ONE WEEK LATER

Milly's voice drifted up from the dark. "Do you think he has any siblings?"

Lately, he could only mean Vash or Wolfwood. Meryl took a guess. "Vash?"

"Well. I was kind of thinking about both of them...how it was so fun to watch them get attacked by those kids in May City. It made me wonder if they had any little brothers or sisters."

Meryl smiled. She could see the exact image in her mind. Vash, in his fake agony, writhing around, with twelve kids piled on top wrestling him. And then him just letting them, because he knew it made them happy. "Somehow...I think Vash looks at everyone as his little brother or sister. The priest got attacked too? I must have missed that one."

"I saw them all playing in the street before he left...he seemed very happy."

"You didn't say goodbye to him?"

"No, I did."

"Well?"

Milly sat up in her bed. "Well what?"

Meryl grinned. "What'd he have to say?"

"You're nosy." Milly fell back into her pillow. It wasn't anything like Meryl thought. He'd just smiled, thanked her, and "He said he had fun at our little party. He wants to have another some time."

"That pervert."

Milly laughed. "I remember everything that happened! He only put his arm around me! He never touched me. But I do remember Mr. Vash attaching himself to your thigh..."

"Alright, conversation over. Sleep time is now."

"He did ask me where I learned to shoot like that."

Now that was a question even Meryl didn't know the answer to. She perked up. "Well...what'd you tell him?"

"That I use to be a nun."

Meryl made the ultimate bad joke moan and pulled the covers over her head. "No more pre-sleep girl talk. I'm taking that off the schedule."

"We have a schedule?"

"Sarcasm, Milly...sarcasm."

"I was just testing you!" She laughed and pulled up her covers. "Night."

"Night."

2 DAYS LATER

She tugged at the brim of her new hat. It needed some breaking in, but it was pretty much a shoe-in for her old one. Same brown, leathery material...she figured you could get away with calling it a cowboy hat. But in her mind, those were the kind where the sides curled up drastically. These were pretty much flat. And it even had a band around the top part with the silver metal circles she liked. It was so weird. She'd almost gotten use to not wearing one now. It reminded her so much of the old days, which might not be the best thing. Maybe she'd just wear it sometimes...

Meryl had never seen anyone put so much thought into something so simple. "Well do you like it or not?"

Milly looked back at her with a smile. "Yeh, really this is cool of you. I just didn't think you'd remember that old thing."

"Well if you'd told me it was your birthday a little beforehand, and not the day of, maybe I could have gotten you a real present!"

"This is a real present! You worry too much."

Vash suddenly leapt between them. "It's your birthday?"

Milly backed up a bit but still smiled. "Yeh, I'm 21 now!"

He stared. "You were only 20?"

She nodded. "I'm going to go try and get some food before the caravan leaves again, okay Sempai?"

Meryl looked at her. "But it's your birthday, Milly. Why not let me do it?"

"Nah, you stay and watch Mr. Vash. I'll be back soon. Sionara!" Milly exited the tent, pulled her hat down so it shaded her eyes just the way she liked, stuck her hands in her coat pockets, and strolled on in search of pudding.

She leaned on the bar and whined. "You don't have any either, Mister?"

Why were the pretty ones always so dumb? "Darlin', one look around this place should answer that."

"Hey. You shouldn't be rude to young girls. I know this is a bar! But you serve food don't you? I have the right to at least ask!"

"And I have the right to answer. We don't have any damn pudding!"

Nick was so screwed. This was hopeless. Shoot and run? No. Hey look it's that typhoon guy! No. OMG WHAT'S ON YOUR FACE! No. What could he do! All his money was riding on this stupid game. And now some weirdo was yelling about pudding. Wolfwood glanced up as she turned around. The hat hid her eyes, but he'd recognize that scar anywhere. "Hey big girl!"

She looked up and met eyes with a waving Nick. She couldn't help herself, seeing him was so unexpected she about knocked him out his chair. "Mr.Priest!"

Wolfwood laughed as Milly hugged the life out of him. "Don't tell me all three of you guys are traveling with this caravan!"

She let go and smiled. "Yep...me, Meryl, and Vash."

Wolfwood's chess opponent went wide-eyed. "Young lady, are you referring to Vash the Stampede?"

She turned to address the old man. "Yes, I am sir. But he really isn't in much of a rampaging mood today, so I don't think you have much to worry about."

The man sighed. The poor thing must be in denial. She was much too cheerful. "Young lady if he's taken you as some kind of prisoner, it's nothing to be ashamed of..."

Milly blinked. "Prisoner?"

"Ah, a poor thing like you losing your innocence to a monster like that." The man wiped a tear from his eye. "It makes me sick!"

Wolfwood slowly reached his hand out to move one of the man's knights. Keep talking big girl...

