My mind was what woke me hours later.
One minute I was out, the next I was awake and my mind was furiously working. It took me a few seconds, but my brain compartmentalized what had just happened, and more or less decided to understand it.
I wasn't shocked; I accepted everything as easily as I could under the situation. But when I was able to put a rhythm and reason to everything it was no big deal. Here was an old life, discarded with the body I had left. Here was my current life, with all its flaws and mistakes. And here's where they intersected. They were memories. Maybe I had more than most people, but I wasn't angry or testy about it. They had gotten me Vash, finally.
"You don't look insane." Vash murmured beside me.
I looked down at him, happily pillowed against my chest, covered in a light layer of odd feathers. "Now that's one hell of an odd topic for this situation."
"Sorry. I had been hoping this would happen for a while now. I had time to think about it, discuss with other people about what would happen if you did come back. A teacher of mine told me that the process might be so painful that the current you would be destroyed... or at least you'd go nuts in the process."
"You didn't think I was a survivor, did ya?"
"No… I knew you were… always. But I wanted to be careful."
"That's why it took you so long?"
"No, but it was why I didn't jump you as soon as I walked in the front door." He chuckled. Then looked up at me. "You remember…"
"Yes. Everything." I said, "And I'm still here."
"Yes."
We spent most of the morning in bed, playing around with each other, before we finally admitted we needed to get cleaned up. We conserved water and showered together, which turned out to be pretty wasteful. I dressed in his borrowed clothes and picked up the dirty laundry while he made breakfast.
We ate, hung the load out to dry, and Vash told me how he, his brother and the girls had all ended up out here, someplace I certainly had never been. He was afraid to say his brother's name out loud, and it was one of the few things I couldn't remember. I didn't ask, thinking it was for the best.
We passed out, cuddling on the couch.
I woke up warm, in his arms hours later. I had never been happier. Life was perfect.
Well, except for the little sliver of light that seemed to dance across my eyes at the right moment. It was coming from someplace outside, probably a wind chime or something. I heard the distant sound of bells.
I turned over, but it seemed to follow me. Hell. It was really starting to irritate me. Course it could just take a second to fix.
Carefully getting up so I wouldn't wake Vash, I slipped outside.
But as I peeked out the door I realized something unsettling. There was no wind chime. Just a large hunting knife embedded at the top of the earthen wall. Its blade was new and recently oiled. A dark shadow darted at the corner of my eye.
I froze. I began to back inside the house when I heard the hammer of a gun begin pulled back. The barrel was ground into my temple.
Shit.
"Out. Now."