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Today should be the happiest day of Vash’s life. He is finally free from over a century’s long struggle with his brother, humanity is now saved with envoys from Earth finally reaching Gunsmoke, and he is surrounded by all of his friends who’d gathered to celebrate his success. There’s great food, cheap booze, and no one is after his bounty. (It’s crazy how even with dozens of people vouching for you being the one who saved the world, most people remain convinced you are a menace to society) It was more than he had expected was waiting for him at the end of his journey. And yet in his selfishness all Vash could do was lament on the one thing that was missing.
Nicholas D. Wolfwood.
While he’d witnessed countless people die because of him, Wolfwood’s was the one death that Vash could not accept. The one death that felt like it was ripping his very soul apart. And he hated himself for it. How could he care for one human above the other? How could he let this death affect him worse than the others, worse than Julai, worse than Knives, worse than even Rem? How could he not instead celebrate all the people he was still blessed to have in his life? And most importantly how could he not respect Wolfwood’s own choice and feelings on the matter? He’d chosen the path that led to his death, all to save his dear brother Livio, he’d have no regrets over it. And he certainly wouldn’t have wanted his actions to cause Vash this much pain. Hell he’d probably kick Vash’s ass if he was there, seeing him consumed by his grief. ‘What right do I have to dishonor his memory like this?’ Vash thought to himself as he finished his umpteenth bottle of beer. He hoped if he got drunk enough that maybe he could at least fake being happy for all the people who’d come to see him. They’d all tried to cheer him up, and while he appreciated their concern for him it also only served to fuel his self loathing. ‘God why can’t I just disappear,’ Vash thought. ‘No one needs me anymore, I’m just a nuisance and a burden.’
“Is that really what you want?” Vash couldn’t make out who the voice was, and he was too drunk to really care.
‘No…….it isn’t,’ he responded internally after some thought, ‘that would upset people more’
“I don’t care about them, I care about you. What do YOU want?” the unknown voice once again inquired, putting extra emphasis on the “you.”
‘What I want I can’t have…..’
“Tell me anyway”
“Wolfwood,” it was only a single word muttered almost silently, but the intent was clear.
“Understood. I’ll make it so,” Before Vash could respond, a chill ran down his spine and his head began throbbing so bad it felt as if it would split in two. His plant lines felt like they were filled with molten lava. He broke into a cold sweat and every inch of him felt as if it was being pierced by needles. He tried to stand up worried he was about to transform in front of everyone and almost fell immediately from how lightheaded he was. Suddenly his mind was filled with thoughts of Wolfwood. He relived each and every memory no matter how small, and realized what must be happening, but before he had a chance to try and counteract the invader in his body, they’d already left, their work finished. While he physically felt better he couldn’t stop shaking. ‘What have I done?!’ Vash thought as he broke into a cold sweat.
Wolfwood suddenly awoke to complete nothingness. He couldn’t see anything, it was just soul crushing darkness. Darkness, intense pressure on his whole body, and no air. Survival instincts took over before he even had time to panic. He dug through the unforgiving blackness above him, ignoring his body’s cries of pain. He couldn’t give up, he had to escape, this is what he thought to himself as the faces of all those he wanted to see flashed before his eyes. ‘Milly and Meryl,’ he thought as his nails began to bleed. ‘Miss Melanie and the kids,’ he thought as his fingers felt like they were going to break. ‘Livio,’ he thought as tears streamed down his eyes both from the intense pain in his arms and the emotional distress at the thought of failure. Ironically, right as the most important face came to mind- a certain blonde idiot whose smile was as bright as the double suns- he could finally see them again. Breathing in the much needed air, he was able to make the last push to escape. The moment he had drug his body to freedom, all of the weariness hit him at once causing him to collapse. ‘Still, the hard unforgiving ground feels like paradise compared to before,’ he thought to himself as his consciousness slowly returned to him.
Something was wrong though. His body was too cold, like ice was running through his veins, and he still felt the intense heaviness over his whole body, especially on his back. “What’s happening to me?” he wondered aloud as he struggled to stand. But no one answered, making him realize he was all alone. “What the hell Blondie, how could you just leave me here like this?!” He angrily exclaimed, almost falling over from his usual arm flailing, his body was unnaturally stiff and was refusing to listen to him. Fortunately he noticed a familiar building in the corner of his eye: the orphanage he grew up in. Relief washed over him as he half crawled his way inside. His hope to see a familiar face was dashed as he recalled an evacuation in his foggy memories. ‘But why am I still here then?’ he pondered as he made his way to the bathroom. “Last thing I remember is bringing Livio back to his senses. What the hell did I do after that?” He checked himself out in the mirror and didn’t notice anything glaringly wrong. Sure he had the most intense eye bags he’d ever seen which made sense with how tired he was, was covered in dirt and blood which wasn’t too abnormal for him, and his suit was somewhat torn up, but again that made sense with everything that happened. As he wondered why he felt so ill at ease, he noticed he smelled awful, almost as bad as Vash did after working out, so he decided he’d wash his clothes in the sink and take a shower, and hoped maybe he’d feel a bit better afterwards. He didn’t pay any mind to the strange feather-like things that came off him as he bathed, he was too busy letting the hot water loosen his stiff muscles; finally starting to escape the bone chilling cold he’d felt since he woke up.
