According to Neil, the old mine split into two caves, one to the north, and the other to the east. The north tunnel, although for the time emptied of miners, was a mineral depository. A few months back they had started digging the second tunnel and ran into ancient rock formations, proving that at one point in time in the history of Gunsmoke there were lakes and oceans. From a scientific standpoint that meant the water had to be somewhere on the planet because it couldn't just disappear, could it? The miners and the historians in town argued to the point where the mayor simply closed the mine until the dispute was ended.

The only sounds within the cave this morning were footsteps of children already playing in the caves, water from some hidden underground river, and the occasional soft tinkle of rocks falling from the ceiling. Vash glanced over his shoulder at Milly. Her eyes were wide open in amazement, she cast about looking at the carved walls, the girders, the electric lights that lined the pathway, and would stoop from time to time to pick up some discarded pebble or another. She didn't look depressed anymore, and he smiled softly, knowing that if she had remained pensive he would have ended their day with goodbyes, but he was rather glad he didn't have to.

When they reached the fork in the path, Vash turned to Milly and she stopped walking. Two children ran by out from the east tunnel, "Hey Vash! Hi Vash! Hi Lady!"

"Hi guys!" The gunman waved as they disappeared back into the sunshine. He lowered his hand and reached into his pocket. "Okay Milly, this is where the fun starts." Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he lifted it to her eyes, "I'm going to blindfold you now."

"But…" Milly looked a bit disappointed, "I've been having fun just looking at everything!"

Vash chuckled, "I promise it will only be for a few minutes and then you'll be able to see everything on the way back, how's that?" He waited for her to nod slowly and put the cloth up to her eyes, tied it behind her head and waited for her to adjust it more comfortably on her face. "How's that? You can't see anything can you?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

"It's all dark," she said after a minute and put her hand out, "Lead away!"

"Okay!" Vash took her hand in his own and pulled her close to him, she startled, bumped into him and then managed to steady herself. "Keep near me, the tunnel gets pretty narrow up ahead." Immediately she pressed up against him and Vash felt himself flush involuntarily. It was an unexpected reaction on his part because normally girls didn't have this effect on him. He squeezed her hand and started walking, carefully watching the path in front of Milly's feet, her head, her sides, making sure she wouldn't bump into anything or trip over anything. It wasn't hard keeping a watch like this, kind of like driving a car, only a lot slower, and when the tunnel began to narrow he pushed her ahead of him and put his hands on her shoulders. From time to time they had to duck under low hanging rocks and ever so often they heard giggling up ahead and the sound of water grew louder.

After about ten minutes they came out into the cave and Vash let go of Milly. She waved her hands around searching for him, "Vash?"

"I'm here, just stand where you are for a second." He walked around in front of her, and looked at her face, her sweet pink lips pursed with anticipation. Vash swallowed, he leaned forward, thinking about kissing her again. She didn't pucker up and didn't move away so he knew she really couldn't see him. But it didn't seem like the right moment for it and he lifted his hands to her blindfold instead and said, "Are you ready?"

"Yup!" Milly could feel her heart pounding in her chest as he took off the blindfold and stepped to her side. Her eyes widened and she looked out in front of her at the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The cave was full of teeth, some hanging from the ceiling, some coming up from the ground, small and large, spreading on the length of the cave until there was a drop off. She stepped forward, looking at everything, unable to speak, there were little alcoves and shimmering rocks, farther on she could see water, actual running water, and Milly turned to look back at Vash. "This is beautiful!"

Vash smiled brightly, "I thought you might like it."

"I love it!" She clapped her hands together and walked over to the little stream that ran along the back of the cave and disappeared out of sight under a wall. "Wow, I've read about things like this, but look at everything!" Milly squatted down and dipped her fingers in the cold water. "It's so cold!"

Stepping up to stand behind her, Vash was still smiling, his eyes catching glimpses of giggling children playing hide and seek behind the stone formations. He remembered reading about these things himself, they were called stalagmites and stalactites, and back on Earth they kept them well guarded from human hands because of how fragile they were. On this planet they had no such guards because to the miners the only real use they had in this cave was the running water. The children were taking little stone teeth and pebbles and calling out to one another about their finds. It was like a treasure cave, a magical place to play, and Vash was glad he got to come here himself.

Milly plopped down on the ground, taking her shoes off, and she glanced up at him, "I'm going to put my toes in!" She was grinning as Vash sat down next to her. "I love mines but I've never seen one like this before. My big little brother worked in the coal mines to the south, and my cousins work in the silver mine, and they've taken me from time to time. It's so peaceful in a cave, it's as if you're closer to God since we're inside one of his creations." Milly had her shoes off now and pulled her socks off before rolling up her pants and sticking her feet into the water. "Cold!"

