Authors Note: Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you don't even have time to breathe? I've been having one of those days for the last several months. Finally having time to sit down and work on my fanfiction felt like heaven. I would apologize for my lack of updates except that I really couldn't control it. Anyway, it feels good to be back. I wanted this chapter up as much as you did. Thanks for reading, enjoy.

Both irritated and disgusted, Wolfwood began to rid his face of the half-digested food. The splattered substance streaked across his clean sleeves as he wiped it away from his eyes and nose. Once the food had found a new home on his suit, his eyes shot open to find the outlaw. Wolfwood immediately forgot about scolding the gunman as he watched Vash cease the small insurance girl and kiss her.

A look of pure shock washed over Meryl's face. She was frozen, her eyes wide and hesitant. Wolfwood watched her right hand quiver slightly and raise a few inches. Had he actually made a mistake? He wondered in horror. The small insurance girl wasn't closing her eyes, and her itching hand put the idea into the Priest's head that she was contemplating an attack on the outlaw. Vash on the other hand appeared to have his eyes shut tight, eyebrows lowered together, too afraid to ever let go. If Meryl wasn't going to go along with the game, the Priest knew Vash would blame him for everything. Just when Wolfwood was considering leaving the circumstances, she closed her eyes, and he felt compelled to stay. A large smirk spread across his face. Finally.

Vash felt his heart fluttering madly. He couldn't believe he had done it. His lips were pressed against hers, she wasn't pulling away, and he had kissed her in front of everyone. Seconds passed… they were still in the kiss, and he began to relax a little, his face softening. More time elapsed…and Vash began to wonder... what was he supposed to do next?

Now what? He thought, beginning to feel uneasy. He hardly dared pursue more, but was putting off the moment they broke apart, because awkwardness was guaranteed to follow.

Wolfwood watched their kiss. Exciting at first… but after 10 very long seconds had passed and neither of them had moved a muscle, he felt irritated with the outlaw. What was he doing? Wolfwood slapped his forehead with his palm and then let his hand slide down his face. Once he had Vash cornered, he seriously needed to give him some kissing lessons.

Finally, they pulled apart. Wolfwood watched their eyes meet and Meryl blush deeply. Both were unsure of what to do next as they stared at one another in silence. Their eye-contact broke sheepishly by Vash.

"Excuse me," he mumbled.

Wolfwood watched the outlaw depart at a quick pace for the nearest door, leaving Meryl frozen and confused. The Priest was about ready to pull out his hair. His hands clenched into fists of frustration. He restrained from cursing and glanced frantically around for Millie instead.

"Millie!" He called. "Millie!"

"Wow, Mr. Priest. Did you see? They actually did it!"

After hearing her voice, he turned around to spot the large insurance girl, who was looking both pleased and excited. Didn't she understand? If they didn't act now, circumstances would be worse than ever.

Wolfwood reached for a cigarette in his front pocket.

"Hun," he lit his vise. "We've got some work to do. If we don't help those two sort out their emotions, we're going to have some serious battles. Act quickly."

"Yes, Mr. Priest." Millie answered happily.

"You take the insurance girl, and I'll take the outlaw."

"Right." Millie nodded.

"Ready? Break!"

And at once they departed. Millie for Meryl and Wolfwood for Vash.

Everything felt surreal to the short insurance girl, who was still staring after Vash even after he had exited the room. Voices full of emotion bounced through the area, several stares were on her, but none of them mattered to Meryl and she stood frozen in front of everyone. When Millie grabbed her hand, Meryl's eyes finally ripped away from the door and landed on her partner.

"Millie," she began in a daze, "I think Vash just kissed me."

"He sure did, Ms. Meryl."

"It was him wasn't it? It wasn't Mark, it was Vash, right?" Meryl seemed to suddenly wake up from her surreal slumber. Her heart was pumping faster now.

"I don't know any Mark, Ms. Meryl, but that man looked like Mr. Vash the Stampede to me."

Meryl heaved a sigh and then jumped again as her old classmate, Janet, walked passed them. Meryl suddenly observed her every move and then extended her gaze to the nearest bodies. Gabby was no where in sight, but she hoped no one else was able to make sense of their subtle conversation.

"Let's get out of this room," Meryl said to Millie. "I don't want anyone over hearing us."

Meryl led Millie through the crowd of people with mixed emotions. When several people tried to stop her for a full account of what had happened and where her husband had gone, she ignored all of them but Shane.

"I can't talk right now," was her answer to him, and she continued, exiting the opposite end Vash had.

