{Vash}

vash stood there stunned. " uh...Meryl....'' he stood there not knowing what to do or say. people where starting to stare at them wile they past.

'' Meryl.....come on heh heh cut it out.'' vash said like a babbling child. he placed his hands on her shoulder's and pulled her off him gently. he looked at her smiling the goofy smile he once showed . '' now look what'ch done silly you dropped the bag holding Milly's pudding y'know what she is gonna say about that.''

he picked started picking up the cups of pudding carefully. As he gathered them he mumbled but loud enough that she could hear. '' thank you.....but I'm just not ready....at least not right now.'' he put his sunglasses back on then walked back in the house.

Meryl sniffled and nodded at Vash and took the bag from him after he had filled it, "Thank you", she said she was surprised that she had reacted like that. "Lets go", she said as she turned towards the house trying to forget her little outburst.

When they made it back to the house Milly was still playing chess with herself, "Oh hi Meryl, how did shopping go?", she said smiling.

"It went good Milly", she said as she went to put the food away, "Where's Johanna?", asked Meryl.

"She's been upstairs with Knives the whole time, it's been fairly quiet", said Milly.

Meryl looked worried for a moment and put the stuff down on the counter and made her way upstairs opening the door to Knives's room. The scene before her was shocking, Johanna was asleep.... asleep with her head on the desk next to Knives, now Meryl had found Vash in this position before but this was odd.

{Vash}

vash feared something much worse he figured Knives had a woken and that Johnna was now dead. so he too rushed up stairs along with Meryl. when he saw she was sleeping on the desk. he slouched in the door way.

'' what the heck dose she think she's doing.'' he whisperer. he ran his hand through his blond spiky. '' This is what i as worried about. if knives would have woken up to find her right there she would be a grease spot on the floor by now.''

vash walked over and frantically gave Johanna a nudged. '' johanna......JOH....''

Johanna stretched and yawned, "Oh hey you guys are back man I fell asleep I was up too late last night in the lab I guess", she pulled her watch out of her pocket. "I guess I still have some time to go hang out with the kids at the orphanage. Vash you should come back some time the twins keep asking about you and Meryl", she stood up and looked down at Knives and smiled. "See no major disasters he's still the same as he was before, I just sat here, read to him and I just fell asleep", she said as she picked up her glasses that she had taken off. She looked up at Vash smiling and then chuckled a bit, "Vash don't be so serious all the time, have fun and relax okay", she said and then put on her glasses. As she walked out of the room she wondered why everyone was so worried.

"Heading to the orphanage now?", asked Milly when Johanna came downstairs.

Johanna nodded, "Yep you coming to Milly", she asked.

Milly smiled, "Of course", she said slowly pulling herself out of the seat. They both chatted while the walked the short distance to the orphanage. And when they made it there they were bombarded with kids and questions.

Meryl shook her head, "I cant believe how confident she is", she said to Vash "She just so committed to her cause I think she does this just so she can feel like she doing something. I don't think I've ever met anyone that has protested against the use of Plants", Meryl sighed and then smiled at Vash, "How about some coffee and donuts", she said.

Releasing his hold on his dreams of paradise—with his brother—hadn't been difficult. It was unbearable. Knives never really dreamt of the past. It was as misguided, diluted and and confused as muddled waters. He dreamt of another place. It was something constant: a dreamy gauze pressed against his cloudy eyes, blocking out anything else. And to Knives, it was reality. He dreamt of a wide, quiet place, cleansed and made safe from every kind of human influence. All the plants were there together, forming one living whole, existing beyond time and death. Humans were different than them. Their hearts weren't the same—no, not at all. Not even close. They beat with the same silly staccato, but they were made from different materials and both couldn't possibly coincide. Not with humanities natural-born cruelty. They'd squash and squander everything around them. So, most times, Knives dreams would mutilate into something completely horrifying. His clean, quiet world would wither like a flame devouring a piece of paper and the screams. The screams echoed and bounced through his skull, receding to a low moan that might've been his own. These dreams were nightmares.

Imperfect, petty, selfish, sentimental fools who thought only of their own needs and desires. Rarely did they ever consider anything outside of themselves. Occasionally he witnessed the rare few play the sacrificial lamb, the martyr. It was sometimes touching, but more often than not it was trite. When it all came down to bare basics, none of them acted unless there was something to gain. Their selfish needs all came first, and screw the rest—that's how they thought: their philosophy. That was their motivation for raping their home planet and cannibalizing their own creation. They were loathsome creatures whose extinction was long overdue. And yet, still... Knives dreamt of something else, and it might've just as well been another nightmare with a different flavour. A white wonderland-of-a-world, crisp and clean, populated with those wretched creatures, but they were peaceful. They were tending to the Plants without rancor, without those greedy little eyes. Those were the dreams that filled him with something he couldn't quite put his fingers' on, left him writhing.

