When Meryl had picked Vash up that evening, the outlaw wondered why he hadn't been given a warning or a heads-up. The little insurance girl had pulled some strings, broke out of the mundane, and showed up in a knee-length black skirt, a lace blouse and light jacket. A small black purse was held loosely to her side. In Vash's opinion she looked quite sophisticated. And only when Meryl broke the silence did he realize he had been staring.

"I know it's not exactly like me, but I did some research and according to those well-off, it's the perfect look for a reunion- that is if you're going for that business mom impression." She explained and then blushed as she caught his eyes. She must sound really desperate. "Anyway," she looked away, "Are you ready to go? Do you have your pictures and business cards?"

"Yup," Vash answered casually and patted his pocket.

"Good," Meryl sighed.

To Vash, the trip to the high school felt very protracted. Meryl must have been extremely nervous because she couldn't stop talking about how he needed to act and the impression they needed to give. She brought up everything from the way he should shake hands to how many people had been in her biology class, and she even brought up something called accumulative test scores twice. The knowledge all seemed to break out of some invisible dam and flood from her mouth in anxiety. Vash listened to her talk about how he needed to resist acting like a broomhead as they turned down another busy street heading north. The subject ended abruptly and Vash darted for a line of dialogue.

"Any guys I should worry about?" He asked, trying to sound casual again.

"I told you," she snapped, "I never had any boyfriends in high school!"

"I didn't mean-"

Meryl gasped, grabbed the outlaw -or doctor- and stopped him. They stood there for a moment, at the edge of an intersection where cars were driving recklessly.

"It's just around this corner," she explained. She began scanning Vash very critically. Vash blinked, staring into her anxious eyes. The light of a nearby saloon reflected on their shiny surface. Her hand slipped into her new small black purse and returned with the skin-colored make-up Vash had seen earlier. Meryl took off the lid and reached up for the outlaw. Reluctantly, Vash lowered his stature for the small insurance girl.

Meryl carefully began applying more foundation. She felt Vash's upper body rise and fall as his lungs let out a silent sigh.

"It just needs a touch up," she explained.

Vash stared into her dark eyes. They were so close, standing on a corner of busy street.

I need to kiss her! A voice said drastically in his mind. I said I would. His heart pounded loudly in his ears and Meryl continued spreading the make-up carefully on his face, oblivious to his indecisive thoughts. Then, before his thoughts could tell him otherwise, he closed his eyes and began inching forward, preparing for his mouth to hit body warmth.

"Vash, what are you doing?" Meryl asked awkwardly.

His eyes snapped open and found her. His mind went blank while his stomach contorted. What was he doing? He was going to kiss her and he wasn't even heading in the right direction! He had been heading left while Meryl was now on his right.

"I thought you needed to get my right side," he answered quickly, his mind catching up to speed again. When she still looked confused, he added, "I figured it would be easier if I was closer so you could see clearly."

Her mingled expression turned into a glare. "I'm not that short!" She growled and put a large slab of make-up on his face and began to rub it in vigorously.

Vash cringed. "Ouch! I'm still sunburned!" He reminded.

Meryl put the substance back into her purse in a business-like manner. "Now remember, whenever you mention your occupation hand out your business cards, and don't mention anything that has to do with Vash the Stampede."

She peered around the corner and Vash let out another sigh.

"Okay, let's go." She said and grabbed his arm, pulling him onto a new street.

Vash was able to identify the high school immediately, not because of the various individuals entering its front doors, or even the lettering embellished on its surface, but because the building's structure was very conspicuous for this city. The school's lay-out covered a vast amount of ground, like someone had taken the Novinian hotel and stepped on it, flattening the structure in odd directions. Wide and long, the building stretched out down the street, surprising him with its area.

"I didn't realize so many people could afford to go to school, it's the largest one I've ever seen." He commented.

"The whole building isn't used for high school students, they have sections for younger children, but it's the only high school for cities and towns in the area," Meryl explained. "Which is one reason why this city is so lively, a lot of families move here to school their kids- if they can afford it."