….

Vash returned to the tiny janitor closet. He slumped against the wall and let his body slide down it until he was sitting on the dirty floor next to the collection of brooms, the after affects of an adrenaline rush in his system.

What the heck was wrong with him?

He made a complete fool of himself. He walked away. He walked away after they kissed. What was he thinking? Who does that?

"You are a fool, Vash," he said in the darkness. His palms rested on his forehead, extending his fingers into his hairline. Nausea overcame his stomach. He must be insane to go after someone like Meryl. That woman was too hard to please. Never would he be good enough for her.

Sure, he had kissed a woman before. He had even gotten out of hand with a bartender, but the problem was that he couldn't treat that small insurance girl like any other woman. She didn't put up with it, she could hardly put up with him. Meryl never showed skin, but somehow she still got harassed from time to time. She was responsible, but beautiful. She was blunt, but caring. She wasn't like anyone else Vash had had eyes for.

…but that kiss… Vash remembered the moment and smiled in spite of his embarrassing predicament. His stomach seemed to expand and his heart felt heavy. That kiss beat out donuts any day of the week.

BAM! The door was thrust open. The Priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, was standing admirably in the opening. Bright rays of light from the hallway cast long shadows in the closest and made the silhouette of the Priest defined in the framing. Vash looked up at him, his eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden burst of light.

Before his eyes had ever fully adjusted, his collar was once again wrinkled in the Priest's grasp, and the outlaw was dragged out into the blinding hallway.

"What was that?!" Wolfwood demanded, particles of spit landing on Vash's subtle expression.

The outlaw looked back into the Priest's angry eyes and found equal dislike for him.

"Well excuse me for not eating her face off like you do with Millie."

"What did you say? Eat her face off? Bah!"

Wolfwood let go of Vash's collar, and it looked even more wrinkled than before. Glowering, he put out his cigarette.

"I kissed her, isn't that good enough for you? That was the deal." Vash reminded, glaring at the Priest.

"No it is not good enough for me!" Wolfwood raged. He stomped on the remains of his cigarette with complete distaste.

"Well, what did you expect me to do? Hang all over her? Feed her pudding with my spoon?" Vash was secretly pleased to see the comment anger the Priest. Wolfwood's eyes narrowed and he looked close to bursting, his hands clenched in fists.

"Now listen here, Spikey, you have no idea what we've been up to. Don't accuse me for things your little needley head can't contain."

But Vash finally had a fleeting taste of victory as a small ruddy patch began to spill out across the Priest's cheeks.

"For your information, Meryl and I have had enough of you draping yourself all over her," the outlaw continued. "How far have you gone with her anyway? What are you going to do when you have to return to the orphanage? Just leave her?" he demanded, closing in on the Priest until he had Wolfwood backed up against the wall. "You can't be with her forever. You can't drag her into all this danger, and even after it's all said and-"

"Don't you ever listen to me, Spikey?" Wolfwood interrupted, roaring over the outlaw. "This had nothing to do with me and Millie, this whole time it's been about you and Meryl!"

Vash glared at him.

"Now would you just listen?!" Wolfwood asked. "Everything me and Millie have done has been to get you two to admit to one another!"

Vash didn't believe him. This Priest was full of it.

"The more time we spent together, the more time you two spent together. Heck, Spikey, we even gave you a topic of conversation!"

"Then what about grocery shopping? What was that about?" Vash demanded at once.

"It was nothing!" Wolfwood exclaimed. "We didn't do anything. She's not just some street girl, Vash. Millie doesn't deserve that, and you know she is the youngest of ten- seven brother and two brother-in-laws. Would you want to put up with that?"

Vash could hardly believe the words issuing out of the Priest's large mouth. Without his consent, his jaw dropped and he had to take a moment to regain himself. "Then what is grocery shopping?" He asked, bewildered.

"It's nothing! It's whatever you choose it to be! You're the one who decided what it was! I didn't tell you a thing." Wolfwood exclaimed.

Vash was dumbfounded. His world was collapsing.

….

Inside the large restroom of the high school, Meryl tried to gather her thoughts. The kiss the outlaw had unexpectedly issued was still vivid in her mind. At first she had thought perhaps the outlaw had taken their imaginary relationship too far, and that perhaps he had kissed her because he could simply get away with it… and he did. The idea to be taken advantage of by someone who had agreed to help her was enough for Meryl to nearly attack the outlaw, but for some deep reason she gave in. And once the kiss had finally ended, she realized her assumptions had been all wrong. Vash's actions, his eyes of insecurity, and his sheepish departure, only slapped Meryl in the face with what she thought was impossible. The outlaw had feelings for her.

