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Epidemic	By : Charli Category: +S to Z > Trigun Views: 1800 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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~*Chapter One � Let Me Help�*~
�Again, Miss Strife, the church thanks you greatly for the contributions you and your friends make. Without it, these children would be homeless and destitute.�

Meryl nodded warmly as the middle-aged man, a caretaker of the church, walked beside her, his balding head shining slightly in the light as they passed.. Echoing through the humble corridors rang the delighted laughter of young children playing, as well as what sounded like someone struggling against the youthful swarm. It was a heartwarming sound, and as they grew closer to the room where the children were playing, Millie stepped out from the door and turned to Meryl, smiling brightly.

�Isn�t it wonderful that Mr. Vash is playing with the children, Sempai?�

Several crashes, a small shout of pain, and several incorrigible giggles sounded from the room, as if to punctuate Millie�s remark. Meryl sighed, shaking her head.

�Yes, Millie�it�s magnificent. As long as Vash doesn�t break his neck while in the process��

The caretaker chuckled as they stepped up beside Millie and gazed into the room. Currently, Vash was being dog-piled by about seven rather raucous three year olds while two others, aged about seven, held his an and and wrists so that he couldn�t squirm away. The former gunslinger didn�t seem too thrilled about this rather unpleasant run of events, but it was obvious that he was enjoying himself, despite all other evidence.

�It certainly is�though I believe that the children appreciate the visits more than the financial aid. So young and innocent�it�s not often that people come here to visit them to play�It was not so lonely for them before Nicholas Wolfwood, who, as you know, was the founder of the orphanage, left to raise some funds for-�

�Shh!� Meryl said suddenly, waving a hand to silence the man gently. She gave the older man an apologetic expression as she did so, and glanced inside the room with a faintly sad expression. Thankfully, Vash appeared to have not heard the mentioning of his dead comrade�s name, so she was able to breathe a thankful sigh of relief. �Please�forgive me for that, but�� She looked in to where Vash lay sprawled under the children, and shook her head. �Whenever he so much as hears mention of Mr. Wolfwood�he falls into a sort of dark doldrum�it deeply upsets him, so we try not to speak of him, despite how dear a friend he was. We don�t know why he reacts that way�but there is something that everyone hides from the world. If he wanted us to know why it ailed him so, he would have told us��

After a moment, the rly rly man nodded, looking rather perplexed but understanding. �Very well�But the children still hang on to the hope that he will return one day�and I haven�t the heart to tell them otherwise. Nor do any of the other staff members here�they are so adamant�but they will grow to understand the truth in time.�

Breathless, Vash laid where he had fallen after the children clambered off of him. They still crowded around him, watching him with childish delight as he panted from lack of oxygen, and once he dragged himself up to a sitting position, he shook his head and sighed before several children lightly clambered into his lap or onto his back. He laughed a bit breathlessly, thankful that they were at least being a bit gentler than before. They themselves were a bit out of breath as well, but that did little to stop them from at least climbing on the ex-gunman.

�You�re named Vash, right?� one of the children, a young boy of about seven, said, looking up at Vash with wide, innocent brown eyes. He was one of the few children who wasn�t climbing up all on him, but instead was sitting before the crimson clad outlaw, looking immeasurably curious. He was holding a little toy gun in his hand, which was loaded with a single orange rubber dart, and there was a spark of awe in his expression as he asked his candid question.

Vash stopped for a moment and glanced down at the lad, smiling a bit at the quiet but curious question. He hesitated for a moment before noting the awed expression on the boy�s face, and nodded. The boy slowly grinned and stood up, the gun in his hand waving around precariously. �I knew it! The really tall lady, Miss Millie, told me that you were Vash the Stampede, the wanted outlaw!�

Vash froze and grew very pale. In the doorway, Millie was smiling in her usual way; bright and innocent�completely oblivious�but when he caught the child giving him an odd look, he quickly recovered and laughed nervously, trying to appear perfectly innocent.

�Now, what gave you that impression?� he asked, smiling worriedly.

The boy giggled. �Well, you�re wearing the red coat�and you have the earring�� But he didn�t seem to be afraid. On the contrary, he was rather enthralled, which surprised Vash.

