Waaaaah! I almost started to cry, because of what I did. Oh, I really didn't want to. But, in the long run, it had to be done. I'm sorry to my readers, but this hurt me as much as it might hurt you. Awww... ((sobs pitifully))
Oh, yes! In the sequel, which I'm still thinking of a name for, Alex's earlier life, as well as that of her mother, and her sparse few family members, is explained. If anyone caught my little hints with the "dreams" she had had, when she was drunk, or when she had fallen asleep at Vash and co.'s house, this will explain that. For now, though, I ain't telling nuthin'!
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She couldn't even speak, and felt rooted to the spot, as her stomach dropped along with her jaw. But then her body reacted on instinct, and in seconds she had leapt upon the Snake leader and was clawing and punching him to pieces with her bare hands, her rage unbelievable, even to her. She dimly noted that she was making a low, primitive and animal-like growling noise deep in her throat. When he lay unmoving, but still alive, she finally caught ahold of herself, and rushed to Eamon's side, tears threatening to spill.
"Eamon," she whispered softly, sniffing. "Oh, God, Eamon!"
His eyelids fluttered, and he smiled painfully at her. "Just re-rem-remember, m-my lad. I f-found out a-at thei-their house, w-when I had b-been shot the f-first time," he said, pausing with gasps of pain. He coughed suddenly, and she put her hand to his mouth, then pulled it back, and found, to her horror, blood. But he continued on valiantly and determinedly. "T-they w-were t-talking. It w-was the f-fir-first time I had w-w-woken up. I s-saw you, an-and I heard th-them talk-ing, an-and they s-said y-you were a g-girl." The last word was hardly a whisper, obviously to be kept from the Coyotes that were crowding around.
"Eamon, shush, you'll tire yourself out," she said quietly.
"I-I fell i-in lo-love with y-you," he said suddenly, and smiled in a bittersweet way. "Y-you're beau-beautiful, you know th-that?" He coughed again, then continued. "I'm d-dying, Alex. T-though you d-deny it, you know I'm g-going to d-die."
She raised his upper body into her lap, cradling his head, then she whispered in his ear. "I fell in love with you, too, Eamon. I love you, my protector."
He gave a harsh chuckle, and said, "S-so you k-know that o-one, eh?" He fell silent, staring at the sky, the darkening emeralds searching for something in the depths above. Then finally he said, "Luck's a f-fickle lady. A-at one m-moment, she's y-your g-goddess. B-but then, j-just like that, s-she's gone. L-Lady Luck f-finally gave me up t-to Fate." He paused, then he gave another rough laugh, that made him spew more blood onto his chest. "What a bitch."
She knew when he died; she could feel the final shaky breath leaving his body, and feel the limp heaviness that overcame him after that. She stared into his eyes, which were now not like jewels, but were instead dull and blank.
Alex could feel the scream coming, ripping up from the depths of her soul, clawing up her throat, streaming into her mouth. But she didn't release it. Instead, she laid Eamon's body down comfortably on the sand, closing his eyes with trembling fingers, then she rose up. She turned, and without thought she made her way towards the Snake leader, who was cringing on the ground. In the corner of her eye, she saw Lucius and Vann drop down next to Eamon's body, the former staring blankly at him, the later sobbing without shame.
In one deft movement she pulled out her pistol, cocked the hammer back, and put it against the enemy's head. He blubbered and whined, but it was weak now, and he knew he was going to die.
"Alex!" She thought the cry would be unexpected, but inwardly, she knew it was coming. Vash came up behind her, and stood still there, staring between her and the Snake leader.
"He will die now," she said in a cryptic, empty voice.
"I know, it feels wrong of me to tell you not to kill him," the voice said in a quiet voice, but her sharp ears caught the pain hidden within it. "After he killed Eamon. But you can't do it. Please. If you do it, it just shows you are as low as him, which I know you're not."
"He is beneath scum. There is no way I would be as low as him," she said darkly. Then she added, in a sharper voice, "It wouldn't be a waste. Just like taking out the trash; spring cleaning."