For a long time, Meryl stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror in silence, contemplating the outlaw. Like so many moments she had had with him, she had concluded wrongly about his intentions. He was elusive, never what he seemed.

"Millie, I don't know what to do," she finally spoke, keeping her eyes on her reflection. "Maybe we should just go on and act like nothing happened."

"Why would you do that?" Millie asked.

"Because everything is so complicated. And not only that, he's my job, he's an outlaw with $$60 billion on his head." She pointed out. A relationship, Meryl felt, would only make life more difficult and emotions harder to decipher. Life was confusing enough without the outlaw. Unfortunately, she felt deeply inclined to take the easy way out of the situation by making no specific decision at all.

"You love him, don't you?"

The question was posed as a simple one. Millie asked it as if she was merely asking what time it was. Meryl didn't answer.

"Then what else matters?" Millie asked.

Meryl wondered how her partner could always be so calm. Even if the end of the world was taking place, Millie would still be lending a hand to anyone she met with a lighthearted attitude. Millie. Somehow she could go through life simplistically and never have a rainy day.

"Meryl, Mr. Vash likes you, Mr. Priest told me so… he also said that he is too afraid to tell you." She shared. "He just doesn't want to lose your friendship."

Meryl laughed. "How can he lose it? He can't lose me, I'm assigned to him!"

"It's hard to let people in sometimes…" Millie spoke. "Most the time you don't know what you're getting into, but that's what makes life exciting. Meryl, I don't know much about Wolfwood's lifestyle, but I do know what kind of person he is. He's kind to me, and we've had a lot of good times together, and some good discussions. I know he has a good heart, and everything else that comes with him is what makes him interesting."

"But Wolfwood isn't an outlaw with $$60 billion on his head…" Meryl pointed out in dismay.

"And when it gets down to it, Vash isn't either, is he? He has close to none of those characteristics you would expect him to have with his title. You out of all people should know that, you know him better than anyone."

"Still, Vash has been accused as a terrible man, and if my family or anyone else found out he was more than just a job to me, it would seem my whole foundation of life would turn into one huge battle."

"How can you let anyone else's judgment stop you when they don't even know who Vash really is?" Millie asked Meryl.

Meryl frowned and her stature seemed to diminish. "Most of those people out there don't even know who I am." She commented. "None of them have an inkling of what we've gone through with our job, and what drastic choices we have had to make. Instead the whole school puts on all these stupid facades…" She turned away from the mirror.

She looked indecisive and distraught. Her eyes were full of worry as she tried to conclude this decision that had been going on for what felt ages. On many accounts she had decided outright to just leave the gunman as a job… but then he became a friend, and then somehow her feelings of friendship and relationship had melted together inside her own mind. Still, even then she decided he would be nothing more than a job, but she had never felt comfortable with this conclusion... and she would often times catch her mind spending precious time thinking of him.

"So what if it's a mistake?" Millie spoke, "So what if life doesn't go as expected? You learn a lot more from risking and failing than never risking at all. I've learned over the years that what's best for you is simple. Don't over complicate it, Meryl."

Meryl thought about Millie's words. Just talking to Vash instead of trying to avoid the matter would lessen much of her stress. She did have a terrible habit of complicating life.

"I must have a lot of authority," she said finally, leaning against the bathroom sinks, "to make someone like Vash shake in his boots."

Her eyes rested on the bathroom ground, overlooking the layout of beige tile and stalls. Then something caught her eye. In the opening under one of the tan stalls were two dark legs framed perfectly. Each foot was fitted nicely in a pair of white strapped stiletto heals.

Meryl's stomach squirmed. Someone was listening to them.

…

"So," Vash continued after regaining himself from the sudden confession. "You're telling me this whole thing between you and Millie is a lie and that you've honestly just been spending innocent time doing who knows what?" Vash asked. Suspicious, he was still unsure of whether or not he could believe the Priest. Wolfwood was always misleading him and was completely inexplicable.

"If you really want to know, we've been plotting our conversation about you two… and she has been teaching me a thing or two about chess," he added offhandedly.

"So you don't really like Millie?" Vash asked.

One of the Priest's smirks overcame his face. "Now, I never said that. I just haven't been implying the truth."

"Are you two even together?"

"Well, we have kissed on several occasions, but nothing-" Wolfwood suddenly caught himself with a jolt. "But that's beside the point! This is about you and Meryl! And you need to find her and talk to her. She's probably confused to death, the poor thing."

