Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Ticket to the Future ❯ Secured Future? ( Chapter 4 )

Standard Disclaimer: As for Trigun, I don't own it, didn't create it, and am not making money off it, so please don't sue this poor science teacher.

Ticket to the Future: Part IV

Secured Future?

The first thing I became aware of was the lack of another warm body in bed beside me. The second thing was the sound of quiet, soft movements in the room. Coming awake by slow degrees, I dimly realized that Vash had left our bed and was pulling on his clothes. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I stifled a gasp as I realized what lay at the foot of the bed… his travel bag.

I sat up quickly and pulled the sheet over my torso while silently watching him dress in the pre-dawn light. I had known in my heart that he wouldn't deny Milly's request, but I didn't want to accept the fact that he'd leave again so soon.

"Vash?" I called out softly. He paused briefly but continued his silent task. I felt that I had to say something to break the tense silence. "So, you're really going then?" I had hoped that he would try to convince Milly that it was a fool's errand to go and get back that gun. "You know it's not Wolfwood's gun that has you worried." Sighing heavily, I admitted silently that I was afraid Vash would feel the urge to pick up his own gun again. He'd been a gunslinger, albeit from necessity, for so long. How could he just give it up?

Turning towards me, Vash nodded. "You know that it's important to Milly to have Wolfwood's gun back. If it will help her cope with her situation, then I am going after it." Vash looked at me solemnly for a moment. Then, his eyes crinkled in a mischievous smile, "Meryl, you know it's what Milly wants. It doesn't matter that her reasoning is flawed; we have to keep her spirits up. If bringing back Wolfwood's gun will help her feel close to him, then I'm going after it."

Thinking back on the things that had transpired yesterday afternoon, I had to agree. Milly had thrown a tantrum to get her way. I smiled briefly as I remembered a time when she had used such an act to get Vash to loan us money so we could continue to follow him and do our jobs.

Last night after another intense love making session, Vash and I had talked about the problems going after that gun could cause. I was lying quietly in the circle of his arms while listening to him give me reasons why he needed to fulfill Milly's request. I enjoyed the gentle way he was running his hand up and down the length of my spine. "But Vash, are you sure it's a good idea for you to leave? What will happen if Knives wakes up while you are gone?"

"Meryl, that's probably not going to happen. And if it does, well, you can always tie him up until I get back." I looked up to see him grinning down at me. I swear he seldom takes anything seriously.

"But what if…"

Rolling over and pinning me beneath him, Vash cut of my protestations with his lips. "Meryl, you talk too much." I opened my mouth to deny it, but caught my lower lip with his teeth. Nudging my legs apart with his own, he slid his hard shaft inside me to the hilt. "This does not change the fact that I still think this is a bad idea," I mumbled against his lips. "I know, but I have other things on my mind." Levering himself up on his elbows, Vash started to move, causing me to forget everything but the sensations he was arousing.

Now, here I was, sitting in bed, watching the man I loved prepare to leave again. I felt tears spring to my eyes. I hastily wiped them away, but Vash had already spied them. "Hey, don't cry…I'll only be gone a few days."

"I know, I guess I'm just selfish. I don't want you to leave for any reason."

"Just be sure to have some of those donuts for me when I get back."

Throwing a pillow at his head, I shrieked softly. "Donuts? Donuts? That's all you think about."

Crossing the room, Vash loomed over me for a moment, catching my mouth with his in a searing kiss. Heat sprang to life in my veins as kissed me expertly. "I promise, donuts are not the only thing I think about." With another swift kiss and a promise to return as quickly as possible, Vash disappeared out of the door.

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Several afternoons later, I entered the house to hear Milly carrying on an animated conversation with someone upstairs. Being curious as to who could be visiting, I quickly made my way to the room where she seemed to be. As I topped the last stair, I realized that she was in the room currently occupied by Knives. My heart stopped cold. Surely, that thing wasn't awake.

I hurried down the narrow hall and stopped in the doorway. There sat Milly in a chair beside the bed, chatting away at Knives as if he were wide-awake and some type of honored guest. I felt a surge of relief as I realized that he was still unconscious.

Walking into the room, I noticed that Milly had changed the bandages on his arm. She was busy running a damp sponge over his bare chest and then straightening the light covers over him. I was horrified to see her so close to him. I had been helping her to care for him in the days since Vash had left, and while it was one thing to care for his injuries and try to make him comfortable, it was another to actually linger in the same room with a cold blooded killer. I certainly would not be talking to him as if he were some type of long lost friend. "Milly, why are you talking to that creature?"

I cringed inwardly at the sharpness of my own question.

"Meryl, you know Mr. Vash would not like you to talk about Mr. Knives like that. They are brothers after all." Milly sounded indignant.

"They may be brothers, but that does not change the fact that Mr. Wolfwood died because of this creature's desire to rid the world of humans. How can you stand to be near him when you know it's his fault Wolfwood is dead, you're alone and pregnant, and Vash is haunted by his past?"