�Er�oh��

�Besides,� the boy continued, �Miss Millie told us that you and Mr. Wolfwood were good friends before he disappeared! He used to play with us just like you are now before he left to go raise money�I think it�s awesome that he actually got to meet you! I know he�s going to come back; he�d never leave us behind for too long�I know! He must have asked you, Miss Meryl, and Miss Millie to watch us for him while he was, away, didn�t he! I�ll tell him that you all did a great job when he gets back!�

Vash�s warm expression suddenly faltered as the boy spoke happily about the return of Nicholas D. Wolfwood, and his brilliant viridian eyes darkened a bit as the boy spoke. Slowly, he managed a sad smile, and looked at the little boy with a slightly heartrending, wistful expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but found that he could not bring himself to tell the boy that Nicholas Wolfwood was�dead. Instead, he let the longing expression linger for a moment before he chuckled a bit and shook his head.

�Well...if I see him before you do�I�ll tell him that you all are looking forward to his return�� he said with a s and and stood, gently letting the children down to the ground. Some of them tugged on the tails of his long red coat for a moment before realizing that he no longer wanted to play. Looking slightly disappointed at that, they followed him to the door, and looked up at their trio of guests.

�Are you guys leaving?� a little girl asked, tugging at Millie�s long coat and looking up at her with wide blue eyes. �You only got here�� she paused, counting on her fingers with a scrutinizing eye for a moment. �Seven hours ago,� she concluded, holding up nine little round fingers. Millie looked positively enthralled by the little girl�s conclusion, cooing about how cute she was, and Meryl, giving Vash a slightly worried look, simply smiled.
�Well, it takes quite a long time to travel 300 iles back to December�even in a car! And besides, Vash here has to tend to some personal matters in town.�

There was a chorus of disappointed sighs at this from the children, but the caretaker chuckled and nodded, ushering the children back into the room.

�Now now�I�m sure they�ll come pay you another visit again soon�come on�go get some dinner,� he replied, and after sending them off to get something to eat, he turned to his three guests with a warm smile. �Thank you. You really don�t know what this means to the children. Please�come again soon,� he said as he led the three of them to the exit.

�Oh, you needn�t worry. We will come again. We probably look forward to this as much as the children,� Meryl said with a smile. Millie was still cooing to herself over how adorable the little girl was as she followed the dark-haired young woman outside. Vash was the last to step out into the waning sunlight, and had remained oddly silent ever since he had left the children�s company. He did, however, bid the caretaker farewell, and quietly settled into the backseat of the vehicle they had brought behind Millie, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Sighing as the vehicle came to life and began to speed across the desert towards their destination, Vash rested his head in his palm and watched the scenery speed by. It was evening by now, and the setting twin suns cast a warm, elegant light across the desert. It gleamed against the stone pillars that jutted out of the sand, and tinted the sky a thick, balmy orange. A warm, slightly gritty wind brushed against his face as the car zoomed over sand dunes, and though his two good friends were sitting up front, he felt rather compelled to sit and ponder in silence�

�A traveling priest I met in the desert��

Vash blinked away his tears and shook his head. The past was gone�he had put it behind him.

So why could he not put the death of Nicholas D. Wolfwood behind him as well?

Vash knew why he refused to let the memory fade�but to hold on to such emotions after his death was self-destructive in the end. Even with this knowledge, it was hard to let it go.
~*~
Not much had happened in December during the two days that the three had been absent; a few caravans from one of the other cities had come through and brought supplies or come to buy supplies, and as they came upon the city, they found themselves caught up in a veritable traffic jam of people coming and going. The braying of irritable thomases filled the cool morning air, and all about the car, people bustled and moved, trying to get their situation sorted out.

Eventually, they were able to get past the chaos and into the city, which was already moving with the morning routines of people going about trying to get to work or get their shopping done early in the day. There was a soft hum of voices in the streets as they drove through the streets, and slowly, Vash awoke from his slightly troubled sleep to see the life of the city playing before his eyes.

