Memories

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Stressed

Flashback

Vash had finally set Meryl down once they were safely inside the mansion. His eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. Burgundy carpet and ivory walls with a single staircase in the middle greeted them. Milly sighed and tilted her head as if remembering something. Meryl walked away and they followed her up the wine colored steps. Her hand trailed along the wooden banister as she stopped at the top. Meryl turned saddened gray eyes to the right hallway before she sighed and turned left. Vash looked down the right hallway and turned to follow Meryl and Milly.

Milly remained silent but kept a thoughtful face on. This place held all of Meryl's memories, or nightmares. Milly still remembered when she had first met Meryl. She smiled at the sad memory before she noticed Meryl twist a knob.

"This isn't your room," Milly said with a bit of confusion.

"This is a room for Knives and Vash," Meryl explained.

Milly nodded and walked into the room carrying the unconscious Knives. She gently placed him on the bed and sighed. Meryl turned her gaze to Vash and noted that he didn't enter the room. She raised an eyebrow and he gave her an oblivious smile. Meryl sighed and turned walked to the door across from the twin's room. Her hand hesitated over the knob and she inhaled. The knob squeaked as it was twisted. She threw open the door and her eyes widened in shock. Everything was the same, not a single item out of place. Meryl stepped inside and Milly shut the door once they had entered. Vash searched the room and noticed that it was clean.

"Sempai! Our names our still in the door!" Milly squealed.

Vash and Meryl turned to look at the place on the door. His eyes widened at the deep claw marks in the wood. But beneath those claw marks; there was tiny carving. He could make out 'M.T. & M.S. B.F.F.' Meryl sighed as she traced the carving with her index finger. She then moved her fingers along the cleanly cut claw marks in the wood. She heard Vash sigh and her eyes narrowed as he reached out and traced the claw with his fingers.

"Did you own a cat or dog?" Vash questioned.

"No," Meryl whispered as she walked to the far end of her room.

Her eyes traveled across the ivory walls and she sighed. She spotted a place by the window where the gashes were deepest. Her features saddened as she kneeled below the window and followed the gashes with her fingers. A sigh left her lips as she stood up and brushed the memories away.

"What made these marks?" Vash questioned.

"Monster."

"I'm not sure," Meryl whispered as she sadly smiled.

Milly frowned at her answer and Meryl shook her head no. Milly nodded in understanding. Milly smiled and began to laugh at the picture on the wall. Meryl followed her gaze and laughed at the picture too. Vash turned from claw marks and gazed the picture.

"Didn't Mr. Micah take that of us when we turned four?" Milly questioned.

"Yeah, father always did take goofy shots," Meryl mused.

Vash smiled softly at the picture. It was one step closer to Meryl's past. Milly was dressed in overhauls and she was trying to eat paste. Meryl was struggling to pull the paste filled hand away from Milly. Vash noted that Meryl wore a hat and she had half her face covered with a mask. He frowned at this and glanced at Meryl out of the corner of his eye.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Vash questioned as Meryl looked surprised.

"That's because Meryl wanted to be different," Milly answered as Meryl scowled.

"I wanted to be someone else," Meryl answered.

Milly sighed at the sudden sorrow in the room. It reminded her of the first time her and Meryl met. She clearly remembered the tears that Meryl had shed as she tried to hid. Milly clapped her hands and drew Meryl's attention.

"Let's get some pudding!" Milly explained. Vash ignored the two as he continued to gaze at the picture. It looked like she was hiding something under that hat of hers. He couldn't understand what though. Vash turned to Meryl and gazed at the top of her head, everything looked normal.

"To the kitchen!" Milly cheered as she opened the door and stepped out of the sorrow.

Meryl nodded happy to escape the confines of her room. Milly marched out the room with a smile. Meryl followed but stopped at the door when she noticed Vash still staring at the picture.

"Are you coming?" Meryl questioned. Vash's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled at Meryl and followed her.

"Guess I dozed off," Vash mumbled with a laugh.