Vash had managed to escape his party by feigning being blotto drunk. Or at least he thought he had, but between him and the thomas he was going to ‘borrow’ for his escape was a familiar mountain of a man: Livio.
“The hell you think you're doing, Humanoid Typhoon?!” Shit, Vash thought to himself, it just had to be Razlo. Livio he could deal with. Hell, he'd grown pretty fond of him despite their depressing introduction. But Razlo was a wild card and a pain in the ass to deal with. “You think I don't know what you're doing?!”
“Ah ha ha you got me Razlo, I needed some fresh air to sober up so thought I'd take a little ride to clear my head,” Vash replied, wondering if it wouldn't be easier to just knock him out and apologize to Livio later.
“Don't bullshit me!” Razlo screamed, getting right up in his face. “You think just ‘cause you're some big hero you can go around and hurt everyone's feelings without any repercussions? Think you're a big man being a depressed drunk while everyone goes out of their way to make you happy?!”
“I swear it's not like that!” On the one hand Vash sympathized. He had been a shitty sport during his own party, and he's sure that was especially painful for Livio all things considered, which is unfortunately the reason Razlo showed up, so this was definitely a problem of his own making. On the other, he really didn't want a lecture from Razlo of all people, especially when he didn't have time to deal with this. “There's something I have to do real quick and I swear I'll come right back!”
“Oh yeah? Prove it! Tell me what's so important you're blowing us all off.”
“That's…..it's sorta private”
“Tell me! Or I'll just assume you're trying to run away again.”
“I can't! I'd tell you if I could but I really can't!”
“That's it, I'm gonna go tell the others!”
“You wouldn't!”
“Watch me,” Vash panicked as Razlo was about to scream for the others at the top of his lungs, if he was going to do it this was his chance, just one quick blow to the back of his head, just enough to knock him out.
“IT’S ABOUT WOLFWOOD!” Vash blurted out much to his surprise. He couldn’t help but laugh internally at how much of a pushover he was, especially when it came to this guy, and how this must be how Wolfwood feels about him.
“What you gotta pay your respects right this second?” Razlo asked sheepishly while staring at the ground. On the one hand he had no right to say anything when it came to Wolfwood, he’d lost that right back then at the orphanage. But on the other, he still felt irritated that he was prioritizing a dead man over everyone here. Maybe it was just his inherent lack of self esteem and desire to be wanted that made him almost jealous though again he knew he had no right to be. But dammit even Wolfwood wouldn’t want him to be like this right?
“No….I think….”
“Huh, think what? Come on, spit it out!” Despite his best efforts Razlo was getting frazzled, he wasn’t cut out for emotional shit, so all this beating around the bush made it even worse.
“I think…I maybe….just might have,” Vash was scared to say it out loud, worried he might jinx it by putting words to the feeling, “brought him back to life,” he finished quickly under his breath, almost hoping Razlo didn't hear him.
“You what?! Why didn't you do it earlier instead of being a depressed blob?! You're telling me you had that kind of power all this time?! Explain!” so before Razlo blew even more a gasket Vash explained as best he could the voice and what he'd felt, how it was probably his siblings but also still definitely his fault not wanting to diminish his culpability, and most importantly how he had zero idea what way and in what state he was brought back in, so he couldn't just tell everyone and be excited.
“Shit…..” was all Razlo could say by the end. He knew until they knew if this was a good thing or not he'd have to stay as the front; there's no way Livio could handle this if it was bad, but this definitely wasn't the kind of situation Razlo was good at. He decided to tell everyone Vash still felt sick from using so much power against Knives and he'd bring him back when he felt better, all while hopefully doing a convincing Livio impersonation. Of course it couldn’t be that easy as he was stopped by Meryl, who unfortunately was as formidable as she was tiny.
“So Razlo, you gonna tell me what’s going on or are Milly and I gonna have to beat it out of you?” Meryl flashed her derringer cape and behind her Milly lifted her new and improved “stun gun” that Brandon had made for her.
