Vash and Knives awoke to the soft, wafting sound of Vanessa singing, deeper in the cave. (Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”)

Spend all your time waiting

for that second chance

for a break that would make it okay

there's always one reason

to feel not good enough

and it's hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

oh beautiful release

memory seeps from my veins

let me be empty

and weightless and maybe

I'll find some peace tonight

in the arms of an angel

fly away from here

from this dark cold hotel room

and the endlessness that you fear

you are pulled from the wreckage

of your silent reverie

you're in the arms of the angel

may you find some comfort there

so tired of the straight line

and everywhere you turn

there's vultures and thieves at your back

and the storm keeps on twisting

you keep on building the lie

that you make up for all that you lack

it don't make no difference

escaping one last time

it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh

this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

in the arms of an angel

fly away from here

from this dark cold hotel room

and the endlessness that you fear

you are pulled from the wreckage

of your silent reverie

you're in the arms of the angel

may you find some comfort there

you're in the arms of the angel

may you find some comfort here

Vanessa walked into the main room after she had finished, smiling with her eyes shut again.

Vash wiped away a tear and sniffed. “That’s such a sad song,” he commented.

“I disagree,” Knives snapped, smiling. His face then melted into concern. “But you’re still too weak to be up and about, Vanessa…”

“I’ll be fine,” she replied. “Vash, why don’t you fill the tub? I really need a bath,” she asked, not turning to face him.

Vash hesitated, his shoulders limp in frustration and confusion. “Vanessa, I…”

“C’mon, Vash, please,” she asked again.

Vash cast his brother a ‘you behave’ look and grabbed the buckets. He filled them quickly and turned to leave the cave to see Vanessa walking towards him.

She brushed past him and stood at her carving table in the back, next to the water filter. “It’s okay, Vash,” she muttered.

Vash’s look of concern went unnoticed as he went to the tub outside. But he could’ve sworn that when he left her she had reached for the book at her belt.

And as he walked past his brother towards the cave exit, Knives seemed to sigh heavily.

“Knives, could I ask you something?” Vanessa asked as she sat strangely close to him.

Knives’ eyes quivered as though he was upset, and he nodded.

“You loved Rem, didn’t you,” Vanessa stated more than asked. “As much as you want to hate her, she was your loving mother, you know.”

He shook his head. “No, she wasn’t…I didn’t love her, how could I, after what she did to Tessla, and…”

“She wanted to save Tessla,” Vanessa snapped softly, reaching out to place her hands on the sides of his neck, “And she wanted you two as her sons, no matter the conflict.”

Knives’ eyes met hers and began to well over with tears. “She was afraid, that’s why…”

“No, you were afraid,” Vanessa again interrupted. “And jealous that Vash loved her so much. But he didn’t love her more than you, he loved you both.”

Instead of arguing, Knives slumped down into an early defeat, looking down as a tear broke free.

Vanessa ran a hand through his hair softly as she continued. “Killing your own mother…Knives…”

Simultaneously, Vash reentered the cave to refill his buckets. He stopped, mouth agape, at the sight of his brother, but Vanessa narrowed her eyes to usher him along. Vash obeyed, disappearing into the back.

“Why am I,” Knives muttered between sobs, “I don’t…why…but I…”

“It’s the guilt, finally hitting you,” Vanessa coaxed, running her hands along his back, drawing him closer to her. “Admit you were wrong and you’ll feel better,” she suggested, resting her chin on his forehead.

“I’m…sorry…” Knives hesitantly replied, as his brother reentered the room. “Rem…I shouldn’t have…”

Vash dropped his buckets, the blood gone from his amazed face.

Vanessa glanced to him, and lifted Knives’ face to look into his eyes. “You hurt Vash when you did it; you need to ask him to forgive you,” she softly recommended.

Hesitating from confusion, Knives turned to Vash. His voice was broken. “Vash…I’m sorry…I…”

Vash bit his lip as the tears rolled down his own face now. Unable to reply, his own emotions began to wrench forth painfully. Before his mind collapsed into sorrow, he took up the buckets and rushed from the cave.

Burying his face into Vanessa’s shoulder, Knives’ sobs became heavier.

“Give him time,” she cooed. “He’ll accept it once he thinks it over.” She continued to run her hands across his back slowly until he calmed.

