A few months later…..

"Please sir, just one more donut! I'll do anything!"

"No! You've had enough."

"Come on!"

Vash put his face on the counter and began to mumble something under his breath.

"Why can't they give me one more donut? I barely got here and now they won't serve me any more donuts. It's not like the first two dozen filled me up."

Vash lifted his head back up and looked at the man behind the counter. The suns were beating down on the city of December. The city had seen better days. It was early in the morning and the people at the little store began to gather for what little gossip there was to say.

"Did you hear about the town of Little May? They say it completely disappeared. The only thing left is a huge crater."

"I heard there were two survivors. A young man and a woman. Besides 'em, everyone is missing."

"Did anyone find out who they were?"

"Nope, nobody knows who they are. Besides they're just rumors. But I heard that a young lady up north says that she used to live there. Boy, they say that she was a beauty beyond compare. With long black hair and green eyes."

"I wouldn't mind seen her."

Vash's mind went blank.

Could it be that she survived without me knowing? No, I was there, I saw everything!

The day that Little May disappeared, Vash should have died as well, but the dark whole didn't even touch him. Instead, it had sucked Iris whole. Vash had seen the crater himself slowly being formed.

I couldn't do anything about it.

He had spent to many nights up crying to himself for not saving Iris.

She's alive! Wait don't get to exited Vash, its just rumors.

Vash got up from where he was sitting and ran towards the man that finished speaking. He picked the man up by the shirt and began to yell.

"Where, where did you hear this!" Vash was to over whelmed to know what he was doing.

"Uh-uh-uh, I-I-I-I can't r-r-remember. Um-um from the city of July…I think." The man was getting a little scared and began to struggle.

"Now, let me go!"

Vash had all the information he needed so he dropped the man and walked out of the little store. After Vash left, the people who saw the whole incident began to stare at the man that was picked up.

"What was with that guy?"

"I don't know, but I wasn't scared one bit. You all saw him…..he was scared of me."

"Yeah right."

As soon as Vash walked out the door, the suns blinded him for a few seconds so he had to cover his eyes. Memories began to flash through his head as he stared up at the suns.

A few months ago in the town of Little May………..

The bathroom shower had barely turned on. It was still dark outside and Iris was still awake. That very night, Vash and Iris had gone out for a little fun, it was Iris' birthday after all. Now the hangovers began to appear.

"Owww, my head." How does she do it. Vash thought to himself.

"Oh well."

Vash got out of bed and stretched a little. He never woke up at this time, but there's a first time for everything.

"Oh no, now I have to go to the restroom."

Iris was in the shower with a little radio on the floor, singing. Vash could hear her from his room and tried to make out the song. That song……. Vash thought to himself. ……that song used to be Rem's favorite song. Vash walked towards the restroom door and put his ear against it. Sure enough, Rem's favorite song was playing and Iris was singing along with it. Each note was in tune, Iris sang beautifully. The door suddenly flew open and there stood Iris with her eyes closed, the water dripping from her naked body. She had a towel on her head and was still singing. Vash took one look at her and his checks turned red.

"Iris….."

Finally Iris opened her eyes and looked at Vash. They stood there without saying a word, until Iris realized she was naked. Without saying anything she closed the door as fast as she could. She stood sill, staring at the door. He saw me naked! She whispered to herself. Outside the door Vash slowly sat down and put his back agansit the door.

"I'm sorry Iris, I didn't mean to….to…to…." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"It's okay Vash, just go back to bed. Don't worry about it."

That very morning, the gun-ho member arrived and destroyed all of Little May.

Vash looked down at his hand and began to cry. He was doing that a lot lately. The day Little May disappeared, people began to hunt Vash down. Every city he stopped at would be fine, but every time he left, the city would be in ruin. It was almost a month since the last gun-ho member attacked him. It was a record. Vash picked up his head and looked at the people around him. They all seemed to be happy. The parents holding on to their children as they walked past the stores. The children begging their mothers to buy them a little snack because they've been good. Vash blinked and all the smiles froze. From the center of the city came a loud BOOM. Everyone was screaming and yelling, running in the opposite direction. The noise seemed to be getting louder and louder until finally a white figure jum0ped into the air and landed a few feet from Vash. The young man wore a white coat that covered most of the body except for the face. He wore black gloves and black boots. His dark brown hair was spiked outward and his sky blue eyes were focused on Vash. He pulled out a black pistol and pointed it towards Vash.

"Well, well if it isn't Vash. Finally I meet you. Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

The young man seemed to be in his early 20's, yet his voice seemed ancient.

"What do you want? Who are you?" Vash was beginning to get worried. There were so many people still running around.

"My name is Deo. I came to make you suffer. Enjoy!"

Deo tilted the gun a little to the right and fired. The bullet zoomed past Vash's check, but didn't hit him. Vash kept his eyes focused on Deo until he heard the bullet hit a target.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" A woman's voice shrieked through the whole city. Vash's eyes went wide with horror. He turned around to see a little boy staring into space with a little gush wound on his head.

