Blue: Wow I can't believe we wrote another chapter so soon! This was supposed to be my anti-writers block fic, but I'm all excited about writing it. I really should get back to work on my Fruits Basket fic. ::sigh:: Ok reviews!

Ivey: Faery Goddyss- ::glares and flicks her off::

Blue: ::bows slightly:: Thank you for the advice Faery Goddyss-sensei. No offense is taken and I have moved the A/N to the end of the chapter. My apologies for the lack of Knives in the last chapter I hope this one makes up for it.

Ivey: Why the hell are you calling her sensei? She's not your frickin' sensei.

Blue: Should I call her sama? ::Ivey rolls her eyes:: hope-is-4ever- It will get interesting I promise you! AnimeFreaks13- I never said Gram was after Vash… but then I guess I didn't say that he's not either… ::shrug:: inkydoo- ::laughing:: I like your version, but the reasoning behind the way we did it is this 1) Vash is trying not to attract attention and holding up an insurance office would be slightly suspicious and 2) on the credits of the last episode I'm pretty sure it shows Vash leaving his gun in the desert where he fought Knives though I'm not sure. I mean he does get rid of his red coat. Can you or anyone clarify that fact for me? It would be helpful to know for sure. I glad you love this story! The story loves you too!

Ivey: Yoh's girl- it is a pretty f-ing awesome fic isn't it? For the ::counting:: six reviews you get a gold star.

Blue: Jagaimo-Writer- No, no… you misunderstand. Gram is based on Ivey's brother Evan so any thinking of Gram in an ::thinking how she should put this:: intimate situation is really gross for her. And of course you're not a perv. Oh and we haven't decided everything about how intimate the pairing or pairings will be because we don't want to have to change the rating. Do you think implying two people ::thinking of a way to put it so she won't blush::

Ivey: Did the nasty? ::offers with a shrug::

Blue: ::smacks her own forehead:: You are so vulgar! Back to the point do you think just implying that two people… spent the night together is still PG-13 or would that be like R?

Ivey: Blue doesn't own Trigun, but she does own a drawing that she did of Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho with his shirt off. I don't know what she sees in that three-eyed midget…

Blue: IVEY! ::blushing::

Might As Well Be Strangers

By: Blue

Chapter Seven: Perhaps You're Happy Without Me

Being over one hundred and thirty years old Millions Knives was very aware of the passage of time and as such had learned the art of patience early on in life. He had also learned that next to gunshot wounds the most common cause of death was boredom. Since he was a child he had been very observant and spent most of his time acquiring knowledge and fine-tuning his plans for the creation of Eden. However, since the showdown with his sibling, Knives had come to the realization that the paradise he'd envisioned was impossible.

He'd wanted a place of natural beauty for just the two of them without the parasitic beings known as Homo sapiens where they could be content. The truth was that had Knives succeeded in destroying humanity and creating his Eden it would have been a place of suffering for his brother. Vash never would have forgiven him and would have left him. What good was paradise if it couldn't be shared with the ones you loved?

Knives had lost his sense of purpose, his objective, his raison d'être and often found himself in a state of restlessness. Millie had made a breakfast of coffee, eggs and toast for the two of them and once the quiet meal was finished she stacked the dishes in the sink and went to get ready for work. And so Knives was left alone in the kitchen with nothing to do. He had stayed behind as a favor to Vash, but Millie was doing considerably better than when they'd discovered her in her manic-depressive state. To keep him from his own depressing thoughts of uselessness he proceeded to wash the dishes. 'A superior, freeborn plant doing menial household tasks for a human… I have sunk very low indeed,' he thought with a snort.

As he was drying the last plate Millie came out of her room dressed in a white shirt, overalls and work boots and carrying her hard hat under one arm. The tall girl blinked in surprise at what she saw and smiled.

"You didn't have to do that Mr. Knives I was going to wash the dishes before I left for work."

"You would have been late," he replied with a seemingly indifferent expression upon his features, however this only caused her smile to brighten.

"You're right I am running behind this morning. Thank you very much! Well I'd better be going. See you later!" she said with a wave and was off. Thinking about her response to his unnecessary help with the chore Knives placed the last dish in the cupboard. It was like giving a cat a piece of string. Something so simple kept her happy for hours. Humans were inherently greedy, violent, and ruthless… or at least that's what he'd always believed. He'd experienced the cruelty of mankind first hand when he was a child from someone he thought he could trust…Steve.

It was through that man that Knives had seen the darker side of human nature. Rem had always told them that in mankind's new home there would be nothing but peaceful days with no war and no stealing. It would be an Eden where people could live in freedom and harmony. It had been an optimistic lie. Their current home had already been poisoned by the flaws of humanity and their new home would be no different.

It was no secret that Vash was the more sentimental of the two, while Knives was the definition of logic. To save the butterfly you must kill the spider. Vash just didn't understand. Steve may have beaten them both, but to Knives it was more painful to see Vash's tears than to receive the blows. He had crashed the SEEDs ships because in his own way he was trying to protect his brother from the harsh truths of humanity.

Now everything he had worked toward was ruined. It had been doomed from the start. Even if he still wanted to create his own personal Eden he couldn't. Vash would always be there to stop him. So now what? The question had plagued him for the last two years. Vash was happiest living with humans and while it disgusted Knives he couldn't leave his brother. The years apart from Vash had been lonely ones. He needed a purpose, but what? Knives sighed and silently wished Millie didn't have work today. She was a brilliant opponent in chess. He had still yet to bet her in a match. Perhaps he would challenge her to a gamewhen she returned.

