Shadowed Hearts

by Alucard

Wolfwood was trying his best to hold back the large insurance girl who was biting, kicking, pulling, and struggling in any other way possible to get free from his grasp to help her best friend in all the world.

"Nicholas! Let me go!! I have to help Meryl! She needs me!"

"Vash is already on that! Let him handle it for a while!! Nobody wants to see you or her get hurt!"

He yanked back a little harder on the word 'hurt', pulling Millie backwards towards him and more fully into his arms. He wrapped them around her and picked her up as he plopped her down again in the car. She sat in the seat, her face melting into panic as she watched Vash talk to the blue haired man. Wolfwood leaned against the car door, happy that she had something else to distract her instead of going after her friend, but worried she would try to go after her again in a moment. He sighed, pulling out a crumpled cigarette, and turned his eyes towards the action.

"Just hold on. We need to see what happens... "

Millie whimpered pathetically then stopped as they listened to the conversation going on between the two.

9.9

Vash's head was racing, his heart going fifty beats per minute as he thought of several desperate plans that would fail miserably if he dared to test them out. Deciding that the only thing he really could do was go up to meet Legato, even if the blonde outlaw knew it was a trap set especially for him.

He dashed for the large rock outcrop in front of him.

Legato watched him with slitted eyes, the same insane smile on his lips as he waited patiently. As soon as a pair of gloved hands reached over the top of edge, the white clad man slipped back, keeping his grip on Meryl as Vash climbed directly over the top in record time.

He huffed for a moment, catching his breath before he spoke to Legato.

"Ba...Bastard! Let her go now!"

Legato laughed quietly, his voice deadly as he watched Vash breath heavily.

"It seems Master was correct in assuming that you chose to love this woman over him. You are of a superior race, Vash the Stampede. Why choose this ... human with a limited lifespan over your brother, who will live as long as you do, if not longer? He will rid this planet of its filth and the two of you can live in Paradise, in comfort, without humans nipping at your heels, using up the precious resources that keep this planet alive."

Vash shook his head back and forth as his breath came back to him fully.

He had grown tired of hearing that same speech over and over. Humans equal bad, plants equal superior. His brother preached it, in turn preaching it to his minions so his henchmen would preach it to him too. This was just too much...

He glanced up at Meryl as he spoke again.

"I've already found my Paradise. I only wish my brother could see that and come join us in peace."

Meryl let the tears continue trailing down her cheeks as she whipped her gaze up from the ground to meet eyes with the outlaw before her. She sobbed slightly as Vash's eyes filled with love for... her. She bit her lip to hold back any other sobs that would break through as she nodded under Legato's hand. But the blue haired man didn't seem at all perturbed by Vash's statement as he began to slowly step away, back towards the rocks behind them. Legato shook his head once before he let out a low chuckle of amusement and disappeared completely, taking Meryl with him.

Vash ran to the spot where they had vanished, but there was no trace of them. Legato's laughter echoed around him for a moment as the outlaw whipped around and faced nothing.

"It's a shame really, Vash the Stampede. Humans have pulled their hopeless lies around you too tightly. It is cutting off your view of the real world, the world that my Master sees everyday, the world of the destructive animals that are slowly cutting off all life support for this dusty ground we call home. When the humans around you are obliviated, then you will have a clear vision, a new beginning for the both of you. After all, your ticket to the future is blank, is it not?"

Vash screamed in rage as the words of his mentor were wrongly used. He only vaguely wondered how Legato knew of Rem, but that thought slipped easily out of his head as he heard the sand crunch behind him. Spinning quickly, a figure stood with their back to the sun, their face silhouetted against the light. A wide brimmed hat shaded their face even more.

Vash was not as surprised as he thought he would be when he registered who this lone figure was. Her hair began waving in the sudden breeze that stirred the sand around them both, causing the outlaw to flinch slightly. He didn't smirk, no funny remarks as he watched her walk towards him. He simply stared and gritted his teeth in frustration.

All he wanted was to be sitting on a porch somewhere, maybe even still in bed with a feathered pillow and a small insurance girl curled in front of him, contented and warm, his feet hanging out from underneath the blanket...

He wanted anything but to see his resurrected opponent standing before him in the oncoming heat, her stance promising a battle that was going to make his day a living hell...

Not what he wanted at all.

But that thought only made him more determined to defeat the woman in front of him, defeat Legato, defeat Knives, take on the whole damn world just to get her back so he could make his former daydreams become reality.

But obviously that wasn't happening soon or without a fight.

"Dominique."

"Vash the Stampede."

"Where's the dress I told you to wear?"

"Hanging out to dry."

The outlaw chuckled for a moment, letting his shoulders droop as a small grin slid onto his face. He watched her boots as she shifted her feet a few inches. When she spoke, he started and looked up at her, his smile gone.

"Ready to finish what we started, Vash?"

//.\\

Wolfwood was being forced to suppress a large insurance girl for the second time in the past few moments. As soon as Vash had begun climbing the wall in front of them, she had jumped up and gone to the door of their rickety car, intent on following him again.

Unfortunately for her, Wolfwood had been leaning against the door, expecting her to move. He was holding on to her as gently as possible at the moment, sitting on the ground with her between his legs as she struggled and cried piteously.

"H-Honey! Please! Listen to me!! You can't g-go up there!! Just let Vash ha- andle it!!"

"N-No! N-Nicholas!! Let--Let me g-go!!"

"Chapel. So very nice to see you again."

Both Millie and Wolfwood froze instantly. The priest's arms went slack around Millie and fell to her waist as he twisted his head to the side, the insurance girl following his lead.

There stood a dusty samurai, his hand on his sword, his lip curled and sneering as he stared at Wolfwood with contempt written all over his features. The priest felt his stomach drop for a second, seeing someone he shot back from the dead, but then he realized that he too was supposed to be underground.

"Rai Dei."

"Oh. You remembered my name. How honorific. Would you care to grace me with the name of the angel in your arms?"

Rai Dei got the desired effect from his sentence. Wolfwood clenched his teeth, his eyes mere slits as he glared venom at the samurai. He spat out a response.

"That is of no concern to you. You lay one finger on her and I will personally shoot it off for you."

"Hmph. Is that a challenge? How about we make a wager? You win a duel with me, you keep your precious woman. I win the duel, she belongs to me."

Millie whimpered.

This was bad... very bad...

She shifted her gaze from Rai Dei to Wolfwood's face. His eyes were livid with anger and his lips were drawn back in a tight-lipped scowl. She reached a hand out and momentarily laid it on his chest, silently asking him what he was going to do.

The priest's head whipped to the side to glare at her, but his gaze instantly softened as he reached out and arm to pull her close to him. He took a deep breath.

"No deal, Samurai. Go pick rice or something and leave us alone."

Wolfwood had enough sense to shove Millie away before Rai Dei dashed smoothly next to him, his sword centimeters away from the priest's neck. The swordsman moved his weapon forward fractionally, sending a trickle of blood slithering down Wolfwood's neck. He held his breath for a moment while Millie sat on her knees, her hand reaching for him with one hand over her mouth.

"N-Nicholas..."

"You insult me, Chapel."

Rai Dei spat the last word out as he slid his sword even closer, cutting a deeper wound in Wolfwood's neck.

"I challenged you to a duel. Accept or die like a coward."

With an apologetic glance to the insurance girl in front of him, he fixed his now ice cold eyes on the samurai in front of him, his voice even colder than his eyes were.

"I accept your challenge, you bastard. Let me stand."