It was dark before Vash and Meryl made it back to the house. Vash had long since assumed the reigns of the thomas, and since he didn't have much luck with any mode of transportation going at a high rate of speed, especially thomases, he slowed down the pace and enjoyed the cool evening with Meryl in his arms. He looked down at the small woman in front of him, who was snuggled into his chest and had been asleep for almost an hour.

"You know, I thought about you every day when I was out there." He was whispering so he wouldn't wake her up. "I thought about coming back to you all the time..." She leaned into him as he wrapped one arm tighter around her waist. "I promise I will never let anything hurt you." Why were these things so easy to say when she was unconscious?

He sighed and looked up at the sky. He thought about his unconscious brother who Millie had already taken to the house. Vash knew that Millie had most likely cleaned up the injured man and bandaged his wounds. Vash silently made a promise to himself. This was Knives' last chance. If he tried to hurt any more innocents, there would be hell to pay...

Vash saw the world go blue and realized it was time to calm down. The last thing he wanted was for Meryl to wake up and see him going all "Diablo" on her. Something about the fight with Knives had changed him. While he felt relief at being reunited with his brother, he also felt a rising responsibility. Vash would always remember Rem, but it was time for him to move on. It was time for him to live for himself. That meant amending some of his most strongly held tenets of faith. He looked down at Meryl again. He had killed for this woman. He had killed to protect this woman, and he knew deep in his heart that he would do it again if he had to, and this time, without a second thought. It was true he had no right to take the life of another, but he also had no right to let someone else decide the fate of millions of humans on a whim. And he couldn't stand the thought of Knives hurting the few people who had actually accepted him as simply Vash...

He couldn't allow Knives to follow through with his plan, and if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice and killing Knives so that those he loved would be safe, then he would do it. "I hope it doesn't come to that...but whatever happens, I will survive..." In his sadness, he sounded a little less lost than usual.

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Millie waived from the porch as she saw Mr. Vash and Meryl approach on the slow moving thomas. Maybe Meryl had taken the extra time to tell Mr. Vash how she felt. She was so excited!

On closer inspection, she saw that Meryl was asleep, so the chances that she had come clean to Mr. Vash were now a lot lower. Still...This was the first time Millie had seen Meryl sleep in two weeks, and that was good any way you looked at it.

Millie sighed to herself. "Meryl, you are not going to break this promise. You are going to tell Mr. Vash how you feel!"

She walked back inside to heat up dinner. Mr. Vash probably hadn't had a decent meal the entire time he was away! That saddened Millie, but she was sure glad he was back at home.

She guessed that the stranger had to be some sort of relative because of the strong resemblance, and she went about caring for his wounds and making sure he was comfortable. He was still unconscious, and hadn't stirred at all since she had gotten him into the house.

Millie was being bad. She knew there were only three beds in the house, and she put the stranger in Mr. Vash's room. That meant that Mr. Vash was either going to have to sleep with her (which was NOT going to happen), or Meryl was going to have to share her room with him. Millie was pleased as punch with this arrangement, having watched her smaller counterpart pine away for the entire two weeks (and we're talking the whole 336 hours) that Mr. Vash had been away.

As Vash entered the house with the sleeping Meryl, Millie kept quiet. Only after he had put her to bed in her room and closed the door did she say anything.

"Mr. Vash, you must be starving! Come have something to eat. Did you get any injuries when you were in the fight?"

Vash nodded. "I have a few wounds in my shoulder, but it's not too big a deal."

"Oh, I don't know. You want those to heal right. Shoulders are very important. That's what my big big brother always told me. After dinner, you should take a shower and I'll bandage them up for you."

Ahh...a shower would have been heaven for Vash. He was becoming soft in his old age. He used to be a purely desert creature, surviving the elements on sheer determination alone, but since he had traveled with the girls, he spent a lot more time in the towns than he used to, and that meant he was growing very attached to certain amenities...such as running water...and refrigeration...and roofs...

Millie's voice drug Vash's thought away from all the fine things he had come to enjoy over the last few years. "So Mr. Vash! Did Meryl tell you?" She looked at him innocently.

"Did she tell me what?" He looked at her with a confused, yet curious expression on his face.

"Oh, I have a feeling you'd know if she told you." Meryl was such a chicken!

Before Vash could ask again, Millie had already changed the subject. "So, how is this man related to you!"

Vash's jaw almost dropped. Did she know about Knives? Millie sensed Vash's surprise and said, "Oh, Mr. Vash, really, you look just alike. Are you cousins?"

"We're...brothers." He didn't want to tell Millie about his brother right now, so he wolfed down his food and put his hand on his tummy. "Gee Millie, that sure was good! I think I should take a shower before I get too tired!"

With that, he made his exit and started for the bathroom.