Chapter 25
Meryl hugged Jake's body for a few more seconds until she let go of it. It just seemed so unreal that he was just alive a few seconds ago, and now he was dead.
More tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered what Jake had said to her in the past.
'I'd never miss a beautiful and talented woman like you from...anywhere!'
'To tell you the truth, Meryl, I love you...'
'Thank you...'
'Even though it's too late, I want to apologize for hurting you...'
''and I'm smiling because I got to know you...'
'But what I can do now, is to protect you...'
"Jake...I'm going to miss you..." Meryl whispered to his body before moving the rocks away from her in order to get out of the rubble. Thanks to Jake's protection, her body had barely any neither scratches nor bruises. The rocks were heavy, and the sand from the rocks irritated her eyes, but somehow, she felt that Jake was helping her move the rocks; is if his hands guided her own hands.
Walking over to where Vash was standing, she looked at his face, which was full of fresh pain. A single tear rolled down from her eye as she continued to stare into his eyes. A stoic expression filled Meryl's face, a tear falling from her eyes one by one.
"He...died..." Meryl choked out, barely whispering as she stood firmly, her shoulders rigid and her eyes focused onto Vash's eyes. "He...really died..."
Vash looked down onto the ground, ashamed and unable to face Meryl. The feeling he felt right now was much worse than when he had killed Legato. It felt as if he betrayed and stabbed Meryl in the back. More pain came across his body when he realized that he had broken Rem's code of not killing again, after he promised to her that he would never kill again.
'I broke your promise again, Rem...'
"I've...failed again...to save another's life..."
"You can't blame yourself...Vash...it wasn't your fault...you could've done nothing..." Meryl said quietly, hoping to console Vash. But her words sounded unreal, and she knew that it offered no help to Vash.
"I'm sorry Meryl..." Vash turned around and started walking towards an unknown destination, leaving both Meryl and Milly baffled. Meryl tried to take a single step in hope of following him, but was cut of by Vash's painful voice.
"STAY BACK! DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Vash shouted, continuing to walk away. His painful voice seemed to echo on in the desert, and it painfully echoed into Meryl's ears.
'Vash...'
Meryl hated herself just now for being so weak. She was standing there, just because she was afraid of Vash the Stampede. She was afraid of being killed by Vash the Stampede. That was all.
Running up to him, Meryl slammed his against a huge rock, more tears streaming down her cheek. Yet instead of eyes filled with sorrow, Meryl's eyes were now burning with a fire of determination. Vash the Stampede even looked surprised, the Diablo in his eyes slowly diminishing.
"What are you doing?" Vash asked uncertainly, taking a look at the small girl standing in front of him.
"Stop this crap, Vash...stop running away when something bad happens to you."
A moment of silence filled the air before the Stampede opened his heavy mouth to speak. In truth, he was surprised that the small insurance girl standing in front of him had the courage to stand up to Vash the Stampede, especially when he was the Diablo himself. Of course, he did say that Meryl was the strongest woman he had ever known, but he didn't expect her to have this much courage mustered up in her.
"I...Meryl..." He sighed heavily, prying Meryl's hands away from his shoulders. "You don't understand what I've had to go through...I promised to Rem that I'd never take a life of another..."
"I know that..." Meryl whispered, looking into Vash's pained face. Meryl remarked to herself that Vash always had the same, aggrieved face whenever someone got hurt, or killed. It was always the same, no matter who died; whether it was friend or foe.
"I didn't mean for this to end this way...Anything in my life was supposed to be like this way, Meryl...maybe I shouldn't have existed...then the world might've been a better place. I don't deserve to live, Meryl. I deserve to die."
Meryl slapped Vash across the cheek with all the remaining strength she could muster up. Although her physical strength wasn't that great, it still made a red mark upon Vash's cheek.
"Don't you ever say that, Vash! Don't you EVER say you deserve to die, because you don't! Jake just died, Vash! He just died! And all the people of October died! But you're still living! You're still alive! Isn't that what matters? Don't just give up like that! Didn't you say that you disapproved of suicide more than anything?" Each word Meryl mouthed felt like a hundred punches to Vash. He was flabbergasted by what Meryl had just said. Each single sentence meant so much to him...
He was still alive...
"Vash...you can't just give life up like that...no one has the right to take another's life, but you also can't take your own life...you still have to live your life to the fullest...for all the people who cared about you, and put their hopes into you..."
Meryl took one longer look at Vash before turning away to leave for the ruined town. In the few seconds she stared at Vash, she looked at nothing about his features in particular, but just his face.