Vash shuffled briskly into the cave to avoid the sounds of Knives’ sobbing from the cave top. At the distance, he couldn’t hear Vanessa’s low, soft mutterings, but still he knew they were being said. And it was creeping him out.

‘This is the fourth time,’ Vash thought to himself. ‘Each day for four days, he’s cried in her arms. She goes off by herself, and he’s fine and all, and then she goes to him and he immediately seems to break down – every time. It’s downright bizarre.’

Vash reclined onto his bed and picked up a novel. Thumbing it open at his bookmark, he stared at the pages, lower lip projected.

Sighing, he snapped the book closed and leaned against his pillow. ‘I ought to be happy,’ he thought. ‘Knives has apologized to me three days in a row, and when she’s done with him today, he’ll probably apologize to me again. First for Rem, second for making me use my angel arm, and yesterday for sending the Gung-Ho Guns to me…What today? All these years - she makes them seem so simple. She just cuddles him a little and he melts. He’s sorry for it all because she tells him that’s why he’s crying. But is it?’

Upon hearing footsteps at the cave entrance, Vash lay limp against his mat, pretending to be asleep.

Vanessa stepped silently into the cave, leading Knives along behind her. Knives’s face was in his hand, clearly weeping.

She led him to the platform, and leaned down to see Vash. “He’s asleep,” she whispered.

Knives blinked the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. “Let him, then. I don’t think I really…”

“But you’ve got to tell him, Knives,” she insisted softly, in the meantime shaking Vash gently. When he didn’t stir, she shook roughly, stopping to notice the lack of effect.

“I don’t want to anymore,” Knives stated more clearly. “This is preposterous.

Apologize to him? You must be joking.”

Vanessa stood and grasped his hands. Looking deep into his eyes, she spoke as kindly as she could. “Knives, darling, his years of suffering were caused by your recklessness. Can you look at your poor brother now and not feel the sorrow he remembers?” She squeezed his hands gently, pressing them to her neck.

Knives’ expression softened as he thought. “Vanessa, I can’t.” He turned and walked out of the cave soberly, the effect of his tears completely defunct.

Dropping to sit at the edge of the platform, Vanessa sighed. She took out her thick volume and flipped to a specific page. ‘The condition is so brief. But I can’t extend it any further, or he’ll notice what I’m doing,’ she thought sternly. ‘I need to be better prepared; faster next time.’

A few feet from her, Vash opened his eyes. He sat up and cracked his knuckles casually.

Vanessa didn’t have to turn to him to know he was awake. “You weren’t really asleep, were you,” she asked solemnly.

“I just wanted to prove a point,” he replied.

She didn’t turn or speak.

“Doesn’t it seem ridiculous?” Vash asked sadly, “Parading him to me, a blubbering fool only half-aware of what he’s saying?”

“How can you mock his emotions like that?” Vanessa retorted, obviously flustered.

“His emotions? Are those really HIS emotions?” Vash snapped. Catching himself, he lowered his head and took a calmer tone. “It’s YOU mocking MY emotions, I think.”

Vanessa bit her lip and paused. She turned to face him and spoke in a rushed whisper. “How can you say that? I’m trying to…It’s for the best if…” She narrowed her eyes more in concentration than anger. “You’re going to ruin everything…”

“Why, all the sudden, are you taking the whole responsibility yourself? We’re in this together, aren’t we? Between the two of us, we can figure out how to show him the light, right? You don’t have to…”

”So then, what?” Vanessa interrupted. “For months we’ve been rotting in this cave, arguing to a rock of determined hate. We’ve gotten nowhere on the truth. A little misleading has gotten him further in these past few days than all those weeks before! Besides, this way, in the long run he’ll be happy, and you’ll be happy, and all the humans will be spared. What does it matter HOW we save everyone, so long as everyone ends up saved?”

“But…but…” Vash stammered, “This method is so…creepy…And…Wait, what did you say? Him happy in the long run – what do you mean…”

Vanessa frowned. “You know what I mean. I’ll hold that off as long as I can, but eventually he’ll want proof of my ‘feelings’ for him…”

Vash’s face softened and faded. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Oh, spare me,” she replied softly. “When you come up with something better, tell me. Otherwise, don’t interfere. It’s for everyone’s future that you don’t ruin this, okay?” Dropping the conversation, she stood and walked calmly out of the cave, leaving Vash to stew in the perfect futility of his position.

