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

Chapter 25: Vash's POV
Shortly after the discussion on where to head to the insurance girls had headed to their respective jobs. Milly was still working on the town well, while Meryl had a shift at the bar to cover. Neither brother had found a job in the short amount of time that they have been on their feet. Knives due to his low tolerance for people, him because of the bounty on his head.

Life without a bounty, it had been over twenty years since he had that, it would be nice if it could go back to being that way. Things were simpler. He didn't have automatic fear when he introduced himself. It also made it easier to find a job in order to earn cash when he wanted some if people were not afraid of him.

Was Meryl right and the bounty could finally be removed? He had spent years trying to get it revoked until he realized that nothing he did mattered. He was considered guilty even without being able to prove it. The fact that his memory of the event that caused the bounty was so fragmented did not help. No one had died, but he had still leveled an entire major city with the help of his brother and Legato. So he had accepted it after a while as par for the course, something he was stuck with. If Meryl was right, it meant he wouldn't have to completely change his name, just start using his last name instead of the title. That could be nice, but what if she was wrong?

Errrrr, he thinks, I really need to stop going circles in my head. She has been honest with me more often than not, truthfully the only time I can think that she wasn't was when I asked her not to follow me. Can't say I was shocked by that though. She is not good at orders unless she feels that they are the right order. Even then I wonder how well she pays attention to them. She is too independent to take orders for the most part.

Shaking his head he looks around the house to see if there is anything to do, he is mildly startled to find that there is no necessary cleaning. So doing what he does best, he heads outside and spends time playing with the children of the community. Children are always great to play with when a person needs a distraction.

Knives' POV
How dare she question me like that! He seethed his internal voice raging. What part of I couldn't do that again if I wanted does she not understand? How does she trust him so easily but I am threat? It doesn't make sense. He's just…shaking his head the thought trails off. Well no, he is not as destructive, he tries to avoid violence. Plus she has worked with him for more than a year, she just met me.

Looking at the roof of the house, he decides it would be a good place to sit, and coils himself to jump. A moment later, he is perched against the fireplace chimney staring out at the wastes of sand and sun.

Grudgingly he admits that perhaps temper is right to question him. If he was in her shoes he would question him. She does have a point that he has had seriously bad issues in regards to the spiders. He has had a tendency to kill them off. It just never seemed to be enough of them to make a difference. He also had a temper to rival hers, no tolerance for pain, and a tendency to react with anger more than anything. He was pretty certain that in her place he would question him too.

It drove him nuts, he hated questioning himself, hated being treated like he was the problem when he wasn't. Well now he had to be honest with himself, he was the problem. Over one-hundred years worth of problem. If there was one thing he had been in his life, it was honest. That was not about to change now.

He had been given blue-eyes' child's protection the cost for the life of one of their own. Then he had turned around and sworn to protect blue-eyes as well. He had done so not only out of response to temper, but something more. He just wasn't sure what that something more was. Now as he sat there in the annoying sunlight of this damned planet he realized something that Vash apparently had known all along, some things happen that are horrid but life moves on. Some things good happens and it doesn't erase the bad, but helps to lessen the impact.

Turning slightly, he can see blue-eyes working on the well. Frowning, he loses himself to thought. Just why had he promised temper that he would protect both?

Milly's POV
Hopefully Mr. Knives and Meryl work out their problems. The tension between them is worse than the sexual tension that used to be between her and Mr. Vash. However there is nothing sexual about it. It is almost as if they are having a test of wills to see who the dominate one. Why she doesn't understand.

Oh well, I guess it will all work out in the long run. Both of them want the same thing, Mr. Vash to be happy. They will just have to figure out how to deal with each other in order for it to work. Some reason, I don't think Mr. Vash would be happy with the tension between them. Maybe I can ask him about it, perhaps he understands it better that I do. She thinks to herself as she digs.

Meryl's POV
Men are idiots! She seethes to herself as she takes orders and delivers requests. Complete and utter idiots. Of course I questioned Knives motives, it was not that long ago that he was the threat that wanted to kill Vash. Then there is the fact that he has made it very clear that he hates humans, so why would I automatically expect him to protect Milly? Sure, right now she can still protect herself, but sooner than later, she is going to start feeling the pregnancy.

It will be then that she will need protected. That's when she will be at her physical weakest, when she is deep into the pregnancy and in the first few months afterwards. There is no way that I am going to allow her to get harmed the way Lila was. It's not happening.

He can just be offended, it got my point across, and my point was simple, I want her safe. However, perhaps I should actually talk to him. Sighing, she greets the newest customers even as her mind goes over the various ways that that conversation can go. One thing she is sure on, it's not going to be a simple or easy one.