DISCLAIMER: Trigun belongs to Yasuhiro Nightow, not Jezebel Parks.
Love Is Blind – Chapter 5
Everyone stopped. Not again. They didn't want this happiness shattered; not after the horrid event that they had only just gotten through. After what seemed like forever, Rem took out her communicator and contacted Joey. She spoke with him for a brief moment, then hung up and turned to the children.
"Joey wants me to check it out. Follow me." She started to run. "He said it was this way," she called behind her shoulder as she led them. Knives and Vash followed her, with Aurora still clutching her friend's hand.
As they ran, the gunshots became louder and almost seemed to shake the ship. Rem skidded at the entrance of a room and pressed the button to open it. Her face flashed into a depiction of intense horror. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a small gape as she saw the sounds of the gunshots.
Mary was laying lifelessly on the ground as the red target beam almost seemed to stab through her. Rowan held the gun in his hands, pulling the trigger to the beat of a hymn of death. He noticed Rem in the doorway, and grinned at his handiwork.
"She said she loved me," he said, his voice lined with a psychotic tone. "It's unbelievable! Isn't it unbelievable?!"
By this time, Vash, Knives, and Aurora had arrived on the scene. Vash stared in disbelief at the corpse on the floor, at her killer, then back again. His eyes finally rested on Rem.
Aurora couldn't see the homicide, but she just knew in her heart what had happened. "Is Mary dead?" she whispered to Vash. Her low tone made the question seem fruitless. He quietly replied that yes, she was gone. Aurora felt as though the whole ship was falling apart.
Suddenly, Rowan turned around, red dot of the target beam shining on Knives's forehead
"I know...this is all HIS fault! It's HIS fault that Mary's dead!" he said. "The little monster!"
Aurora clasped Vash's hand tightly, hoping that if she did, nothing would harm them. Rem jumped in front of Knives. The red dot now indicated the location of her heart.
"Stop this! No!" she cried. "Don't harm him!" Upon seeing the killer's surprised face, she continued. A peaceful smile appeared on her lips. "No one has the right to take the life of another."
Her words made Rowan uncomfortable. He tensed, then his hands began to shake. The dot danced around on Rem's chest. Rem advanced. "Stay back!" he yelled, stepping backwards.
"No one has the right to take the life of another," Rem repeated. She moved slowly toward him and reached for his hand holding the gun. "If we all understand and respect one another, then our future will be so much brighter. Please... just give me the gun."
Aurora held her breath, as did Vash. Their interlocking hands tightened their grasp. Just as Rem seemed to touch Rowan's hands, the hatch opened. The three children tried to stabilize themselves to avoid being sucked out into the void. They watched helplessly as Rowan and Mary's bodies floated into the endless death of space. Then the hatch closed.
Rem fell to her knees in angst and began weeping. As Vash went to her and tried comfort her, Aurora felt Knives run off down the hall. She tried to ignore the bad thoughts as she felt her way to Rem and hugged her. Rem was speaking to Joey via video communicator.
"Joey...why did you do that?" Her voice was a barely audible whisper.
"He would have shot you. I had to,"
"He wouldn't have shot me. I was in control,"
"Please try to understand, Rem, I –-"
Rem shut the communicator off. "Rowan...Mary..." she whispered, staring at the ceiling.
Aurora held her mentor's hand. It shook with such emotional uneasiness. Her strength was diminishing. She was becoming more vulnerable. They sat in silence until an alarm sounded.
"What's happening?" Vash cried. Knives suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"Rowan must have meddled with the controls. The ships are going to crash onto the planet! We have to escape!"
Rem stood up. "What about Joey?"
"He said to get to the escape pods. Don't worry about him, there isn't any time!" Knives said.
Vash looked to Rem for guidance. "What should we do, Rem?"
Rem looked fiercely at the ground. "Let's get to the pods."
They put on space suits and hurried down numerous corridors to the landing where the pods were located. Rem opened one, and Knives, Vash, and Aurora climbed in. The children waited for their mentor join them, but she stared, deep in thought. She finally pressed the switch to close the door—with her still standing on the platform.
Vash panicked. "Rem, what are you doing? Rem!"
"I can't leave Joey here by himself, and I want to try to save the sleeping people on the ships," she replied, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Rem, no! Please stay! Don't go!" Vash cried, his own eyes beginning to burn.
"I think that if He were alive, He would have done the same." She kept her hand on the hatch to keep it from opening. "Vash, take care of Knives." Then it closed.
"Rem! REM!!" Vash screamed as he pounded on the door with tight fists.
He was knocked backward as the pod took off into space. He watched the monitor showing the ship that Rem had remained on. It traveled smoothly, then suddenly exploded, like a swan killed by a single shot while coasting on a lake.
Vash snapped. "NOOOO!! REM!! REM!! REM!! REM!! REM!!"
Knives snickered and laughed in the back of the ship. "Humans are so stupid, I will never understand them," he said, pushing back the front of his hair while he cackled. "They insist on wasting their time with useless sentimentality, even if it costs them their lives. I was going to let her live since you seemed so attached to her, but it seems that she was imperfect."
His brother stared at him, shocked and horrified. "You! You did this?!" Knives just laughed more. "Yaaargh!"
Vash charged at him. Knives effortlessly kicked him backwards. He slammed into Aurora, who bashed into a control board. The buttons, joysticks, and levers dug deep into her skin and she howled in pain.
"Rem..." Vash kept whispering.
Aurora crawled over to him and they held each other and cried together as they thought of Rem, giving her life for others. As the ship entered into the planet's atmosphere, the pod rocked. The two suddenly slammed against the floor. The pod landed and they both were thrown from it. Knives remained inside due to his seat belt fastening him in.
He got out, finding Vash and Aurora passed out on the ground. He kicked the girl awake.
"Wake up, human scum!" he screamed at her, kicking her in the ribs again and again. Aurora flinched each time, and scrambled as fast as she could to get up, holding her side.
Knives then walked over to Vash and calmly woke him up. "Vash, hey Vash. Wake up!" His calm greeting was not reciprocated. Vash shoved him away. Knives took a step forward.
"Hey, it's just us out here, we should at least try to act like brothers," he said.
Vash slammed his fist into the ground. "Murderer!" he yelled. "You killed them! Rem! The Crew! You killed them all!"
Knives's eyes went wild and he grinned. "Yessss..." he hissed. "It's spectacular, isn't it? They all die!" He gazed at the sky where the ships were coming towards earth like falling stars. "Except for the fraction that will be saved thanks to Rem's meddling."
Vash gritted his teeth and lunged at his brother. Knives knocked him to the ground again. Vash mumbled something and Knives began kicking him in a fit of rage.
Aurora could hear the sound of the beating and Vash's cries. "Knives! Stop! Please!" she screamed.
When he ignored her, Aurora grabbed his wrist and bit into it as hard as she possibly could. Her dry mouth was hydrated by blood. Knives thrust her away and howled. He finally got a hold of himself.
"You. Little. Bitch."
Aurora froze. She heard footsteps and then felt his breath in her face. She tried to run, but her foot hit a rock and she fell backward into the stone wall of the canyon that they were in. Knives's hand grasped her throat, and she struggled like a mouse in a trap. Vash grabbed his brother and finally pulled him off. They all breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath.
"Well then, we should find some place to rest," Knives said calmly, as though nothing had just happened.
His toned scared her, sending chills up her spine. She hated it when he sounded sweet when he knew he had just done something horrible and terribly evil. Reluctantly, she got up, and Vash grabbed her hand as they began walking. They settled under a cliff after a long night's walk. The two of them curled up to keep each other warm.
Aurora was glad they weren't at the top.