Disclaimer: Trigun is sadly enough not mine, or there would have been way more episodes!

Chapter 8: Meryl's POV
Morning came early when one was having a hard time sleeping. Shortly after dawn she gave up trying to sleep and just got up to make breakfast. Before she had actually started however she heard the braying of the Thomas creature outside. Walking over to the door, she opened it just as Vash reached for it. For a moment she can do nothing but stare at him, she is thrilled that he is back but still has no clue how to tell him that.

"Hey short girl, can I come in?" he softly inquires, his turquoise eyes asking more than just about the house.

Startled she does nothing for a long breath of time. Vash, what are you asking? She thinks to herself as she looks at that goofy expression he is trying and failing for. Instead of answering him since she is not sure what to say she instead throws her arms around him in a quick hug before turning and fleeing to the kitchen to make breakfast. Before cooking the breakfast she wakes Milly to take the Thomas creature back to the rental guy.

Once she is safely in the kitchen she is not sure if she should make a lot of breakfast or only a little bit of it. Is Vash going to be eating, she wonders. That question is answered when she hears the door to the guys bedroom open and close. A little bit later Milly comes stumbling in to get her coffee. Once Milly has had her first cup she seems to wake up. For a few minutes the two girls chat before Milly goes to take care of the Thomas creature and the Punisher that Vash had left with it.

While Milly is doing that, she cleans up the small mess in the kitchen and gets a tray of food ready for Knives. Since Milly does not seem to mind dealing with him, she has been leaving him in her care. At this point she doesn't want to deal with him, it wouldn't be fair considering the damage already done to him and she would hurt him the first time he said something stupid.

After getting his breakfast ready, she gathers her things up to take a shower. She has to work but it is Milly's day off. Upon finishing cleaning up, she finds that the food tray is gone. Smiling, she heads to work for the evening at the saloon. It goes smoothly; most of the customers have figured out that its best to be polite to her because otherwise she is likely to give them a violent piece of her mind.

When she gets done for the night, she thanks her boss for the mid-shift and heads back to the house to make dinner after stopping to pick up some extra food. It surprises her that Vash is in the kitchen when she walks in, though it looks like he is not sure what to do in there.

"Hi short girl," he says without turning towards her.

Smiling, she replies, "Hello to you to, what are you doing?"

He shrugs, turning to face her, a slight blush covers his features. "I was thinking of cooking but I don't know what you guys eat."

She grins, "Well, ummm, there is not a lot of food here anyways. I had to stop and get some. So here it is," she comments lifting the bag in her arms a little higher. Looking at him critically she notices that there seems to still be dark spots on his shoulders. "Should you even be up and about or should you be resting too?"

The slight blush grows, and he carefully sits down at which point she realizes he is moving a little stiffer than she is used to. Mostly his motions are fluid, erratic, but still smooth. Right now most that smoothness seems to be missing. "Alright, I'll just sit here, okay?"

She nods, setting the bag down and pulling out the stuff to make a vegetable soup. It had a little more pricy, but she figured it would be better for both of them in the long run. Grabbing a cutting knife and pot from one of cupboards she set to dicing the vegetables up and dropping them in the pot. The work is done in silence because she is not sure what to say to him. She is certain there is a lot that needs to be said, she just does not know how to bring it up or start the conversation.

Once she has the soup on the stove, she sits down in the chair across from him, resting her chin on her palm. "Sleep well?"

He nods, "Yeah, beds are always nice to sleep in. How was work? Are you still working for the insurance agency?"

Shrugging, she responds, "It was good, the customers know to be nice or I get mean, yeah, we both took some vacation time."

He nods, saying nothing. For a little bit the only sound she can hear is that of the food cooking.

"Where's Milly?" she finally inquires.

He glances towards the bedrooms, "I think she said she was going to lay down, something about being awake too early."

A single nod is her response, that's not really surprising. Milly hates mornings and she had her up kind of early. Well that's one of the other two occupants, she is getting ready to say something else when Vash starts speaking again.

"Umm, I need to go to the plant tonight, and ummm," he pauses to take a breath, his glance is focused on her, but something seems off, "I got to take Knives with me, plus I would really appreciate it if you would come too."

She narrows her eyes in confusion, "Why do you need to take Knives to the plant? You're not going to cause problems are you?"

Flushing, he shakes his head, "It's hard to explain, that's why I would appreciate it if you would come with me."

For a minute she stares at him, trying to figure out what he could possibly need at the plant. Why he would want to take his asshole brother, and what could be so difficult. However, she can tell that he is sincere in his request. Sighing, she decides it would probably be best to go with him, just because then she can make sure there are no problems, or keep them to a minimum. "Alright, but we'll have to take Milly as well in case of emergencies."

He nods, "I figured as much, it will have to be a little later at night, get there too early and the person I am supposed to meet will be crabby."

She raises her eyebrow questioningly, but he says nothing in response. Eventually the soup starts to bubble, so she gets up to stir it. The next little bit goes quietly, as both sit there lost in thought. A little bit before the food is done she goes and wakes Milly up. While she is doing that she can hear Vash in the other room with Knives. Both of them emerge about the same time, a small smile emerging from her at his expression.

"Come on, lets get dinner taken care of." She tells him, heading back into the kitchen.

Milly comes in and collects two large bowls of food, putting them on a tray and winking at her as she heads back to the room. "I think Milly has adopted your brother or something, she seems to like taking care of him."

Vash can't help but chuckle at that, the idea of determine Milly dealing with Knives is most comical. Dinner goes smoothly with the two of them tentatively feeling their way without ever once saying anything of true importance, instead just working on feeling comfortable in the others presence.