She was shaking in his arms. She weakly drew shallow breath after shallow breath into her punctured lungs. She was afraid; he could see it in her eyes. He tried to comfort her, to let her know that it was all going to be okay, but all he could manage was to hold her until it was over. He wasn't going to leave her, not in the end, not ever again.
Finally she stilled, her face relaxing, her body limp. He wiped the tears away from his eyes with a bloody hand and gently laid her on the ground. She looked peaceful. He pulled away from her and looked around: he was caught between 5 bounty hunters, their guns all trained on him. He could have taken them if he had wanted to, but he didn't. The pain, the misery, the sadness: he just wanted it all to end right here, right now.
He stood protectively over his lifeless insurance girl. She'd taken a few stray bullets when the bounty hunters had descended upon them. The bullets weren't meant for her, but they killed her just the same. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and he wasn't able to save her, a story Vash witnessed far too often during his existence.
The temporary moratorium on Vash's bounty had been called off after the disappearances started again. Knives was behind it, of course, but there was no use in telling anybody about it now. Vash had tried to save him. Vash brought him back to the town, but Knives escaped, killing Milly in the process. Meryl had been nearly inconsolable. Vash took it better because, well, he had more experience with losing friends. He was going to leave to find Knives, but she wouldn't let him go alone. She never told him how she felt, but she didn't have to. It didn't take a rocket scientist to explain why a girl with a future would follow a hopeless outlaw to her certain death.
He'd hoped it would play out differently, that there could be happiness after his final battle with Knives, but now he knew any chance for happiness had just died with Meryl. He threw his gun down. He closed his eyes in resignation as the bounty hunters took aim.
He thought about what Eden would really be like. It wouldn't be the beautiful prison his brother envisioned. He thought about a place where all the people he loved could live in peace. Wolfwood and Milly would be there, and Meryl and Rem and everyone who he had lost along the way. It was what he wanted more than anything, and right now, he just wanted to be with them: all the smiling faces of his past, the people who defied his expectations by taking him into their hearts and caring about him.
Everyone he loved was dead. He couldn't fight anymore. He didn't want to be the hero. He just wanted to have a little peace.
As the bullets tore through his body, he honestly hoped the bounty hunters would have fun spending their reward in the time they had left.