mine anymore." Karen grabbed the wrist of his left arm and held it up while still managing to eat her eggs. "What about this?" Vash looked at it. "Well, I guess..." Suddenly, his eyes got large. "Wait! How did you know about that?!" Karen winked. "I have my ways."

Meryl finished her food. "I should be going." She got up and left the kitchen. She put on her overcoat and opened the door. "I'll see you two this afternoon." She closed the door behind her. "Bye Meryl!", shouted Vash. Milly finished her food and got up. "I should be going too." She left the Kitchen and grabbed her overcoat. She was about to step out the door, when there was a knock. Milly opened the door. A blonde girl in a black delivery uniform was standing on the porch. Milly looked at her. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for a Miss Karen Sorel. Is she here?"

"Why yes," said Milly, "She's right here." Karen walked over to the door and looked at the delivery girl. "Yes?"

"Miss Sorel, I have a letter for you."

Karen stared strangely at the girl. "Who is it from?"

The girl handed the letter to Karen. "You'll see when you read it." She winked at her and walked off. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Karen turned the envelope in her hands and ran off into Milly's room. "Karen," shouted Vash behind her, "What's going on?" Karen stayed silent. About 5 minutes later, Karen flung open the door. She was fully dressed, her hair was up, and she still had the letter in her hand. Karen pushed by Milly and Vash and flung open the door. She made her way around the house and climbed the ladder to the roof. "Milly, what is she doing?" Milly looked up. "Leave her be for now. It seems like something important to her."

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Later that night

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Meryl, Milly, and Vash just finished eating dinner. Karen was still on the roof. "Why has she been up there all day?", asked Meryl to Vash. "I don't know," said Vash, "She just got a letter this morning and she rushed into Milly's room. She came out five minutes later and just made a beeline to the roof. She's been up there since." Meryl looked concerned but she shook it off. "She'll come down eventually. Vash, it's a nice night. Let's sit on the porch." Vash hesitantly nodded and followed her. He turned to Milly. "Are you coming?" Milly shook her head. "I'll stay in." Vash shrugged and made his way to the porch. Milly walked into her room and snuck out her window. She made her way up the ladder to see Karen sitting down and smoking. "Karen, are you ok?" Karen looked at her, looked away and nodded. "Yeah." The smoke drifted above her as her cigarette rested in her fingers. Milly sat down next Karen. "What are you doing up here Karen? You've been up here since morning."

Karen took a puff of her cigarette. She stamped out the butt and started rummaging through her pockets for a pack. "I can't tell you Milly. Not right now anyway." She found it and lit up a cigarette. She blew the smoke up and it melted into the night air. Karen looked at Milly. "If you don't want me to smoke, just tell me." Milly shook her head. "It's ok. I don't mind." Karen sighed and put the cigarette in her mouth. "Milly, I can't tell you what I'm planning, but I should tell you something."

Milly looked at her. "What do you want to tell me?"

Karen blew smoke out of her nose and her mouth. "How I ended up here. From my old life to how I got to Gunsmoke. It's a long story though."

Milly turned her head to the side. "I have the time."

Karen sighed and flicked the ashes off over the side of the roof. "Well, it started more than 50 years ago. Earth time, mind you. I was 15 years old and I was different from all the other kids. I always wore black and covered my right eye with my hair. I only did it because I was partially blind in that eye. It worked better that way. Anyway, I really only had two friends. They were Jasmine and Aria. Jasmine never went by her real name though. She always went by Jazz. Even teachers called her Jazz. She was an ideal student. Pretty brown eyes, curly brown hair, a great sense of fashion and was always in the top of the class. Everyone thought she would be with the popular kids but she was my best friend for the longest time. Aria was equally as smart and pretty. I never knew her older sister, but I heard they were a lot alike. She took a shine to me right away." She grinded her cigarette butt into the top of the wall and leaned back into her chair. "We were the weirdest group of people you would meet, and we got by. But big stuff happened in 2022."

Milly cocked her head. "What stuff?"

Karen glared at her. "I'm about to tell you!"

"Sorry"

"It's ok. In 2022, Project SEEDS left Earth with a quarter of the population. They wanted to be first to find a new planet to live on before the hyperspace gates were built."

"Um...Pardon my ignorance," said Milly silently, "What's a hyperspace gate?"

"Oh sorry.", said Karen, "I forgot to explain the gates. The gates are the only way people can get from one planet to another in the Main System. Actually, I don't know how to explain them. I just know there isn't one to Gunsmoke. Now, where was I? Yes, I remember. SEEDS left Earth and Aria, Jazz, and me was effected by it. One of our favorite teachers, Miss Anizaka, left with them and Aria's sister was part of the crew. We didn't wanna leave yet though. We wanted the solitude of Earth before we saw the dusty surface of Mars."

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"What's Mars, Karen?"

Karen put her head in her hand and leaned back. "Mars is one of the main hubs in the Main System. It's suppose to be a great place to raise a family, but I wouldn't know." She pulled out a cigarette. "And before you ask, the Main System is the original system of planets, moons and asteroids. Gunsmoke is isolated from it all. The governments from the Main System offered help, but Gunsmoke refused."

