Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Darkened Shadows ❯ Reminisce ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Trigun, as I'm sure all of you know. So please, spare me my humanity.

Hey, this is my first Trigun fic for Mediaminer. I've been lazy and haven't bothered to write anything. Being a member of Fanfiction.net for several years, I have lost faith in that system. It's just not what it used to be. No NC-17 section, hardly any reviewers, a bunch of whiners (coincidence, eh?)… and TOO MUCH yaoi!! Now, I'm not a homophobic or anything, but I don't think that… oh shit, just never mind. I'm just not a yaoi fan.

Anyway, I strongly believe in the Meryl/Vash story type, so that's what this is going to be. But, because I am just starting this fic, and I haven't written much over the past 2 years, this is going to be written pretty badly at the first, and hopefully, I'll be able to get it going.

Oh, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't forget to review!!! ::scowls::

Warning: some language (un petit amount), bad sentence structure Darkened Shadows Chapter 1 - Reminisce

I bent down and picked up my coat off the floor. The heaviness of it surprised me. After abandoning my red jacket six months ago, I had retrieved a new, shorter one that was black. It was a refreshing change, not worrying about buttons or tripping over the hem.

The lights above me flickered and I gave them a wary look. The ship had been wired into the plants of New Oregon, with a bit of insight from the Doc, and a lot of overseeing on my part. There were still a few glitches, but the plants were recuperating and it was only a matter of time before they were fully functional.

I hung my coat up in the small closet by the door. I glanced to the shelf above to see the familiar, solitary item. A singly derringer. A reminder. I paused briefly to think about the Insurance Girls. I smirked as I imagined Meryl's face when she counted her handy weapons, only to discover she was one short.

Sighing, I shut the closet door and went back to picking up the large mess that had spread itself across my apartment. I actually missed Meryl and Milly. Their constant nearness had begun to grow on me until I depended on it for happiness and internal warmth. Now, with Knives in a deep unconscious state, I had no one to really talk to. I didn't realise how much I depended on their support until I was without them for such a long time. I even missed Meryl's constant harassing. Actually, I missed more than her harassing. I missed her quirky smile and her soft curves, and the kindness that she was afraid to show. Hell, I guess I even missed her punches. Well… maybe not.

I gathered the garbage off of the kitchen table and stuffed it in a trashcan beside the counter. As soon as Knives regained consciousness and a sense of my reality, I would go back and find the girls. But until then, I had to wait, hoping they weren't too pissed off at my delay. I supposed I could write to them, but that would just be awkward.

Knives. The thought of him waking up made me sick to my stomach. I knew that he would be angry with me and probably not keen on my lectures about peace and humanity. But… it would probably still be a couple months before he snapped out of the coma.

I shuffled the piles of notes, poems and attempted letters to the Girls from the couch cushions and felt around beneath the sofa for more fallen writings. Some of them were mushy, and sappy, and some I was embarrassed to even read. As I slid my hand along the cold floor, my finger sliced into the side of a particularly thick piece of parchment.

"Aughhhh," I yelped, withdrawing my fingers. "Shit," I hissed as blood oozed from my forefinger. I sucked the blood from my skin, gagging at the metallic taste. I threw the papers in the recycle bin as the door behind me burst open.

"Vashy-poo!" called a feminine voice.

"Great," I growled, trying to rinse off my finger while stashing the container full of my highly embarrassing writings into the cupboard beneath the sink.

Jessica flounced into the kitchen, braided pigtails whipping about her face. "Hey, Vash!" she giggled in an annoyingly flirtatious voice.

I sighed. "Hey, Jess." I glanced back at her. She hadn't changed much since the fall of the ship, her voice excruciatingly girly and her poise a little too enriched. Jessica gave me a sparkling smile.

"Vash! What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in over a week."

Mostly hiding. Grudgingly, I plastered a smile on my face. "Oh, just helping out the Doc with the plants, looking after Knives-" she cringed at the name.

"Well, you could've come down to see me," she whimpered, sliding a hand along my shoulder.