She could hear the brief hardness in his voice as he spoke. "Then...then why kill him? He isn't worth it, Alex. Don't taint Eamon's death with this man's."
Something in her snapped at those words, and she turned on him, her rage rising up again. "What would you know of it, huh? Eamon was my friend! He was mine, not yours! You never even knew him! How dare you try to compare him with this man! That's what you're doing, you're lowering him!" Without thinking, she prodded him in the chest sharply with her pistol barrel, but he did nothing, he didn't even move, or blink. There was a moment when neither of them moved; but then his immobility disturbed her, for some reason, and she drew back.
"Fine, I won't kill him," she said softly, and uncocked her pistol, then, holstering it, she turned back to the Snake leader. "Go, coward," she said in a deathly gentle voice. "Run away, far from here. Never cross my sight again!" Then she turned her back on him, looking at the Coyotes. "Let's go back home," she commanded briskly. "Lucius and Vann, take...take Eamon. Go."
She barely threw another glance at Vash, as she walked after her retreating comrades. But then she heard him walking beside her, and she glanced at him. "Are you happy now?" she asked quietly.
"No," he said. "But I am relieved." They fell into silence again, and continued walking.
Then she heard it. That sound would always be imprinted on her memory now, until the day she died; the sound of a gun being cocked, the click of the hammer. And, as she turned, the gun fired.
All Alex felt was a whoosh of air, and a brief snag on her shirt. She felt fear, then a sudden rush of relief when she realized she hadn't been hit. She heard another gunshot, and then she saw the Snake leader fall, and she knew, immediately, that he was dead. She stared in surprise at Vash, and at his smoking gun. He had killed someone.
The Coyotes came running back, guns drawn. "It's alright now," she said, to try and calm them. But then she heard the pop of buttons, and, before she could think, her shirt tore open. The bullet had ripped her shirt, and now... she was revealed to all the Coyotes, as well as Vash and Wolfwood. She grabbed her shirt and yanked it back together over herself, blushing red, and feeling the tears well up. She didn't dare look at any of them, especially not Vash.
Meryl and Milly raced over, concern on their faces. "Don't worry, Alex, we'll get you out of this," Meryl whispered, then she took on a booming, commanding voice. "What are you all doing, just standing around? Get to work! Go, move it!" And, as if they had just been reprimanded by their mothers for being naughty, they all hurried off back to the saloon. Vash and Wolfwood, though, just stood there in silence.
"So, that's what it was," Wolfwood said quietly, and gave a little, awed chuckle. "I knew there was something different about you. Huh, I guess you just never know."
Her head snapped up in surprise. "So...you're not angry?"
"Angry?" Vash said quietly, then he smiled, a true, sincere smile. "Why would we be angry? Alex, this is more surprising than it is anything else, but it definitely isn't angering. Though you should go speak with the others, make sure they understand."
"Okay," she agreed quietly, then she simply tied the shirt to keep it closed, and hurried off with the others.
Alex explained everything to them, from her first ideas of becoming an outlaw, and Kara's remark on world sexism, to Meryl and Milly's discovery, and such. Everyone was surprised, shocked, and there were a few astonished ones; but, strangely enough, nobody was truly angry. After a while, a few even thought it was funny, and broke out laughing, until the exhaustion and tragedy of the day stopped them immediately.
They held a burial for Eamon. Wolfwood did a sermon for him, and then everyone said a few words. Though she remained strong through it, later, when she was on her own, she let herself sob her eyes out, pouring her soul out in her tears. Eamon, her first love and, above all else, best friend, was gone. Afterwards she gathered herself together, and then she wouldn't ever cry for him again.
But right before Vash and company left, she learned something very strange, something that would change her life once again.
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Here you are, THREE quotes-of-the-chapter, to make up for what I did to my beloved Eamon...((starts sobbing again))
"If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk!"
"Reality is an illusion created by lack of alcohol."
"Light travels faster than sound; that's why some people appear bright before they speak."
: Wolf