Even the Earth seemed acceptable in this. It's forest emerald eyes lifted, twinkling with mirth. Something he'd never seen there before, never seen anywhere before. Something beautiful and frightening and rhythmic to the final sigh of an old woman. An old, sick woman, who wanted more than anything to die. Bittersweet, a light and gentle smile as the world comes caving in, as the sky cracks and the earth crumbles and everything buckles over like a drunken man in a city that's stopped caring about him. But still, the Mother chose to stand side by side with the humans. It's something that Knives couldn't fathom. The thought was unbearable. It chewed apart everything he'd worked so hard to achieve.

"What did you do to make everyone so afraid of you?" Knives killed. He destroyed. He picked apart his own flesh and blood just to prove a point. He painted a solemn picture of misery across humanities' face. He wanted nothing less, nothing more. That's what he did. His skull was throbbing. And whatever that voice was, whether it be conjured from his own thoughts, spoke from the Mother's green lips. In his dreams, Knives stood lividly against the ethereal tree, holding his face with his hands. Her cowled countenance dipped forward, hunkering towards him with gnarled fingers. But, there was only kindness reflected in those eyes. What was she talking about? Fossil fuels. Using Plants foolishly. Solar energy? And then, then, the Earth spoke of all the injustices. He agreed with her. It was unbearable. The Earth's weathered face was distorted, waving like the deserts' glimmering haze. Retreating back into... what, exactly? Not before the figure lurched forward, leaning it's head against his. The last remnants of words faded away. But, he felt something.

His right index finger twitched. Then, his entire hand gripped the bedding, pulling it tightly into his fist. A small sound escaped his parched throat.

[vash]

vash noticed the small movements comeing form knives and then rushed to his bed side. " huh Knives.''

It looked like he was having some sort of attack. vash looked around frantically around the room. " aw.....DAMN IT SOMEBODY GET SOME WATER RO SOMETHING.'' Vash shouted. not realizing he shouted. He looked down at Knives. he looked like he was haveing trouble of some kind. '' come on....come on Knives....just hold on okay.''

Meryl nodded and quickly went to the bathroom and filled a glass of water, "Here!", she said when she handed it back to him. Then she stood there and watched Knives not really sure what to think. "Is he waking up finally?", she thought to herself, "or is it something worse like he was sick; could plants even get sick, she didn't have a clue the only thing she knew was it scared the crap out of her. The thought of Knives actually being awake, talking and walking around the house was almost unfathomable", she took a deep breath, "Is he alright Vash?", she asked quietly as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Milly was glad to be with the children again, they gave so much to look forward to, "Big sister!", she heard from behind her, she turned to see two little boys that made her smile every time. The twins Houston and Dallas where a cute little pare, with blonde hair and bright happy blue eyes.

"Hello boys how are you today?", Milly asked.

"Good", said the twins, Johanna came up a tousled the boys hair. "Come on lets go play outside", the two boys cheered and followed Johanna outside.

"Are you well Milly?", asked a voice from behind her, she turned to see the kindly old woman that helped run the orphanage, "Oh Sister Mary", said Milly with a big smile "Yes I'm doing great", she answered.

"But I have been thinking allot about Nicholas lately. It worries me will he have problems in heaven because we...", Milly looked down at the floor almost shamefully.

The old nun smiled and put her hand on her shoulder, "My dear you shouldn't worry about that, the good Lord forgives and I think Nicholas was forgiven a long time ago. I think a sign of that forgiveness is this child my dear. I knew Nicholas as a child in my orphanage after... he protected himself many years ago. Many times he would ask me the same thing, would the Lord ever forgive him for what he did to his guardian. I would tell him that yes of course he would be forgiven, everyone can and his circumstances were dire, so allot of the fault was on the guardian and not him", said Sister Mary.

Milly nodded she knew this story for the most part because Nicholas had confessed allot of things to her that night they were together. "My dear you just worry about having a happy healthy baby and things with the Lord will be as they be. I myself have a checkered past and allot of things to be forgiven for but the Lord knows we are all human and make mistakes, but he loves of enough to weigh the good and bad we do and if our good out weighs are bad well dear he happy for it. Nicholas did so much good my dear I don't think you have much to worry about. Now how about some tea", Sister Mary smiled and led Milly into the kitchen.