A hurt look crossed Milly's face as she sat there listening to my tirade. "Way to go Meryl, you've upset Milly again." I could see the glimmer of unshed tears gather in her eyes.

"Meryl," she began in a very small, yet firm voice. "It is true that Mr. Knives is not a nice person. He probably is the reason that Nicholas died, but I can't go through life hating him. Hate is too large a burden to shoulder in the life we have to live."

"Milly, Knives ordered Wolfwood's death. Surely you must hold him accountable for his actions."

"Meryl, ssshhhhh… I'm sure he can hear you. Don't be so hard on Mr. Knives. Besides," she added with a shrug of her broad shoulders. "It was partly my fault Nicholas died. I will always wonder if there was something more I could have done… some small thing Nicholas said that I might have overlooked that would have let me change the outcome of that day."

I stood there gaping, not knowing how to answer her. I knew that in my heart, I would never forgive this creature for causing Vash and Milly to feel guilt over deaths that were not their fault.

"You know what, Meryl? I feel pity for Mr. Knives. He doesn't realize how nice people are. He has no friends and even his brother couldn't agree with his actions. It must be a terrible life to be so alone." Milly's voice trailed off in the distance and her eyes held a far away look.

"Milly, just be careful around him. Even though Knives is Vash's brother, he is still a vicious killer." I walked out of the room, shaking my head sadly. I could the bright sound of Milly's voice as she resumed her "conversation" with Knives. There was something I could not like about Knives that I just couldn't put my finger on. I had the terrible feeling disaster was headed straight for us and there was going to be nothing anyone could do to avoid the coming doom.

**********

Out in the desert, a lone figure made his way across the burning sands. After many days of travel, he came to a spot that looked vaguely familiar. Studying the terrain and the signs of recent destruction, the man walked a few hundred yards toward the setting sun.

Removing his shades and wiping the sweat from his brow, Vash took a moment to indulge in a well-deserved drink from his water canteen. The faint glint of metal caught his eye as he lowered the canteen from his mouth. Striding quickly to the spot, he knelt and began to brush away the layer of fine dust that had buried the object of his search. "There you are," he spoke aloud. Picking up the cross punisher that had belonged to his friend Wolfwood, Vash turned back in the direction he had come. "This thing is heavy… "That's because it's so full of mercy…."

Vash smiled slightly at the memory of the day he'd left with this same gun. He'd remembered the bright look Milly had on her face as she dashed toward him easily carrying the cross punisher. In the final moments of that fateful day, Vash was sure he was a dead man. But, a familiar voice called out to him, telling him to pick it up and use it. Wolfwood had reached out beyond the grave to help him that day and now he was going to do anything in his power to help the two Nicholas had left behind.

Taking a moment more to glance around this place that had brought him to his final confrontation with Knives, Vash suppressed a shudder. It suddenly felt as if someone were watching him. Crouching in an all to familiar stance, Vash whipped his body around in a tight circle, grasping at an object that was no longer in its familiar spot along side his hip.

Cold horror washed over him as he realized something or someone was out there. Whipping around again, he scrutinized the area closely, spotting nothing but another glint of metal in the sunlight. Walking over to the glimmer, Vash paused a moment and stared at the outline of a gun next to a brilliant splash of crimson partially buried in the desert sand.

"I want to live an uneventful life. I want to live in peace," he whispered softly in the fading sunlight.

"I'm not through yet… I still have a task to complete…"

Grimly, Vash listened a moment more while surveying the area again. "The future is still not safe," he thought silently. "Is it Knives?" Something or someone was coming. "Meryl is going to be really mad at me too…." Images of the possible devastation rose in his mind as he pictured things that might happen if he walked away from here and did nothing.

"Can I prevent a destructive future by picking up this gun again?" Images of the people he'd met and come to care for over the years crowded his mind. Images of Milly and her unborn child rose to the surface, both stood there with angry accusing looks on their faces. Meryl stood there, a look of disappointment on her face, as she berated him for not doing anything to prevent the destruction of humanity. With a pang of regret and the harshness of reality whispering in his mind, he knelt and reached out with both hands to grab on to the past in an attempt to save the future.

"for love and peace," he whispered as one hand closed around a crimson coat and the other around the grips of a silver revolver. Rising quickly, he scanned the area again and screamed into the emptiness.

"DO YOU HEAR ME? FOR LOVE AND FOR PEACE…"

But there was no one to answer his challenge except the stirring of the wind.

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To be continued…

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Ok all you lovely people in Trigun land, here is chapter 5 for your reading enjoyment. I know I am not working on this as quickly as some of you would like; however, I do have a job, 2 kids, 3 horses, and 6 semester exams to give this week. I'm trying to write as quickly as possible!

Also, I could have put a lemon is this chapter, but I wanted to try and develop my writing skills in other areas. Let me know what you think.

I do like to know what you guys think about the direction that the story is going, so please R&R for me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone out there and above all…

Love and Peace,

Blackhat (^_~)