Over the following weeks, Knives made no more apologies to his brother. Vash gathered from Vanessa’s hints that if she were to cause the sadness in Knives’ mind by artificial means too often, he may suspect something. However, even without the coerced tears, Knives managed to soften his personality.

He and Vanessa began a sort of courtship, mimicking a Victorian coyness. Knives held back his feelings for her as much as possible, and she blushed and smiled around him just enough to fool him into thinking that she, too, was in reserve. Although Vanessa’s acting skills were sorely lacking, Knives was none the wiser. His passion caused his judgment regarding Vanessa to blur.

The charade continued, whilst Vash’s mind raced for a solution. ‘Vanessa doesn’t deserve to live a lie,’ he reasoned bluntly.

Most days, after the housework was completed, Vanessa and Knives would walk to the cave top with snacks and books to talk philosophy and chat, leaving Vash to mope about.

Vash usually ended up in the shade of the outer cave, staring at books without reading them. He was bothered that Vanessa didn’t pay him much attention anymore. Either she was glad that he had chosen not to interfere with her plan, or she was encouraging him to think of a better plan.

So he sat, plotting and planning; working through a million possible futures that all seemed to end horribly. Occasionally, in moments of pause, he would remember random details of his past travels. One day, a truly important memory burst forth, altering the course of his dilemma significantly.

“The rescue ships are coming,” Vash whispered to himself. He remembered that day on the flying ship; the celebration upon learning that people were alive back on Earth and would rescue the residents of Gunsmoke. And that night, Vash had sensed his brother’s angry response. Knives’ angel arm sliced the communications satellite in a most horrific manner.

But still, the ships were expected. Since that day was now well over a year ago, the impending dilemma was obvious. Knives still intended to ‘cut the sinners right out of the sky’ and Vash hadn’t yet discovered the proper persuasion not to.

Vanessa had just begun the wash outside, Vash noticed, as he rushed into the cave, where his brother sat reading. Knives looked up calmly.

“We need to let the humans depart peacefully,” Vash stated nervously, “Then we’ll have our Eden.”

Knives frowned. “Letting the parasites spread? Tsk, tsk, Vash…”

“If you obstruct their emigration,” Vash continued, “I will not live happy ever after with you! Even if you destroy them and their ships, I’ll find a way to leave you alone forever. Or I’ll be destroyed defending them. Either way, you lose! You want us to live in an Eden, right?”

Knives nodded. “Ideally, yes. But you’re too stubborn…”

“Not if you let them go!” Vash interrupted. He knelt before his brother seriously. “We’ll watch the rescue ships leave this planet, full of the humans you hate. Once they’re gone, you and me and Vanessa and the plants…That’s what you want, isn’t it? Because that’s the only way you’ll get it! If you let them go peacefully!”

Knives opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by his increasingly excited brother.

“Who cares about the humans, right? They’ll leave us alone, and in our Eden, we’ll…Everything will be perfect, just like you want it!” Vash stopped, breathing heavily. “Deal?”

After a pause, Knives smiled. “Convincing, for once. You’ve nearly convinced me. I’ll think about it,” he responded, turning again to his reading.

As much as Vash hated letting his brother be so in control, he knew that the majority would benefit from this personal sacrifice.

And Vash hated the idea of living alone with his brother and Vanessa, for although he cared immensely for them, he also cherished time with humans. Seeing them all leave would break his heart, but perhaps it was the only way to save them all.

‘Vanessa will have to keep up the act until they leave,’ he thought, ‘but at least I’ll be around to protect her from Knives.’

As Vash knelt, basking in satisfaction, Vanessa entered the cave. “The tub should be warm in a few hours,” she said, sitting beside Knives in an awkwardly obedient gesture.

“You’re first,” Knives replied, smiling, without looking up from his book.

“But I always do. That’s not fair to you two,” she argued.

Knives brushed his hand across her cheek, again not looking up, as if to end the discussion.

Vanessa sighed silently, glancing to Vash quickly.

“Vash was just putting an interesting wager before me,” Knives stated. “He has offered to stay with us and the plants on this planet so long as I allow the humans to vacate without incident. Those rescue ships are due within months, and he’s getting nervous.” His gaze remained fixed on his novel, proving the grave confidence and control he believed himself to hold over all other inhabitants of Gunsmoke.

