Chapter 2!

Meryl always felt a deep sadness in her in the back of her mind. She kept it to herself but it wasn't something that she ever really understood. Since the start of their relationship Meryl knew Vash would do dumb things, and he did, but he was a great man. She loved him, and she knew he loved her but there still was sadness that lingered in her. Lying in bed with Vash she stared around the room eyes open very awake. Her arm was around him and his head was lying against her shoulder quite like the darkness that came with night that lay atop of them all. She stared at the ceiling, contemplating where the sadness came from and why she kept it from Vash because it certainly put them at a distance. Getting up without stirring Vash to much she put on her pants and walked out in them and a white t-shirt she had wore to bed. A bare foot on the cool sand was a nice distraction for Meryl. She laid her back against the inn wall and stared up at the moon. This could keep her much more interested than the ceiling of the inn ever could. Sand flowed between Meryl's toes along with a cool comforting feeling in her soul.

"Out pretty late." A soft muffled voice said walking up towards the inn. "This Twilight Inn?"

Meryl jumped out of her daze and stared at the woman who was surprisingly shorter than her. "Oh… yes it is." The first thought that the woman walking up brought in most anyone who might see her is that she was a young girl; she was just so short! What was so suspicious about it was her curves where hidden a bit but that was do to the fact that she dressed in bandages the color of the sand below her. The bandages wrapped her from her feet up to her neck and the top of her head only showing her eyes. A darker tan cloth hung on her shoulders covering her up ina way similar to a poncho. Well, if anything this woman was weird if not crazy. Where you could see her eyes her skin was roughed up with scratches but only made her eyes look much softer. Her eyes had strength in them but they only held comfort for Meryl. Without meaning to, Meryl's lips pushed out sound. "Bandages?"

Before an answer came, Meryl's hands shot up to her mouth and she squeaked a sorry. "No no, it's fine, I'm sure I look like a freak." Her tone held no sarcasm, her eyes just smiled. Walking up to Meryl and offering a hand the woman said with her muffle "Mary Dawn Rivers."

"Meryl, I…" Meryl reached out and shook the woman's hand starting to feel her tension from the sudden surprise go away. "Since I've already commented, why do you have the bandages?"

"You want to see?" Mary said, her hands moving to the tie in the bandage that started at the back of her neck, pulling up her poncho as she did revealing her held back figure. Meryl only nodded. Mary undid the tie which took a minute, and then pulled it away from her face until her entire head was de-clothed. Her hair was shaved into a mow-hawk and her face had a huge healed cut came down the side of her face and attached to her mouth. The cut ran then down her neck into the cover of her bandages. "It swells up with fluid so I keep it wrapped. I feel into the cogs of a machine my mother was working on when I was young." What was "it" was pretty obvious.

Meryl found herself covering her mouth again but in horror of the idea of a young child falling into a machine. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"I'm not." Mary said smiling. "Far worse could have happened."

"Well, you still look good at least."

This made Mary tilt back a bit and laugh. "You just wait till I start swelling up. It takes a couple days but I'll start looking like a cherry." Mary tied the cloth lightly at her neck so it didn't start unfolding entirely but left most of her face uncovered.

Meryl laughed too and smiled softly. She felt oddly comfortable talking to Mary. "Lucky indeed. What are you doing in this town? Coming to the carnival?"

"No no, I'm in on business. I'm a business woman you see and a tough one." In one motion Mary brought her arm up so her fist faced the sky in and her arm made a ninety degree angel. She grabbed her bicep with her other hand as if to emphasize the silly motion

"You certainly got the hair for it."

"Hey now, I like it." Mary's fingers ran through her own hair and her eyes hit the sky in a slightly self conscious action. "besides!" Mary jumped in closer to Meryl and put her fingers through hers playfully. "Look at miss girly here; your hair isn't what I call feminine."

"You don't like it?" Meryl squeaked grabbing the tips of her hair gently. Her eyes stared into the other woman's with hurt.

"I do I do." Mary rolled her eyes and patted Meryl's cheek. "You're cute; I hope I see you around the town more."

"Yeah me too!" Her face lit up and so did her smile. Standing up straight Meryl took her back off the inn wall. "Not often enough we get tough short girls around here! Too little of us!"

"Now that's just corny." Mary rolled her eyes again.

"Well I… I didn't mean it that way." Meryl let out a giggle.

"Sure you didn't." A passing thought spoken by Mary as she stepped inside the inn.