It wasn't the face of the Vash she always knew.
But it was one of the faces of the Vash that she loved.
*~*~*~*~
Miraculously, the inn that the four were staying in was still preserved. Although the town doctors and hospitals were gone, Milly had managed to get Wolfwood bandaged up and cared for. Luckily (in a way), all the bullets had gone through his body so he didn't have to suffer having his body cut open to take out the bullets.
Later that night, the three were in their room, thinking about the events that had occurred earlier. Vash was nowhere to be seen; Meryl had guessed that he was somewhere in the town thinking to himself. Wolfwood had woken up a few hours after the incident, although still weak from all the wounds he had received from Jake.
"Where...am I?" Wolfwood asked groggily as Milly sat by his bed, gently stroking his hair.
"In the inn, dear..." Milly said softly, continuing to stroke his hair. A kind smile filled her face, causing Wolfwood to smile back at her and wince slightly in pain.
"Now now, don't push yourself, Mr. Wolfwood. You were injured very badly." Milly scolded gently. Wolfwood murmured an answer before turning his head to take a glance at Meryl, who was looking outside the window, the tinted glass reflecting her sad face.
"What happened to the little girl over there?"
"I don't know...ever since we returned to the inn, she's been staring out the window..."
"How long have we been here?"
"Around five hours, Mr. Wolfwood."
"Maybe she's thinking 'bout Jake..."
"Maybe...he was really scary though..."
"He was a psychopath..."
"No he wasn't." Meryl turned around, looking straightly at Wolfwood and Milly. There was emotion in her eyes, but Wolfwood and Milly couldn't make out what it expressed. Whether it was an emotion of trying to defend Jake, or whether it was some way to avenge the pain in her heart, they didn't know.
"Jake wasn't a psychopath. He wasn't."
"What do mean, Meryl? He hurt you...he hurt all of us..." Milly asked quietly, frowning slightly. Her eyes were full of written confusion, as well as Wolfwood's.
Meryl didn't know how to explain it. Jake was some kind of psychopath, in a way. He did demolish the entire city of October, as well as killing its population, but there was more to his actions then meets the eye. They weren't random killings, but rather an act of sorrow.
"I know he hurt us all, but Jake...he wasn't a psychopath. He was someone...someone in pain."
"But...he almost killed you, as well as Mr. Wolfwood!"
"Just because someone kills someone doesn't exactly mean that he's a psychopath, Milly."
"But killing the whole population of October means that he's definitely a psychopath." Wolfwood stated, glancing over at Meryl peculiarly.
"But Jake...he did it for some reason!" Meryl protested, defending him.
"There should be no reason in killing people, Meryl! Big big brother always told me that it was wrong to kill other people, no matter what the reason is! And Mr. Vash always said that too!"
"Well, Jake had a big reason! You'll never understand that!" Meryl retorted, standing up from her seat. She didn't even know why she was defending Jake. Was it because she loved him?
No...it wasn't.
It was more of an act of justice that her mind told her to do. But Milly and Wolfwood was right; there should be no reason in killing people.
"Jake was just a stupid, stupid man who killed everyone in October! He hurt you, and he almost killed Mr. Wolfwood! How could you even try to defend him?" Milly was shouting, hands aggressively forming fists.
"He did stupid things, but he had a reason, Milly!" Meryl shouted, although she told herself to calm down. Jake had died today. Vash had gone somewhere. And all she need was for Milly and Wolfwood to complain to her about Jake.
"IS JAKE MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN SOMEONE WHO SAVED YOU FROM DYING?" Milly yelled, waving her fists angrily in the air. Wolfwood caught hold of her, trying to calm her down.
"Whoa big girl...calm down."
As soon as Milly calmed down, Wolfwood shot a curious glance at Meryl, who had the same pained expression on her face as he had seen on Vash.
"Hey little girl...one question. Why are you defending Jake anyway?"
"Because he's my-" Meryl was about to say more, until she realized what she was saying.
"I need to be alone." Meryl said abruptly. A shocked expression worn on her face, Meryl covered her mouth with her hand and ran out from the room. Running down the corridors, Meryl found a small room that was unoccupied. Since the innkeeper probably passed away, Meryl locked herself in the room and decided to borrow the room for the night. Feeling so alone, she proceeded to her bed, sobbing deeply into her pillow.
'Vash...I'm sorry...'
*~*~*~*~
a/n: okay, I promised you guys that I'll update two chapters. Well, my mom went berserk because I'm using the computer too much, so I'm only going to be able to update one. The other chapter will be updated tomorrow, since my mom is giving me death glares. Bai!