Schools on Gunsmoke were much different than those of their ancestors on Earth. Going to one was such a privilege that only those who came from wealthy families were given the opportunity. Even the largest educational centers were smaller than the average on Earth. Because only a few students made it into high schools, high schools lacked a large amount of enjoyment in comparison. No class clowns or laziness had ever entered the buildings. All the students were hard workers, fighting for their space in education. A competition always existed, and much was expected out of them when they left the school. How one did in school could affect their future greatly. Unfortunately such peer pressure and requirements often left the majority of students "sucking-up" to adults with uncanny sweetness. And unlike the schools on Earth, the schools on Gunsmoke had no competition with any other high schools. High schools were so sparse and spread out that the idea of having any competition was immediately eradicated. Sports teams were nonexistent, and a good game of kick ball was considered orphan play. The only sports played by the students were found in P.E. class, which was normally dominated by the would-be football players.

Vash on the other hand had always personally enjoyed a good game of kick ball with children, and had no idea what he was getting himself into when he entered the large building. Meryl had her arm through his, and Vash could tell she was having a difficult time trying to decide how close their arms should be. Her uneasiness did little to comfort him, especially after their former incident when he had attempted to kiss her.

Inside the building Vash followed Meryl's lead through complicated halls until they reached a large spacious area where everyone had gathered. Vash spotted a line of tables on the other side of the room full of refreshments. It looked like the majority of people were starting a line there and finding a seat at some circular tables spread through out the area. He assumed that they would do the same until a large arm had pulled Meryl into a crowd of people, Vash followed with a tug.

"Hey, Meryl!"

The arm had belonged to a large man, whose majority of body weight seemed to gather at his stomach. In fact, Vash was sure the buttons on his shirt would shoot off any moment. He watched the male suspiciously and made a quick note of all the other individuals in the radius.

"Don't you remember that play I did in class that one time?" He asked. "Spencer had the ball and I completely rammed into him! I think we won the game by five points, weren't you on Sarah's team?"

Meryl gave him a sympathetic smile as she tried to rack her brain of the event.

"Oh, and that other time I completely creamed Chase?"

At these words several of the males in the area let out joyous laughter.

"So Meryl," a woman across from them spoke over the noise. She had just put away a travel-sized mirror and was eyeing the small insurance girl with a gleeful smug expression. "Who's this?" She asked with a plastic smile. Her auburn eyes directed their gaze to Vash.

Meryl could hardly resist the temptation to smile as she pulled Vash closer to her. Janet had been one of the people she had looked forward to bragging to most. All through high school Janet had always found ways of getting attention and approval from almost everyone, often taking credit for Meryl's hard work. She was talented with presenting herself as someone who would never make mistakes and more than once Meryl had felt the strong urge to disclose to the world how rude and self-absorbed she really was.

"Oh, I thought you would have heard by now. You've always been so good at keeping up on everyone's personal life." Meryl's smile gave Vash an uneasy feeling that we was going to be pulled into something he would much rather stay out of. "This is my husband, Mark."

Vash chanced a friendly small smile and reached out to shake the woman's hand, but instead the woman gave him a criticizing glance and turned back to Meryl. Vash quickly pocketed his hand, thankful it could be back in its safe headquarters.

"Giving up on Travis, have you?" Janet asked Meryl icily.

Vash's eyes quivered to Meryl, but the insurance girl seemed unmoved.

"Yes, in fact, I had given up on him before you even said we began." Meryl answered.

Behind Janet Vash could see the man who had alerted Meryl earlier. He and the rest of men were involved in another story about some sort of triumph from school days.

"What does he do?" Janet asked skeptically, referring to Vash as if he wasn't there.

"Actually, he's a doctor." Meryl answered.

"Oh really, what kind?"

"He works in all kinds of fields."

At this phrase, Vash removed a business card from his pocket and handed it to Janet. The woman looked at it carelessly.

"Anything else?" Janet asked.

"Yes," Meryl added quickly. "We've traveled all over Gunsmoke on business."

Janet raised an eyebrow.

"And I had our child in December City, Mark delivered her."

Vash felt his face turn white, but the made-up comment seemed to finally win Janet over. She looked shocked and then her eyes wandered to Vash, impressed. Finally the glance landed on one of the men behind her, who Vash assumed to be her husband.

"Do you and Mike have any kids?" Meryl asked.

"Are you kidding?" Janet asked. "But what does it matter?" She readjusted her hair. "It makes you look old faster. I already have a hard time keeping up on trends, and more so keeping Mike up to date. And just think, next time we meet you'll be a grandma, and I think I'd rather stay away from old as long as I can. Oh, and by the way, you might want to get a different brand of anti-wrinkle cream, I see some lines forming just under your eyes." And with that note of jealously, Janet dropped Vash's business card with over exaggerated actions and then turned away to find her husband.

