Remember the Sky

Disclaimer/Notes: HAPPY KNIVES DAY! Um...if I can submit it before then. I only have an hour! (runs around like a headless human) On this special day, I wanted to wish our favorite logically twisted, cold-hearted hottie villain a happy day! Long live Plants! Oops, that's a given. Oh, yes, and the standard disclaimer... I do not own Trigun or Knives. So sad. Enjoy! Hope you had a wonderful Knives day!

Standing on the edge of a barren hill, he watched. The sky swirled with deep grey clouds tinted an ominous purple like blood without oxygen. Dust and sand lifted on the wild wind and then swirled and slammed brutally back to the ground. A sandstorm. It was beautiful at the same time that it was frightening. Mother nature unleashed her fury upon the arid planet's surface without any mercy or consideration.

The rough tan cloth blew around Knives' body as he watched, a mere observer.

The children had not seen it coming. Playing in the sand less than an ile outside of the city, laughing and smiling with the kind of joy that only untainted innocence could bring, the children had been too engrossed in their game to notice the roiling clouds until darkness had settled right above their dishwater blond heads. Soon, the storm would be too strong for the townspeople to even leave their homes. These two children would die.

Knives did nothing.

He watched.

The light of happiness had left their faces, replaced by utter terror. The little spiders, one boy and a little girl, sat next to each other, thin arms wrapped around each other's shoulders as they both sobbed.

He did not listen to the words the little boy spoke to the girl. He didn't give any indication of his presence. Unable to go to them but at the same time unable to leave, he merely observed.

As the cold storm winds battered against him, he closed his eyes and remembered.

"Sure," Knives said. "She'll come." His confidence hid his growing worry.

Beside Knives, Vash rocked back and forth, left hand gripping Knives' right while his own right hand frantically clenched open and closed. "Umm...I hope so. She always comes, right? She'll come."

The closet was barely small enough to hold the two. The walls seemed to close in on them.

"I don't think I like hide and seek," Vash said, still rocking. In the light illuminating the two, Knives could see his brother's eyes, bright and wide with fear and unshed tears. He managed to give Vash a squeeze of encouragement with his captive hand. "We'll be fine. Rem's always here, Vash. She'll be looking for us right now. She'll find us soon."

"You think? Really?" Vash chewed his lip between both teeth and blinked hard, letting the tears fall down his face.

"I think so. Just wait. We're supposed to have fun, right? Let's play a game. I'm thinking of something...blue."

"There are a lot of blue things, Knives!"

"Light blue. Just start guessing. Remember the game Joey taught us?"

"Okay. Um..."

Ten more minutes passed in the silence before Rem grasped at the closet door. Vash had stopped rocking, but he still held Knives' hand.

The door opened to show the bright light in Mary's sleeping quarters, and Rem frowned, but then it spread into the smile that always managed to erase their doubts and fears. "There you boys are! Oh, my boys! Are you guys okay?" Seeing Vash's dried tears, she pulled him into her embrace, and then pulled a hesitant Knives into it, too.

Once they had all sat down and explained why they'd hidden so far away, Vash leaned over and whispered to Knives. That bright smile was right back on his face. Knives smiled as his brother whispered. "What was it, then?"

Knives whispered back. "It was the sky. If you're ever in the dark, just remember the sky, okay?"

The wind picked up speed and the little boy hugged the girl tighter. The wind blew their hair around their faces, wetting the dried tears there. The boy whispered unintelligible words into the girl's ear and swiped hair from her face, offering her a shaky smile. And Knives watched, unable to move from the spot he stood in.

Why was he doing this?

Weakness. He was weak.

Sand and dust obscured the air, making the world around him hazy like a dream. Shaking his head in disgust, Knives turned and walked away from his spot.

Both suns shone through thinning gray clouds as clear, cool winds swept over the sky. Sara Delaney stifled tears as she gripped her little son's jacket. There was no trace of Alisa here at all. Sara swiped at her tears and dug into the sand. They'd only said they wanted to play. The storm had come so suddenly, unexpectedly...

She had been so stupid to let them leave. She should have known...

"Sara, come here!" Far away, at the edge of town, a voice strained to her ears. It was Faye, the children's aunt.

Sara looked up, fear jolting her heart. Oh God, the children! Tears slipped down her face. Were they—

"They're over here!"

Running over to the place where Faye stood, she saw her two little ones, dusty and disheveled, covered with a huge sheet of tan cloth. They stood up out of it with a smile and ran to Sara, wrapping her legs in a childish embrace.

"Geoffery, Alisa, where have you been? I'm so sorry! I was so worried..."

"We were scared but we're fine now," Geoffery grinned. "A nice man showed us the way back." The little boy hugged his tearful sister and pointed to the sky. "Look!"

She smiled and then silently spoke. "Remember the sky."

"What, dear?"

"When you're scared, Mom! That's what he said. Remember the sky."