Blue: Hello again! Wow four reviews for chapter one? I feel so honored!

Ivey: Oh yeah… HUGE honor… ::rolls eyes::

Blue: Well it's more than we got for chapter one of our first story!

Ivey: You mean the one you should be working on?

Blue: ::blushing in embarrassment:: Yeah… that one. Anyway onto the reviews! AnimeFreaks13- Thank you! Um… both of you! No Reb I didn't you read this before. Please hit Lana for me. I'm glad you liked it Jess! Here's an update for you! Aine of Knockaine- Thank you! I have like fifteen pages done so far… well notebook pages at least. Barely any of it is typed lol. Inkydoo- I will! I'm really trying to not make it cliché. Let's hope it keeps getting better! Al- ::blinks:: Awesome? You think so? Thank you!!! This story was the first fic I ever started so it'd my baby.

Ivey: ::snorts:: Your ugly baby…

Blue: ::pushes Ivey off her chair:: Anyway thank you everyone! All of you are so wonderful for reading it!

Ivey: Bitch!

Blue: Stop calling me that and do your job.

Ivey: ::narrows eyes:: Blue doesn't own Trigun. If she did I wouldn't have to say this stupid disclaimer. ::grumbles:: Good for nothing loser!

We Might As Well Be Strangers

By Blue

Chapter Two- What's Left Behind

While Meryl was busy conversing with Gram Millie's day continued as it normally would. She went to work, ate lunch, smiled her usual bright smile, and talked to her co-workers. However, at the end of the day she was at a loss as to what to do. Typically she went home to eat supper with Meryl and talk about their day, but now… 'I know I'll just have dinner at the saloon! It'll be a treat!' she thought. With that Millie headed to the saloon, ordered a sandwich, pudding, and beer, and enjoyed her meal. What Millie didn't know was that alcohol is a downer… a depressant and after three mugs of beer her cheerful attitude dropped like a rock. All of the sad feelings she'd been holding at bay with her big, big sister's sayings and her smiles suddenly hit with full force.

To put it simply Millie felt empty. Everyone she cared about was gone. Mr. Vash left with his brother, Wolfwood died, and now Meryl, her best friend, was gone too. She knew her family would be happy to see her, but they all had their own lives with friends, family, and children. What did Millie have?

"Nothing, that's what," she said aloud as she finished off her fourth beer and laid her head on the table. The saloon was filled with patrons yet Millie felt utterly alone. Brushing her long hair out of her face she paid for her dinner and drinks and left. "Sempai was right Mr. Vash is never coming back and I don't think she is either." As she stumbled into the house she rhythmically locked the bolt and with tears in her eyes she collapsed on her bed. 'What do I do now?'

"I don't see why you insist I wear these spiders clothes my old clothes were much more practical," Knives protested.

"Well they sort of screamed 'look at me,'" his brother replied.

"Oh yes and that ridiculous red coat you wore was so inconspicuous," Knives retorted. "Every time you stepped outside some human tried to collect the bounty on your head." Vash sighed as he put on his yellow tinted sunglasses and sat down. Knives sat down next to his brother and gazed off into the distance. "Vash, why do you so desperately want to go back to that town?"

"I promised the insurance girls we'd come back and I'm not desperate," he answered.

"You also promised them you'd write, didn't you?" Knives reminded him. A wave of guilt washed over Vash and he drew his legs up to his chest and rested his head on his knees. Nodding slightly, he pushed his sunglasses, which had slipped down his nose, back into place. "As I thought. What makes you think they're even still there?'

"I don't know… I just want them to be there I guess."

"They've probably moved on by now. Meryl is probably married and has children by now. Their life span is finite you can't expect them to wait around forever."

"That maybe true, but do you have to say it?" Vash inquired feeling rather hurt and foolish. They had probably forgotten about him… Meryl had probably forgotten about him. 'That or she'll hit me for not writing when we get there,' he thought with a shudder. The short girl hit really hard!

"I didn't mean to be cruel," Knives said tentatively. "Just go to sleep we still have a two day walk ahead of us. We'd be there already if you hadn't drove the car into that quick sand." A grin spread across Vash's face and e hugged his twin with a vice like grip.

"Oh Knives you do have a heart!"

"Let go me you fool!"

Meryl stared out of the window at the fifth moon with a frown. Gram had gone to the restroom and once again thoughts of Vash bubbled to the surface. There was nowhere on the planet she could go and not think of him. He'd left his mark on the moon and come night she'd always be reminded of him whether she wanted to be or not. "No matter where I go I can never escape that man," she muttered under her breath.

"Who can't you escape?" Meryl jumped at the sound of Gram's voice. He moved so quietly that she hadn't heard him come back and sit down next to her. He lit a cigarette and looked at her. She was staring at the cigarette in his mouth with a slight frown. While she liked Gram, he kept reminding her of things better left forgotten and he was eerily perceptive. He raised a brow at her. "Does this bother you?"

"What? Oh no, it's fine. You just reminded me of someone that's all. I met him on a bus and he smoked too," she answered vaguely/

"Who?"

"Nicolas D. Wolfwood," she said with a laugh. "He said he was a priest, but he was the only priest I ever met who carried an arsenal around with him and rode a motorcycle. But he died a while ago…" she trailed off with sadness in her voice. She may not have been close to the holy gunman, but when he was killed she shed her share of tears.

"I'm sorry," he replied somberly. "What about the other guy?"

"Who?"

"The one you can't escape?"

"Oh… no one important. Just an idiot I'd rather forget."

Millie had been absent from work the past two days and people were beginning to worry. The town priest went to see if she was all right, but when she opened the door she burst into tears and then slammed it shut without a word. Millie was depressed and those in town knew that was saying something. Unknown to the world she had spent the last two days certifiably drunk. She closed herself up in her room with three bottles of whisky she'd found in the cupboard and Meryl's notebook she'd fished out of the wastebasket.

When she finally finished off the first bottle she opened the notebook and turned through the pages. It was filled with entries, notes and letters paper clipped in and simple sketches. Several other random things were stuck here and there, such as a lid to a pudding cup taped to the inside of the back cover, an empty matchbook clipped next to an entry about Wolfwood, and a scrap of red cloth used as a bookmark.

Two of the letters were from Vash. One from an occasion he'd given them the slip simply read 'Please don't look for me. Vash' and the other was from when he left over a year ago. The lid was obviously from one of Millie's pudding cups, the matchbook, she guessed, was probably discarded without a thought by Wolfwood, and the cloth was the same color red as Vash's coat. The notebook was proof that Meryl wasn't planning on coming back… that she wanted to forget. When her door was greeted with another knock Millie didn't even react. She just lay in her bed buried under numerous blankets without the strength even for tears.

Blue: Well that's chapter two. I hoped you liked it. Please review!

Ivey: You are such a spaz…

Blue: And you're a very mean person.

Ivey: Great come back.