Vash laughed, "Yeah, it is." He considered taking his own boots off but decided not to, opting instead just to watch Milly enjoying herself as she looked into the deep water. "Hey! What's that?" He pointed at something in the water, and Milly put her hands in her armpits and glared at him. Vash laughed, "No! I'm not trying to fool you this time. There was a flash of silver a second ago… There it is again!"

Leaning forward, Milly unfolded her hands and looking into the water she spotted what he was pointing at. "Fish!"

"Fish?" Vash frowned, "But they don't have eyes."

Milly turned her blue eyes on him, "Cave fish are blind, didn't you know that?"

"Guess I missed that class," Vash grinned. He put a hand to his head and laughed. "This planet sure has a lot of hidden secrets in it!"

"Sure does!" Milly scooped her hand into the water and the fish swam away. She lifted her hand to her lips, managing to drench herself as she sipped the cold liquid. "It tastes good too."

Vash followed suit and agreed with her. "It's a pity the whole planet doesn't have water like this."

Milly nodded, "Yeah." She wiped her hands off on her pants and sat looking into the running water for a long time, trying to imagine what it would be like to have river outside, where trees and flowers could grow beside it. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture it, imagining her family farm and adding this little stream with the sparkling fish, the sun shining down, kids giggling like they were now as they ran by. When she opened her eyes a little girl and boy were sitting on her left side, peering up at her. "Why, hello."

"Hello lady," they said in return. The little girl splashed in the water and laughed. "I hope we get to play here forever."

"Yeah, me too," the boy joined in. Then they both stood up again and ran off into the rocks. Milly smiled after them, her heart felt so light and even though the sunlight and trees from her imagination faded, she could still feel the warmth.

She turned to look at Vash, and his eyes had closed as well, he leaned back, his nose facing the tall ceiling above. Milly wondered what he could be thinking about. Such a soft hearted man to be labeled with so many nicknames and crimes. How could anyone even think that he did any of the things that he was wanted for? The gunman was talented, there was no doubt about that, but he was good enough not to make mistakes that could kill someone, well, except for that Bad Lad on the sand steamer. Milly was glad he hadn't harmed anyone after that, and had helped the man by taking care of his wound, even when he had his own wound to deal with.

That reminds me, she thought to herself, her eyes shifting from Vash's face down his torso to his side. The gun holes were all sewn up now and the ketchup stains were gone, not that you could see them very well on the red coat anyway, but she wondered how his wound was healing. If she remembered correctly, when her oldest brother got shot on accident during a sand worm hunting competition, his wound took at least a month to heal. But Mr. Vash only once complained about his wound after he was shot, and that was only about two weeks ago when she and Meryl dropped the ceiling of the ancient ship on him and the priest. Milly bit her lip. Was he really okay? He never acted hurt. She shook her head. Best not to pry, guys have easily bruised egos and if he's hurting then he would have complained if he wanted the attention. My big, big brother whined that entire month until the wound was healed, such a big baby.

Vash opened one eye and glanced at her, "What are you looking at?"

Milly spooked, turned away and blushed, "Oh nothing."

"You're wondering about my gunshot aren't you?"

"No…" Milly stopped, "You really can read minds can't you?"

He smiled mysteriously, "Maybe."

She really wasn't sure whether to take him seriously or not because he laughed and tilted his head down again to look at her. "Well, since you bring it up, yes, I was wondering if you were healing okay."

"I'm fine," he said, putting his hand to his side. "I'm a fast healer and I've been shot more times than I can count so I'm used to it." He tilted his head to the side, "Thanks for worrying about me."

"Oh," Milly smiled, "You're welcome." She wasn't quite sure what to make of what he said about being shot, because the only people she knew who were shot more than once died… It made her heart hurt to think about it, wondering what it would be like if Vash really were to get killed while she and Meryl kept an eye on him. A lot of people would be happy but she felt like she wouldn't be able to work for a very long time if it happened, because he was her friend now. Well, perhaps at the moment, more than a friend… Especially from the way he was looking at her now, a soft expression as he leaned toward her, looking very much like he was going to kiss her again.

Milly realized she wouldn't mind being kissed again and started to close her eyes when an explosion rocked the cave. Vash startled, swearing under his breath and clambered to his feet. The children were screaming and Milly struggled to get her shoes on again, forgoing the socks which she shoved in her pockets. "Vash, what happened?"

"This isn't good, someone's blasting in the other tunnel." He waved at the children, "Kids, we've got to get out of here!"

More reviews! Thank you everyone who is reading this little story! I'm having a blast… Heh heh, get it? Blast? (Okay, that was bad…) For those of you who like Meryl and Nicholas hanging out together, stay tuned for the next chapter. They're just so fun to write together, I can just see them getting into a lot of trouble! And thank you to my beta-readers (Susan and Catherine) I'm too lazy to change the previous chapter's mistakes, but from now on they should be fairly error free!