“Uh I can’t really say, it’s a secret,” Razlo really didn’t want to deal with them, he easily could take them out but that’d cause a scene and he can’t afford to do that. ‘Man why can’t everything be solved with violence?’ he thought to himself. He sighed as the small woman told him to whisper it to her then. He didn’t want to think about if her knowing was ok or not so he gave in and told her everything. After some back and forth she handed him the keys to the small sand steamer she and Milly had taken and made him promise to not let Vash out of his sight. He really didn’t want to deal with any of this. Just the thought of seeing Wolfwood again, dead or alive, stressed him out. The orphanage in general felt like a world where he didn’t belong. And yet he had a duty to see this out, to protect Livio, to help his closest friend Vash, and for Wolfwood himself, who forgave and accepted him despite not deserving it in the least. So he grabbed Vash (who futilely protested needing an escort), and the two started their journey in painfully awkward silence.
Wolfwood had managed to make it onto a bed for a nap, but he couldn't sleep for long. He was too confused about this situation. Why was he here alone? Why did his body still feel so heavy after resting? Granted his body had never felt quite right ever since the Eye of Michael got their hands on him, but this felt a thousand times worse. The shower had helped somewhat, but he still felt the strange sensation in his veins. He’d thought it felt like ice before but now it felt like it burned. No, that wasn’t quite right either. ‘It’s like when I have to take a vial,’ he thought to himself when it hit him. He’d taken two at once during his fight with Razlo. Was that what was wrong with him? He still couldn’t remember what happened after that fight, every time he tried he’d get a shooting pain in his head, like his body itself refused to allow him to remember. And if that was the case, what could be so bad that he’d have to protect himself from it? Suddenly the sound of pots and pans crashing to the ground brought him back to the present. “Shit, I sure hope that’s not someone robbin’ the place, I’m in no shape to deal with a fight now,” he muttered to himself as he snuck his way to the kitchen, cursing himself for leaving the Punisher outside.
“Be careful!” a tiny voice called out.
“Sowwy,” a different tiny voice whimpered.
“Please god let there be some food here.” a soft voice desperately whispered.
“You kids must be pretty desperate stealin’ from an orphanage.” Wolfwood stated as he rounded the corner. He didn’t realize just how bad it was til he saw them though. Three little girls, all skin and bones and dressed in rags. They’d clearly been surviving on their own for a long time, and just the thought pained Wolfwood. So he wasn’t surprised when they cowered away from him. The shortest one stood defiantly between him and the other two. She must be the oldest he thought, he recognized the utterly exhausted yet still protective and compassionate look in her eyes from his own time in the role as a kid. “Relax, ya ain’t in trouble,” He tried his best to look as non threatening as possible, causing them to relax somewhat. “I’ll make ya some food if you promise not to be good and not go around stealin’ anymore, deal?”
“We promise!” the three yelled out in unison. “Thank you Mr. Preacher Sir.” the tiny one added at the end.
“The name’s Nicholas, you can call me Nico if you want,” Wolfwood responded with a laugh.
“Alright, thanks Mr. Nico Sir,” the little one replied, then pointing at herself, “I’m Cassie!” She had blonde hair that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in months and brown eyes that were looking at him like he was the second coming of Jesus, which was more than a little embarrassing. She looked like she was probably around seven years old but was so tiny, maybe three and a half feet tall. She was wearing what looked like an adult’s red t-shirt that she wore like a makeshift dress. She pointed to the tallest one, a girl who looked similar to herself but with dark brown hair, “That’s my little sister Shanda, she doesn’t talk much.” Shanda looked at him and shyly waved. If he had to guess she was the youngest, she was the only one with a complete outfit and whose hair looked semi brushed, and was the least skinny, the other two must be sacrificing to take care of her.
“I’m Alessia,” the middle one called out. She was wearing what looked like a purple blanket that’d been sewed together to make a dress. She had curly red hair and blue eyes, making her stand out. “I’m their cous-”
“Sister,” Cassie corrected, “We’re sisters now.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you,” Wolfwood replied while looking in the fridge. It looked like there was nothing in the fridge, but then his vision went blurry for a half second, and when it cleared, there was exactly the right ingredients to make the pasta dish he’d thought about making. He silently thanked god for his luck out of force of habit, and started cooking.
“Mr. Nico, are you an angel?” Cassie blurted out.
“Just Nico is fine, and why would you ask that?”
“Well because you-” before she could finish Alessia elbowed her.
“Ha ha ha it’s just the timing, we were thinking we were gonna die without food then a nice man who can cook shows up ah ha ha,” Alessia interrupted, hoping that Wolfwood didn’t notice her awkwardness and ask questions.
