CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Contentment
PART TWO…It'll Take More Than That to Heal Me …
As Nurse Chopper began work on a new cast, Vash sat in thought.
The previous, broken cast was ruined from angel arm use. Since the thing had coated his core with a rigid layer, it splintered and plumed out when he'd formed his weapon, touching it to his daughter's arm core through their suits. In such a manner, they had demolished a mountain.
Chopper had been told that Mr. Saverem's cast had cracked and been removed. He was the same who had put on the first, and still would not be debriefed about Vash's 'special status.'
When Chopper looked up, Vash smiled. Once the man began to work again, Vash turned his head and stared at an anatomical chart screen moving on the opposite wall. He wondered about what Tessla had done, and had said. He wondered about what Vanessa had said and done, as well.
Could it be – did Vanessa do it all for him? Was her selflessness for his own good, and not for mankind's good, as he'd previously believed? If this was correct, then what of his life with Meryl? After all, it was possible that Vanessa had found out about Vash's feelings for Meryl back on the ship – perhaps even earlier. If so, she could have left so that he would be able to have his relationship with Meryl, without guilt.
And he had. Because of Vanessa's abrupt, cold departure, he had felt very little qualms about loving Meryl and living out his life with Meryl as if she were his wife. Maybe, too, Tessla would have had Vanessa as a mother if Vash hadn't indirectly rushed Vanessa off. If he hadn't fallen for Meryl, would he and Tessla and Vanessa have become a happy family?
If wrongs ought to be righted, was this vision of a happy plant family still possible?
Imagining this in his mind, he had trouble making it fit. After so long, after all they'd gone through, he just didn't have feelings for her. Or did he? Maybe this confusion and frustration he felt towards her now, after so long an absence, was his clue of newfound attraction?
He resolved to meet with her again, to find out.
Shuddering, Vash felt a strong chill down his spine. He began to feel nauseous again.
"Did that hurt, Mr. Saverem?"
"Oh, no it didn't, Chuck," Vash replied sheepishly. He certainly wasn't going to answer the nurse with the real explanation for his chills, so he lied. "I guess it's because it's cold in here."
Nurse Chopper returned to Vash's propped arm, and sealed the last piece of the cast. Standing upright, he addressed his mini screen. "Well that's that. Hopefully this one will last you until the break heals!" He paused. "And, you know, it is pretty cold in this building – it's not just you. It kind of reminds me of stories of The Gunsmoke Immigration. I heard that those people came from a planet so hot that, once we got to them, whenever they got the chance, they'd set their AC's on high. Funny, huh?"
Vash forced a smile. "Gosh, sounds weird."
XXXX
Knives awoke slowly in his shack, covered with layers of blankets and woven mats. The cats that snuggled atop him as he slept (for warmth, in the dead of night) now stretched and leapt to the ground. A pair of orange-striped, tabby cats began to mew for breakfast, and one black and white cat scratched at the greenhouse door.
"The first sun JUST started to rise, you fat asses," he grumbled. Yawning, he peeled off the layers and stood. He reached over to unlatch the door to allow the three cats to flood into the greenhouse. A rush of warm, wet air hit him. The cats found a hidden spot in the first greenhouse block to relieve themselves. Then, racing away, they hunted for breakfast. Knives knew that he would see them again that night, but the countless other felines within the vast greenhouses would remain deep in foliage, perhaps iles away, rarely ever seen.
Within the greenhouse, Knives walked about nude, swatting at – but carefully trying not to kill – the various insects that landed upon his skin.
Next, he went to work releasing water. He'd come up with a fairly efficient system, mainly automated, to make short work of the iles and iles of greenhouses that needed watering daily.
To complete his morning chores, Knives showered in the greenhouse, had breakfast, and brought a meal to the cat barn outside (though most felines had chosen to live in the greenhouses by then, many still remained in the barn, stupidly).
He hitched up the tomas cart and rode off in a cloak. Yesterday was rough, with the full day's load of plant adjusting and unexpected breaks in four minor water lines in the greenhouses. Luckily, today's work load was lighter – he was tired.
XXXX
The next two weeks were very busy ones at the Agency. Tessla was busy training, in isolated and very top secret areas. She was always accompanied by her father, for reasons both protective and helpful. Until her arm stabilized, through repeated use and training exercises perfected years ago with Vanessa, Tessla needed Vash's gate to control her blasts.
Whenever she fired her angel arm 'beam,' Vash turned his head and closed his eyes, refusing to look.
Days passed, and Vash kept busy with his daughter, working with her both on the field and in the office, reviewing the newest caseload and being debriefed constantly.
Though he was dead-set in confronting Vanessa a second time, he was unable. She was resting and healing, slowly, in isolation. Whether because she didn't want to see him or because she was advised against it, he was not permitted access to her room.
"Not today, but maybe soon," Rita always hopefully, helpfully told him. "She needs more time. We think she'll be able to speak with you in a few more days, once she's up to it."
Coincidentally (or not) Vash was kept so busy by the Agency that he had little time to ask about meeting Vanessa or let his mind stray.
In addition, these walls and cold rooms were stifling. He was promised a home wherever he liked, no matter the length of commute, once he'd been cleared. But how long clearing took – he had no idea.
Vash promised himself that he'd find a place with a lot of little kids, when he was finally cleared. It'd been so long since he'd played with kids!