"Oh clumsy me. I missed the target." Deo remarked sarcastically.

"One less human brat to worry about."

Memories of Iris as a child flashed through Vash's mind.

What if that had been her. No, I couldn't stand it. Noooo!

Vash screamed inside his head.

"How…how could you!" Vash turned towards Deo.

"How could you do this to an innocent child!" Vash was still angry.

"Easy. I picked up my gun and pulled the trigger. You were standing there…..you saw me."

"But why…why?"

"Because Vash, didn't you hear me? I came to make you suffer."

Than leave innocent people out of this!"

"That would just ruin the fun, besides I didn't come to kill you."

Oh god, he's going to kill all the people. He can't! Vash took out his gun and focused on Deo.

"I will not let you take the life of these people, Deo."

"Already then, let's get this party started. Yehaa!"

Vash stared at Deo as everything became silent. The people had all ran away and everything was quiet as night. Vash blinked and nothing but air stood in front of him.

"I could have killed you two times just now, you know that?" Vash turned around to find nobody there. Where did he go! Vash thought to himself.

"So Vash how's Iris?"

"How do you know about Iris? Tell me!"

"Wait a minute, that's right. You let her die. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk Vash, you were supposed to protect her. Look what you did."

"Tell me, how do you know her!"

"What if I told you she was alive? What would you do?"

Vash was having a hard time trying to think. The only thing he could think about was the last time he saw Iris. She was being sucked into the black whole.

"How dare you try to say that she's alive, Deo. I was there when it happened!"

Vash pointed his gun to the top of the building on his left and pulled the trigger. Deo came crashing down and hit the dirt road with a gunshot wound to his leg. Deo looked down at his wound and then looked up at Vash as if nothing had happened. He stood up with blood still dripping from his leg.

"I guess your better than I thought, Vash. Your skills have improving without you yourself even knowing. ……..Iris is looking for you. Find her before he kills her."

Deo looked down and in an instant disappeared. Vash stood in the middle of the road for some time, thinking. Find her before he kills her. The words kept on repeating over and over in his mind. He finally walked over to the young woman that was bent over her child, sobbing. The young woman looked up at Vash

"Ahhhhhhh! Stay away you monster! Get away!"

Vash stared at the woman as tears began to pour down. The city was quiet and from the outskirts a young woman could be heard, crying for something that could never come back. The suns were hot as ever and it seemed that night would never come.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere near the city of July…….

"Hey little missy, what's a girl like you doin in the middle of nowhere?"

"I..I…I got lost."

"What's your name missy?"

"…..Iris."

"Little girls like you shouldn't wonder off. You can easily get kidnapped."

Iris had been lying on the floor for some time. She couldn't remember exactly how she got where she was right now. She was wearing black pants that stuck to her legs and black boots. Her dark blue shirt covered everything but her shoulders and arms. Her hair was long and messy with dirt everywhere. By then, her hair had already grown past her shoulders and was straight. Her evergreen eyes were unfocused and tired. She looked as though she had been walking for some time. The man staring sown at her was a dirty looking man with a grin on his face.

"Let me help you up."

The man started to help to help Iris up and when both where walking, Iris asked

"What is your name, sir?"

"My name is …. Fred."

"Where are we going, Fred?"

"We're going to my house, it's a few iles from here."

The man led Iris to a car that she hadn't noticed before and before she realized it, they were driving under the hot suns. The man turned on the radio and began to whistle. Every now and then Iris noticed the man looking at her. She really didn't care. The radio seemed far away and Iris could barely hear it.

"Hey folks, how's it going? Well, glad to hear it. Here's the latest news from the city of July… tow young men were spotted in December having a showdown that killed 30 people along with many children. Officials are asking anyone and everyone to help capture these crocks. The first man was said to have been dressed in all white with brown hair. The other was dressed in a red coat and had blonde spiky hair. Officials saw to keep a special eye on the red-coated man. He's been spotted in several other cites, bring in more bodies than any one can count…. In other news…"

Iris tilted her head back and stared at the sky. She didn't care where the man next to her was going. She didn't care about anything. The only thing that came across her mind was one name…Knives. The one person that stole her happiness. The dirty driver named Fred looked up from the road and stared at Iris.

"How old are you?"

"Umm…22 years old."

Iris knew that if she were to tell this man her real age, he wouldn't believe her. She wasn't worried too much about her age right now.

The rest of the rid was quiet. This man seems to be hiding something from me. He wants something. Iris thought to herself. After about an hour, Fred stopped in front of a brown house. The little house seemed cozy and from far away the city of July could be seen.

"We're here."

Iris stepped out of the car and collapsed on the ground. Fred ran around the car and looked down at her. From far away Iris heard someone say her name. Iris. Everything became black and Iris' eyes became weak.

Iris opened her eyes quickly and looked around. Where am I? Iris stood up and saw a dirt road surrounded by buildings. A young woman to her left was bending over a young child and two men stood in the middle of the road pointing guns at each other. Iris saw a white-coated young man facing her, but the red-coated man was facing the opposite direction.