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

Chapter 10: Vash's POV
Tala had just released him when he noticed that Meryl looked like she was getting ready to faint. As he felt the connection between Meryl and Merra end, he sprung behind her, catching her as her body shut down due to an over load of information.

"Is she alright?" he asks as he carefully lifts her up. It takes him a moment to realize that his body is in far less pain than he could remember. He would have to figure out why later.

A soft chuckle floats through his mind as Merra responds, She will be alright, her body is just readjusting to the removal of power. As a human lacking an active mind-gift, it took more than her body was used to for her to connect. If I am not mistaken she will be able to hear and connect much easier now because the connection is formed.

Your body has been slightly better healed is why you're in less pain than your used to. He hears Tala answer his un-asked question. It does not heal the surface scarring, those are too old for the most part, or too damaged, for me to heal but it repaired much of the muscle underneath. It is why we have been trying to get you to come to us when you are injured.

"Oh," is all he can think to say as he holds Meryl close to him.

Speak with her tomorrow, for now the four of you should probably be getting home before a non-communicative guard comes on shift. Tala tells him as she releases Knives from her power.

He nods and is surprised to see Knives laying on the ground, unconscious. He is not startled however to see Milly scoop him up easily before looking at him in concern.

He's fine, his body is used to healing with us, but I submerged him within the hive connection all of us bound plants share. I can promise you he will never become that enraged again. If he was to start down that path than any of the elder plants will be able to force him to think things through. There will not be a repeat of this again. It has cost too much for both races. Tala's normally gentle voice has a hard edge to it, but he understands why. He had the same edge when he shot him just a week earlier. Hopefully they would be right.

Sending his thanks to his sisters, he glances at Milly and says, "Hey tall girl, we might want to get out of here now."

She nods, "That's probably a good idea Mr. Vash, lead the way."

The two of them quickly make their way to where the auburn haired guard is waiting and she leads them out of the plant. Once they are back on the main road the two of them quickly make it back to the house, upon getting there, Vash takes Meryl to the girls room and lays her on the bed he is sure is hers due to the fact it is the one not surrounded by pictures of family members. He can hear Milly taking care of Knives in the other room. Unsure of himself, he does not know if he should take her outer layer off or wait for Milly to do it. Finally after what seems like forever, he decides that she can slap him if she wants, but its only to make sure that she remains comfortable while she was sleeping.

Carefully, so not to disturb her, he removes her coat, boots, and socks before tucking her into the bed. He is just getting ready to leave the room when Milly comes in.

"Good night Mr. Vash, sleep well," she tells him as he steps out of the room.

Smiling at her, he replies, "Good night Milly," for a moment he pauses before continuing to say, "she'll be fine in the morning, thank you for all your help with Knives."

Milly chuckles, a low sound, "It's alright Mr. Vash, family is important, he's your family. Your our friend, thus we help. I just thought it might be better if I deal with him more, Miss Meryl can be hot headed at times. I know she'll be fine. The third one in there was talking with me. She has a very beautiful voice, all of them do. She explained what was going on, though with words not imagings."

Vash can do nothing more than stare at her. Yali rarely speaks to anyone. She hasn't been big on being alive since the death of her twin. Yet she apparently spent time speaking with a human. How very odd, yet at the same time it fills him with hope. Perhaps she is finally pulling out of the depression that had wracked her since he had taken part in the death of her twin.

Shaking his head, he heads into his room to find his brother sprawled on his bed, shirt gone, bullet wounds rapidly healing up and completely unconscious. Time for bed, he thinks as he strips down and passes out on his mattress, tomorrow is soon enough to deal with whatever that was.

Milly's POV
When Miss Meryl had first said that Mr. Vash wanted to go to the go to the plant, she had been concerned, yet when they got there a guard was waiting to escort them in so it must be an expected visit. When the four of them had reached the central hall where the three bulbs rested, she was surprised to see that it was their goal. While Miss Meryl, Mr. Vash and Knives were speaking with the first two of the bulbs, she had been drawn to the one in the back that was shadowy.

She had seen how Mr. Vash had placed his hand on the bulb and after helping Mr. Knives touch the one he was by, she had drifted over to the one she felt a kinship to. After looking at her palm a few times she had decided to try it and see what happen. Of course, she had not been expecting such a beautiful woman to appear in the mist, nor had she been expecting the soft voice like a slowly strummed harp in her mind.

Who are you human? You seem familiar in some way yet I cannot figure out how. The voices owner had a look of sadness to her that made Milly want to hug her but she was sure that was not an option.

"I am Miss Milly Thompson, Miss Meryl's partner and friend, who are you please?" she introduced herself politely, her hand still on the bulb.

The woman lifted her hand and placed it opposite of Milly's on the glass and she felt a small bolt of power that came from that small connection. I am Yali, twin of Yuri. Your aura reminds me of her, can I brush you to determine why?

Not knowing exactly what Yali meant, she nodded. Something in her gut said that she was not going to come to harm so she listened to it like her father had always told her to do.

A small tendril of power seemed to brush against her, as if studying her. A moment later the tendril withdrew and Yali commented, Welcome, we are family in some way, the little one you will bear has plant blood in him. Was the father like my brothers there? Even though she had not said who her brothers were, Milly understood that she was referring to Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives.

Milly gave a small shrug, "I….I didn't know I was pregnant, the only person I was with was Nicholas." Her voice is a whisper as she realizes what the woman in the bulb had told her.

Yali's eyes widen, Oh, I am sorry for the pain you feel, a brush of reassurance touches Milly's mind. You are now family, family is always welcomed. Even the stray dogs, something makes Milly think of Mr. Knives when Yali says that. Do you wish to know what they are talking about?

Shaking her head, Milly replies, "No, they'll tell me if I need to know. But….what are you exactly?"

I am a plant, as the humans call us. We are children of another realm, these bulbs allow us to come to this realm in a somewhat solid form. So far, only three pure bloods have ever been able to live outside the bulbs. The rest have not, we still communicate with each other, and we are pleased to help the humans. However we miss the songs that used to be sung to us in thanks.

Smiling, Milly sits down on the floor and begins to softly sing her voice is rich and sure after years of singing to nieces and nephews. As she sings, Yali drifts to the very edge of the bulb, settling against it to listen to the music. After a while Milly realizes that Mr. Vash had left the bulb and was standing with Miss Meryl. Saying goodbye to Yali, she heads over to them just in time to see Mr. Knives reappear. When Miss Meryl passes out and Mr. Vash catches her, she realizes that he will carry her, so she carefully picks up Mr. Knives and the two of them leave, but not before saying their farewells.

When they get back to the house, she removes Mr. Knives shirt and should bandages to discover that his wounds are closing at an amazing rate with barely a mark to show for them. Deciding to leave the rest of him alone, she heads to bed to think on the fact that she had not expected to become pregnant and what she was going to do about it.