“Ah well sorry to disappoint but I’m just a normal guy,” Wolfwood answered adding after a little bit of silence ”I DO know an angel though.”
“OOOOH REALLY?!” Cassie exclaimed clearly excited.
“Can we meet them?!” Alessia asked, not sure if she could believe an adult on something like that but wanting to.
“Angel?” Shanda muttered, clearly wanting to know more.
“Ha ha well I guess I can tell you about him while we wait.” And with that, Wolfwood began to tell them about his travels with Vash, while obviously changing and embellishing certain details to make it more child friendly. He wondered why he’d wanted to tell them about Vash, and if perhaps talking about him would make him show up.
Despite going as fast as possible it still took the duo days to make it to the orphanage. Vash had spent the entire trip in a trance; the few times Razlo had tried to strike up a conversation he was immediately shut down by Vash's infamous Diablo glare. So it was a relief when the two finally made it. At least it was until they saw the hole where Wolfwood's body should be. Even more unnerving were the deep claw marks by the edge, the kind left by someone desperate, and the Punisher that should be standing vigil nowhere to be seen. Before either man could react a small rock hit Vash square in the face. Whether because he was caught by surprise or just his general emotional state lately making him not at his best, the hit was enough to knock the man to the ground. Razlo began screaming obscenities as he scanned the area for their assailant, only for more rocks to come flying.
“You must be pretty desperate stealin’ from an orphanage!” a high pitched voice called out, mimicking a very familiar accent.
“You’d better get yerselves outta here before we make ya leave!” another called out.
“We’re not robbers you damn brats!” Razlo growled.
“You aren’t helping!” Vash chastised Razlo as he slowly stood up putting his hands above his head in surrender. (Was it his imagination or was Vash struggling, surely that rock didn’t hurt him that bad right Razlo wondered.) “He’s right though, could we please talk to whoever’s in charge?”
“Hey wait, maybe we should stop. Look, the one’s wearing a red coat!” a small girl called out as she peeked from behind a large boulder and pointed at Vash.
“Don’t let them trick you Cassie!” the other called out as she continued her assault.
“I know he doesn’t have blond hair but,” the one called Cassie whimpered.
“Angel?” a new voice called out, pointing at Vash while looking for an answer from the familiar man whose hand she was holding.
“NICO!!!” Livio screamed half crying as he suddenly came to the front upon seeing his older brother alive and standing right before him.
“About time you guys come get me,” Wolfwood called out to the two with a laugh. Vash simply stood there. Try as he might, he couldn’t come up with the words for what he was seeing. Bloody tears streamed down his face causing the girls to panic, screaming apologies for hurting him because they couldn’t tell who he was. After assuring them it was ok Wolfwood walked over to the two. “Well damn guess I can’t call you Blondie anymore huh. Guess I’ll just have to call ya Needle Noggin’ now,” he said to Vash ruffling his hair for effect. “And geez Livio calm down, I’m right here,” he added to the giant man who held him in a vice grip of a bear hug.
“Wolfwood, I….sorry.” Vash felt pathetic that that was all he could manage at the moment, but Wolfwood didn’t seem to mind, perhaps sensing something was wrong, and simply invited the two inside to discuss what had happened.
After a “family” dinner and the girls went to bed, exhausted from pestering their favorite person’s friends, the men finally discussed important matters. Livio and Vash filled Wolfwood in on what had happened while he was “incapacitated” and how the world was now safe, relatively speaking.
“Sounds like things went pretty well all things considered. And damn Livio, taking out Elendira all by yourself! Guess you really don’t need me protecting you anymore,” Wolfwood replied as he pat Livio on the back. As the two went back and forth on whether it counted as by himself with Razlo there Vash finally spoke up, having been mostly silent this whole time.
“I……I killed someone Wolfwood”
“YOU WHAT?!” Wolfwood replied, unable to hide his shock at hearing that, “Oh you mean Knives right? That doesn’t really cou-”
“It wasn’t Knives,” Vash interrupted, staring at the ground, feeling unworthy of even looking at Wolfwood, “It was Legato.”
“DON’T BLAME HIM IT WAS MY FAULT!” Livio interjected, going on to explain that Legato had held him hostage and Vash had no choice but to do that to save his life.
“Hey Needle-Noggin’, look at me.” Wolfwood had noticed his inability to meet his gaze directly since he’d gotten there. He was sure this was the reason, maybe not all of it but definitely a big part of it.
“I-I-I-I’M SO SORRY!!!!” Vash managed to blubber out between tears. Wolfwood had never seen him so distraught.
“Hey, why are you apologizin’? You saved Livio,” Wolfwood put his hands on Vash’s shoulders trying to calm him down. “You did the right thing.”