Vanessa looked up to Vash questioningly, then slipped back into her act. “What a silly brother you have,” she replied, smiling. “He loves the humans too much to stay behind, don’t you, Vash?”

Vash gulped as she caught his bluff. “I’ll remain here, in exchange for their lives.”

“There’s no need for anymore painful sacrifices,” Vanessa continued, ignoring his words. “Vash should go on with the humans, don’t you agree?” she added, leaning against Knives.

“The only way to keep him from multiplying his scars is for him to be with us,” Knives stated solemnly. “I care for Vash too much to let any more atrocities…”

“To be away from them would be worse than gunshot wounds,” Vanessa argued softly.

“Right, well, forget I said anything,” Knives snapped. “I’d like to finish this book before sundown.”

Vanessa and Vash exchanged uncomfortable glances until Vanessa rose to check on the bathwater. She didn’t return until she had bathed and dressed, to inform Knives of his turn in the basin outside.

Knowing that his brother tended to take long baths, Vash waited until Knives had slipped from the cave to turn to Vanessa. She was gathering her sewing basket, and, he guessed, headed to sew at the cave roof.

“You don’t want me around, huh?” he asked her quietly.

“That’s not it, I just know you enough to know why you told him that,” she replied sternly. “And both you and I know that you can scarcely survive without the friendship of those people. Those humans are your extended family, somehow, so I think you should go with them.”

“Thanks for thinking about me,” he answered quickly, “But I can’t leave you with him. I mean, unless you…”

“What?” she asked. “You think I enjoy…Oh, nevermind.”

Vash sauntered over to her. He paused and placed his hand over hers to ask her attention. “We need to talk,” he muttered.

Vanessa did not turn to look at him. “I don’t think…”

“It’s important,” Vash insisted, giving her hand a squeeze.

Hesitating, she stood. “What,” she murmured simply.

Vash glanced towards the cave mouth. “Come in the back, it’s too important to let him overhear,” he whispered, ushering her into the deeper cave cavity.

In this large, damp room, the reflecting light softly illuminated the far pond and the kitchen area.

Vanessa stood before him, arms crossed in expectation.

Finally getting to stare into her eyes, Vash gathered his thoughts. 'I think I was going to confront her about this lie she’s living,' he remembered.

“Vash…what?” Vanessa again asked. She looked fatigued from having to hold in her emotions and instincts in order to fool Knives into thinking that she returned his affections. The difficulty of it was apparently wearing her down.

Vash’s face turned into a deep concern. “You can’t keep this up,” he murmured. “He seems fooled for now, but this is no long-term solution.”

“Did you think of something?” she whispered. “Is that it?” A glimmer of hope sparked in her eyes, sparking enough life into her features that Vash felt a twang in his heart.

He had no strategy to replace her plan. If she were to stop softening Knives’ heart through these lies, Knives would surely become calloused and compassionless as before. No one could be saved then.

Vash’s expression revealed the truth to her. Rather than letting her throat tighten with sadness, she began to walk past Vash into the main area. Brushing past him on the way out, she sighed softly.

Vash stopped her, his hand at her shoulder. Looking into her eyes again, he wondered what he could say to console her, to give her that spark of hope once more.

He found himself leaning down slightly and he kissed her softly for a moment.

Vanessa drew away from him in surprise. She hesitated, eyes filling with tears. She bit her lip nervously.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, face flushed. “It’s just, I…I want to be honest with you, so you can be honest with me. If for nobody else but me, please let yourself speak freely for a second,” he stammered.

Vanessa’s heart pounded and her vision became fuzzy as she slid into emotions.

“Please don’t cry,” Vash asked softly, moving towards her. But he stopped himself, not wanting to be forceful with her like Knives was. If he was to witness her genuine feelings, he would have to let her make the actions. “I just want to see you happy.”

She concentrated on his face. As usual, he was looking to her with such a true affection, something rare in such times. Had anyone else treated her with such esteem without asking for something in return? She could scarce remember seeing in any other soul the innocence that Vash emitted.

She found herself reaching to embrace him as tears fell from her eyes.

Vash leaned against the carving table behind him as he held her. A few cold beads of water fell onto his hands from her hair as he pressed his palms against her back. She smelled like soap and dust to him.

Her heart was beating a million miles away, and most of the blood rushed from her mind. She felt faint.

