--Two miles outside of Jeneora Rock.

As the sun sank below the horizon and twilight set in, Onyx brought the party to a halt. After setting up camp, Onyx looked at her three companions. "First of all, we will need to have a pair of guards up throughout the night at all times."

Shiro's hand shot up, "I vote that Onyx and Knives take the first watch."

Everyone stared at the young assassin in absolute silence. Finally, Vash grinned and raised his hand, "I second that notion."

Raising an eyebrow, Onyx glanced at Knives, "Very well…we'll wake you at midnight for your shift."

As they reached the outskirts of the camp, Knives squeezed Onyx's shoulder, "Are you all right, Onyx? You seem really stressed out."

Shaking her head, the bounty hunter looked up, "No…this is all wrong…I usually know exactly what will happen in a situation like this…you could say I'm a bit of a hunchman. I get hunches about things…but I don't see anything, and I don't know why."

She looked back down at the ground, "I'm so used to knowing exactly what's happening around me, and suddenly, it seems all of my hunches have abandoned me…this has never happened before and I'm worried…I've never been worried before in my entire life."

Overcome by a sudden rush of concern, Knives held her close and stroked her long, black hair with slender ivory fingers. "Oh Onyx…why did it have to be you? We were doomed from the start weren't we?"

Startled by this sudden display of affection, Onyx's first instinct was to pull away, but instead she allowed him to continue stroking her hair in silence. For whatever reason, this man truly cares for me. she thought, wonderingly. The question is can I find it in me to return the favor?

Lifting her chin with his hand, Knives kissed her tenderly with none of the passion of the hotel encounter. His tenderness surprised her, yet she found herself kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his neck as if he might vanish at any second. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, the moment ended, and they parted, neither one meeting the other's gaze.

Finally Knives spoke up, "Onyx, what will you do if you find Alona?"

"I will find her," Onyx murmured with quiet ferocity, "And when I do—" she paused, "The situation will be dealt with the appropriate finality."

The look on Onyx's face was so terrible that Knives finally looked away. It was painfully clear to him that the subject was closed for discussion.

As the fire dwindled, Shiro poked at it with a stick. He gestured off in the direction where Onyx and Knives had disappeared. "So, what do you think of that?"

Vash shrugged, "I don't know…Knives is head-over-heels for her—I know that look, but personally, I think that he'll end up heartbroken in the end."

Shiro frowned, "How long have you known Onyx, Vash?"

Vash shook his head, "I'm not sure…four years maybe?"

The assassin nodded, "Yeah, well I've known Onyx practically since birth, and let me tell you," he paused and lit up a cigarette, "She is the queen of all ice queens; no emotions…yet I think Knives will fare well."

Vash frowned, "How so?"

Pausing to exhale some smoke, Shiro turned an aquamarine eye toward the heavens, "What most people don't know about Onyx is that the woman is possessed of an intense passion, and despite her lack of conventional emotions, she is actually a highly sensual creature…only three people were able to see this inner fire behind those cool, gray eyes of hers: Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Legato Bluesummers, and myself. We all loved her for it, yet she tended to ignore it, and the three of us became her confidants." He sighed, "It became my theory that she was looking for someone else. Someone who she wouldn't have to watch grow old and die…now it seems she finally found him."

Vash raised an eyebrow, "You truly believe that she loves my brother?"

Shiro nodded, "I know that she loves him. That look she sometimes gives him: I've never seen that look on her face before…whatever it is that passes for love in her mind, she has it for your brother."

At this, Vash smiled sadly, "Someone once told me that no one, no matter how dark their heart may be, was beyond redemption…I didn't understand it then, but now it's beginning to make sense."

Shiro shrugged, "On one hand, you could be right, the two of them could be the ultimate in redemption…"He tossed his cigarette into the fire, "But on the other hand, it could be a match made in hell. Combine her cunning and his sense of purpose, with their combined power, and the human race is as good as dead."

Vash glanced at his watch, "Shoot! It's already ten! I'm going to sleep!"

Shiro nodded, "Goodnight Vash. See you in about two hours."

Turning back toward the fire, Shiro removed his saxophone from its case and began to tune it. "Oh Onyx…" he murmured, as bringing the saxophone's mouthpiece to his lips, he began playing a strange mournful tune he had been taught since birth.