“B-B-B-B-BUT ALL THOSE T-T-T-THINGS I SAID ABOUT Y-Y-YOU!” Vash whimpered, causing Wolfwood to finally realize what the issue was. It wasn’t so much that he’d betrayed his convictions, it was that he’d finally understood Wolfwood’s way of living and how insensitive he’d been back at the beginning.
“Vash you idiot,” Wolfwood pulled the wailing mess of a man into his arms and held him close “It’s not that big of a deal. Neither of us were exactly right, at least that’s how I see it. And you broke your own most important rule just to protect someone when I couldn’t. I’d say you’ve more than made up for it.”
“I’m pretty grateful you did it too!” Livio chimed in as he awkwardly tried to rub Vash’s back, not wanting to get in the way of their hug but also wanting to contribute to calming his friend down.
“Y-you *hic* guys” Vash sniffled as he pulled them both in closer, embracing them for as long as they would let him.
Vash found himself wandering the halls of the orphanage unable to sleep. Wolfwood had gone to bed shortly after calming him down, saying “I must be out of practice with youngin’ wranglin’. Those three have me so dang exhausted lately.” Livio stayed up long enough to get an explanation from Vash on what was going on then the stress of it all hit him at once and he crashed hard. Vash meanwhile had too much to think about to sleep: how to tell Wolfwood he’d died, if he even needed to tell him he had, and how to handle his deteriorating physical state. He’d really thought once he saw Wolfwood alive the stress would alleviate and he’d feel fine again. “Maybe I’m just still stressed about telling him that he’s….” Vash muttered to himself. “It could be my body just hasn’t caught up with my mind feeling better ha ha.” Despite how he reassured himself, it didn’t stop the nagging feeling that if he went to sleep he’d never wake up. “Just cherish what time you have left,” he told himself, trying to convince himself that it was enough and he’d have no regrets. “They’ll be fine without you after all,” he told himself as he walked outside and watched the suns rise, psyching himself up to put on a brave face for everyone. “You look better with a real smile,” he repeated to himself over and over, hoping he could pull one off for Wolfwood. Suddenly he felt a tug on his coat.
“Whatcha doing Mr. Angel?” He was shocked to see Cassie looking up at him, and more than a little worried about how easy it’d been for her to completely sneak up on him.
“Oh you know, just angel things. And just Vash is fine.”
“I see, I see” she replied, crossing her arms and nodding, trying to act like she knew what that meant. The two stood there in awkward silence as the little girl worked up her courage to talk to the impressive being standing beside her. Vash really wished Wolfwood hadn’t told the girls he was an angel. While it was admittedly nice to have people in awe of him instead of scared, he still would have preferred they saw him as a normal person. (“Sorry Needle-Noggin, had to make sure they wouldn’t panic if you went all trauma chicken on us,” had been Wolfwood’s response, what the hell kind of name was that for his transformation Vash lamented.) “Uh so Mr. A- I mean Vash, um…..can I ask you a question?”
“Sure Cassie, I’ll do my best to answer.”
“Ok….so…..did you…I mean….with Mr. Nico….um….is he,” Cassie stumbled on her words, but Vash didn’t rush her, he figured she was probably overwhelmed talking to an angel (“Thank you soooooo much Wolfwood” Vash thought) “Did you make him?”
“Huh? Now where did you get a crazy idea like that?”
“No, not ‘MAKE HIM,’ make him,” she attempted to clarify, “Like….is he….you know”
“No I genuinely don’t, I’m sorry.”
Cassie sighed then pointed to what was once Wolfwood’s grave, “He came from there right?”
“Uh that’s-” Vash gulped cursing how perceptive this girl is.
“He DID, didn’t he?! That’s the only way it makes sense!” she smugly retorted, “This place is in the middle of nowhere, and it takes at least an hour to get here from any town! And that hole wasn’t there before he showed up!”
“Cassie….you can’t.” Vash began to panic, what if this kid blurted out the truth to Wolfwood before he had a chance to explain?
“And…..that explains how he’s magic, like you and the other angels!”
“What….What do you mean by that?” Vash’s heart sank. He’d hoped beyond hope Wolfwood was still human.
“Well when we got here there was no food, but Mr. Nico made it appear out of thin air!”
“He did?!” Vash tried hard to hide his fear and surprise, he couldn’t make a scene and worry everyone. But this was the last thing he wanted to hear.
“Yeah and we didn’t have any clothes but he made some appear in the closets for us too! But…” Cassie went from excitable to distressed.
“He doesn’t realize he’s doing it huh?” Vash guessed. ‘So much for not needing to tell him,’ he thought, scrambling to think of a way to tell him that wouldn’t freak him out.
