Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Incompatible ❯ Chapter 0038 ( Chapter 38 )

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 38

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Vash stood straight and swiped a hand over his face, brushing away dust, sweat and general grime. "Well…" He said with a deep, contented sigh. "It was so simple…" He smiled and draped his arm across Knives' shoulders. "I'm impressed, Knives…real impressed. It was a good idea."

He snorted and studied the fruits of their labors with a critical eye. "No, Vash…it wasn't a good idea." He stated with a slight frown. "It was a brilliant idea. Admit it, brother…the only reason you never did this before was because you just didn't…"

"I know, I know." Vash sighed and dropped his arm, some of his happy feelings draining away. "You're the smarter of the two, you come up with the brilliant plans, and I'm just the dumb ass brother who goes along with them and provides grunt labor. Yeah. I know the routine."

Knives scowled and shook his head. "That isn't what I meant, but if you insist, then fine." He shrugged and turned away to stare at the panels lined up and angled to receive the full benefit of the twin suns the planet orbited. "And it wasn't my idea, Vash. It was Emily's." He felt his brother's gaze on him and shrugged again. "She was the one who originally came up with the idea to harness the solar power of the planet when I first freed her. The idea was to exchange the solar panels and the energy they would provide for the Plants still in captivity. Unfortunately, I don't think the humans will accept such an exchange."

"Yeah…they might get a little uptight if they learned that their power sources were actually sentient beings…another species. Might cause mass panic."

"Or worse. I'm not about to let myself be someone's guinea pig, Vash. I refuse to be an experiment again."

"Again? What do you mean?" Vash studied his brother's profile intently and frowned when he saw the uneasiness in his expression. "Knives?"

"Do you know what we are, Vash?" He asked softly without looking at him. "We're Plants, yes…but there's more to us than just that. Have you ever wondered why we were the only Plants to exist outside the bulbs?"

"It's because we were born outside the bulbs, right?" He asked hesitantly, tone uncertain.

"That's part of it, yes. But we're not just Plants, Vash…we're more than that." He finally turned and stared hard at his brother. "We're hybrids…an experiment." He shook his head and closed his hands into fists at his sides. "A **failed** experiment. I found the documentation on the ship I found Emily in. We're the product of a scientific experiment that apparently failed. We were **created** with both human and Plant DNA. That's why we're different. The other Plants can never be freed, Vash…they'd never survive outside of their bulbs. Their bodies couldn't withstand the shock of separation or the exposure to the world beyond their glass cages. They're prisoners, and we can never free them…not truly free them. It would kill them."

"But what about Emily? You freed her. That has to mean something, right?"

"It means that she's just like us. A hybrid. I don't know if there are any more like us, but the way it stands, the Plants are probably better off where they are." He sighed and shook his head, weary in both body and soul. "I've spent all these years in pursuit of an impossible dream." He turned away and stared at the solar panels again. "What does one do when there's nothing left to hope for?" He asked quietly.

Vash scowled at his brother's back and the slight droop to his shoulders. "You find something else to hope for! Find another dream and pursue it! You don't just give up, Knives. That isn't the way life works…not real life anyway."

He shook his head though he felt a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. "My brother, the optimist." He turned his face up to the clear blue sky and closed his eyes. "And what would you suggest?"

"I don't know!" He threw his hands up and stalked closer to him. "You have to decide for yourself, you know. But how about this for starters…get off your butt and do something about the situation between you and Meryl. You're both starting to drive me nuts with your moping!"

"Meryl?" He blinked and stared at his twin for a moment in silence. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Oh for…" Vash was obviously battling his frustration and not doing a very good job of it. "Look, Knives. I know you love her so stop bellyaching and tell her already!"

He snorted and shook his head. "So what if I do? It changes nothing."

"What?" He scratched his head as he tried to come to terms with the fact that his brother had finally, after **months** of denial, admitted the truth of his feelings for the small woman. "What do you mean by that? I don't get it."

"She'll never see me in that way, Vash. There's no point in dwelling on it when there's no way to change it." He shrugged and turned to start the short walk back to the town they'd settled in for the last several months. "Let's go back. The mayor will want to know that it's all set up and ready to go online."

"Not so fast!" He grabbed his brother's shoulder and halted his retreat. "Are we talking about the same woman? We're talking about Meryl, right?" Knives nodded curtly. "Okay…just making sure 'cause for a minute there you had me confused. I don't know what gave you the idea that she doesn't care about you…"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged of his twin's hand from his shoulder. "I never said she didn't **care**, Vash. I know she does. But there's a world of difference between caring and loving…" He looked down at the sand beneath his feet and shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I know how she feels, Vash. It's plain to see." He looked up again and smiled sadly. "I've seen the way she looks at you and believe me, if I thought there was a chance that she might look at me that way I wouldn't hesitate…but there isn't so I won't wish for something that I'll never have. Do you understand now? Do you see why nothing changes?"

"M-me?!" Vash choked as the word emerged on a high pitched squeak. He raised his hands and waved them around frantically. "N-no! No, no, no!" He grabbed Knives by the shoulders and shook him roughly, green eyes narrowed with almost desperate determination. "She doesn't look at me that way, Knives! At least she hasn't for a long time…maybe before…but not now…definitely not now! God I hope not now!" He frowned and looked away briefly. "Please, God, not now!" He cleared his throat and continued shaking his brother, his green gaze snapping back up to stare into his own startled blue one. "Millie! Millie, Knives! Millie looks at me that way, not Meryl!"

"S-stop…" Knives gritted his teeth. "Stop shaking me!" He reached up and shoved Vash's hands away from his shoulders and took a quick step back, putting some distance between them. "Damn it, Vash, get a hold of yourself!"

"I ought to knock some sense into that intellectual head of yours!" Knives backed up quickly at the hard look his brother was giving him. "Stop thinking and start **feeling**!"

"I **am** feeling!" He shouted back, shifting his stance and closing his hands into fists. "That's the problem, you pea-brain! I'm feeling something I've never felt before and I don't know how to deal with it!" He threw his head back and closed his eyes. "It **hurts**!" He cried in anguish and slowly sank to his knees in the sand. "It hurts and I don't know how to make it stop." He finished on a hoarse whisper as he bowed his head, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I hate this feeling of…of…" He searched for the appropriate words to describe the enormity of the emotions swirling through him. "Not being able to think properly when she's around…of hurting all the time…of hoping for something that will never be…of knowing that no matter what I do she'll never, never love me as I love her…because…because…" He drew in a harsh, ragged breath and slowly looked up at his brother staring at him with sad, knowing eyes. "Because no matter what you say, she'll always love you, brother."