Meryl pulled a confused Vash away with excess force, grumbling something about wrinkles.

"None of them have changed one bit," she said darkly. "Still living in high school like it's the only thing worth living for. I bet she wastes hundreds of valuable dollars on wrinkle cream." Meryl said with added disgust.

"If it makes you feel any better, Meryl, I don't use anti-wrinkle cream," Vash interjected.

"No one should have to unless their at least 40!" Meryl growled.

Vash let the comment float in the air.

"Oh, hey," Meryl pointed. "There's Shane, he was one of my best friends."

Vash's aqua eyes followed her finger to a man who was dressed calmly in his Sunday best. His red tie and black hair gave him a suave look, but unlike the last group he had encountered, this man seemed to be quite friendly.

"Let's see how he's doing," Meryl decided and tugged Vash along behind her.

They weaved between two groups of people and came right up behind the man.

"Shane." Meryl spoke.

With a lively smile the man turned around and then a look of sweet surprise overcame him. Vash knew immediately that if this man ever received wrinkles, it would be from smiling too much.

"Meryl Stryfe! I didn't think you were coming, you've been so busy keeping track of outlaws- The Humanoid Typhoon and all that."

Meryl blushed slightly. Her arms squirmed in Vash's and then she glanced around at the nearby ears.

"Hey… wait a minute…" Shane said slowly, and looked at Vash suspiciously with his molasses colored eyes.

Vash stared back at him, not daring to look away. If this man did recognize him, Vash would only hope that he would have the courtesy of confronting him quietly. Although he wouldn't get his hopes up, with his terrible luck this whole crowd of people will be running around chaotically by nightfall.

"Hmmm," Shane continued. "I don't believe we've meet!" He held out his hand joyously.

Letting out his pinned up air, Vash shook his hand gratefully.

Shane looked down at their hands and then stared at the wedding ring fixed on Vash's left. His eyes darted to Meryl's hand frantically. They returned to Vash when their hand shake was over and he quickly backed away, looking disoriented and confused.

"Woah, woah, woah!" He put his hands up in the air. "Meryl! You never told me you were married!"

Meryl blushed deeply. Several heads turned at Shane's loud exclamation. What a tangled web this would turn into if her best friend hadn't known she was married, and to make matters worse, Vash added "want to see our baby's picture?"

Shane gasped. "And you have a kid?" He looked disappointed for a moment and then tried to cover it up with over exaggerated joy. "Oh, congratulations, Meryl!" He quickly scooped up the insurance girl into a prolonged hug, one that Meryl thought she would suffocate if he held it much longer. Now she was even redder from lack of oxygen.

"When were you married? I can't believe it! Did I miss your invitation?"

"Oh Shane…" She sighed. "I don't even know how to explain this."

"Oh… no, I'm not offended- I'm sure you've been busy."

"It's not that," she said through her teeth. "It's a long story-"

Meryl's eyes seemed to have found something beyond Shane, and her sentence stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened and then she grabbed Vash's hand in a painful clench.

"Shoot, Travis is coming," she cursed. "Shane, I wasn't here," she said quickly, and pulled Vash yet again in a different direction. She ducked down under other people's stature, which Vash was sure was not necessary, being that Meryl was already too short to be seen.

"Who's this Travis guy I keep hearing about?" Vash inquired an urgent Meryl. He had heard the name several times and remembered encountering the mysterious signature and message in Meryl's yearbook.

"He's a rodent, that's what he is!" She hissed. "Hurry, this way- he's the last person I ever want to speak to again."

"MERYL!" A loud familiar voice boomed over half the crowd. Vash glanced bravely at Meryl and found her frozen in her crouched position ghostly white. Gabby was making her loud way over to them, taking time to attract as much attention to them as possible. A short man was sulking behind her and Vash concluded it was her husband, who seemed to have lost interest in the reunion long before he ever arrived.

"Oh my gosh! You made it! Oh, you look so cute together! How was the traveling?"

Meryl opened her mouth at lightening speed, but Gabby had mastered agility of the orifice long ago.

"We had a great trip. After passing through that little town where I ran into you, we took a bus to Lavington and then a Sand Steamer here to Marington. Oh, I just can't believe how much this city has grown. It seemed like just yesterday I was walking to this school- passed that gift shop for new comers- oh and by the way, it's still there! I was so pleased; we just had to go check it out. Their chocolate shakes are to die for! Do you remember going there after school? Jonny always had to borrow money because he always forgot his. That boy was a nice one though, two or three years younger than us. Did you ever get to-"

Meryl had spotted Travis making his way quickly over to her, when she finally took the initiative to interrupt.