“Not at all! That’s why I figured he must have been a human first! So I’m right?”
“Yeah you got me,” Vash replied with a sigh. “I need to tell him….but I’m not sure how without scaring him.”
“I understand. I wanted to tell him but my sisters told me not to, so I guess that was the right decision,”
“That it was. Can’t talk about stuff like that carelessly.”
“I see. Do you need help then Vash?” Cassie replied, “I imagine Lil’ Livio isn’t much help, so I can definitely help if you want!”
“Ha ha I may just have to take you up on that,” Vash replied. He couldn’t help but smile at both her selfless desire to help and her and the others seeing Livio as a little kid despite his immense size, “But definitely wait for my lead.”
“Mmmmkay! Oh before I forget…” Cassie suddenly hugged him as tight as her little arms could. “Thank you so much for bringing him back!”
“Ah you don’t have to,” Vash felt more than a little embarrassed being thanked for something he’d done for such selfish reasons.
“Yeah I do! My sisters and I would have died if he hadn’t been there! And he wouldn’t be there without you! So thank you so so so so so much Vash!” she continued to exclaim, tears streaming down her eyes, “Without you…..I would have failed….the promise I made to my mommy…..to keep my sisters alive no matter what….” Vash almost started crying himself when he heard that. This poor kid, stuck in a similar situation to himself. But thanks to his selfishness he’d unintentionally made her life easier. He almost laughed at how even at his most self centered he ended up helping others. This must be why humans are convinced plants exist for their sake huh?
Later that day Wolfwood offered to make food for everybody. But Vash, remembering what he’d talked to Cassie about, suggested they go to town and shop a bit. Fortunately the girls were super excited at the idea, and Wolfwood couldn’t help but give in. Unfortunately Vash realized this wasn’t the best way to get Livio on his own to discuss how they should handle this. And even worse, Wolfwood easily picked up on Vash’s mood and knew something was wrong. Vash had always been an open book to him, but somehow he felt even more open than usual.
“Hey Needle-Noggin’, what’s wrong with you?” Wolfwood had become unable to take it and pulled him aside to talk. (Leaving poor Livio alone keeping an eye on three rambunctious kids.)
“Ha ha what are you talking about Wolfwood, everything’s fine.”
“That’s bullshit and we both know it,” Wolfwood sternly replied, gripping Vash’s wrist when he tried to escape.
“Ok maybe something’s wrong but don’t worry I’ve got a handle on it,”
“Oh really? Then go ahead and leave.” Wolfwood didn’t release his grip, if Vash was really fine he’d have no trouble breaking free. And he sincerely hoped he was wrong and Vash would run away and evade him like usual. But he knew from the moment he embraced him last night that something was severely wrong with Vash.
“Come on, don’t do this, there’s no reason to make a scene,” Vash knew he wasn’t fooling him, but he hoped he’d at least listen to reason and not do this in public.
“Then tonight, you’ll tell me everything?” Even though Vash hadn’t said it outloud he somehow knew he meant don’t do this in town where people can see us. He was somewhat concerned that he knew that. Yeah Vash had always been easy to read but this was more intense than usual.
“Yes! Just let go-” before Vash could finish his sentence the sound of gunshots rang out.
“SHIT NOT NOW!” the two yelled out in unison. Vash ran towards the sound drawing his gun, trying to ignore how much heavier it felt right now. Wolfwood meanwhile was cussing himself out for forgetting to bring the punisher once again and looking desperately for Livio and the kids.
“Come out Vash the Stampede or the kid gets it!” A burly bounty hunter had his arm wrapped around Shanda, and a gun pressed against her temple. Livio was standing between the other two and pointing his two mini punishers at the hunter’s goons. Wolfwood made it in time to watch Shanda bite the hunter and run to safety as he flinched. All the hunters then proceeded to draw their guns, seemingly prepared to kill all four of them for the insult. “Wrong move you little shit, now all of you are gonna die!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Vash replied, calmly walking up to the leader. “I’m right here, leave the kids out of it.”
“Took you long enough Humanoid Typhoon.”
“I’m terribly sorry about that.”
“Didja really think dying yer hair would be enough to hide from us?”
“Ah your right, guess I really ought to get some new clothes too.”
“Hmmph too late for that, ya won’t be getting another chance in this life.”
“Well there’s always next time right hah hah hah.”
“Heh what do ya think yer a cat or something?”
“Who knows, maybe I am?” Vash was desperately stalling for time, hoping the others would get away, but Livio and the girls were surrounded, and Wolfwood was unarmed. ‘Think Vash, think. There’s gotta be some sort of shot you can make here!’ Normally calculating a way out of a situation like this would be a walk in the park for him, but his mind felt like it was running through sludge lately. His fear was unfortunately visible to all in his trembling gun and sweat running down his face.