Meryl stood silently in front of the Daisy Villa Apartment complex on Hazel Street trying to get the courage to walk in and knock on the door 102. The honking of a car horn made her jump and she berating herself for stalling she walked up the steps with her suitcase rolling behind her and went inside. The hallway looked the same as it had seven years before with its beige colored walls and its green and white tiled floor that always looked dirty no matter how often the landlord swept and moped. One of the overhead florescent lights flickered and buzzed annoyingly.

Standing before apartment number 102 Meryl fidgeted nervously with indecision. She'd checked out of the hotel in favor of seeing her brother and staying the night with him, but was this really such a good idea? Though they had exchanged letters over the last few years she wasn't sure if he'd want to see her. He'd done so much for her since their parents had died and she'd repaid him by calling him a failure amongst other things. Once she had completed secondary school she'd wanted to attend business classes, but Johnny had told her she couldn't.

Every time she brought it up he would say, "maybe in a year or two" and change the subject. He didn't want to tell her that they just couldn't afford. Tired with him telling her no without giving her a reason why she couldn't take classes now she confronted him one afternoon as he got ready for work. Her brother hadn't wanted to talk about it and the conversation escalated into an argument.

"Why? It isn't fair! Why can't I go?!" she'd demanded.

"Why don't you just get a job as a waitress or something?" he said not answering her question.

"You just don't want me to go cause then I wouldn't be a failure like you! It's your fault we live in a small apartment in a bad neighborhood! You haven't made anything of yourself you're just a busboy!" she yelled in anger. Johnny had stilled with his hand on his jacket and Meryl covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn't meant it, but it couldn't be taken back.

"If that's how you feel then you don't have to stay," he said in an icy tone, putting on his jacket and he slammed the front door behind him. When he came home later that night his baby sister wasn't there. Not long after she started working at Bernardelli and stayed with a friend until she had enough money for her an apartment of her own. She never did go to business school.

Taking a deep breath she raised her fist to knock on the wooden door and then lowered it. So involved in her argument with herself over whether this was a good idea she didn't hear when someone else entered the building. Bringing her fist up again she paused, sighed and lowered it again.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you gonna knock?" a familiar voice asked behind her. Turning around she saw the one and only Jonathan Stryfe standing there with a slight smirk on his face and holding a brown paper bag containing groceries. It was like looking into a slightly taller mirror image of herself. He had the same ebony hair and gray eyes, but his skin was slightly more tanned and he was several inches taller. His face was even shaped the same though it was more masculine. He looked exactly the same except for the faintest wrinkles at the corner of his eyes from smiling. He even still dressed the same with his faded jeans, T-shirt, and brown boots.

"Hi Johnny," she said with a weak smile.

"Hey Merry," he replied and unlocked the door. "Finally decided to visit I see," he said seeing her suitcase and motioned for her to follow him in. The apartment was exactly as she'd remembered it. The main room was as it always had been with its table and two chairs, the grubby old striped couch, the bookcase with various paperback novels collected over the years and the radio on the side table next to the lamp. The kitchen still had its plan wooden cabinets, yellow countertop, slightly rusty sink, and the same old brown fridge with photos of family and friends stuck to it with magnets. Even Meryl's old drawings were there. It was the same simple place she'd left seven years ago. It was home. Meryl stood there watching her brother as he put up the groceries and threw the bag into the trash bin. Leaning with one shoulder against the fridge he crossed his arms and smirked at her again.

"So what's my baby sister doing in December? Did you get home sick?" he asked teasingly.

"I came to get my job back at Bernardelli."

"Did you?" he prodded her.

"No…" she answered with a blush of embarrassment.

"So you need a place to stay then?"

"Yes, I mean no… I just wanted to come see you. Maybe spend the night if that's ok with you."

"Do you even have to ask?" he commented with a smile and Meryl returned a smile of her own. Before long they were sitting across from each other drinking sodas and catching up on the everyday things they'd missed in each other's lives.

"So are you still working at the saloon?"

"Yep, but I'm no longer a mere busboy. You're looking at the head bar tender!" Johnny informed her with a wiry grin. Meryl flinched at the 'mere busboy' comment and wrapped both hands around the aluminum soda can.

"Johnny I… I'm sorry about what I said before I left. I never meant it I was just…" she trailed off with a sigh as she stared at the tabletop. Meryl blinked and looked up when she felt two strong arms around her shoulders. She hadn't even heard him move, but there he was standing behind her hugging her the same way he did when she sat at that very same table years before drawing in a notebook or working on her homework.

"It's ok Merry. I'm just glad your home," he said comfortingly. At that Merry turned in her seat and buried her face in his shirt to hide the tears that threatened to run down her cheeks. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Johnny pulled back with a smile and sat across from her again. "So what are you going to do now that you're not an insurance girl anymore?"

Ivey: We leave a lot of cliffhangers.

Blue: It keeps the readers coming back for more

Ivey: It also pisses them off…

Blue: Yes, well that's why I have this ::holds up a stun gun:: Look what happens when I press this button! ::accidentally shocks Ivey with it:: Uh oh….

Ivey: ::laying on the floor twitching::

Blue: ::shrugs:: Oh well. Please review!