Recollections of Strangers (Vash/ABA)

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

HE sat out near where the shed was that held all the black roses, even the one that had grown where he'd dropped his coin, and thought.

Not many people would think, at first meeting, that Vash was the type of person who thought much at all... but he had a lot to think about, and if you were around him long enough, you began to see the little things that gave away his facade.

Like the habit of taking long sits out places and simply... thinking.

That trick with the rose was stupid, most likely. It did him no good to use even little pieces of his power like that - too many people might find him. Absentmindedly, he waved away a few of the way-too-friendly wisps that were crowding him and the stone cross, leaning against the bench, still wrapped in it's cloth covering.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. wiped the sweat from her brow, pulling back the long lovely bangs that once belonged only to Velestia Normire. In her disguise she had searched the festival for almost an hour now, trying to find the man responsible for the black rose that she now held in her hand. She thought he had all but vanished, and trying her best to put the question of his bizarre skill away she focused on finding a safe and quiet place to contact her chosen person with the rose.

Yet as she approached the shed, which was quiet and less bustling than the rest of the festival, she was glad to see Vash there sitting right in front of her.

"Vash!" She shouted out as she ran up to him. "You, I mean how... This rose looks all too real, but how did you...?" She held out the delicate flower to him, hoping the gesture alone would be enough to make sense of the frantic mishmash of questions she was trying to ask him.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He looked up... and a sad smile crossed his face. "So you picked it, then... I take it you haven't yet called your chosen yet?" He shrugged. "You should probably do that soon, y'know." He eyed it. "As for how... why, I'd say it's the same 'how' that attracts these cute little fellas." He held out a hand to one of the wisps, which curled around him affectionately before floating back out into the air again to swirl around the cross next to him.

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. stared down at the flower. "So, it is real after all. I was almost afraid to try it in case it wasn't a true black rose." Watching Vash call attention to the ghostly wisps around him made her silent with interest, and again she found herself with only more questions and without the words to gain answers.

"I, I have...had a friend with a similar talent." A.B.A. sat down beside Vash, breathing deeply as she watched the wisps float in and out of the distant crowds. "No, that's not really quite it. Things are so complicated. I miss the old days. They were violent, and harsh, and full of struggle. But they were simple, and I felt like I belonged." As she lamented on the days of a millennia ago, she looked at Vash with a fresh state of mind. There was something about him that she couldn't place, but it reminded her of those times. Days on the battlefield, days in the courtyard outlooking Phasmatis, days alone with Van...

Realizing her dazed trip through her still foggy memories had left her staring far too long at Vash, she reeled back and looked away slightly embarrassed. "Forgive me, it's just... you have a very unique style. It's something I haven't seen in years and years." In the back of her mind, she wondered if it was more than just a coincidence.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He smiled back at her. "Really? Who's your friend? And... how long has it been since you've seen a style like mine?"

Now that she mentioned it, something about her seemed a little too familiar, as if he'd met her before, a long time ago.

"And as for the rose... the only black roses that grow that way are the ones from this area... and they all have that power. YOu don't have to worry, Velestia."

[A.B.A.]

"He's someone I shared a lot of memories with. But, time seems to have a way of moving people apart, and now I don't know if it's him or me that's changed, and it's left me torn as to how to feel about him." As much as she found comfort in Vash's carefree attitude, she still held her tongue when it came to names. She couldn't afford to have anyone know the lost sister and would-be killer of King Zelos was roaming around in Phasmatis.

"I sorry, all I've done since I met you is gone on about my problems. For the great deed of giving me one of the roses, there must be something I can do for you in exchange. Please, let me know what I can do for you." A.B.A. looked up into Vash's eyes, trying as best she could to see what it was that laid past his sweet and simple expression.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He looked back up into hers, for once letting his guard drop, and what could be seen was...

Years. Experience. Emotion.

Sadness and regret, mixed with joy and laughter. The memories and experiences of one who'd lived a long time. They were eyes out-of-place with his carefree, airheaded attitude and his young face.

"I'd like you to tell me who you really are, if that's okay. I don't think I met Velestia Normire a long time ago, but... I think I knew you, once. A little odd, y'know?"

He shrugged and went back to staring at the sky.

