Quick Recap: After the sweet night in the motel room where Kallie realized she felt so much more for Vash than she'd ever have imagined, especially this soon, they wake up the next day, and Kallie realizes something is wrong. Vash explains his history and tells her about Knives, and is certain that he and Legato have plans for her that even he can't figure out at this point. After fearing for the worst, Vash discovers that Kallie isn't going to abandon him, and they feel closer than ever! Kallie assures Vash that she wants to continue to travel with him, despite the danger it will put her in, and the group discovers that Kallie and Vash are now a couple. Meryl is not thrilled with this at all, and Vash amuses himself (and Kallie) during the ride to the next town at Meryl's expense. When they arrive in their destination town, it appears to be completely deserted, which of course is not something that they expected!

Disclaimer: We do not own Trigun nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is candy wrappers with no candy in them and an only half-full bottle of Dr. Pepper.

Chapter: The Man She Will Always Forgive
Chapter Written By: Peggi
Edited and Revised By: Peggi

"Where is everybody?" Millie asked no one in particular.

"I'm not sure," Meryl began "maybe the town is just deserted."

Wolfwood pointed to something a little farther up, "doubt that."

Their eyes fixed on what he was pointing to and Kallie's hand covered her mouth when she realized what he was seeing.

A woman was lying near the wall of a building, crumpled up and very, obviously dead. As they took a few steps closer they could see inside the buildings and there were people dead. Everywhere. People hanging out of windows, blood covering the walls like a crimson paint job, they could now see statues and monuments in the town were also coated with thick, red blood.

Meryl shook her head at all of the death and destruction, "we'd better not stick around for too long. We don't want any authorities coming into town and thinking that we did this."

Kallie was about to say something to Vash but when she turned around he was gone, "uh, guys. Where did Vash get to?"

Wolfwood put his hand on her shoulder, directing her to turn around, the other girls already starting to walk in that direction, "he's probably over at Judd's house."

"Who's Judd?"

"An old friend of his. He lives here in this town. He's probably at the house right now so we should go and get him and then get out of here."

The four of them made it almost to the entrance to the town but turned and started walking towards a very small house at the end. It was suitable for very basic needs, nothing fancy but not run down either. They had just walked through the doors when Kallie saw Vash's red coat. He was sitting on the floor, sobbing hysterically, the body of a child in his arms. Kallie froze in the doorway, unsure about what she should do or say. She hadn't realized that Judd was just a kid. She looked to Wolfwood, hoping that he knew what to do.

"Judd was one of the children Vash saved the last time Legato came into this town," he whispered to Kallie, not really giving her anything useful.

Well, not really, anyway. She now knew that Legato had been here before, and it was very possible that this was all his doing again. The four of them stood in the doorway, no one moving a muscle or saying a word for several moments. Kallie couldn't take it anymore, so she slowly took a few steps towards Vash. Wolfwood put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, but she shook his hand off and kept moving towards him. He had placed Judd back on the floor, had closed his eyes and tried to cover him with a blanket that was nearby, but the boy was completely coated with dried blood.

Kallie thought she would be sick, and the smell of blood was so thick in the air that she could identify the metallic smell easily. Still, she ignored the queasy feeling in her stomach and placed a hand on Vash's shoulder, just letting him know that she was there for him. He looked up at her and without standing he wrapped his arms around her waist and just started to cry with his face buried in her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair, not knowing what else to do to comfort him. For several minutes, Vash cried helplessly, holding on to Kallie as though she would disappear the second he let her go. Eventually, though, he stood and just walked out the door, not acknowledging the others or even looking at Kallie.

She wasn't sure if she was upset that he didn't even look at her or understanding because she had no idea how she would've reacted after seeing a friend like that. She decided to follow him and heard footsteps from the others behind her. By the time she got outside, Vash was nowhere to be found. Kallie looked up and down the street, trying to figure out where he could've gone. She turned back around to see Millie and Meryl behind her, but no sign of Wolfwood.

"Now, where did Wolfwood get to?" she wondered out loud.

Meryl answered, suddenly not as hostile towards her about Vash, "he's off looking for survivors, which is what I am going to do. You and Millie should look around town and see if you can find any supplies we can use, I doubt anyone made it, but it's worth checking. If anyone did survive, they're probably pretty hurt, and food and supplies will go to waste if we don't take them. Then we really should get going."