Meryl hugged Jake's body for a few more seconds until she let go of it. It just seemed so unreal that he was just alive a few seconds ago, and now he was dead.
More tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered what Jake had said to her in the past.
'I'd never miss a beautiful and talented woman like you from...anywhere!'
'To tell you the truth, Meryl, I love you...'
'Thank you...'
'Even though it's too late, I want to apologize for hurting you...'
''and I'm smiling because I got to know you...'
'But what I can do now, is to protect you...'
"Jake...I'm going to miss you..." Meryl whispered to his body before moving the rocks away from her in order to get out of the rubble. Thanks to Jake's protection, her body had barely any neither scratches nor bruises. The rocks were heavy, and the sand from the rocks irritated her eyes, but somehow, she felt that Jake was helping her move the rocks; is if his hands guided her own hands.
Walking over to where Vash was standing, she looked at his face, which was full of fresh pain. A single tear rolled down from her eye as she continued to stare into his eyes. A stoic expression filled Meryl's face, a tear falling from her eyes one by one.
"He...died..." Meryl choked out, barely whispering as she stood firmly, her shoulders rigid and her eyes focused onto Vash's eyes. "He...really died..."
Vash looked down onto the ground, ashamed and unable to face Meryl. The feeling he felt right now was much worse than when he had killed Legato. It felt as if he betrayed and stabbed Meryl in the back. More pain came across his body when he realized that he had broken Rem's code of not killing again, after he promised to her that he would never kill again.
'I broke your promise again, Rem...'
"I've...failed again...to save another's life..."
"You can't blame yourself...Vash...it wasn't your fault...you could've done nothing..." Meryl said quietly, hoping to console Vash. But her words sounded unreal, and she knew that it offered no help to Vash.
"I'm sorry Meryl..." Vash turned around and started walking towards an unknown destination, leaving both Meryl and Milly baffled. Meryl tried to take a single step in hope of following him, but was cut of by Vash's painful voice.
"STAY BACK! DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Vash shouted, continuing to walk away. His painful voice seemed to echo on in the desert, and it painfully echoed into Meryl's ears.
'Vash...'
Meryl hated herself just now for being so weak. She was standing there, just because she was afraid of Vash the Stampede. She was afraid of being killed by Vash the Stampede. That was all.
Running up to him, Meryl slammed his against a huge rock, more tears streaming down her cheek. Yet instead of eyes filled with sorrow, Meryl's eyes were now burning with a fire of determination. Vash the Stampede even looked surprised, the Diablo in his eyes slowly diminishing.
"What are you doing?" Vash asked uncertainly, taking a look at the small girl standing in front of him.
"Stop this crap, Vash...stop running away when something bad happens to you."
A moment of silence filled the air before the Stampede opened his heavy mouth to speak. In truth, he was surprised that the small insurance girl standing in front of him had the courage to stand up to Vash the Stampede, especially when he was the Diablo himself. Of course, he did say that Meryl was the strongest woman he had ever known, but he didn't expect her to have this much courage mustered up in her.
"I...Meryl..." He sighed heavily, prying Meryl's hands away from his shoulders. "You don't understand what I've had to go through...I promised to Rem that I'd never take a life of another..."
"I know that..." Meryl whispered, looking into Vash's pained face. Meryl remarked to herself that Vash always had the same, aggrieved face whenever someone got hurt, or killed. It was always the same, no matter who died; whether it was friend or foe.
"I didn't mean for this to end this way...Anything in my life was supposed to be like this way, Meryl...maybe I shouldn't have existed...then the world might've been a better place. I don't deserve to live, Meryl. I deserve to die."
Meryl slapped Vash across the cheek with all the remaining strength she could muster up. Although her physical strength wasn't that great, it still made a red mark upon Vash's cheek.
"Don't you ever say that, Vash! Don't you EVER say you deserve to die, because you don't! Jake just died, Vash! He just died! And all the people of October died! But you're still living! You're still alive! Isn't that what matters? Don't just give up like that! Didn't you say that you disapproved of suicide more than anything?" Each word Meryl mouthed felt like a hundred punches to Vash. He was flabbergasted by what Meryl had just said. Each single sentence meant so much to him...
He was still alive...
"Vash...you can't just give life up like that...no one has the right to take another's life, but you also can't take your own life...you still have to live your life to the fullest...for all the people who cared about you, and put their hopes into you..."
Meryl took one longer look at Vash before turning away to leave for the ruined town. In the few seconds she stared at Vash, she looked at nothing about his features in particular, but just his face.
It wasn't the face of the Vash she always knew.