She raised her hands laughing nervously. "I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding here..."

The man's cat clawed Nick's hand with a "Nya" sound. Both Milly and the man looked as he did his best to play off the obvious. "AREN'T GOD'S LITTLE CREATURES WONDERFUL?" Milly smiled, moving one of his pieces.

He leapt from the table. "ARE YOU CRAZY? I'VE BET EVERYTH-"

The old man's face went white when he saw the move she had made. "OH, I GIVE UP! YOU WIN!"

Wolfwood looked down. "Huh?" His eyes widened. "Well I'll be..."

"Checkmate." Milly smirked.

Meryl sat across from a silent Vash-kun. "Milly sure has been gone awhile." She looked at him. "Do you think we should be worried?" Still nothing. Meryl grinned evilly. "There were some bounty hunters looking for you!" No reaction. "A pretty girl wanted to meet you!" He didn't even twitch. "Do you smell donuts?" Meryl grew afraid. "Bernardelli's canceling our assignment!" Was he even breathing? "I think I'll get wasted tonight!" She clenched her fists. "Would you like to look up my skirt?"

Vash tipped his shades down and smiled. "Why Ms.Meryl, what kind of man do you take me for?"

She turned away blushing. "Bastard! You were awake the whole time!" She looked back to fuss some more, but he was gone. "Vash?"

He snickered from under the table. "Ooh...Nice gams, babe."

Meryl screamed and started kicking him frantically.

Milly carried her bag of pudding happily. "This is really kind of you."

He smiled. "It's the least I could do. You've helped me so many times now."

"Yeh, it's weird how we keep running into each other. I'm glad though."

Nick cocked an eyebrow. Was she hinting she might miss him when he wasn't around? "So what's with the hat?"

"Huh? Oh." She looked up with a grin. "I almost forgot I was wearing it. Meryl got it for me for my birthday. I use to have one just like it when I first met her..."

"When was your birthday?"

"Today."

He stopped walking. "Jeez! Why didn't you say so? I would've got us some wine too!"

She laughed and leaned on him a little. "Like that night in May City?"

He smirked. "Ah, good times..."

Someone slammed into them, sending the pudding everywhere and almost making Nick drop his cross. They both glared without thinking. Milly's first thought was that it was just rude, and Nick's first instinct was that someone was ready to get taken the hell out..

The girl stuttered, "I...I'm sorry. But please, they're after me!"

Milly's face instantly went sympathetic. "Who's after you?"

A group of men were coming up in the distance. "SHE WENT THIS WAY!"

Wolfwood leaned on his cross and spoke nonchalantly to the girl. "Why should we help you?"

Milly ignored him, shoving the girl behind her as the men ran up. They were angry and out of breath. "Did a girl come this way?"

Nick maintained his poker face. "Why are you after her?"

A man waved a gun at him. "That's none of your business! Where is she?"

"Right behind me."

Milly just stared at Wolfwood in disbelief. Didn't he care? A man stepped forward to shove them out the way, and crushed one of the pudding containers in the process. "Ah!" Milly looked at his pudding-covered boot then back up at the man. She quickly tallied it up in her mind. This man was:

1.ganging up on a girl for no apparent reason

2.yelling at herself and Wolfwood while waving a gun

3.ruining her food with no hint of remorse

Yes, he had definitely surpassed her tolerated level of rudeness...and by default so had his comrades. She shocked everyone with a sudden sweeping kick across pudding boot's face. He hadn't even hit the ground before she was up and over him, with an elbow in man #2's gut. They both crumpled to the dirt as man #3 nervously leveled his gun at her. She turned, pointing at him. "You owe me an apology!"

His hands were shaking as he looked at his fallen associates. "What kind of chick are you?"

"The angry kind!" She really would have let him go, but he had to be a hardhead. His finger began to pull the trigger and Milly leapt right, kicking his legs out from under him as the gun went off. She landed on her shoulder, rolled, and sprung back to her feet, leveling her own gun at his face. He froze.

More men yelled from far off. "I HEARD GUNSHOTS THIS WAY!"

She looked at the scared man in genuine guilt. "I'm really sorry. I know I've already beaten you, but I can't have you telling them which way we went." She smiled innocently. "Sorry." Before he could say anything, she delivered a quick kick just hard enough to make him black out.

Nick stared at her. "Ninja nun..."

She put her Magnum back. "Gunman priest..." She paused. "And why did you tell them she was behind us?"

"This isn't our business."

"But I've already gotten us involved!"

"That's your problem."

"We have to help her!"

The girl buried her face in her hands. Maybe she should just give up. Julius was too good for her anyway. There was no way she could escape with this many people looking for her.

Milly put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Please don't cry. I have an idea." She turned to Nick. "And you're going to help whether you want to or not."