He sighed slightly and closed his eyes, putting a hand to his face. He had dreamed about it again�He had dreamed of his loss of Rem, so many miles away from their destination�her dream of a world full of life dying in the atmosphere of this desolate planet�He had dreamed of how Legato Bluesummers had urged and forced Vash to pull the trigger to end of his life, taunting him until the end�He dreamed of following the thick trail of blood to the tall, ajar doors of a deserted church and pushing them open in a frantic rush only to find a figure kneeling at the altar, a large cross his only support, surrounded in the blood from his own grievous gunshot wounds�He dreamed of all the tears shed for the deaths he had seen�for the deaths of the two he loved. Rem had died trying to save what she had spent her entire life working for�and Knives destroyed it�Nicholas D. Wolfwood had died because he had refused to kill anymore�because he had realized that you could save both the spiders and the butterflies�and Knives and Legato could not have that�

�Vash? Is there something bothering you?� came Meryl Strife�s concerned voice from the driver�s seat. Both she and Millie were looking back at him now that they had brought the car to a stop at an intersection, and both looked worried about him.

�Oh, it�s nothing,� he replied, and smiled tiredly. �Just had a bit of a bad dream; nothing to worry about,� he assured them, and was quite thankful when they finally pulled up near where his home was. Not that he disliked being around the girls, of course, but right now...he just wanted to have a while to himself. What the child had said to him yesterday, as well as his dream, had reminded him of what he had been trying to put behind him.

He quickly ascended the stairs up to where his small apartment was, his coat waving deliberately behind him. The darkness of areas not yet lit up by the morning sun shrouded his face in shadows as he strode, and he was thankful when he came to his room and stepped inside, locking the door behind him.

�Ah, dear brother�I was wondering when you were to return. I myself have only been awake for the past two days�I noticed that you bandaged the very wounds that you yourself inflicted�you were too thoughtful.�

Vash turned in surprise at the sound of the familiar voice and found himself looking directly into the calm, surprisingly serene expression of his twin brother, who was sitting in a chair near a window, looking down at the streets below with a strangely passive expression on his face. A bit startled, Vash let his thoughtful unhappiness fade a bit into a small smile, and stepped towards his brother.

�Well, you didn�t expect me to just leave you out in the desert to die, did you?� Vash asked rhetorically, and sat down in a nearby chair, resting his elbow on the tabletop and relaxing gently. �You are my brother, after all, and I�d be hurting her feelings if I let you die,� he finished, a slight smile on his handsome face.

Knives turned his head a bit at the mention of Rem Saverem and almost narrowed his eyes, but he caught himself and instead left his expression thoughtfully blank.

�Yes�Rem Saverem�you still are so attached to her even after all these years�and your philosophy on humanity still hasn�t changed�I figured that you�d be cynical of it all�but no, you remain true to her words. I�m impressed,� he replied, and turned his eyes back to the window so he no longer faced his brother. �So�you have confronted your past�and won�and have returned to this city to live among the humans and lead a peaceful existence,� he replied; more of a statement than a question. �And you have brought me here with you, knowing full well of what I am capable of making you do�� He trailed off. �You remember July�so why risk it?� he asked, turning his head again and eyeing Vash carefully.

Vash furrowed his brow slightly and smiled a bit. �Because I want to help you understand all that Rem taught me�because your ticket to the future�is always blank�� he said quietly. �I know that you�re capable of so much more than destruction, if you just let me help you,� he finished, and stood. He stepped quietly over to where Knives sat, and rested a gloved hand gently on his shoulder, looking out the window. �So�will you let me help you?�

Knives said nothing at Vash�s inquiry; he knew that, until he was completely healed, he would have to put up with his brother�s incessant lessons of pacifism and humanitarianism�But he could at least let his brother believe that he was indulging in those pathetic little fantasies of his�

�Very well, Vash�show me just how we can save both the spiders�and the butterflies��
~*~
Author�s Notes:
Thank you for reading this so far! Because of college and marching band, I�ve been having a bit of trouble finding time to write on this fic! But have no fear, for I am still here! Thanks to all you people who are reviewing�I think I have...two�Sadness. But thanks you guys, anyway. ^_^
For future rencrence, the pairing, which some of you may have discovered, is VashxWolfwood, not VashxKnives, as it may seem here at first. They�re brothers to me, first and foremost. Not lovers. Ugh. But how is it going to be VashxWolfwood? Well�you�ll just have to read and see.
There will be at LEAST 11 parts to this fic, and it will get progressively darker as it goes. There will be character death and a lot of religious symbolism of the Christianity sort. I hope that you continue to enjoy my fic, and please review!
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Epidemic