{ vash }

quickly took the water and lifted Knives head to a slight angle and began to disperse the water into his mouth\

'' Here Knives....drink up.'' when he finished he laid the cup on a bed side table. the gently shook him. '' Knives.....KNIVES... come on knives.''

All of the confusing images seemed to fade away, obliterated by a resounding voice calling his name. Knives' grasp on reality slipped, faltered, and opened it's window against sleep-crusted eyes. His throbbing skull echoed panicked words. His mouth moved to sputter something intelligent, but withered like collapsed ruins. Full of dust. Full of ash. His cracked lips were suddenly wet. Knives felt coolness slip down his throat until he felt as if he were drowning; both welcome and terrifying. Spluttering like a sopping wet cat, Vash' brother jerked upright, eyes flying wide open. He hunkered forward, coughing and hacking until he felt fresh air wheeze back into his lungs. Colours assaulted his disused vision, sending tendrils of euphoria down his spine. Everything seemed so surreal.

Hadn't he died? Knives' cerulean eyes blinked, once, then twice. Two hands were gripping his shoulders, gently shaking him until his own hands snapped forward, pushing them away. Another laborous breath whispered past his lips, then another intake of air. Every ounce of strength felt as if it'd been leeched from his body—no, it felt as if he were waking from a corpse. Numbness tingled through his extremists, warming his fingertips and feet. He couldn't help but wiggle his toes. He ran trembling fingers through his blonde hair and found it peculiar that it was the same length; cropped short and freshly washed. Knives leaned forward, settling his shallow face against his hands. His face tipped upwards, and the current environment swept over him like a tidal wave. Planet Gunsmoke; the sky was stained with the warm hues of red and orange and pink, but little wisps of pastel purples found their way in, as well. It was morning. How unusual.

It had always been imperative to Knives that he and his brother take their rightful claim of power. But, now that he was conscious and whole, he couldn't seem to recall his bubbling hatred. It felt like something had dampened his spirits, thrown a blanket over the clouds that normally plagued him. Extinguished his heart. Knives, never moving to acknowledge their presence, tracked their ghostly reflections in the window. For a moment the only noise was the rattle of the window panes, loose in their sills, as pickups thundered past the cottage. Knives could not hear the clocks tick-tick-ticking downstairs, or the sweaty, breathy grunts of the construction workers down the road, or the burring of cicadas in a desert where nothing more significant than an insect survived the wild heat. The girl's glass reflection resembled a watercolor painting that had been inundated: her fair complexion looked ashy, her red lips the color of rose quartz, and her grey eyes were as pale and stormy as the sky outside. He recognized her as Meryl. Secondly, Vash' panicked features seemed to ripple across the window pane: his complexion looked pale, as if he hadn't been sleeping well, and the shadows rimming his eyes testified to that. Now he—he looked terrified. If it hadn't been so painful, Knives' would've smiled.

Speaking was proving more difficult. Moving was another labour he wasn't prepared to take. He curled his hands into white, bloodless fists. “Woman. Brother,” The breathy wheeze came, raspy with desuetude, and then, “You brought me here?” His teeth were grating, but he couldn't seem to raise his head from his hands.

Milly and Johanna waved to the children as they made their way back home, Milly had been getting tired so she decided to go home and rest. Johanna was worried about her and decided to make sure she got home alright. "Milly, would you tell me what Knives did that makes everyone so frightened of them. I'm a big girl I can take it, I already know that Vash and Knives aren't human I figured that out on my own", said Johanna.

Milly bit her lip, but decided that she wasn't going to lie any more to Johanna she deserved to be treated as one of them she had done so much for them they wouldn't have the house they did if it wasn't for her, and she helped them make sure the rumor of "Vash the Stampede", being gunned down was spread.

"Well to be straight forward and to the point Johanna, he's a psychopathic killer that has murdered many humans all for revenge against them for what they've done to his kind", said Milly.

Johanna nodded, "Valid reason wrong way of doing it", was all she said as they walked up to the house.

"We're home", called Milly from downstairs, Johanna walked behind her upstairs to make sure she didn't fall.

Thats when the found Meryl standing Knives'e door way with a look a cross between fear and astonishment in her eyes. "Meryl what going on?", asked Milly

Meryl turned to the girls, "He's... awake", Meryl muttered.

Johanna put her hand on her shoulder Meryl looked like she might fall over "Vash is everything okay", Johanna said. She looked at Knives, he looked like he was very disoriented but he hadn't done anything dangerous.