“Enough of this! Fill him full of lead!” Before Vash could even react he noticed several new holes in his body. ‘How were they so fast? Was it always that fast and I’ve just slowed down that bad. Man, I’m glad Meryl and Milly aren’t here to see this.’ Vash thought as he fell to his knees, and coughed up blood. “Hot damn that was easy. Did all the other hunters soften ya up for me? Oh well who cares? The $$600,000,000,000 bounty is all ours boys!”
“Ha ha….good shots, but I’m not dead yet.” Vash stood back up to Wolfwood’s horror. ‘Dammit Vash stay down! Livio and I will come get you later! Stop making it worse!’ he screamed in his head hoping somehow Vash could hear it. ‘Don’t worry about me, just get the kids out of here’ he thought he heard Vash think back to him. But to both their dismay they all shoved passed Livio and tried to shield Vash with their bodies.
“Leave him alone!!!” Alessia screamed, standing arms and legs spread to be as big of a shield as she could be.
“Go away!!!” Shanda growled, mirroring Alessia and covering his other side.
“Don’t die Vash, please don’t die!” Cassie pleaded as she tried to put pressure on his wounds to stop the blood.
“Get out of here,” Vash tried to yell but his voice was weak. Livio was fighting off at least six different guys, but there were so many of them he couldn’t get close. Wolfwood watched the whole situation play out in slow motion in front of him, as the hunters opened fire his fear and anger took over, waking up something deep inside of him.
“LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!” a guttural voice not quite his own cried out as his anger and desire to protect sprouted out of his back as jet black feathers stretched to block each of the oncoming bullets before they could cause any harm. Meanwhile his left arm was transforming into a monstrous flesh canon shaped like a cross, as if he and the Punisher were one. Black and white angel wing-like protrusions from what was once his shoulder, grasping the surroundings for stability, and glowing energy began to accumulate inside. In less than a second, a giant beam fired out of what was once the hand. It split apart right before it hit the leader’s face, instead firing into all of their guns, disintegrating them and maiming their hands, none of them would be firing a gun any time soon. “LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK!!!” he growled again causing the hunters to scatter.
Wolfwood breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing the faces of all the locals as well as Vash and Livio and the kids made him realize something was severely wrong. He finally noticed his arm, a horrific nightmare cannon, and the fear of everyone around him, the cries of “monster” and “freak.”
He finally remembered everything. That he had died. That’s why he’d been left behind at the orphanage. That he’d woken up in a grave and dug his way out. That he was no longer human, but some sort of amalgamation of undead and plant. Wolfwood’s anxiety and terror hit a fever pitch as people started throwing things at him, causing more wings to sprout to protect him. Livio with the barely alive Vash draped over his shoulder and three kids at his side grabbed Wolfwood and dragged him from the town.
A month had passed since that incident, and things had mostly gone back to normal. Miss Melanie and the rest of the kids had rushed back when they heard the news, so Wolfwood had awoken surrounded by people who loved him. Not a single one of them cared about his current condition, hell some of the younger kids thought he was badass. (Some going as far as begging for a demonstration, until they were shut down by a furious Miss Melanie.) The girls were happily welcomed into the fold, quickly making new friends and settling into their new home. He and Livio decided to move back to the orphanage permanently take care of the children and act as bodyguards. It had honestly been perfect. Almost. There was just one problem. A stupid pain in the ass had decided this was all his fault and kept pulling away from him. Hell if it hadn’t been for Meryl and Milly dragging his reluctant ass to come see him Wolfwood doubted he’d have ever seen Vash again. Which pissed him off to no end. So today he was finally going to confront him. To his surprise when he asked Vash to talk he agreed readily. Even more surprising, he invited him to drinks on a very familiar couch.
“You trying to tell me something here, Needle-Noggin’?” Wolfwood inquired with a glare.
“Oh ha ha not at all, I didn’t notice, man I feel like an idiot,” Vash sheepishly replied trying to act clueless.
“Uh huh……so you recovered yet?”
“For the most part.” Vash continued to wear his fake smile, content to continue to keep his mask up despite knowing he’s fooling no-one, except maybe himself.
“I’ll take that as meaning it’s a miracle you’re even up walking.”
“It’s not THAT bad.”
“But it is bad.”
“...............”
“Answer me Vash!”
“Come on! Can’t we end things with a smile this time?” he weakly replied. He might have been able to trick Wolfwood before, but now he could see just how fragile his smile was, how close he was to crying.
“End?! Are you Goddamn serious?!” Wolfwood grabbed his shoulders in a death grip.
