Eden's Children.

Notes:

Disclaimer: Trigun it's characters and all that stuff doesn't belong to me, I'm just mucking about with it. OK? Don't sue. This disclaimer applies to this chapter and all the chapters following it. Thanks.

1: So this fic is a sequel to How Far is Eden? which is about the redemption of Knives. It's not entirely necessary to read that story to understand this one, but it would help. If you can't be bothered reading it, don't worry because this probably works OK on its own. On a similar note, this is a SEQUEL to How Far is Eden? Not a continuation, Knives path to redemption will be features in this fic, but that is not all of it. There'll also be action, adventure, mystery, some romance. Relationships between the characters, the pasts of the twins and so forth will also take a large role in this story. Basically, it's more a conventional Trigun fic, but hopefully an exciting and thought provoking one too!

2: This fiction also contains some Manga references. It's still more or less Anime based, and you don't need to have read the Manga at all to appreciate it, but the references are there.

3: On the whole this fiction is about the same level as the anime. I've given it a PG13 rating to be safe, but there is nothing worse here, either in language or violence, than can be found in the series Trigun. The sexual innuendo and content might be a tiny bit higher, but there will be no out-right sex scenes or anything of that nature. If you disagree with the rating please inform me and I shall move it to the R section directly. Thank you.

4: One thing that makes this fanfic different from a lot of other stuff out there at the moment, (especially multi-chaptered works,) is that it is… in fact… COMPLETE! Yep, This fic is FINISHED, done, all I'm doing now is posting it, replying to readers comments and, perhaps, making some minor editorial changes. With this in mind, I would still ask that you give me encouragement and replies. Your reviews are what make me feel appreciated as a writer, they help me grow as a writer and also encourage me to write more. I WOULD like at least one reply per chapter, just to know that someone IS reading this.

Eden's Children

Prologue

One hundred and twenty nine years ago:

At first he'd thought it had just been a terrible dream. It couldn't be anything else, it didn't make sense for it all to be real. Knives couldn't be mad, the ship couldn't have crashed, they couldn't be wandering a hellish, desert planet, Rem couldn't be…

No; soon he'd awake. Yeah, Rem would wake him up and laugh about him being such a lazy bones. And this would have all been a dreadful, dreadful nightmare. Because it couldn't be real, you see? It was far too dreadful to be real, far too horrible.

But it was real and as time marched on he came to realize it.

When he did he cried, of course. He fancied that, if he cried for long enough, he could create a sea for this sandy planet. That would be nice… Rem had said she liked the sea…

But Knives became impatient with his tears, shouted at him, argued with him, screamed at him to stop, said terrible, terrible things about Rem. Sometimes he even hit him.

So he tried to stop crying, tried to hide his grief a little yet even this was hard. He wished he could talk to Rem again, wished he could ask her what he should do.

As time went on and as the emptiness in his heart grew, he became more and more aware of another emotion brewing in his heart.

Rage.

He began to loath Knives. Despise him.

One night, when it felt like his very blood was boiling from the heat of his anger, when the world seemed tinged red with his fury, he got up, out of his bed roll and grabbed a large rock. He stood above his slumbering brother, the rock raised high above his head, his arms aching a little with the effort of lifting it. He paused, the light of the five moons painted Knives sleeping face in an almost angelic light, he seemed oblivious to the oncoming peril.

The rock was heavy in his hands, all he had to do was throw it down, to drop it, to let go and…

What would Rem do…?

He threw the rock away and ran, ran to the top of a jutting outcrop of stone and there he wept more than he'd ever wept in his life.

At some point in the deluge of tears, between sobs, he struggled to his feet and stood at the very edge of the outcropping. He wanted to be with Rem, wanted to be with her so much…

His toes stuck out onto thin air, it wouldn't take much just to lean forward and…

But taking a life was wrong. Even if it was his own life. Rem had said that.

Rem had also said that people can live on in memory.

So… so… so if he took is own life then Rem wouldn't live on in his memory. And maybe… maybe Rem was still there, looking over him. Maybe she had been what had stopped him from killing Knives earlier. Maybe she had been what had stopped him from killing himself.

Rem was still there! With him! He hadn't seen her body after all so maybe… maybe…

He couldn't do it. He couldn't leave her. He'd promised he'd never leave her. No; no he'd stay, and he'd follow her and remember her. So that maybe she would come back to him. He'd never forget her, never let go, never stray from the path she'd set for him. Because he loved her and because he wanted to see her again. He wanted her to always be with him.

It wasn't a completely happy concept, but it leant a fire to his heart which made him feel… better. He still cried of course, cried all night until the weight of his grief tugged and lulled him into sleep.

The next day he awoke to Knives' callings, someone, (Rem?) had wrapped a blanket about him. He shrugged it off and climbed back down towards the camp and his waiting twin.

After packing his meagre possessions he set off once more, following Knives across the trackless waste. The sky was an especially beautiful blue today, he wished he could show Rem but, then again, maybe he already had.

Vash smiled, he felt a little bit better now. He knew that Rem was still with him and he was still with Rem. And, no matter what, it would stay that way forever.

To Be Continued...