"Gabby, I'm sorry, but Vash and I are really in a hurry."

Vash tensed as Meryl pushed him away. A sense of relief overcame him as Gabby continued talking for several more sentences, unaware they had left and unaware of his name.

"Hurry!" She hissed, but then a voice echoed even over Gabby's. It was loud due to the cupped hands near the mouth. Its sound was both enticing and obnoxious, yet not even the scratching of the voice was enough to prepare Vash for how repulsive its owner was.

"MEL!" It called.

"Hurry," Meryl said again, but the words were no match against the crowd of people, after several more weaves, two cracking dry hands grasped Meryl's shoulders and spun her around. The small insurance girl was staring directly at the most contorted man she had ever met.

Vash felt her nails dig painfully into his palm, and he wondered what could possibly make this human being so horrible. He did look unkempt, his shaggy blonde hair was greasy, and Vash couldn't help but notice that he was almost as tall as Meryl. But what made this man so hard to understand was something under the skin that Vash didn't know about, but he was quick to find out.

"Hey, Mel, long time no see," Travis said. His words were slurred and mumbled, like he was holding an invisible cigarette between his teeth.

Meryl said nothing.

"How about after the reunion we get a couple o' drinks, you know, we can do it legally now," as he spoke his arm mysteriously seemed to find its way around her neck, resting on the shoulders.

"I'd rather tackle some outlaws," she glared at him.

"Oh?" He asked, pulling his face dangerously close to hers. "I new you were truly scandalous- on the inside, Mel. You know, I could be an outlaw too, if that's what it takes."

Meryl was blushing, she had hardly meant anything of the sort in her comment, but of course, Travis being the twisted mind he was had to morph any phrase into an uncomfortable one.

"Blushing, Mel? You like the idea?" He asked.

"Don't disgust me any further," Meryl growled.

Travis somehow had the nerve to come closer. Didn't he know who he was talking to? Vash wondered. He was waiting for Meryl to physically attack, but the moment wasn't coming. Sensing her silent distress, Vash happened to push Travis' arm off when he put his around Meryl. Travis glanced at Vash and then his eyes returned to Meryl with a sickening smile that seemed to affect everything on his face up to his eyes.

"Oh lighten up, Mel," he nudged her playfully.

Meryl sent him a death glare, one Vash recognized at once.

"So this is the type of man you went for?" He asked skeptically. "He doesn't seem like he would be a thrill. Actually, I'm surprised he was good enough for you. My father owns half this land, was your father's boss, and I had continual pardon from the school because of him. All that and it still wasn't enough…"

"What do you want, Travis?" Meryl snapped.

"Oh Mel, Sweet Cheeks, you know what I want," and without much more warning his hand darted to her rear end. Meryl reacted at once, her palm cutting through the air ready to make impact on Travis' skin. But out of evident repetition, Travis knew exactly when to duck. Meryl's hand swung through the air, while Travis looked up at her with a half smile.

"Old habits do die hard, Mel. You know where to find me," he said and departed at a quick pace.

"Er! That scum!" Meryl growled. Her hands clenched into quivering fists. With one swift move, she swiped the air right where his head had been. "I hate him, Vash, I do. I hate him!" She admitted.

Vash on the other hand seemed quite indecisive on what to do or say. He looked both disturbed and irritated, and when Meryl looked up at him to see his reaction he simply suggested they try the refreshments.

Unfortunately Vash had no better luck there. While Meryl was grabbing a few vegetables and some dip, Vash had wandered over to the sweets.

Deity had to be kidding him.

Placed neatly in the middle of the maroon table cloth were three plates full of three different kinds of gelatins. He stared speechless at the red one, which jiggled when someone began to scoop it onto his plate across the table.

"They're serving Jello?" Vash asked out loud.

"Sure looks delicious, doesn't it, Spikey?"

Vash froze while the person who was scooping up the gelatin began to hum The Wedding March. Slowly, very very slowly, Vash's eyes turned upwards to the man. He was a Priest with dark hair, a gleeful expression, and had a travel-sized confessional tucked under his arm. The Priest, Vash knew, could only make his situation go from bad to worse.

"Here, let me get that for you," Wolfwood insisted. And before Vash could even close his gaping mouth, The Priest unloaded a heaping spoonful of red jello right onto the outlaw's plate.