"Uh… uh-huh," I gritted. "I'm sorry, I've been really busy-"

"Shhh!" Jessica whispered in a melodramatic way. "No need for apologies."

I raised a brow. "Oh."

She ran her fingers over my clavicles. "So, have you thought a date yet?"

"Uh…" I was afraid to ask. "A date for what?"

She glowered at me. "A date for our wedding, of course."

"WHAT?!" In my haste, I practically fell over trying to get out of her clutches.

Jessica turned on her immature charms. "Oh, c'mon, Vash!!" she whined, tearing up a little. "I already had the bridesmaid dresses picked out; they were going to be blue!" she sobbed. "Danya, Liss, and Ammie were going to look so cute!!!"

"Aw, Jess, please don't cry, but you don't want to marry me! I'm old, remember? Doesn't that make you cringe? I'm an old man, you're only 20 years old. You have a whole life ahead of you, you don't want me."

"Yes, I DO!!!" she cried, banging on my chest.

I coughed, my lungs going overtime. "Jessi, please," I gasped.

She stopped. "I'm sorry." She stared at her hands, then back up at me, glaring. "There's someone else."

"…what?"

She broke out in fresh tears. "Oh, I knew it! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!!!"

"Jessica, there's no one else-"

"I don't believe you!!" And with that, she turned on her heel and ran out of the room, slamming the door as the windows rattled.

Oh well. She'll get over it.

***

---^^--- (means new POV)

"Gee, Meryl," Milly gasped. "Is it just me or have we wandered upon a strip club?" She shaded her eyes with her hand and stared into her mirage.

"It's just you, Milly," I panted as I trudged over another sand dune. "The desert is hardly a strip club and I would not recommend you turning it into one."

"But, Meryl, it's so-so hot," she puffed, fanning herself off with the back of her hand. "Can't we rest for a little while?"

"No," I gasped, straining for cool air. "No. We have to find him." I clutched the gun in my hand so tightly my knuckles turned white.

"Meryl, be careful of Vash's gun," Milly said. "You never know what could happen."

"Well, it's his own damn fault for leaving such a dangerous weapon in the middle of the desert, where any bypasser could pick it up and wreck the planet." I glanced down at the gun, which was sticking to my sweaty hand. A small tear of red fabric from Vash's coat was crumpled around the trigger. I hadn't bothered to take Vash's entire jacket, it was too cumbersome; I just tore off a piece and secretly stashed it with me.

Milly gave me a strange look. "If-if you say so, Meryl."

"I'd hate to see the money Bernardelli would spend if someone else found it before us," I said.

"But whose gun is this?" Milly asked me, clutching a black gun symmetric to Vash's.

"I'm not sure," I lied, but I knew perfectly well that it was Knives', Vash's twin.

We climbed over another dune. "Too bad the car had to break down 20 iles back," Milly puffed. "We could almost be at New Oregon by now." She hitched up the Cross Punisher slung across her shoulder.

"That stupid idiot better be there," I grumbled, stumbling slightly. "Or I'll kick his scrawny ass."

"Now, Meryl," Milly teased. "Mr. Vash isn't scrawny, and besides, I'm sure you'll have a hard time not flinging yourself into his arms."

"Don’t be ridiculous," I panted, swaying under the hot sun. "I-I'm not some common slut ready to jump into bed with one-one gorgeously bodied specimen-" My vision grew a little hazy as there was a pain in my stomach. I took a step forward and tripped over a dune plant, sprawling into the sand.

"Meryl?" Milly asked.

I jumped to my feet, stumbling again. "Yeah--" I felt my body tilting to the right.

"Meryl, Meryl, what is it-what's wrong?" Milly asked, grabbing my arm. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Vash…" I whispered as I collapsed on the ground, the gun sliding from my grip.

&&&

Just so you're not confused, nobody has Vash's old red jacket, it's still in the middle of the desert where he left it. And when Milly and Meryl ran across the fighting zone, Meryl tore a piece off, but left the rest of the coat there. Okay? Okay.

Anyway, please review. Feel free to criticise, but with reason. Don't flame me just because. I will listen to your accusation if you are fair and just. 'Till we meet again.