Kallie nodded, knowing that she was probably right about the supplies, though to her it still felt wrong to take anything with them. She was glad to hear that at least they would be looking around for anyone left alive. She couldn't imagine being left in a place like this, barely breathing, hurting, no one there to help her. She felt her chest tighten, remembering when she'd lost her family. She had been away, and after the destruction, no one was allowed back in. She thought about how terrible it must've been, for people to be so hungry that they would kill one another for food. To need shelter so badly that the current occupants were expendable. For a brief moment, she almost felt the negative feelings again towards Vash, but then scolded herself. She remembered that he was not really the person who had ruined her life. In fact, she was almost certain that Knives or Legato, or both perhaps, had been the real cause of her losing her family.

She and Millie split up to gather supplies, agreeing to meet back in the middle of the street when they were done. Kallie managed to find a Katana and a revolver that still worked but nothing else, really. She found a couple of blankets that might come in handy, and some canned food. She had been carefully searching for what felt like the entire day, but was more realistically only a couple of hours.

She took her 'prizes' and started to head back to where she and Millie were to meet, when she heard voices from inside the house she was in. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but she cautiously made her way through the house. She prepared the revolver, knowing that it was loaded and she could use it if it was Legato whose voice she heard, but as she got close enough she recognized the voices and sighed from relief.

"This wasn't your fault, you couldn't...couldn't have done anything. Even if we came earlier. It would've been worse because you would have to see these people dying, you know?" it was Meryl.

"Please, just leave me alone right now," she heard Vash plead, sounding like he was about to start crying again.

"You need someone to keep you company right now."

Kallie could feel her anger starting to build up and she prepared to burst into the room and unleash hell on Meryl for bothering her boyfriend and acting as though she couldn't be the one to keep him company if needed. Finally, Kallie decided she had enough and started to walk into the bedroom but stopped dead in her tracks, ducking back into the hallway again. Vash was sitting on a bed, Meryl leaning over him, and she was trying to kiss him?!

Kallie could very clearly view the scene from the mirror that was on the opposite side of the room as the bed, and she didn't know what she should do. She wanted to bust in there and hit Meryl right in the face, but she didn't think she would have any right to do so. Yes, she was doing something terrible, but to be violent, and especially in front of Vash, who so clearly was against violence...she would leave Vash to handle it on his own, but he was clearly upset and she didn't know how vulnerable he might be. She also didn't want to make him think that she didn't trust him, so she just stayed in the hall, pressing herself into the wall as much as she could. She wanted to disappear. In that split second that things took place, Kallie was so torn.

Of course, considering it was probably just as unexpected for Vash as it was for Kallie to see, Meryl did manage to swoop in for her ever-so-desired kiss. Kallie felt relieved when she saw him very clearly trying to push her off of him, and Kallie was about to walk away, feeling triumphant. She cut that plan short when she saw him put his arms around her waist and pull her closer! It took everything she had to not barge in and shoot them both dead right then and there. Suddenly, her whole world just came crashing down before her eyes.

Meryl was pushing Vash back, trying to make him lay down on the bed, and he was compliant, while she ran her hands along his sides. Kallie could feel tears stinging her eyes and she was turning to walk away, prepared to just walk right out of the town and continue her journey by herself. She stopped, though, when she saw him push Meryl back.

"Meryl, stop it! What do you think you're doing?" he raised his voice for probably the first time since he could remember.

"Oh, come on, Vash. You know you want me. You know you love me. Just admit it," she was using probably the most seductive voice she could muster, but her words sounded a little off, almost slurring.

Kallie had finally had enough, and despite the fact that now Meryl was literally tripping all over herself almost looking drunk, Kallie didn't wait to find out what the reason for her actions were. She walked into the room casually, pretending to have not heard or seen anything. She smiled at them both.

"Oh, hey guys," she greeted them.

Meryl just glared at her, "what are you doing here?!"

"Just heard voices, figured I'd come up and make sure everything was okay and no one needed help. You alright, Vash?" she looked to him, and all he did was nod while looking down at the floor.

Meryl stormed out of the room, mumbling something about needing to hurry up so they could get out of that place. Kallie turned to Vash, who was still looking down at the floor and clearly on the verge of crying again. Kallie didn't want to bring up what she had just seen, and she was really hoping that he would, but at the same time she was more mad at Meryl than anyone else. After the awkward silence had gone on for far too long as far as either of them were concerned, Vash finally spoke.