[ vash ]

as soon as Johanna came to the doorway of Knives room he motioned her not to come any closer. he was still unsure of what would he would do
to a human.

" Yeah....yeah Knives. I brought you here so that i could take care of you. I....I couldn't bring myself to Kill my own brother. Call me weak.
call me whatever. After all I promised Rem I would take care of you.''

vash felt like tearing up at the thought of his brother finally awake. But the warning in his heart about how he felt about humans prevented
him from showing any joy from this. Right now if any one else in the house where to come into that he felt that they would be in sever danger.
vash himself did not feel to safe himself. If Knives could force him to destroy and entire city. who Knows what else he could make him do
even without the Cult 45's.

Johanna listened and didn't go any further into the room Milly just stood there looking at Knives, he was awake Milly was happy for Vash but she had hoped Knives wouldn't wake up. He didn't deserve to, Nicholas had done some bad things but, he had done allot of good, what good did Knives do and now he was here and not the man she loved. Her eyes narrowed and she turned and went to her room and slammed the door behind her.

Johanna watched Milly go off to her room she seemed angry...

Meryl knew why Milly had walked away like that and she didn't blame her, "Johanna perhaps we should go downstairs and make dinner", said Meryl pulling the curious young woman further out of the room. "Give Knives some room to breathe he's been out of it for months", whispered Meryl in Johanna's ear. Johanna nodded and followed Meryl downstairs. Once they were down there Meryl stood in the kitchen in shock for a moment after she finally shook it off, she started making a meal she had to make sure to make enough for Knives now.

His heart was hammering through his skull, rebounding on the outer edges of his temples before ricocheting throughout the expanse of his mind. Nothing made sense. Nothing was falling into place as it should. Everything was unsettling. Knives' cerulean eyes reflected his unusual surroundings. The ugly carpeting matched the unruly drapes. The room was painted a strange matte colour. Every single expression on their faces mirrored and complimented the next—they were frightened, confused, relieved, and outright disgusted. Now, that didn't surprise him. Most people who'd heard his name, who'd witnessed his atrocious acts, who'd fumbled about his notoriety, simply wanted him dead. There wouldn't be any justice in his impetuous life—no, no, they would offer him nothing. No wanted posters' marring his appearance. No amounts of cash for his sentient corpse.

Knives' ground his teeth together, shifted them ever so slightly with each jolt of pain. It rattled through his ribcage, shook through his shoulders, trembled through his spine and numbed his limbs. And now, the Plant understood that there wasn't much he could do. He couldn't stumble out of bed to wrap his hands around Vash' neck. He couldn't muster a feeble attempt to eradicate those humans who stood stupidly at his brothers' sides. He couldn't even level this bumpkin of a house. He was useless. An angry, humiliated heat warmed his shoulders and neck.

“Fine observation,” The blonde croaked incredulously, dropping his trembling fingers from his face. Even those few words sent small ripples of agony through his body. Speaking was taxing. So many questions flew rampant in his mind: how long had he been unconscious? Why hadn't he been sparred the torment of awakening in Planet Gunsmoke's cesspool, once again? What were Vash' intentions in keeping him alive and whole? He could find no answers. “Weak—would be too kind a word,” He finally accessed through his teeth, grunting at the futile effort.

From his peripherals, Knives watched as Milly wavered in the doorway, then quickly turn tail in the opposite direction. A few moment's later and the door slammed. The women slowly filtered out of the room until only he and Vash inhabited it. A twisted smile curled across his face; half in pain, half in his own delirium at awakening. He couldn't figure out whether or not he was elated, or miserable. Knives' mouth opened, then close. “Why... why did you let me live?” It was only a whisper, barely audible.

{ vash }

" I made a promise to Rem that I would take care of you. No matter how much we may never agree. Your still my brother Knives.'' Vash stooded from his bed side. it was like he feared. he still seemed to have a deep haltered for humans.

" You deserve a second chance knives.'' Vash walked outta the room. closing the door behind him. he looked at Meryl and Johnna sternly

'' Let me make this very clear. No one goes in this room besides me. Knives is still dangerous. and I....I....I need to think.'' he walked back into his room scratching the back of his head

It was like finding yourself in a movie that you watched, and playing every move and line down to a T, like you'd done it before or something. Nicholas knew this moment inside and out, backwards and forward... But why? How could he know these things? I wasn't like he'd always been a part of unruly, outrageous, and completely stupid feats of danger like this. Nicholas got it done, clean, dirty, underhanded; as long as it was right, he always got it done. That's what mattered. Right and wrong. Finding justice for the men and women that were too weak to do it themselves. But never getting attached. Getting attached meant feeling guilty and Justice didn't have time for guilt.

