Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Incompatible ❯ Chapter 0014 ( Chapter 14 )

Trigun Fanfic

Trigun © Yasuhiro Nightow * Shonen Gaho-sha * Tokuma Shoten * JVC * Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

The following fanfiction was written by me (Chiruken) and is intended for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

--Incompatible-

Trigun Fanfic Featuring Knives and Meryl. Knives hates all humans. Meryl just hates Knives. It's a match ideal for the promise of Eden.

By Chiruken

Chapter 14

**~**

Knives leaned back in the comfortable rocking chair, a small smile tugging at his lips, and watched the children as the ran through the street caught up in their game of chasing and kicking a ball. He was fully healed, able to walk on his own without much effort or strain, but still he lingered. Somehow, somewhere deep within him and buried within layers of his subconscious, he knew that if he left now he would never be able to recapture the peace he'd come to appreciate in this small town. The humans here were unlike what he'd envisioned. They were hardworking, hopeful, filled with a strange sense of honesty that he found refreshing. He'd even spoken to a few and had been surprised that they actually seemed to have some intelligence as well. He was afraid that if he left this small, peaceful town, that he'd never be able to find other humans like them.

"Ah…there you are." He turned to smile at Meryl as she stepped outside. "You're moving around a lot better now, Knives. How are you feeling?"

"Better." He turned back to his perusal of the children. "What is it that they're doing?" He nodded towards the children with a curious frown.

"What? The children? They're playing a game." He rolled his eyes and she laughed. "It's called soccer, Knives. It's an old game."

"Soccer…" He murmured softly, filing the information away. "Interesting."

A comfortable silence fell between them as he continued to watch the children and their game and she watched him in turn. Finally she reached out and touched his shoulder. "Would you like me to give you a haircut? Your hair's grown quite a bit…" The words trailed off as he turned to look up at her in surprise. "I mean…um…"

He shrugged. "Sure." He watched as she disappeared into the house only to return with a small table which she placed behind the chair he was sitting in. A few minutes later she appeared again with a basin in her hands and a towel draped over her arm.

"Lean back and I'll wash your hair first, okay? It's easier to cut when it's wet." He cast her a dubious look but did as she said, slouching down to make it easier for her to reach. Even with him seated she wasn't much taller than him. "I wonder when they'll get here…" She murmured softly as she ran her fingers through his hair causing a shiver to run up his spine. "Millie's last letter never really gave a date, but considering they were in December City and they were heading home…well…it could be any day now, don't you think?" He made a noncommittal sound in his throat as she gently massaged his scalp, the scent of the shampoo filling his senses. It actually felt really good. He was surprised. He'd never expected that. "Vash will be happy when he sees that you're up and about now. You've made an amazing recovery in the amount of time you've been here. Tilt your head back a bit more please." He did as she asked silently, closing his eyes and allowing his body to relax. "Almost done…" She murmured softly as she rinsed the remaining soap from his hair. "Okay…you can sit up now." She wrapped the towel around his head and moved around him. "Hmm…I'll be right back. I need to get a brush and the scissors, okay?" He nodded and watched her disappear into the house again.

He reached up and rubbed the towel against his head, removing the excess water from his hair as he waited for her return. Tilting his face up to the sky he closed his eyes and sighed in contentment. He really was happy, more so than he could ever remember. He felt relaxed and for the first time since he'd reached adulthood, he felt at peace. No more hate, no more anger…just a sense of quietude and tranquility. He rather liked the feeling. He sighed softly and slowly shook his head. He knew it couldn't last forever, that eventually reality would intrude on the little bubble he currently found himself in, but he wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. Soon he would leave this place and go forth into the world again, but instead of seeking destruction he intended to seek positive reinforcement to the new image in his mind of the humans he'd once loathed. If he could find more humans like the ones in this town, then perhaps he could put an end to his vendetta against the entire race and find the peace his brother had spoken of. He honestly hoped that he could…he was tired of the hatred and the need for vengeance.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Meryl's return. He looked up at her with a slight frown. "Meryl?" He asked softly and waited until she looked down at him again curiously. "Are the humans really like this?" He waved his hand expansively to take in the town around them.

