Chapter Text
Meryl found Vash alone on a clifftop overlooking the small town they’d managed to hide away in.
He was still wrapped in bandages, recovering from his injuries facing the last of the Gung-Ho Guns.
Vash’s pitiful state only ferried her to his side quicker than before. She’d promised she could handle the baggage. She’d promised she wouldn’t run.
And she hadn’t.
She approached slowly, joining his soft singing to the moons above.
Vash looked back at her with a foreign interest.
Meryl ignored the sudden skip of her own heartbeat to sit down beside him. She settled herself neatly, scooting herself a reasonable distance between the two without making things awkward.
She offered only kindness to him now.
The immature girl from before was put away to welcome in the part of a caretaker. That was who Vash needed, and she wanted to be exactly that.
“...How are you feeling?”
Meryl offered a soft smile.
Vash continued to watch her mouth, then her eyes, and then her fingertips.
He sighed, returning his stare to the heavenly bodies above.
“Fine,” he said.
Meryl hummed the rest of the lullaby.
“...It seems like we’re always stargazing together,” she said, ”Not a bad hobby, if you ask me.”
Vash didn’t answer.
She felt his thumb graze her pinky finger.
Heat raced up her arm.
She ignored the feeling. The tension bubbling behind her ribs was of little importance.
She’d already decided that shoving her feelings down until the right time was the best way to handle it. Milly’s advice be damned, she couldn’t risk hurting Vash during such a critical period.
The last thing she wanted was for him to run.
Meryl wet her tongue to say something kind or clever.
Vash beat her to the punch.
“ I’m real sorry, Meryl,” he whispered.
Her name sounded so strange coming from him.
She returned his worry with a warm expression.
“No need for that. We shouldn’t spoil the moment!”
Vash slowly exhaled, his fingers retreating.
“It’s not that,” he explained,”...I’m sorry for kissing you outta the blue back there.”
“...That was a scummy move, and I knew it then too.”
Meryl frowned.
It was a relief that he wasn’t touching a sensitive subject like the gunmen, but to bring up a kiss from days ago…
“What are you talking about,” Meryl leaned closer as he turned his face.
“You’re saying you kissed me for a scummy reason?”
“I kissed you just cause I wanted to,” Vash said.
Meryl’s cheeks bloomed a deep red hue.
‘Just cause I wanted to’.
That fleeting kiss that shook her entire world…
“Why apologize for that,” Meryl swallowed,”...I-It’s not like I was angry with you. A simple kiss is fine.”
“I shouldn’t want to kiss you,” Vash said.
His feelings were clearly on the table, no matter how uncomfortable they were to hear.
Meryl’s heart ached even more for him.
She’d waited months to be acknowledged by him, but was that really possible? Vash carried so much hurt inside. He just admitted to disliking intimacy between them.
Yet, Meryl couldn’t stop loving him. He could run away to the ends of the earth and she’d still follow, trying to understand.
“I’m sorry, I’m not your type,” Meryl said, very human in offering a little bite to her resignation.
Her words brought a strangeness to his face. It was odd but oh so familiar.
Vash burst out laughing.
Seconds ago he was at his very worst, but a bug-eyed look later and he was folding in on himself with laughter. He smiled, clutching his sore ribs as tears flowed.
Meryl sniffled. His joy was annoyingly infectious.
“What the hell are you laughing about? I’m not being funny, mister!”
Long limbed and gangly, he’d wound himself all in her space. It wouldn’t be Vash if he wasn’t sending her heart for a loop.
Meryl giggled along with him, bracing his shoulder with a gentle touch. Vash grinned.
“You’re wrong about that, y’know,” he said, ”The problem is you’re exactly my type.”
“How flattering,” she huffed.
“I can’t believe you’ve stuck with me this whole time. To think the hardest tail I’ve ever had to get rid of was an ‘Insurance Girl’ and not a bounty hunter.”
Meryl squeezed his hand in hers, moving in close by his side.
“So, why not kiss me,” she suddenly asked.
Vash stared at her hand and squeezed back, sucking in a deep breath of air.
“...Because I don’t deserve nice things, Meryl. I took a life, with my own two hands.”
The darkness following them had returned.