The bounty hunter was easy to persuade (if one could even really call it persuasion) and Nicholas found himself fumbling with a rusty revolver, individual bullets, and a rather large group of men shooting ferociously at him and the bounty hunter. He never missed, but for some reason, none of his shots proved fatal. It was a little more than frustrating. His pseudo-partner made it to his own destination and continued return fire.

Why was he missing? Nicholas concentrated for the split second he had, aimed, shot. A leg. A wrist. Even at one point his hands aimed the shot at the gun and sent it flying into pieces. But never the chest, abdomen, head... nothing that Nicholas wanted to just end the lives of these sick bastards.

You don't kill. There's no point. Why end a life that can change? That can mean something? What voice was this? What stranger had infiltrated his mind and sent his limbs into rebellion? Nicholas was fighting with it out of habit he supposed, because even though he fought with it, something deep down told him that it was right. It reminded him that this decision had already been made once.

You don't have to. Growling, Nicholas aimed and shot the silver canister that flew through the air. It was packed light, flashing in his shielded eyes. Still too bright, even with sunglasses on, Nicholas turned away, red burning the backs of his eyelids. A friendly red. With a touch of yellow hair and an idiotic smile. The vision, blurred and forgotten, reminded him of something else. Something sweet and soft... a woman.

When the light dissipated, he held his gun aloft and pointed dangerously at the group of gunners. They screamed and covered their eyes, but it didn't make any difference. The damage was done. Nicholas smirked.

The various mercs and gang members screamed in pain, clutching their eyes and rolling on the ground. They had just stared at a concentrated flashbang, something that's brightness was equivalent to staring at the sun. It was loud, disorienting, and left a large blinding spot in the back of their eyes for a good several minutes. Anyway who stared at it was basically a sitting duck to whoever wanted to take advantage of the situation. The men tried to focus and find gunners who had just torched their retinas at their core. Only Jesse could make out a faint semblance of his surroundings. It was however, almost futile to attempt to do so, as all he could make out were silhouettes in a sea of ever-changing colors.

"Where are they?! I can't see a damned thing!"

"Boss, it burns!"

"Shut it! We need to get out of here!"

As the cloud of colors became less opaque, he could begin to make out the man in the distance, carrying a revolver. He growled loudly as he began to back up. There was suddenly a sharp whistle that cut through the air behind him. He spun around in confusion, only to make out a glint of light reflecting of the nose of a silver barrel stuck in his face. He grunted loudly as he backed up a step. The men still struggled to make sense of the situation, clearly still disoriented from the blast. Harry simply laughed at the individuals as the struggled to enter back into the real world.

"Sorry, guys. I think your run ends here. And, uh... I wouldn't try anything. Clearly my friend and I are much more oriented and better shots than than the lot of you. So... how 'bout a trip to the sheriff's office?"

Meryl soon had a pot of soup on the stove bubbling away, she set two bowls out on a tray and ladled soup into both of them. "Johanna would you please take these bowls to Vash and Knives; I'm going to go check on Milly", she said as she handed the tray to Johanna. Johanna nodded her head and took the food from her, they both quietly ascended the stairs once again.

Johanna knocked gently on Knives door, and then turned the knob letting herself in, "Vash, Knives dinner", she said with a warm happy smile. She walked over and set the tray on the table despite Vash's reaction. "Vash stop acting so silly, if Knives was going to do something he would have done it already; and it's not like he has many options right now anyway. So hatred of humans or not, he needs food to restore energy cause he's not going to get to the Plant in December any time soon", said Johanna in a matter of fact tone of voice.

It was he logical mind showing, she was thinking, if she had been a Plant in that situation with the views that Knives had; it's what she would have done. Johanna was always good about seeing both sides of the coin and then making a logical decision from the information she had. After that she walked over to the dresser in the room and pulled out some clean clothes for Knives, cause she Vash wasn't thinking about that at the moment.

"Here I know you Vash and you haven't thought of this, I know you change his clothes every other day but he might want to change now that he's awake", she smiled and tucked a piece of long dark hair behind her ear. She then sighed it was about time for her to head home as she normally would but she knew that Meryl and Milly could use the help now that Knives was awake.