"Did...did you see anything?" his voice cracked almost right away and he was trying so hard not to start crying, the fear he'd had earlier about losing Kallie on top of the emotional pain from losing a friend.

"Yes," she replied simply, and as calmly as she could possibly sound so as not to upset him.

In one breath he replied so quickly it was almost hard for her to understand what he was saying, "I didn't mean it she kissed me and I didn't want to I'm so sorry it wasn't my fault I mean it was but she did it and if I hurt you I'm so sorry I never meant to hurt you please just know I'm so, so sorry!"

Kallie couldn't help but laugh a little at how cute he was when he was at that moment. She hugged him and then kissed him on the cheek, and as she stood she whispered in his ear.

"I forgive you, Vash. I saw what happened and I know that it wasn't your fault. Just don't let that happen again, especially with Meryl. I know she took advantage of you, but I just don't want anything like that to happen. Ever again. Not ever."

Vash sniffled and nodded, glad that Kallie wasn't more upset than she was, but he still couldn't resist typical Vash-like humor, "but what if it's Millie?"

Kallie just laughed and rolled her eyes, mumbling 'jerk' and then laughing again while offering her hand to help him up. It made him give a little laugh, and Kallie was glad that he wasn't completely numb after what had happened to the town. Especially to Judd. Vash took Kallie's hand and let her lead him through the house. They were about to step outside when he pulled on her hand. He spun her completely around by the wrist and pulled her into him, looking into her eyes before kissing her.

Kallie was surprised by everything, not expecting for him to kiss her like that, but she certainly complied once she realized what was going on. She let him hold her in place while she had her arms around his neck for almost a full minute before he pulled away.

"There's no one else I ever want to kiss, Kallie."

She was left breathless from the kiss and speechless by his words. It was so simple, yet probably the sweetest thing that anyone had ever said to her. Before she realized what was even happening, Vash took her by the hand and then led her outside and towards the gate where they'd parked the car. Everything was so right, so perfect. Kallie had never felt more content in her entire life and was just thinking about how happy she was. It was the happiest she'd been since she'd lost her family those years back. Her thoughts were cut short when, for absolutely no reason, she felt the world start to spin around her, and suddenly, she blacked out.

Peggi: To each and every one of you who have favorited/followed this since the last chapter, and those who have continued to follow it, thank you so much! A super-extra-special thank-you to our one and only reviewer so far (on THIS site), She's A Pistol for reviewing each chapter! To be honest...I had sorta gotten so distracted updating my other fanfic that I'd given up for a while on revising this one...so your review really drove me to update again! I really, always, appreciate feedback! And everyone else, you REALLY should go check her fanfiction out! I have only started one of them, so I can vouch for "Be My Escape" if you are in the YGO fandom! It's an INCREDIBLE story so far, just from chapter 1, and the OC is fantastic! In response to your reviews:

1: Your review to chapter one literally brought tears to my eyes, you have NO idea how much that means to me to hear that! I'm SO glad that you love it so much, and hearing your response about keeping everyone in-character just really made my day! Legato is the most challenging for me to keep in-character, so his parts were the most fun to write! I plan to actually do a story like this with Legato as the center focus, since someone on the other site I post this on requested it (once this one is completed!) so that should be interesting! I'm also very glad that you like Kallie, I did try to prevent her from being an annoying Mary-Sue type character. I hate reading fanfiction with them, and like in your fanfics, I like to make them as interesting as possible!

2: DO IT! WRITE ONE! But only after you finish the one I've started! I really need to read more of that, but I've been editing this and working on Clarity, but I loved the start to it, so once you're done with that one I REALLY want to read it if you write one! I broke my own feels writing that couch scene, I really got into it and tried to get into their heads, and I could definitely see him acting that way, and the hug scene, I just really wanted to end it on a cute note! I love Vash so much, even if I'm more of a Legato fangirl (I mean, I do have a Legato-themed tattoo, so of course I'm more into him) but when I wrote this, I just fell in love with Vash even more!

4: THANK YOUUUUUU! That whole scene, I did steal a bit from the canon with him and Meryl...but not on purpose! Ironically, I'd never seen that specific scene, only the screenshot, so it was frighteningly accurate to his character, which totally made me happy!

5: I know, right?! I think I made myself dislike her because of writing this haha! The car scene was so much fun to write, because I made myself dislike Meryl, and I really wanted to mess with that woman!