"Ahhh.", said Milly, "Thanks for clearing that up."

"No problem. So, a few months later, Jazz comes to my house and tells me that her mom has decided they are leaving once the gates are done. I start bursting out crying and run out to the park. Jazz runs after me and catches me at the entrance. We started arguing. I almost started crying again when I see this shadow fall over Earth. I had no idea what it was. I asked Jazz, but before she could answer, there was a crash. As it turns out, there was an accident with the gate. I'm not exactly sure of what happened but Jazz, Aria, and me died that day. I don't know how it happened, but we also ended up with the same fate. All three of us became guardian angels."

Milly's eyes got big. "Wow."

Karen nodded. "I barely remember my first two jobs. They had short lives. Jazz has only had two and she didn't like her first one. Aria, on the other hand, has had the same one the whole time."

"Vash?"

"Yup. So, a week after my second job dies, I get a third one. His name was Nicholas D. Wolfwood. From the first time I saw him, there was a connection. As he grew up, I treated him like he was my little brother. I tried so hard to protect him, but I had a feeling he was going to die young. When I was with him when the bus pulled over, I saw you three and Aria and I knew he was going to stay with you, Vash, and Meryl and it killed me when he left you three. Especially leaving Aria. But that day, in that town. I don't remember the name. Vash and Wolfwood met again and were together since then. I was so happy. I was with Aria, Wolfwood wasn't lonely and you were back in his life. He was in love, but he could never admit it to himself. Then, the day I was dreading came. I found out he was suppose to die. Usually, an angel steps aside and lets the person they were protecting be killed. But I thought 'Screw That!' and before Chapel fired, I clinged onto Nick and extended his life by an hour."

Tears started to well in her eyes. She looked over to Milly. Tears were already starting to fall. "Milly, I can stop if you want me to." Milly shook her head. "I want to hear it all." Karen sighed and stamped out her cigarette with her heel. "I helped Wolfwood to the church. I knew he never confessed and that's what he wanted to do. When I got there, Georgia, the Angel of Death who is always hounding me is waiting. Once an Angel of Death takes a soul, they are gone forever. Georgia is an impatient one."

"She seems terrible."

"Well, what did you think of that delivery girl today?"

"She seemed nice. Why do you ask?"

"Because that was Georgia."

Milly gasped but Karen continued. "We stood there and listened to him. I didn't want him to die but Georgia and I knew our jobs. When Georgia took his soul and he saw me for the first time, that's the first time I ever really saw fear in him. He seemed fine with dying but it was leaving you three that was hard for him." Her tears streamed now. "We went up into Heaven. I tried to go back down before Vash's fights with Legato and Knives, but I couldn't. I was in trouble for extending Wolfwood's life. So Wolfwood and I stood on the sidelines and watched it all unfold. It was all so much. When the fight with Knives came, we were hoping Aria would keep Vash alive. At one point, we thought Knives would win and Vash was going to die. That's when Nick stepped in. I remember everything he said. 'Needle Noggin! It's right next to you! Use it!' And that's how Vash won. He used the Cross Punisher and beat Knives."

Milly leaned back. "Is that all?"

Karen rolled her head back. "I wish. Both Wolfwood and I were in trouble because of what we did. I had to do office work for 6 months and Wolfwood got held off from being a guardian angel for a month. So, we got off our punishment at different times. After I got out of the office, I was given an assignment. To go back to Gunsmoke and stay with Vash, Meryl and you. They didn't give me a reason though. So, last week, I ended up here. Now Melody comes into play and I'm waiting for somebody that I can't tell you about. I also can't tell you about my plan because I need this person to show up first and tell me it's ok." Karen sat straight up and looked Milly in the eye. "Any questions?"

"Only one.", said Milly, backing away slowly, "What about Jazz?"

Karen plopped back and looked up at the sky. "Her second job was very similar to Vash in many ways from what she told me. He even had a tainted childhood that could rival Vash's. Nonetheless, he was also opposite of Vash. He was a bounty hunter on Mars. He had a devil-may-care attitude and he was always wanting beef. Apparently, the life of a bounty hunter is tough."

Milly nodded. "So is the life of a bounty."

"Well that's true. But this guy also had a past that he was never really freed of. That's how he died. He was coming to terms with his past. He left behind people who cared for him, but it turns out he didn't really care that he was going to die. The only woman he ever truly loved died in his arms. So, he killed the only man that could kill him. If that man died, this guy could be free. He finally was free. Jazz said he was smiling when he died. He died around the time Wolfwood did actually if I remember right. I even think I met him once."

"What was his name?"

Karen shrugged. "I don't remember actually. I wish I did. He is a interesting guy."

Milly stood up. "Well, I'll leave you alone now. I hope everything goes well." She made her way to the ladder.

"Milly..."

"Yes, Karen?"

Karen shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind."

Milly smiled. "Good night Karen." And she climbed down the ladder.

"You too Milly," whispered Karen. "You too."

A/N: Three guesses on who Jazz was a guardian angel for. ;)