"I have to go Vash my father has a technology presentation tomorrow and I promised I'd help with his prototype tonight so it will be ready in the morning. If we get the interest of the corporation, they'll fund us in transferring the plant in December over to solar power; that way the Plant can live peacefully without being a living battery for the city. And if that works out well we can start mass producing and ween the planet off of Plant energy, unfortunately those Plants are not as advanced as you and Knives and are unable to leave the containment unit and live their lives as they see fit. But we are indebted to them to sustain them for how ever long they survive,and judging by you and your brother it will be a long time. But at least they no longer have to suffer, the pain they have been forced to endure all these years", Johanna had been lost in thought and then shook it off. "Take care Knives, Vash", she said with a smile and then left the brothers be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Milly?", said Meryl as she opened her friends door, Milly was laying in her bed clutching her pillow to her chest with tears streaming down her face. "Oh Milly I'm so sorry", said Meryl as she laid down on the bed next to her best friend and wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh Meryl I don't know what to do, I so happy for Mr. Vash cause his brother is awake and alive, but then I think about what Mr. Knives has done and it makes me so angry", Milly cried.

Meryl sighed, "You have every right to be angry Milly, Knives has done some horrible things that have directly affected you and your baby. But we have to have faith that he'll see the error of his way and try to reconcile for the things he has done. I know you Milly that in your own time you'll forgive him, it's just not in your nature to hold a grudge. I think that maybe deep down inside of Knives there is good in him he... just has to find it again. But if we don't give him the opportunity, he will always be the bitter evil being he is today and thats no way for anyone to live", said Meryl as she stroked Milly's hair.

This always seemed to calm her, "You should come down stairs and say goodbye to Johanna she's going to be going home soon and then you can eat some of my famous soup how about that", she said smiling at Milly.

Milly sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thank you Meryl", she said and then she threw her arms around her.

{ Vash }

( ignore my previous post about leaving Knives room because it caused confusion with the GM )

vash kept on eye on Johanna the whole time she was in the room make sure she didn't agitate knives. He really didn't want people in that room until
he was certain of knives intentions. the whole time sense knives awoke he was ready to activate his mechanical arm and pull the trigger on him. ether
that or punch him back into a comma.

After she left Vash closed his eyes. '' knives.... I really don't want to spend the rest of my life fearing you. I want go back to back the way things
where back on the ship. before all this madness happened.'' he stood up.


'' I still still stand by the humans. I always will that will never change and I hope you learn to understand it. You think they're a waste of life. But i have lived around them. learned form them. And there is a goodness in Them. They Hope, They dream, They Love one another. Wolfwood and Milly where the greatest example. They have shown me something. That humans themselves have the power to make a new life. I don't have a clue how or way. but that life grows Inside of Milly right now. What I'm saying will probably not change your mind at all about humans.'' Vash clinched his fists and look knives square in the eyes. ''But I'll give my own life before I let you attempt to take any Human's in this house Hold. I sware.''

" Well thats it that's.....thats what ive waited all this time to say to you.....lets just get you changed. vahs now felt a massive weight of his shoulders. he had wanted to say that ever sense he taking care of him.

Knives' mouth opened to shed light on Vash' situation—it was simple. Either destroy him now to save him the trouble of living in such dismal conditions or simply accept that their differences still existed, would still exist, would still demand all of their thoughts into single-mindedness. But, another knock sounded, effectively silencing him. A woman with dark hair, glasses and deep brown eyes. He didn't recognized her from before but couldn't help but think of Rem. His heart clenched uncomfortably. Without so much as a resentful glare, or lip tremble, Johanna swept forward and placed her tray on his night table. She wasn't afraid; not at all. Slender eyebrows rose in surprise, then furrowed across his forehead. Was that impudence he heard, or logical honesty?

“Yes—to save my dignity,” The Plant murmured softly, a mere wheeze of sounds that slipped from the corner of his lips. How humiliating. The thought of Vash changing him while he was unconscious was too much to bear—he'd been a comatose paraplegic; a vegetable. Too weak to even open his eyes. Too weak to dress himself, feed himself, or fight for himself. What was there left, if not to dress himself? This was a new beginning whether he liked it or not and there was nothing, for the moment, that Knives could do about it. He eyed the small pile of clothes Johanna had taken out. Nothing like the clothes he was accustomed to wearing.

Rapt in Johanna's explanation, Knives couldn't understand why a mere human would be bothered by any of the Plant exploitations. When had Humanity ever cared about anything besides themselves? But, there was something in her eyes. Something kind. Something Knives had seen before, long ago. His mouth formed a hard line. He wanted to scream at her. He wanted to shout and slam his fists across his feeble legs. If this was some kind of sick joke to lull him into a sense of Vash' compassionate judgement, the sentient Plant would have none of that. So, why then, was this woman spurting such nonsense. Feverish questions swamped his mind. Before he had the chance to say anything, Johanna disappeared with a soft, warmhearted goodbye. “She's not serious.” He began saying, shaking his head. “Humans don't care about Plants. Humans use us until there's nothing left. Who the hell is she?”

