A/N: Definitely setting up for the more romantic aspects of the story. To ChibiSess, in the manga Vash and Knives don't need their guns to make angel arms and Tessla was their sister who was the epitome of a guinea pig. And to Rose, read nicksama's review. Thanks to everyone!!!

Truth

After the talk with his brother, Knives had wandered around the ship aimlessly. His thoughts were racing as he walked down countless corridors, the silent halls contrasting sharply with his buzzing mind. The psychotic plant could not comprehend what Vash had told him. The spider actually cared for him? The idea seemed so absurd, but for some unknown reason a part of him desperately wanted to believe that his sibling's words were true.

Nonsense he told himself. What did he care about a human's affection for him? The girl was nothing more than a nuisance, someone who couldn't be trusted, much less loved.

But a small voice in his mind refused to believe what he was trying to tell himself. The human had never done anything to deserve his suspicions, nor did she earn his contempt in any way. She had mocked him on several occasions, but hadn't he done the same to her?

Great he thought disgustedly. Now I've dropped to the level of a human. And all because of that female.

Knives was going to have to do something about her, before these strange urges of his drove him to do something he would definitely regret. But at the moment, his stomach was telling him to eat something. So with an unsteady step, and an even shakier mind, he set off toward the kitchen.

A few hours later, Erica awoke in the infirmary, still feeling somewhat groggy from her ordeal. Looking around the room, she saw that no one was around. Since there was no one to stop her, she decided to try to move. She sat up carefully, making sure her arms would not buckle under her weight like before.

Now sitting, she propped her back against the soft pillow behind her. Erica wondered how long she'd been asleep, but decided it didn't matter. In the oppressive silence her mind drifted along several lines, from wondering about her arm's drastic metamorphoses to seeing Knives treating her illness.

Erica noted with wonder how much the psychotic plant had changed since her arrival. He rarely ever called her an abomination anymore, though spider wasn't much better, and hadn't touched her since their first encounter. Though she did regret the lack of physical contact. Wait a moment, what am I thinking!!? she screamed at herself. But then, his lips were inviting.

Noooo!!!! she wailed at her last thought, clutching her head as if to squeeze these new ideas out of her mind. Erica was wondering if she'd finally snapped. She couldn't possibly be interested in Knives, could she? There was no way, she said to herself, as she started counting off everything about him that annoyed her. He was moody, sarcastic, wanted to destroy mankind, had a cute smile.

"Ahhhhh!!!" she screamed aloud this time. "Why can't I think of anything else!!?"

Was it only just gratefulness she felt, or could there actually be love there? He had saved her life, after all. Her own knight in shining armor. The image of Knives being dressed in armor came to mind, making her laugh aloud.

Erica cut her laughter short as Vash suddenly entered the room, carrying a tray of food in his hands. Pussy followed close behind the gunman, hopping on the bed and quickly cuddling his injured care giver. She smiled and hugged the furry creature, giving Vash an equally grateful look.

"Thought you might be hungry" he said, returning her smile. Vash set the tray beside her bed, then moved a chair and sat down close to her. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, thanks. Where's Knives?" Erica couldn't help but ask.

Vash smiled inwardly at her question, knowing why she was asking. "Haven't seen him for a while. You know, he was really worried about you."

"He was?" she asked, genuinely surprised. He had seemed a little tense when she'd awoken the first time, but thought he had merely become strained over caring for a human.

"Yeah. He wasn't sure what after effects you'd have from transforming your angel arm"

"My what!?"

"Your angel arm" Vash repeated, wishing Knives were here to explain this to her. "We can change parts of our body to create weapons or shields." He tried to think of examples to tell her, and could only think of two. With a sigh, he continued. "You know the destruction of July and Augusta?"

"Yeah" she said, nodding her head.

'Those incidents were caused by an angel arm similar to the one you tried to create." Vash ducked his head, shielding the tears that were gathering in his eyes from her gaze.

"Who's angel arm?" Erica asked cautiously, Vash's strange tone making her curious.

"Mine" Vash said quietly. He still hadn't come to terms with some of his past, and even speaking of July and Augusta were still painful.

"Oh" Erica said, dropping the subject. She saw that the memories of those times still caused him grief, and she didn't want to see the sad look on his face again. Her own thoughts turned to her adventure, and how easily she'd created such a dangerous weapon. She could have killed those people and everyone they cared about. She could have killed Knives.

Vash saw her growing distress and tried to force a smile upon his worried face. He felt responsible partially responsible for what had happened to Erica, since he was the one who had practically forced the two to go on the donut excursion. He had to comfort her somehow.

"It's alright" he said, patting her on the back in a weak attempt to calm the distressed girl.

"How is it alright?" Erica asked, meeting Vash's eyes and giving him an almost wild look of fear. "I could have killed everyone! Vash, what have I become?" she said, dropping her head into her hands and sobbing silently.

"Hey, I have a great idea!" Vash suddenly yelled, breaking the tense atmosphere in the room. "How about I get Knives to teach you how to control your powers? He knows more about our bodies than anyone, and you two could get to know each other better."

Erica lifted her head up slowly, thinking over Vash's proposal. She didn't want the same incident to happen again, and the psychotic plant did seem to know how to reverse the process of the angel arm. There didn't seem to be a downside, and she might be able to find the truth about why Knives hated humans so much.

"Alright" she said, putting as much confidence into the words as she could.

"Great!" Vash exclaimed. Now to convince Knives...