Micah walked into the kitchen and softly chuckled at the sight he saw. It was good to have his daughter back in this mansion. He sighed as he watched Meryl take the blender from Vash's hand. He had somehow managed to get it trapped in the sink. Vash blamed the blender and Meryl punched him in the arm. Milly laughed at this and made a mention to rough love. Meryl sighed and proceeded to pour the milk into the measuring cup. Micah walked over to them and stood at the counter, they were on the other side.

"I stocked up on pudding," Micah commented.

"Thank you," Meryl mouthed with a smile.

"Wow! Chocolate…strawberry…vanilla…oh and there's even mystery flavor!" Milly gushed with stars in her eyes.

"Mystery flavor," Meryl mumbled with apparent disgust.

"It was on sale," Micah supplied.

"Donuts," Vash whispered as he opened the pantry.

"Just leave the coconut ones for me," Micah warned as Vash reached for the plain.

"When are you going to open the pod?" Meryl questioned her father.

"Tonight," Micah answered with a smile.

"How is she related to our family?" Meryl questioned.

"She's supposedly an aunt since we're descended from her brother's line," Micah mused.

"Hopefully she won't freak to bad when she sees the freak," Richard spoke as he walked past the kitchen.

Meryl clenched the wooden spoon in her hand with anger. No matter what she did, those taunts were always there. Micah reached over and placed a comforting hand on her own. Meryl's eyes slowly opened and she felt her anger calm.

"She may know the reason for the mutation in our family line," Micah whispered.

"Hopefully," Meryl whispered.

"What mutation?" Vash asked. He was done with privacy since they were talking in the open. Meryl tensed and Micah pushed his glasses back to the ridge of his nose.

"Meryl's a—"

"Meryl's a young woman about to reach her twenty-third birthday!" Micah exclaimed as Meryl covered Milly's mouth.

Vash pointedly stared at Meryl as she looked away. It seemed that she was one for keeping secrets. He had told her everything about Rem, himself, and his brother. It didn't seem like there was anything worse that she could be hiding.

"So when's the wedding?" Richard questioned as he stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

"What wedding?" Vash squeaked in worry.

"Anyways…we should go down to the basement," Micah quickly interrupted.

"Is mother coming?" Meryl softly questioned.

"No, she doesn't want to be around you," Richard quickly snapped with a grin.

Meryl glared at him before she spun on her heel and walked to the fridge. Milly and her both placed the mixes in the fridge and covered them. A growl left her lips when she noticed that Richard had left again.

"He really gets to you," Vash commented.

"No…he doesn't," Meryl whispered as she began to follow her father. They all left to the door in hallway. It led to the basement

"Meryl and Richard have never gotten along. They would fight…but it got worse after Meryl scarred him," Milly whispered to Vash.

"How?" Vash questioned.

"Meryl just scared him and now he fears her. He really hates her," Milly whispered anger and sorrow.

The basement was dark and Meryl shivered. It reminded her of a time she had gotten locked down here. They all surrounded the pod and Vash stared at it with interest. It had been awhile since he had seen one of these. He still remembered how they worked. A man stepped out of the shadows and Micah reached out and shook his hand. Meryl raised an eyebrow at his open leer. She wished she could smack that smirk of his face. His leer turned into a frown as Vash placed an arm around Meryl and smiled. The glint in her eyes told that he would be dead soon enough. He nervously laughed it out.

"When are you going to wake the icicle up?" Richard questioned.

"Her stats are normal, but the energy signature we received from her is abnormal," the doctor began.

"What do you mean Dr. Suzuki?" Micah questioned.

"Her DNA structure has been altered," Dr. Suzuki finally stuttered out.

"Will this affect the process of reviving her?" Vash questioned.

"No," the doctor quickly assured.

"Then get her ass up!" Richard growled as the doctor nervously went to work.

"Why did you me bring here…it's creepy," Rem whispered to her mother.

"I want you to meet someone," Kagome happily answered.

"Is it that plant? Alex says they're girly," Rem repeated with a frown.

"Yes it is a plant, and her name is Eve," Kagome answered as Rem snorted.