Silence followed his thoughts, but Vash chose to break such reveries with his own simple whims. He wanted things to go back to when they were on the ship; guileless and childish about violence, selfishness and cruelty. Before all the madness is where all the madness spawned from. “You don't honestly believe anything you're saying, do you? You, afraid, of me? You shot me.” His own aquamarine eyes met his brothers, held the stare as steady as any slavish predator would. No, Knives had always been wrong about his brother. Vash believed, heart and soul, in everything he said and no matter what he told him, Vash would always protect what he believed in. There was no changing that. He was a rock facing a storm, striking roots straight into the Earth. “I see,” He murmured, finally grabbing hold of the blankets so that he could throw them off. He almost expected for his legs to be missing. Thankfully, they weren't. They didn't look different either. Good, good.

Slowly, Knives swung himself towards the edge of the bed. It was no simple feat. His breath laboured, catching in his throat with each agonizing movement. He steadied himself across the beds' wooden posts. “I'm sure you're enjoying this. Weak. Vulnerable.”

"I'll be back as soon as I can in the morning Milly", said Johanna when she told them she had to go. And with that she was out the door and on her way home. After a long walk back into town she finally made it home.

"Ah look who finally decided to come home", said and old man with a wiry gray mustache; "Things came up at Milly's house", said Johanna. "mmm I see said the old man", as he cleaned a counter top in the kitchen, "Has something to do with those mobile Plants huh", he said. Johanna sighed, "Grandpa they have names you know", she said sounding a little protective of her friends.

He chuckled, "I'm sorry dear I'm just not used to them having names dear; I didn't mean any harm by it, your father is in the lab finishing up on the solar generators", he said as he continued to clean. Johanna nodded and made her way down into the basement of her home.

"Father, I'm home", she said there was a man sitting at the desk and you could hear the sound of a soldering iron sizzling. He lifted the goggles over his eyes and turned to her, "Ahh Johanna finally home I see", he said with a smile; "I'm just about done here, I've been charging the panel all day do you mind going outside and retrieving it for me", he said.

Johanna went out and got the crud, solar panel from outside and quickly brought to him, as her father plugged the panel, the generator began to work perfectly. "It's amazing father!", Johanna cheered, "Let just hope the corporation thinks so as well", he said with a smile.

Some time had passed from the minor excursion he had taken from the bar. While things might have been somewhat hairy in trying to capture his intended target, bringing him in went rather smoothly, as well as the men following him. It couldn't have been any simpler, considering the group of men were blinded for the rest of the day (assuming he used the right amount of phosphorous, although he was never one to measure). Harry had exited the Sheriff's office with an expression of minor disappointment. While some would consider what he had accomplished an impressive feat and well worth reward, the proverbial golden pot that lay in wait in front of him was, unfortunately, not the 24 karats he had hoped for. Evidently there was some confusion in processing the desired reward. Turns out that posters were in print before an official reward was ever settled on. The $$1,000,000 he had hoped to receive was reduced to a respectable (but paltry in comparison) $$250,000. While it helped that he and the suit rounded up bilked in an additional $$50,000 on top of that, there were other fees, including damages, contract fees, and other underlinings that he was less than cheerful about (although he was never one to knock off anything he was responsible for). And, out of fairness, he gave the suit a $$20,000 cut (he wasn't going to let him in on his deserved bounty, but he wasn't going deny him a prize either). In the end, he had received a total of $$260,000. He sighed quietly as he counted the bills, casually flipping through the wrinkled green.

"On the bright side, I'm set for the year... not unless I run into the troubled skirts again."

While he may have been a crafty hunter, he had also lost his fair share at times on two things: what he dubbed "bar-room donations," and women. He never regretted it, but there were times where he second-guessed his financial decisions. His looked up and stared across the vast desert wasteland as he moved near the outskirts of the town. December was just at the edge of the horizon, even if distorted by the blistering heat waves. He wondered if his contacts were right... if he could find the man with the biggest bounty of them all. A grin grew on his face as he walked back to the bar. While he had a destination, he wasn't about to let his previous engagement go completely unfulfilled. He still had other damages that needed taken care of before he could depart. As he approached it, a shimmer of light from a head of blonde hair came from the window. The waitress could see him approaching. He couldn't tell if she had an expression of fear, anxiety, or even relief... but a look of surprise became apparent after he flashed the stack of bills and his casual grin.