"See you around!" Meryl saluted to Mary's back and then laid her own back against the wall. Meryl let out a soft coo as she felt her body warm up with a tingly happiness. "What am I mooping about? I feel scandalous now. I wonder if Vash is up for some teenage fun."

-

"Well that certainly was different Meryl. Not that I'm complaining but what got into you?"

Meryl purred and kissed Vash's bare neck. A flash of Meryl's pink she pulled her shirt back down over her torso. They were both half naked and standing on the roof of the inn "We should probably get back inside." Meryl giggled. Vash stared at Meryl definitely confused.

"If you didn't smell so normal I'd say you got into some kind of alcohol."

"You're one to talk." Pulling her pants back on and buttoning them up found herself walking over to the ladder that they took up to the roof. Meryl's gaze fell down the stairs of the ladder "I don't think I can get back to sleep tonight, you wanna just stay up here and talk?"

"Sure that sounds great." Tucking in his shirt Vash looked much more human without his coat on and his hair spiked up. His arm didn't of course, but he looked less perfect and otherworldly. He walked up to Meryl and pulled her into a hug that came with a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you Vash." She leaned against Vash and pulled her arms up perpendicular and around his. That was a nice thing about Vash too, after the sex was done her didn't keep going after her body in a sexual way. At this thought Meryl shook with a bit of excitement. "So I met another short tough girl early tonight I just thought I'd tell you that we're starting a club to take down tall tough men like you."

"A short tough girl?" Vash shot an eyebrow up.

"Yeah… Her name is Mary Dawn Rivers."

"I see." Vash's grip loosened up on Meryl. Meryl responded by tightening hers. "Meryl… did she have bandages covering her body?"

"You…. You know her?" Meryl pushed out of the grip and turned staring at him with accusative tone. "How do you know her? She's not an ex lover is she?"

Vash put up his hands in defense"No no… calm down. It's just that..."

"It's just what Vash?"

Vash's face contorted in an afraid almost guilty face. "No no it's just, that's our bounty."

Meryl's tension and angered shoulders dropped along with her face. She thought to herself that it couldn't have been her. "No she… Mary's such a sweet girl though."

Vash suddenly got very serious. "Where did you see her last?"

"She's, in the Inn." Meryl felt completely defeated. This whole night suddenly felt very wrong and she couldn't place exactly what made her shiver. Before she could Vash was jumping off the side of the building. "Wait Vash! Don't just run in there crazily!"

"She'll have Milly by now!" Another passing thought as Vash went running into the doorway.

"Oh my god what have I done…" Meryl spoke and she started climbing down the latter hastily. "Did I? No no." Meryl pushed that thought out of her head, she couldn't have just had crazy sexual relations with her partner in the passing comforting feeling that she got from this woman. It was to much, it ran through her head and she forced "No no no!" into her thoughts.

-

Mary didn't bring anything to place inside the nice little dresser she had in the inn so settling in was very easy. Mary started to undo her bandages when the door exploded. Everything seemed to slow down for her. It was three shots. The first one unlocked the door, the second two came blazing at her. Mary turned to see the man enter only to feel her body get pushed backwards. The window caved in around her and in an instant she was falling. Her head popped into a screaming aching pain that demanded all of her attention. Blood, glass, and sand seemed to surround her and like an angel coming down to smite her the man who busted into her room came falling down towards her. Mary's thoughts scrambled to get her attention, all happening in seconds. Growing up, her childhood, her mother, her passed lovers, her accident, her arm... His large boots seem to take up all of her sight. She closed her eyes before she saw him hit the ground. The ground shook and her body began to conform to the shaking before darkness pulled her into unconsciousness.

-

"Vash what's going on?" Meryl whispered angrily from the window. There was Mary and Vash in a bloody glass covered mess on the ground and Mary was shaking violently and foaming at the mouth. "What did you do?!"

"She was more dangerous the last time we fought I thought I'd get the jump on her!" Vash's head felt like it was spinning too, this was way to easy. He was very confused at first, his hands up in a defensive position as he stared at the woman who looked near death from his little endeavor. "It's not her!" He concluded out-loud. He reached down and turned the girl slowly on her side so she didn't choke on her vomit. In seconds Meryl was next to him and she almost screamed.

"How is it not her?! You said it was! What did you do to this poor woman?!" She breathed in a whispered panic. They were gonna wake people up if they kept being this loud. "Quickly get her inside she needs medical help!" Vash hit Mary twice with his shots and got her full of glass, not to mention the woman's already bad condition from her own childhood accident. Mary was in bad shape.

Hopefully this is better than chapter one, I enjoyed writing it more.