Meryl’s lips flattened to a thin line. Vash’s tears caught the moonlight.
Even now, he was tragically beautiful.
“...So we just shouldn’t. Alright,” he said.
She gripped his forearm now.
“No,” Meryl replied.
“What?”
“No! No, there’s nothing wrong with a spur of the moment kiss!”
Meryl’s voice raised, impassioned.
“You’ve got to feel things like love unashamedly! Just like Milly! Just like Wolfwood!”
He looked weak. Vash floundered for a way to fight back.
Her words were clearly taking a toll on him.
“Meryl…You’re a good girl. You shouldn’t let yourself get hurt by me.”
“You know I can’t leave,” Meryl insisted,”You said it yourself! No matter how much you ask, you know Milly and I won’t leave you! You’re too dear to us to leave!”
Vash couldn’t find a solid rebuttal, eyes soft and sparkling. Meryl trembled with sincerity.
It was time to stop running.
He said her name so much tonight. She wanted to hear it for the rest of their time together.
She wanted to hear him call for her for the rest of their lives.
“So, stop dismissing me. I’m yours, even if you don’t want me.”
Both travelers cried under the night sky, clinging to the safety of the lonely cliffside.
She found comfort cradling his wet face against her breast.
“...I’m not leaving,” she repeated, ”I’ll be your girl. You’ll see.”
And thus, two moons met.
“Meryl Stryfe,” Vash read the gold leaf printing off the red parchment, ”To be wed to a Mr. Saverem.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. Meryl peered over her stationary at him, scrunching her nose at him. She smiled with a little grit.
“Well, we can’t say Vash the Stampede now, can we,” she teased.
Vash ruffled her hair with his good arm, still snickering.
“Nope, ‘guess we can’t!”
He plopped down on the stool beside her, swinging himself in the chair to rest against her shape.
Vash sighed.
“So, who is this Mr. Saverem guy, anyway? Is he handsome at least?”
“He’s you, stupid, so maybe a little bit.”
“Well now, that’s not a nice thing to say! I’d say your new husband is very handsome!”
Vash posed droopily before sneaking a sly wink in her direction. Meryl rolled her eyes and kissed that rascally face of his.
“Hush, you,” She beamed,”...That Meryl Stryfe has her hands full, but she’s a lucky woman, really.”
She ran her hands through warm, blonde strands, admiring the smoothness of his face and the thickness of his brow.
In moments like these, their gazes always met so sweetly. It was an occasion worthy of a few kisses at least.
“Any family I should meet at the ceremony? You haven’t talked about your folks much,” Vash said, poring over the invitation design once more.
Meryl sighed.
“Just my father. But he probably won’t show up. I hardly mean anything to him…”
Her space was quickly filled by a blond, good-hearted nuisance.
Meryl looked away from him, trying to dismiss it.
“Don’t worry about it. I left home a long time ago, so I doubt he remembers me.”
Honestly, it was hard to recall much of her December life out in the countryside. The cozy town they’d settled into with Knives and Milly was a paradise of simple pleasures, so there was hardly any need to cling to bad blood.
“Meryl. Meryl Saverem.”
Meryl blushed, pulled out of her thoughts by Vash’s mumbling.
“Huh?”
He tapped his chin, starting over again.
“Meryl Saverem. Meryl the Stampede…,” he sighed, ”Meryl, Meryl, Meryl…”
“Excuse me, but what the heck are you goofing around for now?”
Vash grinned at her, sweet as ever.
He snuck a peck on her cheek.
“You once told me I don’t say your name enough, so now I know a real easy way to cheer you up.”
She couldn’t argue, her reactionary huff being stopped by another laugh from her soon to be husband.
“Hah! See? You’re smiling!” Vash said, ”Aw, now she’s goin’ away! Come back here, Sunshine!”
Trapped snugly in his arms, Meryl squirmed against the onslaught of cuddles and the sound of her own name.
Vash, who was such a mystery that she couldn’t hope to reach, had melted into a lovey-dovey type who shadowed her like a lost puppy.
Though, wasn’t that always how he was when he followed his heart?
“Stop that! I’m getting sick of hearing it!!” she whined.
Meryl Saverem was definitely a lucky woman.