"Some are…" She murmured as she frowned thoughtfully. "Some are good people and some aren't. Each individual is different, Knives. The majority of people **are** good, but there are some who aren't."

"Explain." He waited patiently as she removed the towel and began running the brush through his still damp hair.

"Well…" She began slowly, obviously choosing her words with care. "Let's say you find yourself in a crowded room…" He nodded slowly, envisioning what she was saying in his mind. "Don't move…" He halted the movement immediately as she tugged gently on his hair. "For each person in there, there will be someone who has less than pure thoughts, someone who is filled with negativity. There are people in this world who have lost their way and can't find their way back. Those are the ones that do things that aren't very nice." He frowned and twisted to look up at her with a disapproving look. "What? What's that look for?"

"I'm not a child, Meryl. You don't have to speak to me as if I am."

She smiled a little sheepishly and shrugged. "Sorry. Okay…it's like this…there are outlaws who commit terrible crimes against humanity. They steal. They kill. They do things even worse. They are evil minded and some of them I doubt could be saved at all. But Vash believes they can be. That's why he took the position of sheriff. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. I don't know. I do know that not everyone can be trusted and it's sometimes hard to decide what is right and what is wrong. There's a thin line between the two. Not everything is black and white. There are shades of grey."

"So…what you're saying is that humans are intrinsically flawed."

"Of course we are. That's what makes us human, Knives. The battle of good versus evil…it's an age old fight that's been in existence since the beginning of time and will continue to the end of time. But what is evil? What is good? How do we know? It's what our conscience tells us."

"You make no sense, woman. Either it is or it isn't."

"Okay…look at it like this. Everywhere Vash goes destruction follows. Cities are destroyed, property damaged and people hurt. That's bad, right? So, he's evil."

He growled and scowled up at her, angered by her lack of belief in his brother. "Vash isn't…" He began and blinked in surprise when she smiled. "What?"

"If you only look on the surface, that's what you'll see. If you look a little further you'll discover that Vash only wanted to help the people. The cities were destroyed by others in their quest to capture him, property was damaged as he tried to avoid confrontations that would cause more people to get hurt or even die, and the people who were injured usually did it to themselves. So…what is good and what isn't?"

"You logic is…illogical." He folded his arms across his chest and frowned at the street, eyes following the children as they laughed and ran after their ball.

"It isn't easy to define, Knives. Good…bad…beautiful…ugly…it's all in the eye of the beholder." She wrapped the towel around his shoulders and reached for the scissors. "Okay…how do you want me to do this?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever you decide. It makes no difference to me." He was silent for a while as he listened to the sound of the scissors snipping through his hair and finally sighed. "So basically you're saying that I have to decide for myself what is good and what isn't."

"Well…" She sounded a little uneasy and he began to turn again to look at her. "Don't move." He halted the movement and sat stiffly staring straight ahead. "I suppose that's what I'm saying, but still…considering your track record, that could be a little dangerous." She leaned forward and peered into his face with a frown. "You haven't been known for restraint in the past, Knives. I don't want to encourage you to start going around judging people and deeming them good or bad and possibly setting yourself up as judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into one. Humans are flawed, we're not perfect. If you have an ideal in your mind of what people **should** be, then you're bound to be disappointed. We all strive to be the best we can be…just some of us have different views on what that is."

"You make no sense." He muttered and closed his eyes. "I still say that either a person is good or they aren't. Can't be both, you know."

"And how would you describe yourself? From where I stand you could've been considered about as evil as they come…you did very terrible things, Knives. Yet, I can't say that you're all that bad now…not after you calmed down and started listening, that is. You're lucky, you know. You've been gifted with a very long lifespan. You have the rest of your life to make up for the things you've done and you have the time to do it in. Us humans aren't so lucky. Usually we end up dying off before we can make our wrongs right."

He snorted disdainfully. "You speak as if I actually regret what I've done."

"Don't you?" She asked quietly as she ran her fingers through his hair, reaching back to set the scissors down on the small table beside the basin of water. He remained silent and she finally sighed. "I see. Well, I suppose that's to be expected. After all, I can't expect you to change after over a century of misdeeds in just a few short months." She stepped back, her hand falling away. "There. All done."