Tragic Ends VS Bad Ends, Trigun Flavor

[procreation]

CW: mildly Plantcesty bc of canon end events but mostly toxicity, mindfuck, extreme codependency and.... co-parenting?

Somewhere in the sands is a tall person traveling on bare feet, a cloak of galaxies and roots covering their face from the sun. Vash moves slowly, not because he's tired or struggling, but because he's not really in a hurry. He doesn't get tired anymore, or hungry. Just weak, sometimes, but he's always been weak, hasn't he? That's why his brother has to protect him.

So this place couldn't be bad, because Knives would never leave him somewhere bad.

He stops briefly to collect a bleached skull left in the sand, picking it up with the roots and wisps of shadow and then holding it with the curiosity of a detached scholar rather than a compassionate man. Human, by the looks of it. Not killed by one of their brood, just unlucky in the desert.

Shrugging, Vash lets it drop into the sand again like an unwanted piece of trash and lets all those roots and glimmering energy unfold around him. He makes a little seat for himself, black flowers with shiny blue specks acting as cushions as the rest of his cloak peels away for a canopy. The dark undersuit is an echo of his brother, including the sturdiness of four perfectly fine limbs.

No memories were left, physical or otherwise. Sometimes you just have to remake your little brother to make him understand your point of view, and Vash... doesn't really know any better, anymore. It's fine, all he needs to focus on is making new Independents.

The roots continue to stretch over the sand, slithering over the area to see if they can pick up anything other than old bones of a doomed race.

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[ornamentals]

[ immediately nai's attention is focused on his brother - older - in the doorway, what little sleep still clinging to the corners of his mind now gone in a blink. he slides off the couch, already crossing the room to vash with wide eyes as he takes in his brother's appearance.

he looked so different from every other brother he's come across here, none of that familiar, striking red he's come to associate with the older brothers by now. the dark second skin and familiar markings they shared with their sisters that decorated vash's body captivates nai's full attention. ]

I just- woke up... Are you alone here?

[ the warmth rolling off of vash along their connection is soothing, but it doesn't ease the pinched look of concern on his features. ]

[procreation]

[ It's a strange place, this brother has - walls and floor covered in roots and large flowers. Strangest of all, however, is the way Vash's legs give out and he sinks to the floor with tears in his eyes.

Good tears, if his flood of joy is anything to go by. There's pain - so much - but it's drowned in his happiness to see his brother, no matter how small. Obviously this is the child Nai the sick him and the dogs were so concerned about.

Ironic, how he was the one who came to Vash. ]

Nai... I am so alone.

[ He admits, holding his arms out to the boy. It's like having his children and his brother in one, a perfectly huggable size. ]

I just ended up out there in the desert and there are humans. I can't sense our Eden anywhere.

[ornamentals]

[ he inhales sharply when vash falls to his knees, chest tight at both the sight of his brother's tears and the wave of sweet relief that crashes into him. as if by instinct, nai closes the distance between them into vash's open arms. ]

You're not alone, I'm here with you now.

[ older, younger, nearly every brother he's come across here has been alone. nai wanted to fill that empty space beside each one, but he was only one person and so, painfully, weak. it shamed him, but there was nothing to be done when progress towards strength was a long and arduous journey.

he brushes their cheeks together, arms wrapping around vash to keep them close. he smelled nice, of flowers and sisters and warmth. ] Our... Eden? [ nai pulls away just enough to study vash's expression, wide eyes searching. ] It's real? It's really... real?

[procreation]

[ Vash hugs the small boy close, almost trembling when he can feel their connection. It's real, it's Nai, he's just small and young and so much like their children. Vash feels like a brother and a father at the same time. ]

It was so hard without you. You always know what to do, what to say. All I did was wait.

[ Vash strokes that pale hair gently, and then blinks away a few more tears to be able to look at his brother when the boy pulls back. Of course. Of course he doesn't know, he's too little. ]

It's real. It takes a long time but we made it. A paradise for us and the kids, with our sisters smiling as they watch over us. Safe.

[ornamentals]

[ there's a part of him so happy being able to give vash some small amount of comfort simply by being here. if holding him tight and with promises to stay close gave his brother some peace of mind, nai would never let go.

he had so many questions, the roots, the strangely glowing flowers, his brother's appearance... it was all so vastly different from what he's come to expect here. ]

I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Vash- [ for making him wait, for leaving him alone when vash needed him. vash strokes his hair back, still messy from sleep. he thinks about vash still back in bed, soon to wake up alone himself. his heart hurts. ]

How? Everyone has told me [ shown him, unwillingly, accidentally - ] that it isn't possible. Not like... [ he trails off, looking away as he worries his lower lip. ] I don't know. [ his shoulders fall, frustration creasing his brows. then, as if just realizing what vash had said, he looks back up. ] ... Kids?

[procreation]

[ Finally Vash's brain catches up with his codependent euphoria of being with his brother again, and he pulls himself together a little. He can try to be the big brother for once, even if he's so used to the opposite. ]

Don't apologize! It's okay, you're here now and I can feel you again. It's not empty inside.