"Wait a minute…" Vash said, his mind taking in everything the Priest had just confessed. "Then that bet you made was a set up! You knew all along she liked me! You," he pointed a threatening finger at the Priest, "are a dirty player!"

"You agreed to the bet fair and square," Wolfwood argued.

"No I didn't, I never said I was even betting! You are the one who had mistaken-"

"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Wolfwood put his hands up. "This isn't about the bet! We need to get you in shape Spikey, and fast. The longer we spend here talking about our little differences-"

"Little differences?!"

"-The harder it will be to get your courage up. Now, here is what you need to do. First," the Priest said, counting the digit on one of his fingers, "find Meryl. Second," he moved to his second finger, "get her in a position where she will listen to you. Third, confess your feelings for her and listen to her confession. It's that simple, Spikey. Easy as one, two, three." He counted all three numbers off on his fingers. "Then you two can finally move on with your relationship."

"But it's not that easy," Vash said again.

"Nonsense, the hardest part is over." Wolfwood insisted and waved Vash's comment away with a flick of his hand. "Just be sincere and respectful. You pretty much already have her."

"But what if I can't have her, Wolfwood, you have no idea what kind of-"

"-Danger? Please, Vash, does Meryl shrink away from danger? Even you should know that."

Wolfwood looked back into Vash's aqua eyes and suddenly felt uncomfortable. His eyes looked desperate and empty. This gunman was really afraid of something, something deeper than all this business with high school reunions. A rush of guilt flooded the Priest.

"Wolfwood, you really have no idea," Vash said again with his vivid eyes.

The Priest looked away from the gunman's expression.

"I can't do this." Vash spoke.

"Oh, buck up, outlaw," Wolfwood growled, knocking Vash in the stomach. "Suck it up and be a man! Anyway, I know just what you need to defeat your cold feet."

Without any more hints, Wolfwood pushed the outlaw back into the custodian closet.

"Don't you move a muscle until I get back, and don't you even think about not going through with this!" He said.

The closet door shut, leaving Vash in near darkness.

….

Finally, the stall of the woman's restroom opened to reveal a woman dressed in azure. She had a narrow figure, rectangular framed glasses, and an uneasy look on her face.

"Roseanne?" Meryl asked with surprise.

"Meryl Stryfe," the woman replied.

"You heard everything we were saying. What are you doing in here?" Meryl asked.

The woman named Roseanne gave the small insurance girl a disgusted look. "I don't think it's any of your business."

"Oh, Roseanne, I haven't seen you once all night. I didn't even know you were here. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone anything about what we've been talking about? Everything will turn into an even bigger mess…"

"About you and Vash the Stampede? Is he here in this building?" Roseanne inquired with a sense of urgency.

"I'm not sure anymore… but it really isn't what it looks like," Meryl tried to explain.

"Mr. Vash the Stampede has been working with Meryl, and Mr. Vash has taken a liking to her." Millie shared.

Meryl gave her partner a look that demanded her silence. She returned to Roseanne, who looked alarmed and untrustworthy. Her forest green eyes appeared restless behind her glasses. "You won't talk about it, will you? If you do this whole place will be in ruins," Meryl sighed.

"Don't worry," Roseanne smiled, "I'll do anything for one of my best high school friends."

Unlike her kind words, Roseanne didn't give Meryl any reassurance of keeping her mouth shut when she departed the restroom at a quick pace. The shine in her eyes reminded Meryl of the sneaky liar Roseanne used to be. Her golden brown locks and stiletto heals disappeared from the insurance girls' view, and with a perpetual squeak, the door swung for several seconds before finally stopping.

Meryl gripped her hair in frustration. "Uugh! Millie, why can't anything ever go right? I think I've adapted the Murphy's Law and everything is going to fall apart!"

"But she said she wouldn't tell anyone," Millie pointed out.

"She can't be trusted with a smug look like that! I don't know why she would tell anyone, we have always been good friends. Do you think she's jealous for some reason?" Meryl asked. All through high school she had watched Roseanne create havoc on innocent students simply because she was jealous of them. Thankfully, Meryl had never been one of those individuals. All through high school she remained friends with Roseanne, always keeping a safe distance.

"Ms. Meryl, I think all this high school reunion business has reduced everyone back into the drama integrated lifestyle of adolescence." Millie concluded.

In aggravation, Meryl's fist hit the wall. "I hate high school."

