Taking up the challenge.
Happy New Year!
Love, Stella
VASH x MERYL NEW YEAR?S KISS
For Rose?s New Year Challenge
600 words exactly! Woo-hoo!
Happy Birthday Boss!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Live in Love & Peace!
The figure of a man sat like a paper cut-out against the moonlit night sky, his head turned to the milky blue and silver above. Meryl could see his long legs dangling over the rocky top of the hill, and she let her eyes drift downwards to the now far off lights of the town below. He came here often, spending hours in this quiet spot nearest the heavens. She hoped that one day he would tell her why.
Meryl had made her way as silently as she possibly could, but as she inadvertently kicked down another avalanche of pebbles, she knew that he had to be aware of her presence. She stopped a few feet away from the spiky silhouette and caught her breath after the climb.
?Vash??
He seemed to start at the sound of his name and slowly turned towards her, wide eyes blinked to greet her as the moonlight washed over his face.
?Miss Meryl? What are you doing up here? You should be down enjoying yourself at the party with the rest of the town.?
She sent him a small scowl and hugged herself against the chilly wind that rushed across the hilltop. ?Millie was the one who insisted we go. I?ve never really been much for parties. But everyone was wondering where you?d gotten to. It?s almost midnight you know. It?s almost a new year.?
The wind howled again and Meryl sank down to Vash?s side, catching the silly party hat that Millie had given her to wear, the one she had forgotten about until just a second ago when it nearly blew away.
?A new year?? Vash repeated. His voice trailed off and his gaze returned to a distant point that Meryl could not discern. ?I?ve seen so many years, Miss Meryl. And they all run together now, I can?t distinguish one from the next, out of the violence and things I couldn?t control. I don?t change. The world hasn?t changed, not really. But I wonder if it will be different now, I hope it will, because Knives is no longer a threat to it. I hope it will be better, for all the people. Everyone deserves a chance to live.? He stretched out an upturned hand; slender fingers pointed to the town. Sounds of laughter and happiness floated upwards into the oblivion of the cool night. Out of the din, voices suddenly joined together in a far-off count-down.
?Ten? nine?eight??
Meryl reached out and caught Vash?s hand in hers. ?Listen to yourself, will you? ?Everyone deserves a chance to live.? That includes you, too.?
??.seven ?.six ?.five?.?
?But what will I do? So many people still see me as ?Vash the Stampede ? the humanoid typhoon, mankind?s first localized disaster, the-?
??four?three? two??
?You?ll do what the rest of us do,? Meryl smiled. ?Live one day at a time. Everyday is a new start. Let this day be the first day of yours.?
??one??
?You?re not alone this time,? Meryl said. ?I?m here.? She leaned closer, fixing Millie?s shiny foil hat over his blond spikes. He kept his gaze fixed on the horizon, but as the moments passed, his posture slackened and Vash finally turned and smiled back.
?I guess I should make it a good start, then.?
?Happy New Year!? The words fluttered around them, sent up by the people below.
?Happy New Year!? Meryl whispered to the man on the hilltop a second before his warm lips touched hers. And they sat hand and hand on the first night of a new life, their shapes like paper cut-outs against the moonlit sky.
