Fake It Til You Make It

Chapter 8

So, A Priest Walks Into a Car

In the aftermath of the fall of Jenora Rock, there were a lot of dead.

When you woke up after the fall, Tonis's unconscious and bleeding body had been promptly ripped out of your arms. Rosa crumpled to the floor and held him.

The sadness radiated off of people like they were sound waves.

They sat in the darkness, trying to patch each other up the best they could with what little they could salvage.

But, the less you thought about it the better. You could never live with yourself after what happened. You had the power and the knowledge to avoid it all, yet it happened anyway. If you could have just gotten to Vash before he left the diner. If you spoke up before the Nebraskas showed their stupid faces in that stupid car.

"Are you ok?"

Vash's soft and quiet voice reached your ears. Right. You were in the press team's car. Lucky you.

"I'm jus' fine," you replied.

The truth was, you were anything but fine. First you die, get trapped in Trigun, find out this was your original universe to begin with. And then! Then you get thrown into the hectic life that is the Trigun Stampede series, leaving no spare moment for you to decompress and just process everything that has happened to you.

For some reason, you could shake the stench of death that lingered around you.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine."

"What do you want me to say!?" You whisper-yelled at him. Your sunglasses slipped down your nose, showing the redness in your eyes.

Vash bit his tongue. He wanted you to be truthful. He knew you were suffering. He could tell you haven't slept since you climbed into the car and left Jenora Rock. If he was in your shoes, he knew he would be. Hell, he was! He just watched his twin brother kill a bunch of innocent people!

And you.. you knew that. You knew that it was going to happen, too.

Vash wanted to be mad at you. He really did. He knew that you knew much more about the future than anybody in this car did, fuck than the entire universe besides the fates! So why didn't you say anything? Why did he feel so guilty?

Vash thought back to when he tried to leave. Before Knives showed up. You were there. With Roberto outside the diner. You tried to stop him from leaving. Were you trying to tell him then? If his memory was correct, he remembered how utterly pissed off you looked when he tossed your bag at your feet.

He just wanted to keep you safe. You didn't deserve to be brought into his family drama. For 130 years, give or take, he'd been fine just by himself. Yet, he felt guilty trying to leave you behind right then. He felt guilty now, too.

He did let it go though, opting to talk to you again once you'd finally gotten some sleep. It was still dark out, so while Meryl drove farther and farther away from the demolished town he made himself comfortable in his seat to get some of his own sleep in.

For you, even if you were a night owl, you were exhausted. And you'd cried. Over the years, you'd learned to cry quietly. Being a people pleaser in your childhood, it was practically second nature to never make a sound. You hadn't started working on those bad habits until you started college. Which is to say, not very long ago.

You cuddled up in your own seat, falling asleep to the soft snores coming from Vash.

For being a practically immortal being, he sure is stupid, you thought as you drifted off.