But it was one of the faces of the Vash that she loved.
*~*~*~*~
Miraculously, the inn that the four were staying in was still preserved. Although the town doctors and hospitals were gone, Milly had managed to get Wolfwood bandaged up and cared for. Luckily (in a way), all the bullets had gone through his body so he didn't have to suffer having his body cut open to take out the bullets.
Later that night, the three were in their room, thinking about the events that had occurred earlier. Vash was nowhere to be seen; Meryl had guessed that he was somewhere in the town thinking to himself. Wolfwood had woken up a few hours after the incident, although still weak from all the wounds he had received from Jake.
"Where...am I?" Wolfwood asked groggily as Milly sat by his bed, gently stroking his hair.
"In the inn, dear..." Milly said softly, continuing to stroke his hair. A kind smile filled her face, causing Wolfwood to smile back at her and wince slightly in pain.
"Now now, don't push yourself, Mr. Wolfwood. You were injured very badly." Milly scolded gently. Wolfwood murmured an answer before turning his head to take a glance at Meryl, who was looking outside the window, the tinted glass reflecting her sad face.
"What happened to the little girl over there?"
"I don't know...ever since we returned to the inn, she's been staring out the window..."
"How long have we been here?"
"Around five hours, Mr. Wolfwood."
"Maybe she's thinking 'bout Jake..."
"Maybe...he was really scary though..."
"He was a psychopath..."
"No he wasn't." Meryl turned around, looking straightly at Wolfwood and Milly. There was emotion in her eyes, but Wolfwood and Milly couldn't make out what it expressed. Whether it was an emotion of trying to defend Jake, or whether it was some way to avenge the pain in her heart, they didn't know.
"Jake wasn't a psychopath. He wasn't."
"What do mean, Meryl? He hurt you...he hurt all of us..." Milly asked quietly, frowning slightly. Her eyes were full of written confusion, as well as Wolfwood's.
Meryl didn't know how to explain it. Jake was some kind of psychopath, in a way. He did demolish the entire city of October, as well as killing its population, but there was more to his actions then meets the eye. They weren't random killings, but rather an act of sorrow.
"I know he hurt us all, but Jake...he wasn't a psychopath. He was someone...someone in pain."
"But...he almost killed you, as well as Mr. Wolfwood!"
"Just because someone kills someone doesn't exactly mean that he's a psychopath, Milly."
"But killing the whole population of October means that he's definitely a psychopath." Wolfwood stated, glancing over at Meryl peculiarly.
"But Jake...he did it for some reason!" Meryl protested, defending him.
"There should be no reason in killing people, Meryl! Big big brother always told me that it was wrong to kill other people, no matter what the reason is! And Mr. Vash always said that too!"
"Well, Jake had a big reason! You'll never understand that!" Meryl retorted, standing up from her seat. She didn't even know why she was defending Jake. Was it because she loved him?
No...it wasn't.
It was more of an act of justice that her mind told her to do. But Milly and Wolfwood was right; there should be no reason in killing people.
"Jake was just a stupid, stupid man who killed everyone in October! He hurt you, and he almost killed Mr. Wolfwood! How could you even try to defend him?" Milly was shouting, hands aggressively forming fists.
"He did stupid things, but he had a reason, Milly!" Meryl shouted, although she told herself to calm down. Jake had died today. Vash had gone somewhere. And all she need was for Milly and Wolfwood to complain to her about Jake.
"IS JAKE MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN SOMEONE WHO SAVED YOU FROM DYING?" Milly yelled, waving her fists angrily in the air. Wolfwood caught hold of her, trying to calm her down.
"Whoa big girl...calm down."
As soon as Milly calmed down, Wolfwood shot a curious glance at Meryl, who had the same pained expression on her face as he had seen on Vash.
"Hey little girl...one question. Why are you defending Jake anyway?"
"Because he's my-" Meryl was about to say more, until she realized what she was saying.
"I need to be alone." Meryl said abruptly. A shocked expression worn on her face, Meryl covered her mouth with her hand and ran out from the room. Running down the corridors, Meryl found a small room that was unoccupied. Since the innkeeper probably passed away, Meryl locked herself in the room and decided to borrow the room for the night. Feeling so alone, she proceeded to her bed, sobbing deeply into her pillow.
'Vash...I'm sorry...'
*~*~*~*~
a/n: okay, I promised you guys that I'll update two chapters. Well, my mom went berserk because I'm using the computer too much, so I'm only going to be able to update one. The other chapter will be updated tomorrow, since my mom is giving me death glares. Bai!