[ He says, putting a hand over his heart. Matching links, matching pulse. The vines start to move, creating a soft pace for both of them to sit. Flowers bloom, bioluminescent speckles lighting up the room further. None of it is threatening; just a natural part of Vash, just like Nai's blades are. ]

It takes a long time, but you have a plan. Older you. You take all the plants that the humans have treated like slaves, and you save them. Then you save me.

[ That sick, confused Vash still haunts him a little. ]

Together we help the sisters made more independents, like us. Then you and I make our own.

[ornamentals]

[ that familiar thrum of life, the same pulse they've shared since birth, beating in sync with vash now. the roots start to shift and nai gives a small gasp as they move underneath him, head turning with fascination as he watches a flower open near his head. carefully, he reaches out with a hand to brush a fingertip over one of the petals.

everything here is filled with an energy he knows purely by instinct. since arriving here he's felt it, here and there, some of his brothers sharing it, but never to this extent. never in the same capacity as nai always carried it with him.

he leans into vash's embrace. ] What are they like? Are they... are we happy?

[procreation]

[ Vash smiles as Nai touches the flower, and it gives a few extra glimmers as he does. Quite different from the thorns that tried to skewer the ghost. His brother was his light, his everything.

No matter how young. ]

We're so happy, Nai. [ He says, honest and soft. ] I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of hard times, but it was all worth it.

[ The whole building is bathed in Vash, creation and potential in every molecule around them. It's probably not that different from his gate where their children are resting. ]

You fixed me, and we're almost finished getting rid of the humans. It will just be plants and independents.

[ornamentals]

I... fixed you?

[ his head is spinning, heart hammering away inside his chest. he should be happy - he is happy - yet something held him back. fingers curled in the hem of his emotions, the future of possibilities opening up just a little more with each new brother he finds. or rather, who find him.

vash was the outlier, so far. but wasn't nai also the odd one here, too? his hands yet stained with the blood of millions, but the intention was there. plans in formulation, so close to fruition...

he'd been so close, but now everything was cast in doubt. even now he finds himself hesitating in sharing vash's elation completely. still worrying his lower lip, pressing that sharp canine against the barely healed indent he left earlier. ]

Did I ever hurt you?

[procreation]

You did! Apparently I was sick for a while and didn't even want to stay with you, running around with humans.

[ He shrugs, like the first century and a half of his life wasn't important at all. He was happy now, after all.

...except his little twin doesn't seem as happy as him, which is odd. Vash pets Nai's hair a bit, gentle and parental in his radiating comfort.

At the question, he thinks he knows why Nai is worried and he shakes his head. ]

While you were fixing me, I know you had to hurt me a bit. It doesn't matter, though, because I'm a happier person now. [ He is. Unlike most Vash out there, there's no guilt, no pain, no sadness. No humiliation. ]

After that... no? Well, not intentionally. Our second generation drained me almost to red because you gave me too many, so the third is a lot smaller in number this time. Other than that... no. You always tell me how precious I am, and keep me safe. It would make no sense if you hurt me.

[ornamentals]

[ vash's hand in his hair, leaning into the touch just a little. it was still early morning, the suns only starting to rise. the glowing veins decorating the roots pulsing softly could have lulled him back to sleep if it weren't for the niggling apprehension he still couldn't shake. ]

Maybe you were afraid of me...

[ he'd seen that in the other brothers, too. fear, hidden behind everything else.

but he falls quiet, contemplating everything vash has told him. he knows there's more, there has to be, but there are certain priorities he needs to put in order. he glances around the room again, beyond the shifting roots it looked like a normal living space. ] Vash, where are we? I remember being near July, before waking up here.

[procreation]

There's no reason for me to be afraid of you. You love me.

[ No matter how sick he was, it just didn't make sense! Vash is so glad that he was saved from all those dumb thoughts. There's no fear in him now, just happiness and relief as he holds his brother.

Nai was here and Vash wasn't alone.

When he's asked where they are, Vash shrugs a little. ]

They gave me a house here. It's a city full of independents... not our children, but other ones. They're nice enough.

[ ...but they weren't Nai, so how could he be social with any of them when it felt like a piece of him was missing? ]

[ornamentals]

I do. I love you so much, Vash.

[ the one constant across every different variation of his brother he meets here, that love that could never diminish. he only wished he was bigger, stronger, someone that could fulfill the role of an older brother vash needed - wanted.

he loves vash so much it hurt sometimes. he worried that hurt would spill out and stain his brother's hands, but that future had already come to pass for so many of his brothers already, hadn't it? nai could kick and scream against that fate, but it'd be pointless.

nai leans against vash again, arms wrapped around his neck. ]

I didn't know there are other independents here. [ he admits quietly, a little shaken by that news. one thing at a time. ] But... you're okay now, right?

[procreation]

I love you too! I always will, you're the most wonderful big brother there is.

[ Vash pets Nai's hair gently as the boy leans against him, the bond between them all love and happiness and safety, because no matter how little Nai may be, Vash feels safer like this.

Not only for himself, but for the children as well. ]

It was a shock to me, too. It makes me happy to see more of our kin, but it also makes me miss our kids. I'm used to being surrounded by little plantlings about your age, or older teenage ones trying their best to be 'cool'.

[ He sighs a little, but smiles at his brother again. ]

Yeah, I'm just fine, now. I was... not so fine when I got here. Got hit by a car because a dirty mongrel of a human wanted revenge.