"Maybe we should all just leave and call it a night," Millie suggested.

"No…" Meryl moaned. "We've got find Roseanne."

"But she just left."

"Then it shouldn't take us long. Come on, Millie." Meryl ordered, and with authority, marched out the bathroom door.

….

Vash was alone in the custodian closet for a long time. Mixed emotions intertwined through his thoughts. Like many previous situations, he was unsure if he would make it out of this reunion alive.

"Open up, Spikey, I've brought you something."

The Priest's voice rang sluggishly in Vash's ears. Both distressed and calm, the outlaw opened the door.

"Just what you needed, right?" Wolfwood asked.

Vash's eyes adjusted to the new lighting and rested on the shiny new fabric in the Priest's hands. The bundle of red embellished with black buttons looked familiar to the outlaw. Vash grabbed the fabric in his hands and held it up. With speed, the coat unfolded and swayed frivolously in the doorway. The flag of determination. The outlaw's redcoat was well intact, clean, but differed slightly in several areas.

"Wolfwood… where did you get this? This isn't mine." Vash remarked.

"What do you mean it isn't yours? This coat is your trademark!" Wolfwood argued. He gripped the red fabric and shook it with man-power as if the coat magically gave confidence to any male.

"Mine melted." Vash reminded. "Where did it come from?" He asked again.

"I bought it." Wolfwood shrugged.

"You can't buy these."

"I have connections! But if you're ungrateful about it, I'll just take it back! I went to a lot of work to get it here. Now put it on." Wolfwood demanded.

Vash gave him an insecure look of suspicion. This Priest was always hiding something up his sleeve, wasn't he? Before putting it on, the outlaw made sure to examine its surface thoroughly. His new red coat was not fashioned by the same person who had previously assembled his coats, this one had different stitching. This information relieved his anxiety a modicum.

"Hurry it up in there!" Wolfwood pounded on the closet door.

Vash's eyes lingered towards his banging.

"We don't have all night!"

"I'm hurrying" Vash responded, and began slipping on the red coat. This coat didn't fit him like his other one, but because of its symbolic nature, he felt rejuvenated by its touch. As he buttoned each button, he remembered many successful and unsuccessful instances where he had felt determination run through him. He remembered lives he had saved… and deaths he could not stop. He remembered young childhood melodies and red geraniums. And as he buttoned the last button, he remembered one woman. Meryl Stryfe.

"Finally!" Wolfwood growled when the door opened. He took little notice of the serious look of determination on the outlaw's face. Instead, he retrieved a small box from his right pocket and threw it at the outlaw.

Vash caught it with ease. His eyes skimmed the box's scarlet surface.

"What is this? Your cigarettes?" He asked.

"No, they're chocolates, Needle Noggin!" Wolfwood growled. "You would die if you tried to smoke those."

Vash blinked. "The box is so small." He pointed out.

"It was all I could afford," the Priest answered with a shrug. Then he retrieved a tiny plastic spray bottle. "Open wide, Spikey."

After Vash opened his mouth, Wolfwood began spraying the minty substance all over in it. He had just finished drenching the outlaw's tongue when Vash began coughing and pulled away from the Priest. "Is my breath really that bad?" He sputtered. "I could have used that before I kissed her."

"Just playing it safe," Wolfwood answered. He pocketed the breath-freshener in Vash's red coat before pulling out the next item, which was a small glass bottle of cologne.

"Just one spray of this cologne and I think your set, Spikey." He remarked. Very carefully, the Priest aimed the cologne and sprayed the neck of the outlaw.

Vash inhaled the fragrance, and to his surprise was quite fond of its scent.

"I don't get to keep that one?" He asked after Wolfwood tucked the glass bottle away.

"That stuff is expensive, and it's Millie's favorite," he answered.

"Well, that's helpful," Vash answered with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's better than nothing," Wolfwood answered. Then the Priest stood back to admire the gunman. If Vash didn't get the small insurance girl tonight, he didn't know what would. They stared at one another for a few seconds before Wolfwood broke the silence.

"For love?" He asked holding out his hand.

"For love, and for peace!" Vash replied and shook it.

"Go get her, stallion."

Taking one last deep breath, Vash stepped passed the Priest.

Wolfwood lit a cigarette. After inhaling its delectable chemicals, he heard the gunman's feet stop. Now what's wrong? He wondered.

"Wolfwood," Vash broke the silence with seriousness. "Don't ever call me that again."

"Heh," the Priest smirked. A puff of smoke escaped his lips as the gunman sauntered down the hallway.