Rem acted bored as her mother pulled her through the huge sliding doors. Her brown eyes darted to the strange equipment as she attempted to keep up her at of boredom. Kagome chuckled as she typed in a code in the security pad. It flashed green and they entered the room. Rem's eyes went wide as she broke away from her mother and ran toward the bulb. She quickly placed her small hands against the glass and peered inside. Rem's eyes searched the bulb as she quickly forgot her boredom.

The energy inside the bulb pulsed and Rem's mouth dropped open. Kagome softly chuckled at this as she walked to her daughter's side. Kagome kneeled next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. A small slender hand reached out of the light and touched the area that Rem's hand covered. Rem watched in awe as she saw the giant wings open. The plant's artic blue eyes opened and she softly smiled at Rem. Rem gasped and couldn't help but jumped up and down in excitement. The plant tilted her head to the side and gazed at Rem.

"Rem, this is Eve," Kagome softly said.

"Eve…hi I'm Rem," Rem introduced as the plant softly smiled.

"Isn't she pretty?" Kagome softly questioned.

The plant's feathers softly glowed at the compliment. Her blue eyes lit up with mirth as she watched Rem quickly nod her head. A scoff was heard and they turned their attention to the door. Matt stood there with his son in tow. Rem brightly smiled at Alex and he began to blush. The plant knowingly hummed as she watched the little boy. Alex scoffed and jammed his fists into his pockets.

"Isn't Eve pretty?" Rem questioned.

"Sure," Alex mumbled, as the plant appeared to laugh at him. "She's just a stupid girly thing!"

"Alex…be nice," Matt scolded as his son looked away.

"I think she's pretty," Rem softly whispered as she stared at Eve.

Alex softened at her saddened look before he scoffed and scrapped his foot against the tile. He ran a hand through his spiked blonde hair and grinned at her. Rem raised and eyebrow and watched as Alex approached her. His aqua eyes held a spark of mischief. Alex softly bopped Rem on the head and he smirked at her confused expression.

"Eve…is pretty," Alex softly said.

Rem's eyes lit up and she jumped on Alex. His face turned red as she continued to hug him. Rem giggled and released him from her hug. Alex scoffed and then looked at the plants. It's feathers ruffled and he could see the look of amusement in her eyes.

"You're red like a cherry," Rem said as she poked Alex's cheek.

"Yuck! Now I got girl germs!" Alex shouted as he stepped away and wiped his cheek and dusted his clothes off.

"I don't have germs!" Rem pouted.

"Yuck…now I go take like a gazillion baths!" Alex growled with a smile.

"I'm not giving you your ticket!" Rem pouted as she turned away from him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What ticket?" Alex questioned.

"Your ticket to the future…I'm not giving it to you since you're mean!" Rem declared with a huff.

"Ticket?" Matt questioned Kagome with a smile.

"Rem you can't hand out the future," Kagome said with a chuckle.

"I'm still not giving him his ticket," Rem firmly said.

"Give me my ticket back!" Alex whined.

"No," Rem firmly said.

"Dad…Kagome…tell her to give me my ticket back!" Alex demanded with a pout.

Both adults began to chuckle before they busted out in laughter. Alex frowned at this and huffed. He crossed him arms and turned away from Rem. Rem giggled in victory.

"I don't want that ticket since it probably has girl germs," Alex declared as Rem scowled.

"I don't have germs!" Rem shouted as she began to cry.

The plant looked to the boy and rolled her eyes. She floated as close as she could to Rem within her containment and began to hum. Kagome and Matt watched the interaction wordlessly. Rem turned to the plant and softly hummed back. Eve placed her hands against the bulb and Rem followed suit. They both began to hum as Eve comforted the child.

"Plants are capable of emotion," Matt mumbled in disbelief.

"Amazing," Kagome whispered.

The plant turned to Alex and beckoned him closer with a wave of her hand. Alex walked closer and sat next to Rem. He listened to their hums and closed his eyes.

'Pretty,' was his thought.

Author's Note:

Kagome awakens in the next chapter!
Please leave a review and tell me what you think!