"Maybe I'm just crazy. I s'pose that when you've gone through what I have, insanity is inevitable. But I don't think this's me being crazy."

[A.B.A.]

A.B.A. watched in surprise as she saw his expression shift, trying to understand the meaning behind it. Did it help him to cope with what he'd experienced in his life? Was it to fool others, or himself? It was something that stirred uncomfortably in her and she felt better only when she looked away from him.

It's haunting. Reminds me of back then too much. Any other time and I'd be drawn in by nostalgia, but to think of the Saints just makes me angry right now. "I'm sorry. In a way we're a lot more similar that I thought. You are who I saw just now, but I don't doubt that makes you any less the man I met at first. I too hide behind Velestia, but that doesn't make her any less me."

A.B.A. looked down and focused on the black rose. "We've met, and it was a time before Velestia was a part of me. But I was a lot of people in those days, people I've forgotten in the muck of sleep. No, it's better this way Vash. A new time, a new meeting. It's only fitting that a new name be given." She paused to glance up at him, wondering if his expression had changed back to its old self. "If there's anything else you would ask of me, please go ahead. My given name and face would do you no good to know."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

His face, once again, held a smile, but it wasn't the happy-go-lucky smile that looked, and felt, most natural for him. It was a smile that showed nostalgia, sadness and joy mixed together, like the expression that had passed into his eyes when he let his guard drop.

"I'd like it if you could sit and talk to me. It's been... a long time since I could speak even a litle freely about myself. But you don't seem to be one of them... so, if you don't mind..."

[A.B.A.]

"Oh of course I wouldn't mind. If that's what you'd like I wouldn't mind talking at all." A.B.A. continued to look back and forth between him and the other surroundings. "If you don't mind me asking though, who are 'one of them'? What would make you fear I'm 'one of them?'"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He shrugged. "Like I said, the more you go through, the crazier you get. Most people have forgotten the legends, but... there are those who wish to gain power that will seek on even the muddiest fragments of the forgotten. That's who 'they' are... and you never know who's one of 'them.'"

[A.B.A.]

"So you're saying you're a very powerful person then is that right?" A.B.A. inquired, her face changing instantly as she looked questioningly up to him. "You sure don't seem like the kind of guy who'd be any good in a fight."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He laughed.

"Of course not. I don't fight... usually. Death and destruction... not my thing. Death is... well, it's something that happens to everyone eventually, but it's not our place to decide when that death will be. We shouldn't cut down anyone short of their rightful tie because nobody's future, nobody's heart, nobody's temperament, is absolute. There's always room for change. So me? I don't fight. But... I keep an interesting power, Velestia. And a lotta people might wanna use that power for something I don't approve of. And... if someoen read the right legends... they could use that power without my say whatsoever."

He shook his head.

"My power isn't meant for the hands of others."

[A.B.A.]

Doesn't fight, but has a great power within him. Why would he waste something like that? Her expression remained, but she said nothing. Somehow, she knew there wouldn't be much point it trying to convince him to make use of it. Subconsciously, A.B.A.'s hand trailed through her hair, teasing the spot where her original form held the key.

"Again Vash, you speak a lot of lofty ideals. Maybe for an immortal man that's a luxury you can afford. After all, what use are things like revenge, or companionship when you know that time will eventually always take friends and foes away?" Her face turned sad as she thought of her father.

"The world's harsh for those that have a limited time here Vash. We don't have the time to wait for fate to take us through it. I've forged my own path this far, and it's been bloody and full of disappointment, but there's nothing I haven't regretted doing so far. And when I take my revenge on those that betrayed my friends, won't it have been their rightful time?" She asked aloud, the question meant just as much for Vash as it was for herself.

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

He shook his head, smiling.

"Revenge, huh... a lot of people would say it depends on the gravity of the crime committed against you. But I once made a promise to someone that I would take no unnecessary lives, and I've held that... and I've learned that she was right about one thing she always said... 'Revenge is almost always about the needs of the person getting revenge, and rarely about true justice.'"

He shrugged.

"My promise, my ideals, have nothing to do with immortality. I may've lived much longer than an average human, but so has the King. When you live with Death's touch every day, you are further from it."