Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun or any other anime - I just like making up stories…oh, and this is my second official fan fic and my first Trigun fan fic so I'll just apologize now if it sucks. Sorry!

Chapter Twelve: Waking to a Dream

I have a question that burns in my mind. I have meditated on it for what must be an eternity. But I still do not know the answer. Is she? Will she? Someone once told me that "sometimes the answers just crash down from heaven." And sometimes they come crashing out of a diner's front door.

Meryl woke up in phases; her senses took their time in bringing her clear out of her faint. At first she detected a smell. It was a very familiar smell, one she had grown accustomed to, the smell of sweet donuts, burnt gunpowder and the subtle sweat of an overdressed man. An unusual mixture, to be sure, but one that she loved, she breathed in deeply. Next her hearing returned to her. Although it was rather faint at the beginning a tune, like a memory filled her ears and her mind.

"So, on the first evening a pebble, from somewhere out of nowhere drops upon…"

At this point Meryl attempted to use her eyes. Opening them slowly, a fuzzy and blurred image proved that she would need a moment to adjust. She could make out a person, in red, sitting on the edge of what appeared to be the bed she was laying on. They were in a room, a large window lit up the other side of her bed. The person was the source of the voice that was singing softly to her. The person was the source of the smell that delighted her so very much. That person was –

"Vash?" Meryl tested her voice, it sounded a bit more harsh and shaky than she would have liked.

"Well hello there sleepyhead!" The all too familiar voice responded.

Meryl's eyes finally focused and she see that her senses were honest. Her heart's desire sat on the edge of her bed smiling at her, with that goofy grin he so commonly wore. She smiled back at him. Her heart was in her throat. He looked good, just as good as he used to when she was traveling the world with him. He was alive, he was here, he was watching her, he was smiling at her. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, to kiss him and to never let him go again. But first, she had to figure out what happened. She attempted to sit up. It was at this point that the sense of touch returned to Meryl. She felt exceedingly cool, not cold, but simply, not – not covered. Meryl looked down at herself and realized she was merely attired in her undergarments and the sheet of the bed. She glanced up, quite shocked to see the expression of interest and lechery on her beloved's face. A face, that moments later would have a very large, red handprint on it.

"What is going on here? Where are my clothes?" She was screaming. "Vash the Stampede you are in big trouble!"

"But! I didn't do anything! I – " He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Meryl composed herself and in the sweetest voice she could muster answered the knock with a "Come in!"

The beautiful blonde Marshall stood at the door with a smile and an armload of what appeared to be Meryl's clothes. "Oh I thought I heard you up!"

Vash was grinning unwaveringly and slowly sliding towards the door. "Uh, see? It wasn't me! It was all the nice, friendly…." He reached the door. "Bye!"

Meryl was still clutching the sheet to her chest and staring blankly at the door that Vash had exited through. Marianne walked up to the bed and dropped the clothes on it.

"You're in the spare bedroom of my house. You've been out for about 5 hours or so. You know, when you fainted like that we were all pretty surprised. Your Vash caught you before you were face first in the dirt, that's some guy you've got there." Marianne began pouring water from a pitcher into its basin. She was obviously preparing for Meryl to wash her face.

Meryl began dressing herself in a hurry. "He's not exactly my guy though."

"On the contrary, I would say he is very much your guy. He carried you all the way here, despite his brother's complaints. Although, Knives is a force to be reckoned with, just as you had said." Marianne frowned.

"Knives surprised me. I can't believe he's here." Meryl mumbled through the shirt she was pulling over her head.

Marianne shot her an inquisitive look and frowned.

"Er, that was him, at the door of the diner, wasn't it?" Meryl asked.

'Yes, that was him. He does look strikingly like your Vash, doesn't he?"

"Not really." Meryl frowned. "Vash has kind eyes; looking into them you can see he's gentle and silly. They're not at all like Knives eyes; his eyes are cold and mean. I don't think they're anything alike."

Marianne had finished with the water and turned to her guest. "I assume after you refresh yourself you'll want to have something to eat. I have prepared a light meal and I believe your gentlemen friends have gone about making reservations at the inn down the road. You're welcome to stay here tonight, of course. But I have invited the men back for dinner, if that's alright by you?"

Meryl nodded and Marianne smiled. As she pulled the door closed behind her Marianne's laughter filled the hall and she gave one last comment to Meryl. "I'm sure tonight's dinner conversation will be very, intriguing? Wouldn't you agree?"

Alone in the room Meryl's head swam with thoughts. Alright Meryl, there's no need to panic. You set out to find Vash and you did. Er, he found you that is. She got to her feet and headed to the basin to awaken her skin by the fresh water. Splashing her face she blinked hard and looked up at her reflection in the glass above the basin. What am I doing? This is Vash the Stampede! There's no way on earth he even cares about me like – oh, like I care about him! Somewhere deep down inside Meryl a little voice continued her rant. That's right, after all, there's nothing special about you Meryl, you're short and you're not blond like Marianne. You don't even have a great looking figure! What could he possibly see in you? Blinking again at the mirror, Meryl frowned. Sometime ago she had began to cry, the water that had run down her face mingled with the tears that were following in the water's tracks. She stared at her complexion before wiping her face furiously and straightening herself to her tallest height. That's enough Meryl! You go down to dinner and stop crying like a little girl! There could be lots of reasons why you're here and none of them have to be about him!

To Be Continued…

I see you out there, reading and not commenting, come on stop doing that! Please tell me what you think! lisa