Again, they kissed, but it was Vanessa who brought the action. She was a little clumsy from lack of practice, and a little rough from lack of restraint.

Vash couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this, since the intense challenges he’d faced in the last twenty years had kept him from the arms of women. Vanessa entered his life at the moment he most needed her, as a healer, a confidant, and fellow member of the species. Without hesitating like Vash had, she cured Knives’ infection. She didn’t judge Vash upon learning of his past. And as the only other plant child he knew to be alive at the time (besides himself and his brother), Vash inherently knew that Vanessa was the key to ‘saving’ Knives. He hadn’t thought of how, but somehow he figured that this calm, wise woman would hold the secret to Knives’ affliction of hate.

Now that she’d finally fulfilled this prophecy – having discovered the way to create grief and compassion in Knives - Vash wanted in his heart to stop her.

He felt a hot tear fall from her cheek to his chin as she stopped, and drew gently from him. She looked to the floor for guidance, and rubbed her palms against her dress before crossing them awkwardly.

“Forget this happened,” she mumbled, standing a foot or two from him.

Vash shook his head. “My memory’s better than that.”

Vanessa rubbed her wrist roughly against her face to destroy the tears. “Excuse me,” she muttered in a whisper, rushing from the room. She gathered her sewing supplies and Vash’s old, red trenchcoat, and headed for the cave top.

Knives looked to the East, where he could faintly hear the howl of desert winds. They seemed to approach the cave, having been a mere whisper hours before.

Eager to allow his mind to become distracted, Knives stared off into the storm. Thoughts of his weakness around Vanessa and apologies towards Vash caused his mind great anguish, and he preferred to concentrate on the neutral winds than on human-like emotions.

After much time had passed, Knives was startled to attention when his stomach growled. He abruptly stood and walked into the cave, but instead of Vanessa and a tray of sushi, he found his brother.

Vash was sitting cross-legged before an odd pile of books. The stack was shaped like a house. Slowly, Vash held an open book faced-down over the pile, carefully applying a ‘roof.’ Upon his brother’s entrance, he glanced up, his hands and the book hovering questioningly over the pile.

“Have you seen Vanessa? I’m starving,” Knives asked him, eyes darting over the cave walls.

“Not for a while,” Vash answered, wincing. He expected Knives’ hand to topple the literary tower. Yet it did not.

Vash opened his eyes to see Knives leaving the cave, and sighed with relief.

Just outside the cave, Vanessa met Knives. She carried a red bundle under her arm, and the sewing basket dangled from her hand. Her hair whipped about her head, and her eyes were narrowed from the sting of the wind.

“Go back inside,” she told him, walking past him to enter the cave.

Knives obeyed, but once inside his fists rested on his hips angrily. “What’s going on? Where’s dinner?”

Vanessa sat, letting her basket and bundle fall to her side. “The sandstorm should hit us full on tonight.”

“Sandstorm!?” Vash repeated, lifting his head in concern. He began to rise. “The tomas – we’ve got to get them inside…” The pile of books toppled.

Vanessa glanced at the doorway, shaking her head.

“No, they can’t fit through the passageway, huh?” he answered for himself. He knelt to gather the books more neatly. “I’ll have to let them loose. What else needs to be done?” he asked.

“That’s all, we’ll be safe in here,” she replied. Turning to Knives, who was standing at the entrance still, she added sweetly, “Could you free them, please?”

Crossing his arms, he turned casually to do so.

Before Knives returned, Vanessa unfolded the red bundle and held out the coat to Vash. She had repaired the sleeve and mended several bullet holes.

Accepting the coat, he didn’t raise his eyes to speak to her. “Why would I need this?” he whispered. “This is nothing but bad memories now…”

She shook her head. “It’s a good coat, Vash. The best I’ve seen, for desert travel, and such a lightweight cloth. You’ll need it. All your other clothes are beginning to stain and wear. Try it on; let me see if I fixed it correctly, please?”

His hand went to his throat, where he realized he was wearing his old, black, leather vest beneath the white, button-up shirt already. The extensive scarring at his chest, abdomen, and back hurt him daily, so this tight, leather shirt kept the pain to a minimum. Vash took off the white shirt and grasped his mended coat. There he sat, in jeans and black leather; a scarred man staring at the weary coat he had worn through his most horrible adventures. He sighed aloud.