“I’ve had a good run, 150 some years,”
“Vash,”
“And with the ships from Earth coming and Knives gone I’m not exactly needed anymore.”
“Stop it Vash.”
“Plus I got to see you again before I go!” Vash looked at him with the most genuine yet bittersweet smile he’d ever seen, “I’d say I’m pretty damn lucky all things considered.”
“GODDAMMIT VASH JUST STOP TALKING!!!” Wolfwood couldn’t take it anymore. He’d never met anyone with more raw determination than Vash. To watch him just give up like this, it was more than he could take. “You think you can just decide whether you’re needed or not?!”
“Wolfwood?” Vash was honestly taken aback by how viscerally he reacted. Wolfwood had his whole family, they all accepted him as he was, and now he’s the one strong enough to protect people without killing. What good was a nearly dead plant to him?
“You’re not just a used up plant! Not to me or anyone who knows you!”
“That’s…..you have more than enough people in your life to care for you. I’m just in the way.”
“Again, you think you can just decide that? What the hell happened to wanting to spend all of your tomorrows with me?!”
“H-how do you know that?!”
“You idiot, I have plant telemetry now!”
“You mean telepathy?”
“Whatever, same difference. Point is I know exactly what’s going on in your head Vash the Stampede! You think you deserve to die because you did something selfish for once in your life and for some reason you are convinced you ruined my life and are gonna let yourself die as some sort of atonement bullshit!”
“T-that’s….mostly right” Vash sheepishly admitted.
“Well newsflash, I literally wouldn’t be alive right now if it weren’t for you!”
“But….I turned you into….”
“A monster? No, I don't really see it that way. You just made me like you.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring.”
“Ok, yeah I used to be terrified of you.”
“You even tried to kill me a few times,” Vash added self-deprecatingly.
“Shit you knew about that?! Of course you did. Well you never held that against me, and still brought me of all people back from the dead. So why do I have to hold you messing it up somewhat against you?”
“Oh come on you know those aren’t remotely the same!”
“Also,” Wolfwood continued, ignoring Vash’s protest, “I’m NOT afraid of you anymore! I know you know that! I don’t think you’re a monster! So why would I be upset about being more like you!”
“Wolfwood….it’s not that simple….” Getting frustrated, Wolfwood pushed his face right up against Vash’s, their foreheads touching, making it impossible for him not to look him in the eyes.
“Vash. Look me in the eyes.” When their eyes met, both of their plant lines began to glow faintly. ‘Vash, I WANT you to stay. Please, don’t give up. Not when you can finally be happy.’
‘Wolfwood……I….want to stay……but what if I can’t….my body’s pretty shot….’ Vash thought back to him, bloody tears streaming down his face.
“We’ll figure something out.” Wolfwood replied cupping the side of Vash’s face with one hand and wiping his tears away with the other. “Besides, what's all this shit about not needin’ you?! Who else is gonna teach me about this weird shit we do like cryin’ blood?!”
“Ah ha ha ha I guess you do have a point there. Though nobody taught me and I turned out fine.” Vash’s face finally lit back up, a small but genuine smile formed as he finally started to feel like himself again.
“That’s debatable.”
“Rude!” After a brief second of silence the two men started laughing in unison, relieved things were back to normal between them.
“Heh heh, glad to have you back Needle-Noggin,” Wolfwood said, ruffling his hair for effect.
“Ha ha, glad to be back Nico.”
“Did you just call me-?”
“Sorry, it just feels weird always calling you by your last name when we’re so close. Especially when everyone else calls you Nico”
“Ah yeah true….Just, that’s kinda my orphanage name, feels weird for you to call me that,” It wasn’t that Wolfwood didn’t want to share the nickname with Vash, but it made him feel like a kid again when he heard it. And for some reason Vash looking at him like a kid bothered him.
“Well…..how about Nick then?” Vash looked at him with his stupid puppy dog eyes, making Wolfwood blush.
“Y-yeah that works.” It felt surprisingly nice for Vash to finally call him by his first name, like they’d finally bridged the impossible distance between each other. Wolfwood was about to say something else, but a sudden crashing sound interrupted his train of thought.
“SHIT WHAT THE HELL YOU GODDAMN BRATS!!!! NICO! VASH! I NEED HELP WITH THESE DEMON SPAWN CHILDREN!!!” a familiar angry alter ego cried for help.
“Ha ha those kids really know how to torment poor Razlo,” Vash stood up first and walked to the door. “Guess we’d better help him before he hurts someone.”
“Huh. Oh yeah right I’m coming.” Wolfwood had thought he should tell Vash that he saw a tiny streak of blond return to the back of his hair, but decided he’d let it be a pleasant surprise for him later.