Never one to let a lady down.

While he approached the tavern, another thought popped into his mind.

Where's the suit, anyway?

[ vash ]

Vash Looked down at knives. '' what makes you think i would enjoy seeing you like this.'' he said almost with anger. " I don't injoy to see anyone suffer. nobody should have to suffer the kind of things you and I have. That's why I've been taking care of you knives. That's why we've all been taking care of you. So that you can get well again and start to have a new life. You thought I should have just Killed you is that it Huh." vash paused for a minute to try and cool his temper. he had Done nothing but help knives. and now that he was awake he was still as cold hearted as the start.

Vash stood up and began walking outta the room. " No Body deserves to die. Nobody. Everyone has the right to repent for what they have done no matter how terrible. Don't wast your chance brother.'' he walked outta the room. " catch ya later knives.''

Vash walked limply down the stairs into the living room felling drained. He was back to square one just sitting there arguing with knives over the stupid belief's he has about plants being superior to humans. he plopped In the sofa. and covered his hands over his face. he felt like screaming. but all he could mange is tears that rooled down his cheeks

Meryl frowned when she Vash on the couch, he looked horrible more so then he had in the past few months, she walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Vash...", it's all she could manage she really didn't know what to say to him, she knew he was frustrated, it was written all over his face. She sat down on the couch next to him and put her arms around him, "It will be alright you'll see".

As it started to get late Meryl and Milly went to bed they decided to both sleep in Millys room, just out of sure comfort now that Knives was awake. The morning dawned and the sun streamed through the window, it was a new day, was it going to be a new beginning.

{ Vash }

Vash woke up before anyone this morning. Not that he got much sleep. he didn't even have a consulting dream about Rem. So he woke up and went into
the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. With no shirt on he looked over his Hundreds of scares all over his body. Then looking at his face.
almost a full beard had grown. His eyes where droopy with dark circles around his eyes.

What had he let Knives make him become. he splashed some water on his face in hopes that it would make him look better. All it did was make his face wet. The in the corner of the bathroom cabinet a small neglected can a shave cream and some razors. obviously Purchased for him sense he was until recently the only male active in the house. He grabbed the cream and razors and proceeded to shave the beard off. He looked to have shaved five years off his face. Although the dark circles under his eyes still remained.

he looked at himself in the mirror so more. " You are not weak, Vash the Stampede. You have To be prepared To do what is necessary. If Knives won't....''
he stopped himself and looked down at his cybernetic arm. Was he seriously contemplating shooting Knives If he fails to Change. Vash face Palmed himself.

Vash turned on the bath tub and decided to try a soak some of his worries away. so there he lay in the tub just reapeting to himself. " You are not weak vash the stampede.

The ashes fell placidly from the butt of a worn out smoke. Nothing but air coiled around his face and hair and he stared at the sand he sat on. Wolfwood's forehead was resting between thumb and forefinger, elbow propped precariously in the divot of his knee. His headache was waning with the suns and his desire to find this place in December was growing again. If not to collect his memories, than to certainly feel like he belonged somewhere.

Hopefully.

The sneaky little bounty man thought Nicholas a dolt and only gave him a tiny percentage of the takings. Nicholas didn't feel like arguing with him, something certainly not like him at all. His head was aching with flashes of red and blonde and he could hear this incredible laughter in his mind, followed by a sweet voice and a sweet temperament he couldn't place. Who were these people, if they were people at all? What if they were just figments of his mind? Things he'd begun to create so he would have something to look for? What if December had nothing for him and he was lost again? All legitimate reasons to stay where he was now and make do.

But he was still half empty. His past wasn't completely restored and December held the remnants of his mind there. His large hand wiped over his face and hit the ground to lift his body up to standing. The heat of the day was rippling the city just miles from where he stood. He could make it there in time to sleep, and he would. His boots carried him out past the building he sat beside and back toward the Saloon where he'd met the overzealous bounty hunter. A smart man, with a few tricks up his sleeve. Never one to take a chance. Nicholas grinned at the thought. Much like himself, really.

He was walking back to the place where it all began and Nicholas saluted him languidly with two long fingers. "See ya 'round, partner." Wolfwood spoke jokingly. Glancing over a broad shoulder, Nicholas spotted the waitress and chuckled. "Better not spend all that extra bounty on her. You'll end up regretting it." Placing his hands back into the pockets of his blue slacks, Nicholas shoved on toward the city that would make him, or leave him still half undone.