“You need to put all that out of your mind. There are so many things you’ll have to forget,” she muttered. “Once you do, you can wear this through happy times.”

Vash pulled the coat about him. “What happy times?” he mumbled sadly, fastening the buttons.

“Vash, if you show that long face around Vanessa too much you may depress her!” Knives chuckled, sitting beside her. Then he frowned. “Why are you wearing THAT?”

Tugging the coat flat at his waist, Vash looked at Knives in the corner of his eye. “Vanessa repaired it; she says I need it.”

Vanessa nodded. “He will when he goes back to the humans,” she explained.

“The humans? I won’t…” Knives began to argue.

“They’re what he needs,” Vanessa interrupted. “You sell their usefulness short, darling. Amongst them are true craftsmen and talent. They can create the finest meals, clothing, haircuts, which we could all use by now, and…”

“Hey, don’t I have a say in this?” Vash interrupted, ignored.

“Everything they can do, we can do better a thousand-fold! Besides, all they’ve given Vash is scars and pain,” Knives continued.

“We cannot perform the skills of the human population, I.Q. or no,” Vanessa argued. “You should experience it all for yourself before you make these claims. Unless Vash is completely insane, there must be redeeming qualities to them. Right?”

Vash smiled at this comment in spite of himself, but Vanessa and Knives were looking at each other and failed to notice.

“Regardless, I cannot allow him to wander, defenseless, into their cruel arms again,” Knives stated, his face betraying a sincere caring for his brother.

“I’m good with my gun; I’m not really defenseless,” Vash added, again feeling that no one heard him.

“You should accompany him, then, and see how he fends,” Vanessa boldly suggested. “Before the humans leave for good, taste their food and get a decent haircut and sleep in an actual room. Let’s live amongst them as Vash loves to do; it’s not as bad as you think. And we’ll be together. Protected.”

Knives reached out to gently brush Vanessa’s hair from her eyes. “But we’re safe and happy here!”

Vanessa forced a smile. “We’re happy. But Vash is suffering. And we’re in terrible need for supplies. Soon we’ll run out of rice and your clothing will wear to rags.” She awkwardly ran her hand through Knives’ scraggly hair. “You’re looking like such a vagabond as it is, and I give horrible haircuts.” She grinned wider.

Knives didn’t reply quickly, so she continued.

“I can earn a nice wage as a nurse, and Vash can take a job; with money we can be well-received by the humans, you’ll see. Just hold in your disgust, and keep them from fearing you, and we’ll have a pleasant excursion,” she added. Her voice suddenly took a more somber tone. “We can’t use our angel weapons, since the hair darkening effect has become a major concern, so it would be best to let Vash do the protecting, with that gun of his.”

Knives snorted slightly. “How primitive. But I suppose you have some good points…”

Vanessa clapped her hands happily. “We can leave within the week! The sand should be calm for the next days, so we’ll have an easier trek through the desert.”

“To see you so happy,” Knives commented, smiling at her as he pulled her closer to him.

She resisted slightly, and found herself leaning back against him, his arms wrapped about her shoulders. She looked nervously to the floor before glancing up to Vash.

‘She looks so haunted,’ Vash thought, keeping a smile upon his face. ‘Yet she seems to know exactly what she’s doing; talking him into this was almost too easy!’ He remembered the weight of her body when she had leaned against him, kissing him. His eyes went instead to the stack of books beside him, and then to the ripped flaps of his coat, which he played with childishly. It hurt him to watch his brother hold her in a manner she despised. He wondered if she would rather he be in Knives’ place now. Perhaps she would truly enjoy being with Vash. Obviously she preferred him to his brother, but was the feeling more passionate than that?

Vash felt so utterly useless once more, unable to act in fear of the lives of all inhabitants of Gunsmoke. He yearned to take control of the situation, at least enough to wrest Vanessa from his brother. Riding on expectations of Knives’ future actions was too precarious.

His hand rested at his hip, where his gun lay in the holster. He imagined himself taking Knives into the desert and shooting him dead. All problems would be solved then.

‘No,’ Vash insisted to himself, shaking the image from his mind. ‘But I will practice with it, like I used to. I’ll need to be as good a shot as anyone, or else Knives may kill someone…’

Vanessa closed her eyes and meditated to calm her mind.

They listened to the evil howling winds beat against the cave as they slept, thinking of humanity in three separate and individual ways.